Must See/Do at Disney World NOT in Theme parks?

[Monakie78]

Yeah, outside of a few exceptions, there are no sidewalks between the resorts so you are not advised to go strolling.

It looks like they may have realized that the course was inaccessible on foot, I just pulled up a map, if you now get off at the boat dock for Swan/Dolphin, walk towards the swan, then towards the beach, cross 4 lanes of traffic in a crosswalk that doesn't have a signal (not sure how busy the road is or that I would want to take that risk with the way tourists might drive) and you are there. It's about a quarter mile as well.

Might be safer to go to winter summerland.

Yeah, with 3 small children in tote, I wouldn't venture walking there. We're going to drive right there. If our fun passes cover the winter summerland, then we may do both mini golfs. I didn't even remember that Blizzard Beach had mini golf, because we always make a beeline straight for the waterslides. Even before we had kids, my husband & I ran with arms flailing and full of excitement straight to the waterslides

[Monakie78]

This is a great thread!

To put in your pocket in case of rain: I spent many hours at DisneyQuest on a free pass waiting for my family's arrival this spring and if you have free tickets anyways and are in that area....there is this thing called Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlasters. It is bumper cars, but you shoot rubber cannon balls at the other drivers and if you hit them they spin out of control. Its a BLAST. I rode it like 300 times. It takes a driver and a passenger to load and fire the cannon. Also, they have that same animation class that they have at MGM, which is highly enjoyable and all the kids doing it loved it. I and 5 small children also liked all the games in the kids section - a lot of movement games and one where you had to balance block faces in a pile that drove me nuts. Finally, there is virtual Space Mountain where you design a rollercoaster and then RIDE IT in a flight simulator thing that goes upside down if you program it for that - super great. But yeah, the big problem with DQ is that all that technology just moves too fast to of built such a huge place around it.

One little and awesome thing - at the Boardwalk in the evenings in the Lobby and the bar/snack area and kind of meandering around the walk there is this street magician. Young guy. He is AWESOME. He's awesome. The whole family couldn't get enough. Maybe if you called the hotel they could tell you when he will be around. He solves a Rubix Cube blindfolded.

Awesome! Thanks for the real insider info on Disney Quest. I read a lot of poor reviews, so I was very hesitant. Plus, I didn't mention that I get motion sickness from video games/movies. I can tolerate low level games (arcade, regular nintendo/sega....as soon as it becomes 3D like, I get real queasy. Are most of the games more 3D like? I would probably end up spending most of my time with my 3 year old. Is there enough for a 3 year old to do & enough things that wouldn't cause motion sickness in the small kids area?

Just added the Boardwalk magician to my list

So, the thing I actually really liked about DQ is that they have tons and tons of arcade games from all different eras and you just walk up and play them. They have every 80s game, 90s game and all the new ones. I think I remember even playing Joust. A whole room of multi-player car racing games where you each get a car and race each other - I think I remember one set that was geared towards younger riders. Also a whole room of pinball which I liked a lot. A large bank of Guitar Hero - they had to secure the guitars though so I think they are a tad heavy for kids. Some other room of stuff that I can't remember now but I remember enjoying. The layout of the place is very casino-like in that its hard to find your way around, but its fine.
They kind of tried to make the main attractions motion and 3D games and for me, they were the lowest part of everything. They are pretty easy to avoid - your kids will see the signs for them and there aren't lines at all, so you can just let them go on them (there are cast members closely supervising) and sit it out or try to hustle them by. They might think they are kind of neat or they might think after the first one that they are lame bc they aged so fast. I tried them all and the only one I thought was enjoyable was the Pirates of the Caribbean - I think on the first floor. Your whole family gets on this boat that rocks around a bit (you might want to avoid - it feels like a boat), one person steers and everyone has a cannon - the same one in Toy Story - and you just shoot the heck out of boats. Actually, that one is fun - I smiled a lot and I think the kids would dig it. I'm not sure if it would be a little scary for the 3yo or not.
I think in general its like being in a REALLY high end Chuck E. Cheese - has that same noise factor and everyone happily scampering around. I think like 2-3 hours and everyone will be fulfilled and ready to go.
The small kids area doesn't have any 3D games - lots of whap the button or pop-up things, basketball hoops, skeeball, test your luck, giant slice the fruit screens and some very nice younger kid games that I found totally addictive. I have no idea what a 3yo's tolerance is - maybe an hour? There is a food court! I think you two could ride those bumper cars all day though - I don't know what the height limit was so maybe not Oh yeah, you could do that animation thing too - my nephew really dug it and he was 5.
Well, let me know if you have anymore questions. If you do go, its nice and dark inside and then when you go back outside, everyone is all <blink blink blink> for twenty minutes or so.

Wow! Excellent review! I was leaning towards not going because of the poor reviews I read on another website. Now I'm leaning towards going to Disney Quest because of your review. My 3 year old actually loves video games. He also likes all the pop-up games, whack it games. I'm probably the only one who would get the most bored Speaking of getting sick on rides....if someone tells you Mission to Mars won't make you sick if you stare straight ahead vs closing your eyes, THEY'RE LYING! I'm going to have to rethink this whole Disney Quest thing. If you think 2-3 hours is good enough, then we might give it a whirl.

[cy1229]

The girls and I went to Disney Quest in 2008. They were 9 and 13. We had a lot of fun for a couple hours. Ellie, my younger girl, loved the computer drawing activities, where she could add pictures like fruits, stars, etc. to a picture she drew or a pre-drawn one. Kind of like digital coloring books with digital stickers, and you could get a printout if you want, for a fee of course. The Pirates ride WAS a lot of fun, I would recommend it. We rode some kind of motorcycle ride with a goggle-helmet sort of thing with the 3D projection on it, and that made me queasy. If it's part of your ticket package then it's great, but I'm not sure I would spend extra for it unless someone in my group was a SERIOUS arcade fan.

Keep in mind, I have no way of knowing how things have changed in six years... But it sounds like the Pirates ride hasn't changed at all.

[Wizzard419]

From what I understand, it is in maintenance mode as the DQ venture is an ended one and they are just waiting for something else to put there. So odds are it is the same today (just more worn down) as it was 15 years ago.

[SimonTemplar]

I always wondered, how do you get to the Fantasia Gardens mini-golf course? Do you take transport to the Swan/Dolphin (whatever way you choose) and then walk from there?

Actually, if you go behind the Swan and take the sidewalk past the pool, you just continue on that sidewalk and it will bear left and take you across a crosswalk and right to the tennis courts and Fantasia Gardens miniature golf.

[Swanny8777]

It sounds like you're getting a ton of great ideas, but I know one thing my wife and I love to do is search out Hidden Mickeys. It's a load of fun for us and we're adults, I'd imagine it'd be great fun for the kids!

[Goofyfan]

I think when we finaly move to Florida, we will find other things outside Disney to do. As for now.....Parks,Parks Parks.

[Monakie78]

It sounds like you're getting a ton of great ideas, but I know one thing my wife and I love to do is search out Hidden Mickeys. It's a load of fun for us and we're adults, I'd imagine it'd be great fun for the kids!

We have fun doing that too. I think I might jot it down & have the kids make a contest out of it. When we go to the zoo, we have a turtle contest. I know there is a book that details all the hidden mickeys.....I'm not sure if it's only sold in the resorts, I'm going to look online later. Thanks for the hidden mickey reminder!

[Monakie78]

I always wondered, how do you get to the Fantasia Gardens mini-golf course? Do you take transport to the Swan/Dolphin (whatever way you choose) and then walk from there?

Actually, if you go behind the Swan and take the sidewalk past the pool, you just continue on that sidewalk and it will bear left and take you across a crosswalk and right to the tennis courts and Fantasia Gardens miniature golf.

Good to know! Insider info is the best! Writing it down.....

[Amy]

I think when we finaly move to Florida, we will find other things outside Disney to do. As for now.....Parks,Parks Parks.

This is my mindset exactly!

It sounds like you're getting a ton of great ideas, but I know one thing my wife and I love to do is search out Hidden Mickeys. It's a load of fun for us and we're adults, I'd imagine it'd be great fun for the kids!

We have fun doing that too. I think I might jot it down & have the kids make a contest out of it. When we go to the zoo, we have a turtle contest. I know there is a book that details all the hidden mickeys.....I'm not sure if it's only sold in the resorts, I'm going to look online later. Thanks for the hidden mickey reminder!

I'm sure you can find the books online. Here is a link to a quick google search...Lots of options available
http://www.google.com/search?client=saf ... 8&oe=UTF-8

[RobinSandusky]

Maybe going to Disney Quest is a bad idea. I just read a lot of very recent bad reviews on it. All the times we've been to Disney, we never went there.

I'm sad and not surprised to hear that.

The last time we went to Disney Quest was in 2008. It was just really.... I don't know, I hate to say it - It was dirty. Maybe it's just natural from the foot-traffic, but there were carpeted floors, and it was just super run down.

[Monakie78]

We did it! A 5 day vacation at Disney World without going to a theme park. It was a bit painful & sad, lots of pleading, but daddy said "NO!".... and I finally gave up

Our kids never asked.

Instead we had busy plans:
Character Breakfast at Ohana- That was the best of the trip! My 7 year old is a HUGE Stitch fan and we kept it a secret. What a happy boy!
Pool hopped at the Polynesian. My daughter & older son swam like fish and played every pool side game. My 3 year old son did all that too & found the small water shooter area hidden off to the side of the pool. We were over there at least an hour & then played in the sand on the beach.
Unfortunately, with the renovations going on, the stand that served Dole Whips is also closed until after the renovations.

We also pool hopped to the Fort Wilderness Campground. Another big hit with the kids. Then we canoed. It was inexpensive & my dad's favorite part of the vacation. Except for the 5 foot something gator we saw, which I freaked over, it was relaxing and everyone enjoyed themselves. Then we ended the night with the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. We're sure glad that we skipped lunch for that dinner! That was my husband's favorite part of the trip, ribs, ribs, and more ribs.

We also spent a day at Blizzard Beach, which my 3 year old was thrilled about. He remembers the "baby area" from when he was 2 & talked about it many times for the past 1.5 years. (Everything that I know & read about categorizes Blizzard Beach as a water park not a theme park, so I don't think we cheated with our theme park free vacation.)

We stayed at Old Key West, so we did a decent amount of swimming there too. The kids could have stayed in the pools the whole vacation. We also roasted marshmallows around the campfire at Old Key West and watched a poolside movie. The kids did some pin trading around the resort, shot pool in the community hall, did arts & crafts, and rented 2 movies to watch with Grandpa while daddy & I got a much needed date night out (Fulton's Crab House).

We strolled around Downtown Disney, so the kids could shop. Since we didn't go to the theme parks, we let them ride the train & carousel at the Market Place.

We snapped as many farewell photos as we could and sadly drove back home....but we shall see ya real soon! We'll be back in October with plans to hit the parks! We wanted to do so much more on this trip. Rain interfered with some of our plans & the fact that there is just so much to do outside the theme parks. It's hard to do it all in one trip. Mini golf, Disney Quest, biking, renting boats at the Polynesian, etc. well....I guess we'll have to just plan some more vacations to fit it all in

[Amy]

Wow ~ sounds like you had a great time without hitting the parks. I remember when I was a kid, the best part about vacation was swimming in the pool too! Knowing that you have a trip planned in just a few months probably made it a bit easier for you too didn't it?

[Monakie78]

Wow ~ sounds like you had a great time without hitting the parks. I remember when I was a kid, the best part about vacation was swimming in the pool too! Knowing that you have a trip planned in just a few months probably made it a bit easier for you too didn't it?

Yes, Amy. Knowing I'd be back in October did make it easier. Before we got there, I was confident that we would not go to a theme park. Once we got there, it was so hard to not want to go to at least one. If I could have broke my husband, we would have gone to EPCOT. He was determined to not let me cave. I got a new Mickey purse out of the deal for not caving in....but my husband is making me wait until my Birthday in a couple of weeks. He's such a bully

-Monica

[Amy]

Wow ~ sounds like you had a great time without hitting the parks. I remember when I was a kid, the best part about vacation was swimming in the pool too! Knowing that you have a trip planned in just a few months probably made it a bit easier for you too didn't it?

Yes, Amy. Knowing I'd be back in October did make it easier. Before we got there, I was confident that we would not go to a theme park. Once we got there, it was so hard to not want to go to at least one. If I could have broke my husband, we would have gone to EPCOT. He was determined to not let me cave. I got a new Mickey purse out of the deal for not caving in....but my husband is making me wait until my Birthday in a couple of weeks. He's such a bully

-Monica

Sounds like a fair trade ~ and the purse will last you a long time