Which is best? AKL or Cruise first?

[tonirea]

I just booked a 4 day cruise for January 22, 2006. I am getting ready to book the AKL for 3 days but don't know if it would be best to do the cruise first or the AKL first. Any opinions?

 

[djs113]

I would go to AKL first

To me WDW is a stressful couple of days running around at the parks, with the lines, etc...

What better to enjoy the parks, then relax on the cruise afterwards.

MHO

- David

 

[Hanover]

I second going to AKL first. We did 3 days at AKL before a 4 day Wonder trip February 10-17,2005. It was so nice to just relax on the cruise after 3 days of running around trying to get to all the parks and fitting everything in we wanted to see.
Next year we are only spending 2 days at the parks and going on a 7 day Eastern Magic cruise.

 

[Lew]

We have been on two Disney Magic cruises: the first was a 4-night, the most recent a 7-night eastern. They were both wonderful cruises; however, I must tell you that we packed so much into the 4-night cruise that we were extremely tired upon disembarkation.

We were so thankful that we didn't have to fly home that day. We drove to OKW where we recuperated for a week before returning home.

You just might want to consider planning your WDW stay after your cruise. It makes re-entry back into the real world so much easier if you can do this after your cruise.

Think about flying into Orlando the day prior to your cruise, staying off property (near the airport or the port), enjoying your cruise, then a stay at WDW.

Whichever way you do it you'll have a wonderful time...

 

[disneybride96]

I vote for AKL First ... cruise second. We are doing 5 days at WDW and a 3 day Cruise in Feb. We have no intentions of ever leaving the ship and will probably spend a large amount of time in the Rain Forest room. I guess it just depends how you want to pace yourself.

 

[skibum]

Another vote for doing WDW first. You want to pack so much in while at WDW, it can be stressful. Then you get on the ship, and there is no stress, no major lines, no real frustration. We found we forgot about WDW once we were on the boat - it is awesome!
My BIL is at WDW right now, and is so tired from trying to do so much. He is looking forward to going to the beach so he can relax.
WDW first!

 

[FletchFab5]

Here's another perspective--I haven't done both at the same time and have only been on a cruise once, this past April, but I said to my husband how much easier it would be to get off the ship knowing we were going to Disney World afterward! We hated to leave and know that the whole thing was over, I was jealous of everyone going on to Disney. You may be tired, but by then you're ready to say "Ok we've had enough, at least for now" and you can go home knowing you did everything!

 

[erikthewise]

An advantage to doing the cruise first is that it will make the AKL rooms look large by comparison, and that's not easy to do!

But a far more important advantage to AKL first is that you do not risk missing the cruise due to airline delays. The #1 item of advice on this board is to arrive a day early for your cruise.

 

[zakatak]

We will be at AKL on the 21st and going on the Wonder on the 22nd with you! Do you have kids? One thing I found was that with kids, it's easier to do WDW before the cruise because the food on the cruise is "free". On our first cruise, we went to AKL for one day after (including a 1/2 day at AK) and my kids kept asking for ice cream, snacks, juice, etc... thinking it was all you could eat "free". Ha! Free, NOT!

We are flying in on Saturday, 1/21 and spending the day at AKL (no parks), having dinner at BOMA, maybe going to DTD then heading to the ship early Sunday morning!

Karen

 

[kcashner]

We've cruised on the Magic 12 times, and done WDW both before and after. In my opinion, parks before are better. We really wear ourselves out in the parks, so the cruise is relaxing for the mom, easy on the feet, etc.


Ditto the part about the food is free on the ship--the kids get used to the idea of getting ice cream whenever or if they don't like something, just getting something else.

We always have a little adjustment issue after the cruise (I've been known to say "Do I look like (name of server or steward)? Then get up and get it yourself!" They do get a little spoiled. I'd rather deal with that issue at home than in the parks.

 

[castoff]

I just booked a 4 day cruise for January 22, 2006. I am getting ready to book the AKL for 3 days but don't know if it would be best to do the cruise first or the AKL first. Any opinions?

I will tell our experience............We wen't on a 4 day cruise first then stayed at AKL. I am so glad we did !! With all the hussle and bussle on the ship it was so relaxing to be on our balcony and watch the animals. That's a vacation after a vacation. We enjoyed the parks better with having some rest. We have 2 kids and before the cruise all I would hear is when is the cruise. I think if we did AKL first we would still be hearing it. When they were on the cruise they didn't ask once when are we going AKL.

 

[noahsmom]

We've done 2 WDW/DCL trips and booked them separately so we could have our choice of WDW resorts (Poly conceirge). This is our preference because it's so hectic at WDW and so relaxing on DCL. Also by the time we get on the ship we are all ready for a break from each other so ds is quite happy to be in the kids club doing what he wants!

Warning about the meals - ds now believes he should always get an appetizer and dessert whenever we go out for dinner. DCL spoils everyone!

Have a great time.