Disney Vacation just for the resorts

[HavingaBall]

Hi all,

To keep cost low on our upcoming trip, we are only going to Epcot 1 day and the remaining days going to stay at the resorts and visit the other resorts and boardwalk in the Disney bubble.
Curious if others do this, and any tips you may have for activities in/around the resorts besides Disney Springs?

 

[pklein09]

We've sorta done this....but only for a day. We'll go for an overnight, with parks on the first day and nothing scheduled the day we leave. We live about an hour away, and I'm not rushing home!

The last time we did this was right before Easter. We booked a late breakfast at Steakhouse 71 at the Contemporary. We kept our car parked there and visited the Poly and Grand Floridian for the Easter Egg decorations. We switched to a boat at MK and rode it to Wilderness Lodge. We walked around there and had a late lunch at Geyser Point and enjoyed the scenery. Going at an off time helped because we were able to get a lake side table. We took the boat back to MK, walked to the Contemporary, got our car, and drove home.

You can go to Ft. Wilderness and tour the stables, play mini-golf, see the animals on the savanna at AKL, ride the Skyliner (we stop off at Riviera and get madeleines and tea/coffee for a short break), rent bicycles at any number of resorts, and whole host of other things I can't think of at the moment.

At night, you can go to the Poly and watch MK fireworks from their beach (although it's restricted during high travel times).

The best part is just being in the bubble and relaxing! Enjoy and have fun!

 

[mdurette]

We do "resort hopping" days on our trips that are more on a budget than others. We typically will visit 10-12 resorts, check out their theming, their pin trade boards and have lunch. Mini golf and walking the boardwalk, especially in the evening is great too.

 

[john7994]

All the time ... we work in at least several days for simply exploring outside of the parks, hanging out at the various pool bars, lounges and restaurants. We also golf (the non-mini kind), shop around Disney Springs for those "one-of-a-kind" pieces that we "must have", book non-park enchanting extras, and skyliner hop.

 

[hsmamato2]

As an adult who's visited WDW so many times over the years- I prefer no park visits. I prefer the other relaxing things to do vs. park offerings. Monorail crawl, skyliner crawl, boat crawl, relaxing by one beautiful view or another,easy access to so many activities even if weather doesn't cooperate.... I love a long weekend on/near property!

 

[loves to dive]

Never done it, if I'm paying to stay on site, I'm going to the parks for at least some time each day. If I'm not going to the parks, I'd stay off site. That bubble is nice and I love it but there are too many other nice resorts in the area for me to pay for it if not hitting the parks. I don't spend all day in the parks though so in my down time I - resort hop or every now in again (maybe once every few years) go to to DS. Resort hopping is my favorite. I'll pick two or three resorts in the same area and using Disney transportation visit them.

 

[mrsboz]

We do it several times a year. So relaxing. We do pretty much all the things mentioned here. It’s a blast. I’m actually going again a a few weeks to do the same thing.

 

[LYSE]

The only resort stay we've done where we don't go to the parks at all is the Four Seasons, we enjoy spending 2-3 nights there just relaxing.

We've stayed at a Disney resort and gone to the parks then switched to the FS for resort/pool time.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We come to DW in March for two weeks, almost every year. We are dvc. We rarely go to parks. We went last year to epcot and the magic kingdom and hated the crowds, the lines, paying for genie etc. We decided we weren’t going back to the parks for a couple years. we love the pools, tennis, shuffleboard etc at the resorts. . we usually stay at old key west and usually don’t leave except to go out to dinner at another resort or Disney springs. We sit at pool all day and read. The kids love the community center and the programs at the pool.

 

[lsutigers03]

We come to DW in March for two weeks, almost every year. We are dvc. We rarely go to parks. We went last year to epcot and the magic kingdom and hated the crowds, the lines, paying for genie etc. We decided we weren’t going back to the parks for a couple years. we love the pools, tennis, shuffleboard etc at the resorts. . we usually stay at old key west and usually don’t leave except to go out to dinner at another resort or Disney springs. We sit at pool all day and read. The kids love the community center and the programs at the pool.

That sounds great. Right now DW and our kids (9 and 5) only go once every two years. My kids love the parks and going on all the attractions. We do a non park day each trip. Last May we enjoyed it so much that I told DW that we should take a park day and replace it with a second resort day or just extend our vacation by a day so we can have an additional resort day. I look forward to the day where we can go enough that we can have a mostly resort trip or even a 100% resort trip.

 

[Rob Huff]

We've done this twice and absolutely loved it both times. During those trips, we were a family of four (we've since added a fifth), and our girls loved it both times. They could probably swim in a pool for 12 hours and call it a great day, but we sprinkled in a few fun meals, watching nighttime spectaculars from outside the parks, and really digging into everything that the resorts have to offer that you never have time for when you're at the parks.

AKL is, by far, our favorite spot for this type of trip. They used to have activities where kids could earn beads; I don't know if that's still a thing post-COVID. Regardless, it feels different to sit on your balcony and watch the animals eat breakfast when you're not missing something at a theme park.

We also had a no-parks day (really two) at BCV, and Stormalong Bay brought more than enough to the table to fill two complete days.

If we had a full no-parks day on our upcoming trip to BRV, we'd swim, take a tour (is that back yet post-COVID?), have lunch at Geyser Point by the water, make a dinner reservation at Artist Point, then find a spot to post up for the Electrical Water Pageant. And we'd feel refreshed instead of wiped.

Don't get me wrong; I loved feeling exhausted at the end of a good Disney trip. But I've also found tremendous joy in peacefully wrapping up a no-parks trip. I think our longest was six days and they were six truly delightful days.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that we didn't even go to Disney Springs. I don't like DS, so nothing was lost there. If I had my complete sway for a no-parks trip, it'd be at least two nights at BCV followed by at least two nights at AKL followed by one night at BRV/CCV/PVB (so we can easily get to the Poly to watch HEA on the bluff overlooking the bungalows).

 

[AnnaS]

I have done two non park disney trips. One with my dd and her friend and one with my DH. Both happened to be while staying at SSR. My dd and her friend went to the parks. Both trips, resort hopped, pool time, TOWL, DS, Crescent Lake for strolls, dessert, meals/entertainment.

We have no problem doing it again. We don't spend a lot of time at the parks and we have APs.

 

[scrapquitler]

Hi all,

To keep cost low on our upcoming trip, we are only going to Epcot 1 day and the remaining days going to stay at the resorts and visit the other resorts and boardwalk in the Disney bubble.
Curious if others do this, and any tips you may have for activities in/around the resorts besides Disney Springs?

my husband is there now with only one park day.
He went to Disney Springs last night, and the rest of the non park days he has will be spent visiting resorts (today he visited Boardwalk, AKL, Pop and AOA) and riding ALL the transportation. So far he rode the skyliner, and the friendship boats to get from one resort to the other. He will also ride the monrail loops and the ferry from the TTC as he visits other resorts.

 

[jimmymc]

Lots of DVC members do this. Some activities around resorts include:

• Renting boats at MK resorts
• Kayaking, archery, horse and pony rides at Ft. Wilderness.
• Horse carriage rides at Ft. Wilderness and Port Orleans resorts
• Playgrounds at different resorts
• Fishing
• Lawn games around the resorts
• Movies on the lawn
• Hotel tours
• DVC room tours
• Animation classes
• Campfires at resorts

 

[cayennews]

We did this in January. We spent a week at the beach and then our final night at SSR. We went to Port Orleans for dinner and beignets. On other trips we hopped from Poly to GF to the new Riviera. Loved riding in the gondolas. Lots to do when not at the parks!

 

[AmyMac1109]

Hi all,

To keep cost low on our upcoming trip, we are only going to Epcot 1 day and the remaining days going to stay at the resorts and visit the other resorts and boardwalk in the Disney bubble.
Curious if others do this, and any tips you may have for activities in/around the resorts besides Disney Springs?

We were at Poly for 5 days in January, but only 3 park days. We spent the 2 resort days enjoying the Poly and visiting the Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge. We're going back in July for 3 days, with only 1 park day planned. We'll be spending the other 2 days enjoying our resort (Wilderness Lodge) and have decided to visit the Fort and campgrounds as well. We've never been, but are looking forward to maybe some horse back riding and campfires. We're visiting in September as well, but have a little less time to explore since we'll have one park day and a MNSSHP to attend. But I'm hoping to be able to explore some of the Skyliner resorts on our off day. We pay so much money to stay on property, might as well enjoy the resorts!

 

[stace1214]

My daughter and I did this in January. It was so much fun and a great and cheaper way to still get the Disney magic without a bunch of park days. We did a transportation day where we rode every mode of transportation and shared a snack and most of the resorts. It was so nice to leisurely explore the resorts without rushing around like we usually do on full family trips. Have a great time!!

 

[_19disnA]

Part of the reason you pay a premium for Disney resorts is proximity to the various parks. If I wasn't planning to spend much/any time at a park, it would be far more economical to stay elsewhere. Orlando has LOTS of hotel choices due to both Disney & Universal being popular vacation destinations. Over the years we have stayed at Disney as well as various nearby resorts. Enjoyed all of them for various reasons. Just depends on your budget and what you enjoy doing.

 

[Suzabella]

We've done this several times. We've stayed at a resort and not done a park. We enjoy spending time in a resort and spending time there. We've visited museums, DS and other area attractions. Later this year, we're going to Universal for 1 day then moving to WDW and only touring the resorts to see the Christmas decorations.

 

[Narnia_girl]

We've done this several times.
In March I was in Orlando for a conference (staying off-site) and still managed to do a bunch of fun Disney resort activities. We walked to Disney Springs and took a bus to Poly for dinner. Did the boats, monorail, skyliner, toured resorts, saw the evening electric water parade, and watched fireworks from Contemporary. The next day we had breakfast at the Grand Floridian and enjoyed a relaxing morning before returning to Disney Springs for lunch.

In the past we did the free restaurant tour at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Not sure if that is still happening, but fun and tasty! There was also a morning tour of Wilderness Lodge that we couldn't fit in at the time.