Friends want to get out of the parks for a few days... advice?

[wardpr68]

Hey everyone,

So I am heading to WDW august 20th - 29th. We are wanting to hit all 4 parks, at LEAST one waterpark and pleasure island one or two nights.

It's me and six friends going down.

A few of them have said that they don't want to be in the parks EVERY day and want to go "see the city" and go to the beach or something.

Now is there really anything great to see in the city??? Wouldn't pleasure island be quite better than anything outside disney property?

Also, is there any good beaches anywhere around WDW? We don't have a rental car but i suppose we could get one.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Errm...there is a city? Where?

 

[SeaBreeze]

You can go to Universal City Walk. The Blue Man Group show is amazing and you can hit the clubs afterward. When I lived in Orlando, I tended to stick to DTD and City Walk. A day to relax at the beach might be nice too considering how exhausting long days in the parks are in the heat of August.

 

[bgraham34]

I think the closest beach is over an hour away. You dont need the beach when you have pools and water parks. I think you need new friends.

 

[MrBug]

Try an airboat ride, like Boggy Creek or similar, it's actually good fun. You may have enough bodies to get a boat to yourselves and the pilot might be able to make it more interesting :animwink: then again you might be gator bait...

 

[SeaBreeze]

I think the closest beach is over an hour away. You dont need the beach when you have pools and water parks. I think you need new friends.

I think it depends where you are from If you're visiting from a place that doesn't have a beach anywhere around, the hour drive to enjoy one on vacation is worth it. Then again, I grew up at the beach and am biased :lol:

 

[jjgoo]

I agree that taking some time out of the park to relax might be a good idea.

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but from what I have seen of just Orlando outside of WDW or other themed areas, it is not exactly a cultural destination to explore. You will probably have at least an hour drive to get to the ocean to go to the beach.

Why not plan a day to hang out at the hotel pool and relax? You all could look into golf, fishing, parasailing, horseback riding, all of which Disney offers.

If your friends really want to explore it would probably make sense to go on to the Orlando tourist board website or maybe even call them up and see if they have suggestions. I get the feeling from business associates that once you get outside of the family areas, Orlando (like a lot of other cities, so I'm not picking on Orlando) can get a little rough. Probably best to have a plan of where you are going to go and how to get there.

Good luck.

Personally, I think there is so much to do at WDW including DTD that you don't have to leave to be entertained when not going into the parks. If I was to venture out for a change of scene in the nightlife I might hit Universal Citywalk.:wave:

 

[KaliSplash]

Short answer to your question is to get new friends.

Obviously, in the neighborhood are Universal, Sea World, Wet N Wild, etc.
In terms of other types of things, there are a number of dinner theater shows in the area. Orlando has a wonderful science museum. There is tons of golf about, etc. So yes, there are other things to do and some on these boards know better than I can recall.

Cocoa Beach is probably the nearest best beach. Take I-4 W toward Orlando, get off on State Road 528 (which is a toll road) that dead ends at Cocoa Beach an hour later. (I prefer east coast beaches with waves to the calmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which would be an hour or so E on I-4.
This is also the route to take to the Kennedy Space Center, which can fill a very exciting day (this being 528, not I-4 east toward Tampa). Of course, Daytona Beach is straigt W on I-4 but that would be 90 minutes, I suspect.

 

[brkgnews]

Try an airboat ride, like Boggy Creek or similar, it's actually good fun. You may have enough bodies to get a boat to yourselves and the pilot might be able to make it more interesting :animwink: then again you might be gator bait...

I agree. We did Boggy Creek airboats back in 2004 and had a blast.

 

[wardpr68]

hmmm.... a few of them mentioned the space center. Is it actually worth it?

I remember hearing bad things about it a few years back.

 

[Brwneyedgirl72]

Orlando has a good deal to offer, and there is better nightlife than can be found at PI. I went to City Walk last winter and we had a great time - don't get me wrong I love DD, but PI has been lacking in the past few years. It depends on what you want to do - but like was posted before Cocoa Beach is an option, as is Kennedy Space Center if you are heading east.

 

[SeaBreeze]

hmmm.... a few of them mentioned the space center. Is it actually worth it?

I remember hearing bad things about it a few years back.

Hm, if you haven't been in might be worth checking out. In the past when I've gone, I've brought swimming gear with me and made half the day a beach day as well.

 

[sublimesting]

I would ditch the friends for those days, personally. The only thing I would do outside Disney would maybe be Universal but I hesitate so as to not ruin the whole Magical, away from society for a week mood. I get bummed at Disney just seeing real world cars driving next to my bus as I transfer parks.

 

[wardpr68]

ok... so my decision.

They said they wanted to do something other than the parks for a day. Soooooooo... i would LOVE to try a golf course on the property and then hit up downtown disney/pleasure island at night.

I think that would be an awesome day away from the parks and I have never been on a PGA caliber course before so thats super exciting.

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone, i can always count on you

 

[Engine 51]

Don't forget that the parks only cover about 10 percent of Disney property. If you are looking for non-structured leisure, there will be plenty of areas for walks, hiking and relaxing around the resort. Rent boats or PWC's on bay lake. But, my wife being a beach nut, I make the trip to Cocoa.

 

[figmentmom]

Cocoa Beach is beautiful, and well worth the hour's drive from Orlando. I'd go for a day trip there - you won't regret it. :wave:

 

[michelek73]

Outside the Park...

Every time we go to Disney we try something outside the parks, we've done the Boggy Creek Alligator Tours..Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, etc. Boggy Creek tours are really cool, especially with a group of friends..you ride these hovercraft looking things across the water looking for crocs...totally fun..we also drove out one night and went to a drive in theater...Kennedy was ok but more educational than fun, unless your a space fan...another fun night was Old Town in Kissimmee...it's kinda like an old fashioned board walk with carnival rides...every year we go and get tattoos there there's also a haunted house and lots of little stores...it's sometimes fun to venture out