3 night wish/3 night WDW vs 5 night CC double dip on fantasy

[MamaJJ2018]

Hello!

Looking for perspectives on which you’d all recommend! I have a family of 4, 2 kids age 3.5 (fully potty trained for months now) and 7.

We have been to Disney world multiple times, and expect we will go multiple more while the kids are young. This summer, we want to try out a cruise for the first time. Neither kid has cruised. We are looking at either doing:

1) 3 night Wish cruise to test the waters, followed by a few nights at WDW or

2) 5 night CC double dip on the fantasy without doing wdw

My husband and I have done one Disney cruise prior to children and loved it, especially CC. We’d probably stay on the ship for the Nassau day on the wish. We love Disney world and know we’d enjoy that portion, but are hopeful we will love cruising as well, and think it could be more relaxing to settle into the ship. My kids are well behaved, but my youngest won’t enjoy or have patience for long dinners. I suspect both will enjoy the shows very much if they can stay awake. One of my children does get motion sickness in the car. Financially, there isn’t really a big benefit to one vs the other. Similar costs per night. We aren’t Florida residents, and will be flying in.

Anyone have any advice or insights??

 

[auntlynne]

I would take weather into consideration. WDW in the heat/humidity is more than I enjoy.

I prefer a cruise over the parks. And so, I would vote cruise. I also love C Cay. A day at the beach - twice - seems very relaxing.

Can I give a bunch of upvotes to the idea of a cruise?

 

[holula]

3 nights is way too short for either, personally.

I’d do the 5 night cruise.

 

[AnnaS]

3 nights way too short.

I would do the 5 night double dip.

 

[CamColt]

Another vote for 5 nights!

 

[OKW Lover]

Another vote for the cruise. And the entertainment in the dining rooms will probably help your children enjoy a longer meal.

 

[Lesverts]

I'd go either or, 3 is too short for both. I have anxiety I won't be able to do everything I want in 8 days at World.

 

[kps7795]

I can only repeat what others' have already told you in that three nights is too short to really enjoy your cruise experience. Moreover, your kids are at the perfect age to fully enjoy everything that the Oceaneer's Club and Lab have to offer. Let alone a double dip at Castaway Cay when the weather should be perfect!

 

[JM_97]

5 night cruise, especially if it's a double dip. You will get lots of opinions on these, but 3 nights is just too short for a cruise. By the time you are getting acquainted to the ship, you are getting off.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

5 night cruise!!

3 nights is way too short to get a real feel for cruising. By the time you get the hang of it all, it's time to leave. I only choose a 3 night cruise if my only other option is 0 nights.

 

[Calantha]

Double dip!!!

 

[pearljammer]

Hello!

Looking for perspectives on which you’d all recommend! I have a family of 4, 2 kids age 3.5 (fully potty trained for months now) and 7.

We have been to Disney world multiple times, and expect we will go multiple more while the kids are young. This summer, we want to try out a cruise for the first time. Neither kid has cruised. We are looking at either doing:

1) 3 night Wish cruise to test the waters, followed by a few nights at WDW or

2) 5 night CC double dip on the fantasy without doing wdw

My husband and I have done one Disney cruise prior to children and loved it, especially CC. We’d probably stay on the ship for the Nassau day on the wish. We love Disney world and know we’d enjoy that portion, but are hopeful we will love cruising as well, and think it could be more relaxing to settle into the ship. My kids are well behaved, but my youngest won’t enjoy or have patience for long dinners. I suspect both will enjoy the shows very much if they can stay awake. One of my children does get motion sickness in the car. Financially, there isn’t really a big benefit to one vs the other. Similar costs per night. We aren’t Florida residents, and will be flying in.

Anyone have any advice or insights??

Agreed. At that age, double dip fo sho! There would less stress for any pics you want to get to pose with characters, etc. Likely less stress on the kids (vs standing in lines/walking/strollers in the park, heat, meltdowns, etc.). Granted, kids get over stimulated on the cruises too but they will love the soft serve ice cream no doubt!

 

[Mags2002]

If you will have the option of coming to the parks at other times then try the longer cruise for something different. Even with 5 days you won’t be able to fit everything in so go at your own pace, relax and have fun!

 

[Marthasor]

Hello!

Looking for perspectives on which you’d all recommend! I have a family of 4, 2 kids age 3.5 (fully potty trained for months now) and 7.

We have been to Disney world multiple times, and expect we will go multiple more while the kids are young. This summer, we want to try out a cruise for the first time. Neither kid has cruised. We are looking at either doing:

1) 3 night Wish cruise to test the waters, followed by a few nights at WDW or

2) 5 night CC double dip on the fantasy without doing wdw

My husband and I have done one Disney cruise prior to children and loved it, especially CC. We’d probably stay on the ship for the Nassau day on the wish. We love Disney world and know we’d enjoy that portion, but are hopeful we will love cruising as well, and think it could be more relaxing to settle into the ship. My kids are well behaved, but my youngest won’t enjoy or have patience for long dinners. I suspect both will enjoy the shows very much if they can stay awake. One of my children does get motion sickness in the car. Financially, there isn’t really a big benefit to one vs the other. Similar costs per night. We aren’t Florida residents, and will be flying in.

Anyone have any advice or insights??

Another vote for the 5-night cruise. 3 nights is not enough on a cruise, IMHO, and it's too much re-packing and traveling with young children. Go on the Fantasy, settle in and enjoy. A CC double dip is perfect for younger kids as well - not a huge fan of Bahamas or Caribbean port excursions with young ones.

 

[Husker Mike]

One caveat... if you are flying in, you really should fly in to Orlando the day before the cruise. If you have flight issues, Disney World will still be waiting for you. The boat will leave around 4 pm whether you are onboard or stuck in an airplane somewhere. It's about an hour drive to the port from Orlando International, so by the time you grab bags and arrange transportation to get you to the port, even a flight arriving at noon is going to be rushed to get on board.

That doesn't necessarily have to mean a big expense (unless you do decide to grab an extra day at Disney World before the cruise), but you need to factor that in.

 

[Louise97]

I'd do the 5 night cruise. Our first cruise was a 3 night and it went by so quickly that we said we'd only do longer cruises in future - that being said, we're eyeing up a 3 night cruise because it happens to fit in our schedule so never say never

The thing that put me off adding a short cruise on our last WDW trip was losing time on the day you transfer between the port and WDW. It felt like we'd be losing about half a day of the trip travelling. Next time we're planning a 7 night cruise but since we're flying internationally we'll likely add a day or two at WDW or Cocoa Beach before we sail in case of flight delays.

 

[MamaJJ2018]

One caveat... if you are flying in, you really should fly in to Orlando the day before the cruise. If you have flight issues, Disney World will still be waiting for you. The boat will leave around 4 pm whether you are onboard or stuck in an airplane somewhere. It's about an hour drive to the port from Orlando International, so by the time you grab bags and arrange transportation to get you to the port, even a flight arriving at noon is going to be rushed to get on board.

That doesn't necessarily have to mean a big expense (unless you do decide to grab an extra day at Disney World before the cruise), but you need to factor that in.

Yes! Thank you for this, it would definitely be our plan! I suppose if we had an early enough flight we could justify one night at a Disney resort and one afternoon at a park…

 

[MamaJJ2018]

Seems like there’s a consensus!

Thanks everyone for the input