Things to do outside the parks

We plan on taking our big Disney vacation in June of this year. Our Disney vacations the past two years have come on the DCL, but this year we decided to go back to WDW for a main vacation.

We intend to make reservations for the Polynesian sometime this week, or hopefully call our travel agent so we can get an idea of how much its going to cost. There will likely be three people traveling, including me. One of my companions and I will have Annual Passes, but my third companion, my adoptive sister, will not have an AP, nor any other pass, so this trip we will have to do things entirely outside the parks. I admit I'm a bit of a Disney Commando and that I'm always buzzing from ride to ride to get everything done. With that said, I do know about such things as the DTD Marketplace, Pleasure Island, DisneyQuest, ect.,

I was looking for some suggetions of "hidden gems" that aren't the common PI and DisneyQuest stuff that we could do on Disney property and would not cost too much, especially things at or around the Polynesian....though feel free to suggest things anywhere. People's ages that will be going are 50, 21 and 16 (in case anything your wanting to suggest has age limits).

I'm partial to the BoardWalk myself, but that's pretty much where I always stay.

For more info on the BoardWalk:
Disney's BoardWalk and the Epcot Resort Area

For general non-park stuff:
Beyond the Parks

One thing that I love to do and is actually inexpensive for annual pass holders is renting a pontoon boat for an hour and cruising the seven seas lagoon. I think it will be like $50 dollars or a little bit more for an hour split that three ways and it is a good deal. Also resort hoping can be a great cheap way to have some fun. Especially if you haven't seen very many of them. Also go to fort wilderness. There are trails over there. You can rent bike and go exploring. Fort Wilderness is really one of the hidden treasures in all of Walt Disney World. Play putt putt golf at winter summer land or fantasia gardens. These are two of the best mini golf courses every. Also you get a discount with annual pass. Thats all i can come up with for now but I am sure there is tons more stuff I am leaving out.

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Originally Posted by MandaBella

For more info on the BoardWalk:
Disney's BoardWalk and the Epcot Resort Area

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Also make sure you listen to Lou's podcast episode from last week (12/2/2007) as he and a listener spend about 20-30 minutes talking about the various entertainment on the Boardwalk. http://www.wdwradio.com/podcasts/wdw...3-12-02-07.mp3

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Originally Posted by Maestr034

Play putt putt golf at winter summer land or fantasia gardens. These are two of the best mini golf courses every. Also you get a discount with annual pass. Thats all i can come up with for now but I am sure there is tons more stuff I am leaving out.

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What about more info on the mini golf courses? Me and my boyfriend are huge into mini golf, but you really don't hear much about these courses. We were planning on going the evening of our arrival to POP (we're supposed to arrive at 5pm and we didn't want to use a day's worth of our tickets to enter a park).

Where are the courses located?? Is there a bus that will take you to them?? Does anyone have the hours they're open, etc??

Fantasia Gardens is across the street from the Dolphin resort. From your resort, take a bus to the Disney/MGM (Disney Hollywood) Studios, and then take a Friendship boat from the Studios to the Dolphin. From there, follow the signs to the Fantasia Gardens Minigolf. If you can't find it, enter the Dolphin and either look at the resort map or ask an employee.

WinterSummerland is attached to the side of Blizzard Beach. From your resort, take the bus for Blizzard Beach. You do not need to enter the water park to get to the golf course - it's just located off the same parking lot.

WinterSummerland is actually two side-by-side courses, one winter-themed and the other summer-themed. I have to say I think WinterSummerland is the inferior of two options. It's not remotely challenging, and is really designed *just* for kids. If you have the option, I strongly recommend Fantasia Gardens. It is a much more whimsical and more enjoyable course. It is also attached to a Par 3 "real" golf course, called the Fantasia Fairways.

The other thing to consider is that the water parks close around 5 or 6pm, so if you go to WinterSummerland, you might be risking stranding yourself there if you finish after the last bus has left Blizzard Beach (though I'm sure Disney would find a way to help you out).

I don't know the hours offhand, but you can call 1-407-WDW-PLAY to find out, I think. If not that, 1-407-WDW-GOLF.

I think the cost is $10, with the second round being half-price if you want to play again. There's also a 50% discount for Annual Passholders, if that applies to you.

Have a great time!

You can always go to the surfing lessons but that is at Typhoon Lagoon.

While park tickets are expensive as we all know, so are the "other" wonders of the world. If two of you already have AP's and only one does not it might be cheaper to purchase a park pass for her verses 3 people x admission to Quest, mini golf etc. The cost of doing these non park things for 3 adult prices probably would cost more than buying a park pass for her. Just a thought.

You can always leave the property and go to Old Town in Kissimmee,go up International Dr,to some stuff up there.The Titanic Exhibition is great.It's at the Mercado shopping complex.We went one year further down 192 past the Wal Mart,and went out in a motorized self driven boat,in a natural part of Fl,in a swampy area.It was cool,about $20 an hour.Completely safe.

My roommates and I for the College Program were there for seven months and when we weren't in the parks chances are we were doing one of five things (assuming we werent at Vista sleeping)

1.Mini-golfing at either one of disney's four places or at Pirate's cove which is right outside of the disney gates
2.Playing cards at the Hard Rock in Tampa
3.Seeing a movie at the AMC in DtD
4.Relaxing by a pool at one of the resorts or at BB or TL
5. There are plenty of clubs in downtown Orlando

Here's my current list for avoiding the parks during busier days.

Fireworks and/or movie from Polynesian beach
Sea Raycer rental weather permitting
walk or take boat between OKW and DTD
Olivia's in OKW
Babycakes in DTD

How about taking a horseback ride at the circle D ranch? Also, exploring the various resorts is something I always loved to do back in the day. But now there are so many things to do at WDW it's really difficult to do so. If I had a fair amount of free time I would definitely head over to the resorts I haven't had a chance to see before because a) I think they're cool and b) it would give me some personal experience when making decisions for future trips to the world.