First Non-Park Day Ever - What to Do???

[Bill From PA]

For the first time ever we're building in a non-park day, and I'm interested in suggestions based on the experience of others. This will be first week in March, 2004, we're staying at Dolphin, we won't have a rental car (also a first) and we should have 'Plusses' to use. We are: Men - 53, 29, 18 women - 51, 26, 24, 18, 2. We'll probably sandwich the day between the firat 3 and last 4 WDW park days, which would make it a Tues. Thanks in advance for any suggestions offered.


Bill From PA

 

[Colexi's Mom]

Assuming it's warm enough, I'd start off at one of the water parks. Then head to Downtown Disney for dinner, and either shop or go to Disney Quest.

 

[ErinASB]

We spent our non-park day at Downtown Disney and Boardwalk. We did all morning shopping at DD, had lunch and then did DisneyQuest in the afternoon. Took the bus to Boardwalk, did the shops there and went to Shula's for dinner.

 

[disneychic]

Renting Water mice, or a pontoon boat is alot of fun too!

 

[DVC4US]

Bill from PA,

We build in a couple of non-park days everytime we go to WDW. Otherwise it just gets to hectic for us. I call these down days and we usually either go to a water park, Downtown Disney, play miniature golf, rent the water mice boats or just relax by the pool. If you decide to rent the boats(which are a lot of fun) I would suggest you rent the ones that are on Seven Seas Lagoon. These are the ones you can rent from WL, GF, Poly, or Contemp. These boats go a lot faster then the ones that are rented out of the Boardwalk or Yacht Club. The biggest thing we try to stress is to RELAX!!! That's why we put those days there anyways.
LeiLani

 

[Matty_Disfan]

Heck go to IOA and ride some real coasters.

Go to Gatorland.

Seaworld.

The Elvis Museum.

Get off-site, check out how crazy Orlando is and the return with a new outlook and some great memories.

My parents used to drag us to Wet 'n Wild, Cape Canaveral, Sea World, Pirate's Cove Mini Putt, they wanted to see Florida too, and one of my most lucid memories was visiting the Elvis museum with my dad and convincing him to let me buy the 'Love Me Tender Body Wash".

Good times.

 

[travelbug]

Here's another vote for renting the Water Mice and pontoon boats. That's a ton of fun!

 

[apagano]

I'm all for doing absolutely nothing! Sleep in, hang out by the pool, order room service and otherwise take advantage of the hotel amenities you never get to use because you're too busy touring the parks! It might be a good day for the shoppers in your group to hit the outlets. Maybe a stroll along the boardwalk to take in all the entertainment at a relaxed pace.

 

[Hillbeans]

Ha ha at Matty-Disfan - Love me tender body wash!

 

[Disney Fool]

Hi, Bill
Since you're staying at the Dolphin with no car, how about a early game of miniature golf? It's just outside the Dolphin on the main street. The Dolphin also has limos that you can hire if you want to go anywhere off Disney property. It's not too expensive, either. How about a trip to the Premium Outlet Mall at the end of International Drive?

 

[Bill From PA]

Thanks for all the great ideas. We're probably going to limit ouselves to activities within reach of WDW transportation or our tired feet. I'm flirting with the idea of staying at PI the night before 'til closing and then sleeping in. The Water Mice always looked like fun to me. We'll see how much energy is left and how much recovery is needed. Thanks again!

Bill From PA

 

[btuftee]

Take in the MK fireworks and the lighted boat parade on the beach at the Poly or the GF. Maybe even try out dinner at the Cali Grill on top of the Contemporary to watch the show.

Catch a movie at the AMC theaters at DD.

Try Disneyquest. It's extra $$, but from what I hear, it's pretty cool if you're into the whole arcade experience (and maybe even if you're not).

If not Disneyquest, how about Cirque?

Mini golf sounds like a good idea too, but I've never cared much for the waterparks. The hotel pool usually suits me fine, of course, it always seems like such a waste to come all the way to Disney and just swim!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

This is what I would do.. but then again I like to shop... I would grab a cab and head out to the outlet malls and do some shopping.. We also like to visit the Shrine right next door to the malls...also....in one of the malls.. there is a discount Disney place...get some great items inexpensively..

 

[Uncleromulus]

All of my favorites have been mentioned!!
Those are:
Mini Golf at Fantasia
Couple of hours at the pool
Movie at PI Theatres
Shopping in the DD/Marketplace area.

 

[DancingBear]

Have a meal at Boma at AKL, then wander around AKL, taking in the animal viewing areas (walk to the end of the wings and into the outside stairways for a closer look) and the displays and design of the resort. Get there by taking the boat from Dolphin to MGM, then catching the bus to AKL.

Have a meal at Wilderness Lodge or one of the monorail resorts, then wander around those resorts, using a combination of the monorail and boats (for example, eat at Artist Point in WL, take the boat launch to the Contemporary, monorail to the Poly, walk over to GF....). Time it to watch fireworks at MK and/or the Electrical Water Pageant at any of those resorts (or the torch lighting at the Poly). Maybe the women would like the afternoon tea at GF.

Don't forget Fort Wilderness--you can walk from Wilderness Lodge through the woods, visit the petting zoo, take a pony ride or carriage ride, eat at Trails End Buffet, rent water mice at the marina, etc.

Go to Port Orleans Riverside and watch piano player Bob (to get there do the boat to MGM as above). Take the boat to Downtown Disney and wander (don't miss the new toy store). (Or start at Downtown Disney and take the boat to Old Key West for a meal at Olivia's).

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that you'll kick yourself for not scheduling more non-park days. We never go into the parks more than one or two days in a row because there is so much else to do ... and too much of the commando style starts making it feel like work!! LOL

If you just have the one day, I vote for starting out at a water park and then a nice dinner at one of the resorts in the evening.

 

[HM]

We usually choose to do a waterpark and then a nice dinner at a resort on a non-park day. -HM

 

[Bill From PA]

TRAPPED-PARENT,

I think we're polar opposites. The very idea of being in WDW from sun up to sundown without hitting a park gives me the cold sweats! Our crew are 'Park Commandos'. In years past we'd do a day at IOA/Universal. We'd buy a 2-day hopper pass and hit them both and next trip we'd do it again on the remaining day left. The prospect of buying 5 of those, we have 2 left from last Nov., just isn't in the budget. Last Nov. had record breaking heat so one day we left the park early and hit the 'beach' at the Dolphin pool. I think a long night at PI and a 'beach day' is looking good.

DancingBear,

The WL petting zoo might appeal to the toddler in the group. I'll run that by my daughter. The one good thing is that other than the 2 yr. old, everyone can just go their own way that day. I'll give all these fine suggestions to the group and let them pick and choose. I wouldn't be shocked if the 'youngsters' pooled their cash and went for a trip out of WDW.


Bill From PA

 

[DancingBear]

FYI, in the petting zoo at FW, all of the animals are behind fences and may or may not get close enough to the fence to touch them; however, having been rushed by hungry goats in petting zoos before, we found this refreshing. Our 2yo DS had plenty of fun there in December. Bring quarters--you can get handfuls of feed from a vending machine, and my son got a kick out of that--brings the animals over also.

FW was a great quiet break for us on our off day. We took the boat from Contemporary (where we were staying) to WL, walked from WL to FW, did the petting zoo, lunch at Trails End, rented a water mouse at the marina, then took the boat back to CR. This was mid-week, and hardly anyone was around.

 

[danicaw]

I would suggest the Water Mice.
And on the 7 Seas Lagoon or Bay Lake if you can.
We rented some a few years back at the WL. It was great to have all of Bay Lake and the 7 Seas lagoon to cruise around.

Our other Non-park day activities include:
Touring the Resorts
Mini-Golf (Winterland/Summerland is our favorite)
Downtown Disney
Disney Quest - there are some fun things for small groups.
and something we did for the first time on this last trip...the Water Parks.

We hit both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon while we were at WDW. And really enjoyed ourselves. We only spent the morning at them, but did all we wanted to do.