No park fun ideas?

[luvthemouse71]

We are doing the Disney Dream from 11/3-11-6. We will fly down on the 2nd and spend one night at AoA. We aren't planning to do any parks right now, maybe just do Disney Springs and the pool. What are some other fun suggestions?

First time that we'll be down there and not going to a park, that will be weird..

 

[owensamo]

We've done non-park days around cruises in the past, and some of our favorite activities are:

• Resort-hopping on the monorail/boats at the MK resort area - this is especially great if it's the holiday season and the decorations and trees are up. If you're there late enough, you can watch the fireworks, too.
• Enjoy a meal at a resort restaurant - Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge is awesome!
• Mini golf - We really enjoyed a round at Winter Summerland one year
• Shopping/dining at Disney Springs
• Boardwalk area - often some strolling entertainment, some good restaurants, and you can usually see the Epcot fireworks from the shores of the lake.

One of the things we've always wanted to do but never managed to fit in is the water parks - we have a bunch of unexpiring parkhopper+ passes with all the park days used, but tons of + days still available, and still haven't managed to get to a water park! Maybe next time...

 

[mmouse37]

I love the list above....we do all the same things! You could rent some water craft at the deluxe resorts or take a surrey ride. You could do the Hoop-Dee-Doo review dinner show (love this show) at Fort Wilderness.

MJ

 

[diznymom]

Go look at the animals at AKL. Go to Fort Wilderness and just walk around - nice open spaces. Maybe eat dinner there. Just relax at your resort and swim.

 

[WeLoveDisneyAlways]

Our last few trips we've skipped the parks and just spent a week enjoying the resort pool, Disney springs, mini putt, and resort hopping. It truly is a relaxing vacation we found the parks to be exhausting and not helping at all to the stress of everyday life. One night at AoA will be just enough time to truly enjoy the resort, they have a really awesome pool be sure to enjoy.

 

[sdd1841]

Love the epcot resort area - as someone else mentioned, mini golf is fun - you can eat dinner on the boardwalk and then go for late night mini golf - great firework viewing from the fantasia course...or skip dinner and get the kitchen sink at beaches and crème!

 

[fredandkell]

It's still technically a "park" but a small one and very laid-back, but my family really enjoyed Gatorland last time we were in Orlando! We were looking for a cheap place to kill a few hours before a later afternoon flight and it fit the bill. They had a good AAA discount too. http://www.gatorland.com/

 

[lizabu]

We're spending a couple days after our cruise and decided there's plenty to do without buying park tickets. We booked Spirit of Aloha and plan to check out Trader Sams grotto at some point and get dole whips and watch fireworks on the Poly beach. We've also booked the Bon Voyage breakfast. I want to go to Abracadabar at some point because we didn't have time last time. Check out the buskers on the boardwalk. We're going to go to the outlet store. And we can probably spend a full day at Disney springs. I want to check out Homecoming too. So we have a pretty full schedule without visiting a single park. And I want some hot tub time.

 

[Narnia_girl]

I agree with the resort hopping. That is one of our favorite things to do.
There is a short, but nice, tour of the Animal Kingdom Lodge restaurants in the afternoon. We've done this and you get samples.
There is a tour of Wilderness Lodge Resort (still hoping to do this one someday, it's at 9 a.m. I think)
You can also visit Celebration, and walk around the little lake/downtown area.

 

[apathetic]

If you haven't been to Disney Springs lately, you can easily spend a day down there. Especially with the bowling alley and movie theater.

 

[mkh531]

I know you said no parks, but it's quite economical and particularly magical to go to the Mickeys Very Mery Christmas Party if you can. We did this after our last cruise...we disembarked from the cruise Friday morning, had a private shuttle to WDW, played at pool/ Napped until 4 when we went to the xmas party. Total was about $250 for a family of four and we went on so many rides and met so many characters since the early November xmas parties aren't as crowded. The next day or two we ate resort character meals and just relaxed.

 

[Shanti]

We are doing the Disney Dream from 11/3-11-6. We will fly down on the 2nd and spend one night at AoA. We aren't planning to do any parks right now, maybe just do Disney Springs and the pool. What are some other fun suggestions?

First time that we'll be down there and not going to a park, that will be weird..

The Hoop Dee Doo dinner show would be a nice treat. Or Cirque de Soleil, which is going away permanently at the end of the year, unfortunately. It's a great show.

 

[mevelandry]

Mini-Golf or resort hopping and eating in different restaurants in each resorts?

 

[sharonabe]

We are doing the Disney Dream from 11/3-11-6. We will fly down on the 2nd and spend one night at AoA. We aren't planning to do any parks right now, maybe just do Disney Springs and the pool. What are some other fun suggestions?

First time that we'll be down there and not going to a park, that will be weird..

I think you already have lots of good ideas, so I just wanted to say:

WE'RE ON THE SAME CRUISE!!!