No Park Day At Disney World
Disney Travel || Tags: Disney ||What is a no park day at Disney? On your vacation you may have decided to take a few “down days” to relax, but what should you do on a day that you don’t visit a park? Luckily there are lots of things to entertain you. I think I could spend almost a whole week taking in all the things to do outside the parks! Taking a day at Disney without going to the parks can help you save a little bit of money, but you can still meet characters, see fireworks, and so much more!
Pool
The most obvious thing to do is to relax at your hotel pool for the day. All of the onsite hotels have pools. In general the pools are nicer at the moderate and deluxe resorts because they are usually bigger and have slides, but the pools at the value resorts are nice too! It’s worth noting that you can’t “pool hop” (use pools of resorts you aren’t staying at).
Pool At The All Star Sports
Resort Activities
When you check in at your resort you should get a timetable for resort activities. Most resorts have “Movies Under The Stars” outside by the pool, arts and crafts, trivia, bingo and many many more! You can participate in other resorts activities, but some of them do cost money. Fort Wilderness has a Camp Fire Singalong with Chip and Dale, or you can have tea with princess at The Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian. You can do activities at any of the resorts, you don’t have to be a guest!
Need help planning your Disney World vacation? Here’s my step by step guide!
Meet Characters
You don’t need a park ticket to meet some awesome characters at Disney! You can find character meals at:
- Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort
- 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian
- Storybook Dining at the Wilderness Lodge
- ‘Ohana at the Polynesian Resort
- Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club
- Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk Resort
- Mickey’s Backyard BBQ at Fort Wilderness Resort
- Garden Grove at the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel *not eligible on the Disney Dining Plan
Note that the characters might change and some resorts only offer character meals at breakfast or dinner. Make sure to check online before you book!
Once in a while you’ll find characters roaming around the resorts, usually around holidays! Of course this is not guaranteed.
Disney Springs
Disney Springs is a shopping and entertainment district on Disney property. There are lots of fun shops to browse, from Disney themed stores to Mac cosmetics, and Kate Spade to unique stores like Lefty’s – The left hand store. There are over 100 stores to browse!
Disney Springs also has great night life for the adults. House of Blues, Paradiso 37 Entertainment and several other restaurants have live entertainment.
Check out all the things to do on an adults only vacation to Disney!
The Boardwalk
Disney’s Boardwalk comes to life at night with the Atlantic Dance Hall, a nightclub that plays music from the 80s, 90s, and today. Jellyrolls is a piano bar, with piano maestros that can apparently play anything! There are also a few restaurants and dining in this area but it is much smaller than Disney Springs.
The Boardwalk
Golf or Mini Golf
A round of golf is a great way to spend a no park day! There are several golf courses, and there are 2 mini golf courses on property. The mini golf courses are Fantasia Gardens are at the Walt Disney World Swan Resort; Winter Summerland is next to Blizzard Beach. For more info see here.
Explore Other Resorts
You can enjoy any resort on property (besides their pools). It’s nice to check out the deluxe resorts and walk their grounds. Take the monorail around to check out The Contemporary, The Grand Floridian, and The Polynesian resorts. You can still see animals at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The value resorts are also worth checking out, especially if you have little ones, as they all have larger than life characters for you to pose with!
You can also find hidden Mickeys around the resorts as well. Some resorts have a list so you can do your own hidden Mickey scavenger hunt.
View from Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House
The Grand Floridian Resort
Eat
You can eat at any resort on property, and there are lots of restaurants at Disney Springs and The Boardwalk. Some of our favorites include Sanaa at The Animal Kingdom Lodge, Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk Inn, and The Wave at the Contemporary Resort
Headed to Disney with food allergies? Here’s what you need to know!
Get Pampered
There are several places on property to visit the spa. The Grand Floridian, Coronado Springs, The Yacht Club, Saratoga Springs, the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel all have spas and salons for women and men to enjoy. Young “princesses and knights” (age 3-12) can head to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Disney Springs for a royal makeover. All services you should register for in advance by calling 407-WDW-SPAS for the Spa, and 407-WDW-STYLE for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.
Fireworks
Yes you can still see fireworks even if you don’t have a park ticket! You can catch some of Magic Kingdom’s Happily Ever After from outside the gates at Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Polynesian Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, or Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
Photo Courtesy of Christine Nickerson Photography. See her Disney Instagram!
As you can see there is so much to do outside the parks! What have you done on a no park day at Disney?
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14 responses to “No Park Day At Disney World”
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Great list. Although it’s unlikely that I will turn down a Disney park day, I would probably be found eating or lounging at the pool area for the entire off day.
agree! Although I’m REALLY tempted to book a deluxe resort for 5-7 days and only do 1 or 2 park days!
Very useful and informative post 🙂
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful
Mini-golf is still on our list! We love visiting the Boardwalk and relaxing at the pool on non-park days. We also love the fireworks from Ohana at the Polynesian.
I love mini golf! The pool is always great too. It’s so nice you can see fireworks outside the parks.
The Disney hotels are so amazing! At Disneyland Hotel, we arrive early the day before the park just to enjoy the hotel. A pool day and character dining really does the soul well.
For sure! Can’t wait to check out Disneyland!!
Every time I visit I say I am going to do a no park day and my husband and son suck me right back in lol!
haha! The parks are pretty awesome though 😉
Such a great post and so many of my favorite things to do on No Park days!! You are making me home sick for a trip to Disney for sure!! Thank you for sharing on #mousefanmondays hope to see you this week too!
I’m homesick too! I love #mousefanmondays!!
Never forget a spa day.. I did one the last time I was there. It was so relaxing. Got me recharged to finish the trip on a high note
That is definitely on my Disney World bucket list! What one did you go to?