Villa but no theme parks

[ccigliano]

Yes we've done it before and loved it. We went to WLV and spent time at the pool, did Hoop de Doo, the Luau at the Poly and dinner at the California Grill at fireworks time. We rented a pontoon boat on Bay Lake and walked over to the camp grounds several times during our stay and saw deer, rabbit, and of course the horses over at Fort Wilderness. We took the time to do the things we never have time to do when we're doing the parks and enjoyed all the nooks and crannies at the Lodge. We will definitely do this again. Have fun.

 

[BLTisforME]

We just got back from 7 days at BLT. We only we to the parks 3 of the days.... And maybe only for 3-4 hours max at the parks each of the 3 days. We spent a lot of time at the pool, touring the other properties and exploring in general. It was wonderful!!

We have annual passes so we don't feel the pressure to "jam it all in". We also have DVC so we know we will be back.

I think there is something to be said for a Disney vacation that doesn't involve the crowds at the parks every once in a while.

 

[cobbler]

We've done it a couple of times. During marathon weekend we went into Epcot for an hour just to grab some photos with our medals.

Last year marathon weekend we went for 5 days & no parks, relaxed, DTD, pool time, mini-golf.

It's nice to have non-park trips too & enjoy amenities and other things.

 

[Desnik]

We've done this a couple of times. The longest was for 8 days & we have 2 kids. They never complained! We all love out trips with no parks! It's so relaxing but we still have a bunch of stuff to do. Boat rentals, resort hopping, resort activities, DtD, swimming, fireworks viewing from a monorail resort, etc. We also eat one meal a day at a different resort. We also try to do something we've never done before. Last trip the kids had archery lessons at the Fort! They loved it!

 

[com_op_2000]

Have done this several times.
It depends on what you are into:
sports: golf, fishing, RPDE, 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
night clubbing: Jellyrolls, Atlantic Dance, Raglan Road, Citywalk
resort tours: monorail tour of resorts, Boardwalk around the lake tour of resorts, AKL/AKV
offsite: Gaylord Palms Resort, Citywalk, swamp tour

 

[okw2012]

Does going to HHI qualify? We'll be there in three weeks!

 

[tiffany123]

We have done this several times. We usually have a car when we decide on a no parks vacation. WDW is centrally located in FL so you can easily make it to either the Gulf or Atlantic coast with minimal travel. During our last "no parks" vacation we drove to Tampa/St. Pete and went to a Yankees spring training game, drove up to Homosassa Springs to see the manatee park and drove over to Vero Beach for a day. Lots to explore from Central Florida. We have also done "no parks" trips without a car and use the Disney transportation system to visit different resorts and dine at Disney restaurants inside the resorts. Never bored or missing the parks.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

We've never done the dine in theater and that sounds cool. Do waiters come and go throughout the movie? I wouldn't want them being a distraction.

They take your order at the beginning, and you eat as the movie plays, they do discretely pop in from time to time, but I didn't find it disruptive!

 

[OneMoreTry]

We've done this at Xmas a number of times. We have lots of family there -- over 20 and some stay at other timeshares outside WDW -- so we have plenty to do with them.

 

[lucyem]

Orang pickng!