Down day from parks??

[Disneygrl71]

We are going in Oct. and have a down day. I'm not really sure what to do other than spend the day at the pool? My friend suggested going over to the boardwalk??
Any ideas would be great! Thanks

 

[kmb584]

We are going in Oct. and have a down day. I'm not really sure what to do other than spend the day at the pool? My friend suggested going over to the boardwalk??
Any ideas would be great! Thanks

We like to visit other resorts and do a bit of shopping at Disney Springs.

 

[anniemae]

Lots of people resort hop. You could plan a lunch and also explore a resort that you always wanted to see. I would love to do this at AKL. I hear the restaurants are good and you can see the animals I think.

Mini golf

We love to go to Disney Springs, shop, get ice cream at Ghiradelli, stroll around etc.

Plan a show night, like hoop de doo. That way you don't have to leave the parks early to get ready. Lounge at the pool during the day.

 

[Hammill9508]

We are going in Oct. and have a down day. I'm not really sure what to do other than spend the day at the pool? My friend suggested going over to the boardwalk??
Any ideas would be great! Thanks

Depending on where your staying, the DVC resorts offer board game rentals. It is a great way to take a break from the parks on a busy day. Another option is to wonder over to DTD and take in a movie or do some shopping.

 

[Alesia]

There's nothing to do at the boardwalk during the day.

 

[Disneygrl71]

Depending on where your staying, the DVC resorts offer board game rentals. It is a great way to take a break from the parks on a busy day. Another option is to wonder over to DTD and take in a movie or do some shopping.

We are staying at POFQ. I think they do a movie night there, I'll check on that.

I also like the idea of catching a show .. Hoop de doo has good reviews. Any others two older boys (17,13) might like?

 

[katt789]

I'd say sleep in a little bit, relax in the morning, maybe some tv time, or grab a bite, head down to the pool before lunch.
-Boardwalk doesn't have much going on during the day, as pp's said, it's pretty and you can look in a few of the shops but thats about it
-Play some mini golf
-Head on the bus to Magic Kingdom and take the monorail tour, explore around the Contemporary, Poly, Grand & maybe even take a boat to Wildnerness lodge to see it!
-Make a dinner reservation in this area to have a nice meal OR
-Take the boat over to Fort Wilderness to do Hoop Dee Doo, which is my favorite thing on property, OR, check out Mickey's Backyard BBQ. Depending on your timing of Hoop (if you do the 6:30 one) you could head over to the Chip & Dale campfire sing along/movie & roast some marshmallows.

 

[Hootch]

We usually head to a water park for three or four hours, rest and go to Disney Springs for dinner. We have old non expiring water park tickets so it costs us nothing.

We have stayed at POFQ for several trips now. They do have movies every night and they have pool games for kids during the day. The boat to Disney Springs is a nice perk. Just be aware that the lines for the boat get long around dinner time. Disney does have extra boats for heavy times.

 

[imthemamahere]

With teenage boys, if they like mini golf, that's a fun way to spend a little of your day - we've only done Winter/Summerland mini golf, as the Fantasia-themed one is always closed when we go, but it's good, silly fun. Though honestly, sleeping in late also tends to be a popular choice for teenagers!

A day of downtime would be a great time to resort-hop, if that's your thing. The resort theming is lots of fun to go and check out, and of course, you can pick a place for an interesting lunch. Or catch a movie at Disney Springs - we never actually do this, but we always come home and say that would have been a great way to relax and stay off our aching feet! I'd also say it's a great time to head over to Animal Kingdom Lodge in the later part of the afternoon, maybe catch an animal feeding, see the animals (and possibly get some great photographs, if anyone in your family is into that and has a good camera handy). You can then have dinner at Boma or Sanaa - if you catch a dining reservation for shortly before sunset, since Sanaa overlooks one of the AKL savannas, you can watch the animals meandering around while you eat.

Really, what would appeal to you and your boys?

 

[toasterstrudel]

We like to sleep in - we plan our break day about half way through our vacation and we find we really need the sleep since we are open to close'ers! Then we hit the pool and have lunch pool side. Clean up and make a nice dinner reservation at our resort for the evening then go to bed early(ish)! It really refreshes us and lets us do a few more open to close days!

 

[BoltzNBrew]

We are staying at POR in Oct and our off day will be something like this:
Sleep in
Breakfast at POFQ and spending some time at their pool
Raglan Rd for Lunch and shopping in DS
Maybe do a load of laundry
Pool time at POR
Dinner at Boatwright's

We'll probably spend some time in the POR Arcade and see the movie at night but mostly sitting by the pool and resting.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

In my experience, teenagers don't tend to want or need down days, unless they have a health issue or neglect to bring proper footwear. (worn out/uncomfortable shoes will ruin anyone's day at WDW!) It is the adults/small kids that want (extra) down time.

If you are going for more than 4 days, one strategy might be to plan a half-park day. Do your 3 FP and get out.

If I was going with boys that age, and looking for non-WDW my top choice would be a day or two at Universal. Hard to imagine boys that age wouldn't enjoy Transformers, Spiderman, H Potter and MIB!

My second choice would be a day trip to the Kennedy Space Center, or maybe the FL shore. A day of kayaking would be super.

On WDW property, you might consider a day in the water parks. The Boardwalk is fun after dark. The boys might enjoy renting a surrey bike. The boys might enjoy Disneyquest if they like video games. I suppose you could also see a show at House of Blues or go bowling.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We are staying at POFQ. I think they do a movie night there, I'll check on that.

I also like the idea of catching a show .. Hoop de doo has good reviews. Any others two older boys (17,13) might like?

Hoop is fun, and is all ages kind of classic Disney fun.

There are also options at fort Wilderness next door.

One trip, part of our extended family liked swimming so much, they would have been happy to use the pool every afternoon! Some trips, we hit the pool or hot tub for a bit almost every night.

Resort hopping is fun if you've never done it, but I'm not sure teenage boys would put it on the top of their list. Looking at resort décor is more something adults enjoy. The teens I know are more into thrill rides - and riding them over and over again, as many times as possible!

I'm picturing past trips of ours where the going question was, "When are we going back to RNRC?"

 

[Disneygrl71]

Thanks for all the great feedback!! These are all awesome ideas and I'll be running them by the family

 

[labattblue]

It all depends how hard you are hitting the parks before and after the "down" day. If you are pretty much going for 3 or 4 days straight in the parks, I highly recommend a day where the majority of time is spent pool side, and then maybe 2-3 hours in the evening resort hopping or at DS.

 

[mzsarah10]

We stay at POR each trip. We like to ride the boat to DD. This summer we resort hopped to the Poly and GF.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Another vote for doing your laundry, mini-golf, and some kind of boat ride.