When Park hours are short, what do you do in the evenings?

[RweTHEREyet]

Just wondering how everyone spends their time when the hours in the parks are short. We will be at Wilderness Lodge for the week, and I don't think we will do more than 2-3 nights at DTD. Maybe late dining reservations would be good idea. Anyone have good suggestions as to what all fun things you do. Might help to know there are no little ones travelling with us.

 

[TLinden16]

When the parks aren't open late, there is tons to do. Some of my favorites are:

Disney Quest--I love playing here. I love Cyber Space Mountain

JellyRolls--This dueling piano bar at the Boardwalk is a lot of fun. There is usually a pretty big crowd there. I like to get there early and get a table up front.

Hotel hopping--I love checking out the other hotels. I really enjoy doing the monorail hotel loop, and browsing in the shops at the Floridian, the Contemporary, and the Polynesian.

If the parks close early, I sometimes just veg in the room. Watch TV, munch on nachos, and just relax away from the parks. I find if I do this at least once on my trip, it really refreshes me for the rest of the trip.

Karen

 

[Greg K.]

The World Showcase stays open until 9 ... and that's always a good place to wander and browse.

If you got bored, you could stroll through the Int'l Gateway over to the BoardWalk, or catch a boat to the Swan/Dolphin and the Fantasia Mini Golf place.

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

I NEED TO REST !!! You know, veg out in front of my TV,
and gradually fall asleep watching TV.

In a way.......it's good for me that the parks close earlier in early December. I would be tempted to burn the candle at both ends. !!

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

Really, if you stay until the bitter end, you won't have that much time on your hands. A relaxing drink and snack ... then off to bed so you can be up for an EE park the next day!!!

Seriously though, a visit to the Boardwalk or any of the resorts with lounges would be a perfect ending to a perfect day.

 

[pennylynn]

There are so many great restaurants and gift shops at the resorts that you'll never see them all unless you went to at least one each evening for your next 30 or 40 vacations. We always try a different restaurant each night and so far we haven't repeated very many. And we haven't tried any that we didn't like. Some are much nicer than others so try to pick the ones that fit your dinning style and go for it.

 

[punkin]

I have to second Epcot!

 

[twinmomto3boys]

Go to bed so we can get up for early entry the next day.

 

[donna in Oz]

A big vote for an evening at the Adventurer's Club at PI !!!

We're non-drinkers and non-smokers (and we don't dance . . . I know, we're dull . . . .), but we really enjoy the AC. For us, this is a big "don't-miss" on every trip!! By the way, the AC is a non-smoking club . . . . .

 

[pigby]

Try taking a boat from DTD to PO Riverside and go into the lounge there - great lively atmosphere with the piano player - great views of the lights of DTD from the boat.

Have enjoyed an evening over at AKL - dinner at Boma or Jiko followed by a few drinks in the bar on the mezzanine floor - much quieter but nice.

Adventurers Club at PI.

Boardwalk - we haven't been there yet - a must for our next trip.


Sue

 

[SandraC]

I do have little kids, so resting back at the resort is at the top of our list.

However, we ended up closing Epcot three times in April. By the time we slowly make out way out, looking at all the sites, it's about 10pm when we get to the car. It's a fun night. We also did Fantasy in the Sky twice and Fantasmic once. We like hanging out at the pool in the evening with a decaf and a snack. Watching a little Disney Channel is fun too. S

 

[mom_rules]

Make a PS for after the parks close-usually good for a couple of hours.
Epcot for illuminations and then walk over to Boardwalk-take in a game at ESPN (for those sports addicts ie. DS and DH). Check out the resorts around Boardwalk.
Shop at DTD - they are open pretty late then have a fancy drink at RFC or PH. Walk over to DQ or check out Cirque du Soleil.

 

[eeyore0062]

Well, alot depends on how early we got started in the morning. We tend to go to Magic Hour and not take breaks.

If we do that, we have dinner right after the parks close, and head back to the room.

Otherwise, we go to DTD and shop, go to PI while DD goes to one of the kids clubs, have a late dinner while DD goes to a kids club, go to Boardwalk, play miniture golf, watch the Electrical Light Pageant from one of the MK resort beaches, do the "monorail crawl", go to Epcot and stay for Illuminations (Epcot is always open until 9 pm), go to Disney Quest, resort hop, go to PO-R to the lounge and listen to the piano player (it is kid friendly, but there is a game room nearby for kids), catch a movie in DTD-WS, go to the campfire and free movie at Fort Wilderness, if they are doing it that evening, go to a dinner show, like the Luau, Hoop de Doo, or Mickey's BBQ, if it is warm enough, swim in the pool, go in the hot tub... Believe me... WDW doesn't shut down when the parks close!!! We have some of our best times after dark!

 

[loriandmatt]

We generally go in the off season when park hours are a bit shorter. Here are a few of the things we do:

A nice dinner at a resort.
Resort hop in general.
Catch the boat parade.
Hit Downtown Disney for some shopping.
Go off site (we drive down) for a nice dinner or even a dinner show.
The Campfire sing along and Movie at FW.
An eveing at the Hoop Dee Doo is a must for us.
A stroll thu the campground (our prefered resort) hoping to spy an armidillo. (sp?)

- lori

 

[Beanie]

We usually go to Boardwalk!! It is mine and DH's favorite place in Disney...It is the one place we <b>always</b> go to before we leave to go home! I love walking by the railing and feeding the ducks popcorn or having a slice of Pizza from Spoodles window...Sometimes we grab a pastry from the Boardwalk Sweets Store or just sit on a bench and watch everyone...I also love to ride the Surrey Bikes..Dh and I have so much fun on them... There a quite a few things to do there and I am missing it now! LOL

 

[Colexi's Mom]

Our last trip a couple of years ago, we stayed off site and only had a PHP pass. We would either go to a resort for a late dinner, or most often, we'd head to the boardwalk area and walk around. We usually headed over to the bridge between the international gateway walkway and the boardwalk and watched illuminations. Then went resort hopping on the way back to the car.

 

[Daisy Duck 5]

go to a movie in downtown disney