Do you ever go to a DVC resort at WDW with minimal park action???

[edk35]

We leave on Monday afternoon for 6 nights at OKW. So that gives us 5 full days to do whatever. We leave to go home on Sunday afternoon. We were just there in Nov. for 8 nights and as our trip approaches I am actually thinking of how I would like to chill out some on this trip. We are all tired. :rotfl: My two oldest will have just finished mid term exams in high school, as we speak myself and two of the kids have colds. My poor dh has had some longggggggggggggg hours with no days off for about the past 2 1/2 weeks working the presidential inauguration activities. I am not in the mood to get up really early each day or stay out late so I am trying to figure out our days. We have 2 day hopper days left on some myw passes. My oldest son and dh are planning on going to US/IOA one day. We can buy the current military special where my husband gets a free 5 day ticket and we pay 99 for each of ours so we can do the parks very cheaply. However we are going for 9 nights in July that we could save these passes for. Part of me just wants to use the 2 days we have and then maybe we will all go to US/IOA and then just find some other stuff to do that don't involve the parks. I have never done anything like that really though. We usually do parks every day to some extent with maybe a non park day thrown in a really long trip. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DisDaydreamer]

I think you'll get a lot of different responses. We have no trouble at all just doing the resort, but then we're almost always at either HHI or VB.

I think you have to have this conversation with your family and decide whether you can weather 4 days off. Maybe do something like go to the parks for the 2nd and 5th days to spread it out. Or purchase an extra day and go like the 1st, 3rd, and 5th days.

You sound concerned about being able to handle some off days, and I am sure you have a good understanding of your family chemistry when not occupied by things to do. If you ALL like to read books you probably are ok. If some of you need to be occupied/entertained then you might have a problem.

Good luck with your decision... :goodvibes

[Tink-n-Belle]

Last Feb we stayed 4 nights at the BWV, 1 Night at AKV and 2 nights at VB and we only went to the parks 1 full day (did Epcot & DS) and then went to the P&PP from 4:00 pm to 12:00pm the next day.

The other days we enjoyed the BW-- we rented boats, got hairwraps, went over and checked out SAB, slept late (after P&PP), the next day we went to DTD & moved over to the AKV. Since its kinda a destination in itself we wanted to experience what it was all about without having to go to the parks. We went to Boma's, had the girls carcicutures (sp?) done with them as an elephant and a giraffe (really cute) participated in an African dance around the lobby banging on drums and singing AFRICA, AFRICA--- the native then did a few tribal dances (very unique and fun)

You are so right -- sometimes you just need a vacation!!!!! IMHO, Disney is NOT a vacation --that's why we always try to go to VB after Disney to chill out!!!!

Have a great vacation!!!

[edk35]

I think you'll get a lot of different responses. We have no trouble at all just doing the resort, but then we're almost always at either HHI or VB.

I think you have to have this conversation with your family and decide whether you can weather 4 days off. Maybe do something like go to the parks for the 2nd and 5th days to spread it out. Or purchase an extra day and go like the 1st, 3rd, and 5th days.

You sound concerned about being able to handle some off days, and I am sure you have a good understanding of your family chemistry when not occupied by things to do. If you ALL like to read books you probably are ok. If some of you need to be occupied/entertained then you might have a problem.

Good luck with your decision... :goodvibes


Well the boys love the community hall at OKW. Plus they would swim even if it is cold. I mean...I am up for doing stuff and not just hanging out in the villa and read. :lmao: I just think sometimes we do a lot of park action and we get tired and go home from our trips tired. It would be nice to get more sleep and actually feel refreshed when we go home. Plus on our heavy park trips the kids ages 18, 15 and 10 start saying "are we getting up early in the morning again?" We actually enjoy our resorts but I don't know about only going to US/IOA one day and disney parks two days. That leaves 2 non park days really.

[starbox]

We've been slowly shifting to more time at the resorts and less in the parks.

Some things that make us feel "Disneyfied" without going in a park:

Playing mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens or Winterland/Summerland

A trip to DTD - a treat at Ghiradellis, a mickey gingerbreadman for the road at Goofy's, letting the kids trade pins - and even a movie.

An "event" breakfast - getting up late and having a brunch-type big breakfast at Boma or Kona.

We travel in the summer - so spending time at the pool is a biggie for us.

[edk35]

It is so hard to decide. I feel like Jan. is such a great time to be in the parks vs. the summer trips we take because of the GREAT TEMPS.

[starbox]

It is so hard to decide. I feel like Jan. is such a great time to be in the parks vs. the summer trips we take because of the GREAT TEMPS.

I'm a Florida native - so I just can't do pools if it's not in the high 80's (at least). I'm truthfully worried that my June trip is going to be too cool for my taste - last June I actually went and bought a sweatshirt because it was not hot enough at night for me. :upsidedow

DVC is definitely a summer treat for us - I think staying at a resort would be wasted on me in November-May because I would not swim. But if I were from the north, I think I'd need Florida in January!!!

[edk35]

I'm a Florida native - so I just can't do pools if it's not in the high 80's (at least). I'm truthfully worried that my June trip is going to be too cool for my taste - last June I actually went and bought a sweatshirt because it was not hot enough at night for me. :upsidedow

DVC is definitely a summer treat for us - I think staying at a resort would be wasted on me in November-May because I would not swim. But if I were from the north, I think I'd need Florida in January!!!

We need Fl. in Jan. then. It has been very cold here this winter. brrrrrrrr

[LSchrow]

we've come home from our last few years of WDW vacations totally relaxed & refreshed.
some things we do:
~ get out by 11AM only if absolutely neccessary (mostly if we aren't having breakfast in the villa ~ most places stop b'fast at 10:30-11AM. to note: golden has a GREAT b'fast buffet!)
~ play mini-golf (one of our favorite pasttimes ~ we get so silly & laugh so hard, it's fun to do 2-3x a trip)
~ rent watermice at the poly, then spend a few hours at the resort
~ spend a day at DTD, have an ice cream at ghiradellis, watch someone pick-a-pearl, play with the legos, read EVERY magnet, watch the magicians in the magic shop. enjoy a great lunch or dinner at WPE.
~ hit the outlets for some fun shopping
~ go to AKL & talk with the CMs there (fascinating!), sit by the firepit & chat with strangers
~ stroll around the BW & watch the street performers
~ play arcade games (i heard the CR has a very good arcade room)

it was in the 40's today, so i wouldn't suggest swimming (i consider mid 80's too chilly to swim tho:rolleyes: ). definately go to community hall, rent bikes, & explore the resort. also see if they have any other activities going on.

[SLM]

Have you been to Sea World? It's not a huge park, so easy to do in a day. We try to go every couple of years-and really enjoy the shows and attractions. It will be nice going in January knowing what you miss this time can be done in the summer! :)

[edk35]

Have you been to Sea World? It's not a huge park, so easy to do in a day. We try to go every couple of years-and really enjoy the shows and attractions. It will be nice going in January knowing what you miss this time can be done in the summer! :)


Yes we did Sea World Nov. 07. Thanks

[anna08]

You could easily spend the second half of a day walking around the Boardwalk/BCV lake. We love to chill out eating pizza from the takeout window of Spoodles, people watching while we eat, enjoying street entertainers, then walk the lake and sit and watch the beachfront nightly movie at BCV. All free except the pizza :)

[Buckeye Fan]

Yep...as we've chatted before, we're the ones that don't buy APs. We only do 2 - 3 park days over a 5 - 7 day vacation. We always go to MK for a day and to a water park. The third day is one of the other parks, or we hop between two.

On our "off" days, we have so much fun at WDW. We always spend time at DTD, the Boardwalk, the resort pools, our favorite restaurants, mini-golfing, going for walks, etc.

This has always been the way we have vacationed, but I'd like to try APs some day! :goodvibes I think it would be cool to go to dinner in a park, walk around for a bit, and stay for fireworks. I would NEVER do that with my MYW 10-day pass. :scared:

[cj9200]

We stayed a week over New Years at BWV and for various reasons we did not do much in the parks. We only spent 3 of the days in the parks. We also ATE. Some great ADR's that was the focus of some of our days. Floridians, so we did not go near the pools. We did DTD, got a movie to watch in the room and went to dinner which killed a day. Also traveling to the MK resorts was fun. Depends on your family. We wanted to chill, do a few things (mostly centered around food) and just relax. It was one of our best trips ever.

[DisneyWalker44]

We have never done more than 3 major park days on a single trip. Last trip was 4 days, with 2 park days. Trip before was 3 days - 1 park, one waterpark, one rest day. We spend lots of time just relaxing at the resort.

[ScottOKW2K]

We just did a 5 night trip to WDW over the New Years week. We had no active park tickets of any kind, and the only time we went in a park was a 45 minute trip to the Japan pavaiion in Epcot. My daughter wanted to see if a particular item was there, so we did the one-hour pass at Guest Services ( buy a one day ticket, and if you return to guest services within the hour your ticket is refunded.)

It was a GREAT trip. We got to rest and relax, and since we were not tied to park opening and closing we did what we wanted when we wanted. Did downtown disney, minigolf, watched Wall-E in the room on the flatscreen (AKV). Saw the pre-NYE fireworks on the 30th from the beach at the Poly, and saw the NYE fireworks at Epcot and the Studios from near the boat dock at the International Gateway.

There is so much to do at WDW that it is easy to find something to do outside the parks. Go, and enjoy !

[grannychamp]

Last Feb. over Superbowl weekend we stayed at OKW and only went to the Magic Kingdom on Friday. We spent Sat and Sun just chilling by the pool and DTD of course we had dinner at Olivia's it was a great time of relaxing and just soaking up the sun.:beach:

[mooneyda]

That is my trip in May we are just going to hang out . Explore other resorts and stuff .over New Years a couple years ago even though I was not in DVC resort We just wandered around aimlessly exploring because I did not want to come any where close to the parks.

[jamie&Greg]

We always take a lot of "down" time. We wake when we want, leave the villa when we want and just tour at our own pace. We always take at least a day to hang by the resort or resort hope (maybe through in a nice dinner or lunch).

IMO as long as your at Disney - what could be better :goodvibes

[OlderMan]

FWIW, DW and I haven't set foot in a WDW theme park for almost 8 years.

Granted, due to school field trips each of our daughters has been tot least one in that time frame.

When we visit OKW, we go to the pools, take the ferry to DTD and/or SSR. Go offsite to (sometimes) eat--when we aren't cooking in the villa or on one of the grills.

Admittedly, we are only 70 or so miles from WDW and can go frequently, but the parks don't hold a lot of fascination for my girls. (They actually prefer Seaworld over the WDW parks.)

[Dano1182]

After 10 years weHave cut back on our park visits.
We only plan on going to parks two days out of the five we will be there.
Part of reason for this is because we always go at easter time.
The crowds then are terrible.
We stopped going to MK a few years ago when we spent 6 hours in park and got on two rides.
We have stayed weekends at Universal and completely spoiled by their front of line policy for on site hotel guests.(too expensive this year)No worry about fast pass etc.

We love DVC the resorts are as nice as any "stand alone"hotel.
We hang by the pool and recharge.
We have seen friends of our come home from Disney wiped out from all the running around.
We paid alot of money for DVC and believe in using the resort.
If you are going only use hotel to sleep then you may be better off stayingh a a low budget hotel.

[Dano1182]

My kids also prefer Seaworld.Staying at renisance hotel bfore BWV 150 a night AAA rate.$89.00 addimision pass good for a year..Great deal.Going to Aquaitica also.
Much more laid back.
less crowded and dare I say the people there are better behaved.No middle aged women trampling children to cut line to get tigger's autograph there

[JACKie SPARROW]

This is a really interesting question. If you would have asked me this a a few years ago I would have said NO!:sad2: NEVER!:confused3

We have been to WDW 11 times in the last 12 years and have literally pounded the parks in order to get the most out of our dollar. Honestly, who wouldn't with the cost of tickets these days. I would have never :sad2: considered not being in the parks the majority of the day.

Now, however, life has changed. Our kids are 12, 10 & 7 and are involved in a few activities, which requires me to drive them places and participate regularly. Honestly, some of our DVC vacations resemble our home life-get up and go,go,go:crazy2: ... I am very tired would definately love a more relaxing vacation than we are used to.

Even though we have AP's for our August trip @ BWV's, we are planning on decreasing our time spent in the parks. And from this point forward, I can see us staying on property, avoiding the parks entirely and for once ejnoying the resort's full amenities. The only thing I probably have a hard time with is the food because some of our favorite places to eat are in the parks.

This year we plan on renting a boat at VWL, spending a day at the pool and playing some mini golf, not to mention relaxing and enjoying the view from our balcony with a beverage.

[jimmacmn]

I'm going Friday Feb 20. Since I will be by myself on Friday and Saturday, I will probably use the AP I got last weekend to do a little at the parks to pass the time. Three buddies will be joining me on Sat evening and we have tee times scheduled for Sunday through Wednesday around 10AM and dinner reservations for 7PM each day. I'm sure the guys aren't going to want to buy passes, so we won't be doing any parks Sun to Wed.

[edk35]

Now, however, life has changed. Our kids are 12, 10 & 7 and are involved in a few activities, which requires me to drive them places and participate regularly. Honestly, some of our DVC vacations resemble our home life-get up and go,go,go:crazy2: ... I am very tired would definately love a more relaxing vacation than we are used to.



I feel your pain. :rotfl2: :rotfl: My life has finally slowed down some with my kids getting older (18, 15 and 10) but trust me there were sooooooooooooooooooo many years that I was running 3 kids on the same night to different places and we had stuff 7 days a week sometimes. Just craziness as I call it. As we get older.....even my kids are starting to want more laid back times at WDW too. They like to SLEEP IN, stay out later, swim/hang out at the pool. So I feel happy about that. :thumbsup2


We are actually revamping our trip ( we leave on Monday) as we speak. It is kind of exciting to plan a more laid back and slower pace trip. It will be fun to see how it all pans out when we get there. Will we stick with it? Or will we throw it out and head straight to the parks on Tuesday morning. :rotfl: Our plan is to sleep in Tuesday, eat a big late breakfast at Olivia's, head to SSR for my dd and I to get pedicures why dh and the boys head to DTD for a Disney Quest adventure. We will meet up with them later for shopping and a early dinner. Then head back to OKW (maybe the boys will hit CH and pool) an then get a good night's sleep for our MK day/night the next day. We shall see ....we shall see. Normally we would get up early and head to a park our first morning.

[goofygal1975]

We love having down days. We can really fill up the days with things other than going to the park. (this was just staying at Pop or other values, or BCV)

Mini Golf is a great activity for an off day. Spending the day/afternoon at the pool. Going to DTD to shop or eat. Make a dining reservation at a resort to get the Disney fix. The arcade will keep my ds busy for hours if we let him stay there that long. We also like to resort hop and check out the different resorts and shops. If you have had a really busy life lately...it would be a welcome relief to take it easy.

[disneynutz]

As time goes on we seem to be visiting the parks less and enjoying the rest of WDW more. So much so, that we are considering not buying APs anymore and getting non-expire 10 day passes instead.