staying at the resort all day instead of going to the parks

[DanInMN]

We never go to the parks on arrival or departure days. If we are staying 6+ days we will take a day or two relaxing at the pool, window shopping elsewhere, looking at other resorts, Downtown Disney, Boardwalk, etc. The parks can become sensory overload after a few days, not to mention sore legs from walking!

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

Our upcoming trip is the first time we are having a non-park day. DH begged to have 1 day to sleep in and relax. I relented, but I think it's a BIG waste. If I wanted to sleep in I can do that at home. Well not really since DD gets up at 6:45am EVERY morning She's not going to sleep in at WDW, but we are going to have a late breakfast and head to DTD

 

[Mousemommy1]

On our 11 day trips, we typically have 2 days where we just don't feel like leaving and we hang around the resort. So relaxing.

 

[BlovesC]

Absolutely! We can do the parks any time, but we really love the resorts and love soaking up the atmosphere at them.

BC in particular is our favorite resort to spend all day at. We can literally spend 8 hours swimming in SAB only taking a break for lunch at B&C, and then stroll around the Boardwalk for dinner at night. It's incredibly relaxing.

AKL is another resort I could spend literally all day at and not get bored. I love it!

 

[disneybride96]

We always have a "non-park" day and have even done short "non-park" trips, usually in conjunction with a cruise.

Some of our favorite things to do:
1. Pool & Spa Day
2. Fantasy Miniature Golf
3. Resort Hopping to decide where we want to stay next
4. Nap & Read
5. Resort Photography
6. See the most recent DVC resort room models
7. Relax in the sunroom at BC
8. Visit the Wedding Gazebo where we were married

I think one of the reasons we enjoy our "adult only" Disney Trips so much is that we have been there enough and don't feel that we have to do everything. We pick a few things we haven't done in awhile and put them on the list for the next trip. If we miss them, not a biggie.

 

[goofy4prez]

We have never spent just a whole day at the resort. However we have slept in, hung out much of the day and then made it a late night in one of the parks. We have also done an early day in the park and then spent the afternoo enjoying the pool and property and then enjoying dinner at the resort.

 

[Kemorr]

We did an entire day at the pool on our last trip. We were at OKW and my original plan was to go to the pool in the morning then catch the boat to DTD for lunch/the afternoon. However my kids had such a blast doing all the organized activities and games at the pool that we stayed there all day long and went to Olivia's for dinner. It was a fun and relaxing way to spend a day and it still felt very "Disney".

 

[shpdem]

we do 7 day stays and take 1 day in the middle to do a late breakfast at ohana's then play disney mini golf and resort hop to see where we want to stay the next time down. oh yea and do some swimming in the pool.

 

[MommaNinja]

We are planning our first WDW trip for this July. While I could go to the parks everyday from open to close, my family would kill me if we did that!

We are planning 2 resort days while there so we can relax, enjoy the pool, have a nap and enjoy the resort. We are paying a lot of money to stay at the Poly so I guess we should do more than just sleep there!

 

[pegrad1]

I plan on having one resort only day. I'm not sure if you would really call it that. I guess just a day for a special surprise I have for my kids. (I can't put it on here since my daughter could read this) It would entail being on property but not at the parks. Surprise + Part of the day at DTD, doing laundry & relaxing by the pool.

 

[shalom]

We generally alternate resort days and park days, but we don't usually stay at the resort all day; resort days most of us sleep in a bit and then go do something else in the afternoon. We usually do a bit of shopping or wander a Disney resort and get a snack or hit the Boardwalk or whatever. Some of the kids like to take a day off and spend it in the resort playing board games or the like; I usually want to go somewhere for an hour or two at least unless there's something going at the resort I want to do (resorts on the beach I'm usually happy with a "beach day". for instance).

Eldest son is the only one who "has" to do something major nearly every day; for instance, this trip he's got a yearly pass for SeaWorld and generally goes there days we're not doing a Disney park. If he starts vacationing alone he'll no doubt schedule much more intense trips than we do now.

 

[pamkat1820]

We are planning one day just for our resort this year. We are staying at YC and I feel it's a waste of the resort if we do not plan one day just to enjoy the pool. SAB is jut to must to for us to pass up. Our kids are water bugs, and I think we just want to take it slow this time around. This is our 3rd trip as a family to disney. We know what attractions we like and what we are going to do. After we have plans to go the boardwalk for the night relax and watch illuminations from the beach

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

We do it all the time. We are DVC members and stay at the BW,BLT & BC. IF you are staying at a deluxe there is so much to do. We have rented bikes, boats ( I loved boating around the MK resorts, watching the paddle boat cross and being outside the MK-- seeing it from a different view), made Mickey tie-die t-shirts, resort hop to see all the Christmas decorations, watch movies on the beach at the Bc and always watch Illuminations from the bw bridge near Epcot. We will usually do a nice dinner show or character dinner.

Its just so nice to take in the atmosphere at each resort. We stayed at the Akl one night and spent the day at the pool, participated in the nightly parade in the lobby, had the kids charactures (sp)done as their favorite animals, did the night viewing and story telling around the fire and ate at Boma. Things we would have never done if we spent the day at the park and those activities created a different set of memories.

If you get bored you can always go to DTD or play Mini golf or even pool hop.

 

[Sammie]

We are DVC members and do this every trip at least one day, some times more.

 

[polyfor4]

When we stay at a Deluxe resort we always take a down day because the resort is as much a part of the vacation as the park is. We're staying Poly CL in May and plan on having 2 down days so we can slow down and enjoy just being at the Poly/ Disney. We'll probably go to Downtown Disney or play golf but the majority of the time will be spent in the pool or on the beach. I use to think down days were ridiculous but after 15 + trips our family enjoys a slower pace and being able to "just enjoy being there"- down days help us do that.

 

[aml3679]

We are going next December (5th through the 16th) and staying at the Wilderness Lodge - we plan on doing 2 or 3 "non-park" days. We plan on visiting all of the resorts and taking time to relax. We both have high stress jobs and rarely get some down time to relax and not having to think about anything. This will be real quality time for us.

 

[macadoo]

We haven't had a full resort day before, normally at the parks first thing then back in the afternoon for a swim then out again. But staying at POR this year which looks beautiful and relaxing so planning on a day of enjoying the resort, swimming, perhaps hire a bike, do some fishing, maybe even hire a boat

 

[gjl]

Last time we were there we toured commando style- and we were exhausted by day three (with two left to go!) This time we are doing a park day followed by a resort day for 8 days (4 park and 4 resort days total). I cannot wait to relax between park days and I'm hoping my kids will enjoy it and not be so tired in the parks!

 

[married2mm]

if we have a lie in,I'm literally desperate to get to a park!
that said,most days we are up and out for rd,but return after lunch for downtime.

a whole day though,most definitely not.
we pay over $1800 for tickets,even if just for a little while each day,they will be utilised!

 

[klwdisney]

We are trying that on our upcoming May trip!!

We are arriving on a Sunday and staying at POR for 6 nights. We are planning on Monday-Friday in the parks. Then we are transferring to the Poly Saturday morning and just enjoying the resort until our flight home Sunday evening. We plan on making full use too - to justify the insane cost! Pool time, tonga toast, boat ride around the lagoon, monorail ride, beach relaxation, movie on the beach, electric light parade, wishes from the beach, etc. I'm almost looking forward to the Poly more than the rest of our stay! haha