Parks before and after cruise?

[Lilsia]

We usually go to the parks for a week after our cruises. We fly in the day before and stay at the Hyatt at the airport. We take the cruise transportation from the airport. We like to go after for a number of reasons. First is that we like to get on the ship as early as possible and the transportation from the resorts usually gets there long after they start boarding but the airport you can get there early. Second is I don't want to have to stress about flight times on debarkation day. We live in a smaller city and our flight schedules are kind of crazy sometimes. Next is we like to walk off the food that we ate on the cruise.

 

[elle21]

Love reading different experiences. I think that it would be better for us to stick to one day in MK before the cruise, and skip the park day afterward. I'm a rope drop person and I think I would be stressed out about getting off the ship and getting to the park "late." If we decide to do anything, we'll do a water park or disney springs and that gives us the option of deciding last minute depending on how everyone is feeling.

 

[Amunet]

I'm with a few of the others with going to WDW after the cruise. When the cruise ends, it's so sad When doing WDW after, you still have something to look forward to and after all the activity, going home won't be too bad The cruise revitalizes you so you can have energy for WDW lol
Though, if it's a schedule thing, we will go before but prefer after.

 

[mousefan73]

We are doing our first cruise next May - 7 nights out of PC. We will have to pull kids from school, but I want to take them out one extra day and go to MK the day before the cruise starts. Is one day at MK and a cruise plenty? I'm tempted to do something on debarkation day - (Saturday) - either HS or a water park, then drive back home on Sunday. Or are most people tired, satisfied and just wanting to head home when they get off the cruise?

We were tired the day we got off ship. Partially as we went to bed really late ( didnt want our last night to end ) and you have to get up early. And for us the whole repacking stress. All the above are things one can control. We checked in, took a nap and then went to a park evening.
Waterpark might be an option as they don’t open until 10 anyways and from what I have heard crowds die down in the later afternoon plus the price per day is not so much as a park ticket

 

[cadien]

And then, too, WDW just felt very loud, crowded, and chaotic after the cruise, and there was major sticker shock when it came time to pay for meals.

We did the dining plan for our post-cruise WDW trip for exactly that reason.

 

[cadien]

Love reading different experiences. I think that it would be better for us to stick to one day in MK before the cruise, and skip the park day afterward. I'm a rope drop person and I think I would be stressed out about getting off the ship and getting to the park "late." If we decide to do anything, we'll do a water park or disney springs and that gives us the option of deciding last minute depending on how everyone is feeling.

We also worried about the arriving 'late' aspect, but they ended up scheduling a Magic Kingdom DAH on the day we disembarked. So that was perfect. We had a low-key day in Future World and then did DAH.

 

[disfan0120]

We just got off the Disney Dream today We did one looong day in the parks pre cruise and are doing 4 days in the parks post cruise. We spent all morning at Hollywood Studios today and I'm in our room for a break at the moment. We are heading out to MK in an hour or so.

We have always tried to fit in something the last day of a cruise. Either a trip to WDW, Universal or once we did the Kennedy Space Center. I enjoy a trip on the last day as leaving the cruise isn't so sad and I like our vacations to be as long as possible. I figure I may as well pull the bandaid off and get to work right after we get back.

This is our plan, too, when we get off the Dream! How soon were you able to get off the ship and make it to the park?

 

[ForMyBoys]

This is our plan, too, when we get off the Dream! How soon were you able to get off the ship and make it to the park?

Hi! Well we made a fatal mistake this time and took Disney transportation there and back from the resorts. This was our 5th cruise out of Port Canaveral. Our first cruise we took Disney transportation from the airport which was super awesome.

The next three cruises we arranged private transport or rented a car. The quickest we were in the park was a trip in which we did express walk off. We were almost the first people off the boat and had arranged a car pick up. The took us directly to our hotel to drop off luggage and we were physically in MK by 10:30. We have also had a lot of luck doing a car rental, but we only do this if we are doing the parks during the day and flying out late at night. But I would again suggest express walk off to beat the car rental crowds.

This trip I decided to try Disney transport to/from the hotels just to see what we preferred and I won't do it again. We were told to exit the boat by 8:15 to ensure we would make the 9am bus. We exited at 8:15 and were off the boat by 8:30. For some reason our bus didn't leave until 9 even though it was almost completely full by 8:45. Then we were the last resort stop and didn't get to our hotel until 11:45 and weren't in the parks until close to 1.

 

[disfan0120]

Hi! Well we made a fatal mistake this time and took Disney transportation there and back from the resorts. This was our 5th cruise out of Port Canaveral. Our first cruise we took Disney transportation from the airport which was super awesome.

The next three cruises we arranged private transport or rented a car. The quickest we were in the park was a trip in which we did express walk off. We were almost the first people off the boat and had arranged a car pick up. The took us directly to our hotel to drop off luggage and we were physically in MK by 10:30. We have also had a lot of luck doing a car rental, but we only do this if we are doing the parks during the day and flying out late at night. But I would again suggest express walk off to beat the car rental crowds.

This trip I decided to try Disney transport to/from the hotels just to see what we preferred and I won't do it again. We were told to exit the boat by 8:15 to ensure we would make the 9am bus. We exited at 8:15 and were off the boat by 8:30. For some reason our bus didn't leave until 9 even though it was almost completely full by 8:45. Then we were the last resort stop and didn't get to our hotel until 11:45 and weren't in the parks until close to 1.

Since we'll be driving down, we will have our own transportation but I was hoping that we'd be able to get to the Swan and then Hollywood Studios close to park opening time! Maybe will need to rethink this plan...

 

[Christina McKenna]

Before, before, before. The nicest WDW hotel is not as nice as the ship. You'll also be tired most likely after a week on ship, and especially after a late night and an early morning...typical last night and day. You have much more patience for crowds before too.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Since we'll be driving down, we will have our own transportation but I was hoping that we'd be able to get to the Swan and then Hollywood Studios close to park opening time! Maybe will need to rethink this plan...

They announced clearance from customs to leave the boat just before 8am. The earliest we've gotten that announcement was at 7:30. It takes some time to find luggage and get through customs. Usually not more then 15min. Its quicker if you carry all your luggage through. But with an hour drive and a stop at your hotel first you would not likely make it to a 9am park opening. I would book late morning/early afternoon FPs. Have a great time!

 

[tigress19]

We have a reservation for lunch the day we disembark at the Grand Floridian (but we are staying at the Pop Century when we return). Would you suggest that we carry our luggage off ourselves to ensure we get to the reservations on time? Not sure yet how we plan to get ourselves back to WDW from the port. Still working on that part.

 

[lizzyb]

I would do it before the cruise.

 

[BMDisney]

For our cruise coming up in June 1st, we found some extra money (tax refund) and added three days at Disney. We are doing AK, then EP, then MK. So we will know how that goes after the cruise.

 

[Lilsia]

We have a reservation for lunch the day we disembark at the Grand Floridian (but we are staying at the Pop Century when we return). Would you suggest that we carry our luggage off ourselves to ensure we get to the reservations on time? Not sure yet how we plan to get ourselves back to WDW from the port. Still working on that part.

Just as long as you get to the bus by the time it departs, it does not matter. They usually wait until it fills up and leaves around 9am. We carry our bags out because the few times we sent them, they got damaged by the company that handles the bags. We usually end up just sitting on the bus and waiting to leave. Now if you are getting your own transportation, then yes, it will speed it up a bit.

 

[Lilsia]

For our cruise coming up in June 1st, we found some extra money (tax refund) and added three days at Disney. We are doing AK, then EP, then MK. So we will know how that goes after the cruise.

Oh, are you on the June 1st Fantasy? We are too.

 

[Corwin]

Our first cruise back in Feb 2010 was a 4-night Bahamas cruise that went from Sun-Thurs. I followed the advice not to fly in the day of the cruise departure (due to possible flight delays*), and so decided to add on a short trip to WDW beforehand. We ended up flying down on Thursday and staying 3 nights at WDW.

Then with the cruise ending on Thursday, it seemed silly to fly right back home when we were already in Florida, so we headed back to WDW for 3 nights after the cruise, and went home on Sunday.

We've followed a similar plan several times since on other cruises. Our last Disney vacation consisted of 4 nights at WDW, 4-night cruise, and 4 nights at WDW. Our vacation next month consists of 3 nights at WDW, 7-night cruise, and 3 nights at WDW.

Next year, we're planning to shake things up and do 2 nights in Vancouver, 7-night Alaskan cruise, followed by 4-5 nights at Disneyland.

*It was good I had the extra time before the cruise because our flight on Thursday morning was cancelled due to a huge snowstorm, and it was a saga getting down to Orlando. We ended up driving from Connecticut to catch a flight in Norfolk, VA.

...This trip I decided to try Disney transport to/from the hotels just to see what we preferred and I won't do it again. We were told to exit the boat by 8:15 to ensure we would make the 9am bus. We exited at 8:15 and were off the boat by 8:30. For some reason our bus didn't leave until 9 even though it was almost completely full by 8:45. Then we were the last resort stop and didn't get to our hotel until 11:45 and weren't in the parks until close to 1.

We got this same direction (for the first time) on our last cruise. Whatever...we aim to make the bus by 9:00 a.m., but if we get delayed by customs, oh well. There's always another bus.

 

[RamblingMad]

Next year, we're planning to shake things up and do 2 nights in Vancouver, 7-night Alaskan cruise, followed by 4-5 nights at Disneyland.

That sounds amazing.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Our first cruise back in Feb 2010 was a 4-night Bahamas cruise that went from Sun-Thurs. I followed the advice not to fly in the day of the cruise departure (due to possible flight delays*), and so decided to add on a short trip to WDW beforehand. We ended up flying down on Thursday and staying 3 nights at WDW.

Then with the cruise ending on Thursday, it seemed silly to fly right back home when we were already in Florida, so we headed back to WDW for 3 nights after the cruise, and went home on Sunday.

We've followed a similar plan several times since on other cruises. Our last Disney vacation consisted of 4 nights at WDW, 4-night cruise, and 4 nights at WDW. Our vacation next month consists of 3 nights at WDW, 7-night cruise, and 3 nights at WDW.

Next year, we're planning to shake things up and do 2 nights in Vancouver, 7-night Alaskan cruise, followed by 4-5 nights at Disneyland.

*It was good I had the extra time before the cruise because our flight on Thursday morning was cancelled due to a huge snowstorm, and it was a saga getting down to Orlando. We ended up driving from Connecticut to catch a flight in Norfolk, VA.

We got this same direction (for the first time) on our last cruise. Whatever...we aim to make the bus by 9:00 a.m., but if we get delayed by customs, oh well. There's always another bus.

I figured we'd be ok if we got off the boat later but we were revving to go. My biggest issue was the total travel time. It was a couple of hours wasted IMO, but not a big deal overall.

For your Alaskan cruise consider flying into Seattle and spending a day there. There is a late train that gets you to Vancouver so you can still keep one hotel stay in Vancouver. Or you can also rent a car and drive from Seattle to Vancouver. Our one day in Seattle was super fun and we found that direct flights to Seattle were way less expensive then direct flights to Vancouver.

 

[fhtpdw20]

We always do one day after cruise to avoid having to deal with airline connection issues. The other advantage is going for one night stay in a deluxe resort. I can justify one day cost as an extra excursion but not a whole vacation when you are spending most of the time in the parks. Then too you can do ME and avoid the luggage handling to the airport.