By: Merritt Grusecki, a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent
When planning a trip to Walt Disney World, it’s hard to comprehend just how big the entire property actually is—Walt Disney World consists of 27,000 acres of land in central Florida! Most people concentrate on making sure that they visit the four main parks while they are there. But did you know that Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom combined make less than a thousand acres of land?! If you really want to make the most of your trip and enjoy everything that Disney World has to offer, you need to build at least one non-park day into your vacation!
There are so many things to do at Disney World in addition to the parks that shouldn’t be missed! Three reasons that you should add in a resort day on your next trip are having enough time to enjoy your resort, explore other resorts on property, and check out Disney Springs.
If you are staying on Disney property, building in time to just enjoy your own resort is essential. Disney’s attention to detail and impeccable theming are evident in each of the over twenty different resorts run by Disney. Plus, each resort has it’s own themed pool where you can beat the Florida heat for a while! Most resorts also run scheduled activities for families to participate in as well, including making arts and crafts, pool parties with games and karaoke, and outdoor movies and bonfires in the evenings. Even some adult only activities like wine tastings are available at some deluxe resorts for an extra fee, perfect for a Disney adult vacation! If you need some relaxation time in the room, one of my favorite things to do to unwind on a Disney trip is watch Mickey cartoons on tv! All Disney resort televisions have a tv channel available that shows nothing but Mickey Mouse shorts (with a break for kid’s bedtime stories each evening), perfect for setting the Disney mood.
Once you’ve enjoyed your own resort, it’s time to explore other resorts on property! If you are staying at a resort connected to other resorts through the monorail, Skyliner, or boats, it’s easy to do. If you are not staying at one of these resorts, or want to explore another resort more off the beaten track, it’s also easy to use Disney transportation to get to other resorts—just take a bus to Disney Springs, then take a bus from there to the resort that you would like to explore! Putting together a “resort crawl” can be a great way to spend a day at Disney World. Checking out the beaches, lounges, and restaurants of the three monorail resorts—the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian—can easily take a full day, and if you stay until the evening, you might be able to watch the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom from across the lake!
Another fun “crawl” is exploring the resorts linked by the Skyliner, Disney’s gondola system that connects Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, and the Riviera Resort to the Epcot resort area of the Boardwalk and Beach and Yacht Club Resorts. If you time your crawl to end near the Boardwalk Resort in the evening, it is possible to see the Epcot fireworks from the bridge leading to Epcot from the resort—no park ticket required! Other resorts worth exploring on their own, even if you aren’t staying there, are Animal Kingdom Lodge and Fort Wilderness. These resorts are must sees if you have animal lovers in your family! To get to Animal Kingdom Lodge, you must take a bus from Disney Springs from your resort, but the journey will be worth it—in addition to having some of the best restaurants anywhere on Disney property, there are over 200 animals of over 30 different species who call the savannahs surrounding the resort home, easily visible from the lobby and pool areas in addition to the balconies of most of the resort rooms! Make sure that you visit during the day to get the best animal views! Fort Wilderness is another great destination for animal lovers. Many people don’t even realize that Disney World has a ranch on property, but the Tri-Circle-D Ranch at Fort Wilderness offers pony rides as well as horseback riding for guests! You can also book fishing trips as well. To get to Fort Wilderness, you can take a boat from outside the entrance of the Magic Kingdom, or take a bus from Disney Springs.
Disney Springs is another non-park destination that can easily require a full day to explore on its own. This entertainment district consists of nearly one hundred shops, over 50 restaurants and snack stops, and multiple recreational activities for your family. Shopping at unique stores like the World of Disney, the largest Disney store in the world, or the Marketplace Co-op, featuring different pop-up shops that change from time to time, can be a great way to find souvenirs—but be sure to check out chain stores like Uniqlo and Columbia for their exclusive Disney merchandise as well. Dining options at Disney Springs are overwhelming—way more great restaurants to try than can fill an entire vacation’s worth of meals!
Three of my personal favorites are Homecomin’, a Southern restaurant run by celebrity chef Art Smith, Wine Bar George, an unpretentious casual wine bar run by acclaimed Master Sommelier George Miliotes, and Raglan Road, an Irish pub with a huge menu that serves delicious food along with live Irish dance and music most evenings. For dessert, a classic hot fudge sundae from Ghirardelli can’t be beat—unless it’s by a giant chocolate chip cookie from Gideon’s Bakehouse! In addition to eating and shopping, you can also go bowling at Splitsville, check out the latest Disney movie playing at the AMC movie theater, take a ride in an amphibious vintage-looking Amphicar around the lake, ride up in the Aerophile balloon to get a great view over the entire area, or get tickets to see Drawn to Life, a Cirque du Soleil production exclusive to Disney Springs.
With so many ideas in mind, you might find yourself needing to book even more than just one non-park day into your next Disney vacation package! Make sure that you are not missing out on any of the fun that Walt Disney World has to offer, and reach out to Merritt, an agent with Marvelous Mouse Travels or contact Marvelous Mouse Travels today to get advice on how to fit in all of the must-do’s for your next Disney vacation.
