Visiting WDW before the cruise??

[Little Mermaid's Mom]

DH and I are cruising on the Wonder July 21 with our DD 17 months. We are driving to FLA on Saturday and staying at the Hotel Royal Plaza. We would like to spend a some time at the Magic Kingdom on Sat. Night and Sunday Morn before the cruise.

What do you veteran cruisers think? Can you visit the Magic Kingdom for a couple hours on the morning of the cruise, drive over to the port and make it to the ship on time??

This board is a great source of Info!

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Can you do it? Sure, but is it worth it? I don't think so. Doing the parks can be rather stressful... especially with a 17-month old. Yes, you could enjoy the parks on Saturday night, but I recommend skipping them on Sunday morning. You'll probably be quite tired after driving and doing the parks on Saturday. You'll want to sleep in a <i>little</i> bit so you have the stamina to enjoy your cruise. Besides, WDW is <i>expensive</i>. I'd hate to blow a day's admission just for a couple hours.

 

[floridaminnie]

I agree with Dave here. You would be rushed and you wouldn't be able to do much. It weekends are the busiest time for magic kingdom and it is their high season right now. Sleep in and rest up for your cruise!

 

[Little Mermaid's Mom]

According to the booklet in our cruise docs admission to the parks is included with the cruise. Or is it?

Any other opinions? I don't think our daughter would really be able to spend anymore than two hours at a time in the parks anyways. We would like to take her on a few of the rides like Dumbo or take her to Animal Kingdom.

 

[prymsu]

I agree with Dave. It would not be worth the bucks for a couple of hours on Sunday. You would not get your money's worth.

 

[floridaminnie]

Did you purchase the Land/Sea cruise? If you did, admission is only good for your length of stay at the resort. That is either before or after the cruise. From the sounds of it, it may be after your cruise.

 

[Katesdad]

Hey Ariel's mom -

Let me know about this free admission to the parks. Right now we are planning on a one day swing through Epcot that will cost me $48 each (one day pass). If I can do it for free or less expensively I'd like to know how!

 

[Karel]

You have to purchase the whole land/sea package- where you are spending time on the cruise and then time at a Disney resort - to receive admission to the parks. If you booked cruise only, you do not have admission to the parks.

 

[Little Mermaid's Mom]

We booked cruise only so we have to pay the $48 to get in to the park. So we are going to just wait and see how early we get there before we decide if we are going to go to a park.

We won't go on the Sunday Morning of the cruise though. We'll probably just swim in the hotel pool for an hour or so. Thanks for the information!

Nancy

 

[AliPom]

If you opt out of the idea of visiting the parks, perhaps you could go to a character dinner or breakfast to get that Disney feeling before the cruise. A visit to Downtown Disney maybe; the Lego Land area is cute. I enjoy hotel-hopping just to see the different hotels/themes at WDW. If you go to a character meal at the Contemporary or the Grand Floridian you can ride the monorail from/to both resorts etc. for a glimpse of the Magic Kingdom area. The Boardwalk area is nice to see and there is a boat that you can ride from/to each resort in that area. Those are some of the things that I do when I am not in the mood to do the typical rush on all the parks. It is nice sometimes to just take advantage of a non-park day to take a breath and look around and see the beauty in the things that we don't always have the opportunity to see and enjoy.

Have a nice vacation!

 

[disneyholic family]

i agree with what everyone else has said, visit saturday night only....
and remember, a 17 month old is quite young....my kids have been to WDW from the age of 6 weeks and every possible age after that, so i'm sort of familiar with the reactions.....it's possible that a 17 month old will be more frightened than charmed by the characters....it's hard to know in advance how they will react.....they don't have the associations yet that older toddlers and children have....(hey....my kids were terrified of santa clause at the mall)....

the bottom line is to not try to do too much....just relax and enjoy the atmosphere and take things very very easy....(i.e, don't try to pack too much into your vacation.....just enjoy the time together).....

 

[billylen]

My son and I are flying on a red eye from California on Thursday night. The cruise (7 day) will leave the Saturday afternoon. SO far the plan is to visit one park only (EPCOT) on Friday and just take our good sweet time on Saturday.

I agree with the others about resting up, especially with a really young child. I had to learn the hard way when my son was younger not to allow my personal excitment to overide the sometimes limited stamina of a child...

Anyway, I'll bet the anticipation of the cruise will be excitement enough...It is fo us...

 

[disneyholic family]

Bill,
sounds like a good plan Bill (although i might want to be to the port early for the 7 day based on what everyone here has said)....

also, just personal preference, if i could only go to one park it would have to be the magic kingdom....but that's me..

 

[billylen]

Originally posted by disneyholic family

also, just personal preference, if i could only go to one park it would have to be the magic kingdom....but that's me..

I hear ya, but I asked my son which park and without missing a beat he said, EPCOT...We live in Southern California, so Disneyland is right in our backyard. Close enough, (although I can site several key differences).

I also thought about going to the Cirque show on friday night, but I want this to be a vacation not a chore...

No plans for the Saturday just check out of the hotel drive to the port and off we go!!!

I tell you, the kid in me gets so excited sometimes...