Just to give you a heads up about doing the parks before the cruise...book your cruise first then get ready to be flexible about what DVC resort you want to stay in. We just recently got back from our 2 week WDW and Disney cruise vacation. We decided to do a week at the parks before setting sail on the cruise. We had a bit of a time matching up our cruise dates with a DVC resort that we wanted with the rooms that we needed! We wanted our home resort, AKL, but that was a no go...long story short, we ended up at SSR. It took us a little while to get there, but thankfully the Disney cast member helping us was very patient! (and the fact that booked in the 'off season' helped out tremendously as well)
And just like you, it was our first time and we were a little scared of the unknown...but everything was made so easy for us! We also really enjoyed the resort...our rooms (2 bdrm lockoff) was incredible, it was like a little apartment...we (my in-laws, my mother, my husband and 19 month old son and I) had plenty of room to spread out!
...its so funny because we too plan to return to WDW and cruise in September!! ;-) Hope all goes well with your planning!!

We used our developer points in December and were honestly not expecting too much. It was not one of the places we had been wanting to stay. We had an amazing time. The pool and slide were great. We spent a rainy day at the community hall and had a great time. My son loved the splash area near the pool by our room (I forget what it was called). It sprayed you as you ran through the horse stalls and had horse spray guns. The boat ride over to down town Disney was nice. We had a great view of the wonderful golf course and I enjoyed a nice morning at the spa there too. It was great. We spent over half our time that week just enjoying the resort.

We just got back from 3 days at SSR. Despite it being rainy and cold which kinda made walking around the property a bit dreadful, the place was pretty. Our room was quite nice. My husband and I remarked several times that it was better than our room at the Grand Floridian the year before. This was our first DVC and we were on developer points. My in laws who we brought along and got a second room for, liked it as well. We stayed in the Paddock section. Being the first time to use the DVC was a little scary - after all what if we didn't like it? But we did so all is well. We return to SSR (more developer points) next month and again in September. Can't wait to try our home resort AKL. We are banking this years points and taking 2 DCL cruises next year with our points. May stay a day or two at the parks prior to each cruise!! If I can ever figure out what dates to book!!