Non-Park Days

[Jamie430]

Hello! We are going to Disney in June. We are staying at POFQ. We are 14 days onsite with 10 days park hopper park passes (a little excessive, I'm sure lol). Our plan is to not leave the property. My husband and I are looking forward to parking the car and not getting back in it until we leave. There are 6 of us - myself, my husband, our oldest daughter (22), her boyfriend (22), our middle daughter (15) and our youngest daughter (12).
We would love ideas on what to do on our non-park days. We love Disney Springs, so of course, we will go there. Chip N Dale's Campfire Sing a long is on our list. Resort hop? Boardwalk?
What else should we be adding to our list? Thank you!!

 

[_19disnA]

If you love Disney Springs I have to assume this isn't your first Disney trip. Disney parks can involve MILES of walking and can quite hot/humid that time of year along with large crowds. Plannig 10 park days in a 14 day trip can be exhausting. Perhaps going early or late to the parks would be one option.

Disney Springs has lots of places to shop/eat and you might also choose to split up since some in your party prefer one park over another. If you have never stayed at other Disney resorts visiting them to shop/eat is also an option.

 

[Jamie430]

If you love Disney Springs I have to assume this isn't your first Disney trip. Disney parks can involve MILES of walking and can quite hot/humid that time of year along with large crowds. Plannig 10 park days in a 14 day trip can be exhausting. Perhaps going early or late to the parks would be one option.

Disney Springs has lots of places to shop/eat and you might also choose to split up since some in your party prefer one park over another. If you have never stayed at other Disney resorts visiting them to shop/eat is also an option.

We plan on mid-day breaks for the parks. Toward the end, we might just spend partial days. Not really sure yet. We have been to Disney before, never this many days. We have done 4 days max. We've stay on property, but only ever at AOA. This is our first time anywhere else.

 

[tguz]

Not sure when you were there last but if you make your way to the Skyliner, it is kind of fun taking the whole route and stopping at different resorts for a meal, snack, or drink......or all three.

 

[Jamie430]

Not sure when you were there last but if you make your way to the Skyliner, it is kind of fun taking the whole route and stopping at different resorts for a meal, snack, or drink......or all three.

I’d love the sky liner. My husband is super afraid of heights. . Maybe I’ll go by myself lol

 

[snikki]

A pool day. That’s always been a hit for my group. Enjoy the amenities of the resort. Get off your feet a bit.

Do an evening at Hoop Dee Doo if it’s in the budget.

We usually go for 9-10 days and do length of stay tickets because we have learned from previous trips we can’t do entire rest days. By 4-5 pm we want to go into a park even if it’s just for a dinner and a ride or two. We also don’t do full days the whole trip. We mix it up and have some sleep in/late start days and stay until close.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

If you're going to be there 14 days, even if you do not drive anywhere, make sure you go start your vehicle and let it run for 5-10 minutes every 5-6 days.

Depending on how new the vehicle is and how much technology it has, the battery can drain enough in 14 days that you will be waiting for someone to come jump start you if you don't.

 

[AnnaS]

I would do two park days and then a non-park day and so on. Break it up.

Relax at the resort/pool/all morning/day. Evening, pick one or two resorts for a meal/walk around. The next non-park day, do the same but head to DS in the evening. Next non-park day, explore one or two resorts/have a meal - even if it's QS - Geyser Point just to name one. Evening, head to the Boardwalk area for some entertainment, dessert, quick bite, Skyliner ride/visit the Riviera.

If you don't want to spend time at the pool/resort one day, have breakfast at one of the other resorts, hop on the monorail and check out GF, Contemporary and Polynesian. Stop by Animal Kingdom Lodge and check out the animals, walk around the resort.

We do this all the time even though we have APs.

 

[NJlauren]

Some ideas:

A water park
Mini golf
Hoop Dee Do
monorail resort hop - snack or drink at each resort
Fishing excursion
There is a tour at some resorts, not positive if you need to be staying there (I think at wilderness lodge)
Springs of course which you already mentioned
I saw some resorts 5ks are back so maybe look into that if your runners

 

[StevieB81]

We did 14 days with a 10 day PH+ ticket on our last trip ( in June). Here are some of the things we did on "off" days:
-water park. You can sleep in a little, but it's better to get there when they open
-monorail resort tour/pub crawl. We did Steakhouse 71, Trader Sam's, and Enchanted Rose
-mini golf
-brunch at DS (we did Raglan Road, but there are several to choose from). We also did the Gospel Brunch at HOB one year and that was fun.
-pool/resort day. Checked out all the lounges, etc at the resort
-Dinner at AKL. All the TS restaurants there are phenomenal, plus you can go early/stay late and check out the safari
-Jelly Rolls on the Boardwalk/walked around the Boardwalk and the resorts
-played golf at the Palm. There are 3 championship courses and 1 executive 9 hole course on property. If you play, get the earliest tee time you can-it gets brutal in the afternoon
-slept in (except water park day). Our "off" days are usually spaced to recover from our park days
-By the end of the trip, for us anyway, park days become kind of a hybrid where we go in a little later, ride what we really want, and then leave for several hours and then maybe hit another park at the end of the night for a couple hours. So a lot of non-park time.

 

[Jamie430]

We did 14 days with a 10 day PH+ ticket on our last trip ( in June). Here are some of the things we did on "off" days:
-water park. You can sleep in a little, but it's better to get there when they open
-monorail resort tour/pub crawl. We did Steakhouse 71, Trader Sam's, and Enchanted Rose
-mini golf
-brunch at DS (we did Raglan Road, but there are several to choose from). We also did the Gospel Brunch at HOB one year and that was fun.
-pool/resort day. Checked out all the lounges, etc at the resort
-Dinner at AKL. All the TS restaurants there are phenomenal, plus you can go early/stay late and check out the safari
-Jelly Rolls on the Boardwalk/walked around the Boardwalk and the resorts
-played golf at the Palm. There are 3 championship courses and 1 executive 9 hole course on property. If you play, get the earliest tee time you can-it gets brutal in the afternoon
-slept in (except water park day). Our "off" days are usually spaced to recover from our park days
-By the end of the trip, for us anyway, park days become kind of a hybrid where we go in a little later, ride what we really want, and then leave for several hours and then maybe hit another park at the end of the night for a couple hours. So a lot of non-park time.

This sounds great!! I also think we will be doing that with our park days toward the end of the time also. We figure we will have hit most of our must dos at the park by then .. it will be doing whatever we want to go back and do.

Thank you!!

 

[Her Dotness]

I've seen people say they enjoyed a progressive dinner at the monorail resorts.

Started at the first with drinks and appetizer, on to the next for the entree, and dessert at the third. If you didn't want to go the obvious direction from the TTC (Poly, GF, CR), you could rideshare to one and monorail from there with the bus back to your resort.

Have seen it done all QS or all TS. Naturally, QS would be simpler. However, one TS report was an older women friends reunion that made ADRs spaced out so they had ample shopping time at each resort until the ADR. That'd be fun, I think, because there's great shopping at each monorail resort.

 

[MsChristy12]

Visiting the resorts is always one of our favorite things to do on non-park days!
If you want to do something outside the Disney bubble, perhaps shopping at the outlet? Great Disney shopping at the Character Warehouse!
I know this is a Disney Forum, but if your family is interested, maybe check out Universal Citywalk and have dinner there?

 

[tom1944]

On our trip we plan to do Hoop Dee Doo but I was not aware of the Chip and Dale Campfire.

Does it make sense to do them on the same day?

What time does the campfire usually start? We are going at the end of August

Thanks

 

[Jamie430]

On our trip we plan to do Hoop Dee Doo but I was not aware of the Chip and Dale Campfire.

Does it make sense to do them on the same day?

What time does the campfire usually start? We are going at the end of August

Thanks

I'm hoping to do both in the same day. We have discussed just spending some time at Fort Wilderness...visiting the horses, Hoop Dee Doo, and Chip and Dale Sing a Long/Campfire. I'm not finding a time for Chip and Dale .. just a phone number to call to check times.

Hopefully someone here has been and can answer for us

 

[Jamie430]

Visiting the resorts is always one of our favorite things to do on non-park days!
If you want to do something outside the Disney bubble, perhaps shopping at the outlet? Great Disney shopping at the Character Warehouse!
I know this is a Disney Forum, but if your family is interested, maybe check out Universal Citywalk and have dinner there?

We definitely want to resort hop. We have been to Citywalk a few times. We love Bubba Gump lol, but otherwise kind of underwhelmed with CityWalk. It's definitely no Disney Springs, huh?

 

[beccasmom]

We love Disney Springs, but it can be exhausting, especially in warmer weather. But we enjoy going for a few hours and usually try to ensure we’ve booked a meal at one of the numerous choices there. Resort hopping can be fun too. When energy flags or the spirit is willing but the flesh is too weak, enjoying the pool can be a lovely alternative, especially if we’re at BRV and Geyser Point is a quick walk away.

 

[MsChristy12]

We definitely want to resort hop. We have been to Citywalk a few times. We love Bubba Gump lol, but otherwise kind of underwhelmed with CityWalk. It's definitely no Disney Springs, huh?

Oh Disney Springs is a must!! But sounds like you'll go there regardless so trying to come up with something else. Have you guys seen the Cirque show Drawn To Life? Maybe a weekday matinee show?
Or how about a beach day? Cocoa Beach isn't too far! Or you can visit Vero Beach and check out the DVC there too?

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Following

 

[LiDa]

Hello! We are going to Disney in June. We are staying at POFQ. We are 14 days onsite with 10 days park hopper park passes (a little excessive, I'm sure lol). Our plan is to not leave the property. My husband and I are looking forward to parking the car and not getting back in it until we leave. There are 6 of us - myself, my husband, our oldest daughter (22), her boyfriend (22), our middle daughter (15) and our youngest daughter (12).
We would love ideas on what to do on our non-park days. We love Disney Springs, so of course, we will go there. Chip N Dale's Campfire Sing a long is on our list. Resort hop? Boardwalk?
What else should we be adding to our list? Thank you!!

Yes, definitely take the boat down to Disney Springs, check out the other resorts for lunch, etc. But, I really do encourage you to go off-property once or twice. There's so much in Orlando to see & do. Besides, sometimes it's easier to use your car to get around the resort, for example, if you want to see the Electrical Water Pageant, luau, Hoop-DeeDo, etc. Yes, you could take Disney transportation, which could take an hour, or you could drive in 15 minutes.