With the holidays coming soon, you might be thinking about buying your kids "a trip to Disney" as a present sometime in the next year.
For most people, a Disney vacation means a visit to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. But Disney's theme parks are not the only way to enjoy a Disney vacation. For some families, booking a Disney Cruise Line trip might be a better way to spend time together. As someone who has worked and visited Disney for many years, here is my guide to help you decide which Disney vacation is the better choice for your family.
Walt Disney World offers four different theme parks, spread across about 40 square miles near Orlando, Florida. You can choose from among dozens of hotels spread across that property, each with different themes, amenities, and price points. Or you can save money by staying off site and driving to the parks each day of your visit.
Disney World is home to some of the best rides in the world, including Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance - our readers' pick as the world's best theme park attraction. But visiting theme parks means sometimes long waits for individual rides and shows, and Disney's table-service restaurants often require heard-to-get advance reservations. The weather in Central Florida can be oppressively hot and humid for most of the year, too.
Disney Cruise Line offers five - soon to be six - different ships, sailing from ports around the world. But most cruises depart from Disney's home ports of Port Canaveral and Port Everglades in Florida. Those ships typically sail to one or both of Disney's private destinations in The Bahamas: Castaway Cay and the new Lookout Cay on the islands of Eleuthera.
Disney's cruise ships are not like other companies'. There are no on-board casinos and no unlimited drink packages. That helps Disney attract a very different crowd than other cruise lines. As for a comparison with the parks, you won't find rides beyond water slides on Disney Cruise ships or ports of call, but you will find Broadway-style shows featuring Disney stories and characters, themed dining, and abundant opportunities to meet and take photos with Disney characters.
Pick a Walt Disney World vacation if your family loves amusement parks and rides. But pick the Disney Cruise Line if you prefer a more laid-back experience that requires minimal planning and waiting.
If your idea of "visiting Disney" is seeing your kids meet and interact with Disney characters and maybe watching some shows, pick the Disney Cruise Line. But if your idea of "visiting Disney" is experiencing iconic attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain, then go with Walt Disney World.
And if you really, really want to see fireworks on your vacation... pick either, because Disney Cruise Line is the only one that features fireworks at sea.
To learn more about the Walt Disney World theme parks, please see our visitors' guides, with rankings and travel advice from Theme Park Insider readers.
And for more about Disney's newest cruise ship, see our Visitors Guide to the Disney Wish. We also have trip reports from Disney's private ports of call:
As we mentioned, the Walt Disney World Resort is located near Orlando, Florida, but Disney also has theme parks near Los Angeles in California, as well as outside Paris, France; Tokyo, Japan, and in Hong Kong and Shanghai. If you can't decide between visiting Disney and one of those other locations, you can include a Disney theme park visit as part of a trip to one of those popular destinations. [See all of our theme park visitors guides at themeparkinsider.com/reviews.]
Disney Cruises depart year-round from Port Canaveral, which is about one hour east of the Orlando airport, and Port Everglades, which is just minutes from the Fort Lauderdale airport. You also can find Disney Cruises departing at certain times of the year from San Diego, Vancouver, and Galveston, as well as other ports around the world.
In general, Disney's theme parks outside the United States are cheaper to visit than the ones in the U.S. But Disney's cruises from Florida typically offers the lowest fares. Either way, you have options beyond Florida if you want to visit Disney someplace else in the world.
Whether you are interested in Walt Disney World, the Disney Cruise Line, or another Disney destination, you can get a free, no-obligation vacation quote from Theme Park Insider's travel agency sponsor. Visit themeparkinsider.com/book-vacation to request a quote on a Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, or Disneyland vacation.
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