WDW and 4 day cruise or just cruise?

[zomama]

hi! My family loves WDW - we try to go about once every 2 years or so. We were last there in May and though we had a great time it rained all day every day. Such a bummer! My kids and I think we really need a do over. We also have been wanting to try a Disney cruise but we really love the parks and I can’t imagine being in FL and not going!

So my question is would 4 days at WDW followed by a 4 night cruise be the best of both worlds or would it feel like not enough of either?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

hi! My family loves WDW - we try to go about once every 2 years or so. We were last there in May and though we had a great time it rained all day every day. Such a bummer! My kids and I think we really need a do over. We also have been wanting to try a Disney cruise but we really love the parks and I can’t imagine being in FL and not going!

So my question is would 4 days at WDW followed by a 4 night cruise be the best of both worlds or would it feel like not enough of either?

For me, not enough of either. But, I'd do a couple of nights at WDW with a longer cruise with no issue. I don't mind cutting a trip to WDW short, but not a cruise.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

7night cruises are ahmaaaazing! We love the parks and resorts but we also love the cruises. The things I miss while on a cruise are the expansive resort pools. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We (DH and I) arrive one to two day ahead of the cruise to SSR at WDW, just in case the airlines or weather delay us. Love spending a full day at WDW.

 

[mmmears]

hi! My family loves WDW - we try to go about once every 2 years or so. We were last there in May and though we had a great time it rained all day every day. Such a bummer! My kids and I think we really need a do over. We also have been wanting to try a Disney cruise but we really love the parks and I can’t imagine being in FL and not going!

So my question is would 4 days at WDW followed by a 4 night cruise be the best of both worlds or would it feel like not enough of either?

I've done a WDW/DCL split and had a great time. It's different from an all park vacation, and different from a longer cruise, but still very nice. I would do what makes you happy. For me, I don't think I could fly all the way to FL and not squeeze in a few park days. For some, it's easier to get there so they can take multiple trips. Pretty much when you ask on the cruise boards about how long your cruise should be the answer is always "the longer the better." We have taken a couple long DCL cruises and loved them but neither left from FL since if I'm going there I'd rather visit the parks as well.

 

[Stratus22]

We always do 3 days at WDW and 4 night cruises. But If I were to only do a cruise then I'd go for a 5 or 7 night cruise.

 

[FSU Girl]

I've done a few days at Disney and then a 4 night cruise. It was a really fun trip and I felt like it gave us a taste of both and didn't feel like I was missing out. The 7 night cruises are fun and it's always recommended to fly in at least a day before the cruise so you could squeeze in a short trip to Disney World and then go on the longer cruise?

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

You didn't say how long the cruise would be if it were just a cruise.... same 4 day or a 7 day?

Personally, I would pick the longer cruise vs. short cruise + WDW. We are doing our 1st DCL this summer, but have been on 5 Carnival cruises. I think a 4 day cruise is too short to really take advantage of everything the ship has to offer.

 

[Quellman]

We've done a shorts parks visit followed by a 4 day cruise this past year. It was perfect for what we wanted it to be. If you can, see about doing the parks first, so you can get more relaxation from the cruise.

 

[lilsonicfan]

While I love WDW, I am not a fanatic about it, so 4 park days would be enough for me (and more than enough for my husband!) I prefer cruising as it is much more relaxed, so I have a hard time recommending a 4 day cruise. I'd go with 3 park days and a 7 night cruise

 

[CaLuCa]

I moved to Florida to solve this problem.

I adore the parks. I get teary eyed when I round the corner at Main Street and see the castle. I sing every song during the Frozen Sing along. If I had to truly chose one or the other, I'd go with parks. But I think 3 or 4 days split either way is great, especially if you've been recently. Hit your highlights at the parks. Well planned with FP and emh can go a long way.

Like you said, it's hard to be in Florida and not go to the parks. We waited several months before getting our passes (Christmas gifts), and it was driving me bananas not to go. Kids and I did a Christmas decoration resort tour and it took so much restraint not to get off the Monorail at MK.

Good Luck deciding!

 

[MonaMN]

We did three park days plus a 4 night cruise for our first (and only - so far) cruise. It was good, but... we wanted to pack so much into those three park days - mostly to do stuff we hadn't done before - HEA, Pandora, etc. We pushed hard on those days, and we were exhausted.

And while the cruise was relaxing in some ways, it also was a number of later nights for our kid... so she was just exhausted by the time the cruise was over.

So while I wouldn't do it again that way, I understand the reasoning - we knew we liked the parks but we weren't sure about the cruise. But now I would only do one at a time... so we are doing parks this March and a cruise next March (assuming all goes as planned).

 

[Frozen2014]

End of next summer we have a 4 day cruise booked out of Port Canaveral (we actually enjoy the 4 nights and it fits in with the timing before kids return to summer). So...we thought why not add in a couple days at the parks before flying home. To us, its a bonus and best of both worlds. At some point, I'd like to do a "full" Disney trip with say 5-6 days at the parks but this is what works at this time. So your plan of 4 days at each sounds perfect to me.

 

[mevelandry]

hi! My family loves WDW - we try to go about once every 2 years or so. We were last there in May and though we had a great time it rained all day every day. Such a bummer! My kids and I think we really need a do over. We also have been wanting to try a Disney cruise but we really love the parks and I can’t imagine being in FL and not going!

So my question is would 4 days at WDW followed by a 4 night cruise be the best of both worlds or would it feel like not enough of either?

I'm a big fan of Land & Sea. WDW first & then a cruise.

I think it's the best of both worlds too.

 

[Riss]

My family did a 4-night Disney Cruise on the Disney Dream followed by a 4-night stay in the AoA Finding Nemo suites and absolutely loved it! Before this we were always just WDW people. The past cruise was actually pretty much everyone's first, I had gone on one when I was like 4 but don't really count that since I don't really remember much lol.

For us, the trip actually felt kind of long since we're always used to just flying down and doing quick 4-night stays at WDW with the high school band, so adding it on to a 4-night cruise felt super long for us.

While we were on the cruise, before we got to WDW, my mom did say that she wishes she did the cruise second because of how relaxing and nice it was whereas we'd be running around in WDW next haha.

 

[mernin]

Our first cruise we did 2 days at WDW, 4 night cruise and 2 more days at WDW. We weren’t sure if we’d like cruising and really wanted to visit the parks. It was a great trip. But we did feel 4 nights on the cruise was short. We are a few months away from a 7 night cruise and we are coming in a few days earlier to visit universal this time for 2 days and 1 non-park WDW day after. I think we’ll love this trip!!

 

[FigmentSpark]

We did a 7 day cruise and one day at the parks, but we could have done 3, given the way our flights worked out. Can you swing a 7 day cruise and then a few extra days for WDW?