Visiting the theme parks AFTER your cruise?

[GeezeLouise]

The common logic is to go to WDW/Orlando before the cruise.

But that just isn't working out for me, I fear. We are on a kind of rigid window to work with and the cruise I'm planning won't allow that before. Does it totally ruin the vibe of your trip to go to a theme park after. (I'm actually thinking of Harry Potter as my kids are big fans, but same difference.) I want to go to the two potter parks for 3 days and do visit some Disney resort restaurants. I'm thinking 5 day cruise and 5 day stay in Orlando.

 

[CamColt]

While I haven't done Harry Potter, we have done a 4 day park trip after a cruise once and it was just fine. We enjoyed both portions of the trip very much and it worked for our schedule. The best part was when we got off the ship we didn't have to head home! It wasn't quite as sad as it usually is. We have done the parks before too and enjoy that as well.

 

[Jkpark]

I found doing HP at Universal much more relaxing than the couple of days at the Disney parks after a cruise. This was right after new years and the parks were still very busy. At WDW, the busses were slow, the restaurants were slow, I was with a larger group and was trying to make everyone happy in 2 1/2 days. At universal it was just my family of 4, we could walk to the parks (or take a boat) which ran on a better schedule. No downtime park hopping. Easy to be flexible on eating. I think you have a good plan for your time in Orlando - you are giving yourself plenty of time for Universal and some Disney meals

 

[Kpitts17]

I think it’s totally fine. I did both last year. When you really dissect it, it’s different since the parks and usually more crowded and paying for food again seems odd, but to be able to continue the magic and not jump on the plane after you disembark, totally worth it.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We're going on our first DCL cruise and doing the parks afterwards. We could either do the 8 day eastern and then parks, or parks first and 6 day Western. We chose the 8 day cruise.

I'm happy with this schedule. We've been to WDW a few times, and if we did WDW first, I feel we'd spend the time thinking about our first DCL trip, instead of being focused on WDW. By doing DCL first, we'll really enjoy WDW when we get there, and not so focused on the next part of the trip.

 

[InWonderlandMom]

We are doing cruise then parks in early August, so I will let you know how it goes. We too had limited flexibility before cruise to do the parks, so this is our order. We have done both separately- about a month or so apart- and they are two entirely different experiences. I did for the first time get the Disney Dining Plan for our parks portion. It may make the adjustment to food not being included a bit more smooth.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We did a day at the park (and a day at the resort) after our cruise. It was great. Getting off the ship and thinking about it being 'over' nearly made me tear up, but I remembered that I still had some Disney to look forward to. Then, by the time the park was done, I was ready to let it go. A day touring MK can do that to you.

 

[tlprice]

Our 1st cruise we did Universal for 2 days Dream for 4 then WDW for 6. Our 2nd cruise we did MNSSHP then Fantasy for 7 then Universal for 3 days and MVMCP (we began with Halloween and ended with Christmas!). Our 3rd cruise we did 3 day Dream and then 4 days at Universal. Universal is definitely more relaxing than WDW, but I think it all depends on how you approach it. We just do whatever works for our dates. Our most recent cruise, we weren't able to spend any extra time in Orlando and that was okay too. We did go to lunch at Disney Springs and hang out there a bit after we got off the ship before our flight, which was also nice.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've done the parks after a cruise and found it very enjoyable! Just want to mention, the HP areas in Uni and IOA are quite small and you could do them both in a day. Unless you want to explore all of Uni and IOA, you do not need 3 days to see HP.

 

[mmmears]

My family has "sandwiched" a couple of DCL cruises between short stays at WDW (3-4 days on either side). It was great. I don't understand why people say it's not fun. I guess it's a personal thing, but we were much happier when leaving the ship than all the people around us who were stressing about getting to the airport. Instead of being sad the cruise was over, we had a few WDW days to look forward to. So, if going to WDW before your cruise isn't working for you, don't despair. There is no real "right way" to take your vacation, no matter what people tell you. Do what works for you and have fun!

 

[DWillowBay]

Who is this Potter person? Never heard of him. Anyway, I always wrap a day or two before with a few days after a cruise. For us, it just enhances the 'magic', but not everyone feels that way. You just have to do what works for you. There isn't a 'bad" option. ....except for that Potter person.

 

[Dug720]

My family has "sandwiched" a couple of DCL cruises between short stays at WDW (3-4 days on either side). It was great. I don't understand why people say it's not fun. I guess it's a personal thing, but we were much happier when leaving the ship than all the people around us who were stressing about getting to the airport. Instead of being sad the cruise was over, we had a few WDW days to look forward to. So, if going to WDW before your cruise isn't working for you, don't despair. There is no real "right way" to take your vacation, no matter what people tell you. Do what works for you and have fun!

I don’t think people are saying it’s not “fun”. But for many people, the parks are anything BUT relaxing and they would rather do the “frenzy” of the parks and then relax on the cruise. Going from the relaxation of the cruise to the frenetic pace of the parks is a shock to some people.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We were fine with visiting WDW after a cruise. The biggest drawback was DGS who was 8 at the time, was so spoiled by the all-inclusive food on the cruise, it was a rude awakening when he was expected to pay for the food at the WDW hotel food court.

 

[go oilers go]

We have taken 4 Disney cruises and have always gone to the parks after. When we first started looking at cruises, we thought we would prefer to go to the parks first, but that just didn’t work out with theEastern Caribbean itinerary...so we went after, and I’m sooo glad we did! My son was 9 and was crying because he loved his first cruise so much, and didn’t want to get off the ship! So the parks were a great “consolation” prize . Plus we walked off a crapload of cruise calories which was also a win

 

[bcwife76]

I don't think there is a right way or wrong way to do it So far we've done WDW before our cruise (twice) and we've done Disneyland after our cruise (driving up or taking the train up from San Diego) twice.

 

[Mango7100]

We did one day at MK the day after we disembarked last year (the actual disembark day we stayed to swim at the hotel and had dinner at Disney Springs). This year we will be going to AKL July 3-6 after our cruise. As others have said, it makes getting off the boat not so sad. Yes it is more hectic than the cruise, but you can plan your park days to fit your desired activity level. Have fun!

 

[Karin1984]

Next year we have the plan to travel from Europe to see San Francisco/Los Angeles/Disneyland/Disney World, but then I saw a 4 night cruise that matches with our itinerary. So we are shortening the WDW section to end with a relaxing cruise. There are late flights from MCO after the cruise, which technically could mean that we could go to a park for almost a full day. But most likely we will take an afternoon flight and go straight to the airport after the cruise. It's going to be an intense trip and the prospect to run around in a park to see as much as we can... probably not going to be the best for our moods.

 

[islandsnoopy]

We've gone to the parks after a cruise and before a cruise and prefer going before the cruise. For us, it's more relaxing to cruise afterwards. In either case, it's a WIN-WIN. Have a wonderful vacation!

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We’ve done both, and even did a pre-cruise stay at WDW before and a Disneyland stay after the WBPC cruise this year. We prefer post-cruise WDW stays, but sometimes that doesn’t work for our travel schedule. Any park stay in combination with a cruise is preferable to a cruise-only trip in our opinion.

 

[kiford]

I way prefer doing WDW prior to a cruise but we've done both before and after, just before, and just after. They all had their pros and cons and while I prefer the before cruise visit, they were all good. Some of it depends on how often you've been to WDW and how you tour. When we did both before and after a cruise, we'd use the after cruise time to just pick up a couple of attractions we hadn't done before or that we wanted to do again and spend the rest of the time more leisurely with more time at the resort. The before visit was a little more intense since we knew we'd have relaxation time on board.

The most difficult part of doing the after cruise park visit was that you had to re-adapt your brain to realizing that you have to pay for food, not just grab and go like on the ship. The last time we did just an after cruise park visit, we were with friends who are locals and she goes full out when at the parks and we just follow like baby ducks. At least you don't have that really sad feeling when disembarking because you know you're just on the way to Part 2 of your vacation rather than heading to the airport.