Visiting another hotel for afternoon break? Thoughts? Ideas?

[cosmicmommy]

Also, if you're wanting a monorail ride... I would take the resort loop, then go to TTC and over to Epcot and back. All air-conditioned, lots to see and you get off your feet.

 

[KaSe]

You could resort hop the monorail line & do a little something in each place. The arcade at the Contemporary, a Dole Whip at the Poly & some afternoon music & the Princess parade at the Grand Floridian (We were there resort hopping in July & happened to be there about 3 p.m. when Cinderella, the Prince and a bunch of children paraded from the second floor to the first floor where Cinderella & the Prince danced. Not sure if they do that every day as we just sorta happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was pretty cute. I can share pics if you want).
Plus the monorail itself is a great cool & relaxing break.

 

[TavieP]

BVG is "Bay View Gifts", the main gift shop.

The arcade at Contemporary is HUGE. It is the best one on property. The "arcade" at GF was just sad. It was literally a dark room with about 5 machines, half of which were broken, which is why we went to the Contemporary.

Contemporary also has several penny machines. Never saw one at either Poly or GF...

One of the best memories of my life were the year my sister and I were 10 and we were staying at the Contemporary Resort. This is before we were DVC members and used to stay at monorail hotels, sigh. One night, my parents got reservations for a night out somewhere - this was in 1990 - and left my sister and I alone for the evening, with money (and strict instructions not to talk to strangers, etc.) We felt SO grown up - we went downstairs and played air hockey for over an hour in that arcade! Then we got pizza at whatever the QS option was in 1990, and took it back to the room, and watched the fireworks over the castle while we ate it. Then we watched "Cocoon: The Return" (hey, 1990 tv options) and fell asleep before our parents returned.

It was one of the most magical bonding experiences my sister and I ever had. I'm fond of that arcade...

 

[Gillyrose779]

We have gone to Fort Wilderness- take the boat from MK or take a nice stroll to Contemporary and take the boat from there.

They have a playground, see the horses, (if you have little ones) ride the smaller horses, there is a cute gift shop, and an affordable table service for lunch.

It's a nice/quiet break.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

What's that?!?

The two seater boats.

 

[MustangPrincess]

We do this all the time. We usually take a monorail tour of those hotels or casual stroll to the Epcot area hotels. It is especially nice around holiday time.

 

[NicholeB630]

You could just go on Carousel of Progress for a mid-afternoon break in air-conditioned comfort. and Philharmagic. Or meet Mickey in Town Square. There are some indoor airconditioned bits at MK that work as a break, especially Carousel of progress.

Is the carousel of progress the same as the people mover?

 

[dburg30]

Is the carousel of progress the same as the people mover?

No, the COP is between space mountain and buzz lightyear. Very rarely any line, I honestly enjoy it as it goes back to early WDW... and it is nice and cool..

 

[jon18uk]

Is the carousel of progress the same as the people mover?

Nope it's an indoor theatre show. So nicely air conditioned and never a long wait.

 

[1lilspark]

Hidden Mickey Hunting?
Photography?

I know years ago my sister and I spent a day during blackout period just resort hopping and taking photos

 

[Sbk1234]

If you aren't really attached to your dining reservation in the park, I'd cancel those and plan for a meal at the hotel. That will also give you more attraction time in the park.

 

[mjkacmom]

One of the best memories of my life were the year my sister and I were 10 and we were staying at the Contemporary Resort. This is before we were DVC members and used to stay at monorail hotels, sigh. One night, my parents got reservations for a night out somewhere - this was in 1990 - and left my sister and I alone for the evening, with money (and strict instructions not to talk to strangers, etc.) We felt SO grown up - we went downstairs and played air hockey for over an hour in that arcade! Then we got pizza at whatever the QS option was in 1990, and took it back to the room, and watched the fireworks over the castle while we ate it. Then we watched "Cocoon: The Return" (hey, 1990 tv options) and fell asleep before our parents returned.

It was one of the most magical bonding experiences my sister and I ever had. I'm fond of that arcade...

Back in the 1970's, we always stayed there. Every afternoon, my parents would send us to the arcade for hours with our rolls of quarters - heaven! The tradition started when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade (I was the oldest). Of course, my parents let me take the monorail to MK by myself, too (with my paper tickets).

 

[mickeymom22]

It might be too hot to do this, but one idea would be to ride the boat to Fort Wilderness (the campground). When you get off the boat to the right you can walk around the stables. There are pony rides there for small children. You can also sometimes see the blacksmith at work. Sometimes you can see Cinderella's horses there too. To the left, you could go to the gift shop and get a Mickey ice cream bar.

There is a pathway that you can take to the Wilderness Lodge and do some exploring there. The lobby is a great place. The kids might enjoy seeing the geyser. You could then ride the boat back to MK.

If they are into pin trading, it is fun to also spend some time at the resorts doing this with their pin boards.

 

[DreamFlightCpt.]

My family was/is a huge proponent of hopping on the monorail for the resort loop. Someone also suggested tranfering at the TTC to ride the loop to Epcot and back. Both of these are great around mid afternoon, when most people are already back at hotels or staying in the parks for lunch. For adults, me and my wife like to go to the Polynesian for drinks at the Tambu Lounge. I haven't been to Trader Sam's but I hear that's a nice spot. Every resort on the loop has something for someone. Arcade at Contemporary is pretty awesome, my parents liked to go to GF and listen if the piano player was playing in the main lobby. The couches and chairs in the GF are might comfy for a quick nap. Pretty decent shops in all resorts on the hotel loop.

Taking one of the ferrys to the the MK resorts is a something different to do too. If you're not up for the monorail hotel loop, hopping a bus or boat to Wilderness lodge is a good bet too.

 

[loves to dive]

I always take a break and visit a resort every trip. I've stayed at just about all of them now so it's getting hard to find one but last trip with my son and DIL we took the boat over to WL and walked around the lobby looking at all the artifacts, walked around the grounds and waited for the geyser then went back to the gift shop, bought some snacks and just sat in the lobby read our kindles on our phones and relaxed. We had tea at the GF scheduled and were done with MK so it was the perfect break since we hadn't visited WL before.

 

[Accident]

I love checking out another resort I've been considering, maybe getting lunch. It's a good time to take the resort boats especially to contemporary, wilderness lodge or ft wilderness as you'll get a nice view of MK, the hotels and you get to ride over the road on the water bridge and see the buses/cars go under the boat. For indoor things to cool off, avoid ft wilderness but it has a great list of outdoor things like horseback riding if that interests you.

The walk from MK to contemporary can be interesting and memorable. Most don't really think of it as walking distance to anything but again you said break so you might not want to do that. This would be the quickest way to a resort from mk.

I do want to mention, it might not be that much more time to just go back to AK. you'll know what you really want when it's time for your break so don't skip out on a quick shower or change of clothes just because your at AKL. It will add some time to your break but it's not like doubling the time off and depending on monorail, bus and boat crowds you might spend just as much time waiting for transportation as the ride back to akl takes.

 

[cel_disney]

I believe this is SOOO true. I firmly believe that the only hotel with any real edge in transportation from MK is contemporary/BLT.

I think it's also important to say that none of these activities will really be a 'break' - they all involve a lot of walking or standing and air conditioning is questionable (do you really consider the monorail a cool temp??? Barely??)..

Afternoon attractions like Phylharmagic and carousel of progress are great ways to recharge without a lot of steps. Standing/sitting on the floor in the talking Mickey and Tink lines is an option too for chillaxing. If you still need some additional time - find a parade route spot to sit for a bit! It's still a reasonable amount of work to head back out the main gates and trek to these resorts - a lot of it is in the sun and creates a lot of steps if you are starting from a farther back spot in the parks.

 

[maxiesmom]

I agree with the previous poster--at lot of the ideas you are getting are fun, but really not breaks. If you truly want to relax, kick back, and put your feet up go back to your resort. If you don't want to spend a lot of time doing so, take a taxi. I'd do that, or say in the park finding relaxing things to do. Like riding the train around a few loops.

 

[NicholeB630]

I get that doing the hotel stuff might not be too relaxing. I just worry going back will take so much time. We are renting a car and were not doing the buses. If we went back to AKL we'd need to be there at least 2 hours to make it worth it and with travel time thats like 4 hours of our day. Then getting back to MK for just a couple hours. It closes at 10 that night but we have an early morning Friday so I don't want the kids out too late. My husband would rather just push through and get done what we want and then just leave when were done rather than go back and come back. BUT I worry about the heat. Everyone says we need breaks. But things at MK sound like they might work as a break as well. We just can't freshed up really.

 

[Bullseye]

I get that doing the hotel stuff might not be too relaxing. I just worry going back will take so much time. We are renting a car and were not doing the buses. If we went back to AKL we'd need to be there at least 2 hours to make it worth it and with travel time thats like 4 hours of our day. Then getting back to MK for just a couple hours. It closes at 10 that night but we have an early morning Friday so I don't want the kids out too late. My husband would rather just push through and get done what we want and then just leave when were done rather than go back and come back. BUT I worry about the heat. Everyone says we need breaks. But things at MK sound like they might work as a break as well. We just can't freshed up really.

I guess I didn't catch that fact that you have a rental car. You can get to AKV from MK in under 30 minutes...easily. Trust me I've done it many times. That's the beauty of having your own wheels, you go where you want when you want. Go back, swim, take a nap, or whatever.