Are you going to Disneyland before or after your cruise or not at all?

[onlyoneash]

Planning a cruise on the west coast this time and wondering if you go to Disneyland before, after, or not at all. And what is your reasoning?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Planning a cruise on the west coast this time and wondering if you go to Disneyland before, after, or not at all. And what is your reasoning?

Well, for me, not at all. We're local so it's pretty easy for us to "hop on over" to DL when we want.

 

[sturner324]

We are going to Disneyland (starting sept 13) Wednesday-Saturday. Cruising Sunday-Friday. My reasoning was mostly the days of the week. I knew I wanted a combo of weekdays and weekends for Disneyland since some things only show on weekends, but crowds are less during the week. I didn't want to do Friday-Monday at the parks, which was the other option, because of weekend crowds. Ultimately it may not matter much, but that was my thought when planning.

Some people say it's more relaxing to cruise last, but I actually did the reverse in 2013 and cruised first. That worked out just fine, too. I guess I'll know which I prefer after this trip.

I don't think there is a "wrong" way to do it. Just figure out which days of the week work best for you.

 

[finest14]

We've done Disneyland first twice and I'm not sure why we pick it that way. I can say we stay in a condo near the park and get to wash all our clothes before we repack for the cruise.

 

[Sun_soakin]

We are just going to DL for 1 full park day before the cruise (on our way down). Did it this way b/c I don't want the kids missing any more school. We are going to the SD zoo after we get off the ship, before driving home

 

[onlyoneash]

We are just going to DL for 1 full park day before the cruise (on our way down). Did it this way b/c I don't want the kids missing any more school. We are going to the SD zoo after we get off the ship, before driving home

The zoo is a good idea! When you go to DL, are you staying all the way to closing? I'm just worried the drive will be long and my kids will be exhausted and grouchy for embarkation the next day.

 

[dtrain]

We're trying DL first this year. After a few days of the hustle & bustle in the parks, to follow with a relaxing cruise seems like a win.

 

[Sun_soakin]

The zoo is a good idea! When you go to DL, are you staying all the way to closing? I'm just worried the drive will be long and my kids will be exhausted and grouchy for embarkation the next day.

Yes, we'll do a full day till close and then just sleep till we want to in the morning (or even go back into the parks for EMH) before hitting the road. We have a later PAT and I'm not that worried about being on the ship as early as possible. My youngest might even nap on the way down. One full park day won't ruin us.

 

[darnheather]

I'm hoping my 2018 cruise will be out of San Diego. Will do two or three park days before as I've never been to DL.

 

[3monkeys4me]

We are hoping to do a cruise out of San Diego in the future, provided they are still doing them in 2020. I would love to do an day or two in DL before hand. It looks like we will be living about 6ish hours away at that point, so localish but not local. It will depend on the kids' school schedule and how the cruise lines up with the weekend. We will have to pull them out of school for a few days most likely but I don't want them to miss too much at the end of the year. So, we shall see how it works out. If we can make DL work, I would prefer to do it pre cruise and relax on the cruise after

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We're doing the EBPC at the end of October. Three nights in San Diego before cruising but no DL this trip. We fIgure there's things to see in SD, and we've been to DL before.

 

[3monkeys4me]

We're doing the EBPC at the end of October. Three nights in San Diego before cruising but no DL this trip. We fIgure there's things to see in SD, and we've been to DL before.

You aren't wrong there! San Diego is one of my favorite cities to visit. I would love to live there and it is on my list of where I would like to move to when we move in 20 months. Unfortunately it isn't on my husband's list and it is his job we are moving for so no chance of that happening.

Our last San Diego trip was 9 days long and we had a tough time deciding what to see and do! We ended up with old town, USS Midway, La Jolla tide pools, Mission beach, the zoo, Balboa Park, blacks beach, and the safari park. So much fun!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Not at all. We are taking my son and his wife on the 3 night Baja cruise next May. They live in LA so we will visit a few days in LA before heading down to San Diego.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We always fly in at least one night and up to four nights before our cruise when we do WDW. And I am positive that we would do the same if we were on the west coast. Doesn't mean it would be all Disney all the time leading up to the cruise. We prefer land first, parks seem to be more stressful and if you plan to do more than Disney you get to add the stress of driving. Get that out of the way first then relax while on the cruise.

 

[mandylovesdisney]

We are flying in to SD next Wednesday, staying with friends who are cruising with us, going to DL on Thursday and getting on the ship Friday. It's going to be weird doing only a 2 night cruise but we are bring my niece who is 10 and has never cruised or been to DL before.

 

[Shanti]

We've never combined the two. Maybe someday we will, but they're just two very different vacations. I prefer taking two separate vacations to one longer hybrid vacation, because the separate vacation dates give us different things to look forward to during the year. There is also less risk when you have separate vacation dates rather than one long vacation scheduled. If someone gets sick or some other logistical issue comes up, fewer of your vacation plans get derailed.

 

[Garyjames220]

There wasn't an option in the poll for before and after

 

[bcwife76]

We did the Vancouver to San Diego cruise in 2015 so after we got off in SD we rented a car and drove up to Anaheim and did 3 days at DL before flying home. In May 2018 we are doing SD to Vancouver but unfortunately are unable to get in any park days before the cruise

 

[ludari]

I have gone before my cruises, after my cruises and a few times before and after my cruises but I definitely prefer before my cruise. Since you are cruising out of San Diego I would suggest that you visit the parks after your cruise. You can walk to the Amtrak station from the port and once you get to the Anaheim station you can either take a taxi or uber to the parks or a local hotel if you plan on staying a day or two before you depart home. There is a car rental place in downtown Disney if you prefer to have access to a car but personally I wouldn't rent a car from San Diego unless you plan on visiting other places in San Diego such as the zoo, sea world or lego land.

 

[Tinkershell76]

We did the Vancouver to San Diego cruise in 2015 so after we got off in SD we rented a car and drove up to Anaheim and did 3 days at DL before flying home. In May 2018 we are doing SD to Vancouver but unfortunately are unable to get in any park days before the cruise

This is what we are doing on Monday!