WDW or DCL for DLR vet?

[AZpharmacist]

I'm planning on either doing WDW or A Disney Cruise about a year and a half from now. My daughter is currently 2 and will be around 4 by then. We will probably have done 2 (for sure), possibly 3 trips to DLR by then and 1 stay at Aulani. What do you think will be a better experience for us?

We do like cruising but haven't been since our Daughter was born.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

I'm planning on either doing WDW or A Disney Cruise about a year and a half from now. My daughter is currently 2 and will be around 4 by then. We will probably have done 2 (for sure), possibly 3 trips to DLR by then and 1 stay at Aulani. What do you think will be a better experience for us?

We do like cruising but haven't been since our Daughter was born.

Four would be PERFECT for a Disney cruise. If you leave out of Port Canaveral, then you could do a land and sea. That is what we did our first cruise - six days at WDW and then a four night cruise. We just go back from a DCL Alaska cruise, and it was so fun to watch the princess interact with the little girls. These interactions weren't planned....the princess just walk around until the find someone to hang out with. So awesome!!

 

[MouseEXP]

Tokyo Disneyland Resort
Probably the best Disney experience in the world.

 

[readytogotodisney]

In my DS 5 yrs he's been to DL 1x, DW 7x and DCL 2x. He is constantly asking to go back to Disney and with that he bounces back and forth between the "big boat" or DW.
If I were you I'd do a land and sea. A 4 day Dream cruise out of PC and then 4 days at DW. Best of both worlds.

 

[Winnowill]

We did a cruise with a first day at the Magic Kingdom for my daughter's fourth birthday and it was AWESOME. We didn't do even half of MK that day, but it was her first ever Disney vacation experience and she didn't realize that she was missing anything. Then the cruise, which was wonderful - full of characters and neat things to do.

 

[HydroGuy]

Tokyo Disneyland Resort
Probably the best Disney experience in the world.

LOL, I think it depends on what nationality you are. For most Americans - including myself - I would disagree. Which is not to say TDR is not an incredible experience. It is just TDR was built more skewed to the locals just like DLR and WDW were built more skewed to Americans.

For diehard Disney fans a trip to TDR should be high on your list!

 

[MouseEXP]

LOL, I think it depends on what nationality you are. For most Americans - including myself - I would disagree. Which is not to say TDR is not an incredible experience. It is just TDR was built more skewed to the locals just like DLR and WDW were built more skewed to Americans.

For diehard Disney fans a trip to TDR should be high on your list!

I would say once you are at the TDR you are going to do pretty good no matter what nationality you are or language you speak.
Sure language may be a slight issue, but I never felt uncomfortable about it when I was there. Even when staying in Tokyo itself.
Plus the parks are surprisingly cheaper than they are in the states.

Personally, I am a local to Disneyland, been to the TDR 3 times, been to WDW 8 times in my life, twice in the past 4 years. After my last trip to WDW my wife and I agreed we would give WDW a long break and just go to Tokyo again because the Disney and overall experience was way better.

TDR, things I took away from my visit
Cheaper prices than in the U.S. parks
Old Attractions that look like they are brand new because the upkeep is terrific
Parades and Shows that are better than anything they have here. However, the fireworks were pretty bad, but I hear they have a new night show.
Best Cast Members in all of Disney Parks
Great food
Great guests. You will barely hear a child cry, people yelling at each other, and strollers or wheel chairs being abused. Respect for yourself and others is huge in Japan. Plus they LOVE Disney
Tokyo DisneySea. Greatest theme park Disney has ever created

 

[RKKUNK]

I would also suggest a 4 day Disney Dream cruise along with some time at WDW. We are DLR vets and had done 2 Disney cruises. This last November we did the Dream cruise first and then stayed in a timeshare for a week and did the WDW parks for 5 days. We wanted to experience all of the parks, so we figured that was the way to do it. It was exhausting, but lots of fun. I just don't know if I would do that with a younger child. You will have fun whatever you decide!

 

[tayalltheway]

Since one of the biggest costs associated with heading to Florida is the airfare, I would suggest a land-and-sea vacation as well. We did a 3-night Dream cruise followed by a 7-night stay at WDW this year, and it was so much fun!

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

DCL! We are also DL vets and absolutely loved DCL. Would go on one per year if we could!

We have booked WDW twice and just can't seem to pull the trigger and cancel.

 

[DisneylandDancer]

It all depends on your family's taste. If you want an active vacation where your family would spend the whole time together, go with WDW. However, if you want more relaxing options and possibilities for a date night while your daughter has lots of fun and meets new friends in the kids club, do a cruise. If you want a little of both, do land and sea. However, our experience felt like we didn't spend enough time at either. Personally I like the cruises a bit better, as there is a tad more variety and you can visit multiple places, while still experiencing genuine Disney magic.

 

[AZpharmacist]

I'm sure Tokyo Disney is amazing but not really feasible with a 2 year old. Maybe something to think about in 10 years or so.

I feel just as torn as before. I really want to do a 7 day cruise and WDW but it seems like WDE probably also requires a week? That's probably too much for a 4 year old. I guess we will see how we feel after Aulani. Maybe we will want a shorter cruise since we will have visited Hawaii the previous year? Hard to say at this point. Just wondering what other people like to do