Off Day

[LWatson]

I am trying to figure out how much money to save for this trip in addition to what I know up front (we already have the money set aside for the room/meals/tickets), so I am planning WAY in advance.

We are going wed-wed in Dec. We know Saturdays the parks are packed w/ locals, so we are planning to take Saturday (which is right in the middle anyway) as our down day (we have 5 day tickets so we HAVE to not go one day). We are trying to think of things to do that day around Disney. Our kids dont do well sitting still in the hotel room (we tried that one afternoon on our last trip). What are some things you suggest doing on the off day? Free would be nice...lol...but I know that not everything is free (hence the planning early so we know how much extra to set aside), so welcoming all ideas. Oh and where would you suggest dining that day out of the parks (we have the Dis Dining Plan for all days we are there).

 

[Kae]

What resort are u staying at? First try to sleep in sometimes that is the best way to start an off day. As far as the meal you could do lots of things Do a late breakfast at Cape May then for dinner do a CS at one of the resorts. AKL has tons of things to do & I am not if you have to be staying at AKL or not.

Kae

 

[LWatson]

What resort are u staying at? First try to sleep in sometimes that is the best way to start an off day. As far as the meal you could do lots of things Do a late breakfast at Cape May then for dinner do a CS at one of the resorts. AKL has tons of things to do & I am not if you have to be staying at AKL or not.

Kae

Sorry I forgot to put that. We are going to All Star Movies as requested by DS1

 

[brymolmom]

On our off days we usually go to DTD and do some shopping (definitely NOT free) -but it'll give you the ability to choose some other CS and TS restaurants on the DP. And we like to go around and just take pictures of our kids with the different character statues. You could take the DTD boat to a couple of the nearby resorts and just check them out.

Another nighttime option would be to go to the Fort Wilderness sing-a-long and outdoor movie. A LOT of fun - but can go pretty late.

How about adding a day of tickets? Probably only cost you $20 total. You could hit a park for 2 hours in the morning before it gets crowded.

 

[LWatson]

On our off days we usually go to DTD and do some shopping (definitely NOT free) -but it'll give you the ability to choose some other CS and TS restaurants on the DP. And we like to go around and just take pictures of our kids with the different character statues. You could take the DTD boat to a couple of the nearby resorts and just check them out.

Another nighttime option would be to go to the Fort Wilderness sing-a-long and outdoor movie. A LOT of fun - but can go pretty late.

How about adding a day of tickets? Probably only cost you $20 total. You could hit a park for 2 hours in the morning before it gets crowded.

We are using the military tickets, so they are only 5 day tickets. The only add ons we can get are park hopper and water park, but no extra days because of the price they are already.

 

[luvalwaysMandy]

On our off day we are driving to Cocoa Beach and speding the day at the beach. We will visit Ron Jons too.

 

[spare+a_pair]

This isn't free, but ... Kennedy Space Center is only a few hours away - two I think. If you have a car that might be a fun day trip. We plan on going there on the way home - we think our boys will LOVE it!

 

[WantToGoNow]

I say sleep in, spend some time at DTD (there is a carousel, train and the Lego store has a playground for them to play out), spend the afternoon at the pool and then maybe have dinner at one of the resorts. I would imagine your boys will love riding the monorail or ferry as well so maybe some resort hopping. Then to bed fairly early for the next day.

 

[rangermom]

I would not recommend Kennedy Space Center. We went there in October with our then 9, 4, and 2 and a friend with a 3 yr old. The 9 yr old loved it, but it was way over the other kid's heads. Both me and my friend wished we had stayed at the resortd that day. It is a great place. We love NASA and have a friend that works at Johnson Space Center and have been there. For the price, I would skip it. We will not go back until our DS is probably 7 yr old.

For our off time, we do not usually do a whole day since we have AP's, we like to resort hop. Usually we will pick a resort that we want to visit. We aslo like to swim at our resort pool and go to DTD. There is also the 2 miniture golf courses.

 

[PA Princess]

My first recommendation would have been to add days to your tickets. I know you said they are military, but can you upgrade once you are on property? We have found for us that rather than an entire off day from the parks, we often enjoy one or two short days in the parks. Cost to go from a 4 or 5 day ticket to a 7 or more is usually really cheap.

If an off day is the plan, with the age of your kids, I would consider something low key like visiting another resort (even a trip to another pool or playground at another All Star). We really like Fort Wilderness...lots of outdoor things to do and the campfire is laid back fun.

I know DTD is a popular off day choice, but we often find it to be really crowded and on off days I am generally looking for less crowded activities.

 

[macmom3]

There are so many restaurant not in a park, Cafe Mickey (Contemp), Whispering Canyon (Ft. Wildreness), Garden Grove (Swan), and Ohana (Poly). I would spend the morning swimming at the resort. Go to DTD during the day and the at night go to dinner. Even a day not in the park will be a blast. I love the parks, but the down day is just as much fun or more because it's a slow day.

 

[PrincessNP]

It is lots of fun to check out the Contemporary, Poly, and GF via the Monorail which is fun to ride. They all have great shops and sites.

If you are a fan of Chicago style pizza you have to go to Giordanos which is on the main strip in Orlando near Disney. Itis amazing and we always work it into our "day off" from the parks.

I also agree with Downtown Disney. Wolfgang Pucks Cafe is very reasonable and has amazing food. They are included in your dining plan. Then head over to Giradellis for some sweet treats!

 

[DeepScapeNine]

My toddlers love bounce house/slide places and I heard there is a good one in Festival Bay on International Drive called Monkey Joe's.

I haven't been to that one yet but my kids love the one near our house. It lets them work out their energy. We have to help our 19 month old twins with the slides though, which gives us a workout too.


Animal Kingdom Lodge has a nice playground for toddlers and you can look at the animals on the savannah too. I'm trying to figure out a way to fit AKL into our itenary just so the kids can have fun at the resort. (We're staying at Fort Wilderness).