Best way to tackle a non park day?

[pigletgirl]

Little Background: I have decided today that we are not going to have a car while we are staying on WDW property unless we can get an amazing deal! It'll be awhile before we know that (going in September). So, I'm planning the idea that we won't have one. I am travelling with my mom and daughter (2 years at time of travel).

Option A:
Brunch ADR at either Boma or Kona Café
If Boma, tour AKL; If Kona, tour Monorail Resorts
DTD shopping with a possible snack at Ghirardelli
Swimming in the afternoon after rest time
Dinner at Signature Restaurant (California Grill...)

Option B:
Sleep In (breakfast at Pop)
Pool time
Rest time
Dinner in DTD at Raglan Road
Shopping after dinner

The idea is to step away from the park for a day and get re-energized for the next 3 days we will have in the parks.

Thoughts? What does your family like to do on an off day?

P.S -- If we do find a great deal on a car, we'll hit the outlets.

 

[RustManFan]

we dine at FW (Trail's End), take the boat from MK to get there and back and visit DTD

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We always sleep in and do pool time. Maybe do dinner at our resort or another resort. But we use a non park day as rest day for our legs so we try to limit walking.

 

[lemondog]

Option B is almost always how we do our non-park day. We always go Sat-Sat. We arrive Sat morning, hang at resort, swim and do dinner at Ohana (tradition). We do parks Sun-Tues, off day Wed and parks again Th-F, breakfast at Kona on Sat and hit the road. We are creatures of habit!

At any rate, on Wed we ALWAYS sleep in. We are a rope drop family so that day with no alarm is crucial. We get up at our leisure, do QS breakfast at resort, swim and hang out. We will do an early dinner ADR (5ish) then shop at DTD. If it's super rainy (rare for it to be a wash out when we travel in July) I don't know what we would do, ha! We have always gotten lucky with sun on our off day.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Sleep in and pool time. Enjoy the resort and environs. Last trip with the entire family we slept in, spent some time at the pool, then rented the jet-ski lites for the kids.

 

[redhotariel]

Here is my advice. You already have 2-3 solid plans. Why don't you just wake up that morning whenever your body tells you to, and then pick whichever plan feels right when you wake up that day!

 

[Meriweather]

We always do a nice breakfast.....character or Boma.
DTD for shopping and wandering
rest time.....we don't do pools, but that is a good choice for you
dinner at a TS spot....resort or DtD

We always have at least one park free day per visit, sometimes 2

 

[larryz]

Don't forget miniature golf at one of the two courses on property.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

My family and I don't really sleep in much. It's just not us. So, I like your option A. It's most similar to how we do non-park days. We've done some different things, though.

One day, we got up and went to Fort Wilderness to Tri Circle D Ranch. It was easy to get there because we were at Wilderness Lodge. We saw the animals and calliope, let our daughter ride a pony, and enjoyed the grounds. Then, we took a bus to Animal Kingdom and ate at Rainforest Cafe. From there, we explored Animal Kingdom Lodge and had dinner at Sanaa.

Another day, we got up and had breakfast at the counter service restaurant at the hotel, but dined out by the pool. I loved that because it was nice to feel completely relaxed with no where to run off to that morning. I love people watching and this was a great opportunity to see people getting ready and heading off to the different parks and all of the enthusiasm on their faces. Anyway, then we went for a swim because in the mornings, the pools are dead. We then went and explored the monorail resorts and had dinner at Chef Mickey's.

One other day, we had a later breakfast at 'Ohana. From there, we went to Downtown Disney and played a round of miniature golf at Winter Summerland. Then we took a break in the middle of the afternoon and had dinner at Whispering Canyon.

 

[FancyNancy]

We did something like Option B back in August. We slept in, had some pool time, went to DTD, ate lunch at Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Shopped, Dinner at T-Rex, then back to the resort for more pool time and a movie.

 

[minnie mum]

Our prime aim on a non park day is to rest, so we sleep in. (Unless DH has a round of golf planned, in which case I still sleep in ).

Then a late breakfast somewhere. Perhaps at our resort. Sometimes at another resort. Then the pool (or lying by the pool). Depending on how long we've been there, I may overexert myself by throwing in a load or 2 of laundry, and then lying by the pool to recover while I wait for the load to finish. Then a nap.

In the evening we will usually go to DTD or another resort for a long dinner and a few beverages. If at DTD we may stroll around and do some window shopping. Or we might do a dinner show.

The nice thing about a day off from the parks is that you don't have to plan it out if you dont want to. You can actually have a day of spontaneity for a change. Well, except for having an ADR, if you want one.

 

[Biggie Smalls]

I would keep your options open too, as your family might want to do something totally random once you actually get down there. But I am totally for a late sleep, pool, and then DTD for dinner/shopping. Utilize the amazing pools especially since the weather is still so warm in September. I would also make a good ressie for the morning somewhere else at your open window just in case the weather turns out to be bad that week and the pool is out. You can cancel 24 hours in advance and still protect yourself.

 

[Craigdarroch]

A non park day for us always has to start with "Trail's End" buffet for breakfast. Love the laid back... get away from it all atmosphere there. We usually stroll around the area after breakfast and visit some of the animals, the boat dock, the gift shop, etc.

Monorail resorts are fun too. We like Kona for lunch and then take a stroll on the beach at the Poly, or just sit on the beach and enjoy the view (we have no kids, but have seen many playing and building sand castles on the beach). Great for photo ops as well! Fun to see the fireworks from the monorail resorts at night as well.

DTD is always fun, but I would say try to get there in the morning hours. By late afternoon, it's always fairly crowded and noisy.