I know many of you have been to Disney World and I have been reading the archives and gotten some great tips there. But has anyone done the Disney World parks and the Disney Cruise in the same vacation? We are planning to do this next yr at Thanksgiving and I am just wondering if it is too much to squeeze into 7 days or if we should plan on maybe taking a few extra days. I just talked to the travel agent yesterday and it looks pretty expensive. I think if we purchase a pkg at Wal-MArt travel we can make pymts on it all yr. So that will be nice!


TIA for any words of wisdom!

By Melissa on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 09:48 am:

We did it. It is awesome. We have been to WDW many times so we didn't feel we need extra time at WDW but if you haven't been recently I would make the land part longer. It is expensive but worth it, the service is excellent and it is perfect for couples with kids, you will get time to yourselves and they will have a blast as well.

By Conni on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 10:11 am:

Thanks Melissa! Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Can I ask which Resort you prefer to stay at? I have been reading about the different resorts. So far I am interested in The Animal Kingdom Lodge, The Wilderness Lodge, and my ds is saw The Contemporary and I am considering that as well. We are such an outdoorsy family tho- I think we might enjoy a cabin at the Wilderness Lodge. Having a kitchen in the room is a must for us. We never stay anywhere without a kitchen as we dont like to spend alot of money on eating out while on vacation. (with 3 kids that adds up way too fast)

Have you stayed at any of these resorts? Also, did you do 3 or 4 night cruise and was that long enough on the cruise?

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 10:23 am:

Connie, my coworker goes to Disney practically once a year. Saturday, they are leaving on a Disney cruise. They are doing only a 1-day *land* part, because they go so often. But as Melissa said, if you haven't been, or haven't been in a while, plan for more *Disney* days.

My coworker also usually stays at the All Star motels, or the Contemporary, which I've heard is great. If you like outdoorsy stuff, then, give the Wilderness Lodge a try.

I'm sure it will be guaranteed NOT to disappoint!

By Pixie on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 12:38 pm:

You could spend a month at Disney World and not have enough time. My advice is continue your research and get a set itinerary of what you want to do and stick to it. Maybe plan a day of "leisure" where you can do something on a whim that is not planned. I would spend more time on land than at sea ut then again I haven't done the cruise. No matter what you will have a great time. Its Disney World!

By Debbie on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 07:39 pm:

Conni, I have heard wonderful things about Animal Kingdom Lodge. The cabins are really neat too. The only drawbacks are that they only have 1 bathroom and they are kind of isolated, so it is a pretty long bus ride to the parks. I think picking a hotel is one of the hardest parts to planning a Disney Vacation. We usually stay at one of the monorail resorts because we spend a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom. I would love to try the Beach Club or Yachet Club resorts because they have a very neat pool(it is like a water park) that they share. They are also walking distance to Epcot and the Disney Studios. Have you been on wdwinfo.com ?? If you go into their chat section, they have a section on resorts. You can ask questions and get lots of great information.

We have been to Disney several times and I really want to try the cruise one of these days. It looks really neat.

By Feona on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 09:38 am:

I think you would enjoy 7 days in disney world. and another vacation do 7 day disney cruise.

By Melissa on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 10:47 am:

I am a big Polynesian fan. I love being on the monorail. We have also stayed at the Carribean Beach and Port Orleans/ Dixie Landings. I have friends who love the Wilderness Lodge. We would try that one next. When we go again we plan to do the 7 day cruise, we did the 4 night last time and it was too fast!

By Livvy on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 11:28 am:

We were there last October and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge!! It was so awesome!! It was a bit pricier than the other resorts but we had a view of the savannah and saw many animals outside of our balcony when we woke up and when we went to sleep!! That was really neat!! My DD had a stomach bug for the first 24 hours we were there and the staff pampered her!!

My sister and her family stayed at Wilderness Lodge when they went a few years ago and absolutley loved it!! Make sure your kids get to raise the flag on a morning that you're there!! That's what her boys remember the most!!

Have you gone on the Disney message boards yet?? They were very helpful when we were planning our trip!! www.disboards.com (I think!! )

By Conni on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 11:09 am:

Thanks for all the info ladies!! I have been working with the travel agent this week and decided yesterday that we will just do DisneyWorld this yr and the next yr possibly take a cruise. It was SOOOO expenisve and dh and I are very cheap.lol $7500 for a family of five to do the Land/Sea Disney pkg. And that didnt include airfare.

We are going to stay at the *Port Orleans-Riverside Resort* which is a moderate resort on the Disney property. They have alot for the boys to do at the resort --Playground, Fishing Hole (a must for Brad and Blake they are fishing addicts), bike trail, jogging trail, pools, water craft rentals, etc... We will drive, stay 4 nights/5 days and hopefully this will be enough time for the boys to experience Disney World. Blake and Brad are very excited and Brandon (12.5) is too I think?? He was pretty disappointed he wouldnt be going snowboarding this yr because of this expensive Disney trip. In fact, he said he'd rather go to Colorado then DisneyWorld. LOL! I am sure he will have fun after we get there.

For anyone interested or for anyone who is planning a trip to Disney in the near future- the total came too $1800.00 and we will pay a small amt down at Wal-Mart travel and have to have the balance paid off by August. (90 days prior to travel) This includes all of our tickets to all the parks and our lodging. (no meals included and we are driving so no airfare included) Much better than $7500.00 tho. yikes! There may be better deals out there-- but we are ready to get this booked and not worry about it anymore. I like the girl at Wal-Mart Travel too, she is too sweet and was very helpful.

I think I'll go start selling stuff on Ebay. ;)

Thanks again for all of your help.

By Conni on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 04:45 pm:

uhhh, ok, scratch that total for our Disney pkg. When I went back in to talk some more with the travel agent today, she said a Disney agent had given her the wrong quote yesterday-- so we are looking at 2100.00.

The kids were whining last night about not flying. So I had her give me a quote that included air- just for grins. $3770 for a family of 5... Wow. Do people really spend this much on vacations???

I am thinking I need to get a part time job to help pay for this. I seriously went to Ebay today and signed up to start selling stuff. lol!

I hear people talk about going to Disney all the time--I had NO idea how much it was setting them back. Dh and I have never been.

Mickey Mouse better be good, thats all i have to say.

By Melanie on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 05:14 pm:

LOL Conni, Mickey Mouse IS good!

I've always said I want to do a Land/Sea Disney vacation at some point. I told dh that when it happens he has to go ahead and let me plan it with no whining about the cost. LOL.

We went a couple of years ago just before Christmas. We were there for one week and stayed at the Old Key West. We went with my parents and had a two-bedroom villa. It was pricey (though we went off-season, so the rates were much lower than had we been there for Christmas), but it was so worth it. I had done all my homework (with the help of the Passporter, which I highly recommend-and they do have a cruise book as well) and had basic plans for each day, with flexibility built in for tired kids. It was the best vacation we have ever had and can't wait to go back again.

Go sell some stuff on EBay and have a blast!!!

By Kathym on Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 06:59 pm:

Try Mousesavers.com ...you might find a few good deals there.

By Conni on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 11:05 am:

Thanks Melanie and Kathy! I will definitley check out mousesavers.com, Kathy! I have been to the passporter website and I found it to be very helpful as well. I liked the disboards website too. So far we have read several negative reports on the resort we chose! LOL oops... But there were also alot of *good* reviews posted about it too. I am just glad to have dates nailed down, reservations made, etc... Feels good to be done with that part of it.

I think we talked dh into flying. I *really* dont want to put all those miles on my minivan, pay for extra hotel nights along the way and pay for all that gas. The kids are ecstatic as they have never flown before! Well, the older boys did the *young eagles* program and got to fly over our town/lake in a private plane once. But thats it. Blake flew when he was about 9mos old with me on a trip to Seattle, WA. He doesnt remember that obviously. Anyway, so tonight I am going to start posting things on ebay. I'll make some money and declutter my house at the same time. woohoo!

Thanks again for everyone's help!

By Dandjmom on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 12:41 pm:

I havnet' been to Disney World since 2001, I took my 6 yo (at the time) daughter,8yo cousinand 16yo cousin as a graduation gift to them. I did a package for which included 6 nghts, 5 days, park hoppers for all and 2 magic wishes a day for ea of us. We stayed at the All Star Sports Resort its was really nice. And althougth it was just oyur standard hotel room none of the extras( except for pizza delivery to your room)it was better (location) wise to the parks,we used the buses to get us to the parks each day and when it got to our hotel we where always assured a seat becaue we where i thik the second hotel they stopped too. I mean you spend more time inthe parks then your hotel room so I dont' see why you should 150+ a night for somewhere to sleep as long as oyur in a room with a locking door, wroking tv, shower and the other dbasics I'm fine. I actually jsut finished looking at soem vacation packages @WDW ( you knwo they have redeisgned there packages)and I havnte' decided on this yet but just in case soem one what to know what there prices are like this year. I choose a 7 day, 6nights stay at one of the all stayr resorts, 5 day park tickets and meals for the whole 7 days of or vacation for myslef, Davongah(9)and Justin(1)total 1312.29. I am a bargin shopper adn hunter, so Kathy I will be checking out mousesavers.com and will let you all knwo if I found anything.

By Yjja123 on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 01:35 pm:

We go to Disney a lot and Universal Studios. Make sure you throw some bottled water and snacks in a bag for the day. The food at Disney is extremely high! We always eat a big breakfast prior to entering park. We snack on a few things we bring and have one meal midway through the day. It really can help cut costs.
We have stayed at the Caribbean. It was great. Really all their resorts are nice.
Have a great time!

By Pamt on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 11:42 pm:

It's funny, but I think my kids are the only kids in the world who didn't really love Disney World. My mom took both of my boys and my niece in 2003. They stayed at a Disney property and did Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, and another park...maybe Epcot. My oldest DS liked it and had fun, but my youngest DS (7 at the time) really didn't like DW at all. Neither one of them have any desire to go back. Our best vacations have alwyas been getting a cabin in the mountains.

At any rate, that really sounds like a great deal for a family of 5. Hope you all have a blast and make a lot of memories!