Visit Magic Kingdom before or after cruise?

[fflmaster]

So, my wife and I are looking to book a cruise for next year and thinking we would probably visit Magic Kingdom either before or after the cruise for a couple days.

Which do you find more appealing or did? Visiting before or after?

Another option is to go first thing in January and go to Epcot/Magic Kingdom for New Year’s Eve as a start of the trip. Would you recommend that?

 

[NAB]

We prefer going to WDW before our cruise. Done it both ways.

After all the walking at the parks it’s nice to slow down after on the cruise. Even though we do go a lot on the ship . Plus we take DLC transportation from the resort . So easy. Than take it back to the airport.

We are doing this at the end of the month. 4 days at WDW and get on the Treasure after.

 

[TSR6]

We went before - did a short stay at WDW (Poly), and then drove over to the ship. It was a perfect excuse to get into town early before the cruise to avoid any travel issues. If something had happened with our travel plans, WDW would have been cut short.

 

[CamColt]

We have done both, before and after, and don't really have a preference. Basically we do whatever fits our schedule, and I feel both ways have advantages. As TSR6 noted above, you want to be in the area with plenty of time to spare so travel delays don't cause issues. We come in at least 1 day early whether we do the parks or not. On the other hand, leaving the ship and heading to the airport is very sad, so it's nice to get off the ship, knowing we still have some fun ahead of us.

 

[Stormypetrel]

There are advantages and disadvantages to each as the above posters have pointed out, so I personally base it around which days I can get the cheapest and/or most convenient flights.

 

[Mommb]

I would not go to Walt Disney World from the weekend before Christmas through the weekend after New Year's Day unless I specifically wanted to see the holiday festivities. The parks will be very crowded. If you're cruising around that time, I'd go to the parks after your cruise, when most kids are back in school and many people are no longer taking vacation days.

At other times, I can see benefits to going to the parks either before (wearing yourself out, then relaxing on the cruise) or after (giving you something else to look forward to as you disembark).

 

[starry_solo]

Before. That way, you get to relax on the cruise so much better, lol

 

[Dug720]

I'm doing 4 nights before, then the Brightline train to Fort Lauderdale to catch the Dream in August.

As others have said, I'm liking the more relaxed time on the cruise after.

 

[sponica]

Given the time range you listed, I would do after unless you go in with SUPER low expectations. Starting my vacation with bonkers crowds sounds like the opposite of fun.

We're doing 2 nights after our Treasure cruise because the airfare home on disembarkation day was 2400...yeah...whereas flying out 2 days later was about 850 dollars.

 

[tlovesdis]

Before! It's too tiring after being on such a relaxing vacation!

 

[Lovedisneydonald]

So, my wife and I are looking to book a cruise for next year and thinking we would probably visit Magic Kingdom either before or after the cruise for a couple days.

Which do you find more appealing or did? Visiting before or after?

Another option is to go first thing in January and go to Epcot/Magic Kingdom for New Year’s Eve as a start of the trip. Would you recommend that?

I’ve seen that my family enjoys going before hand rather than after so we have a few days of relaxation to look forward to! So we do 2 days before and then take transportation to get to the cruise smoothly. From there its all chill and our legs get to rest haha

 

[nephykupo]

A pro for after the cruise, you'll get a lot of steps in after eating all that food on the cruise!

 

[JM_97]

Disney World first, then Disney Cruise. You can go hard at WDW and then relax on the ship.

 

[Goofy1932]

Go before so you can relax on the cruise to end your trip. I would hate to go on a relaxing cruise and then head to the parks and get stressed out over long lines, loud "ME" people, and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.

Our trip so far:
Day 1 - DHS
Day 2 - Disney Springs
Day 3 - MK
Day 4, 5, 6, 7 - Cruise
Day 8, 9, 10 - Clearwater Beach

 

[Dug720]

Mine has changed now to 5 days before, DCL bus to Port Canaveral and 4-nights on the Wish. Still the same concept. I can rest and relax on the cruise after doing the parks!

 

[dreamer17555]

Parks before cruise for two reasons- it is a bit jarring to go from all the free food to paying WDW prices for food & snacks and sadly, land sickness is thing for many that they don't anticipate being a problem. I am mostly fine while I am sailing but once I get back on land I feel the rocking for up to a week afterwards. I can make even things like riding the skyliner miserable for me. Even still taking motion sickness meds post cruise I will be swaying from side to side for awhile.

 

[Lovedisneydonald]

A pro for after the cruise, you'll get a lot of steps in after eating all that food on the cruise!

you might be onto something

 

[Girl of the South]

I would do the Park before, relax on the Cruise after. Such different energy levels required for DisneyWorld.

 

[Coconut8473]

Parks before cruise for two reasons- it is a bit jarring to go from all the free food to paying WDW prices for food & snacks and sadly, land sickness is thing for many that they don't anticipate being a problem. I am mostly fine while I am sailing but once I get back on land I feel the rocking for up to a week afterwards. I can make even things like riding the skyliner miserable for me. Even still taking motion sickness meds post cruise I will be swaying from side to side for awhile.

Totally agree with the suddenly paying for food/snacks/drinks part being jarring. In that same vein, when going straight from the ship into another fully-Disney environment, our level of Disney "magic" expectation was much higher than usual. For one, as incredible as WDW cast members are, nothing compares to the level of personalized service you get on DCL, and our first few post-cruise WDW interactions felt so impersonal (and almost rude, even though they objectively were not at all!) And because the ships are so clean and impeccably maintained, I recall the parks feeling a bit more dirty and chaotic than usual when we went straight off of the ship. We're frequent WDW-goers and typically love the parks, the service and the CMs... but the cruise experience is plussed-up, so a much better high note to end on if you are doing both.

 

[bbn1122]

I prefer before for WDW.

My family owns DVC, so we have done a pre trip to Vero Beach before some of our cruises. One time we did VB, DCL and 2 night at SSR (no parks) just to keep the vacation going.