Things to do during non-theme park stays

[TinkerHokie]

To use up some points, we have a "no-theme park" stay planned with our daughter and the grandkids (ages B-6 & G-9) at the end of this month. We have a "preferred 1-bed" at SS (3 nights) and a "1-bed Savanna view" at Kidani (4 nights). So far, we have reserved the MM at TL that week and the kids have requested visits to Winter-Summerland Putt Putt, Blizard Beach, dinner/dancing at Raglan Road (Ger's bread pudding - yum!), the Lego store, the pools and a few of the nightly campfires/movies.

What other activites/experiences has everyone had that they would recommend (or not recommend)? We have no problem going anywhere on Disney property; as we are driving down and will have a car. Thanks!

Bonnie

*Have not done the following, so we are also curious about The Edison (no kids?), T-Rex, BL Top of the World (fireworks?), the Boat House rentals, Fort Wilderness rentals, etc.

 

[Barbydoll8]

If you only want to stay on property, AKL has so much to do. Make sure to you get an activities sheet and review it carefully. We did a scavenger hunt at Kidani once and got prizes at the front desk. Ask if they still do this.
FW has canoe rentals, horse back riding (trail riding but it's still on a horse), archery classes and other really cool things to do there.
Lots of things are evening fun like hanging for a few hours at the Boardwalk. Watch the street performers and get an ice cream.
Yeeha Bob at Port Orleans Riverside is a fun night time, extremely family friendly show we try to do at least once a year. Well worth going over to PO. (Go to DS and take the boat to POR. Take the boat back and then go back to the hotel. The boats are an attraction on their own.)

If you don't mind driving and paying a bit extra for a few fun things in Orlando area:
https://www.officialorlandoeye.com/
http://www.wocorlando.com/ or: http://www.chocolatekingdom.com/
http://www.crayolaexperience.com/orlando

 

[ears2BWV]

I second the recommendation for an evening at the Boardwalk to enjoy the night time performers. Have dinner there. Beaches and Cream has great desserts. Ample Annie's has your basic ice cream desserts. Then head over to Fantasia Gardens. IMO, way more entertaining than the other putt putt. Special effects are best after sunset. We've done 2 no parks trips and enjoyed them both.

 

[TinkerHokie]

Thank you! Scavenger Hunt sounds awesome and we'll definitely check out Fantasia Gardens this time. We were actually staying at Dixie Landings (now part of PO) when we signed on to DVC in '93, so I will definitely check on Yeeha Bob (Is it at a set time every night?)! I had researched the archery classes, but my grandkids are too young, but we could do the canoes. All ideas are very much appreciated!!!!

 

[kniquy]

The hoop dee do review might be a fun addition if you are going to go to FW for any of those activities.

A visit to the TOWL for fireworks.

You can rent boats a few resorts - i think they are called sea racers -- small boats that can fit 2 people. i believe there is a DVC discount.

 

[piratepride]

We always hit Disney Springs in the morning/afternoon with dinner at Ohana on our non park day.

 

[Halle]

To use up some points, we have a "no-theme park" stay planned with our daughter and the grandkids (ages B-6 & G-9) at the end of this month. We have a "preferred 1-bed" at SS (3 nights) and a "1-bed Savanna view" at Kidani (4 nights). So far, we have reserved the MM at TL that week and the kids have requested visits to Winter-Summerland Putt Putt, Blizard Beach, dinner/dancing at Raglan Road (Ger's bread pudding - yum!), the Lego store, the pools and a few of the nightly campfires/movies.

What other activites/experiences has everyone had that they would recommend (or not recommend)? We have no problem going anywhere on Disney property; as we are driving down and will have a car. Thanks!

Bonnie

*Have not done the following, so we are also curious about The Edison (no kids?), T-Rex, BL Top of the World (fireworks?), the Boat House rentals, Fort Wilderness rentals, etc.

 

[Halle]

We went to the Edison on Wednesday night at 5:00 8 adults, 6 children the oldest is 6. Absolutely wonderful experience, superb waiter, Miquel. He was very attentive to the children. He noticed that our granddaughter wasn't eating her chicken tenders and asked her if she'd like something else. he brought her a cheeseburger at no extra charge.

 

[nicki.momof3]

We are doing a non park trip in April. We are staying at OKW (hospitality house) because there is so much to do. We have stayed at all the DVC resorts and OKW seems best for non park. For us the larger rooms with a big outdoor deck and golf course view is relaxing and the kids love it. We spend a lot more time in our room on non park trips so the extra space is great. They also have amazing recreation options for kids. The boat ride to disney springs is also a plus.
Community hall
Basketball
Shuffle board
Pool
Ping Pong
large sand area
Camp Fire
Tennis

We also have golf (my teen sons / husband golf) multiple mornings, lots of pool time, disney springs for dinner lots, and mini golf planned. We personally love the boardwalk when we stay there or the beach club and visit Epcot and DHS lots. However, my kids personally only find the entertainers mildly entertaining and they would only last about an hour there unless we connected a dinner to it. I wouldn't make a special trip and expect it to entertain the kids all evening.

Have a great trip. Disney without the parks is still an amazing trip.

 

[DenLo]

You can rent a surrey bike for four and drive it around SSR. Check out the Lego store and Uniqlo at Disney Springs which has good prices for Disney tees for kids. There are food trucks on the west side that have some decent food and Blaze pizza is good and the pizzas are large enough to share IMO.

 

[dboules]

We always build in more non-park days than park days and love them.
Check out the community room at your villas; they have planned things throughout the day that entertains kids and adults.
Wilderness Lodge has a beach and pool along with bike rental and boat rental (we call them mouse boats but they are small 2 person boats). We love to hike the trails around Fort Wilderness and play mini-golf at one of the few courses available on property.
For food, the counter service at Bongo's is so good and there is lots to do at Disney Springs from legos to boats even if you just take it from the East side to the West side.
To me Disney is a RESORT and way more than just the theme parks; so take advantage of the resort offerings!

 

[aoconnor]

Renting a pontoon boat and cruising around Bay Lake & Seven Seas Lagoon is fun. You could also rent a golf cart for the day and explore Fort Wilderness.

Can also resort hop to mix up dining/ pool days.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are into gardens and plants, you could also head to Orlando to the Harry P Leu Botanical Garden. It's really nice. There is an entrance fee.

 

[Jennasis]

We just did a non-park stay. We stayed at SSR and spent a lot of evenings at Disney Springs. Our week consisted of:

1. A day at Discovery Cove. Cannot recommend this enough! A great day! Do the dolphin swim!

2. A day at Busch Gardens. Surprisingly fun (and included in our upgraded Discovery Cove ticket).

3. A day at Sea World.

4. A day at Aquatica.

5. The Void over at Disney Springs. This was SO much fun!! I only wish we could see the raw footage of what we looked like running through it LOL. I bet it was hilarious.

6. We hit the Disney outlet stores. I didn't care for the outlets themselves but the actual Disney shops in them were good.

7. We enjoyed the live entertainment offerings at Disney Springs just about every night.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

The little kids and the big kids too for that matter, really enjoy the campfire marshmallow roast!

 

[gharter]

Lots to do at Disney Springs. If your day is at AKL, lots of things to do there as well as the pool. The minature golf courses are fun as well.
We will spend some time going through different resorts. We have taken the monorail from EPCOT to TTC. Then visited the resorts on the loop.

 

[com_op_2000]

It depends on what you are into:
sports: golf, mini-golf, fishing, marathon, bowling, ESPN Club, WWS/ESPN Zone, etc
shopping: DTD, area outlet malls, large scale malls
drinking: Jellyrolls, Raglan Road, monorail tour of resorts, walking tour of resorts in the Boardwalk area
movies: DTD 24 screen theater some with meals served by waiters
night clubbing: Jellyrolls, Atlantic Dance, Raglan Road, Citywalk
resort tours: monorail tour of resorts, Boardwalk around the lake tour of resorts, horse drawn tour of FWC, AKL/AKV
offsite: Gaylord Palms Resort, Citywalk, swamp tour
eating: Formal GF 5* Chef's Table @ V&As