Disney & Carnival? Is it too much?

[Laplayaperson]

5 hours ago, melz1010 said:

So I'm planning to take the Mardi Gras out of Orlando in December for Christmas. But since we're going to be in Orlando, I figured instead of flying in one day before. Let's fly in two days before and spend a day at magic kingdom and then board the ship the next day.  Magic Kingdom at Christmas sounds wonderful. But now I'm having second thoughts. It seems great. The kids will be 8 years old. Last time we took them to disney they just turned 5. It would be for only one day. But this cost is getting crazy. To stay at a hotel off disney property for 2 days isn't too bad but the price of disney tickets are so high. Add in the cost of the cruise, airfare, excursions, and drink packages, the prices is getting a bit out of hand. However, I still feel it would make a great vacation for the kids. They get to go to magic kingdom, see the character, get on a few rides, watch the parade and then the next day spend the week on the sea. What do you think? Is it too much? Or should I just fly my ass to Orlando the night before and board the ship like regular folk LOL. 

Just a thought...that time of year typically the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is happening and you could do the park for a lot cheaper!  Worth some research!

[skrufy]

4 hours ago, melz1010 said:

These are all great ideas. I can do all of this without entering the park. I think that's what I'm going to do. 

Disney Springs/Downtown Disney is also free. We go there every time we cruise out of Port Canaveral and go to Downtown Disney when cruising out of Long Beach Ca. The parks are so expensive and so crowded in December.

 

[Itried4498]

1 hour ago, Laplayaperson said:

Just a thought...that time of year typically the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is happening and you could do the park for a lot cheaper!  Worth some research!

Nope!  The price has steadily increased over the years and peaked at $250 last year.  Kinda the trend at Disney.  Our Thanksgiving tradition was to eat at the Disneyland Hotel’s Thanksgiving Dinner.  It went from around $35-50 between 2000-2009…. Then from $50-$180 between 2010-2019.  We won’t be back.

[Illbcruzn4life]

7 hours ago, melz1010 said:

So I'm planning to take the Mardi Gras out of Orlando in December for Christmas. But since we're going to be in Orlando, I figured instead of flying in one day before. Let's fly in two days before and spend a day at magic kingdom and then board the ship the next day.  Magic Kingdom at Christmas sounds wonderful. But now I'm having second thoughts. It seems great. The kids will be 8 years old. Last time we took them to disney they just turned 5. It would be for only one day. But this cost is getting crazy. To stay at a hotel off disney property for 2 days isn't too bad but the price of disney tickets are so high. Add in the cost of the cruise, airfare, excursions, and drink packages, the prices is getting a bit out of hand. However, I still feel it would make a great vacation for the kids. They get to go to magic kingdom, see the character, get on a few rides, watch the parade and then the next day spend the week on the sea. What do you think? Is it too much? Or should I just fly my ass to Orlando the night before and board the ship like regular folk LOL. 

What my wife and I did was stay at Disneys Grand Destino Towers the day before the cruise.

 

We didn't do any Disney parks though. That might be too much of a tease for the kids, staying on property but not going to the park.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Illbcruzn4life

[mrpayroll]

4 hours ago, melz1010 said:

Omg, are you serious? Yes I meant fast pass. OMG, so now you have to pay extra if you don't want to wait in a long line for rides. Disney must be out of their freaking minds. 

They are....

 

 

[Illbcruzn4life]

4 hours ago, antmaril said:

Yes, the cost of the tickets is not the end of it.  There are additional costs to avoid the long lines.  The crowds at Disney have been terrible.  I can only imagine what they will be like this Christmas.  Honestly, I would skip it.  You will have a great time on the cruise.  I don’t think Disney will be worth it  - and I have been a huge Disney fan for decades.  My last trip was in November 2019 and I don’t think I will be back for a while.  Ordinarily, I would have another trip planned by now.  
 

Have fun!  

CEO Bob Cheapskate has ruined Disney. 😒

[Illbcruzn4life]

4 hours ago, melz1010 said:

Omg, are you serious? Yes I meant fast pass. OMG, so now you have to pay extra if you don't want to wait in a long line for rides. Disney must be out of their freaking minds. 

 

I would agree or maybe the visitors are out of their minds. No matter how high they raise things people keeping paying the price.

[Itried4498]

1 hour ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

CEO Bob Cheapskate has ruined Disney. 😒

 He didn’t.  It’s an issue of supply and demand.  Think about it - after massively expanding in the 1990s, WDW went almost 25 years without adding significant capacity to its theme parks, has went almost 30 years without a new water park (and actually closed its smallest), and has opened only two new hotels this Millennium yet seen a net decrease in an available rooms due to DVC conversions.

 

Meanwhile, people are traveling on record numbers, shattering attendance records throughout the country.  In spite of the high ticket prices, Disney needs to retort to reservations to control the crowds.  This suggests that Disney is underpricing its tickets.

 

 

[csm5986142]

7 hours ago, melz1010 said:

So I'm planning to take the Mardi Gras out of Orlando in December for Christmas. But since we're going to be in Orlando, I figured instead of flying in one day before. Let's fly in two days before and spend a day at magic kingdom and then board the ship the next day.

 

We have done this a few times - traveling all the way across the country to Orlando, we want to make the most of our time there!  🙂 We pick 1 park to go to (and once it was Universal, not Disney) and board the ship the following day.  We have also done this at Christmas.  Disney is brutally crowded for 2 weeks at Christmas - be prepared to spend a lot of time standing in line.  It's very difficult to get restaurant reservations, etc.  But if you are fine being patient, it can be fun.  (We were there this past December and it was sooo crowded, I doubt we will ever go at Christmas again).  Lines for the more popular rides were up to 2 hours long.

Next week, after our Mardi Gras cruise, we are going to go to Animal Kingdom the day after the cruise, and I was surprised how expensive it has gotten (I just purchased the tickets) - over $500 total for 3 park tickets (with genie+ and tax).  

[Joebucks]

For one of our first cruises, we did a day at Magic Kingdom, day at Aquatica, day at Seaworld, day Halloween and Universal, then a 4-day Bahamas cruise. What a fun trip. 

 

We flew cheap through Spirit. Got a cheap hotel room (there are tons in Orlando). The cruise was also very cheap. I don't believe we spend more than $850pp for the whole trip.

[silversneakers]

23 hours ago, melz1010 said:

So I'm planning to take the Mardi Gras out of Orlando in December for Christmas. But since we're going to be in Orlando, I figured instead of flying in one day before. Let's fly in two days before and spend a day at magic kingdom and then board the ship the next day.  Magic Kingdom at Christmas sounds wonderful. But now I'm having second thoughts. It seems great. The kids will be 8 years old. Last time we took them to disney they just turned 5. It would be for only one day. But this cost is getting crazy. To stay at a hotel off disney property for 2 days isn't too bad but the price of disney tickets are so high. Add in the cost of the cruise, airfare, excursions, and drink packages, the prices is getting a bit out of hand. However, I still feel it would make a great vacation for the kids. They get to go to magic kingdom, see the character, get on a few rides, watch the parade and then the next day spend the week on the sea. What do you think? Is it too much? Or should I just fly my ass to Orlando the night before and board the ship like regular folk LOL. 

8 is a perfect age for Disney.  It is really "magical" at Christmas-time.  If you can afford it, do it.  You can't put a price on memories and time goes by so very fast.

[kokoko]

On 3/27/2022 at 1:30 PM, melz1010 said:

Omg, are you serious? Yes I meant fast pass. OMG, so now you have to pay extra if you don't want to wait in a long line for rides. Disney must be out of their freaking minds. 

No Disney has just waited and watched Universal Studios  doing this for a few years now and people having been paying for this same as a fast pass but at a cost. It is all about money and crowd control.

[jlabs03]

Disney the week of Christmas is insanely crowded, we did it once and never again.  I am not sure if they will still be doing reservation in December but this will probably be the only way to guarantee you can get in. Prior to covid they usually reach capacity by noon and have to turn people away, so you need to get there before the park opens. Long lines and crowds make it not so fun and now with having to purchase the fast pass, it will be even worse.  Some of the longest lines and waits can be for characters.  Someone mention Mickey's Christmas Party and it being cheaper, you still need to purchase your regular ticket and then the Christmas Party ticket if you want to be in the park during the party.  On these nights the park closes at 6pm because that is when the party starts.

 

If you are not going the week of Christmas or New Years you may have better luck with crowds.