A Disney Dilemma

We have our summer vacation planned. Whew! I know, it’s only the middle of February and we know

what we are doing for our family’s summer vacation five months from now. Yep. But, it wasn’t without much deliberation, consultation, planning, and a bit of a dilemma.

We knew we were cruising on the Disney Dream this summer. . . in July. . . during our anniversary. We had rebooked while on board the Disney Magic in December of 2009, as guests who rebook on board get a discounted price and an on board credit offer. We also knew that we wanted to combine our cruise with a visit to the Walt Disney World Resort and parks.

The dilemma was trying to decide to do the parks before the cruise or after the cruise. Hmmm. . . there were pros and cons both ways.



If we did the parks before the cruise, the cruise would be a relaxing end after several days of park touring. We would have experienced lots of magic at the parks before our cruise. Transportation from the parks to the cruise would be seamless and taken care of using Disney transportation and luggage handling.

If we did the parks after our cruise, there wouldn’t be as much letdown at the end of the cruise, because we would be heading to the parks. Our feet wouldn’t hurt when we got on the cruise after touring and we would be well rested to tackle the parks after our relaxing cruise. (OK, Disney cruises don’t have to be all that relaxing as there is activity almost around the clock. . . I’m just making it sound very relaxing AND it CAN be relaxing.) Transportation from the cruise to the parks would be seamless and taken care of using Disney transportation and luggage handling.



We did finally decide on a plan.



Here’s what a Disney Mom had to say about our dilemma:


So, our plan—well, it involves a little of both before and after the cruise.




We plan to fly to Orlando the day before our cruise embarks. We have done this before and it just makes flying less tense; less worrying about making it to the ship on time. But, previously, we have stayed at the Hyatt at Orlando International before heading to the ship the next day. This trip, we are taking the Magical Express from the airport to a Walt Disney World Resort. And, we are trying out a new resort this trip.


We deliberated as to whether to purchase theme park tickets for this day, but decided against it. Instead, we will head to Downtown Disney for a meal and to get us into the Disney spirit. Our resort offers boat service to and from Downtown Disney.


The next morning, we plan to head to the Magic Kingdom—not to tour the park, but to head to the Polynesian for breakfast at ‘OHANA’s with Lilo and Stitch. When we return to our resort, a Disney bus will take us to the port where the Disney Dream will be waiting for us.
 

Upon returning from the Dream, we will then spend the next 6 days touring the parks. So, a little bit of Disney before the cruise, and a lot of Disney after the cruise!



Disney dilemma: solved!