What's your preference and why. WDW parks before or after cruise?

[GeneralTso]

We are looking to cruise the first week of June 2017.
Of course would like to tag on a few park days. I'm curious if pre or post cruise is better.

Also, do you book through Dreams Unlimited? I'm a fan of the podcast and of course, these boards. We are based out of Seattle (if that matters). Any thoughts on booking?

Thanks in advance!

 

[NashvilleMama]

Not having done the combo yet, I'd book the park before....coming off a cruise, everyone is pretty exhausted and the parks take it out of you even when you're fresh! Most people I know seem to do park first then cruise.

 

[BadRomance]

We are doing the cruise first and then the parks. It was recommended to us to do the cruise at the end of our trip because typically you want to enjoy the relaxing part of your vacation after the rush of the parks.

We decided to do the cruise first because we have 2 little kids so our cruise is going to be just as relaxing as a day at Disney world and I didn't want to haul all the souvenirs and purchases on the cruise after a week spent in the parks. It just seemed like more stuff to try and keep track of. And I was worried the cruise wouldn't be as appealing as the parks are to my kids so they would be bummed about not spending more time riding rides. I also loved the idea of spending our last night of vacation watching Wishes and saying goodbye to the castle.

Basically, there's not a wrong way to do things- just do what's best for you/your family.

 

[PrincessMcG]

Loved parks after. The idea of going home straight off the ship was sad, so we went that route. Got off the ship early and had a full park day! Only downside was having to pay out of pocket for food as we were used to having it available for "free" at the drop of a hat.

 

[SuperPreparo]

We've done both, but we prefer doing the parks after the cruise. It gives us something to look forward to when the cruise is over.

 

[mouseearstx]

We prefer the parks then the cruise. There is lots of rushing around at the parks, and the cruise is so much more relaxing. I prefer to finish my vacation in a relaxing way!

 

[mlktwins]

We've only cruised one time, but did 4 days of parks before the cruise. I was glad we did as it was more restful on the cruise than in the parks and we came home relaxed and happy.

 

[LisaDKG]

Ideally I would want to do before AND after! We did 'before' and we were SO SAD getting off that boat and not heading back to the parks before getting on the plane. We did DTD before our flight left but it wasn't the same!

 

[topiney]

We like to do the parks and then the cruise because believe it or not, while my grandchildren really enjoy the parks, they love the cruise! So, that is why we do our trips in that order. I personally do not think there is a bad choice if you are fortunate enough to do both in one vacation.

 

[skuttle]

We did the parks before the cruise and I felt like I was so tired from the parks that we didn't really enjoy the cruise as much. This was in June so the parks were HOT! However, I was pregnant and didn't know it at the time, so perhaps my being tired was from early pregnancy.

 

[Accident]

I've never done it but I always need a vacation from my disney vacation so I'm thinking for a relaxing cruise, you should start off with the cruise and be relaxed and then go into the WDW crazy nice and relaxed..

 

[Liz Z]

We always do the parks after our cruise. We drive back to CT. So having to drive home after the cruise would not only be sad but a very long drive home. This way we're relaxed and ready for more fun to look forward to.

 

[buzzrelly]

Last April we did four park days before our cruise and then two days after. If we had to do it again I would just do the parks before. When we got off the cruise my two teens were super exhausted from staying up so late on the cruise, and it kind of detracted from our fun in the parks.

 

[Sepo]

We are looking to cruise the first week of June 2017.
Of course would like to tag on a few park days. I'm curious if pre or post cruise is better.

Also, do you book through Dreams Unlimited? I'm a fan of the podcast and of course, these boards. We are based out of Seattle (if that matters). Any thoughts on booking?

Thanks in advance!

In response to your 2nd question, we are using DU for our upcoming first cruise and have had no problems so far. They give a healthy bonus shipboard credit with no cost difference from if we booked direct; in our case, $450.

The only difference I've seen so far is that we could not change our cabin without going through our DU TA.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've done both and they were both great. We actually did the parks after our last cruise because our flight options going home were 10 am or 5 pm - too early in the morning and then we didn't want to wait in the airport all day for a 5 pm flight. So, IMHO, before or after is good. I would keep an eye out for resort discounts and airfare and then make your decision.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

I've done both and personally I prefer parks then cruise. Our first time we did the cruise then the parks. On the last night of the cruise, we stayed up late - trying to get the most out of our last night as we could. But breakfast is early if you want to see your servers one last time and you had early seating for dinner. We did HS the first day after the cruise and we had several meltdowns in our party (3 under age 5). We ended up going back to the resort right after dinner because we were exhausted. We were well rested for the MK the following day, but I feel like HS didn't get all the attention it deserved (this was 2 years ago, so HS was a 3/4 day park IMO).
This past summer, we did the parks then the cruise and if we do a land and sea ever again, that's what we'll do. We did 4 days at the parks before and headed to Cape Canaveral the day before our cruise. We did Kennedy Space Center and had an early evening so we could get to the port early. After the cruise, we did hit MK one more day but took it easy. We planned our FPs for the evening and actually missed the first one because we desperately needed a late afternoon nap.
I liked ending our vacation more relaxed. We usually do WDW for a week and as I'm sure you know, you need a vacation to recover from a WDW vacation.

 

[cutigerlady]

We did two nights at AKL (no parks) followed by 4 night cruise and then 2 nights at the Dolphin with park time. We did it that way because of when the Food/wine festival started. If I had to do it again, I would do the parks first and followed by the cruise.

When we got off the cruise, we had fun at the parks but I was worried about getting stuff done at home. My kids were ready to be at home.

 

[Cinderella94]

Haven't been on a Disney cruise yet but I would plan to do the parks before.

 

[Laundress]

Do you happen to know how well you handle the motion of the ship? I have had terrible Land sickness after all 4 of our cruises. I would be useless in the parks after the cruise.

 

[Toon crazy]

We were thinking for our next trip two days at the parks. Then the cruise followed by 5 days at the parks again.