Day with no parks?

Nap and EAT!

We like to shop at Downtown Disney and rent boats at the Polynesian or Wilderness Lodge. That's lots of fun. Also like to resort hop and consider where we want to stay next time.

Have you thought about doing the tour at Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge? They're so interesting...

They still have those? How do we do it?

I love to go to Typhoon Lagoon! Last time I went all by myself. I run to get a certain place near the wave pool and set up there. I go to the wave pool at least two different times and between those I go tubing on the Lazy River. Swimming with the sharks is really a trip! ANd just lazing around on the beach is FINE. Sorry, I don't bother with the water slides.

You bet! Taking at least one day off from the parks is always a must. You need a day to rest and take in some other sights.

We do several things on our days off. We hang out in Downtown Disney to do our shopping for friends and ourselves, we visit family (I have two sisters in Orlando), and we go to either the Mall at Millenia or to the Outlets on International.

Of course there are times when we just hang out at whatever resort we are staying at too. It all depends on what kind of mood we are in.

Never been to the Mall at Millenia...unless that's where the Cheesecake Factory is??

I love to explore on my no-park day. Head to other resorts, do some of the hotel-centric activities, go horseback riding. You could spend days at Fort Wilderness and not get everything done...

Yep, it's kind of across the street from the mall. Very cool place! It's like really upscale on one end and then the other end is for us normal folks ha! ha!

I like to spend those "off" days at DTD, shopping.

My only days with no Disney parks end up being Sea World. Only if I have more than 5 days would I not have a park day. I would probably sleep lat, have a leisurely lunch and spend some time at the pool.

Hi,

I had a couple of non-park days during my last trip to WDW in December 2007. This was during MouseFest, the annual Disney fan gathering in WDW and the Disney Wonder. Last year was the second time I did the cruise as well as WDW. To get a slightly different perspective on each trip, I try to stay in a different resort. Last year I was in WDW for ten nights after debarking from the Wonder, so I stayed five nights in All Star Movies and then five nights in Animal Kingdom Lodge.

As much as I enjoy the parks, the non-park days are just as enjoyable because Disney lavishes as much attention to detail on its hotels and non-theme-park areas as it does on the parks. I often like to resort hop; to explore resorts that I haven't visited, and one of the most beautiful Disney Resorts is Wilderness Lodge.

Sometimes a day at Downtown Disney is in order, and in 2004 when I stayed in POFQ, I took the launch from the dock behind Doubloon Lagoon Pool which let me off right in front of Ghirardelli's Chocolate Shoppe. In 2007, I became a Castaway Club member when I cruised on the Wonder for the second year in a row. Castaway Club members get some goodies delivered to their staterooms on the first day of the cruise. In my goodie bag was a little log book. I later, at the Megameet, bought Passporter's Treasure Hunts at Walt Disney World, and spent one day doing hunts at AKL and DTD Marketplace.

Jim

Jim--I'm wondering about MouseFest. Did you enjoy? What's the story there?

Hi Bali,

Mousefest is an annual gathering of Disney fans from around the internet and the world. Started in 2003 by Deb Wills and a few other webmasters, Mousefest is held in early December and allows us to meet and spend time with some of our online friends.

Jim

We try to plan in days with no parks - 'rest days' to recuperate - we tend to hit one of the malls in the am like Florida Mall or Premium Outlets (our favourite) or go to DTD. Then in the afternoon we head over to the Waterparks for a swim. In the evening we might play some mini golf - either on site or at one of the many courses on the 192.

I find they days with no parks tend to happen whether I plan them or not

Sometimes we run the risk of doing too LITTLE on long trips. For the first couple days we will just kinda chill and poke around at the parks, but not ride too many things. We figure we have all the time in the world...Then we realize the trip is almost over and we haven't done anything and have to jam in a bunch of stuff.