Non park day Activites?

[ArielRae]

This is our first trip to Disneyland this May (2 Adults). We will be there for 6 days not counting our arrival and departure days. We will have a 4 day park hopper ticket. My question is what do you recommend we do for our 2 days off. We don't want to rent a car, taxi, or Uber/Lift so things will have to be walking distance around or near Disneyland. We might do a character meal on one of those days. What else is there to do other then a character meal, look around DTD and the Disney Resorts?

 

[chickapin parterre]

no taxi or not wanting to spend much on taxi????..because you can catch a bus to the train station and visit downtown L.A. or see the rest of the urban living stress free by train.

bus route to the many Angel baseball games scheduled in May

ever seen a Buddhist temple ?

 

[Sue M]

I’d think about upgrading to a 5 day ticket and have 1 non park day. We had 1 non park day our last trip. We had a resort day, sleep in, relax around pool then went out to dinner.

 

[ArielRae]

- We would like to not pay for any transportation anywhere.

- We are getting the military tickets and they offer a 4 day hopper. Leaves us with two days off.

 

[Sue M]

We stay across the street from main entrance. I enjoy having sleep in morning, relax at the pool, there are several restaurants in walking distance, PF Chang’s, Cheesecake Factory, Pizza, among others. There’s an outside Mall. And downtown Disney. We also enjoy walking thru the Disney resorts and grabbing lunch at their counter service. Disneyland Hotel has a Trader Sams in it.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

There’s bowling in DTD now. You could also catch a movie at the AMC. Walk through Gardenwalk nearby. Take the “Art of the Craft” tour of the Grand Californian. Swim.

 

[chickapin parterre]

There’s bowling in DTD now. You could also catch a movie at the AMC. Walk through Gardenwalk nearby. Take the “Art of the Craft” tour of the Grand Californian. Swim.

these are excellent ideas....but would cost far more than a taxi ride or even better a bus ride to the Anaheim station to catch variety of rail traffic to LA union train station. You can also check the USO at your arrival point in California and see if they have free baseball tickets for the angels. If your military status had a great purchase on tickets, than rail transport is also available at favorable rates. or maybe your departure USO has a Major league Baseball anywhere ticket. The angel baseball stadium is not far at all, you could actually walk the distance.

 

[ArielRae]

We don’t mind spending money on the activity. Just don’t want to go far from the Disneyland area.

 

[DizneyMommy]

In DTD there is a new bowling alley, an AMC theater, and a few shops and restaurants. Across Harbor from DL a very short Uber ride or a short walk if you are on that side is Anaheim Gardenwalk with more restaurants and a theater. And there’s always the pool!
Otherwise, there isn’t a lot outside of the resort property, other than a lot of residential areas and traffic

 

[chickapin parterre]

if you google map Disneyland, people live right on the western border, to the east is a freeway and all the infrastructure to live in Southern California, to the south are shopping centers, and to the north hotel chains and more industrial and housing. So DTD or taking mass transit to see historical sites like Union station or the baseball games.

 

[ArielRae]

I like the idea of the Garden Walk. Didn’t know about that thanks. Adding that to our day off.

 

[StarlitNight05]

In DtD, another fun activity may be the new 'The VOID' experience. It's basically a Star Wars virtual reality experience. Looks like it may be pretty cool -- I haven't been to it yet though.

While in DtD, I'd also suggest hitting up UVA bar for a few cocktails (if you drink) and/or snacks. UVA bar is outdoors and is a great area to sit and people watch.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

You could also do a tour of the DVC models, if that appeals to you. It would come with a sales pitch of course.

 

[azdisneylover]

Too bad you do not want to take a cab, Uber etc. Knotts Berry Farm is pretty close in terms of traveling by car. I wouldn't try to walk it.

 

[wingednike]

About a 5 minute drive away is the Downtown Anaheim area on Harbor Blvd. Buses make regular stops there and you can access Muzeo (a museum), the Packing District (a food hall) and Popzilla (a comic book store that sometimes carries Disney-specific limited items).

There used to be a weekly Farmer's Market, but I'm unsure of which day it is held on now.

You should also check the event schedule for the Anaheim Convention Center. They might have something interesting going on during your stay. The event calendar should say whether or not the event is open to all

 

[theluckyrabbit]

You might spend some spa time at the Mandara Spa at the GCH.
About 5-10 minutes away is The Block at Orange, an outdoor mall/outlet mall with movie theaters, restaurants, and other things to do. This site might give you some ideas of things to do in Anaheim (and there are maps so that you can see what is around DLR): https://visitanaheim.org.
I think you'll find that DLR is set up differently from WDW. "Near the parks" doesn't necessarily mean walking distance. And there are shuttles for things, but they aren't always convenient. Most things in southern California involve some amount of driving -- it's just the way things are out here. So a day at the beach would be great, but even the nearest recommended beach (Huntington) is about half an hour away by car. And a 30 minute drive isn't considered "far" by SoCal standards. (We'll drive farther than that just to go see a movie!) So there are fun things for you to do, but without any driving involved, it might take a little creativity depending on how active you want to be and how quickly you get bored.

 

[maltdizzy]

If they have a home game, Angeles Stadium is ~1 mile from Disneyland Resort, straight down Katella. It's walk-able, but there should be a city bus you can take as well.

Anaheim is a suburban city and most of the walk-able area around Disneyland Resort exists only to house and feed guests of DLR and the Convention Center. Aside for that, it's just like any other congested suburb — fast food, automotive shops, etc. — not much for tourists.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

We always take a walk down to Joe's Italian Ice: http://joesice.com/

We've also walked over to the In-n-Out Burger on Ball Road and State College Blvd.