what to do on day off?

[airforcewife]

We are going to be stayin at CR from 12-19 to 12=26, sunday to sunday. We plan to arrive on the 19th , go to parks on mon-tues. Take a break on Wed. go back thurs-sat leave sunday.

does anyone have any ideas to entertain 2 boys ages 7 and 11 and 1 girl 9? Ideas that won't break the bank. We have never been to WDW, this is our first trip, so please help me sell the break to my kids!! Robyn

 

[tkyes]

Enjoy your pool

Hang out at Downtown Disney

explore different resorts, ie. go see the animals at Animal Kingdom Lodge

rent water mice

go over to Port Orleans Riverside and do some cane pole fishing at the pond

get a hidden mickey book and search for ones not in the theme parks

have lunch or dinner at Beaches and Cream and walk across the street and go mini golfing at Fantasia mini golf

 

[Gluman11]

Nice...........right around christmas time, what I would do from the CR is hop the monorail and go check out the decorations at the GF and Poly........................and from there I would catch one of the boats over to the WL because, from what I hear, the decorations are awesome at WL..............

Then you guys could always go over to the Boardwalk and fool around for a few hours.......there is pretty big arcade at the Beach Club...........and lots of stores...........

Lots to do..........very little $$$

Have fun.........We can't wait til our Christmas 2005 trip..............

 

[leebee]

Go to Downtown Disney. YOu don't HAVE to shop...wandering around is always fun. Sometimes there's open air entertainment, you can make a computer-generated Mr. Potato Head for free in the Mr. Potato Head store, there's a carousel, Lego store, etc. Wofgang Puck has a counter service type location that's good for lunch or dinner, and I've heard good things about the Earl of Sandwich. Make it more of an excursion by driving over to Port Orleans and taking the boat to/from DTD.
Go to Disney's Boardwalk. Park at the Boardwalk Inn and walk thru the hotel to the Boardwalk itself. There's street entertainmne(free, one-man-band, mimes, that sort of thing). You can walk around the lake (cool beach, look for duck footprints and tracks), window shop, get your face painted (costs $ but I'd rather do it here where there's some chance of it staying on for the afternoon than at AK, jsut before riding Kali River Rapids!), rent a surry bike.
Resort hop- check out the other resorts in all their Holiday finery. Also check out the "extras" available at the Disney resorts (try disney.go.com) to see what you can do for small fees- like go fishing at POR, or rent a water-mouse. You can always ride the monorail from the CR to Epcot and back- it's usually not very crowded. I think there is also a bunch of fun stuff to do at Fort Wilderness, like petting zoo and pony rides...
If the weather is really nice, drive out to Cocoa Beach and go swimming. Kennedy Space Center might be pricey, but look into the Astronaut Hall of Fame. There is a bunch of cool stuff to see AND do, and I think it's quite a bit cheaper than KSC. You can also drive around the Titusville/Merritt Island/Cocoa area and look for orange groves. Many sell their own juice (free samples!!) and several will let your kids go into the grove and pick an orange or two, right from the tree! We don't get to do this very often in Maine...there are also wonderful birds to spy along the sides of the road, and if there's water in the little canals alongside the road, look carefully at the logs floating- they're gators! We saw alot of these while driving along the highway that runs between Astronaut Hall of Fame and KSC, also some pretty good-sized turtles. I believe Merritt Island has a wildlife sanctuary for hiking/viewing. Often you can stop at the little public parks near the bridges in the Prot Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area and watch for seals and dolphins, and if you're very lucky and in the right area, you might find a manatee or two! No, these are not "sit-in-your-room-and-rest" days, but they are way less stressful and more relaxing than theme park touring!

 

[airforcewife]

Ok This is a dumb question , but what are water mice? And willl it really be warm enought to swim do you think? My kids are hopeing of course, but after all it wil be late December!

Thanks to those who responded!

Robyn

 

[bobcat]

Water mice are the two person boats you can rent. You can also rent a pontoon for the whole family.

If you have a car you can also visit the outlet malls and check out the character outlets. Prime outlets is only a short trip and not far from DTD.

Go see a movie at DTD. Great theater.

Our family will use this day to relax by the pool, hit the outlets in the late afternoon, and more pool time.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

All of the Disney pools are heated so you should be able to swim in late December.
Depending on what kind of park tickets you have you may want to check out Disney Quest. It has a lot of games and interactive things to do. It does come as part of some of the park ticket plans so you may be able to do DQ without paying anything extra.

 

[mansionfan]

Downtown Disney would be my choice, especially around Christmas since it will be decorated. Nothing like walking DD with the seasonal music going and the decorations!

 

[ajcolorado]

We once watched the fireworks from the Poly beach. I think we also saw the water parade there (night). It was pretty wonderful.

Excuse me if this is sacrilege but we find the Contemporary very under-themed and our family can spend any amount of time sitting there describing what we would do if we could change the hotel. The common thread always seems to have a flying saucer coming in through the window, as if it is ready to crash.

We love wandering around the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

 

[LoriMistress]

On our day off from the parks we went to DTD and went to DQ and did the whole video game thing. We windowed shopped, took pictures, etc.

 

[airforcewife]

Just curious Lori, where in Northern Ca.? My last base was Beale AFb near Sacramento.

Robyn

 

[erikthewise]

This may "break the bank", but CR has the best watersports in all of WDW. Even if you pass on the parasailing and waterskiing($$$), you could still go for a spin around Bay Lake in various boats ($). Or just ride the shuttle boats for free.

Children of this age may still enjoy riding the monorails just for fun. Mid-afternoon is a great time to ride the Epcot monorail because you have a good chance of riding in the front, especially if you're willing to wait. Just ask a CM as soon as you reach the platform. There's nothing like circling around Future World while sitting in the front! Warning: only four can sit in front -- no exceptions.

There are a number of children's activities available at Fort Wilderness which I believe are open to all WDW resort guests($). There is also an excellent childrens program at Grand Floridian, but those activities are very popular and need to be reserved exactly 90 days in advance($$).

The Lego Store play area at DD is good for an hour or more at no cost whatsoever.

 

[dolphindan1]

Something not Disney but My 2 boys loved and your daughter might like as well or she might not you never know about girls...LOL....Very inexpensive was Gatorland.....Nice relaxed change of pace and they have a lot more than just gators....its about a 20 minute drive so if you are not renting a car that would be expensive...but it was great fun and with about 500 people in the park it was almost deserted....the shows did attract everyone but there was still plenty of seating...You could go in the Morning and be done around lunch and do the Downtown Disney and other responses in the afternoon and eve.