Pros and Cons of Land/Sea

[Lynda Silk]

That's why these boards are so great! You can find out anything you want! People are so helpful and nice on the disboards!

 

[dizprincess27]

After reading this post, I'm a little concerned!! We've been to WDW twice the last time being 2 years ago and we did it commando pretty much and saw mostly everything we wanted to. This time I'll be in Orlando for 7 nights b4 the cruise and we are doing 1 day in Universal, 1 day at Discovery Cove and another day at a disney water park and then when I'm at the BC on property I'm thinking that 4 nights in the parks should be enough time for us to do MK, MGM & Epcot & maybe AK. The way I figured, both times we went to WDW we were exhausted when we got home anyway so I'm hoping by the time we get to the cruise we'll be able to relax since I wasn't planning on doing much but the beach in Nassau and of course chilling on CC. What do you guys think? I am adding 4 nights to my land portion after all so it should work out well. It's just we've never cruised b4 so I want to make sure my dd and me like it b4 doing a 7 night cruise.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Sounds good to me, dizprincess27! You probably will leave the cruise wanting more, but as you said, it's better to try out cruising for 4 days to make sure you and your DD like cruising! And then you can do what the rest of us have done and book the 7 day cruise later! You can still relax on the 4 day cruise especially if you're only doing the beach thing in Nassau.

Don't worry; sounds like an awesome trip!

 

[puffkin]

The Land/Sea would never work for us because 3/4 days is just not enough time in the parks! We are not sure if we will like cruising or not, so we are trying the 4 night Wonder for our honeymoon. I really don't see any advantages to Land/Sea except for the transfers and one check in. Even if you want to only stay at WDW for 3 or 4 days, it may save you money to book things separately (plus you will have more choices for your accomodations).

For our honeymoon, we are doing 4 day Wonder cruise, 3 nights at Universal, then 6 nights at WDW. I am stressing that we won't have enough time to see things AND relax at WDW with only 6 nights, but we really wanted to try Universal. I have a feeling that I am going to get hooked on the Cruise line and Universal as well! I think the land/sea has a lot of limitations, but for some people, it is easier for them.

 

[ragdoll]

DH and I are leaving on our third land/sea package in the morning and we love it!

Packing for us is not an issue because the short cruises are more casual than the seven day. (that's one big reason I like the short cruises) Wardrobe is really pretty much the same. I'm just adding one pair of long pants and a couple of nice tops for dinner. Yes, I do pack light. Cruising is very relaxing after the parks!

Now I'd better go finish laundry and pack while DGD is napping.

 

[avgeek]

Wife and I are doing a land/sea for the second time starting 6/6. We liked it because it was easy to fit into our schedule and we got a little of each. Truth be told, I'd love to do a week at the parks and a week on the boat, but that's not likely anytime soon. Disney used to have a 3 day park/4 day sea package that included an extra day at sea. Not sure if it's still offered.

One thing we did was to hit the parks early and play until lunch, head back to the hotel and nap a few hours, then hit the parks again in the evening. We did take the bus from AK to the boat and will probably do it again. Early morning is the best time to see the animals from what I'm told and we appeared to arrive in plenty of time. The cruise was a nice endcap to the week and let us rest from all the walking in the park.

-D

 

[toot2]

We did the land/sea with the 4 night cruise in 2001. It was a great way to introduce everyone to cruising and we had fun at the parks

I find the parks fun but exhausting. Last month we did the 7-day western and I enjoyed that much more. My kids are now teens and I think they enjoyed the excursions and the freedom the ship has to offer.

FYI..after the land portion of our trip we packed a couple of boxes to mail home. One had dirty laundry and the other had stuffed animals and some other souveniers! It was easier than bringing it along on the ship and it gave us some extra room in the suitcases!

 

[erikthewise]

Yes the 4/3 is too short on both ends but it's still lots of fun and sure beats staying home!

However there's really no advantage to booking a 4/3 (or 3/4) with Disney. It doesn't save you any money and in fact locks you out of any possible savings. Give some thought to just booking the cruise and WDW stays separately. We did that in 2001 and did MUCH better than we would have with the combined package. Circumstances are somewhat different now, but you have much more flexibility if you book separately -- you could make it a 4/4 or 5/3 or whatever.

 

[sters]

We're planning a sea/land vacation next May. Having never cruised before and uncertain whether we'll like it or not, we have decided to the 3-day cruise portion first and then 4 or 5 days at the parks, which we adore. (DH is afraid that all that lounging around on the cruise will be more annoying than relaxing.) This means we must do our own transfers, since the option of doing the sea portion first is not available through the land/sea package.

We wanted to end on a good note and figure we'll be relaxed and refreshed from the curise for the theme park portion of the trip. I have found in the past that all the planning, pre-trip preparations and travelling leaves me so tired on the first day of the theme park trip, that sometimes it's hard to catch up. We once took the auto-train, and I was more relaxed and ready to theme park than on any prior WDW trip. I'm figuring the relaxation benefits of the cruise will outdo any from the auto-train by like 1000%!!!

I know other people think differently, but the go-go-go part of the theme park experience is more invigorating than exhausting to us so I fully expect this to work for us.

 

[Farms]

We did the land sea (3 nights WDW and 4 nights cruise) and added an extra 2 days on the end after returning from the cruise. My whole family totally enjoyed it!! We look forward to doing it again. We don't get to go to Disney as often as some of the other posters and I, personally, love teh MK and Epcot. My kids had a great time being able to do it all. Yes, we were tired when we got back, but our vacations are always busy. We figure we can lay around at the pool at home, but when in Disney ...... I would highly recommend the land/sea. You get the best of both worlds and some great memories to boot!!!

 

[dizprincess27]

Thanks for the good advice everyone !! I think I will just do a bit more research b4 putting my deposit down just to be sure that I can't do better if I book seperate. The thing is that we've always stayed in the mods and I don't think I'd be able to afford the tickets and a deluxe resort if I book seperately. I won't know about discounts this early out either If I stay on these boards for the next year, I'll figure something out and you can change if discounts become available can't you?

 

[erikthewise]

Originally posted by dizprincess27
Thanks for the good advice everyone !! I think I will just do a bit more research b4 putting my deposit down just to be sure that I can't do better if I book seperate. The thing is that we've always stayed in the mods and I don't think I'd be able to afford the tickets and a deluxe resort if I book seperately. I won't know about discounts this early out either If I stay on these boards for the next year, I'll figure something out and you can change if discounts become available can't you?

That's another advantage of booking separately; you can book a moderate resort and cat 6 cabin, or a deluxe resort and a cat 10 cabin, or any other combination you fancy.