cheap day

[ohanaMAMA]

My DH was just givien his work schedule for next week and he has been given an extra day off at the begining of our trip.. We are scheduled to be staying at Rodeway Inn the first night (sat night) and moving onsite the next morning.... we can now plan to arrive in orlando early in the day sat (before noon)

Does anyone have any ideas of some CHEAP things to do with that day..aside from the obvious pool time?

man I wish Id known about this extra day a month ago when I booked our trip!!!!

Michele

 

[Keeva]

Downtown Disney,check out resorts,mini golf,water sports at resorts,sports complex,go by beach,disney quest,water parkcharacter meal at resorts,that's all I can think of.

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says..............................Downtown Disney, check out resorts, I sound like an echo!!
I would do DD. Go to AKL and eat at Boma's, or Wilderness Lodge and try Artist Point. Or go to the Poly, and have lunch at Kona Cafe, then visit the monorail resorts. The Boardwalk would also be fun.

 

[Sharby]

This is 1/2 of your request - as it's a suggestion - but it's not a cheap suggestion.

You're a little light on the details, but since you don't mention that you'll have to change your flight - I'll assume that you'll have a car. If you get to Orlando by 10 am, you'll have almost an extra day. So, if for some reason you can't do Disney for your extra day, I'd consider going somewhere offsite

Yes, yes, I know. . . this is a DISney Board - and it's on the Budget Board as well! - but I'd at least consider the possibility, if you have your own car.

My thinking is that now that you have almost an entire extra day - going to DD, eating at Boma's, hanging out at the pool, etc. etc. are all fill-in activities for a 3 or 4 hours at the most. To me, doing all that would just make it seem like I was waiting an extra long time for the vacation to begin.

You have almost a whole day. Think hard about getting some discount coupons and going to SeaWorld or Univeral or IOA I see you are still horrified. But that's what I think - since you have almost an entire extra day, I think you should at least consider all your options.

Maybe that means you call Disney and see if you can add an extra day onto your onsite ressie and then you could probably cancel your offsite hotel entirely (you never know until you ask). Consider all your options.

A vacation is an investment in time and money, and a whole day is too precious to waste. Now matter what you decide - have a great vacation.

 

[TandyR]

Well I might get booted from the DisBoards for saying this...but there are some really nice museums in the Orlando area that you could hit. My Dad is a travel editor and he wrote an article on the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum in Winter Park which is has a nice collection of Louise Comfort Tiffany works...admission is $3 for adults and $1 for students www.morsemuseum.org. Near by the Morse Museum there is Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College it was free at the time and it was showing works by Cosimo Rosselli. There are more but those are the ones that stick in my mind because they had gone to check them out the day before catching up with us to go to MK with them and take my girls to see Pooh. You could also take a trip out to the East Coast and the Space Center....oh I have been dieing to do that but I keep getting out voted.

Of course this is all assuming you have a car.

 

[frannn]

I would say to go to the offsite Disney outlet malls, maybe just to look around. That might put a damper on any frivilous sovie spending in the park & resort because you will see what great deals you can get at the outlets! If you get the souvie shopping done at the beginning of the trip, you won't have to waste precious park time. Have fun!

 

[tinaluis]

We always hit Fun Spot which is on International Drive about 2 miles before the Belz Outlet Mall. It is a carnival-type of amusement park for this kids and you can get all day wristbands for about $12.00 with coupons that are available everywhere in those coupon/discount books in Orlando area restaurants and stores. After Fun Spot we do the Belz Outlet Mall which is just down the road on I-Drive.

 

[Goofyzgurl]

This is another vote for dd, but by the time you get done shopping, it might not be such a cheap day. There's this new bath and body store there that I luved. It's called the Basin, I needed way more time than what dh gave me to look around.

 

[SYDNCLAIRESMOM]

FORT WILDERNESS:

PETTING ZOO
RIVER COUNTRY--IF OPEN YET
MARINA--WATER SPORTS
CAMP FIRE AND MOVIE AT NIGHT
HOOP DE DOO
BEAUTIFUL TRAILS TO WALK OR RENT AN ELECTRIC CART

HAVE FUN!


+ X =

 

[DisneyBrat]

OLDTOWN This is a cool place in Kissimee not too far from Disney... Especially on Saturday nights they have old time car show and its FREE just walk around see the shop, eat ICECREAM Dance to the live band, or if ya want to buy tickets to ride some of the rides there like a Ferris Wheel, Merry Go round, Roller Coaster, Bumper Boats t has something For EVERYONE

 

[epcotitis]

We like to ride the monorail and do all the arcades with our children. My DH has to have ice cream at at least one stop and we also enjoy the Water Sprites. Not doing a Disney park, but enjoying the atmosphere won't be a delay of your vacation, but getting excited for what is yet to come. If you are staying at a monorail resort I would do the Epcot area resorts...food arcade and fun atmosphere at BW with bikes and boats...Relax! the extra day will be a blast! Don't forget the ice cream!
Deb

 

[QuickGold]

Just cruise around International Drive(US-192) and stop at anything that looks halfway interesting. There's tons of cheaper things to do here than at WDW. From shopping to 'tourist trap places', you can find it all here.

 

[zaxmom]

We always use our first part day to go to Chef Mickey's. What a great way to start a Disney trip. Since we stay off site, we make it a point to get on the monorail (2 preschool boys, trains are a big deal). We have ridden to the Polynesian and walked along the beach and seen the Electrical Water Pageant. Maybe you would like to have a meal at AKL and see the animals, you could be there at feeding time. Rainforest Cafe at DD is one of my kids favorite places, not for the food. We spend hours at DD looking around the toy store and world of Disney store and lego store. You could go to City Walk at Universal and try one of their restaurants (they have a lot of themed ones) and ride their boats over to see the Portofino Bay Hotel (Beautiful, like a quick trip to Italy) or the Hard Rock Hotel or The Royal Pacific Resort. My boys love to see the monster truck BIG FOOT at the Race Rock Cafe on I-Drive. Also, on I drive is a mall called Pointe Orlando with an FAO Schwartz. They have huge icons outside the building that look cool. There is also WonderWorks (the upsidedown building). I have not been there, my kids are a little young, but it seems to be a hands on kind of museum, arcade kind of thing. There is the Hard Rock Vault if your family would be interested in that. What about Olde Town or Spendid China or Medeival Times or Pirate's Dinner...I have never done these, so I cannot say if they are good. Or kick back at the pool and unwind and get relaxed for your vacation. Oh, and I agree to hit the outlet stores first. Wal-Mart on John YOung has a whole Disney section in the store.

 

[kilarney]

Check out the resorts... go shopping at the Disney outlets.
Watch the fireworks from the Polynesian... Watch the Electrical Water Pageant from the Polynesian...