Subsonic Radio

I might find myself in Orlando soon, so I'm looking for things to do at WDW which do not include shelling out 85 bucks to get past a gate.

I'm specifically looking for things which are relatively new, since I know about most of the old stuff, some of which they don't seem to do any more. (It looks like they no longer do the ladybug release at the Polynesian or the small animal interaction at the Wilderness Lodge.)

Examples:
torch-lighting ceremony at the Polynesian
outdoor movies at Fort Wilderness
nighttime infrared animal viewing at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
Electrical Water Pageant on the Seven Seas Lagoon
fireworks viewing from the top of the Contemporary
the geyser at the Wilderness Lodge (hey, it's a free show)
the island at the Caribbean Beach Resort
wandering around all the resorts
walking paths around the lakes
various boats and monorails (free rides!)

For the record, unless it is amazing in some way, I do not consider shopping to be fun (or free). I absolutely hate Downtown Disney, except for the fact that you can take a nice boat ride to somewhere that doesn't suck from there.

So, any other suggestions?

I think they do the outdoor movies at night by the Beach Club also.

If I'm not mistaken, I think they do the free movies at the GF too. We wanted to do that on our last trip b/c we were staying at the Poly, but it poured on us the entire time we were there.

MW1218 wrote:I think they do the outdoor movies at night by the Beach Club also.

That is correct. Both times I was there over the summer, they do movies out on the sand facing the boardwalk. I believe they also have a small fire pit where you can make marshmallows.

As for the free movies at the resorts, do check first with the resorts to make sure it's not a seasonal thing. Summer nights are better than winter nights for tolerable temperatures.

mindflipper wrote:Summer nights are better than winter nights for tolerable temperatures.

I think that all depends on where you're from!

At any rate, thanks for the great ideas. I didn't know about the showings at those resorts. I haven't seen Up yet, so maybe I'll get lucky with three chances per night.

That movie choked me up.

Also, for like $5, you can make smores at the beach club during movie nights too.

You can get into Epcot and catch a couple of rides for free if you say you'd like a pass to get in and do some quick shopping. I can't remember how long they gave you, like an hour or two. If they even still do that. I'm not sure if it works with other parks but I don't see why it wouldn't.

Does someone come and hunt you down if you don't leave?

The last time I heard about the "shopper's pass" they started to require you to put down a deposit that equalled a one day pass price; if you didn't get back in time, you got charged the ticket price. Too many people were abusing it. They might have got rid of the pass altogether by now. Does anyone know?

I didn't even know they did that shoppers pass? I would imagine they would have to require a deposit, I'm sure people were just not coming back!

Wow, I've never even heard of a shopper's pass! Of course, we would never be in a position to use one anyway since we have to plan our trips (and we go all out when we do), but I would like to know more about it if anyone has the current scoop.

I have heard of the shopper's pass before in the Magic Kingdom. From what I had gathered and remember it was for like a half hour or an hour and one member of a group/family can go onto Main Street and get something. I personally think that you need to have a certain item that you can't find anywhere else in the world to really go to that extreme.

I did once at Universal Studios long ago in order to get something that was only available at the park as a Christmas gift for a family member. I also did it at Disneyland Paris once as well. But both those times were back in the 1990's.

I went into Epcot a couple years ago to look for some merchandise I'd heard was in the Japan store. It was gone when I got there, but I did get a nice meal from the Japanese fast food place, which I consider to be some of the best food in WDW.

They put a charge on my credit card for the full price of the ticket. I had to return within an hour and then they took the price off.

So, anyway, they made like 10 bucks off me for the food, so Disney made out just fine.