DVC visit w/o parks

[Lesley]

We're leaving tomorrow morning for a weekend in FL...(planned barely a week in advance) ....spending Sat. night in Clearwater to visit my mil and Sunday at OKW...heading home Monday afternoon.

We're thinking we'll spend the day at the OKW pool and DTD...then have dinner at Whispering Canyon and head over to the Polynesian later to watch the fireworks (and perhaps use the pool....because it will be our only chance to pool hop since restrictions set in on Monday).

Monday we're having breakfast at the Maya Grill and we don't have any other plans. We'll need to head home sometime in the afternoon...by 4 at the latest I'd say.

So, what do you do when visiting WDW and not going to the parks? Anything particularly fun for an 8yo and a 3yo? I'd love to hear ideas...though I'm guess that we'll run out of time to do everything as always! LOL Thank goodness we have DVC...and will be back in July!

 

[HookdonWDW]

Since your spending time at DTD, how about taking the kids to the Lego area? I know my ds could spend hours there having fun... and best of all, it's free!

If they haven't been to the petting zoo, you may want to try to take the kids over to there. If your not stuck on the idea of Whispering Pines for dinner and then going to see the fireworks, you could pool hop to WL, grab a boat to FW to see the Petting Zoo, dinner at Trail's End, and then stay for the campfire and movie.

Whatver you choose to do, have a great time!

 

[Lesley]

Oh, that's a very good idea...we could still eat at Whispering Canyon but go over to FW afterward (Ds is very interested in getting a pony express certificate....lol). The MK boats should be running until late so it wouldn't be a problem to get back. And dh has been suggesting a pool hop to WL...since it seems like every time we've stayed there its either too cold to swim or we don't get the time to do it! Petting zoo, pony ride, campfire...sounds pretty good! We've done the MK fireworks on the Poly beach many, many times before so this would be a nice change.

Thanks!

 

[HookdonWDW]

Glad you like the idea... now I'll just cross my fingers for good weather during your visit!

 

[Pinnie]

I just did the DVC weekend last week with NO parks due to the weather. We arrived on Thursday night, hooked up with friends at DD for ice cream. Friday it was raining, so we shopped at DD. Later in the day, we were planning on doing an E-ticket night (everyone in our group are AP holders) but decided the weather was too bad and we just spent the evening doing the resort monorail loop, stopping to shop and snack at the Poly, GF and CR.

Saturday had us up late and back to DD to see Finding Nemo due, again, to the rain. It cleared up long enough for us to get in a round of mini golf in the evening at Fantasia Gardens and then it was back to OKW with the friends to plan our our NEXT visit in a couple of weeks!

pin

 

[Lexxiefern]

How about renting water mice? My DD and I rented them in April while we were staying at the VWL. DD is 2 and she had a blast, so I am sure your 3 year old will love it.

 

[Lesley]

Thanks for all the ideas....I was looking up info about Fort Wilderness, mainly to see if we could make the campfire program since we have a 6pm ps at the WL...and then I came across info about the golf carts.....

I know my kids would love to drive around FW in a golf cart...we might rent one for a couple of hours to take to the campfire program and explore a bit. I know we could probably get a surrey bike...but we did that last year at POR....and that's really hard on Mom and Dad! lol.

I think perhaps we'll consider water mice while we're visiting CS Monday for breakfast....or at OKW...or wherever! My kids tend to be hesitant about the water so I'll see what they think while we're there.

Thanks again! You're all full of great ideas! And I hadn't even considered the fact that it might rain...probably trying to forget the end of our vacation in December when it rained almost constantly. That monorail resort loop is great for a rainy evening! We're afraid to get too close to the MK though....too hard when we don't have passes!

 

[diathoney]

We like to play mini golf. The Winterland side of Winter/Summerland is pretty easy. Or you can rent a surrey bike at the Boardwalk and ride around the lake. Both are relaxing and not very expensive. Our last two visits to WDW were very light on parks - October was MNNSHP as the only park visit and June was for BB. There is so much to do and see at the hotels. We miss a lot when we're in "park commando" mode.

While you're at the Poly, you might want to ride the monorail. That's one of my kids favorite rides!

 

[DeeP]

I know my kids would love to drive around FW in a golf cart...we might rent one for a couple of hours to take to the campfire program and explore a bit. I know we could probably get a surrey bike...but we did that last year at POR....and that's really hard on Mom and Dad! lol.

You can try to get a golf cart on such short notice and I hope you get lucky but they usually are booked up pretty solid, because FW guests book them for their entire stays. I would try calling tomorrow to see if you can reserve for Sunday, reservations are made at the Bike Barn at Meadow Land Trading Post in FW. But even without a golf cart you will still have plenty to do at FW and your kids will love it. Have dinner at WC and then head over to FW and do the pony ride, the petting zoo etc and at dusk head down to the campfire which is at the Meadow Land Trading Post. It will be a very enjoyable evening for your family.
For Monday after breakfast at Maya Grill, renting water mice is also a excellent idea but I would rent them at OKW. At OKW you will have a much larger waterway to explore and have fun in, all the way to DTD if you like; with the boats at CSR you are confined to the lake in the middle of the resort. After breakfast and the boats then you could hang out and relax at one of OKW's pools for the afternoon and then maybe have a late lunch/early dinner at Olivia's or take out by the pool from Goods to Go before you head home.
Have a wonderful weekend, I wish I was going, LOL!!!

 

[yearlightbuzz]

What time is the Fort Wilderness Campground program? Thanks.

 

[mickeyc]

You may want to consider a visit to Universal. You can tour the theme hotels and visit City Walk without paying cost of admission to the parks. Universal has boats that you can take from each hotel--it is a nice ride.

Also, if you don't want to leave Disney resort area you can visit AKL , which has various areas to view the animals. It is also nice to have lunch or dinner at one of their restaurants. Enjoy!!