Help me plan a free/cheap day at Disney

[la79al]

My inlaws live about an hour away from Disney World. We were there in March and spent a day at MK and one at AK. We're thinking about another trip to Florida in June and I've already told the kids that park tickets are too expensive to do that again. But then I was thinking. Would it be possible to do a day in Disney for really really cheap? We did Disney Springs when we were there in March but could do that again for at least a little while. And DD7 requested the campfire with Chip and Dale and the movie (do they still do that?) I have a couple old tickets that probably have something left on them so I need to figure out where I need to go to figure that out. And a monorail ride might be fun if I can figure out where to park for free to do that. Any other suggestions?

 

[kwdw]

Disney Springs again is clearly a choice. You could consider buying a meal at one of the resorts - so it won't be a free day - but you could make it fun. For example, you could schedule breakfast or lunch at Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge and see all savannas with the animals. Or you could head to Chef Mickey's for a character meal - and then ride the monorail around and stop at the resorts to see the lobbies. Or ride the resort boat ferries around. If you do the resort hopping approach - maybe make up a scavenger hunt for the kids at the resorts with "little" prizes.

Basically - if you book a table service meal at one of the resorts - you can park there for a few hours without paying to park - but yes - that means the cost of a meal.

You can also park at Disney Springs - and take a bus to a resort, then a bus to a park like Epcot or MK to get on the monorail - but that's alot of bus time for kids - I'd suggest parking at the TTC for the $20 versus spending all that time on bus. From the TTC - you can ride the ferry to MK - and the ride the resort launches - and also ride the monorail. That might be fun for kids if you have something to "do" at each of the stops. Hence the scavenger hunt idea. Or maybe a traveling meal - visit the food court at each resort and split something.

 

[VillainFavs]

If you go to Disney Springs you can park for free. Then you can catch the bus to any of the resorts. If you go to one of the monorail resorts, you can then ride the monorail around to the others. Getting off at MK, you could take the boat to the campground or Wilderness Lodge too. Then any of the resorts will have the bus back to Disney Springs to get your car at the end of the day. I think most resorts have movies that are free.

 

[Oswin]

Go to Disney Springs and do your things there. Go to the bus stop and get on a bus to one of the monorail resorts, get off and explore the resorts, you can then get on the monorail and explore the other monorail resorts. Get off at the Contemporary and take the boat from the contemporary to Fort Wilderness. There's a lot you can do there for free or low cost, including the campfire. There also should be a movie on the beach at most every resort that I don't think you would have any issue being able to watch. If the Boardwalk still has things going on at night, you could also take the boat from FW to MK and then get on a bus to boardwalk and just enjoy the atmosphere there at night. You could catch the bus from there back to Disney Springs, and get your car.