Disney world or sea world excursion?

[cruisingmommy12]

We are cruising from Baltimore to the Bahamas with a stop in port canaveral in May. I was looking at excursions and they have a Disney world and sea world available. My question is, with the price being about 2.5/3x the normal ticket cost, is it worth it? Has anyone done either one? Thanks so much!

[drumbeatfive]

Both Disney World and Sea World are quite a distance from the port and Orlando area traffic makes the trip even more unpredictable. I'm not sure how long you'll be in port, but you'll have to plan for at least an hour to and an hour back from either park. This might not leave a lot of time for the park itself.

 

Whatever you decide, I wish you a happy cruise!

[Tapi]

If you've never been to a Central Florida amusement park and they are on your bucket list, by all means go. Do keep in mind that these excursions will allow you to put a "been there" check mark on the list, but you'll only have a handful of hours to explore. You will only get to see a fraction of the park that you choose, so make a list of the rides and attractions that you must see. It will be a long, exhausting, whirlwind day with most of the time spent riding a bus back and forth, and standing in long lines.

 

As a reference, when we've gone to Disney on land vacations, we've been there for a week and even then, the time has been limited.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Tapi

[golfadj]

I wouldnt do either.

 

Considering the cost not much time at either park and in case of traffic would leave park at least 2 1/2 hours before sail time.

[disney521]

I wouldn't recommend doing either honestly. With the limited time you will have at the park, you will probably feel cheated out of the wonderful experience that it is. Kennedy Space Center is much closer to port and may be a better option.

[beachbratt]

We are cruising from Baltimore to the Bahamas with a stop in port canaveral in May. I was looking at excursions and they have a Disney world and sea world available. My question is, with the price being about 2.5/3x the normal ticket cost, is it worth it? Has anyone done either one? Thanks so much!

 

also keep in mind if there is a holiday or spring break going on then the parks are even more packed if it's through the ship and transportation is included you wouldn't have to worry about traffic and getting back on time so if I had to choose one for a limited amt of time it would be Sea World IF its not to crowded getting a lot of it done in 1 day is very possible

[cruizinisthebest]

If just want to do one, I would choose Seaworld. Less ground to cover with the limited amount of time you'll have. And because of the traffic and the distance, this is one time where I would consider booking with the ship. All of the Disney parks really require much more time. The last time we went (this past August) we were there for 12 hours and still didn't get to do everything we had in mind for a day trip.

 

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[irishnyc]

I wouldn't do either. Too much money for too little time.

[golfadj]

Kennedy space center a much better alternative.

 

Book another land trip to see Disney

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I LOVE Disney, (obvious) but its hard to do in a day unless you are highly motivated and highly park savvy (with the new park app and work the timing of all the lines.) I have done x 2 single park hopping days this year (separate trips) and managed to get to all 4 parks and 1 of them twice that day! So yes it can be done.

 

In your case, I would slant towards Sea World. This is why: most of the attractions can accomodate thousands of people at a time in their show arenas. They have a few good rollercoasters as well, but rather than getting on to rides that take a few people at a time, Sea World can accomodate crowds very well and so you can see a lot and manage your time. Sea World is wonderful, and I haven't been there in a few years, but it has always been a wonderful day!

[Tapi]

I have done x 2 single park hopping days this year (separate trips) and managed to get to all 4 parks and 1 of them twice that day! So yes it can be done.

 

I'm going to have to lay down and take a nap! Just reading that made me feel exhausted! :eek:

[Kangapong]

We are cruising from Baltimore to the Bahamas with a stop in port canaveral in May. I was looking at excursions and they have a Disney world and sea world available. My question is, with the price being about 2.5/3x the normal ticket cost, is it worth it? Has anyone done either one? Thanks so much!

 

Sea World is closer to the port, smaller and more manageable for the first timer. You will be able to experience much more of what Sea World has to offer during your time there, then what you would have time for at Walt Disney World.

 

As far as the extra cost - it's worth it for the peace of mind that it provides by insuring that you will get back to the ship on time. Orlando traffic in that area in always a mess.

 

Now, let's talk about the movie Blackfish...

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I'm going to have to lay down and take a nap! Just reading that made me feel exhausted! :eek:

 

Thankfully, I had my bodybugg body monitor on the second hopping trip so I could see all the physical activity (which also included a sit down dinner at the Contemporary along with the 5 parks! :eek:)

 

This was my trip log of the body bugg summary:

On our last WDW hopping day prior to boarding our DCL, we didn't even run much that day, but we did start at 8:30a from the bus and went until past midnight, although my body bugg only counts til 12am for that day. And it clocked 24,818 steps and a calorie burn of 3460!!! That's the way to start off a cruise (So you can eat! haha)

 

I actually believe 3460 may be the most I have ever logged in a single day on my Bodybugg. I do plan to run the Castaway 5K in May, so that should be fun, and I wished my cruise hadn't embarked the same day as the Princess 5k/10k/Half Marathons at EPCOT or that would have been a blast!

 

WDW: The New American Workout... :)

Edited December 2, 2013 by TwinPrincessMermaids

[Phlybice]

We are cruising from Baltimore to the Bahamas with a stop in port canaveral in May. I was looking at excursions and they have a Disney world and sea world available. My question is, with the price being about 2.5/3x the normal ticket cost, is it worth it? Has anyone done either one? Thanks so much!

 

We chose Sea World. The only long line we encountered was on Kraken, and everything else was smooth. We figured Disney would be time consuming.

 

We also arranged our own transportation, having a friend from the area drive us, and spend the day with us.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Now, let's talk about the movie Blackfish...

 

Oh, a friend of mine told me all about it! How Tilikem's family was crying when the ship came to take him as a baby! They wouldn't leave him! :eek::( Of course, Sea World now has Tilikem, but it was a different park in Canada that originally got him. In any case, it does tend to take away some of the park magic. Most greedy companies behind the scenes tend to do that. I do think SeaWorld does some good for awareness and conservation now, but that documentary definitely provides a different unhappy perspective...

[bluehenfan01]

I wouldn't recommend doing either honestly. With the limited time you will have at the park, you will probably feel cheated out of the wonderful experience that it is. Kennedy Space Center is much closer to port and may be a better option.

 

I would agree with this. You would only get a few hours in the park, which could be a waste of time for you. I will vouch for the Kennedy Space Center excursion. I took that when i cruised out of Baltimore in 2011. My friend and i took the Up Close excursion, which basically took you as closer to the launch pads as any human could get. It was cool when i was there because the Shuttle was already on the launch pad for the programs final mission. I took a great picture of it but not sure how to post it since i'm still new to the site. LOL

[Tapi]

Slight hijack. :o

 

I was looking at the shore excursion list, searching for alternatives to a day at Disney or Sea World, and the Manatee Cove Kayaking excursion caught my attention. Has anybody done this excursion? I found a reference and review to it through a kayaking website, but not through any of the cruise line websites.

 

Apparently it's only 7 miles away from Port Canaveral. It looks very interesting and like something that I would do if I ever took a cruise that stopped in Port Canaveral.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Tapi

[ImmortalxKiss]

If you do any, do Disney World.

 

Not much fun watching animals perform tricks, when they are meant to be in the wild.

[johnsose2]

Slight hijack. :o

 

I was looking at the shore excursion list, searching for alternatives to a day at Disney or Sea World, and the Manatee Cove Kayaking excursion caught my attention. Has anybody done this excursion? I found a reference and review to it through a kayaking website, but not through any of the cruise line websites.

 

Apparently it's only 7 miles away from Port Canaveral. It looks very interesting and like something that I would do if I ever took a cruise that stopped in Port Canaveral.

 

My wife and I did that a couple of years ago when we sailed out of Baltimore. It was a blast, we had a manatee come rite up to our kayak to the point that I actually got to touch it. We also saw river dolphins up close. We would do it again! The only problem we had was she had never kayaked before and I have so it kinda turned into a argument for a couple of minutes, finally she gave up and I fit all of the paddling. Lol the guy warned all couples that it has let to a lot of couples fighting.

[cruisingmommy12]

Op here...thanks so much for the insight. I will continue to think about it.A few people recommended Kennedy Space Center, but I forgot to mention we will have our 2 year old with us. I'm thinking that will be a whole lot of boring for him :).

[margaritaman]

we did the magic kingdom this past May from the Pride, and Epcot this past Nov from the Pride as well. I thought it was well worth it. I love Disney. We got to each park by 0845 and had to be back on the bus by 430. Not sure if we lucked out but we had hardly any lines and any that we thought would be bad, we just got fast passes for. We saw everything we wanted to. Would do it again.

[cruisingmommy12]

Super! Thanks for the info!