Pre Cruise Park Visit

[DISfirstTimer]

My family of 4 is staying 2 nights at a Disney Resort prior to our Cruise on Saturday, 2/14. in a perfect world we could hit up broth Animal and Magic Kingdom. We plan to go parks on Friday but anticipate being on property by 3 on Thursday. Would you suggest adding a park day for the remainder of Thursday? Would you suggest park hoping or stick to a standard ticket? I welcome all your recommendations.

 

[DWillowBay]

We are doing a similar scenario in January. We are doing 2 full-day parks rather than make life crazy in such a short time by hopping. There are just too many indiscernible variables that have the potential to cut into the 2nd park if hopping (lines, short-term ride break-down, weather, etc). We just picked the two parks most important to our gang (MK, HS) and count it all as a blessing. Also, it will leave us time at the end of Day 2 to re-pack and be ready for the cruise. If you are using Disney Transportation to port, they will pick up your bags at around 8:00am and transport them for you. So, you have to be ready early. I hope your cruise and park time are really terrific!

 

[hardcorestitch]

My family of 4 is staying 2 nights at a Disney Resort prior to our Cruise on Saturday, 2/14. in a perfect world we could hit up broth Animal and Magic Kingdom. We plan to go parks on Friday but anticipate being on property by 3 on Thursday. Would you suggest adding a park day for the remainder of Thursday? Would you suggest park hoping or stick to a standard ticket? I welcome all your recommendations.

I would lean towards MK instead of AK should you choose to go into a park. You would only have a short window in AK if you had arrived at your stated time. In my honest opinion… take it easy and don’t hop parks! You’ll presumably have more time in MK and LL would pay for itself here.

Remember as well… as of a few hours from now, NO MORE add ons for Disney Cruise Line packages! Everything sails separately now... you now have to book WDW and DCL separate.

 

[DISfirstTimer]

I would lean towards MK instead of AK should you choose to go into a park. You would only have a short window in AK if you had arrived at your stated time. In my honest opinion… take it easy and don’t hop parks! You’ll presumably have more time in MK and LL would pay for itself here.

Remember as well… as of a few hours from now, NO MORE add ons for Disney Cruise Line packages! Everything sails separately now... you now have to book WDW and DCL separate.

Would you suggest just doing one park day then? Do you think it’s worth trying to sneak in a few hours in when we arrive on Thursday?

 

[Skippyboo]

You could get plenty done on Thursday at MK like watching HEA and the nighttime parade or doing rides while others are watching the fireworks . Then you could start Friday at AK and hop to other parks. The Festival of the Arts at Epcot that time of year is nice. Maybe think of some LL for Friday say if you want to do Guardians. I would not try to do everything in the parks.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Would you suggest just doing one park day then? Do you think it’s worth trying to sneak in a few hours in when we arrive on Thursday?

I would only buy a 1 day park ticket and upgrade it to 2 days if there's time. Arriving a 3 is fine for a half day at MK but if your arrival is delayed, you may not have much time there at all. In winter, you really can't count on travel happening on time.
For me, it's worth the little bit of time going to GS to add a park day vs. buying a 2-day ticket and feel that I wasted several hundred dollars, depending on how many are in your travel party. You might feel differently and maybe think that even only a few hours at a park is still worth it and would rather hit the ground running.

What's nice is knowing the whole time you're in crowded parks, in long lines, etc. that soon you'll be relaxing on the ship.