Help me decide. Parks or cruise?

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Trying to plan out ideas for our 10th wedding anniversary next September (2019)

7days in the parks staying at wilderness Lodge etc

7 days carribean cruise with a private verandah.

We have never ever been on a cruise so no idea...
 

larryz

I'm Just A Tourist!
Premium Member
If you've never been on a cruise, try a three or four day cruise first.

We thought we'd love it, and for the most part we did, but we found out that one of our party gets quite queasy at sea... she was miserable while the boat was in motion, and pretty much killed cruises for us.
 

Surfin' Tuna

Well-Known Member
It depends on a lot of factors, such as your likelihood to get seasick (although there are medicines for this), with whom you'd be traveling, and how much you love the parks versus the ocean and if the parks mean something significant to your relationship. We used to cruise a lot before children and then stopped, although we are going on our first Disney cruise in May. Most people who cruise once will cruise again, but there are many who can't get off the ship fast enough. I think the level of service is better on cruises, but this is not based on DCL (check back in two months). If you could get enough time, you could maybe do a short cruise and maybe 5-6 days at the park. They usually have 3-4 day cruises leaving out of Port Canaveral in September, and that's only about an hour fifteen from the parks.
 

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
1521462303458.jpg
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
i may have to price both and just see how bad it really is. I think wed both like the private island, to try snorkeling. We keep a variety of Saltwater fish at home, and would love to see this, and see them in the wild, yet the Parks is the " old reliable"
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Cruises are a very different animal from the parks...especially the 7 day variety.

It all really depends on what you want to get out of your trip.

In the simplest terms, the parks can be exhausting, but exciting. The cruises tend to be much more relaxing with a fair amount of down time.

The parks are very rush, rush, get as much done as possible burn the candle at both ends type of vacation. I always have enjoyed them, but I often feel like I need a vacation to get over my vacation at the end.

A cruise is much more relaxed, less urgent kind of vacation. There are no fastpasses, very few if any dining reservations and crowds are all but non-existent. About the only con to some is some of the longer cruises can have a fair amount of down time to fill in. On my last cruise I had a day at sea where I was really wishing that I had brought a book or two.
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
When we go to the parks, thats the way we are. We have a list of things we want to get done at said park, and we push it till it gets done, and we always have a day or 2 to recover at at the end. Theres always the room to escape people etc

With a cruise you are locked on a ship with no escape if you suddenly need to get away etc. Thats the only part im worried about, if for some reason my wife doesnt like it your stuck for 7 days.

I may look at the land and see, and do say 4 resort days, 3 park days, and a 4 day cruise.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
When we go to the parks, thats the way we are. We have a list of things we want to get done at said park, and we push it till it gets done, and we always have a day or 2 to recover at at the end. Theres always the room to escape people etc

With a cruise you are locked on a ship with no escape if you suddenly need to get away etc. Thats the only part im worried about, if for some reason my wife doesnt like it your stuck for 7 days.

I may look at the land and see, and do say 4 resort days, 3 park days, and a 4 day cruise.
This was a bit of a concern as well when I took my first Disney cruise. I had a number of friends telling me how crowded cruise ships are, there is no way to escape people, etc. While that may be the case on some cruise lines, I found it to be exactly the opposite on Disney.

Every Disney cruise I have been on was sold out and none have ever felt crowded. Most of the time I felt like I had run of the ship. The kid pools would get crowded in the middle of the day, but the adult only sections almost always feel like a ghost town.

If you are unsure, taking a shorter cruise on your first trip out is always a good idea. If you don't like it you are only out 3-4 days vs 7.
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This was a bit of a concern as well when I took my first Disney cruise. I had a number of friends telling me how crowded cruise ships are, there is no way to escape people, etc. While that may be the case on some cruise lines, I found it to be exactly the opposite on Disney.

Every Disney cruise I have been on was sold out and none have ever felt crowded. Most of the time I felt like I had run of the ship. The kid pools would get crowded in the middle of the day, but the adult only sections almost always feel like a ghost town.

If you are unsure, taking a shorter cruise on your first trip out is always a good idea. If you don't like it you are only out 3-4 days vs 7.
We would be just 2 adults traveling, so we would look mostly for those adult only areas. Im most concerned with never being out to sea, so not sure how our bodies would react. Sea sickness is a real fear...
 

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
Cruises are a very different animal from the parks...especially the 7 day variety.

It all really depends on what you want to get out of your trip.

In the simplest terms, the parks can be exhausting, but exciting. The cruises tend to be much more relaxing with a fair amount of down time.

The parks are very rush, rush, get as much done as possible burn the candle at both ends type of vacation. I always have enjoyed them, but I often feel like I need a vacation to get over my vacation at the end.

A cruise is much more relaxed, less urgent kind of vacation. There are no fastpasses, very few if any dining reservations and crowds are all but non-existent. About the only con to some is some of the longer cruises can have a fair amount of down time to fill in. On my last cruise I had a day at sea where I was really wishing that I had brought a book or two.

I think it depends on how you do Disney. We aren't "rush rush" and often spend hours at our resort during the day. I did a few years of commando and honestly it's not much fun and not a vacation, so we stopped doing that long before we took our kids.

So you can do a super relaxing Disney vacation in the parks too.

I wouldn't start doing a cruise with such a long one though. We did a 5 night and it was fine. Almost too little to do. Not something my husband really enjoyed so we haven't bothered going back on one. He's not much for beach house vacations either which might explain something. And to be honest, I wouldn't start off doing a Disney cruise if adults only. They are rather expensive for what you get IMO.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
We would be just 2 adults traveling, so we would look mostly for those adult only areas. Im most concerned with never being out to sea, so not sure how our bodies would react. Sea sickness is a real fear...
Under normal conditions sea sickness on the larger ships tends to be pretty mild. I have motion sickness that seems to be getting worse with age and I have never felt more than a bit off and we have run into less than favorable conditions to cause that. I typically take a 24hr less drowsy Dramamine before bed and that keeps me right as rain.

The only time I ever actually got sick was on a launch from Cozumel to the mainland in very rough seas.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Under normal conditions sea sickness on the larger ships tends to be pretty mild. I have motion sickness that seems to be getting worse with age and I have never felt more than a bit off and we have run into less than favorable conditions to cause that. I typically take a 24hr less drowsy Dramamine before bed and that keeps me right as rain.

The only time I ever actually got sick was on a launch from Cozumel to the mainland in very rough seas.
Sure you can, the thing is most people don't. The "once in a lifetime" mentality seems to run strong when it comes to the average Disney vacation.

Taking it down a notch is one of the things I loved about being close to the parks.
 

Mainahman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Were considering both.

The Parks plan would be 7 days on site at Wilderness Lodge

5 park days, 2 resort days, taking breaks each day to relax as well.

vs a longer cruise for more relaxation

However, im also now toying with

4 days at Wilderness Lodge, with 3 park days with the Dining plan, (we would likely forgo the park hoppers, and do 1 day at EPCOT, one day at MK, and one day at AK, and skip DHS all together. and 4 days at sea. About the same price as the 5 park days, and 7 days at WL.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom