What all do the resorts of Disney offer? We have an extra day and a half...

[Feistygirl916]

We are flying in on a Saturday 12/8, and our travel agent tells us since we are adding two extra days (in the beginning) and getting them at room only rates, we can't pick up our Disney tickets until Monday... I would like to know what all the DISers out there would do with your extra time... We would arrive at 5:30 pm.

It is me and DD4 going, we are staying at the POP

Our trip is 12/8 - 12/18 and we have 8 days in the park...

What would you do? We have an idea of some things, like "exploring" the other resorts, but what else is there to do at the resorts? I have heard of the GF photo shoot which sounds great!

Thank you all!!!

 

[uva185]

There is sooooo much to do besides the parks....

Rent a mouse boat on Bay Lake or the Seven Seas Lagoon
Go horseback riding at the Wilderness Lodge
Have a meal (character dining) at any of the resorts

I'm sure some more seasoned DISers will have a longer list. I'm drawing a bit of a blank.

 

[dthogue]

If you go to the GF - make sure to check out the gingerbread house display - its awesome.

Visit Downtown Disney - have a meal, rent a boat, or do some shopping.

Do a character meal at one of the restaurants outside the parks.

Watche Wishes from the beach of the Polynesian.

Ride the monorail around the resorts and then to EPCOT

Tammy

 

[moviegirl11]

One of the things I'm hoping to do this year if there's time during our december trip is check out some of the deluxe resorts to view the decorations and take pictures. I've heard that can be a lot of fun and based on the pics I've seen posted here, it looks like it will be!

 

[ldo]

DTD has a lego store with covered outside lego play area with TONS of cool legos---my 5 yr old spends at least 1.5 hours there. There is a McD next to it for cheap food. There is a Rainforest Care, and we love Wolfgang pucks express (deli-looking place), but it has seating and really good, cheap food---pizza for kids, etc. There is a Goofy Candy company where you can make your own mickey rice crispy ears dipped in chocolate for about $3.25. You can spend a good 1/2 day at DTD with a 4 year old. IF you go in the AM aournd 10, play and stay for lunch, it makes a nice morning and not crowded at all.
Another favorite of my kids is to go to the campfire sing-a-long with Chip and Dale at Ft. Wilderness Campground. They show a movie on big screen, as well. You can buy marshmellow and/or smores kits to roast over fire--very fun and free (except for marshmellows).

Last Winter the schedule was:
6:30p - Fire Lighting
7:00p - Sing-a-long
7:40p - Movie begins
9:15p - Second movie begins (Friday and Saturday only)

 

[Mickiethepooh]

Personally I would have added the two days to the package not done it as room only.

 

[LindaR]

There are surrey bikes to be rented. SO much fun (of course you would be the only one peddling!).

Miniature golf.......dd18 and I make time to do this every trip and have done so since the beginning!

You could both make an appointment at a spa.....maybe get your nails painted. I bet your dd would love having her nails done like mom!

 

[scraplady]

You can take your DD to the campfire at Fort Wildereness. There is also a electric parade at one of the resorts. I can't remember which one. I have had a chance to catch it yet.
Tina

 

[argue]

If the weather is nice and warm, hang out at the Boardwalk Resort and Spa, your kid is bound to love the awesome slide at the Boardwalk pool. Walk the boardwalk, see the shops and restaurants. Then take a boat ride over to MGM or the Yacht Club.

Go to POR and take a relaxing boat ride to DTD. Or head over to POFQ for the delicous benigets (soooo worth it )

If you are eating at Chef Mickey's @ the Contemporary, head over to their pool, or ride the monorail!

Check out all the resorts has to offer.

I find it really fun to just spend a day riding the busses and monorails to different resorts.

 

[brockscandy]

Call and see if they have sold out all the shows for Hoop De Doo Musical Revue. If not, see that. We did that our first night after traveling all day. My kids were so tired and grumpy and I felt that we were starting off on the wrong foot. Their entire attitude changed when we sat down at the table and they laughed all night and we had a great boat ride back to Wilderness Lodge. We watched the fireworks at Magic Kingdom on our boatride back. I could not have asked or planned a better night.

 

[ScottNBecky]

Check out the resort link on my site. I have some info and pictures of things to do. Hope it helps

 

[SanFranciscan]

We just returned from Disney World earlier this month. We had planned a little tour of the Disney hotels because we had tickets for six days during a one-week stay but ended up going to Kennedy Space Center instead. I think going to have a look at the hotels that you have heard about is a good way to take a break from the parks though so we still did it on a smaller scale than we had planned.

We were looky-lous at a couple of hotels and had lunch at each and did a little shopping at one. It was fun. It is also a good way to get an idea of where to stay in the future if you plan to return to Disney World, and we do.

 

[Disney Anna]

I love just cruising the resorts, there is so much to see and do, like...

a) Get lunch or a snack at Beaches and Cream
b) Have sweet potato pancakes at Boatwright's
c) Horseback riding at FW
d) Watch the Geyser at WL
e) Ride the boat btn WL, FL and Contemporary
f) Parasailing
g) Rent a water mouse
h) Have a drink at O'Hana's in the Poly
i) Ride the boat from DTD to POR
j) Ride the monorail
k) Check out the lobbies at WL and GF
l) Visit the AKL - eat at either restaurant, both are great
m) Walk the Boardwalk

There is so much to do....Wish I was there now...

 

[Feistygirl916]

Personally I would have added the two days to the package not done it as room only.

It's actually $135 more to do this... Not exactly in my budget, but thank you for your advice

 

[Feistygirl916]

Another favorite of my kids is to go to the campfire sing-a-long with Chip and Dale at Ft. Wilderness Campground. They show a movie on big screen, as well. You can buy marshmellow and/or smores kits to roast over fire--very fun and free (except for marshmellows).

Last Winter the schedule was:
6:30p - Fire Lighting
7:00p - Sing-a-long
7:40p - Movie begins
9:15p - Second movie begins (Friday and Saturday only)

This sounds wonderful! Free is a very good price! Where can I find more info on this?

 

[argue]

Call and see if they have sold out all the shows for Hoop De Doo Musical Revue. If not, see that. We did that our first night after traveling all day. My kids were so tired and grumpy and I felt that we were starting off on the wrong foot. Their entire attitude changed when we sat down at the table and they laughed all night and we had a great boat ride back to Wilderness Lodge. We watched the fireworks at Magic Kingdom on our boatride back. I could not have asked or planned a better night.

we did that the first night of our stay and it was an aaaaaaawesome way to start off the trip!

 

[goofy4tink]

If the weather is nice and warm, hang out at the Boardwalk Resort and Spa, your kid is bound to love the awesome slide at the Boardwalk pool. Walk the boardwalk, see the shops and restaurants. Then take a boat ride over to MGM or the Yacht Club.

Go to POR and take a relaxing boat ride to DTD. Or head over to POFQ for the delicous benigets (soooo worth it )

If you are eating at Chef Mickey's @ the Contemporary, head over to their pool, or ride the monorail!

Check out all the resorts has to offer.

I find it really fun to just spend a day riding the busses and monorails to different resorts.

Ah, you are aware that pool hoping is not allowed? You can use the pool where you are staying, and that's it. The only people allowed to use other resort pools are those DVC owners, staying on points. Otherwise, you aren't allowed to head to other resorts and use their pools.
That being said....
I would head to MK, then hop on the monorail, and check out the monorail resorts holiday decorations. That's always fun to do. Then, when you get back to MK, you can take the boat to WL and check out their holiday decor...that resort is just incredible at Christmastime. You can then walk, via the path, over to FtW if you choose. Or, take the boat back to MK, and head back to POP. You can also take a bus to MGM and then either walk or boat to the Epcot resorts...YC/BC, BW, S/D. They are nicely decorated as well.
Take a bus to POR if the boats to DTD are running. THe boat ride is fun for the kids, and you can spend a few hours in DTD, have something to eat and then head back to POP.
Each of the resorts has some kind of playground as well. My dd loved to check out the various spots for an hour or so if we were visiting a different resort.

 

[FamilyShortyAJP]

You can take your DD to the campfire at Fort Wildereness. There is also a electric parade at one of the resorts. I can't remember which one. I have had a chance to catch it yet.
Tina

You may be referring to the electric water parade at the Polynesian. It's on the lake and you can watch it from the beach there.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

It's actually $135 more to do this... Not exactly in my budget, but thank you for your advice

If its not too late, I'd take one day off of your park tickets and add the night to your package. 8 days of parks is alot for a 4yo

 

[Feistygirl916]

We actually do 5 full days in Disneyland/California Adventure, and it never seems like enough... My daughter is a trooper!!!