WDW or DCL?????

[MichelleLB]

Hi,
We went to DisneyLand in 2015 and LOVED it, our kids were pretty young (2 & 5) but that made it more magic, you could FEEL the happiness radiating off them as they met the Princesses etc.. We want to do another trip while its all still 'real' for them (we'll do more when they are much older too and more about the thrills and rides, but for now its more about the 'overall experience' and making the most of enjoying them while they arre young!).
So... We are thinking we'll head up (from New Zealand) to Orlando in September, originally the plan was to go to WDW (7/8 nights - Art of Animation Suites) and then Universal Studios (7 nights - Minions Suite at Portofino) (I know is quite alot of Universal but by then the water park will be open and we'd kind of like to just chill abit... plus the hotels are way cheaper than the Disney options!
BUT... I got distracted with the Cruises... so we priced it up and could do a Disney cruise (Eastern Caribbean) for about the same as our stay at WDW would cost...
So basically what should we do (what would YOU do)...? Cruise or WDW? (Dont say both, it is too $$!!)

Thanks in advance!!

 

[losfp]

I'd chop Universal and use that time to do the cruise.

If the times were equal, ie: 7 nights WDW or 7 nights DCL, I'd take the cruise, no question.

But if it was something like 12-14 nights WDW or 7 nights DCL, that's a harder question.

If you could do something like 4-5n WDW (so obviously a truncated trip) plus 7 nights DCL, that'd be ideal. going all the way to Florida just for a 7 night cruise feels like it's not really worth the long flights.

In 2015, we were lucky enough to do a mega mouse trip - 12n WDW (5n Aoa, 7n VGF), 3n Universal, 7n DCL, 8n DLR. We enjoyed every part of it, and wouldn't know what to chop if we had to choose.

 

[MichelleLB]

My husband just pointed out that I asked this on a DISNEY forum so I shouldve expected that answer!

Why the Cruise over WDW? What makes it better?
(yep, its pretty much a straight swap for days)

We LOVE Harry Potter and the kids are nuts for Minions etc (and the Portofino hotel looks crazy cool in itself) So Cutting Universal isn't really an option for us..

OMG your trip sounds insane! So annoying its such a hassle to just GET there... otherwise I'd be all over it all the time!

 

[GusGus77]

I would shorten Universal and WDW and do a 4 night DCL to get all three in! At those ages you would probably skip most excursions (at least we did) so the only additional cost is tips and souvenirs. One thing I loved on DCL were the kids clubs. My 3 and 5 yr old wanted to live there and usually spent a few hours there a day. BUT if my kids were not ok with being in the club without DH and I, then DCL would have lost some appeal for us (but not all.) But they found it magical and character interactions were awesome (both in and out of the kidsclub.) I recommend DCL being the last thing you do. We did DCL then parks once and it was challenging. Did it reversed the next time and it worked much better!

 

[Kangarucci]

We love Disney Cruises! Maybe trim days off both Universal Studios and WDW to fit in a 7nt cruise. It would be a wonderful experience for the children as well as yourselves! 4nt cruises are ok to get a taste but it is over in no time and you will be wanting more.

 

[losfp]

Why the Cruise over WDW? What makes it better?
(yep, its pretty much a straight swap for days)

We LOVE Harry Potter and the kids are nuts for Minions etc (and the Portofino hotel looks crazy cool in itself) So Cutting Universal isn't really an option for us..

With a cruise you really get bang for your buck. Lots of good food that's already paid for. No need to worry about transport. Beautiful destinations. Great kids club.

The WWoHP lands in UO are among the very best themed lands you can find anywhere, so maybe consider doing 3-4 nights at universal only (we did 3 nights there, felt like the perfect amount of time) and then the cruise. Save WDW for when you can spend 14+ days there.

 

[PrincessInOz]

If your kids are now 7 and 4, I would do as the others have suggested. Shorten the time for both WDW and UO and fit the cruise in.
And that is a lot of time you've allocated for UO. If you want to chill, you might as well chill on the cruise.

 

[MichelleLB]

That does sound good, but the $side just doesnt add up, the rates for WDW and UO get pretty reasonable per night staying over a week and to cut them down would save on time but we'd be looking at about the same total cost for each sector PLUS the cruise $.... so timewise it makes sense but $wise it starts getting abit tight...

 

[Kiwifan]

Have you thought about a 3 or 4 night cruise instead of 7? My daughter & I did a 4 night cruise on the Dream at the end of our WDW trip & it was a fantastic way to de-stress & relax after the insanity of the parks. (My daughter loved the cruise so much she is now working on the Fantasy.)
I'm not sure what the current prices are like but I remember back then I thought the price for the 4 night was really reasonable.

 

[5ofus]

I have three boys who were 9,7 and 5 when we went on our big trip last year. We had 3 nights Universal/NASA, 11 nights WDW, 7 night cruise, 4 nights DL and then a couple of days up PCH on the way to SFO for the end of our trip. We are ALWAYS talking about our trip and I invariably get the same answers from the kids. Favourite part of the whole trip: 9yo: Cruise, 7yo NASA and WDW and 5yo Cruise, WDW and DL. When I ask what their least favourite part was they ALL answer Universal, but they loved our hotel there (Cabana Bay). If we were fortunate enough to have the budget and time to do it again, we'd probably do much the same trip or cut Universal completely and add those days to WDW. Don't underestimate the size of WDW. After 11 days there we still wanted more.

My older boys don't really do the magical part (the eldest is extremely bright and logical and stopped believing in Santa at 3 ), but they really love Disney

 

[sarefromoz]

We (11 and 9 yo daughters and 7 yo son) went to Orlando in August we did a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise, 5 nights at Universal and 14 nights for WDW. If you asked any of the 5 of us what the highlight of the trip was we'd all answer the Disney Cruise. Have you thought about staying offsite to reduce wdw costs? We stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and we didn't regret it at all. It was just as close to the parks as some of the WDW resorts. Universal was fantastic, especially for my Harry Potter obsessed daughter.
If I had to deal with your scenario, I would do whatever I could to include a DCL cruise (and still try to fit in US and WDW). You won't regret it.