I’ve taken 20 trips to the Disney theme parks, including visiting Disneyland for the first time in 2023. A year later, I took my first Disney cruise.
This gave me a great chance to compare the two vacations based on price, activities, food, and overall experience.
Here’s how they stacked up.
Disney vacations are not cheap.
I paid about $4,000 for a Disneyland vacation in 2023. It was a solo trip with four nights at the Disneyland Hotel and four park days.
Although that cost didn’t include my airfare, it did include all my meals and ticket upgrades.
While at the parks, I attended the Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween after-hours event, which cost about $150. I also took the Disney100 ($110) and Walt’s Main Street Story ($160) tours.
The cruise cost even more.
The base cost of my seven-day Disney Wonder cruise was $5,800 for two adults in a veranda stateroom. Like many cruises, this included most of my meals and entertainment options.
Our room was about $1,100 cheaper than a typical veranda stateroom because it had obstructed views. But it was perfect for the cold, windy Alaska weather.
One major hidden cost was the port excursions — we spent about $2,000 for four excursions. Additionally, we paid extra for some specialty beverages and a brunch at Palo.
Not including airfare, the total came to about $8,800, or $4,400 a person.
Eating and drinking on the cruise was cheaper.
Other than the specialty brunch, all my meals on the cruise ship were included in my up-front cost. Each day, I got breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and we also had access to 24-hour room service.
My favorite cruise treat was the soft serve.
I’m used to paying theme-park prices for meals on a Disney vacation, which can easily cost me $60 a day. Eating as much as I wanted, whenever I wanted, was a luxury.
Unlike some companies, Disney doesn’t offer unlimited drink packages on its cruises. Fountain drinks, basic coffee, tea, and sparkling water were included, but wine, beer, cocktails, and specialty coffees were not.
However, the cocktails were generally cheaper on the cruise. An old-fashioned at Park Wine Country Trattoria in Disneyland cost me $18.50, but an Old New Orleans Fashion cocktail at French Quarter Lounge on the cruise was $14.50.
Photo packages were more expensive but less complicated on the cruise.
I often travel to Disney theme parks solo, so a PhotoPass Package is a must for me if I don’t want a camera roll full of just selfies.
At Disneyland, I have the option to download photos individually for about $15. If I get a line-expediting Lightning Lane Multi-Pass, usually about $32 a day, I can also get unlimited downloads for the day.
For longer trips, there’s the PhotoPass+ One Week pass that costs $78 for unlimited downloads.
On my Alaskan Disney cruise, the photo package was more straightforward because there was only one option. However, it was expensive — $296 for the seven-day trip, over $200 more than the same package at the parks.
I saw Walt’s apartment and rare villains at Disneyland.
My Disneyland trip was packed with Disney history and unique experiences.
I loved seeing the castle decorated for the 100th anniversary and meeting characters in their Halloween costumes.
Paying extra for the tours and party was totally worth it. During Walt’s Main Street Story Tour, we visited Walt’s old apartment on Main Street, USA. I even stood on the same patio Walt did while watching guests enter the park almost 70 years earlier.
At Oogie Boogie Bash, I met characters who rarely do meet and greets in the parks, including Bruno from “Enchanto,” Lots-o-Huggin’ Bear from “Toy Story 3,” and Judge Doom from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”
We held sled-dog puppies, met rare characters, and saw a glacier on the cruise.
The Alaskan cruise was also packed with unique experiences.
Disney cruises offer activities from morning until midnight. We watched a “Frozen” stage show, met Alaska-exclusive characters like Lumberjack Goofy, and saw amazing scenery from the deck.
Every evening, we returned to our room to find our towels folded to look like different animals, and on the last day, we even learned how to do it ourselves.
One of the most magical experiences was sipping on drinks made with glacier ice while we were within a quarter mile of Dawes Glacier.
The magic continued in the Alaska ports. We saw humpback whales and sea otters in Icy Strait Point, watched a bear wander down Creek Street in Ketchikan, and held 4-week-old sled-dog puppies in Juneau.
Both trips were nice, but the cruise was packed with once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Every Disney vacation is magical in its own way.
There are plenty of experiences from both of these trips that I don’t think I’ll ever forget — from exploring Walt’s Disneyland apartment to meeting Alaska Fisherman Mickey.
However, when it comes to breaking down the value of each trip, I think got more out of the Alaskan Disney cruise.
It was a bit more expensive, but my cruise was absolutely filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences, unlimited food, and unique Disney activities.
The post I went on a $4,000 Disneyland trip and took a $4,400 Disney cruise. The pricier experience was a way better value. appeared first on Business Insider.
