Doing "other" stuff on your Disney vacation?

[JanaDee]

We did an airboat tour outside Kissimmee the last time all four of us went together (DH, me, DS and DD) and that was a lot of fun. We all enjoyed it and the getting away from Disney stuff for a while. If we ever go back to FL, next trip we'll hit the beach. There is so much great stuff to see in the Orlando area, don't ignore it!

 

[JZCubed]

We schedule FP+ even on non-Park days.

Weather happens and I prefer having options.

We cancel our FP+ if we decide to skip a Park.

Scheduling a Park day and then skipping it on purpose is my preference to having a beautiful day after a lousy one and wanting to go into a Park on a non-Park day.

In other words, we know we're going to have a non-Park day, we just don't know in advance which it is.

Even if we go to Downtown Disney or visit my in-laws who live an hour away, we may still venture into a Park for a ride or two in the evening.

 

[ParrotBill]

If we are staying for a week or less or don't have a car... it's all WDW all the time. But we drive more often and sometimes stay 10-14 days, so we will typically take a break and do a beach day, or a shopping day. If we plan a couple of days at Universal we will stay there to get the advantages then move to WDW.

 

[Cormoran]

We schedule FP+ even on non-Park days.

Weather happens and I prefer having options.

We cancel our FP+ if we decide to skip a Park.

Scheduling a Park day and then skipping it on purpose is my preference to having a beautiful day after a lousy one and wanting to go into a Park on a non-Park day.

In other words, we know we're going to have a non-Park day, we just don't know in advance which it is.

Even if we go to Downtown Disney or visit my in-laws who live an hour away, we may still venture into a Park for a ride or two in the evening.

That's a great idea.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I've done both. All Disney vacations for a few and other FL stuff. How I choose the difference is if I am staying at a Disney deluxe resort I will do all Disney activities. If I'm at a lesser priced resort or off site with a rental I do other items.
It sounds like you want to do other stuff so in that case do it. Otherwise you will go home and feel like you did not see Florida.

 

[mom2rtk]

We schedule FP+ even on non-Park days.

Weather happens and I prefer having options.

We cancel our FP+ if we decide to skip a Park.

Scheduling a Park day and then skipping it on purpose is my preference to having a beautiful day after a lousy one and wanting to go into a Park on a non-Park day.

In other words, we know we're going to have a non-Park day, we just don't know in advance which it is.

Even if we go to Downtown Disney or visit my in-laws who live an hour away, we may still venture into a Park for a ride or two in the evening.

It's a great plan and I would do it if I could. Can I assume you have an AP? Most can't do this because they can only schedule for as many days as they have tickets.

 

[rikhub]

The last off site visit was a trip to WWoHP at Univ. It was a surprise for my daughter and as huge fans of WDW we were simply hoping for a good to great time and we weren't disappointed. We still don't bother renting a car, it hasn't been a factor, but I can see it making a huge difference based on the duration of your trip.

 

[JZCubed]

It's a great plan and I would do it if I could. Can I assume you have an AP? Most can't do this because they can only schedule for as many days as they have tickets.

Yes, I have an Annual Pass.

Therefore, I do look at Park attendance through a different prism.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Normally we aren't there long enough to do more than Disney. One time I wanted to do one of the airboat rides (I think it was boggy creek) and no one else wanted to do it. I also wanted to go to Silver Springs on the drive home but so far no one else has ever wanted to do that either.

Because of our short 4 day trips, we consider each area (beach, Universal, Disney) separate trips and don't do them on the same one except one time when we did Disney and Universal within a 6 day trip and that didn't go well so we won't be doing that again.

We live in Georgia so it's about an 8 hour drive to Orlando.

 

[Tgrgrl]

Lots to do in the Cocoa Beach/Kennedy Space center area. Great place to see manatees is Manatee Cove off of St rd 3 in Merritt Island. there are several kayaking companies that give tours in this area. From there it is only 15 minutes to Kennedy Space Center or you could head west toward Port Canaveral and spend the afternoon at Jetty Park and dining at one of the seafood restaurants at the port. Also in Merritt Island along the BeachLine at the N. banana River drive exit, there is Space Coast River Tours that have a nice guided boat tour along the river and port.

 

[Dawn68PA]

We never leave Disney but do lots of non-park things. Our last trip it was 4 days before we touched a park. We were so into relaxing and the BF played golf, it was nice to ease into Parks. We did DTD and resort visits but that was it. We even did a DVD night in the room. The resort is as much a part of the vacation as are the parks.

 

[WillAustin]

We schedule FP+ even on non-Park days.

We do that too. It's great to have a resort day but decide to jump over to a park for a little over an hour and ride 3 rides then leave.

 

[abouley]

It's a great plan and I would do it if I could. Can I assume you have an AP? Most can't do this because they can only schedule for as many days as they have tickets.

I decided to go ahead and buy 8 day tickets knowing we may take a day off and only use 7 days. I figured for the extra $40 ($10/ticket x 4) it was worth buying an extra day that we may or may not use. If we need an off day I want to give ourselves an option mid trip to do so. Now just need to figure out how to work that into our touring plans.

 

[Fantaluminishes]

I like to say "I've never been to Florida, but I've been to WDW seven times." I have no interest in doing anything outside of Disney. I think WDW would be the perfect code if Disney had an airport on property. I'd gladly pay extra to fly into WDW, and avoid Florida altogether.

 

[Golden Rose]

This trip, we knew we wanted a relax day to try new things on WDW property, so I scheduled that bass fishing excursion on Bay Lake that a previous poster mentioned. My husband and son really loved it. I also scheduled my husband an Exotic Driving Experience at the Walt Disney Speedway, which he said was the highlight of this trip. It was a treat that I planned just for him, and he absolutely adored it. (The rest of us went to the pool, which was nice, too.)

 

[mshanson3121]

This trip, we knew we wanted a relax day to try new things on WDW property, so I scheduled that bass fishing excursion on Bay Lake that a previous poster mentioned. My husband and son really loved it. I also scheduled my husband an Exotic Driving Experience at the Walt Disney Speedway, which he said was the highlight of this trip. It was a treat that I planned just for him, and he absolutely adored it. (The rest of us went to the pool, which was nice, too.)

What is that like? How much is it? This sounds like something DH and his step-father would love.

 

[Cormoran]

What is that like? How much is it? This sounds like something DH and his step-father would love.

I think the Tom Petty Driving Experience is closed. An announcement was made last month.

 

[dpswift]

When I am at Disney it is all about Disney. I get up go to the parks all day.

HOWEVER we often go to visit my father on the West coast afterward. Also DH always schedules in a National park on car trips. Because we only have county parks around here I resisted at first but have come to enjoy them.

On the West coast I would love to visit the Ringling Brothers museum, but the rest of my family keeps voting me down. On the East coast I would love to get back to the Flagler Museum I went there twice as a teen and loved it.

 

[GillianP1301]

We always tack on something extra. We've done Universal, Kennedy and Cocoa Beach. This year my plan is to head to the other coast and visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to see Winter & Hope.

 

[think-like-tink]

Last trip we went over to Clearwater to see Winter. Clearwater is beautiful!

Cocoa Beach, Merrit Island, and Patrick AFB. was our old stomping grounds, so we go over there to walk down memory lane.