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Orlando dilemma!! Cruise vs. Cruise & Parks


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Hi all!! 

 

really need everyone's opinion on this one since I am sure some of you had faced similar first world problems. 

I love cruising of course but I also love theme parks in Orlando area.. but I have limited days of PTO I am unable to take 2 week or longer vacation.. 

if you had 9 days would you do 7 night cruise + 1 or 2 theme parks or do 4 night cruise on Mariner + 4 or 5 theme parks?  

My kids are 6 and 11 years old and love everything lol they don't care. 

I love going to theme parks but then 4 night cruise sound too short...  on the other hand 7 night cruise on Harmony sound perfect but my kids want to do both Universal and Disney...

what would YOU do and why?

 

please help me decide! 

 

thanks!!

 

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If you want to go to both 4 day on Mariner is your option.  2 days for universal AND Disney is just a waste of time and money.

That having been said, we did that 4 day in February and it was way too short for my liking.  And as a LONG TIME disney fanatic and mother of a universal team member, both in 4-5 days is also too short.

My suggestion would be the 7 day cruise with 1-2 days at Universal only which can be done in that time frame.  
 

Edited to ask if travel time needs to be added to your trip?

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15 minutes ago, Pooch said:

If you want to go to both 4 day on Mariner is your option.  2 days for universal AND Disney is just a waste of time and money.

That having been said, we did that 4 day in February and it was way too short for my liking.  And as a LONG TIME disney fanatic and mother of a universal team member, both in 4-5 days is also too short.

My suggestion would be the 7 day cruise with 1-2 days at Universal only which can be done in that time frame.  
 

Edited to ask if travel time needs to be added to your trip?

hello!

we can be in Orlando from Friday morning to next Sunday... but I think I might be able to add extra day.. so from Thursday to next Sunday is not impossible.. I guess something like Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Universal + 7 night on Harmony is doable.. 

 

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Speaking as a Californian, I regularly park hop Disneyland+CA Adventure in one day and Universal Hollywood in one day. It's easily doable to see and do everything in all 3 parks in 2 days time, so I would definitely do the 7-night on Harmony! BUT I have never been to the muuuch larger parks in FL so what do I know!? Maybe if you choose one Disney park only? 

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A 7 night cruise is great, but we also have no issue with 4 nights cruises.  This has been our new end of summer tradition (and we have to fly as well). 

I don't think we would book a 3 night cruise though....but you can still get a lot done on a 4 night.

This upcoming summer, we had plans:

  • Thurs: fly to Orlando arriving around noon.  Check in and would get maybe 4-5 hrs at the park
  • Fri-Sun:  3 full days at the parks (one park per day)
  • Mon-Fri: Mariner cruise

Unfortunately we will need to cancel this trip, but for us, it was a great way to mix the two.

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We are doing this next year for Halloween. A 7 night on the Allure and originally 4 days at Universal/Disney. Our plans have changed thanks to the new normal, a little extra vacation time nest year. We plan to fly in on Tues and hit Disney as we really only wanted to go to 2 parks. Then Thurs and Friday would be for Universal and on sun our 7N begins......I always suggest saving the cruise for last. It is important to go home relaxed and happy as opposed to tired out and sunburned. I see in 2021 Mariner will start doing some 5 night cruises, so that might be an option. You could do a 9 or 10 day vacation with 5 only be used on the cruise and more time available for parks.

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Going to Disney for 2 days in Aug. Then leaving on a Monday morning to drive to Port Canaveral for a 4 night Mariner cruise.  Driving to Orlando on Friday morning.  Driving back home on the following Friday.  I think this will be fine for me and my family.  Done it the other way around.   Too busy and tiring.  Going to see if this way better.

 

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7 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Disney in August ?  Have you lost your mind ?

??

Looking at proposed COVID precautions in Disney parks.  Trip may not happen.  August is bad enough, but masks and lines with distancing  and no shade.

We have some tickets that expire in Dec. 2020 that Disney has not announced that they plan to extend to 2021.

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The parks are MAD expensive, you have 2 kids who will want all the treats. You can definitely spend more in one day at Disney than probably the cost of a 4 or 5N cruise. I recall reading that they may go to appointment only as a way to comply with CDC.

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IF you are considering doing the parks on a compressed schedule, consider Disney After Hours!! It looks like Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom might be your best bet if vacationing in August. It costs about 30-40 bucks more than normal tickets, BUT:

  1. You can enter the park as early as 7pm (just when some families are clearing out)
  2. You get FREE snacks, drinks, and novelty ice-cream (unlimited!!) 
  3. The park closes usually an hour earlier to everyone else, and stays open EXCLUSIVELY for you and your family. It is a limited ticketed event (when we went, it felt like there were only 20 other people in the park with us! lol) We got to ride on Flight of Passage as much as we wanted! (we tried every seat haha)
  4. No SUMMER HEAT!

Universal has similar events (and some early morning opening hours). All of it is in limbo right now, but just wanted to give you some solutions!

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The equation can get really complicated if you factor in the parks and strategies to visit them.  For example, time of year, budgets for parks, must do rides - thrill vs kid vs classic vs Harry Potter, fastpass/ultimate pass use, your park familiarity and Transportation can impact how successful your park time will be.  With the post-COVID uncertainty it makes it even tougher.  

So looking at your question and trying to simplify by ignoring some of those details, I think you can get the answer internally from you and your family.  You mentioned in the first post that the kids would be fine because “they don’t care” and then state the would want to do Universal and Disney.  So float the idea of cruise only and see how they react.  Then give the option for one park and see which they pick.  That might help gauge what park(s) are important and how you can best use the 9 days.  For the cruise longer is better but it is stealing from park time.  If you just want a few days at sea to relax and get away the 4 day is fine.  If you can narrow that park time with the questions above to the kids and family the 7 day becomes more do-able.

For me the answer is easy, the 7 day.  But I live in the Orlando area, know the parks very well and have season passes so my situation isn’t a fair comparison. This is a cruise message board and that might also be influencing my response some.  Good luck with the planning and have fun.

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