I second the Trader Sam's recommendation, and just plain taking your time to enjoy the non-parks areas. We are not locals, but we were in the area recently for non-DL reasons and had some free time. Could not justify the cost of 1-day park tix for a half day, so we decided on a Downtown Disney + Trader Sam's itinerary. I was still bummed that we didn't get inside seating on our last trip, so this made up for it!
It was really such a relaxing outing. Every other trip, we're so parks-focused, and we rush through non-parks things. Knowing it was purely time to wander Downtown Disney and DLH made that whole area so much more enjoyable. We took our time browsing stores, taking photos, poking our nose around the new DVC tower, and enjoying seasonal things (Halloween season - so pumpkin carvings at DLH, and Scare-olers).