Stay at our home resort, but NOT visit Disney

[STLDisney_Freak]

How often does anyone go to their home resort, but not visit disney? DH and I were thinking about taking the kids a few times, but have a slower paced vacation by just visiting odd and end things. With tickets to Disney on the more expensive side, we are trying to stay on the cheap side by cooking in our room and not getting disney tickets. Is it doable?

 

[bwvBound]

We've often stayed at BWV w/out visiting Disney ... but our home resort is SSR. Does the 'home resort' really matter in your question?

Edited to add: In our case, not visiting the parks didn't save any money. We attend a technology conference at the Dolphin/Swan with registration fees exceeding $1100pp.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

We've often stayed at BWV w/out visiting Disney ... but our home resort is SSR. Does the 'home resort' really matter in your question?

No, not really I guess.

 

[msaseifert]

We have often wondered the same thing....we may try it, You can pool-hop so you can see some of the other resorts....you have access to the bus system for transportation. I think staying at SSR would be nice since you would be within walking distance of DTD. Or at AKL and hang out and watch the savanna. Every resort has activities........we always end up missing out on them since we always hit the parks. We are definitely gonna try this soon....

 

[jelwallace]

Absolutely!! I have done it twice with 2 kids under the age of 7. We went swimming every day, played at the community room, went to downtown disney for shopping, dinner and a movie. We made most meals in our room. I loved being able to relax and enjoy my 'disney' vacation with out rushing around. When I came home I was rested not exhausted. After my first vacation with no parks I vowed that I would never be a parks from dawn until midnight person again!

 

[jamie&Greg]

We do it all the time! I think it deponds on what resort and what time of year. BWV and Beach club are great as well as AKL.

 

[stopher1]

We've done it last year, and are planning to do it again next year. You can certainly enjoy the resort and other aspects of the World without visiting the theme parks. And if you have a car of your own, or a rental car, there are lots of places to explore in and around Central Florida without spending a ton of money.

 

[ajf1007]

That's our agenda for our next visit when its just my DH and I. Our next trip will be big with it being our niece's first trip and we decided after that, it's relaxation city for us!

We don't have kids and our last trip (last September) was pretty close to a no park trip. We only went to the parks 3 days out of 7 and it was always late afternoon. We'd sleep in - have breakfast - head to the pool for a few hours - then decide what we were going to do. No reservations, no agenda, just what ever we wanted to do. It was the most relaxing trip ever and I didn't feel like I was missing anything since we have the DVC!!!

 

[pb4ugo]

some of the things that we do which have not been mentioned yet are play mini golf, have a sundae at ghiradelli in dtd, ride the monorail, ride the buses within ft wilderness after dusk/dark so we can see the decorated campsites and pick a resort for one or two lunches or dinners and walk the boardwalk where you can hear the music from jellyrolls or the atlantic dance hall while sitting outside or go to see the electical water pageant on bay lake.

many evenings we play rummy-cube, scrabble or cards on our patio or by a pool and often find other guests to join us.

mousesavers.com has an entire page of free and other stuff to do - see it here:
http://www.mousesavers.com/freestuff.html

 

[Oshawa]

We are planning a March break trip and were going to do the same thing. We thought of maybe just doing the parks a couple of days insteady for the full 11 days. If any of you have done this? Have you purchased the tickets at the gate or get the non-experation tickets.

 

[lilpooh108]

We're doing this Labor day weekend...was going to visit WWOHP but decided to save those tix for next year and we're going to just eat food and sit on the balcony and watch animals...got lots of dining reservations planned.

 

[FindTheMickeys]

No matter which kind of vacation I plan at the World, parks all days, parks some days or no parks at all, I always purchase my tickets as 10 park hoppers with no expiration from one of the discounted ticket locations, usually Maple Leaf. Since we don't do the water parks every visit, I buy those with my DVC discount at the Concierge desk at the resort... Then I get 10 park days in how ever many years I can... So the 10 park hopper that I bought in 2005 got me 5 years of 2 park days per year. The biggest benefit was that, in light of the park ticket prices continually rising, I paid an average of $38 per day in the parks . Needless to say, I just bought my new 10 day park hopper

 

[com_op_2000]

We do multiple stays each year. At least once a year we go and never enter any park. It is not a monitary issue with us, cause we can get into the parks for free, anytime. We just enjoy the resorts, DTD, boat rides, etc, and just being out of the house. It is always a relaxing time when you do this kind of trip.

 

[disfountainofyouth]

We're trying it for the first time this March. Spending the first part of the
week at BCV chilling out at the pool, DD, and mini golf followed by our
first cruise on the new Dream.

 

[dizneyfan23]

we do that many times. It's nice to just go down there and relax the entire time we're there. Not worrying about the parks, crowds, temps, etc.

 

[katmittens]

DH and I are planning a no park trip in Feb for 6 nites. Our AP's will be expiring after our trip in Oct. and not sure if I want to purchase new ones in Feb. I think the only thing I will miss is certain foods, lilke bakery items from Main St Bakery in MK, popcorn from the parks, and a Grey Goose Slushie from France. I don't think I will miss the parks, but I will miss some of my favorite snacks. We will be at AKV at Jambo in a value studio. I only hope I am lucky enough to get a savanna view, so I can sit and watch the animals.

 

[parlay]

I'd love to try a non-parks trip, but I don't think I would be able to manage it! I'd feel the pull of the parks!! Maybe someday!

 

[Husurdady]

How often does anyone go to their home resort, but not visit disney? DH and I were thinking about taking the kids a few times, but have a slower paced vacation by just visiting odd and end things. With tickets to Disney on the more expensive side, we are trying to stay on the cheap side by cooking in our room and not getting disney tickets. Is it doable?

Now you are talking............Thats what the words , WELCOME HOME means. P S and the ocean is only about an hour away. enjoy, we do.

 

[a742246]

I can easily stay at Disney without doing the theme parks.
I would suggest you stay at SSR or OKW., though. They have a more relaxing feel. SSR is an easy stroll to DTD.
If you make this a health and exercise vacation you can survive without going to the theme parks and do it quite easy.

 

[MarshallMoore6]

We have gone to several Spring Training games and tried not going to the parks but my DD enjoys the parks so much; much more than the baseball games.