A week at Disney without the parks?

[dreiwhit]

We're planning a trip in 2018. Normally, we would spend every day except for our arrival and departure days in the parks.

However, this year we are not. We're going to take some time to explore other attractions in the Orlando area (not Universal.)

 

[trouttigger]

I think it's admirable since your kids are so young. They can fully enjoy so many things without being at the parks.

I personally love all the resorts. I could enjoy any of them for several days without going to one of parks along with other nearby activities.

 

[quandrea]

We've done this. As recently as Jan 2017. That was a two week trip at Boardwalk Villas. My kids love it. They are 8, 8 and 13. We swam, had movie nights in the villa, used Community Hall extensively, bowled, watched our favourite sports at ESPN (a highlight for my kids), Disney Springs, Movies at Disney Springs, pool picnics, pizza by the pool. We enjoyed the rest and time together. We are DVC and are down often. We use DVC as our "cottage." BWV was a great location as we could see the fireworks from our room. Boredom was never an issue but I realise we are probably in the minority.

 

[MCharpie]

Thank you all for assuring me it's possible! I can't wait to give it a try in April. Tomorrow is ADR day and then I can sit back and relax until the trip arrives

 

[mamamelody2]

This would certainly not work for me, but you sound excited to try it, so of course, go for it!!
I'm sure you'll have a great trip!

 

[srwarden1928]

There are things to enjoy in Disney other than the 4 main parks. There are numerous things to do in Orlando that have nothing to do with theme parks. The Presidents Museum, the Leu Gardens, the Tiffany Museum come to mind. If you venture a little further out the Bok Tower is nice as well as Silver Springs. These suggestions are off the top of my head. However, I would personally find it extremely difficult to spend several days at a Disney resort and not go into any of the parks. I just love the Disney parks so much I couldn't stay away. An Orlando trip doing other things with maybe popping over to Disney to enjoy a meal at one of the wonderful resort restaurants and a little shopping at Disney Springs I could do. Staying AT Disney and staying out of the parks I just couldn't.

 

[rer1972]

We haven't gone cold turkey, but we did spend more days away from the parks than in the parks. Our two girls were about the same age as your children, and ours enjoyed all the non-park as much (if not more). We did spend 2 nights at Vero Beach (not sure if that counts as cheating), and then 4 nights at AKV. We only did 2 days at MK, and that was it. Spent the rest of the time going to the kid's spalsh areas/pools, attending resort activities, going to the resort playgrounds, borrowing DVD's from downstairs to watch (first time they got to see original Beauty and the Beast), and more. It was actually very relaxing and fun for all of us.

 

[hsmamato2]

I could totally do it, esp. if I had been as often as you have recently. Beach club is awesome,and if you look at it like a beach type vacation rather than a theme park vacation,it can a ton of fun! Fireworks shows at night that are viewable from boardwalk area are a great way to take a walk and have an ice cream together(studios and epcot) boardwalk at night is fun to eat dinner and just hang out- the pool at BC of course is a lovely place to hang out daily- you can take the kids to meet some characters in a nonpark meal place..... make on TS per day somewhere not in a park for dinner.... disney springs when you feel like it,exploring playgrounds at the different resorts each day- visiting AKL to see the animals on the savannah.... going for a boat ride to nowhere near the MK,or fort wilderness just to run around and play.....

 

[wishuponastar1984]

I am surprised so many people think they would be bored. I have been to beach resorts with less activity and had a wonderful time. We do stay-cations at the JW Marriott in the San Antonio Hill Country and can easily spend 3 days at the pool with all the things to do. I think it is all perspective. Disney deluxe hotels are expensive and wanting to get full use of all the amenities sounds like a smart idea.

 

[btmunger86]

We've done a week without parks before. There are a lot of things you can do without going into the parks. You can go to Animal Kingdom Lodge and watch the animals. Go to AOA, Pop, and All Star resorts and see all the oversized characters and objects. Beach Club has a wonderful pool area to keep the kids entertained at that age. Not to mention the pool activities, nighttime fires, movies, etc. You can rent bikes or surreys at Boardwalk and ride around the lake or at Wilderness Lodge and ride to the campground. You can watch MK fireworks from TTC, Contemporary resort, or POLY or HS fireworks from the walkway between HS and BW. You can also see some of EPCOT fireworks from the bridge between Beach Club and BW. BW also has free entertainment at night.

 

[nycdisneygal]

There is so much to do. And with the resort character meals - your kids will not feel like they miss out. THe AKL suggestion is a great one-- so much there!!!! Have fun..

 

[SwanVT2]

It's not related to cost - we certainly can/would buy park tickets. It's because it's our 4th trip in 2 years and we were thinking of trying to do something different. We searched other vacation options yet found for our family, Disney really is the best location for us right now! Plus, we often leave our trips feeling like there's so many other things to do so when we made a list of ideas, we were thinking they could easily fill a week! Our kids love Epcot and Magic Kingdom. They didn't care for Animal Kingdom, though I'd love to see it now at night. We've yet to visit HS. Perhaps we'll do a few days of parks and try to squeeze in more activities on other days. As another poster mentioned, I don't want to miss out on FP+ so I'd like to decide before our 60 days!

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences!

We are going for six days with 5 year old. Just taking 1 day at MK and 1 at Epcot. Otherwise it is pool time, new character breakfast at Trattoria on Boardwalk, lunch at T Rex and lunch and animals at Sanaa. We have gone to parks last two years and this time just want to enjoy February sun. DD might want more park but as long as we have something fun planned each day like we do I think she will be fine. She loves the pool and we will be staying at the dolphin.

 

[WDBRDWLK]

Last year before our cruise we did 4 nights at POR. We did not go to any park. We visited just about all the Disney resorts, went to many different restaurants, and spent a lot of time at Disney Springs.

That is exactly what we will be doing before our Dec 8th cruise. We will be at Saratoga Springs for 3 nights prior and plan to resort hop to see the holiday decorations. Lunch and dinners are planned at several different resorts and DTD. We will ride the monorail to EPCOT to get a glimpse of the park and then transfer back to the Grand Floridan. The only park we will be doing is after the cruise for the DVC Moonlight Magic at EPCOT on the 11th. We are annual passholders too and will be back in Feb 2018 for 6 nights and will be doing all the parks then.

 

[crazylady]

I like this idea but I would choose AKL. I'd rather be at a resort not near any parks so I wouldn't feel like I was missing anything.

 

[Jack & Monica]

If I had young children and was planning on doing a short Disney non-park stay, I would do something along the lines of the pirate cruise. That gets really great comments.

 

[North of Mouse]

To each their own, and whatever gives you a nice relaxing vacation for your family is what you should do.

For us, no way! We go often, but traveling 600+ miles, then not enjoying the parks?
We go to the different resorts to dine, enjoy their ambiance, go to Disney Springs, etc. but don't see a lot of other stuff to do that we couldn't do much closer to home. The main draw for us is definitely the parks - would not go otherwise.

 

[Leinzlove]

We are doing exactly this in June.

We are going to be at WDW for one month! And we only have 10 park ticket days! We did purchase Annual Waterpark passes tho. We are finding it very fun to plan and have 5 different resorts planned for our stay.

 

[DisneyCAL]

Beach Club Resort is the perfect choice for this plan of yours. Man, that pool, I could spend all day everyday swimming and wading in it. Although I would be tempted to enter Epcot for the showcases. But it would be a great place to stay while seeing things other than disney.