Non-park ideas for Friday after Thanksgiving

[Moushe]

We are driving up Friday 11/25, arriving around noon. I have an ADR to Hoop Dee Doo for 4:30pm. we were planning on going straight there, exploring the campground, then after dinner sticking around for the CHip and Dale campfire songs later in the evening and then check in to our hotel. however I'm now considering canceling the ADR due to budgetary reasons.

Can anyone suggest things we can do on Friday afternoon if I decide to cancel to ADR?

My kids are 2 & 4. and we are staying offsite at the Marriott Village.

We have annual passes but I hear that day is insane crowd-wise so I wanted to avoid the parks.
If we do a Monorail Resort tour will there be enought things to see/do. How about Disney Springs?

Or should I just keept he ADR seeing as we would have to eat anyway and QS places may be packed? (I have TIW which will expire next month, thats why I had originally booked HDD, but now I am looking at the cost and thinking it is too $$$)

Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[hiroMYhero]

We are driving up Friday 11/25, arriving around noon. I have an ADR to Hoop Dee Doo for 4:30pm. we were planning on going straight there, exploring the campground, then after dinner sticking around for the CHip and Dale campfire songs later in the evening and then check in to our hotel. however I'm now considering canceling the ADR due to budgetary reasons.

Can anyone suggest things we can do on Friday afternoon if I decide to cancel to ADR?

My kids are 2 & 4. and we are staying offsite at the Marriott Village.

We have annual passes but I hear that day is insane crowd-wise so I wanted to avoid the parks.
If we do a Monorail Resort tour will there be enought things to see/do. How about Disney Springs?

Or should I just keept he ADR seeing as we would have to eat anyway and QS places may be packed? (I have TIW which will expire next month, thats why I had originally booked HDD, but now I am looking at the cost and thinking it is too $$$)

Any suggestions are welcome!

Disney Springs will be having a Black Friday sale with lots of discounts everywhere. Santa has a meet and greet there if you'd like your kids to meet him. They have a pager system so you don't have to stand in line - your family can browse/shop around and return when paged.
Full List of Holiday Offerings at Disney Springs Nov 11th through Jan 8th-Black Friday Deals Post 50

The Monorail Resorts and Epcot Resorts have great Christmas & Gingerbread displays. With the ages of your kids, I think touring Art of Animation resort is fun. You can also walk across the bridge to Pop and have a meal at either of the two resorts.

 

[jvz82]

The day that we check-in to the hotel we decided not to go to the parks, mostly for financial reasons. But also because I feel like since we're paying so much money for a resort, I want my kids to get to enjoy it! So we're going to go to Disney Springs earlier in the day to meet Santa and see the Christmas trees, and then once we're able to check in we will spend the afternoon at the hotel swimming and checking out the playgrounds and walking paths. My kids are young too (1, 3, 5, 7) and I feel like just a day at the resort will be enough for them to be happy. Are you staying at a resort or at the campground?

I LOVE HDD, some of my favorite memories are from there. I don't know if I would want to spend the money for young kids. That's totally a personal preference though! My kids are pretty busy and that show can get kind of long so I feel like I'd spend more time chasing them around than enjoying the show, lol. If your finances are tight, a QS meal might be better. If this was your only opportunity to go to HDD then you might want to go because it is really fun, but it sounds like you have APs so you may get another opportunity when your kids are a bit older.

 

[MGPDoDisney]

Disney Springs would be nice for the shopping, but it may be super crowded with the Black Friday sales.

One of our favorite things to do at Disney is resort hop! The Magic Kingdom resorts are beautiful and connected by the monorail (you kids would love it). The Epcot resorts (Beach Club and Boardwalk) are gorgeous as well. You could spend some time relaxing on the beach, get ice cream at Beaches and Cream, and then walk around to the Boardwalk for some Streetsmophere and shopping.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I, personally, would avoid Disney Springs on Black Friday. We were there last year on the day after Christmas, and it was so crowded, we could barely move. CM's were making "traffic lanes" just so people could walk through the complex. Not fun.

I think a monorail tour is a lovely idea. CR has a super cute Frozen display and the GF Christmas display and gingerbread house are unbelievable. Instead of paying all of that money for HDDR, you could grab QS at one of the resorts. I can't tell you from personal experience what resort QS will be the day after Thanksgiving, but I can tell you on Christmas Day last year, the Boardwalk (where we stayed) was virtually empty. It seemed as though everyone was in the parks. If you do a monorail tour, you could also take a boat from CR to Ft. W and just enjoy the resort. The stables, playground and sing-a-long are a lot of fun. In fact, you could simply go to Ft. W, perhaps make a reservation at Trails End (instead of HDDR), save a lot of money and still have the evening you were planning.

The EP resorts are also beautifully decorated and there will be entertainment on the Boardwalk in the evenings. At BWI, this year, they are also doing a decorate-your-own-cookie or cupcake event which might be fun.

 

[SunniKC]

Honestly? Avoid the outlet malls like the plague....in fact avoid driving ANYWHERE near them. I'd say it will be close to the same for Disney Springs.

 

[pigletgirl]

We are driving up Friday 11/25, arriving around noon. I have an ADR to Hoop Dee Doo for 4:30pm. we were planning on going straight there, exploring the campground, then after dinner sticking around for the CHip and Dale campfire songs later in the evening and then check in to our hotel. however I'm now considering canceling the ADR due to budgetary reasons.

Can anyone suggest things we can do on Friday afternoon if I decide to cancel to ADR?

My kids are 2 & 4. and we are staying offsite at the Marriott Village.

We have annual passes but I hear that day is insane crowd-wise so I wanted to avoid the parks.
If we do a Monorail Resort tour will there be enought things to see/do. How about Disney Springs?

Or should I just keept he ADR seeing as we would have to eat anyway and QS places may be packed? (I have TIW which will expire next month, thats why I had originally booked HDD, but now I am looking at the cost and thinking it is too $$$)

Any suggestions are welcome!

If it's warm enough, what about an afternoon at the resort with swimming?

 

[socababy]

We are doing an airboat swamp tour that day. We have an ADR for breakfast at 1900 and dinner ADR at Olivia's. Doing to airboat tour during the day.

 

[cassie58]

I agree, cancel the HDDR and do the resorts for Christmas decor. The kids will love riding the monorail, and the giant gingerbread house at GF is amazing, and you can buy a shingle to taste! If you stop in the Contemporary, you can peak down into Chef Mickey's if you want the kids to catch a glimpse of Mickey and the gang. (You can grab QS in the resorts if you get hungry along the way, and can always share meals if you like with the kids.) You could then hop the boat to Ft. W and as PP said eat at Trail's End if you can get an ADR, and still check out the sing-a-long, and you can buy the smores kit if you like to make those with the kids. Then head back with a view of the castle lit up, ready to get some sleep for your first park day!

 

[Babs1975]

We will do Seaworld on Friday and Discovery Cove on Saturday. We avoid Disney parks until Sunday due to high crowds! Your kids would probably love Seaworld.

 

[Moushe]

If it's warm enough, what about an afternoon at the resort with swimming?

we're from Miami, I dont think it will be warm enough for us .. Anything below 80 is COLD, lol

 

[Moushe]

Thank you all for the recomendations. I canceled the ADR and we are going ride the monorail to the different resorts getting off at each one to see their christmas decorations and do a little exploring!

I cant wait, only 4 days to go!!