What to do near wdw for a few hours and dinner

[disney_girl125]

I'm thinking about taking 2 days to drive down instead of straight thru. If I do that I would arrive at our offsite hotel around 2pm. Any ideas on what we can do? We've never done anything outside of disney. We will be checking in at wdw the next morning. It's me and 3 kids..15,14,10. I was thinking downtown disney, but with the parking situation, maybe not.

 

[7165red]

I think you might like to visit Celebration, they have shops and restaurants and a nice lake. Just google for more info and of course there is DTD.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

Millenium (sp?) Mall, Gatorland, Airboat Ride, hotel pool, water park at Disney or the one on I Drive (forgot the name), movie.

Spend afternoon at Ft. Wilderness - picnic on the beach (to go chicken from Trails End), rent bikes or a golf cart, fish, boat rides - or roller blade (if you have your own).

Dining - Don't know your budget, but you could pick a unique dining spot. AMC at DTD has dining option.

Definitely!! - A must stop for us is Twistee Treat - one on 535 & one on I Drive. Heaven!

 

[Woodview]

Downtown Disney is a shambles ..... with a huge re development going on.

Go instead to The Boardwalk ( The Boardwalk Hotel & Swan & Dolphin area )

Park in the Self Parking area After showing your Driving Licence

Then amble along to the Boardwalk Hotel & down the steps to the Lake.

Here you have Free entertainment for all ages .

Then Take a " Trip or Trips " on the Free Boats that ply around the area.

Stop off at the Lighthouse at firework time and enjoy your family time.

 

[kathy884]

I'd go to the Titanic attraction on I-drive, a great hour and a half or two hour attraction, have dinner somewhere, and then take a swim at your resort pool. This is what we'll be doing when we get in around 2 p.m. on our December trip.

 

[crazelion]

How about City walk at US. there plenty of stuff do there. i love NBA restaurant and Hard Rock. Swim in the resort pool. Walk down I-drive and people watch. Orlando now have Dave and Busters that be really fun.

My kids like swim in the resort pool and go after eat. But we get the hotel late after 10 hour drive.

 

[LovesTimone]

Will you be staying in the DTD area, most hotels have a shuttle or bus that will drop off at DTD and pick up depending on the time, you could grab a taxi in the evening if you miss that window of time. At DTD, you could grab a movie or go bowling, Both offer dinning, or head down to Earl of Sandwich for dinner, then maybe finish at Ghirardelli for dessert.

Universal - City walk offers, movies, and dinning as well.


There are plenty of shopping options, between the outlets and Florida Mall.

You can check out what's right around you on the hotel website- normally they will have activities and restaurants options listed.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Since you are staying offsite, I would not consider DTD. Assuming you're going down I-95, I'd spend a few hours at the beach. Probably Daytona, since it's a straight shot down I-4 to Disney.

 

[Detailor]

We generally fly to Orlando in the morning long before check-in time. We generally go to our off-site resort to do a pre-check-in. Once in a while our lodgings are ready so that works out pretty well but at least the resort staff knows we're there and can contact us when our space is ready (most resorts and many hotels will take your cell phone number and contact you when they're ready for you). Usually when we have to wait, we head to BoardWalk. With a variety of things there, spending a few hours browsing shops, taking the boat around its loop, renting a surrey, or having lunch in one of the restaurants is more than enough to do before we get a call from the resort. When we stay at a resort with a kitchen, we usually hit a Publix store before going back to the resort.

Visiting Celebration would be an okay alternative though there's not as much to do there unless you go off on one of the walking paths. There are a few shops and some nice restaurants at Celebration. There's a bike and surrey rental place in Celebration, but you'll be sharing road space with local traffic. It seems to me that I've seen Segway tours there, too.

Another spot that we like is Disney's Wilderness Lodge. The setting is nice, a few places to eat that are generally easy to access. I suppose this would be true of several of the Disney hotel areas - they're interesting to see and the landscaping detail around them is usually pretty nice. Sometimes we go resort hopping around the Monorail loop, stopping at the resorts for a little while. We haven't gone over there but Animal Kingdom Lodge might be fun for a visit for a couple of hours, too.

I sort of agree on the CityWalk suggestion but get a little leery of thinking I'd have to pay $17 to park just so I could hang out for a couple of hours.

Dick Taylor

 

[powellrj]

What about heading out to the outlet malls for some shopping. Last trip we went to the Vera Bradley store 3 times!

 

[Woodview]

Why on earth would you go " Mall Shopping " just to kill a few hours

of your hard earned Vacation Time ?

Surly as the OP is from PA they would have the same shops in PA as in Florida ?

If they were Europeans that might be different .

 

[Portugal1000]

We are going for 23 nights in August and will be the first time we are not doing main Disney parks (although we did just buy tickets to the villains night). We love all the stuff on offer outside of Disney and the restaurants.

Aquatica is great and Discovery Cove. We like going to the cinema at DTD and bowling.

I am not a shopper but I do like Mall of Millenia and they have the Cheesecake factory there which is great. I think our favourite restaurant is Longhornes which is near to the Premium Outlets in Vineland Avenue.

Have a great trip.

 

[powellrj]

Why on earth would you go " Mall Shopping " just to kill a few hours

of your hard earned Vacation Time ?

Surly as the OP is from PA they would have the same shops in PA as in Florida ?

If they were Europeans that might be different .

I can say that we don't have the same stores in our area that they have in the outlet malls in Orlando. I know shopping isn't something everyone enjoys, but I never get a chance to shop at the type of stores they have so its a treat for us.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

With teens, CityWalk's Meal & Mini Golf would be a hit. And its a good price, too, at $23.95 pp (considering a round of golf is worth $14.99 on its own):

https://www.universalorlando.com/Nightlife/CityWalk-Mini-Golf.aspx

Parking at Universal is only $5 after 6 pm:

https://www.universalorlando.com/Resort-Information/Parking-Information.aspx

There's a good selection of restaurants to pick from, including NBA City, Nascar, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, etc.

Another idea would be the Outta Control Dinner Show. Its fantastic and well worth the $24 pp . Its part magic, part comedy, all-you-can eat and drink (alcohol included), and very family-friendly. There's lots of audience participation, too.

As for the shopping.....we LOVE shopping in Orlando. The outlet malls are part of every trip (as are the Florida Mall and the Nike Clearance Store in Kissimmee). Our teen son would be sorely disappointed if shopping was eliminated from the family vacation itinerary!!

 

[dougsmom98]

I have always wanted to try to go to this dinner show:

http://www.wonderworksonline.com/orlando/experience/outta-control-magic-comedy-dinner-show/

This might be a nice option.

 

[crazelion]

With teens, CityWalk's Meal & Mini Golf would be a hit. And its a good price, too, at $23.95 pp (considering a round of golf is worth $14.99 on its own):

https://www.universalorlando.com/Nightlife/CityWalk-Mini-Golf.aspx

Parking at Universal is only $5 after 6 pm:

https://www.universalorlando.com/Resort-Information/Parking-Information.aspx

There's a good selection of restaurants to pick from, including NBA City, Nascar, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, etc.

Another idea would be the Outta Control Dinner Show. Its fantastic and well worth the $24 pp . Its part magic, part comedy, all-you-can eat and drink (alcohol included), and very family-friendly. There's lots of audience participation, too.

As for the shopping.....we LOVE shopping in Orlando. The outlet malls are part of every trip (as are the Florida Mall and the Nike Clearance Store in Kissimmee). Our teen son would be sorely disappointed if shopping was eliminated from the family vacation itinerary!!

Okay I so going to Nike Clearance Store. Son and I will be buying the whole store.

 

[mguilford1]

I'd go to the Titanic attraction on I-drive, a great hour and a half or two hour attraction, have dinner somewhere, and then take a swim at your resort pool. This is what we'll be doing when we get in around 2 p.m. on our December trip.

Titanic is what I was going to suggest. We really liked Titanic. We got discount tickets on groupon...dont know if they have any discounts right now. We also went to the Disney Outlet shopping and played mini-golf with the alligators! Groupon for that also...

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Titanic is what I was going to suggest. We really liked Titanic. We got discount tickets on groupon...dont know if they have any discounts right now.

There is a buy one, get one free admission coupon in the current Entertainment Book for Orlando. Books are currently on sale for $9.99 with free shipping.

 

[powellrj]

Okay I so going to Nike Clearance Store. Son and I will be buying the whole store.

Its kind if out of the way, but worth the trip. My DD got 2 pair of shoes and lots of shorts for under $100 last trip!

 

[gigicnm]

There is a buy one, get one free admission coupon in the current Entertainment Book for Orlando. Books are currently on sale for $9.99 with free shipping.

My son is a Titanic nut! He is a walking Titanic dictionary! We'll be in Orlando the week before his birthday and this would make a great early present.

Can you get the Entertainment Book in the Orlando area? Or is there a similar coupon somewhere? We'll be there on Thursday.