Parks compared to Cruise

[minnie10]

We are leaving on the May 22nd Wonder. I just wanted to get some input about how your trips to the park compared to the cruise trips you have taken. We have taken many trips to the parks and enjoyed each trip. For those who have done both, do you really think that we will enjoy the cruise as much as the parks? I have a DD10 and a DS6. I just hope that they are not disappointed with the cruise. They love the parks, but have never been on a cruise. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

I find the parks are hard work and you almost need a vacation to rest when you get back... Now the cruise is pure heaven!!! Everyone waits on you and you can relax or join in activities. The island is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!

Adults actually get a break while the kids are involved with their activities and you know they are safe. I love the cruise!!!

I think your kids would have a great time with all the sailaway parties and Pirate night with the fireworks. What's not to love?

You will love the Wonder and may get off the ship with a cruise booked on the Magic! We are booked on the Magic in October after 2 Wonder cruises.

Have fun!

 

[Bama4Disney]

We have been on two Disney 7 Day cruises and love it. We will go again when our DS 1 1/2 is 3. This is so much to do and we couldn't blast our 4 year old out of the Oceeneer's club. Also, you get to see Mickey Mouse in the air conditioning. You will not regret it!

 

[married2grumpy]

We LOVE WDW. We have a great and believe it or not, relaxing time each visit. I think becuase of that, our expectations for the cruise were super high. The cruise was great but we were disappointed with some things. I thought the llines for the characters were very long and felt like for the price of the cruise, they should have been more available. The character breakfast was not as good as those we've been to at WDW. Also the gift shops didn't have as much Disney stuff as I thought they would.

I felt like they need to make the ship more Disney or less Disney. It was a weird mix where it is at now. We still enjoyed oursevles and plan on going again. This time we know what to expect. You'll have a fantastic time!

P.S...I didn't eat 1 Mickey bar because it didn't feel right to eat it on the ship. To me, that's a WDW treat! My DH and kids had them daily though.

 

[cjckclan]

Hey minnie10

We have a DD10 and DS12 who live for rollercoasters. I have to admit a bit of anxiety over whether or not they will have as much fun as I'm hoping they will have. I've read many times that kids make friends quickly and spend much of their time in the kids' clubs. With all the shows, movies, kids' activities, beach fun, etc. I'm hoping for the BEST! I'm just praying for good weather so we can go snorkeling and enjoy Castaway Cay beach.

 

[cjckclan]

Oh, by the way, we are on the same cruise. We are getting soooooo excited.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

We are leaving on the May 22nd Wonder. They love the parks, but have never been on a cruise. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

We looove the parks and just returned from our first cruise - so my suggestion is: - "Don't Compare" or at least not yet. If you are a frequent WDW guest, as we are, you have worked out the "bugs" in reservations, lines, resturants, seating, when to see characters and when to pass.....etc, etc..... Think of your first trip to WDW not your last.

Cruising is different.....It is it's own magic and not the parks. So perhaps, you can set the stage that this is Mickey's ship, and it will be fun, but different.

Do you kids like the shows? At MGM or the castle? If so, they will love the shows on the ship. Do they like the pools and slides, ditto....esp. for Castaway Cay.

Cannot comment on the kids activities, as we don't have any - but we rarely saw any frowns from what little we saw of the kids.

Hope this helps.

 

[JJsmama]

I find the parks are hard work and you almost need a vacation to rest when you get back... Now the cruise is pure heaven!!!

I agree with this completely. We love WDW too. Have been going every year lately. (Well, my sons and I love it. Dh refuses to ever go again.) WDW is a great experience, but often a stressful and exhausting one for us. DCL was the first vacation we've been on since we have had children where we weren't ready to go home at the end--and we weren't more exhausted than when we started.

It depends what you are looking for. For us, WDW is a lot of work (and fun too) and with DCL, all the work is done for you so only the fun is left.

 

[lbgraves]

We found the experience on the ship to be completely different. If you show up 5-10 minutes before the character's posted time to appear you don't have a long line to wait in. You can call the PAL line at night to get the detailed schedule which wont show up in the navigator. I did this & planned which characters we would see with which activities we wanted to do. We saw so many characters on both cruises in a short amount of time for each one.

 

[erikthewise]

The cruise is, well, a cruise! Enjoyable as it is it does not in any way "replace" the parks nor does it attempt to. As we can only go once a year, we prefer a shorter cruise combined with a WDW stay to a 7-day cruise which would leave almost no time for the parks.

I enjoy the activity level of the parks, and also on the cruise I want to always be "doing something". Fortunately there is plenty to do, and one of the differences is that on the cruise a family doesn't always have to be together. We do some things as a family, but when the boys are in their club, DW and I can do something together or just go our separate ways!

 

[Jillpie]

We just came back from doing both, parks and cruise. There is simply no comparison. We will always love WDW. But we LOVED, loved, loved the cruise. We did the 4 day and hardly ever saw our three boys! They just loved the clubs, had two in the teen club and my DS16 did not want to say goodbye to his new friends (ended up getting together with them in DW afterward at night). I do have a big tip for you though. From day one on the cruise, tell yourself its OKAY to slow down. I found myself for the first two days, frustrated a little bit because I was so used to planning the parks and what to do next, that it was difficult to just walk around the ship and relax. Try to do that as soon as you get on, as hard as it is not to run around and do the next thing. Take in the beautiful atmosphere and just walk the decks at night. It is stunning. Stop and watch the sunset, you won't believe your eyes. We ended every night on the deck four lounge chairs, a great quiet getaway. We just booked our first 7 day for next June, two days at Castaway Cay. This place is paradise on earth. But don't bother going to check out the adult beach, you won't be able to see the view of the ship. I wasted alot of time doing that. Stay on the family side. Okay, now I'm babbling...sorry. Have a ball, the time will fly by.

 

[Corryn]

I'm gonna agree with that.....They are two separate vacation experiences. I thought for sure it would be the Magic Kingdom of the Seas, but it had more of a classy, adult feel to it, whereas MK is geared to the kid or kid at heart. I also thought it was "different" not seeing as much Disney on the cruise than at the parks.
We took the 3 night land 4 night sea. Everyone in our group agreed that we should have just taken the 7 day cruise!
The reason why we took the split package was because some families in our party have never been to the parks and this way it would give them an opportunity to do both cruise and parks. But if you have already done the parks, I highly suggest just doing the 7 day cruise. It was pretty stressful doing both park and cruise, IMO. I just felt rushed and all the packing and unpacking was too much, especially when you're the mom doing the packing for everyone else, too.
But we absolutely all loved the cruise, the ship itself, the dinners, the islands....Have fun!

 

[pacercolt]

We have been doing WDW 4 times a year for the past few years. We are Disney freaks. We had the most amazing time on the cruise. I thought it was all the Disney magic without all the work. I thought the characters were very accessible. It was the best vacation ever. I don't think one is better than the other, it is just another form of magic for our family.

 

[minnie10]

Thanks everyone for so much information. It sounds like we are going to have a great time.