Most obscure or non traditional thing you enjoy doing while staying at your DVC home?

[rutgers1]

We are gearing up for a 2 week trip, and after visiting Disney World 2x a year for the past few years, we decided to try for as many obscure and non traditional things as possible. By "obscure" I simply mean something that the average Disney visitor doesn't do.

What is your favorite non traditional thing to do -- that something only someone who visits as often as you would take the time to do?

 

[JWG]

Try to do portions of the 2011 D23 Scavenger Hunt.

http://disneypodcast.net/thehunt.htm

Many here did it then. I would suggest avoiding the DHS hunt, it had a lot of errors and missing parts back then. I would imagine Epcot and DAK may be the most "together" still - excluding anything at Camp Mickey Minnie.

 

[DonnaL]

Don't know if some would consider this obscure or non-traditional, but, I would think it is not something the once every five or ten year visitor would think of doing/may not even realize it's available. We love to head over to WL marina (if we're not staying at VWL) and rent a pontoon for an hour or two on a lazy, sunny afternoon and just slowly cruise Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. We don't do it every trip, but, at least once out of every six or seven trips...which is usually once every few years. Don't forget to get your DVC discount! And, of course, we must visit Bob Jackson and the gang over at the River Roost Lounge at Port Orleans Riverside on every trip....sometimes more than once!

 

[rcchello]

Have you checked the various free tours in the Disney Hotels, some are very informative and some even include a free appetizer in a Disney restaurant. I have been on ones in WL an AKL and was impressed by the quality.

We sometimes plan a day centered around walks and the fewest busses to do a circle tour. Example:
B
1 Bus to MK,
2 Boat to Campground
3 Visit stables
4 Walk to Wilderness Lodge
5 Lunch
6 Look at fossils in WL chimney. Check out Stickley furniture.
7 watch old faithful.
8 Boat to MK
Depending on time of year take boat or monorail to GF and checkout gingerbread house.
9 Bus to Downtown Disney
10 Walk to SSR or Okw our home resorts.

 

[rutgers1]

We are doing archery at Fort Wilderness during this trip.

We also do themed photo albums. for example, one year we took pictures of us jumping at various locations and put them into an album. Another year, our kids wrote a little story and we took photos that would go with it at different spots around Disney. Neither album was intrusive in any way. This year, we are doing a Where's Waldo themed album. Each person in our group will take turns wearing a Waldo hat and will stand "somewhere" in the background of a photo.

 

[com_op_2000]

It depends on what you are into:
sports: golf, fishing, RPDE, marathon, bowling, ESPN Club, WWS/ESPN Zone, etc
shopping: DTD, area outlet malls, large scale malls
drinking: Jellyrolls, Raglan Road, monorail tour of resorts, walking tour of resorts in the Boardwalk area
movies: DTD 24 screen theater some with meals served by waiters
night clubbing: Jellyrolls, Atlantic Dance, Raglan Road, Citywalk
resort tours: monorail tour of resorts, Boardwalk around the lake tour of resorts, AKL/AKV
offsite: Gaylord Palms Resort, Citywalk, swamp tour
Go to the Disney Employment Office located across from DTD/PI, checkout the giant sun dial and gardens.

 

[dsneygirl]

Don't know if some would consider this obscure or non-traditional, but, I would think it is not something the once every five or ten year visitor would think of doing/may not even realize it's available. We love to head over to WL marina (if we're not staying at VWL) and rent a pontoon for an hour or two on a lazy, sunny afternoon and just slowly cruise Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. We don't do it every trip, but, at least once out of every six or seven trips...which is usually once every few years. Don't forget to get your DVC discount! And, of course, we must visit Bob Jackson and the gang over at the River Roost Lounge at Port Orleans Riverside on every trip....sometimes more than once!

Yes we love getting a boat on Bay Lake! We grab a picnic Roaring Fork and head out.

We also love to rent bikes at Fort Wilderness and cruise around. It's so quiet and peaceful there.

I like hopping around the monorail resorts and checking out all the gift shops, there are a always a few different items.

Head to the Poly for Dole Whip at Capt Cooks, go lay in a hammock on the beach for a while.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

We are doing archery at Fort Wilderness during this trip.

We also do themed photo albums. for example, one year we took pictures of us jumping at various locations and put them into an album. Another year, our kids wrote a little story and we took photos that would go with it at different spots around Disney. Neither album was intrusive in any way. This year, we are doing a Where's Waldo themed album. Each person in our group will take turns wearing a Waldo hat and will stand "somewhere" in the background of a photo.

This sounds so fun!
The 'obscure' thing we are doing next trip is the Utlimate Magic Kingdom Touring Plan. I have attempted it once before, it is exhausting, but very fun at the same time. http://touringplans.com/magic-kingdom/touring-plans/ultimate

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

Check out Seaworld. We went for the first time last Christmas and we were very impressed. We are going back this Dec too. The Christmas shows were fantastic.

 

[Jonell]

We once went over to Fort Wilderness campground and rented a golf cart for the day. We spent the day riding around the campground looking at campsites, exploring, ate lunch and went to the pool. It was a fun relaxing day

 

[dianeschlicht]

Not necessarily obscure, but so few people take advantage of it, that I think it needs to be publicized more. We LOVE doing the cultural exchange info sessions at the Kidani library every evening. One of the exchange young people from an African country will give a presentation at 8:15 each evening . If you are there for a week, you MIGHT see one twice, but usually not. LOVE them, and the young people are so excited about sharing their culture. It is my single most favorite thing to do at any resort.

Another favorite of ours is to walk the path from OKW to DTD. Not many take advantage of this feature either, but it's a very pleasant walk and probably takes less time than waiting for either the bus or the boat if you happen to be staying near South Point.

 

[heathers4um]

Not necessarily obscure, but so few people take advantage of it, that I think it needs to be publicized more. We LOVE doing the cultural exchange info sessions at the Kidani library every evening. One of the exchange young people from an African country will give a presentation at 8:15 each evening . If you are there for a week, you MIGHT see one twice, but usually not. LOVE them, and the young people are so excited about sharing their culture. It is my single most favorite thing to do at any resort.

Another favorite of ours is to walk the path from OKW to DTD. Not many take advantage of this feature either, but it's a very pleasant walk and probably takes less time than waiting for either the bus or the boat if you happen to be staying near South Point.

I have never done the walking trail to DTD from OKW either - cant wait to do this when we get there! Where can you find it? Is it on the map?

 

[dianeschlicht]

I have never done the walking trail to DTD from OKW either - cant wait to do this when we get there! Where can you find it? Is it on the map?

It's down near building 55. There is a little bridge that goes across the canal there that the housekeepers come across on their little vehicles in the morning. The walkway runs along the opposite side of the canal from building 55 toward DTD. Shortly before you get within sight of the CDC parking lot, there is a small footbridge (used for the golf course) that you can cross and then make your way to SSR, or you can walk a short distance on the grass and go through the CDC parking lot and access DTD that way. We actually haven't done this for a few years, so I'm going on memory here.

 

[OneMoreTry]

I was going to say walk from OKW to downtown disney but someone beat me to it. I do it every trip, sometimes twice. If I'm lazy I'll just walk to Saratoga.

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

To me, nothing is more relaxing than swinging on the hammock at the Poly watching Wishes!

 

[RumpleMom]

Finally, after being members for 13 years, we took the time to ride horses at Fort Wilderness.

It was a wonderful experience.

 

[Simba's Mom]

If the DVC I'm staying at has a community hall, I love checking over the activities list and planning to do at least one activity in community hall. When I was at AKV, I did the jewelry making and ceramics painting and loved both. They also had the ceramics at OKW last year, but our schedule didn't allow us to do that. I also love the evening movies by the pool.

 

[LSchrow]

Not necessarily obscure, but so few people take advantage of it, that I think it needs to be publicized more. We LOVE doing the cultural exchange info sessions at the Kidani library every evening. One of the exchange young people from an African country will give a presentation at 8:15 each evening . If you are there for a week, you MIGHT see one twice, but usually not. LOVE them, and the young people are so excited about sharing their culture. It is my single most favorite thing to do at any resort..

are the sessions open to anyone? i would love to go - one of my favorite things about AKL/AKV is the CMs. i could listen (& ask questions) for hours as they describe their home, lives, culture.....

ours aren't as obscure:
- mini-golf (walk to fantasia gardens from BWV)
- again from BWV: a quiet stroll to DHS just for a TSM FP (& come back laterto use it), nighttime to EPCOT for a grey goose slushie
- "borrow" book from community hall - you never know what it will be then sit under the BWV back balcony nook, and read it
- take photos of "little things": lampposts, wildlife, palmtrees, waterlilies....one year i took daily pix of our feet in different locations
- relax on the cushy sofas & talk to strangers in the lobbies
- strike up conversations with DVC reps
- the lovely walk from SSR to DTD
- rent watermice (from the poly)
- visit different resorts without an ADR, and eat CS wherever we are

i want to do the BWV resort tour - didn't get to earlier this month

 

[Nicoal13]

DH enjoyed the archery at Fort Wilderness, it is good for any skill level. He also really enjoyed fishing on Bay Lake with a guide. He caught some really nice bass.

 

[amyy]

We love the cultural presentations at Kidani and Jambo. One trip we spent 2 nights seeing ones at Kidani and 1 night at Jambo. Plus we did the story telling by the fire pit. A lot of people find it hard to believe we were at Disney a week and spent so many evenings at our hotel. I enjoy the Kidani presentations more because they are developed by the cm. One talked about her research related to hyenas and the other about their family vacations to Kruger National Park. Actually what I enjoy most is talking with them after the presentation. I am amazed at how few people take advantage of this opportunity. One night at Kidani we were the only 2 guests and the next night there were only 4 of us. Jambo had a larger crowd of maybe 12.

We have also enjoyed:
tour of the WL
movies at DTD
renting boats
nightly entertainment on the Boardwalk, at POR and POFQ

Hoping to try the jewelry making on our next trip. Maybe the kitchen tour too.