Resort Only Trip - No Parks?

[keahgirl8]

I apologize if there is already a thread on this. I did a search and went back a few pages and didn't see one.

Have any of you done a resort-only trip, where you just resort-hop and do DTD without going in the parks? I never have time to visit other resorts, and I'm trying to save some money on my next trip, so I thought that might be a nice (and relaxing) way to accomplish both. I am wondering what others' experiences have been like, and if you had any suggestions or tips.

Thanks!

 

[chicagogrl]

We have done that. Just relaxed and enjoyed the resort, dining etc.

 

[dansdad]

We have done 2 resort only trips and loved them both. I highly recommend them. After the first one we have started scheduling 2-3 full days as no park days during our trips and we are finally coming home feeling rested. Instead of coming home exhausted and needed a vacation from our WDW trip.

My best tip would be to not schedule anything except maybe some dinner ADRs. And just wing everything else. Sleep in and then decide what to do that day. It is a very freeing feeling to do that at WDW. Another thing we started doing during our trips is to have a day or 2 of park days that we don't schedule any FP+ or ADRs before arriving. On those days we head to the bus stop and get on the first bus that pulls up and that's our park for the day. The days we have done that have been some of our best days. We are all completely relaxed and laid back because we have zero plans. We have liked doing that so much that our October trip in 2016 we are seriously thinking of doing that every day.

 

[keahgirl8]

We have done 2 resort only trips and loved them both. I highly recommend them. After the first one we have started scheduling 2-3 full days as no park days during our trips and we are finally coming home feeling rested. Instead of coming home exhausted and needed a vacation from our WDW trip.

My best tip would be to not schedule anything except maybe some dinner ADRs. And just wing everything else. Sleep in and then decide what to do that day. It is a very freeing feeling to do that at WDW. Another thing we started doing during our trips is to have a day or 2 of park days that we don't schedule any FP+ or ADRs before arriving. On those days we head to the bus stop and get on the first bus that pulls up and that's our park for the day. The days we have done that have been some of our best days. We are all completely relaxed and laid back because we have zero plans. We have liked doing that so much that our October trip in 2016 we are seriously thinking of doing that every day.

I like the idea of winging it! It sounds very relaxing. No rushing from one place to the next!

 

[nkereina]

We stayed at POR for three days after a cruise and didn't visit the parks. The location was nice because we could boat to DTD and we also hung by the pool. We rode the monorail and visited the Boardwalk area. Frankly, we were bored. The park were so close, yet so far - we couldn't justify spending the money on park tix when it wasn't in the plans. It worked out fine since we were already in the area, but after the experience, I would never travel to Orlando solely for a resorts only vacation at WDW.

 

[tami82]

Very good idea too to start out the trip with the parks and leave the last few days to resorts only.

 

[michelle1]

DH and go every year for a 4 or 5 day anniversary trip and most of them have been resort only. He gets up early each day and golfs while I just chill at the resort then he's back by noon so we have the rest of the day and night to do whatever. Without going into the parks it's amazing how much free time there is for so many other things and how relaxing it is. I will say, there are urges to just buy a ticket and go into a park when we drive by a park entrance or see and hear Tower of Terror while we are mini putting..it's like trying to resist a piece of cake while dieting...lol

 

[jon18uk]

Is there not a beach resort that would be just as nice and cheaper?

 

[Minnesota!]

We have done 2-3 of these trips, and just booked another one yesterday. We enjoy resort only much more than parks now that the parks...suck?


We spend a day at DTD window shopping and eating, a day at Fort Wilderness/Wilderness Lodge, a day at the Boardwalk/resorts there...kids usually go to a kids club that night and DH and I have a few hours to drink around the Boardwalk area , a day mini golfing and swimming, a day bowling and watching the shows at DTD (at the stage...usually a high school band or dance team), etc.

There is PLENTY to do to fill up a week or more, resort only. It is SO relaxing and entertaining.

A beach resort would not have the same amenities, and, honestly, we find WDW to be really cheap when you take the parks out of the equation!

 

[msb578]

We talked about doing a 100% park-free trip last summer. In the end, we decided on one MK day, and we made it out last day there (it was planned in advance with FP+, not a last minute decision). We had three full non-park days before that, and we never got bored- and this was with kids ages 2,2,5. Having that one park day at the end for the kids to look forward to helped us a lot. But, if it was adults only, we definitely could have gone completely park-free

 

[keahgirl8]

Thank you for all the input! I am coming down for the PHM weekend solo. There is always so much I want to do outside of the parks and I never feel like I have time, because I'm rushing around going to tbe parks.

 

[michelle1]

Is there not a beach resort that would be just as nice and cheaper?

I prefer a pool to the beach but a WDW perk for us is the transportation..while my DH is out golfing with the car I can get around anywhere I want.

 

[jolene63]

We just did that a month ago. It was so relaxing. We have been to Disney World many times, but have only seen a couple of the resorts. This trip, we checked out one or two resorts each day. We loved taking the boats to a few of them. Roasting marshmallows at POLY followed with a movie on the beach was my kids favorite. Then we saw Wishes! Such a fun night. Another night, we went to Beaches and Cream just for dessert. Afterwards, we went out to the dock and watched Epcot's fireworks. Of course we went to DTD a couple of times too. The whole trip was fun. However, we are going for nine days in September. We were okay not going into the parks in July because we knew that we had a big trip coming up.

 

[BabyFu18]

I've done a couple of resort only trips, after going to the parks several years in a row it was nice to just have a trip where all there was to do was relax and enjoy the resort, restaurants and shopping. I do love to go to other resorts and look around, dine, shop, etc. and that's such a nice thing to do on a resort only trip. So yeah I do think resort only trips can be a lot of fun, enjoy!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We have done a resort only stay. We had plans to visit Discovery Cove, but I wanted to stay on Disney property. So we did just that. Spent a few days at Coronado Springs and then a couple at the Polynesian. I have a trip report here on the boards in the completed tr section. Feel free to check it out and see some of the things we spent our time on. It's the 2012 "How Could You?" report.

 

[120304]

Just did this very thing earlier this year. Split stay between POR and BC. Went to DTD, mini golfed,lot of swimming, some great meals, shopping, roamed the Boardwalk area. Kids (10 and 7) had a great time and didn't miss the parks. So relaxing and a great way to just hang, would do it again without hesitation.

 

[scrapquitler]

I apologize if there is already a thread on this. I did a search and went back a few pages and didn't see one.

Have any of you done a resort-only trip, where you just resort-hop and do DTD without going in the parks? I never have time to visit other resorts, and I'm trying to save some money on my next trip, so I thought that might be a nice (and relaxing) way to accomplish both. I am wondering what others' experiences have been like, and if you had any suggestions or tips.

Thanks!

No way. MAYBE if I were local, and lived within maybe an hour or two, but there is no way in the world that I would travel all the way to the Orlando area and NOT go to at least one park.
I traveled from CT to Miami for several days a few years ago, and it almost killed me to be that close to the parks and not go.

 

[tcherjen]

We have done it twice! We enjoyed DTD and resort hopping on both trips. Lots of fun.

 

[baldy6060]

There was an episode of the Be Our Guest podcast a short time ago where a listener talked about his resort only stay. It sounded like a blast but I can't seem to find the exact episode.

 

[ameliahyde]

I haven't done it but think it would be a blast. I think, if you don't mind packing, a split stay would be great! I would do AKL so I could do the animals stuff and restaurant tour (free), and then maybe do BC for its awesome pool/slide. I would hit up the chip and dale campfire (free) at the Wilderness Campsites and also consider the Pirates and Pals cruise, or perhaps have my girls do a pirate adventure cruise. Orlando is very easy to get to by plane from where I live , and I love the idea that you don't have to rent a car!!