Free or Inexpensive activities on property

[gonzalj1]

DW and I are planning a 5 night stay in September that will NOT include park time. I was just wondering if anyone had any free or inexpensive ideas for DW, DD (21 Mths in Sept.) and I to do while there.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

P.S. We will not have a rental car and will rely solely on Disney transportation.

John

 

[JOC]

Fort Wilderness has a petting zoo, pony rides for $3 and campfire movie at night. Strolling around the Boardwalk area or renting a surrey bike there is another option. Our 3 yr. old loves riding the monorail...maybe catch the one that loops around the MK resorts, then hop on the Epcot monorail. Go to Animal Kingdom Lodge and view the animals from different spots around the resort.

 

[DNSDisney]

I know at the Polynesian there are activities for children but i think your little one is too little for them. There is also the torch lighting ceremony, the lady bug thing where they let loose a bunch of them on the grounds of the resort. There is also the fireworks and water parade for any one of the 3 monorail resorts.
And of course swimming.
At animal kindom there are areas where the general public can see the animals. You could take a bus to Downtown Disney. They have tons of shops there. A lego display that is out of this world, dragon in the lagoon, aliens with a space craft, family cooking out, and a few others. Over by the Boardwalk resort there are shops etc. and I believe somewhere over there is a putt putt golf course. You can take disney transportation to the Boardwalk and any other resort.
That is all I can think of at the moment but I am sure there are plenty more things to do and see.
hope this helps
Sharon

 

[Dagny]

You can also view the Electrical Water Pageant at one of the MK resorts (GF, WL, Polynesian). It will do the show at each resort (starting with the Contemporary if I am not mistaken).

Do the Hidden Mickey scavenger hunt at the Wilderness Lodge (my son and daughter had a blast doing that last year). Ask for the clues from Guest Services at the resort.

Also, there is a storytelling at Animal Kingdom Lodge each night (it is quite long and your DD might loose interest, but might be worth a try!).

 

[DizMomof3]

If you have a GPS, you can always geo-cache while you're there! (My hubby would love that!). There is a website that tells you more about it, but basically it is like a treasure hunt. They give you the coordinates and clues for something "hidden" (can be a place, but is often a real hidden box or something that has small "treasures in it") and then you go looking! We looked it up on the internet before we left a month ago and there were tons of caches all over the grounds....some even in the parks! My hubby found a few in Epcot. (Just when you think that someone is going to think that you're crazy for looking under the bushes and such, someone will come up and say "So you're geo-caching, huh? We do it too.") After the initial purchase of the GPS, it is virtually free!

 

[yecats]

Fort Wilderness has plenty as written above with hay rides, pet zoo, and Chip and Dale sing-a-long movie (free). You can also rent canoes, horseback riding and/or bikes. Of course with young ones some of these don't look like options. You can go to California Grill (top of the Contemp.) and have cokes on the deck and wait for the MK fireworks show which is beautifull themed to music. You can wait to see the water pageant at any of the monorail resorts or WL or Fort Wilderness as it goes past all of them. You can walk the trail between the Poly and GF at night and watch the fireworks while the kids play in the sand then catch the Monorail back to the buses. The putt-putts are good. Boardwalk can be fun for the kids at night. You can go to PO FQ or RS and talk the boat for free to DTD. If you want something to do without the kids for one night, then either go the PO FQ or RS bars as they have sing alongs (adult entertainment which is fun). There is usually one night per week at the AS wherein Karoke is held for families (call and ask them what day this is, I'm thinking Tuesdays). Personnally, my fave is watching the animals at AK, several different areas to do this from as well as the storytelling that happens nightly at the firepit.