land and cruise

[kangan2roos2]

My son has asked to go to WDW for his 8th grade graduation next year. I am looking at surprising the family with possibly tacking a 3 day cruise on the end. I would like to hear your thoughts especially anyone who has done this. Is it better to just have more time at WDW? It will be me my DH and DS 14 and DD 4

[susie & perla's mom]

We've done it twice already and loved it. Only thing is, I think you should go to the parks first then relax at the boat.

[slheflin]

We've done it twice already and loved it. Only thing is, I think you should go to the parks first then relax at the boat.

We just did a day at MK, 4-nt Bahamas cruise, then at day each at AK, Epcot & HS. I fully recommend the parks first then the cruise. You will not regret the cruise! It was awesome!! And the character meet & greets are terrific. One night we were able to hit 6 characters in less than 20 minutes. No waiting in long, hot lines in the sun at a park

[kangan2roos2]

Thanks! That was what I planned if we can swing it is to do the parks first and then suprise with the cruise. I would really like to say to my son.. Nope, not heading to the airport heading to the ship port
Does anyone mind me asking what type cabin they stayed in? We will be staying at the Poly as we won't stay anywhere else. But with that cost we might just do 3 nights 4 days and then the 4 night cruise. I'm just super excited! Even if we don't do the cruise we will absolutely be at the parks!

[slheflin]

We stayed in a Deluxe Family Oceanview stateroom on Deck 7 forward. Big porthole window and plenty of room for the 3 of us (me, hubby & son). The girls stayed in the room next to us.

[Donald A]

I have never combined both but took one Disney Wonder 4 night cruise and many trips to WDW. Our next trip we plan on ending in a 3 night cruise to the Bahamas. I don't like the cruising as much as my wife but it is good food and good service all included. To get that kind of service at the WDW Resort, it costs major money. It's nice to get the fast paced activity filled fix I like at the resort and let my wife get the relaxation of a cruise.

[DisneyFr33k]

We did a 5 night at Disney World and then took a 3 night cruise. We did not book a 'land and sea" package as we wanted to stay at Coronado Springs. We actually saved money that way. We hired a private transfer to take us to the port.

I agree, doing WDW ahead of time would be best.

One question though - is this your family's first time to WDW? If so, you might want to stay longer to get all out of it as possible.

[ElenitaB]

While we love WDW and visiting the parks, cruising has become my favorite vacation. To combine both is perfection!

Our first cruise on the Wonder we stayed in a cabin with verandah; the second we were in an oceanview cabin. It may be just me, but with a 4 year old, I'd be uneasy with the verandah (mine was rather, er, impulsive ). That said, it's really hard to open the door to the verandah.

On the Dream, even the inside cabins are pretty amazing. The Disney site has virtual tours of the different cabin types.

[LorrieP]

We just did 3 nights at WDW and the 4 night cruise. It was fantastic! We had the Deluxe Room with a verandah on Deck 7. We feel that the verandah is a must. It was so awesome to get up early and see the sun rise in my pj's!!

I really liked the 4 night as it gives you that day at sea to recuperate from Castaway Cay and explore the ship. We even did laundry that day. Castaway Cay is awesome! We got the Getaway pacakge that included snorkel gear, a float or tube rental, and a 1-hour bike rental. Totatlly worth it!

[kangan2roos2]

One question though - is this your family's first time to WDW? If so, you might want to stay longer to get all out of it as possible.

This will be my 4yo DD first time. The rest of the family has been a few times (not as much as I would like ) I will be using Magical journeys as Karen has helped me on my last 2 visits. I am just fishing for some info before hand.