Staying onsite, and not visiting parks...

[Camno's Mama]

I know you are all going to think I'm nuts, but we've been to WDW every year for the past 8. We've done it in varying degrees...1 day of parks during a week to every day at the parks. We've stayed at POP and ASMu as a family, but never could bring ourselves to spend the extra money on a nicer resort when we were going to be busy running around (and our kids are only 8, 6 and 2...so, early bedtimes are still pretty much the norm). Just not enough resort time to justify.

We have always wanted to stay at a deluxe, and I am looking into renting points. If we do this, we will not do the parks. We've discussed it with the kids, and they're okay with it. I think we'll still do a character meal or something, and we will surely take the buses and the monorail for "fun" (I know, but that's the hit of every vacation). And, of course, this will give us ample pool time, which is always their favorite, and we never get enough of it. We will also probably take a drive to the beach one day...maybe. We're driving from Illinois, so we'll see how we feel on that one. If we do, it will be a surprise last minute thing for the boys.

Our first choice would be AKV. I think it would be a lot of fun, and it would save 1000.00 easy not going to the parks, and allow us to try something different while still visiting sunny FL in March, all while still being a part of the magic. Really, what's not to love?

Has anyone tried it? Which resort did you stay at? What did you do for the week?

 

[Gorechick]

An older woman I work with usually stays at a value suite and doesn't go to the parks so it's not crazy. It's still the Disney ambiance especially for those that have been there done that and just want some fun in the sun.

 

[Missytara]

About a year ago, I did a solo, 8 days, all resorts, no parks at POR.

I had a riverview room on an end of Parterre Place that got very little traffic. I pulled my chair out every night and watched the last of the water taxi runs go by every night. I read four books, by the pool. I went to all kinds of resorts and ate at one every night, then hit the lounge for a few drinks. I spent some wonderful hours in the lounge at POR. One day, I even put out the DND sign, and laid in bed all day - I ordered pizza and soda and made a feast of it and watched TV, slept and read a book.

The advantage was having the access to DTD, OKW, and SSR, as well as POFQ.

It was also nice to go to a park to transfer to a resort, and then come back on the DTD bus and then take the water taxi back or wander around DTD for awhile, stop and get a few drinks, etc.

I had a blast.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Have stayed at Poly and Swan on separate non-park trips, its so relaxing to not have to rush around or deal with crowds. In both cases, I liked the location because there were many resorts in the area, so we could visit them easily, try different restaurants and such. But if you were renting points at a DVC, there'd be plenty to do at the resort as well. It's really a fun way to do Disney, kind of a "stop and smell the roses" approach.

 

[carrie1626]

I know you are all going to think I'm nuts, but we've been to WDW every year for the past 8. We've done it in varying degrees...1 day of parks during a week to every day at the parks. We've stayed at POP and ASMu as a family, but never could bring ourselves to spend the extra money on a nicer resort when we were going to be busy running around (and our kids are only 8, 6 and 2...so, early bedtimes are still pretty much the norm). Just not enough resort time to justify.

We have always wanted to stay at a deluxe, and I am looking into renting points. If we do this, we will not do the parks. We've discussed it with the kids, and they're okay with it. I think we'll still do a character meal or something, and we will surely take the buses and the monorail for "fun" (I know, but that's the hit of every vacation). And, of course, this will give us ample pool time, which is always their favorite, and we never get enough of it. We will also probably take a drive to the beach one day...maybe. We're driving from Illinois, so we'll see how we feel on that one. If we do, it will be a surprise last minute thing for the boys.

Our first choice would be AKV. I think it would be a lot of fun, and it would save 1000.00 easy not going to the parks, and allow us to try something different while still visiting sunny FL in March, all while still being a part of the magic. Really, what's not to love?

Has anyone tried it? Which resort did you stay at? What did you do for the week?

I LOVE the AKL and the pool there is WONDERFUL!! Beautiful grounds, pool bar, Hot Tub, you can walk up to a savannah, afternoon activites, music- just good ole FUN!!

My sister and parents are doing that exact plan in three weeks. NO Parks. We all just were there first week of NOV. My mom came back wanting more vacation so sis is going back with them. They're staying at the CBR and plan on DD ( shopping, movies,restaurants) visiting a few deluxe resorts for dining( always do that) and some mini-golf. Hopefully a dip in the pool if it's warm enough. They can go to GF at night for their fireworks fix. I'm jealous, wish I had the time and $$ to go back so soon

 

[nkereina]

We spent two days, one night at POR about a year ago after a cruise. We did not go to the parks. We probably wouldn't do it again, we got bored. We did go to DTD but after spending all of our money on the cruise, shopping wasn't much fun. We went to the Boardwalk one afternoon but there wasn't a lot going on during the day - would have been better at night from what I hear. We did sit by the pool a lot. We don't really drink, so we didn't really check out any of the lounges.

If I was going for a week, I think one thing that might make it easier and more fun is to make ADRs at different resorts all week. I'd also say to get a car. One thing that deterred us from checking out some of the resorts was the lengthy bus transportation. If we had a car, we probably would have checked out all of them.

 

[Desnik]

We have done a no parks trip a few times. In Aug. we did an 8 day no parks trip at AKV Kidani Village and it was our families best trip ever!

Kidani is a destination itself. There is so much to do there & the resort is just so beautiful! We spent most of our days sleeping in, swimming, & going out to dinner.

We also went to DtD and had a rental car and visited a bunch of resorts and ate and shopped at them. We watched the fireworks from the Poly beach after dinner one night. It was really a perfect trip!

If you're interested here is a link to my report while we were on that trip:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2784249

 

[LindaBabe]

My family - 3 adults, 2 kids, spent 4 days at AKL and did not do the parks. IT was colder than heck so we couldn't do the pools, but we sure had a lot of fun anyway - THat's a FABUlous resort for a 'no parks' trip. Tons of kids activities, cultural presentations, tours, and the pools are WONDERFUL - 3 Nice restaurants and a counter service between the two sides of the resort. And that's without having gone anywhere else . . . That's right - we COULD have gone to downtown disney, water parks (too cold), played minigolf, gone over to the beach club to Beaches & Cream, ridden the ferry boats (too cold), explored other resorts, rented water craft (too cold) etc. You'll have a WONDERFUL week!

Desnik, I read your trip report and maybe being cold is not so bad. At least there weren't any bees! <shudder> I'm allergic to them.

 

[cassie]

About a year ago, I did a solo, 8 days, all resorts, no parks at POR.

I had a riverview room on an end of Parterre Place that got very little traffic. I pulled my chair out every night and watched the last of the water taxi runs go by every night. I read four books, by the pool. I went to all kinds of resorts and ate at one every night, then hit the lounge for a few drinks. I spent some wonderful hours in the lounge at POR. One day, I even put out the DND sign, and laid in bed all day - I ordered pizza and soda and made a feast of it and watched TV, slept and read a book.

The advantage was having the access to DTD, OKW, and SSR, as well as POFQ.

It was also nice to go to a park to transfer to a resort, and then come back on the DTD bus and then take the water taxi back or wander around DTD for awhile, stop and get a few drinks, etc.

I had a blast.

I have spent many vacations at WDW and loved every minute of it. Usually I leave one day free of the parks where I'd wander to see the other resorts and have a meal.

I really never thought of a park free vaca. I'm getting older and walking can be painful, have to stop frequently to rest. Just being there this past Oct made me think it would be my last. Actually, my past 2 years I thought would be the last. Just can't keep away.

Now I'm thinking on a new strategy, enjoy the resort and maybe go to the parks 2 days to visit AK and Epcot.

 

[Cdn Gal]

I don't know...I think it would be like going to the mall and not being able to go into any of the stores. I don't think personally I could do it. What about doing the water parks at least?

 

[minniebride]

Only if I could stay at the Poly club level theme park view!!!

 

[nkereina]

I don't know...I think it would be like going to the mall and not being able to go into any of the stores. I don't think personally I could do it. What about doing the water parks at least?

That was our experience, and we only did one night there with no parks. It was quite a tease. We rode the monorail through Epcot which was a bad idea - made us really want to go in. We even went up to the ticket window to see if they sold "evening passes" - was worth a shot! We travel from Buffalo so we don't have the opportunity to go a lot, so I can't imagine going all the way there and not doing the parks. If we have been a million times or go frequently, might be different.

 

[disneymom06]

We did just this last trip. We only spent 1 day in the parks, (MK and Epcot) and the rest of the week time at the resort. We rented a 2BR at SSR and loved it. We spent time shopping, swimming, mini golf, go karts and sleeping late. I loved it. Everyone was on board when we arrived and knew that this is what was planned. The kids later told me that it was nice but next time they would like to the parks.

 

[bowbat]

We did a one-night, no-park stay at WL in October and had a great time, and will be doing the same thing at AKL in April. I could easily see enjoying a longer no-park stay at either of those resorts. In fact, the reason we're going to AKL next is because my sister and her family routinely go there for a weekend away (they're Orlando locals) with no park visits. I don't think you're crazy at all, and suspect you'll have a great time!

 

[ldo]

AKL---YES!! They have a great kids club over at AKV-Kidani that you can use--you must stay with your kids, but large balcony to sit and watch animals, have coffee, etc. Tons of coloring, free or $1-2 crafts all day in addition to planned activites. Pool activities everyday, free cookie decorating @ 1PM @ Boma, every other day animal awareness activities--I could go on and on! Also, there is a new Legoland--there are BOGO ticket offers--some on Lego packages @ TOysrus, some online--look at mousesavers.com. So, if you added a Lego day if you could get the BOGO, that would be fun and not too $$. Or, you might consider SeaWorld---an annual pass is only $70 or so--you could go a few mornings and then come back to AKL--there is a lot to see there--one long day, but better borken up into 2 shorter days. Lots of really good shows.

We are going to WDW-AKL for Easter and going to Legoland, but not into the WDW at all.

 

[BethC1952]

We're an older couple and are lucky enough to be able to visit WDW frequently. Asa result, we don't feel the needto visit the parks every visit. There are so many other things to see. and do, including spending some time just watching people. Last month we spent three days at OKW in a one-bedroom villa just enjoying ourselves--shopping at Downtown Disney, goin to the Luau, sitting on our veranda and planning our next vacation (a five-night Canada cruise in June). We can't wait to do it again!

 

[SDSorority]

I know you are all going to think I'm nuts, but we've been to WDW every year for the past 8. We've done it in varying degrees...1 day of parks during a week to every day at the parks. We've stayed at POP and ASMu as a family, but never could bring ourselves to spend the extra money on a nicer resort when we were going to be busy running around (and our kids are only 8, 6 and 2...so, early bedtimes are still pretty much the norm). Just not enough resort time to justify.

We have always wanted to stay at a deluxe, and I am looking into renting points. If we do this, we will not do the parks. We've discussed it with the kids, and they're okay with it. I think we'll still do a character meal or something, and we will surely take the buses and the monorail for "fun" (I know, but that's the hit of every vacation). And, of course, this will give us ample pool time, which is always their favorite, and we never get enough of it. We will also probably take a drive to the beach one day...maybe. We're driving from Illinois, so we'll see how we feel on that one. If we do, it will be a surprise last minute thing for the boys.

Our first choice would be AKV. I think it would be a lot of fun, and it would save 1000.00 easy not going to the parks, and allow us to try something different while still visiting sunny FL in March, all while still being a part of the magic. Really, what's not to love?

Has anyone tried it? Which resort did you stay at? What did you do for the week?

We have never gone to WDW and NOT visited a park... but I do write articles for another Disney site, and, well.... here's my latest one. Mods, please don't flame me for this one... it's relative to what the OP is asking.

http://www.themouseforless.com/blog_ms_news/2011/12/14/the-world-without-parks/

 

[buzz1fan]

We have done this with our kids. I suggest akl/ kidani or SSR if renting points. When we do this I don't like to see a park and the resorts are very nice. We do go DTD. My kids
Love the pools and the Mickey waffles. Both resorts have activities at the pools which are fun for kids. I think they are remote enough to have a resort vacation.

 

[Sue M]

I can't do a no park trip to WDW. But we do have 2 no park days planned for this trip. One will be a DTD day, and 1 a resort day.

But if you stick to the no park thing, AKL is one of the best resorts to do it in. It would drive me crazy being at an MK or Epcot resort, that close to the parks and no being able to go in.

If you aren't going to a park, why not do a split stay? Maybe book half your time at a beach Hotel in either Cocoa Beach or the Gulf Coast?

If I wasn't doing parks, I'd book somewhere else in Florida. So many great areas, the beaches, everglades, the Keys.

 

[ILuvFairytales]

We did exactly this in Nov-Dec 2010. We stayed for a week at the Floridian and did all the resort fun, character brunches, Hoop de Doo's, boat rides, spa treatments but stayed out of the parks because of the crowds over Thanksgiving. The next week we went to Kidani and the weather got warm so we spent a good bit of our week sitting by that incredible pool. The kids said it was their best vacation ever. I have 3 that were 9, 7, and 5 at the time. We also went over to BB a couple times. Over 2 wks, we spent a total of a few days in the parks, one being the Very Merry Christmas Party night which we bought separately rather than using up a park ticket. We used our last couple non-expired tickets from the year before and didn't buy more. Those few days were enough to satisfy them. We LOVED it! And that vacation was more memorable and enjoyable than waiting in lines for the rides and navigating the crowds. It is so hard to do.... I know. But when you accept the idea and make it happen, you come back realizing how wonderful it was to have quality family time.