Am I Crazy to Even Consider This Option???

[PrincessSarah314]

We are booked for 7 nights Club Level at AKL. Here is the crazy part: we don't want to do any parks, at all, for the whole week.

We are a couple in our 30's traveling without our teenager.

We've done the theme parks a lot in the past year, plus a 7 night cruise on the Fantasy. We had APs but they recently expired, and we don't want to purchase park tickets, as we are trying to keep the costs down. We booked the room using DVC so there was no cost to us OOP.

I just worry that when I get there I'm going to get the itch to go to the parks! I'm almost to our 180 days so we are getting ready to contact IPO and I am looking for suggestions of things to do that would be fun, relatively inexpensive, and maybe something we don't normally do since we are usually in the parks. For example, we've never seen La Nouba, but I have a feeling the ticket prices will eliminate that from our itinerary.

Am I crazy to think that I can last a week in The World without theme parks??

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Checking out other resorts? Watching fireworks from the Poly? The boardwalk at night? Fishing? Go to Fort Wilderness and rent bikes? Ride the boat from Hollywood Studios? Tea at the grand Floridian?

I couldn't do it. I would need to go to the parks some!

Bus roulette? Get on the first bus that shows up at the resort, get on it and go to that theme park and then get on the next bus that shows up and explore there?

 

[figment814]

I could do it if we had a car...but I don't know if we cold keep it all that cheap. We do a lot of non parks things, but many cost money.

*check out Celebration or other neighboring towns
*gatorland
*rent a boat at yacht club ,the poly or DTD (we rent a pontoon nearly every trip.)
*Winter Summerland mini golf
*Disney Quest
* Regal Boat Plant tour (DBF is dying to do this.)
*beach day

 

[Singinglizzie]

Wow - lucky you and no you are not crazy!!! I've always wanted to just go and hang out at AKL without doing the parks since I love, love, love that place. I've stayed for 2 days w/o visiting a theme park, but not a week! You will have a great time. Here are my suggestions - you can pool hop between the two pools, although I love the slide best at Kidani! Plan to spend at day at DTD. If you can swing La nouba tickets, go for it, but they are about as expensive as buying a one day park ticket ! My dd and I love to go to the big mall near Universal Studios, it's a great way to spend a day, but we always rent a car so that we can get around. There is also the Lululemon outlet at the outlet malls that we always visit, but it's more for my dd then for myself. You could plan to visit some of those "other" theme parks. Spend a day at the boardwalk, just walkiing around. Tour all the other resorts - if you have a car it will take a bit of time just driving from one resort to another but you could do it using Disney transportation; this may sound weird, but for me is really fun to do. Plan an evening to watch the fireworks from the beach at the Poly! Are you going to purchase the DDP - if yes, then plan some key meals at some of the other resorts. Sleep late, watch movies, order room service. Do the high tea at the Grand Floridian. Buy those bath fizzies (sold at GR and DTD) and soak in the tub!

 

[Fuhnuh]

Singinglizzie and figment814 have some great ideas. We are going to Waikiki and Aulani tomorrow and our trip plans aren't much different than what Singinglizzie set out for a week long AKV stay.

I don't know if I could resist the urge to go to the parks, but I think that you should be able to have a great vacation w/o the parks. We just enjoy the Disney experience in or out of the parks. We have spent a lot of time in the last four years at DLR and WDW and our family enjoys our time outside the parks at least as much as in. We might be the wrong people to answer though because we loved our 5-day Disney Dream cruise and we were so lazy that we realize we didn't even bother to have lunch on the ship and DW and I did hardly any activities (DD12 had met friends on this board and was doing something at all times). DW and I made two trips together before we had DD12 (one in our 20s and one in our 30s) and we made a lot of great memories most of them outside of the parks. AKL and AKV are beautiful resorts with good restaurants, pool areas and staff. As others have said, there is DTD, the Boardwalk, other resorts. My wife and I could make a great vacation out of just those options. Remember sleeping in was one of the original E-ticket rides.

If you are going to have a car, as Figment814 wrote, there is plenty to do in the Orlando area. We actually like Ripley's, Gatorland, trying out a local restaurant or two. We are taking some friends and their DS there this summer and will miss the insane amount of time we spend away from the parks.

Bus roulette? Might have to try that.

 

[Missytara]

I did a solo, 8 day, all resorts, no parks trip at POR a few years ago and loved, loved, loved it. I usually go the week after Thanksgiving.

As a matter of fact, I went to restaurants and did things at the resorts I didn't even know existed.

I finally got to see all the resort Xmas decorations.

I spent a lot of time by the pooling reading (I read 4 books that week). I got dressed up, went to dinner, and then spent the evening in the lounge to see Yee-hah Bob.

One day, I put the DND sign on my door and didn't get up until almost dinnertime. Something I seem to never be able to do at home.

I never once missed being in the parks.

 

[mamamary]

I couldn't do it.

 

[lovethattink]

There are so many things to do and see in central Florida that you are not nuts to nix going to the parks. We often stay at WDW and spend most of our time at the resort.

We love going for icecream at Kilwin's in Celebration, and window shopping. Old town has different things going on, one night is a motorcycle night, another night is antique cars.

 

[lustergirl]

I couldn't do it.

Me neither got to admit. If I went to disney without going to the parks then I might as well take that money and go to Hawaii or Las Vegas. Going to the parks is half the fun.

 

[Nancyg56]

I could not do it. Our trip this year has the parks included but we have budgeted the first portion to non-park activities, sort of.

I love down time and no one would ever accuse me of being a park commando but as some others have pointed out, it may be more expensive to rule the parks out rather than incorporating them into the plans.

 

[Amy Fran]

You're awesome! You're not crazy! There are so many scheduled activities at AKL that you will not be bored! When we stay at AKL (also an "older" couple with no kids), we skip out early from the parks or go late to be able to attend some of the great offerings like the wine tasting. Plus there's mini golf at Fantasia Gardens & Winter Summerland, the Boardwalk, DTD, Wilderness Lodge is another resort with great scheduled activities like the campfire sing-a-long with Chip & Dale. Or you can just walk the nature trail between the Wilderness Lodge & Campgrounds to view the wildlife - we saw a bunch of deer when we were there in January. This is exactly what I love about WDW - you never run out of things to do! Even if you aren't in the parks! Enjoy every moment of your nonpark trip!

 

[davedmaine]

I would go insane at AKL for a week. Everything is just too dark for me. Sure, the animals and design of the place are cool, but that wears off after a day or two. And with no parks in the equation, it wouldn't feel like much of a vacation for me.

 

[ban26ana]

I couldn't do it. It's possible. But I couldn't resist the urge. I'm someone who wants to be in the parks from morning EMH to evening EMH, and do it all again the next day. (Darn family has other plans though.)

There are tons of things to do without going to the parks. But for me, I couldn't justify the cost of going there without doing the parks. I can stay in a hotel anywhere.

 

[Sue M]

I couldn't do it either. I'm not a park commando. We stayed at AKL CL last August and it was fantastic. We went to the parks in the morning, then back to the resort mid to late afternoon, so we also got to enjoy the CL.
One of the fun CL things was the Sunrise safari, but you need park entrance.

I've just read at AKL they added an evening night vision tour of the resort savanas, that looks like fun. AKL also has a free culinary tour. We also enjoyed the evening Cultural talks in the Sunset Room off the lobby. Walked over to Kidani to tour around.
There is DTD, and mini golf.

You can get discounted park tickets with Undercover Tourist

 

[Mousemommy1]

I could not go without hitting the parks a bit.

Heck, I was sent to Tampa for a month for work back in 2000 and drove the hour to Orlando 2 of those weekends because I couldn't be an hour away without visiting!!!

Being right there on property would kill me!!!

 

[Donnainnj]

If I had DVC points to use, and wanted a more budget friendly trip I would go to Disney Hilton Head. Love that place. I would have a hard time being at AKL and not hitting the parks. There are plenty of things to do, but over a week I would be itching to be in the parks.
Donna

 

[PrincessSarah314]

Checking out other resorts? Watching fireworks from the Poly? The boardwalk at night? Fishing? Go to Fort Wilderness and rent bikes? Ride the boat from Hollywood Studios? Tea at the grand Floridian?

I couldn't do it. I would need to go to the parks some!

Bus roulette? Get on the first bus that shows up at the resort, get on it and go to that theme park and then get on the next bus that shows up and explore there?

We've been to most of the resorts, but DBF hasn't seen a few Values and Moderates so I may have to take him there to explore! We love the Poly, so watching fireworks from the beach there sounds beautiful! I love the boardwalk, we always go there. We're not the fishing type, so I think we'll skip that one I didn't realize they did tea at GF. I will have to look into that. Thanks for the tips!

 

[PrincessSarah314]

I could do it if we had a car...but I don't know if we cold keep it all that cheap. We do a lot of non parks things, but many cost money.

*check out Celebration or other neighboring towns
*gatorland
*rent a boat at yacht club ,the poly or DTD (we rent a pontoon nearly every trip.)
*Winter Summerland mini golf
*Disney Quest
* Regal Boat Plant tour (DBF is dying to do this.)
*beach day

We have talked about renting a car, so that is probably going to happen. We don't mind spending money, just trying to keep down to less than we would spend on park admission, which I'm not sure we can do

We have never been to Celebration and I've always wanted to go there, so I think we will do that! Idk what Gatorland is, so I will have to Google it. Renting a boat sounds nice too. Mike hates putt-putt even though I love it, so I think we'll pass on the mini-golf. Disney Quest is a no-go. We went there last time (part of our PAPs so it was free) and Mike really didn't enjoy it much. I've been there several times over the year. Definitely am down for a beach day though! What is the Regal Boat Plant Tour?

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

For sure you can go to WDW and not go to the Parks and have a very magical time! AKL is a great resort to just enjoy being - kick back relax and enjoy! Especially since you are booked club level - should be very nice! Since I am in the area I often go to WDW and not hit the Parks - some things I enjoy -

-riding the boat transportation - go to Ft. Wilderness, watch the ponies eating their dinner, sit on the dock watch the sunset over Bay Lake - Hoop de Doo or Mickey's BBQ and Trail End is good value for a buffet IMO.
-POR - go see Yee Haw Bob, carriage ride, boat to DTD
-SSR - play a game of pool in the Turf Club lounge - have a drink, sit in the rocking chair at High Rock Springs
-GF - listen to the jazz band - walk around the grounds, sit as Gasparillas watching the world go by, tea at the Garden View Tea Room
-CSR - love the gift shop - have a drink or bite to eat sitting outside by the lake, hammock
- DTD of course - I love the concerts in the evenings
- icecream at the Boardwalk - Yacht Club, Beach Club, Boardwalk

And if you are really itching for a park but don't want to dish out for the AP just yet - Seaword is a fairly good bargain IMO.

 

[Disney-Kim]

We are booked for 7 nights Club Level at AKL. Here is the crazy part: we don't want to do any parks, at all, for the whole week.

We are a couple in our 30's traveling without our teenager.

We've done the theme parks a lot in the past year, plus a 7 night cruise on the Fantasy. We had APs but they recently expired, and we don't want to purchase park tickets, as we are trying to keep the costs down. We booked the room using DVC so there was no cost to us OOP.

I just worry that when I get there I'm going to get the itch to go to the parks! I'm almost to our 180 days so we are getting ready to contact IPO and I am looking for suggestions of things to do that would be fun, relatively inexpensive, and maybe something we don't normally do since we are usually in the parks. For example, we've never seen La Nouba, but I have a feeling the ticket prices will eliminate that from our itinerary.

Am I crazy to think that I can last a week in The World without theme parks??

the temptation would do me in...I would HAVE to go to the parks