Have Never Cruised with Disney; but I have questions

[Gemnohamcm]

Just a recommendation for your WDW portion of the trip. Check out http://www.tourguidemike.com. He is a former WDW VIP guide and provides excellent recommendations for avoiding lines at the parks. I've used him to plan four separate WDW trips and never waited more than 15 minutes in line for rides and avoiding the crowds. We have pics of us in the middle of Tomorrowland at 6pm in the middle of July with no one else around! There is a nominal cost for access to the website but IMHO well worth the $20ish.

 

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[stsomewhere]

Why not just do a 7 night on the Fanatsy, Magic or Wonder?

[AF-1]

Just a recommendation for your WDW portion of the trip. Check out http://www.tourguidemike.com. He is a former WDW VIP guide and provides excellent recommendations for avoiding lines at the parks. I've used him to plan four separate WDW trips and never waited more than 15 minutes in line for rides and avoiding the crowds. We have pics of us in the middle of Tomorrowland at 6pm in the middle of July with no one else around! There is a nominal cost for access to the website but IMHO well worth the $20ish.

 

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Thanks ,I will check this out

[AF-1]

Why not just do a 7 night on the Fanatsy, Magic or Wonder?

 

We took everyone on Freedom of the Seas in Dec; it was for 7 days. The grand kids haven't been to WDW since 2004, they don't remember much; so this is why we wanted to combine the two. Two of the Grand kids have never been; we have five in all plus the adult kids of ours. Thank you for your feedback

[AF-1]

I went on a 4 day Dream cruise. Had a blast but didn't get to see half the ship.

 

I'm going on the Fantasy on the 14th. Got a deal I couldn't pass up. Early booking gets lower rates, plus I booked while on a Disney cruise so I got an additional discount. (If you book while on a cruise it doesn't matter what cruise you book you can change it later.) Then I asked my travel agent to let me know when a good deal came up. (allseastravel) I've used him a lot and he will look for a bargain for me. Someone wanted my cabin so he offered me a better cabin on another cruise for a cheaper price to switch. He got me GTY 7A ( guarantee of nothing lower but I didn't get to pick which cabin.) I ended up with a cat 5B -- balcony on deck 8. There are ways to save big time and go on a 7 day cruise for about the price you would have paid for a 4 or 5 day.

 

I understand for the Fantasy they have even improved on the Dream.

 

Best of luck.

 

I am working with a travel agent to get the best deal; since the grandkids have school, it is nearly impossible to go spur of the moment. We have some family members who live in Virginia; and the rest of us live in Cincinnati area; so trying to coordinate airfare; hotels, shuttles, etc; takes some doing; three of our five grand kids don't remember the last time they went to WDW, they were young, the two youngest have never been; we r trying to have the best of both worlds; cruise and Disneyworld. Thank you for your feedback.

[Host Mick]

Just a recommendation for your WDW portion of the trip. Check out www.tourguidemike.com. He is a former WDW VIP guide and provides excellent recommendations for avoiding lines at the parks. I've used him to plan four separate WDW trips and never waited more than 15 minutes in line for rides and avoiding the crowds. We have pics of us in the middle of Tomorrowland at 6pm in the middle of July with no one else around! There is a nominal cost for access to the website but IMHO well worth the $20ish.

 

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If you want to go that route. The Unofficial Guide to WDW is an excellent resource. In the back of the book and online, they offer touring plans that give you a step-by-step plan for seeing the most of each park while spending very little time in line. There's a variety of touring plan avaiable according to your individual party makeup and situation. They also have a website, www.touringplans.com and a smartphone app with real-time line waits. It's all extensively tested and I'll vouch for it. Whenever I hear someone complain about spending hours in line, I can't help but think that I never do.

[AF-1]

If you want to go that route. The Unofficial Guide to WDW is an excellent resource. In the back of the book and online, they offer touring plans that give you a step-by-step plan for seeing the most of each park while spending very little time in line. There's a variety of touring plan avaiable according to your individual party makeup and situation. They also have a website, www.touringplans.com and a smartphone app with real-time line waits. It's all extensively tested and I'll vouch for it. Whenever I hear someone complain about spending hours in line, I can't help but think that I never do.

Host Mick, thank you for the tips; I do plan on using one of the WDW app for my iphone. I will check out the websites.

[BabyMoon2007]

You could do 2/3 nights at WDW and then 5/4 nights on the Disney Dream, I think that would be a great vacation!

[helensut1]

Hi I just read your review; not you have my interest peaked. I would like to look at doing the 4 day cruise and 4 day WDW. Will have to talk with my adult kids about the days. My problem is my wife and I can go for 8-10 days; our adult children can't get that much time off at once. Since we are footing the bill for the kids/grandkids we want to get the best bang for our buck. Thank you for your feedback and great review.

cheers

 

 

Can you please adopt me?????? :D

 

We did a 3 night cruise on the Dream in the middle of a 4 week Flordia holiday. We all loved it, it was our first cruise, yes it did go quick, would have preferred 4 or even 7 nights but it was all we could do at the time. Your grandchildren will love it. Nassau wasn't great, we did a tour of Atlantis, with hindsight wouldn't do it again but if you haven't been to Nassau before it is worth getting off and having a quick look around. It wasn't as intimidating as some made us believe? Then get back on the ship and make the most of it being quiet. I did feel that we didn't see everything on board during the 3 days.

 

Whatever you decide you will have a fantastic time.

[hexdragon]

AF-1,

 

I'm with Helen! Adopt me too!!!! :D

 

My very first cruise was pretty much what you are describing. We did four days in the parks (one day for each park) and then a three day cruise.

 

It's true that three days isn't enough time to do everything, but if you do everything, what is left to do next time??? :p

 

Do whatever works for everyones schedule, and then just enjoy...

[AF-1]

You could do 2/3 nights at WDW and then 5/4 nights on the Disney Dream, I think that would be a great vacation!

Thanks for the reply. I am having my travel agent look at all three options.; 3/4/and 5 night on the Dream; plus Disney World.

[AF-1]

AF-1,

 

I'm with Helen! Adopt me too!!!! :D

 

My very first cruise was pretty much what you are describing. We did four days in the parks (one day for each park) and then a three day cruise.

 

It's true that three days isn't enough time to do everything, but if you do everything, what is left to do next time??? :p

 

Do whatever works for everyones schedule, and then just enjoy...

Thank you for your nice reply. I have my travel agent working on different options; biggest hurdle is the grandkids getting out of school; all the adults can leave anytime; its those darn kids. No sweat we will figure something out. Thank you.

[Host Mick]

Thank you for your nice reply. I have my travel agent working on different options; biggest hurdle is the grandkids getting out of school; all the adults can leave anytime; its those darn kids. No sweat we will figure something out. Thank you.

 

A friend of mine told his kids' school that they were taking the kids out of school to go on vacation. The school told him that they can't because the school would lose state funding. My friend went back a forth a few times finally asking them how much they would lose, he'll reimburse it. The school administreator finally got back to him telling him that his "request" was approved. LOL.

My kids go/went to a private school where if you want to take them out, they are very accomodating, helping us with missed assignments and even offering a tuition break for long absenses. It's one of many reasons why they go there.

[kitkatrose]

If I were in your shoes I'd do the 4 day at WDW followed by a 4 day cruise. I've done the Wonder, back in her FL days, both 4 and 3 days and that extra day makes such a difference. The 3 day felt almost like we were taking a tour of the ship while that one extra day turns it into a full cruise for me.

 

WDW in just four days will be the tough part - a full month and you'd still miss something! I didn't see when last you were there but even if it's been just a few years a guidebook will be indispensable to help you all feel like you're not missing anything big. Especially with that many kids - it's easy to come to the end of four days and realize that kid #2 never got to go on the one thing they really wanted to when a little organizing and maybe a him and grandpa morning at Epcot would have solved that. I'd go ahead and have the kids pick one or two must dos and get a basic plan of attack. I'm not one to plan to the minute but just knowing that kid #4 only eats chicken nuggets and so knowing which places have those when lunchtime comes around rather than spending a half an hour tracking down such a place will save so much frustration.

 

Good thing is that it sounds like the adult/child ratio is even so if you all are ok with splitting up sometimes, that can create some seriously magical moments as each kid gets some individual attention. Groups are great but alone time with Grandma is even better.

[AF-1]

A friend of mine told his kids' school that they were taking the kids out of school to go on vacation. The school told him that they can't because the school would lose state funding. My friend went back a forth a few times finally asking them how much they would lose, he'll reimburse it. The school administreator finally got back to him telling him that his "request" was approved. LOL.

My kids go/went to a private school where if you want to take them out, they are very accomodating, helping us with missed assignments and even offering a tuition break for long absenses. It's one of many reasons why they go there.

 

Host Mick, we took the kids out of school in Dec to cruise on Freedom of the Seas; they brought their homework with them. We will work something out. Thanks for your reply

[AF-1]

If I were in your shoes I'd do the 4 day at WDW followed by a 4 day cruise. I've done the Wonder, back in her FL days, both 4 and 3 days and that extra day makes such a difference. The 3 day felt almost like we were taking a tour of the ship while that one extra day turns it into a full cruise for me.

 

WDW in just four days will be the tough part - a full month and you'd still miss something! I didn't see when last you were there but even if it's been just a few years a guidebook will be indispensable to help you all feel like you're not missing anything big. Especially with that many kids - it's easy to come to the end of four days and realize that kid #2 never got to go on the one thing they really wanted to when a little organizing and maybe a him and grandpa morning at Epcot would have solved that. I'd go ahead and have the kids pick one or two must dos and get a basic plan of attack. I'm not one to plan to the minute but just knowing that kid #4 only eats chicken nuggets and so knowing which places have those when lunchtime comes around rather than spending a half an hour tracking down such a place will save so much frustration.

 

Good thing is that it sounds like the adult/child ratio is even so if you all are ok with splitting up sometimes, that can create some seriously magical moments as each kid gets some individual attention. Groups are great but alone time with Grandma is even better.

Thank you for the tips. We will be buying the Disney book, WDW with kids; we do plan on splitting up, since the teens don't want to be with the 4 and 5 year olds; so will do a lot of planning, and will read some blogs to figure out everything. Again, thanks for your reply

[Host Mick]

Host Mick, we took the kids out of school in Dec to cruise on Freedom of the Seas; they brought their homework with them. We will work something out. Thanks for your reply

 

We've tried the homework on vacation thing before. We couldn't make it work, way too much excitement for them to focus. They ended up doing it at home late into the evenings.