what to do at deluxe resorts?

[alexaveryq]

Last time we were at WDW (Jan. '06), our family marveled at how much we "missed" by not simply taking time out to tour the property. We vowed to take at least a day or two on the next trip (Oct. '07) to do just that--no parks, just touring. We'll of course be doing DTD, and we'll be doing Chef Mickey's for a meal, so we'll see the Contemporary then. I'm mainly interested in what there is to "do" at the deluxe resorts. We want to see the Poly and AKL for sure. Besides standing in the lobby and gawking , which I'm sure we'll do, what can we do on-property at these two? Also, any other recommendations for things to see that aren't at the parks?

 

[k.hunter30]

Watch the water parade at night from the shores of the Poly. We loved doing that when we stayed there.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

On site restaurants are great.
Poly has access to the GF spa and health club. Health club is free, spa treatments while pricy are a nice extravagance.
Water sports of various types, rent your own boat, parasail, "cruises", fishing
On property well themed pools. AKL of course has the animals and a number of "ceremonies". If you stay on concierge at AK, you have unique morning and evening tours available to you.
Just some items off the top of my head.

 

[Eyekimore]

At different times of the day- the Floridian has bands/piano players. I'm sure they're at scheduled times- but I don't know at what times.

At the WL- they have games, tours, duck races, etc. (There's usually a schedule on the desk by the concierge)

I haven't been to the Boardwalk lately at night- but they used to have performers and entertainment by the shops.

Fort Wilderness isn't a deluxe resort- but you can walk through the horse barns. (and if you rent bikes at WL you can follow the paved trail to FW)


Sometimes in the afternoon at the pools the charachters come up for a visit. We've had that happen at the Poly. (although it was a while ago)

 

[ImaYoyo]

AK Lodge offers night vision viewings of the animals. WL has tours of the lobby. AK offers a morning hidden mickey hunt. During the Christmas season, Yacht has free cookies and AMAZING cider, as well as christmas stories in the lobby. The GF has Christmas music and a giant gingerbread house during the holidays too. Port Orleans Riverside (not a deluxe) offers a horse-drawn carraige ride. The wilderness lodge offers sleigh rides (for a fee, a la 30 bucks). The list goes on and on... lounges, bars, live music, ect.

 

[dvcnut39]

Our new favorite is resort hopping. We'll make a day at the monorail resorts or the Boardwalk resorts.

 

[k.hunter30]

When you all decide to spend a day resort hopping - how long is your entire trip?

While I'd love to do this, I worry that it's precious time away from the parks. Of course if i was there for a good amount of time I wouldn't mind as much...

 

[slacker]

We always take a day to do the monorail resorts as well. It's fun just to see them and look in the shops and at the pools. My deluxe resort recommendation would definitely be to do the Boardwalk. We usually stay at the Beach club and walk over to the boardwalk probably once a day. My sister usually gets her hair done at those string.. weavy... bead things. And they have a great bakery, restaurants, and bars. Plus there's often performers out there, who are so awesome.
To answer K.hunter, we go for 10 days and usually only got a 5 day hopper... so we had lots of days to fill with stuff. This upcoming trip will be our first 10 day hopper pass. Right on!

 

[hokielutz]

When you all decide to spend a day resort hopping - how long is your entire trip?

While I'd love to do this, I worry that it's precious time away from the parks. Of course if i was there for a good amount of time I wouldn't mind as much...

Over Christmas, we took one afternoon and toured the hotels on the monorail lines. it was only a 3 hours worth of time....

Going to the other resorts (moderate & value) would have been more time consuming with driving around..... so we just stuck to where we stayed (AKL) and the other main deluxe resorts.

As for things to do at each of them.... call and see if they can e-mail or fax you a copy of the weekly happenings (newspaper) at their resort.

You can get a good sense from that what is going on.

 

[Scooter]

Check out the shops, they are always full of fun things that can only be found in that particular resort. My wife and I buy a refrigerator magnet from each resort we visit.

Don't forget to take a leisurely stroll around the outside of the deluxe resorts. They are all beautiful in their own special ways.

 

[justducky78]

We love spending time at the resorts! It's one of our favorite things about visiting WDW. Sorry if some of my ideas are repeats, just writing what I can think of. For now, I'm only listing the resorts near the Magic Kingdom.

At the WL - you can get a tour of the resort, be an honorary flag family, eat at the great restaurants, rent the boats or bicycles or walk the trails. They don't have a full-service spa, but you can book a massage. Watch the water parade from the beach. Game room for the kids.

At the Poly, they usually have live music in the lobby in the evenings, you take a romantic stroll along the paths at night, or enjoy dinner/luau show. They also have crafts and hula lessons for the kids, I believe. Game room and boat rentals as well. We enjoy watching the fireworks from the beach and swinging in the hammocks.

At the GF, they have several good restaurants. Also - afternoon tea. They have live music in the lobby and nice walking paths along the beach. They have a full service spa which I've heard is nice. They have special programs for the kids, so they are supervised, while the adutls go to dinner or the spa.

The contemporary has a good game room. Also - the California Grill for dinner and fireworks is a must. Sitting in the lobby watching the monorail come through is neat. Boat rentals are available here as well.

We like looking through the shops at all of the hotels, too. Or grabbing "just dessert," since we're usually too full right after dinner. :slurp:

 

[1DisneyDad]

Have a meal at Whispering Canyon at WL. A lot of fun.

 

[Kerby626]

On our trip in 03 I went with the wife and mother to do the resort hop. I spent an hour in the Contemporary reading and looking at pins. Now I'm all for it. When I go to Ohana's is when I do the Poly. Now I'm staying there. We did AKL when I came back from Iraq last year. I wished I still had my NVGs. It's a different way to see what's at the resorts. Try it, you might like it.

 

[surfsupdon]

If you can afford to spend a little, book a tandem parasailing flight at the Contemp. It was neat to be flying that high and see all of the Disney landmarks from a very unique perspective.

A cheaper altnernative that is a lot of fun: rent some bicycles from Wilderness Lodge and bike through the trails to Fort Wilderness and explore the petting zoo, the stables, the beach areas and all the wooded fun that this campground resort has to offer.

 

[Nansafan]

When you all decide to spend a day resort hopping - how long is your entire trip?

While I'd love to do this, I worry that it's precious time away from the parks. Of course if i was there for a good amount of time I wouldn't mind as much...

Since we visit at least once a year, most years twice, on our longer summer trip 7-9 days we always schedule a HPFD (Hotel Pool Fun Day) where we take a day off from the parks. We hang at the resort, swim, play volleyball (beach at Poly or Contemporary), rent a boat (again Poly, Contemporary or GF) sleep in a little. HPFD is usually followed by dinner at the ESPN club with a stroll on the Boardwalk and then DTD for shopping night finishing with mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens. After this relaxing day, we are recharged for the parks. Besides shopping allows everyone to find their "last night gift".

 

[dvcnut39]

When you all decide to spend a day resort hopping - how long is your entire trip?

Since we are from Pittsburgh, we usually only go once every year, year and a half. So when we go it's either 8nts in October or early December. We offer our kids a deal, get great, not good grades, and we'll take them out of school. The school actually supports this. Also, those two times of year offer MNSSHP or MVMCP. When we feel guilty about pulling them out of school, we'll hold off until summer and take an extended vacation.

This summer we are driving. Here's our schedule. We're going to be gone from 18JUL-5AUG.

1nt- travel- stay in a hotel

2nts- visit family near Daytona, then go to a hotel near USO, visit USO- IOA and USF

8nts- check into BWV for 8nts- all four parks, TL, and DDP

5nts- hook up with family and stay at VB

1nt- travel- stay in a hotel


Our problem is $ not time. I save my vacation (and money through out the year). We only use overtime $ for our trips.

Hopefully this answers your question. We truly enjoy checking out all of the other resorts.