Going to Disney, but NOT to the parks!!

[Jesussavedme]

So what can we do around Disney, but not in the parks?
Here are some of our ideas...

Fort Wilderness campfire program
Mini golf at Summer Winterland
DTD of course
The movies at DTD
Outlet shopping
Resort character meal
Monorail ride

Any other ideas to share?

 

[Barb D]

Walk around the Boardwalk and go to Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club, watch Wishes from the observation deck at the Contemporary, Disney Quest, hang out at the pool...

But just out of curiosity, why not go to the parks?

 

[Jesussavedme]

Thanks for your ideas.
Dh and I have annual passes, but the kids don't.
We want to do something fun with them, and the Disney area packs the most fun in one location, so we are going to stay at Pop Century and
do fun stuff around,
just for 3 days.

Add any other ideas if you come up with them,
I appreciate it!

 

[Elmo888]

Resort hop! (Maybe it is only fun for adults, though.) Walk around, enjoy the views, have a drink and sit in the lobby or by the pool or by the lake. Some resorts have beaches on the lake - they might enjoy playing in the sand while you sit. I've enjoyed checking out AKL, WL (even when staying there), GF, Contemporary, BC, YC, and BWI. At AKL, you can even walk around and see animals. I haven't checked out Poly, but that is on the agenda for next time. I love to resort hop - and if you have a car, it would be so easy.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I noticed you're a FL resident. A 3-Day Play Pass is $120 + tax ( Age 10+), & $100 + tax (Age 3-9). You may already know that, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Depending on what you decide to do to fill the days, this may actually be a cheaper option. Some of the non-park activities can add up quickly. The free ones are nice though.

 

[ldo]

we lived 1.5 hrs away and on down weekends, we would go and stay at Poly for a beach weekend--we ate, swam and rode the monorail around--it was great. We are going this summer and only doing 1 park day out of 5 days--same idea.
Also, there are movies this summer at BC on the beach--similar to Ft W.

 

[kimis]

So what can we do around Disney, but not in the parks?
Here are some of our ideas...

Fort Wilderness campfire program
Mini golf at Summer Winterland
DTD of course
The movies at DTD
Outlet shopping
Resort character meal
Monorail ride

Any other ideas to share?

There are several things you might want to do:
1. DTD
2. check out the resorts. They are fun to walk around and see the
different themes.
3. rent bikes at POR
4. Fishing
5. horse back riding
6. movies at DTD
7. miniture golf
8. lay around the pools
Have a great time! I hope all of these weren't repeats of ideas you already had.

 

[Barbers2005]

If you have young kids they might like the petting zoo and the draft horses at Fort Wilderness. Older kids would probably like the zippy little boats they have at DTD (can't remember what they're called).

 

[DerangedAboutDisney]

If you have young kids they might like the petting zoo and the draft horses at Fort Wilderness. Older kids would probably like the zippy little boats they have at DTD (can't remember what they're called).

The term you're searching for is (I think) a Water Mouse.

 

[Barbers2005]

The term you're searching for is (I think) a Water Mouse.

That's it! I knew it had "mouse" in it, but for the life of me I couldn't remember just what they were called.

 

[KeithC]

We have been to Disney several times. Our family likes to Hotel hop,swim,go to Downtown Disney and EAT,EAT EAT.

 

[reginaastralis]

How old are your children and when will you be going?

Occasionally during the summer, my parents will "camp" at FW *they have an RV, it's not really camping*, so they take my sister all around Disney, without even setting foot. They'll be doing it again this August, but my mom bought tickets to the Pirate and Princess party to go with us. Jordyn is nine, and loves to swim in the pool at the resort, ride the monorail, go to the petting zoo, ride around on the golf cart and resort hop. They've never done any of the mini golf or anything, just the "free" stuff. In August, I also convined them to do Chef Mickey's, they say I am costing them an arm and a leg. Seriously, there is enough to do for three days w/o going to the parks.

If you're going through the winter, be sure to resort hop. Oh, the resorts are LOVELY during Christmastime.

 

[slduck]

We just visited without going to the parks. We were staying in the area, but didn't want to visit the parks. I would rather save that for our next big trip. It was fun to walk the grounds of several hotels. We had a character meal and went to downtown. It was nice to do someof the things that I normally wouldn't do when we "comando tour"

I will have to admit that it was hard to "knock" on the gates and not go in. , but it has really given me the FEVER!

 

[mmiller711]

My sisters and I tried to do that one year. We were just going to look around the hotels, enjoy the pool, and spend some time at DTD. Well, we had been there about 10 minutes when that ended! I had left over passes that I threw in without telling them and when they started to complain about not doing the parks I pulled them out...We only had one park day but we made the most of it! We went to TL and all 4 main parks in one day!!!
We did do the HDDR and visit the hotels and DTD on our two off days.
We found time at 2 am to go sit by the pool! We even took pictures of us in the lounge chairs at 2 in the morning enjoying our relaxing vacation of just laying by the pool.

 

[maxtomsmom]

Fort Wilderness has a campfire with a movie (at least it did when I went as a kid). I think it still does. You can also watch the water parade from the resorts on the lake.


Cirque de Solie (Sp?)

Cruise rides from some of the resorts.

The Luau dinner or the ZipDee one at Fort Wilderness - call as soon as possible as they quickly fill up.

Stroll the boardwalk at night

 

[hannah03]

I'm confused!!

You can swim at the resort pools and NOT be staying there? Is that what you guys are saying you've done?

 

[kimis]

I'm confused!!

You can swim at the resort pools and NOT be staying there? Is that what you guys are saying you've done?

I am sorry we (or me) probably have you confused. No, you can't swim in a resort pool unless you are staying there. In fact you can only pool hop if you are staying at a sister resort for example POR and POFQ.

 

[honey11dog]

We are doing the same thing in July. We have a big trip planned to Disney next June. So, this trip we are going to do the things we never get to do otherwise. We are going to spend a good bit of time at DTD. I want to enjoy the shopping and restaurants. Then we are going to spend a day at Sea World. And the rest of the time is going to be spent checking out the resorts. We think that it will be a new adventure. But I have to admit the parks will be difficult to avoid. But I know that we are coming back in 11mos.

 

[susykt4]

Ooooh I'm jealous at the thought! I ALWAYS think we'll be able to resort hop but we always spend all our time at the parks. We had 9 park days our last trip and didn't do a water park, mini golf or resort hop. We did spend lots of time at DTD and DQ, but I've been wanting to see Animal Kingdom Lodge and haven't made it in 3 trips.

If your kids are young and you're staying at Pop, they had a nightly parade (at least in February) around 5:30pm. We learned about it accidentally but my kids enjoyed it so much we had to be back at Pop so they could do it two other times. (They give the kids musical instruments, parade around the lobby/food court and then give the participants a small prize and a magical moments certificate.) The kids also enjoyed the other Pop activities around the pool or in the movie room.

 

[Twelovedisney]

Thank you for the ideas. We will have all day Aug 25 to entertain ourselves before our package begins on Aug 26. So I will keep reading for more great ideas.

Thank you

Sue