staying at the resort all day instead of going to the parks

[Amy&Dan]

We do it every trip. Although generally do a park that evening. My favorite kind of day is to spend the day at my resort, then go to MK for EMH that night or sometimes DTD.

We have been known to also just be at the resort all day and evening, the nightime movies by the pools//beaches that each resort offers make that option very doable for us.

Our trips are always at least ten nights so a down day is a must for us. When we have two week trips, its a must because they don't sell a ticket that is long enough to cover all our days.

I'll add that we have stayed at every level of Disney resort and we have done this down day at every level. Although I will say the values are great in the morning, as the day wears on it gets harder to feel the peace and quiet! At the mods and deluxe's we do main pool until after lunch then head to one of the quiet pools.

Another note I'll make is that the pool games all the resorts do also have us escaping to the quiet pools in the afternoons if we want peace and quiet. Our kids are older now so the pool games aren't much of a draw anymore.

[ready2vacation]

Sometimes - we usually use that day to go to DTD and resort hop at the Deluxes. We enjoy the resorts more than parks sometimes! Especially when we are traveling with our little one.

[disneybliss2]

No, we have never taken an entire day to spend at the resort. We only go once every other year so we feel like we need to maximize our time while there. We spent more time at our resort this past trip because we stayed at AKL. For the first time, we planned a sleep in day after a late night light show (helpful with little ones, so glad we did this; it helped us all). On that same day because AKL had craft, cultural, and animal activities for the kids throughout the day, we took advantage of that and stayed at the resort to do the activities until around 2:40 and then headed off to the park. There's no way we would have stayed that long at the other resorts we've stayed in the past (Pop and POFQ) because they don't have all the kids activities. While it was nice to pause some, I couldn't have imagined staying at our hotel any longer. It's all what works for your family, though, and makes your vacation enjoyable.

[diznee25]

Arrival day is when we spend the most time at our resort. Can't do the parks this day, so we'll explore the resort, take photos, and hit DTD that first night.

I try to schedule 2 afternoons as breaks, but most of the time we only make one, or sometimes skip both......too much of WDW to see!

We tend to carve out more downtime if we stay deluxe. Plus, I'll schedule ADRs for restaurants during the week, and that makes us spend more time at the resort. How can you stay at AKL and NOT make ADRs for Jiko and Boma?!

[BabyFu18]

I love having some down durning the vacation, so if we do a park all day one day the next day is usually our hotel day. Go swimming, play tennis, walk around the resort and take in the amenities that are offered. Also on our non-park days I like to go into Orlando, hit the malls do some shopping things like that are a great way to relax and take it easy. I much prefer to have a relax/hotel day between each park day so I don't get to exhausted and worn down (I don't care for doing the parks back to back).

Plus on non park days I love to resort hop, shop in other resorts gift shops, walk around and take pictures, see the scenery and check out other resorts to see I'd like to stay there one day. Other non park days are spent at the resort pool all day and that's perfect too!

I love the parks and want to do it all while there, but I cherish the non park days just as much!

[DanInMN]

We never go to the parks on arrival or departure days. If we are staying 6+ days we will take a day or two relaxing at the pool, window shopping elsewhere, looking at other resorts, Downtown Disney, Boardwalk, etc. The parks can become sensory overload after a few days, not to mention sore legs from walking!

[arcticdisneylovers]

Our upcoming trip is the first time we are having a non-park day. DH begged to have 1 day to sleep in and relax. I relented, but I think it's a BIG waste. If I wanted to sleep in I can do that at home. Well not really since DD gets up at 6:45am EVERY morning She's not going to sleep in at WDW, but we are going to have a late breakfast and head to DTD

[Mousemommy1]

On our 11 day trips, we typically have 2 days where we just don't feel like leaving and we hang around the resort. So relaxing.

[BlovesC]

Absolutely! We can do the parks any time, but we really love the resorts and love soaking up the atmosphere at them.

BC in particular is our favorite resort to spend all day at. We can literally spend 8 hours swimming in SAB only taking a break for lunch at B&C, and then stroll around the Boardwalk for dinner at night. It's incredibly relaxing.

AKL is another resort I could spend literally all day at and not get bored. I love it!

[disneybride96]

We always have a "non-park" day and have even done short "non-park" trips, usually in conjunction with a cruise.

Some of our favorite things to do:
1. Pool & Spa Day
2. Fantasy Miniature Golf
3. Resort Hopping to decide where we want to stay next
4. Nap & Read
5. Resort Photography
6. See the most recent DVC resort room models
7. Relax in the sunroom at BC
8. Visit the Wedding Gazebo where we were married

I think one of the reasons we enjoy our "adult only" Disney Trips so much is that we have been there enough and don't feel that we have to do everything. We pick a few things we haven't done in awhile and put them on the list for the next trip. If we miss them, not a biggie.

[goofy4prez]

We have never spent just a whole day at the resort. However we have slept in, hung out much of the day and then made it a late night in one of the parks. We have also done an early day in the park and then spent the afternoo enjoying the pool and property and then enjoying dinner at the resort.

[Kemorr]

We did an entire day at the pool on our last trip. We were at OKW and my original plan was to go to the pool in the morning then catch the boat to DTD for lunch/the afternoon. However my kids had such a blast doing all the organized activities and games at the pool that we stayed there all day long and went to Olivia's for dinner. It was a fun and relaxing way to spend a day and it still felt very "Disney".

[shpdem]

we do 7 day stays and take 1 day in the middle to do a late breakfast at ohana's then play disney mini golf and resort hop to see where we want to stay the next time down. oh yea and do some swimming in the pool.

[MommaNinja]

We are planning our first WDW trip for this July. While I could go to the parks everyday from open to close, my family would kill me if we did that!

We are planning 2 resort days while there so we can relax, enjoy the pool, have a nap and enjoy the resort. We are paying a lot of money to stay at the Poly so I guess we should do more than just sleep there!

[pegrad1]

I plan on having one resort only day. I'm not sure if you would really call it that. I guess just a day for a special surprise I have for my kids. (I can't put it on here since my daughter could read this) It would entail being on property but not at the parks. Surprise + Part of the day at DTD, doing laundry & relaxing by the pool.