Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

My family (2 adults, 2 kids, ages 3 and 2) are taking a cruise this summer. One stop is Orlando. We dock at 12 and have to be back on the ship at 10 p.m. My question is, with travel time about 1 hour each (total fun time about 7 hours) would it be enough time to do Magic Kingdom or any of the Disney parks for that matter? I also considered doing Universal and only doing the kiddie rides. I am not sure what to do in Orlando since there is so much to do but I would need so much more time. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

we did the cruise that stoppped in port canaveral..i think it was a hr away from orlando

we booked a day trip to universal with the cruise and they brought us there and back to the ship

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I'd visit my SIL, BIL, niece and nephew who live 20 minutes from the port but I don't think that will help you.

I would do Disney or Universal but through the cruiseline just in case god forbid there is an issue with traffic or you're stuck on a line or something and you get back to the ship late.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I have taken two cruises with stops in "Orlando." The first time we did the universal studios excursion with the fast pass. It was great - we saw every single attraction (this was in 2004 before HP opened). We went on a cruise last summer, and opted to go to Disney. We only got to go on 4 rides. It was hot as anything. It took almost twice as long to get to Disney from the port as it did to get to Universal. It was on the same cruise line and we docked at similar times on both cruises. The one difference was we got engaged on the first cruise so it was just DH and me, the one last year we had our kids and my mom and my grandma. Honestly - and they agreed and apologized - they should not have come on the excursion with us. They really held us back from seeing things. We saw another family who had kids that were a little older than mine and they only went on 5 rides. I think the distance and expense of Disney was just not worth the price of admission when you only have a few hours. I enjoyed Universal and think for the short number of hours offered a better value for the dollar. I would do a separate Disney trip rather than just tack it on. But to be honest with the new price increases for single day tickets I am not sure if either are such a good value today. It will be easily 750-1000 for one day for a family of 4 at either park. Last summer it was about 750 for us when all was said and done with tickets, food, and toys for one day. I would not do it again that way.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I would and have gone to seaworld.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I wouldn't do Disney. It's not nearly enough time. I would do Seaworld or Universal. Or if you're beach people you can just go to Cocoa Beach for the day.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I would do seaworld or universal, disney much further away from the port than universal and seaworld.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

We did the cruise to Orlando with our two young girls. We did the cruise trip to Disney. It was pretty crazy. We were only able to do like 2 rides at the theme park we went to because by the time we got there all fast passes were gone and then after waiting in line we didn't really have too much time. We also ate lunch at one of the restaurants (not character)
So after evaluating we thought it was really just TOO expensive for what we feel we got out of it.
If we were to do a similar cruise we might just stay on the boat at Disney or try like Seaworld where it would be more looking around as opposed to lines for rides.

Have a great trip no matter what you do!

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

Not sure how old your kids are or if its an option but Lego Land is small and is good for kids 4-8. I nt do Disney. Universal is great too

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

we just did this. we did not want to go to a theme park cuz its just too much rushing to get value from it (imho). so we were considering kennedy space center. i had a car reservation so we could just drive and do it ourselves

well it turns out, the day we were in FL it was raining and gray. we did check out cocoa beach for a bit ($5 taxi ride each way). then just got back to the boat and relaxed.

i would have been upset if we would have committed/paid for an excursion not to enjoy it b/c of the weather.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

What time of year? What day of the week?

That can make a huge difference.

What concerns me is the late start, otherwise I would say go for it

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

It is about an hour drive each way - that is without traffic or accidents etc. I would say it depends on what you expect to get out of it.

Figure you dock at 12 - (keep in mind they sometimes dock late) and then you have to wait to get off - you might not get to WDW until 130 or even 2. You will want to leave yourself plenty of time to get back so you don't miss the ship (if it is a shore excursion then it is less stressful since they will wait for the tour to return in most cases).

I think it depends on what you expect to get out of it. If you are happy going for about 6 hours and are okay with only hitting a very small number of rides and/or just walking around and seeing the afternoon parade or castle shows then I would say go for it. It you are someone who doesn't plan to do disney again for a while and really want to experience the park you might be disappointed. Not sure when you are going but summer time is very busy and the lines in the parks can be very long. If waits are 50+ mins you might only be able to do 3-4 things. So I think it really depends on your expectations.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

We did that and we went to Universal on a boat sponsered excurion.
We felt it was plenty of time to enjoy the park.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

Also, is there a port excursion that includes a bus to the resort and tickets, or are you paying a la carte? if it's a la carte, I don't know that I would pay $89 pp plus transfers for a few hours in the most crowded part of the day at any theme park.

As PP said, it really depends on your expectations.

Another idea is that you can schedule a nice character lunch around 2 or 3pm at one of the resorts and enjoy that experience. your LOs can meet the characters and you can have a relaxing meal, and then you can explore the resorts or Downtown Disney before heading back. That way you'll get a taste of the Disney experience without spending lots of money.

I can say for us, because we know we'll be back, if our cruise were stopping at Orlando, we'd probably stay on the ship and enjoy the amenities rather than rushing around, and the cruise we were thinking about was a Disney Cruise which included transportation and a 1 day pass to WDW so it wouldn't have cost us anything...I just didn't want to be at WDW in the heat of the day in the summer, when I know I'll be back.

We DID spent a day at Disney AFTER a cruise once because we figured we had to fly down to Orlando anyway and we have annual passes. I think that was worth it because we had all of that day and the next day before our flight.

if you have the right expectations and you know which rides don't have long lines, you can have a great afternoon.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

And when they say it's an hour from Port Canaveral to Disney World, it is a SOLID hour. if there's rain or traffic, or bottlenecks loading buses, it will take longer. it won't take less than an hour

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

We just went on a cruise that stopped in Port Canaveral and ended up doing an excursion with the cruiseline. We did Universal Studios. They took us back and forth to the ship and we didn't have to worry about time. It's about an hour from the ship.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I know exactly what you mean because my brother lives in the Orlando area and I would love to see him, but I would also like to do something more with the kids.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

The price is also a but scary. I considered that too! I also hate that we would arrive at the parks so late. If we would arrive at opening, I would feel like we could get much more accomplished.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

We are going in August and it's on a Monday. I hate the idea of a late arrival!

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I went to Univesal Studies during my pre-kids era but I don't remember if there was a lot for kids. Would there be anything for my 3.5 and 2 year old to do?

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

We went on a cruise last year. We decided to do magic kingdom. After traveling the hour there, getting lunch and then getting back to the bus to make it back on time, we only had about 5 hours.

We were only able to get on 4 rides. We did not stop to take pictures with characters. The cruise left June 26, the day after school ended.

I'm glad we did it, because we have some great memories of DS who was 1 and the look on his face on certain rides, but it's kinda a waste for the money you will spend on admission!

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I don't know if I would stop at WDW b/c of your port arrival time and departure time. I just got off the Disney Magic and it stopped in Port Canaveral with included transportation and park hopper passes. The difference is Disney arrived before 6 am and stayed all day until midnight. Buses ran almost continually. We stayed in MK from 9:15am until 4:30pm and got on about 8-9 rides, a parade, lunch, and shopping. We would have stayed a bit later if it wasn't for the rain that started.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?

I would do Magic Kingdom. We went with a 1yo and 3yo and we only stayed for 4 hours and we had no time limitations.

We only went to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and it was plenty.

Re: Cruise with a stop in Orlando... what would you do?