Skipping the parks ....

[tinalynnstage]

We are visiting Orlando between Christmas and New Years this year. But, I think we are going to skip the parks this time. We are thinking of just having a quiet, relaxing week. (Crazy, I know!!)

We are making a list of places to visit in central Florida, in case we decide to leave the pool. I'm traveling with my kids, 23, 20, and 7.

Should we add anything to our list?

Disney Mini golf
Downtown Disney
Universal City Walk
Legoland
Gatorland
Central Florida Zoo
Orlando Magic game

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Showcase of Citrus
It will be orange season and you can go pick oranges, grape fruit

http://www.showcaseofcitrus.com/

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Showcase of Citrus
It will be orange season and you can go pick oranges, grape fruit. Its only a 20 minute ride from Disney.
Nothing like picking a 10lb bag of fresh oranges to bring home. We put them in our carry on to bring home.

http://www.showcaseofcitrus.com/

 

[isabellea]

Florida aquarium in Tampa is great.

 

[smidgy]

Gaylord Palms resort has it's annual "show" ICE. various rooms with various Christams related ice sculptures.

 

[tinalynnstage]

Thanks for the replies so far!

Can you go to a Disney hotel for lunch or dinner, if you are not a registered guest?

 

[smidgy]

yes of course you can!! and shop, tour. watch the movies at night on the beach at BC. watch the firworks . use the disneytransportation.. you just can't use the pool.
make sure to make as ADR 180 days iout for the more popular restaurants such as ohanas or california grill o rmaybe whispering canyon
you could get tickets for the Hoop Dee DOO revue over at ft. wilderness. it's great all you eat chicken ribs beer wine, a cute corny show. you could go early and go horseback ridiing.. or do the campfire.

 

[WantToGoNow]

With a 7 year old, I think I would vacation in a different part of Florida if I weren't planning to do the parks. The beach maybe.

 

[staceyrhood]

You can visit Celebration and see the snow fall nightly!

 

[Lynne G]

do the bus tour at Showcase of Citrus. Groupon or Living Social sometimes has great discounts for Showcase of Citrus.

Mini golf. tons of great courses.

Have ice cream at Twistee Treats. Huge portions.

Gator World or Air Boat ride.

Check out the state parks. There's also Ft. Christmas near Orlando, neat to see.

There's so much to do that isn't the parks.

 

[msb578]

With a 7 year old, I think I would vacation in a different part of Florida if I weren't planning to do the parks. The beach maybe.

Honest question... how appealing is the beach, say in South Florida, that time of year?

I know the beach scene is a year round thing, but is it pleasant for kids in late December?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

honest question... How appealing is the beach, say in south florida, that time of year?

I know the beach scene is a year round thing, but is it pleasant for kids in late december?

cold!

 

[msb578]

cold!

I would think so, but I'm really not familiar with winter weather further south than Central Florida.

I do know that Central Florida is spectacular that time of year (but not beach weather), at least to someone who lives where I do (and pretty much any northern state).

 

[msb578]

As a follow-up to my tangent (sorry!)- I love the park-less WDW trip. Not every time, of course, but once in a while. It's a great place to relax, for any age.

 

[quandrea]

We did a park free trip in March. Stayed at animal kingdom lodge. The hotel had so many programs to do. They are open to anyone. Children collect a string of memories made of beads.

We also bowled at Splitsville. We went to the Hoop Dee Doo. Toured Fort wilderness. Spent time at dtd. Walked the Boardwalk. Explored all the resorts, shops, etc.

We enjoyed many movie nights in our villa. The kids absolutely loved that. The oil was a big draw.

We had an absolute blast. Enjoy your trip.

 

[NicoleLarson]

I would think so, but I'm really not familiar with winter weather further south than Central Florida.

I do know that Central Florida is spectacular that time of year (but not beach weather), at least to someone who lives where I do (and pretty much any northern state).

My parents live in Clearwater (Tampa area) and we have spent at least 20 Xmas there. More often than not we spend Xmas on the beach, water is too cold for me but usually the kids get in. Really I can only remember 1 Xmas in 2010 when it was really cold. Other than that, we usually have at least a couple of beach days.

Also we absolutely love our no park trips. AKL is an awesome place to do this. It would be very easy to spend a whole day here and not do everything. I highly recommend the culinary tour of Boma and Jiko!

 

[Minnesota!]

With a 7 year old, I think I would vacation in a different part of Florida if I weren't planning to do the parks. The beach maybe.

We did a park-less trip last March with a then-6 and then-9 year old...best trip so far. They loved it! WDW has so much more than just parks.

We did a park free trip in March. Stayed at animal kingdom lodge. The hotel had so many programs to do. They are open to anyone. Children collect a string of memories made of beads.

We also bowled at Splitsville. We went to the Hoop Dee Doo. Toured Fort wilderness. Spent time at dtd. Walked the Boardwalk. Explored all the resorts, shops, etc.

We enjoyed many movie nights in our villa. The kids absolutely loved that. The oil was a big draw.

We had an absolute blast. Enjoy your trip.

This is exactly what we did (but at Pop).

Splitzville was an awesome time suck.

We did lots of swimming, mini golf, resort hopping, WDW transportation riding, people watching, Boardwalk-treat-eating, and Fort Wilderness-touring.

It was the best vacation thus far...we all felt that way.

 

[msb578]

We did a park-less trip last March with a then-6 and then-9 year old...best trip so far. They loved it! WDW has so much more than just parks. This is exactly what we did (but at Pop). Splitzville was an awesome time suck. We did lots of swimming, mini golf, resort hopping, WDW transportation riding, people watching, Boardwalk-treat-eating, and Fort Wilderness-touring. It was the best vacation thus far...we all felt that way.

Walking around the Boardwalk area (and BC/YC and S/D and Fantasia Gardens) was the best part of our recent trip. We walked up to Beaches & Cream and snagged counter seats. We watched two sets of fireworks (Frozen was still going on). Just wonderful memories.

If I was more ambitious, I'd try to start a Non-Park WDW Trip guide/thread. Maybe there already is one? Although, it's not a very popular trip idea at this point, I don't think. It's very under-rated.

 

[Bluegrrl]

Oh, Gatorland is great! They sell HUGE bags of hotdogs, and you can feed them to the gators! The gator jumparoo is also really cool.

If you think about trekking up to Sanford, FL, there is a great resturant called the Willobach Willow tree German restrant. (and I can't spell "resturant.) But is has excellent German food (Chef/owner is German), a polka band, and even dancing. Be warned, the kids meal is not very good, might as well get an adult meal for the kiddos.

Check out Winter Park, the snooty side of town. They have "Old Money", and Park Ave is pretty Posh. Mellow Mushroom is also a great "groovy" pizza place in Winter Park. We love it!!
I love AKL - we spent a whole 3 days there and never went to the parks. They have drumming, a beautiful Savannah, and lots of activities that you can do. You can also do what I call the "ginger crawl" if your kids are OK about not doing parks. Check out all the cool hotel decor and ginger houses.

We love Hoop-Dee-Do, its a great show and the food is pretty nice. (I can make a better shortcake, but that's just me being snooty!)

The Enzion Theater in the Winter Park area shows some great older movies, and it's a dine-in theater. All their food is local, and is really good. They also have a bar!

There's plenty of stuff to do, you just have to look for it! Also, I second the Tampa Aquarium. Fantastic! But if you see a place called DinoWorld, don't go there. My husband went there for his bachalor party on the way down to Tampa, and, well - it's better to dream of what's there rather than experience it! (Kinda sucked, really)

As for spelling mistakes, they are all my own. For an English major and a teacher, I just can't spell!

 

[Minnesota!]

Walking around the Boardwalk area (and BC/YC and S/D and Fantasia Gardens) was the best part of our recent trip. We walked up to Beaches & Cream and snagged counter seats. We watched two sets of fireworks (Frozen was still going on). Just wonderful memories.

If I was more ambitious, I'd try to start a Non-Park WDW Trip guide/thread. Maybe there already is one? Although, it's not a very popular trip idea at this point, I don't think. It's very under-rated.

Agreed. We truly enjoyed ourselves SO much on our park-less vacation. The Boardwalk/BC/YC area is amazing...so serene and beautiful. Something new to explore around every corner!