[inluvwithdisney]

When we go in December we are going to have at least one day where we will be doing no parks at all and would like to explore other areas of Disney!

What are some must not miss things that do not involve the parks??

[Pooh Fan]

Here are a few suggestions that I have come up with for our December trip. Hope it helps.
Tour the resorts and see how they are decorated
Play a game of miniature golf
See a movie
shop and walk around DTD
Visit DQ
Take an old fashioned sleigh ride (Wilderness Lodge offered these last year)
During Christmas week Santa and the characters will be at various resorts
Go the the campfire at Ft. Wilderness and roast smores with Chip and Dale
Relax at your resort

[_landry]

We had a non park day on our last trip in December. I used that as my DTD day. On all our trips before, we'd go to DTD after we visited parks. It makes for such a LONG day and night. This time I could take my time and shop on well rested feet.

Also, my DH used that day to go and play golf. They have great courses in DW. We had a late character breakfast at O'hanas and then we went our separate ways.

The Christmas decorations are SO worth going around to see. They really put a lot of effort into their decorating.

If you have little ones, the GF has a wonderful tea party. My daughter really enjoyed this!!

Most of all, use it as a day to rest. DW can be exhausting!!

[tigger]

Does Disney have a shuttle over to vero(?sp) beach...if so you could do a beach day.

[tiggerlover1971]

here are a few things I would do during a non park day at christmas time

1 go to DTD and shop and look at christmas decorations
2) Resort hop to look at everyones decorations maybe get a nice lunch at one of the hotels
3) if you have a car go to Celebration and walk their Main street I believe nightly they have snow blowing down but not sure and some of their restaurants are so good and reasonably priced

[mickey]

Originally Posted by tigger

Does Disney have a shuttle over to vero(?sp) beach...if so you could do a beach day.

Vero Beach is nearly 2 hours Southeast of WDW. The only way to get there is a rental car, and then if you don't have a reservation, you can't use the beach. You might as well drive elsewhere to a public beach if you are going to have a beach day.

Head to Animal Kingdom Lodge for a tour (great for kids) and then eat at Boma for lunch.

Rent a surry bike on the boardwalk after dinner. After that, grab some ice cream and watch the buskers.

Take your swim suit with you and see how many pools you can pool hop until you get caught.

Go on a DVC tour.

Send Mickey some Tonga Toast.

Go to Disney Quest.

Drop the kids off at the Grand Floridian for the Pirate Adventure (make a PS ahead of time) and have a couple of hours with no kids (who cares what you do, NO KIDS!).

[tigger]

Originally Posted by mickey

Vero Beach is nearly 2 hours Southeast of WDW. The only way to get there is a rental car, and then if you don't have a reservation, you can't use the beach. You might as well drive elsewhere to a public beach if you are going to have a beach day.

Thanks Mickey I thought it was closer

[inluvwithdisney]

All of these ideas are great keep them coming!

Originally Posted by Pooh Fan

Take an old fashioned sleigh ride (Wilderness Lodge offered these last year)
During Christmas week Santa and the characters will be at various resorts
Go the the campfire at Ft. Wilderness and roast smores with Chip and Dale

I really love the sleigh ride and campfire idea thanks ! I know the kids would love both of these and I would have never thought of these! Thanks any others would be appreciated!

[CaribBeachNut]

My family and I spend more non park days than park days during our WDW vacation. We call them 'down days'. Some we spend at the pool at CBR, some we spend shopping at the malls outside of WDW, or exploring the Orlando area, or stocking up on necessities at the local Publix. Sometimes we take the bus and explore all the other Disney hotels, just to see if we're missing anything. Offsite, there are Nike outlet stores there with terrific deals. My son likes that, as his foot size is 18 and 1/2. So finding shoes is a problem for him. There is a tiffany glass museum in Orlando that I wish to see, and I haven't been to Gatorland yet. Those are on my list of sites to visit next. Don't forget Seaworld and NASA Spaceport USA, MedievalTimes and Church Street Station, and the Universal parks. Kissimmee/St. Cloud has some wonderful places to visit, and the Orlando Chamber of Commerce will send you their Orlando Magic Card for free which gives you (I believe 3%) discount on items you purchase. The restaurants there are very good and less expensive than their WDW cousins. Off site restaurants have to compete and draw crowds away from the parks. Good food and cheaper prices is how they do it. The hay ride is very nice, and so is horseback riding. But an annual favorite is to nap in the hammock outside the hotel and then get up and take a dip in the pool, eat lunch and go back to sleep. Our whole family will attest to that one!

[Pooh Fan]

Originally Posted by inluvwithdisney

All of these ideas are great keep them coming!



I really love the sleigh ride and campfire idea thanks ! I know the kids would love both of these and I would have never thought of these! Thanks any others would be appreciated!

You are welcome. Glad I could help. I am so excited for our upcoming trip that I can hardly wait. We booked it back in July, so I have had a ton of time to plan, plan, plan some more. I think my kids will enjoy the sleigh ride and the campfire also.

[Baloo85]

1) Go to Downtown Disney and relax!
2) Hang out at your hotel/poolside!
3) Check out all the other hotels you passed up...this is especially nice at Christmas time because you can see all the different decorations.
4) Think about going on the Jungle Cruise 9 gazillion times!
5) Ride the monorail all over the place! It is free and does not hurt the environment!
6) Check out my family stone outside of the magic kingdom. It is located at this long pathway, along the monorail track. You can't miss it...lol!

[inluvwithdisney]

Originally Posted by Pooh Fan

You are welcome. Glad I could help. I am so excited for our upcoming trip that I can hardly wait. We booked it back in July, so I have had a ton of time to plan, plan, plan some more. I think my kids will enjoy the sleigh ride and the campfire also.

Hey we are going to be there at the same time! Where are you staying? Maybe we could meet!
Everyone thinks I am crazy that I am soo excited this early and that I am already planning. I am glad all the DCers are just like me!

[inluvwithdisney]

Originally Posted by Baloo85

1) Go to Downtown Disney and relax!
2) Hang out at your hotel/poolside!
3) Check out all the other hotels you passed up...this is especially nice at Christmas time because you can see all the different decorations.
4) Think about going on the Jungle Cruise 9 gazillion times!
5) Ride the monorail all over the place! It is free and does not hurt the environment!
6) Check out my family stone outside of the magic kingdom. It is located at this long pathway, along the monorail track. You can't miss it...lol!

Good ideas especially #4 ! We love the Jungle Cruise!

I have never seen the family stone, sounds cool! I will add that to my must see list!

Thanks!

[Baloo85]

Family stones are great...they are our little bit of disney property!!!

[inluvwithdisney]

Originally Posted by Baloo85

Family stones are great...they are our little bit of disney property!!!

Cool what does yours say so I know which one it is!