Anyone stay at a Disney Resort and not go to the parks?

[abbysmom]

Just curious if anyone does this! Which moderate or deluxe resort has the best pools, activities, restaurants?

 

[horseshowmom]

My parents did this once when my DD was younger (she had been to the parks many times before). My DH and I stayed at their house in Winter Haven, and they took their motorhome up to Fort Wilderness. They spent 5 days there in December and spent their time visiting all of the interesting things on the property and seeing all of the decorations. They found that they had plenty to do.

 

[Libbysmom2000]

It's not a Disney resort but last year we stayed at the Wyndham in DTD for 5 nights w/o going into the parks. After DD (then 2 1/2) cried while on the merry-go-round and little train in DTD we decided not to use up days on our hopper passes. Instead we went over the boardwalk, went to a Braves spring training game, had a lot of pool time, and did a few character meals.

She had a great time which meant we had a great time as well.

 

[mamarobin24]

We're thinking of doing this when we go in Oct. We'll be staying at Wilderness Lodge, just for a short jaunt. Glad to hear there's lots of stuff to do.

 

[disneysteve]

I've never done this myself, but certainly you could occupy your time quite nicely at the Disney resorts without ever stepping foot in a park. The first choice that comes to mind if you are so inclined is Fort Wilderness. That is a pretty self-contained resort area with plenty of recreation and entertainment choices including boat and bike rentals (horses too, I think), a petting zoo, swimming (though closing River Country was a HUGE mistake), campfires, storytelling, movies, etc. If you don't have an RV, you could always rent one, or stay in one of Disney's cabins.

As a Disney guest, you can enjoy all of the hotels - restaurants, entertainment, shopping, etc. But for a kick-back and relax trip, Fort Wilderness is great.

Steve