Non-budget busting ideas...throw them at me

[Klayfish]

So we're about 2 months out from our summer trip, the last one for our current AP. We're super fortunate to be able to take a very long trip, we'll have 16 park days (17 if I can get my work schedule right). I have to work for 3 of them...maybe 4..., but only until 4pm so we'll do evenings those days. Many of you know that we tend to "tour" different than a lot of people here...that's not a judgment, just our own way. We stay offsite, bring almost all of our own food in, never rope drop, make no plans outside of the initial 3 FP+, don't do MNSSHP, MVMCP, etc...

Most of our trips have focused on the theme parks themselves, along with water parks and Disney Springs. We only recently started spending more time exploring other hotels, etc...(not that we had NEVER done it, but only very sparingly). Over the last few trips, we spent time in the monorail resorts looking around, did a few marshmallow roasts at the Poly, watched fireworks there, explored AoA, etc...and had a wonderful time each time. We're going to do plenty of water park days as we love them, and do a day or maybe two in Daytona Beach. But we're looking for some new and different ideas of things to do on WDW property. Since we're a family of 5, with plenty of expenses outside of vacation, our budget is quite limited for "extras". So things that are $100/person are simply out of the question, unless it's the best thing ever known to human kind (or reasonably close, LOL). Think of things that are roughly $50/person and under, including (and preferably) free or close to it. They can be food related...while DW and I are nutrition nuts, we're on vacation, we can let loose a bit. Ideas we currently have:

The "kitchen sink" at Beaches and Cream. I am SOOOO looking forward to this, I love ice cream!!!
Surry bikes - we've done them before, but had a great time and want to do it again.
Renting a canoe - I don't recall where, but I think you can get them pretty inexpensively.
Hay ride - that looked like something fun and different.
Behind the Seeds tour...maybe????
Carriage ride for DW and I on a date night (if you've got other date night ideas, I'm all ears, we'll have several dates nights)
WinterSummerland mini-golf - we have yet to do that.
TL Toy Story party - we LOVE the water parks, just debating if it's worth the $$$...I know it's a new event, so nobody can say for sure.

What else can you think of or suggest? Obviously, it's also something that doesn't need to be reserved 180 days out...and we'd prefer it that way since we're not really fond of locking into plans.

 

[sjrec]

We really enjoyed the Caring for Giants tour at AK-it’s less than 50.00 pp and you should get an AP discount. My daughter and her family also had good things to say about Behind the Seeds.
And Fantasia mini golf was a fun afternoon.

Date night ideas? Sitting on the deck at the Boathouse. Share an order of beef tenderloin sliders and a salad-ok, and the truffle fries. The lounge at the AKL is beautiful and you can order off the Jiko menu.

We’re not renewing our passes after this next trip either-will use our DVC points at one of the beach resorts. We enjoy our WDW trips more if we take a break for a year or two.

 

[Shellyred8]

Fantasia mini golf. This is within walking distance from the Boardwalk.
Tri-circle D ranch at Ft Wilderness Campgrounds.
Wilderness Lodge has a "find the hidden mickeys" list that you can pick up from the front desk. Not sure if other resorts do this or not. But this could be a fun "Treasure Hunt" activity. Maybe have a prize for whomever finds the most.
The lounge area at the DVC Villas at Wilderness Lodge (Boulder Ridge Villas) has a bunch of stuff about Walt's Trains. That might be fun to check out.
We did the Behind the Seeds tour and really enjoyed it.

Have a great trip!

 

[randumb0]

Chip n Dales sing along campfire and movie at Fort Wilderness is free

 

[DisneyFive]

The Kennedy Space Center is awesome. Easily a day's worth of fun, and it's very well done. $50 per adult and $40 per child (11 and under). It's not exactly a cheap add on, but we thought it was well worth the $$$ when we went in 2014.

Dan

 

[FastPasser.]

TL Toy Story party - we LOVE the water parks, just debating if it's worth the $$$...I know it's a new event, so nobody can say for sure.

Actually I can say for sure. Except for the fact that it's normally Disney characters instead of Pixar characters, it's similar to a standard private event offering at TL. Having been at a number of those parties, if you enjoy TL during the day, you'll certainly enjoy this party. Is it worth it, only you can judge.

 

[loves to dive]

We've done the Behind the Seeds a couple of times so obviously we enjoy it. How about fishing at POR? It's not very expensive and just throw your line in and bottom fish. I think they have it at WL as well.
Not sure how much it costs but you can ride horses at WL as well.

 

[hakepb]

Renting a boat

It’s fun to pilot a boat around 7 Seas and cross over vehicle traffic to Bay Lake (and around Discovery island)

The pontoon would be the more affordable (than little sea racers) and you could bring snacks aboard.

I’ve been billed less than an hour both times we’ve boated around. (Plus there’s an AP discount)

 

[mousehouse23]

I'd spend some time at the BoardWalk. If you're there Thursday-Saturday evenings, there will be street entertainment. Grab a couple of flights of ice cream from Ample Hills to sit and enjoy outside. If you time it out right, you might see some fireworks from IllumiNations. I love sitting there and looking out across Crescent Lake toward the Yacht Club and Beach Club. Beautiful.

For date night on the BoardWalk, you could go to Jellyrolls ($12 cover) or Atlantic Dance Hall. Grab a drink from AbracadaBar beforehand. It's supposed to be a really fun environment.

For the family, a night with Yee-ha Bob at POR should be a lot of fun.

 

[Klayfish]

Thanks for all the responses so far, keep 'em coming if you've got 'em. Some wonderful ideas...definitely will do some of them. I forgot to mention that DW and I don't drink alcohol (or dance), but she did say she wanted to get a soda somewhere and chill, so we'll definitely do that.

Actually I can say for sure. Except for the fact that it's normally Disney characters instead of Pixar characters, it's similar to a standard private event offering at TL. Having been at a number of those parties, if you enjoy TL during the day, you'll certainly enjoy this party. Is it worth it, only you can judge.

Glad you chimed in and had input on that. We're really on the fence with this one. Sounds super cool. We've never done any private event at any Disney park, just too rich for our blood. Even this, we're debating if we want to spend $250 on something we can do for free during normal days...but seeing TL at night would be really fun.

 

[MJ6987]

For a date night, a good one is a "monorail" crawl - going round those resorts using the monorail and having a drink at each one at the various bars / lounges together with an appetiser off the bar / lounge menu. Could end up watching the fireworks with a drink!

 

[ktate82]

Glad you chimed in and had input on that. We're really on the fence with this one. Sounds super cool. We've never done any private event at any Disney park, just too rich for our blood. Even this, we're debating if we want to spend $250 on something we can do for free during normal days...but seeing TL at night would be really fun.

We went to the DVC event last year at TL, and it was held at night. It was a neat experience and would recommend it. My family also really enjoys the horseback riding at Fort Wilderness. There is an AP and Disney Visa discount too.

 

[Klayfish]

For a date night, a good one is a "monorail" crawl - going round those resorts using the monorail and having a drink at each one at the various bars / lounges together with an appetiser off the bar / lounge menu. Could end up watching the fireworks with a drink!

I love the monorail, I ride it just for fun. But since we don't drink, I think we'd get bored after our second Coke.

 

[leebee]

Go check out Animal Kingdom Lodge. You can view animals from overlooks both day and night. Jiko has a wine tasting on Wednesdays for $15, and it includes some snacks. The kids can go along, just can't drink. Boma/Jiko do a free culinary tour every day at 4 (I believe). They show you the restaurants, discuss the significance of the theming, and give you some food samples (we had breads and dips at Jiko, then over to Boma for soups and zebra domes). In the evening they often have an outdoor fire pit and story tellers. Beautiful lobby, fascinating gift shop. We love AKL. (I've never been over to Kidani, don't know what/if anything they do over there.)

(OK, just read that you don't drink so that let's the wine tasting out, but you could bend your meal plan a little and do the food tastings. I know you don't do ADRs, but this way you'll at least know what people are talking about when they rave about zebra domes... and FREE!!)

 

[leebee]

We've also done the "Disney Transportation Tour." We started at our resort hotel (ASMu) and took the bus to Epcot, then hopped off at the TTC and took the ferry to MK. At MK we took the boat over to Wilderness Lodge, then back again to MK. From there we took a bus to Disney Springs and then got on one of the boats to either POFQ or OKW. THEN we hopped on a bus to Disney Studios and rode the boat from there into the Boardwalk area, looped through the International Gateway, and back to DS... then a bus back to ASMu. It was fun to be out and about, riding Disney transportation. It might take some jiggling, but I"m sure you could do something similar (without having to pay for parking at one of the theme parks). We like to ride all the different boats, monorail, and ferries.

ETA: I've heard that the ice cream flight at Ample Hills is FAR better than the Kitchen Sink...
I also think that if you are willing to spend the money, it's SO WORTH IT to go to Kennedy Space Center. Hands down one of my favorite things to do, anywhere.

 

[shawn mazzerle]

Last month I surprised my girlfriend with the "Void" at Disney Springs. Easily, one of the coolest things we have ever done. It is now a "must do"
for us for future trips. If your kids like Star Wars it might be worth it.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Have you even spent any time at AKL? Maybe it’s high on my list because we just got back from there but I’d put it on the list. We had largely ignored AKL in our prior travels, had never been, etc. But once there, we cancelled plans right and left to spend more time exploring the resort. Even as a non-guest, there’s quite a bit to do there - particularly in the early evenings. I was actually very impressed.

 

[Klayfish]

Have you even spent any time at AKL? Maybe it’s high on my list because we just got back from there but I’d put it on the list. We had largely ignored AKL in our prior travels, had never been, etc. But once there, we cancelled plans right and left to spend more time exploring the resort. Even as a non-guest, there’s quite a bit to do there - particularly in the early evenings. I was actually very impressed.

Probably not enough. We went there either Thanksgiving or Xmas, I forget which one. We checked out the lobby, went outside (right by the lobby) and then were pretty much ready to go. We thought it was beautiful, but didn't see a ton else to do. Keeping in mind that having a "drink" doesn't appeal to us, what other things at AKL did you do that you thought were really cool? We'd definitely be happy to go back and check out more.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Probably not enough. We went there either Thanksgiving or Xmas, I forget which one. We checked out the lobby, went outside (right by the lobby) and then were pretty much ready to go. We thought it was beautiful, but didn't see a ton else to do. Keeping in mind that having a "drink" doesn't appeal to us, what other things at AKL did you do that you thought were really cool? We'd definitely be happy to go back and check out more.

Ha! Unfortunately there was no drinking at the bar with our kiddos.

I should probably re-phrase... it wasn’t necessarily having a ton of “stuff to do” - more “things to see” than anything else. We appreciated the zen-like peacefulness of the place. Admittedly, that may not appeal to everyone.

There are like 8 (?) different savannas and some have different animals. Between Jambo and Kidani, there are viewing spots and little nooks/crannies all over the place. You have to work at it to find them. It also helps if you get lucky and it’s around feeding time. Sometimes we wouldn’t be looking at much, sometimes we’d have tons of animals to look at. We’re not even really “zoo people” - but we all found the animal watching here oddly fascinating.

They have marshmallow roasting at the Arusha Rock overlook, and there’s also one at Kidani I believe.

Another spot had night vision goggles out at night (was admittedly only cool when something was actually there to look at!).

Spent some time talking to a Savanna Guide out on Arusha Rock.

There are a whole host of “Cultural Immersion” activities (google the Activities Calendar) which may/may not have any interest. Our DS actually took to the “educational aspect” of these, so we rolled with it.

We “made slime” one evening. It was a paid recreation activity, but it was cheap - like $3 (don’t quote me on that exact price). We then watched a bit of the outdoor movie, which was nearby. They play different movies at both Kidani and Jambo.

None of the above is really action-packed - it’s more mellow than anything.

 

[robinb]

Probably not enough. We went there either Thanksgiving or Xmas, I forget which one. We checked out the lobby, went outside (right by the lobby) and then were pretty much ready to go. We thought it was beautiful, but didn't see a ton else to do. Keeping in mind that having a "drink" doesn't appeal to us, what other things at AKL did you do that you thought were really cool? We'd definitely be happy to go back and check out more.

Your kids may be too old for it, but they have activities all day where kids can earn beads. Here's a blog post that explains it: https://disneyhelp.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/bead-activities-at-animal-kingdom-lodge/