Back to back Disney Cruise + parks? Too crazy?

[shdwbxrtree]

So my husband and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in a couple of years and we want to take a big family trip (with the kids)! We had our honeymoon at DisneyWorld in Florida... this time around, I am thinking about doing a 3-4 day Bahamian cruise followed by some time at the parks. Has anyone does this before? Is that too much/too tiring? The children will be 9 & 7 yrs old. I am thinking that it will be about a 8-9 day trip, as we want to end up going to all parks (my children have only been to MK and Epcot), and I have always wanted to go on a Bahamian cruise. Thinking 3-4 day cruise and maybe 5-6 days at the parks/resort. Just not sure if it's a better experience to do them as separate trips rather than tagging them together like that. Is that too crazy of a think to do?

 

[Mousemommy1]

Last year we did 2 nights at Art of Animation (with time in the parks) followed by a 4 night cruise on the Disney Dream and then 2 more nights at the Grand Floridian (more time in the parks). It was a really great trip. And we were surprised at how seamless the process was to move to one segment of the trip to the next. Disney makes it very easy to do. For reference, last year our kids were 11, 9 and 15 months. It was a great trip!!!

 

[Dawn71]

We have done this twice. The first time, my kids were 1, 4,6,8 and 10. We spent four days at the parks, went on a four night Bahamian cruise, went to the mickey's Halloween party the night we got off the cruise, and then flew home the next day.
This last time, we spent 3 days at the parks, then went to the Christmas party the third night until midnight, left for the four night Bahamian cruise the next day. We went straight to the airport after the cruise. My kids were 6, 9, 11, 12, 14.
It can be exhausting, but the kids had so much fun they didn't feel it until we got home.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

People do this all the time! We've done it twice. We once stayed at AKL for 3 nights followed by a 5 night cruise. Another time we did a 7-night cruise followed by 3 nights in WDW. It's not hectic at all and you can even book a Disney bus that will take you directly from the port to the resorts. It's pretty easy!

 

[usnuzuloose]

We did it in 06, did the park for 5 days and a 4 day cruise, it was nice.

 

[mjkacmom]

We did 6 nights at the BC with our 5 kids (4, 4, 6, 9, 11) and the grandparents, and then a 3 night DCL cruise. It was great, we went the the parks every day and night. It was a surprise trip, the kids were told 3 hours before our flight there, and they thought they were going to the airport when we pulled up to the ship.

 

[kboo]

We did 3 nights WDW, 7day cruise, and 3 nights WDW for DH's 50th in August with our 2 daughters, 6yo and 22 mo. It was the longest vacation we'd ever taken, and the longest Disney immersion as well. It was really great. We stayed at VGF and BCV, so we did MK and AK while at VGF, and EP and HS while at BCV, and were able to have a really relaxed pace. I was really glad we didn't have to just get off the ship and hurry to the airport for our flight. That was a long day and because you have to be off the ship so early, it can be really hectic. Originally we were only going to do 1-2 days on either end and mostly just spend them at the resorts, but then we ended up getting APs...

 

[Jack & Monica]

I think, as the other posters have stated, that Disney makes Surf and Turf (Disney Style) rather seemless. We like to do the cruise leg first also. We are well rested and ready for the more hectic pace of the parks. Although it is not the only option available, we always use Disney transportation because of the ease of the transition. If you do the parks second and use Disney Transportation, they will not be able to take your bags from your state room straight to your resort; you will have to claim them once off of the ship and take them to the Disney Bus.

 

[lanejudy]

We have done the parks first when that was the best fit for our schedule. However, we prefer to do the parks first and then the cruise. It’s more relaxing.

Congrats on the anniversary and enjoy your vacation!

 

[sponica]

So my husband and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in a couple of years and we want to take a big family trip (with the kids)! We had our honeymoon at DisneyWorld in Florida... this time around, I am thinking about doing a 3-4 day Bahamian cruise followed by some time at the parks. Has anyone does this before? Is that too much/too tiring? The children will be 9 & 7 yrs old. I am thinking that it will be about a 8-9 day trip, as we want to end up going to all parks (my children have only been to MK and Epcot), and I have always wanted to go on a Bahamian cruise. Thinking 3-4 day cruise and maybe 5-6 days at the parks/resort. Just not sure if it's a better experience to do them as separate trips rather than tagging them together like that. Is that too crazy of a think to do?

We did a cruise then parks for our honeymoon, if we were to do it again we'd flip flop the order as we're park junkies. Spend the time at the parks then relax on the boat, but I've heard from people who did that with kids and the kids were NOT happy to leave the parks to go on the boat.