Need help with no parks itinerary for toddler!

[liamthompson]

On the other hand, when we originally were going to do resort only, these were our ideas- Disney mini golf, water parks, character dining, pony rides at Ft Wilderness, Hoop- Dee- Doo Revue, fishing charter, Cirque du Soleil at Disney Springs. There is also the Crayola Experience and Peppa Pig park nearby that I’ve heard good things about.

Thanks for sharing your list! I've never seen hoop dee doo revue but it definitely looks like something little kids would enjoy!

 

[lanejudy]

My mom also keeps telling me we should just do a cruise The reason I haven't pulled the trigger is the logistics on getting to the cruise port and wanting that separate sleeping area.

If you cruise out of Port Canaveral you can arrange transportation through DCL. Or you might consider a DCL cruise out of Port Everglades -- it's very close to the Ft Lauderdale airport (and there may be DCL transportation available here as well).

Also to the separate sleeping area -- most staterooms have a curtain you can pull for privacy or to block light, but otherwise you would need a concierge suite to have entirely separate spaces. If the need is for naptime, many families like a verandah so the adult(s) can sit outside while the child(ren) nap.

 

[Shellyred8]

Here are my two favorite "free" boat rides at WDW: Contemporary to WL/FWC and the boats at DS.
If you take to boat to FWC, you can go see the horses at Tri-Circle D ranch (make sure to check their hours though).
You can take the bus from DS to Port Orleans FQ and walk around there. There is a little park that your toddler can play at for a bit. You can also grab some tasty beiniets while you are there.

You might want to look at doing the water park instead of one of the main parks. The tickets are less expensive.

 

[CoP Luv]

We did a no park trip with a toddler and our days were filled. At that age, they don’t know that major theme parks are close by, and having a pool and lots of space to run around is a perfect vacation to a toddler.

We did a split stay at an Art of Animation Suite (we had 4 adults plus the kiddo) and then moved across the way to Pop when part of our party left.

We just did a resort only stay (Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek - two bedroom/two bath condo with full kitchen -$500/two nights) and all my middle kiddo, who is past her toddler years, wanted to do was ride a Disney Bus and the Skyliner. And that we did. We spent an hour in the cars area of AoA taking pics before we caught the bus back to Disney Springs. The kids hit the pool for the rest of the afternoon before we headed to Disney Springs for dinner and lovely live music by the Boathouse.

When we took our toddler, we rode the monorail before going to Ohana’s for breakfast, back to the resort for a nap, then to Disney Springs for dinner and playing with Legos outside the Lego store. We also rode the boat to Fort Wilderness Campground to visit the stables, have dinner and see the Chip and Dale Campfire (not sure if this has returned). A lot of time was spend at the pool.

As far as staying at the Drury with no car, plan on everything taking twice as long. I stay at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs, which is about 5 minutes closer of a walk than the Drury. It takes me about 12 minutes from my room to reach DS security, and then another 10-15 minutes to reach the Disney busses if I am going to visit a resort. Add waiting for the bus and driving time, and it could be awhile.

You will enjoy your trip. Promise!

 

[mommyk8]

I would do Disney's Beach Club 1 bedroom villa. The pool area alone is a build-in mini water park. Skyliner or Boat to DHS to Bus to monorail resorts. I would do 1 day at Epcot. Turtle Talk, Nemo, Seas, Journey of Water, Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Gran Fiesta Tour, Remy's, and plenty of food & treats. That way if a park break is needed, your room is right there.

Storm along bay will be closed for refurbishment in February so not a good choice.

 

[Marthasor]

My mom also keeps telling me we should just do a cruise The reason I haven't pulled the trigger is the logistics on getting to the cruise port and wanting that separate sleeping area.

MCO is an easy direct flight for us which is why I thought it would be a good destination for toddler's first airplane ride. Spouse and I typically go to Florida in February for our anniversary trip/escape from winter and this year we flew instead of driving and it was soooo nice to be in warm weather by 10am instead of dragging ourselves in after dinnertime.

I hear you on considering alternative destinations! Tampa and Miami were on my short list too because they're also short direct flights, I might go take a look again. The beach hotels in Miami are crazy $$$ but I get that's because everyone else is trying to escape the cold too!

If a DCL cruise is in consideration, you could consider flying into MCO the night before, staying at the MCO Hyatt (it's in the airport) and simply booking the DCL bus from MCO to the cruise port. You can take a DCL bus directly back to MCO after the cruise.

 

[liamthompson]

If you cruise out of Port Canaveral you can arrange transportation through DCL. Or you might consider a DCL cruise out of Port Everglades -- it's very close to the Ft Lauderdale airport (and there may be DCL transportation available here as well).

Thank you for the tip about FLL, it looks like it's a 10 minute drive to the cruise port which is very convenient!

 

[liamthompson]

We did a no park trip with a toddler and our days were filled. At that age, they don’t know that major theme parks are close by, and having a pool and lots of space to run around is a perfect vacation to a toddler.

We did a split stay at an Art of Animation Suite (we had 4 adults plus the kiddo) and then moved across the way to Pop when part of our party left.

We just did a resort only stay (Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek - two bedroom/two bath condo with full kitchen -$500/two nights) and all my middle kiddo, who is past her toddler years, wanted to do was ride a Disney Bus and the Skyliner. And that we did. We spent an hour in the cars area of AoA taking pics before we caught the bus back to Disney Springs. The kids hit the pool for the rest of the afternoon before we headed to Disney Springs for dinner and lovely live music by the Boathouse.

When we took our toddler, we rode the monorail before going to Ohana’s for breakfast, back to the resort for a nap, then to Disney Springs for dinner and playing with Legos outside the Lego store. We also rode the boat to Fort Wilderness Campground to visit the stables, have dinner and see the Chip and Dale Campfire (not sure if this has returned). A lot of time was spend at the pool.

As far as staying at the Drury with no car, plan on everything taking twice as long. I stay at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs, which is about 5 minutes closer of a walk than the Drury. It takes me about 12 minutes from my room to reach DS security, and then another 10-15 minutes to reach the Disney busses if I am going to visit a resort. Add waiting for the bus and driving time, and it could be awhile.

You will enjoy your trip. Promise!

Thank you for this detailed writeup! It's helpful to read how your day was structured around eating/nap (because let's face it - that's what little kids spend a lot of time doing!)

Based on the approximate travel times you gave, would you budget about 1h from leaving the Drury to walk to Disney springs, go through security, wait for the bus, ride the bus, and finally arrive at your resort destination? If so, then this is definitely doable for my family (we occasionally do similar bus trips on the weekends for fun).

To check my understanding...if we were to stay at AoA and visit another resort (not on the skyliner), we would always have to transfer via a park.

So...I'm either doing 2 bus rides (if staying at AoA) or a bus ride + walk (if staying at Disney springs area)?

 

[liamthompson]

If a DCL cruise is in consideration, you could consider flying into MCO the night before, staying at the MCO Hyatt (it's in the airport) and simply booking the DCL bus from MCO to the cruise port. You can take a DCL bus directly back to MCO after the cruise.

I mentioned the Disney cruise to my parents and the idea about staying at the Hyatt at MCO is exactly what my dad said as well

My mom is very excited about this idea and wants us to do a big family cruise trip with my brother's family as well. Cruise was not even on my radar when I started looking at this but I'm going to start giving it a look. Maybe go over to the DCL forums, ha.

 

[sponica]

My mom also keeps telling me we should just do a cruise The reason I haven't pulled the trigger is the logistics on getting to the cruise port and wanting that separate sleeping area.

MCO is an easy direct flight for us which is why I thought it would be a good destination for toddler's first airplane ride. Spouse and I typically go to Florida in February for our anniversary trip/escape from winter and this year we flew instead of driving and it was soooo nice to be in warm weather by 10am instead of dragging ourselves in after dinnertime.

I hear you on considering alternative destinations! Tampa and Miami were on my short list too because they're also short direct flights, I might go take a look again. The beach hotels in Miami are crazy $$$ but I get that's because everyone else is trying to escape the cold too!

I did a DCL cruise with a 7.5 and 3.5 year old and it was far more relaxing than any other travel we've done with them (2 weeklong parks trips and a weekend trip to see extended family).

There are transfers from MCO to PC that you can book.

My 3 year old has FOMO on vacation and refuses to nap, so we just steer into that skid and either do some chill out time in the room or run her tired on the splash pad.

 

[Mouse Tracker]

So...I'm either doing 2 bus rides (if staying at AoA)

Actually Skyliner to DHS bus hub then bus to ? OR Bus to non Skyliner bus hub then bus to ?