HiYa Pals! Do you live far from Disney? Do you drive to get there, or do you prefer to fly? Will you arrive early or late in the day? These are all things to consider when planning your trip. Whether you are like us or not, you may or may not want your arrival day to be spent in one of the Disney parks. This may be good time for you and your family to unpack, unwind from the drive, and enjoy where you are at. In this blog we will go over what an arrival day looked like for my last trip and maybe give you some ideas on what to do. Not a park day? No worries! There is plenty to do!
Our arrival day
Depending on where you live, it could take more than a day to get to Disney. This is the case for me. If only it were as easy as snapping our fingers to get to where we wanted! That Sunday morning, we left our house around 4:30 in the morning and drove all day. Aside from a few spots of construction and traffic it was a full day of driving.
It was my goal to get into Florida by the time we needed to stop for the night. We made it all the way to Lake City, Florida, leaving about a 3-hour drive for the next day. Since I knew we only had two park days this trip, I wanted to take full advantage of the time we had on arrival day to do whatever we wanted.
Arrival at our resort
The next morning before leaving our hotel I went onto the MDE and started our online check in for POP. We left our hotel around 8:30 a.m. and arrived at POP Century Resort a little before 11:30 a.m. Prior to arrival I had made a dinner reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe for that evening. So, we had from 11:30 until our dinner time to do whatever we wanted.
After arriving at POP, we parked the car and decided to find a restroom and walk the grounds a little bit. By pure luck, while talking to a cast member we received a text letting us know our room was ready. We drove our car over to the parking lot closest to our building, found our room and unpacked.
What to do next? The world is our palm tree, we had options! We decided to get on a bus and head over to Disney Springs. If you want a closer look at our time at Disney Springs, check out our blog! We did some shopping, eating and walking! It was a great time. Not a park day! We had no worries!
Dinner Time
Dinner time was approaching so we decided to get on a bus from Disney Springs and head over to Wilderness Lodge where Whispering Canyon is located. Check out our review of dinner here! Spoiler alert: It was delicious. However, before our reservation time, we walked the grounds of Wilderness Lodge.
The grounds of this resort are so beautiful. We sat at the fireplace and ate a chocolate from the Ganachery. We walked around the Mercantile, the resorts gift shop. Walked down to the outside bar, found some seats near the water and just took in the sights for a while. We had a lovely time exploring. Finally, our reservation time had arrived, so we headed in and enjoyed dinner.
A beautiful ending to the day
To end the day, we took a boat from Wilderness Lodge over to Magic Kingdom. From Magic Kingdom we hopped on another boat over to the Polynesian Resort where we were lucky enough to find some chairs on the beach. We sat comfortably with our toes in the soft sand and watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks. It was magical. Once fireworks were over, we took a boat back over to the Magic Kingdom area and took a bus back to our resort. It was not a park day. We had no worries!
Our non-park day was pretty great. There is so much to do around Disney property. While the Parks are the main attraction, sometimes it’s nice to have some time to do whatever you want. If you have a day like our arrival day, maybe you need some ideas.
Below is a list of some suggestions you can utilize to your digression. You can have lot of fun with a non-park day! Not a park day? No worries! We have you covered!
A List
- Obviously, I am going to recommend heading over to Disney Springs. Not only can you find plenty of shopping and eating spots. You can also find a movie theater, a Cirque Du Soleil show, bowling, and much more.
- Head over to another resort or two. Walk the grounds. Make a dining reservation there. You can find some pretty cool things.
- If your feel like pampering yourself, you can plan some spa time. I once had a mani\ pedi at the Grand Floridian Spa. It was delightful. Fun fact: most of the Deluxe resorts have a spa, however the most popular is probably the Grand Floridian.
- There are two Disney outlet stores. They are not on Disney property, but they are not far. So, taking your car or grabbing an uber is pretty easy to do.
- Disney has a couple put put golfing courses.
- Kid free? Looking for a date night idea? You can do what they call the monorail crawl. On the Magic Kingdom loop of the monorail, people will stop at a bar at each of the three resorts. These being the Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian Resorts.
- If you are visiting Disney during the holidays, it’s fun to resort hop and check out all the Christmas decor.
- On the boardwalk, you can find a few bars and even the dance club Jellyrolls!
- Head over to the Polynesian resort to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks show! This is one of my personal favorites.
- At the Grand Floridian and Contemporary Resorts, you can rent a pontoon boat! For a price you can go drive around and enjoy the sights, even see Magic Kingdom from a new perspective. You can rent these at night and have a guided fireworks viewing in front of Magic Kingdom! If this is something you would want to do contact Erica to help you make your reservations!
- Or just take the day to enjoy your resort or wherever you are staying. Unpacking, unwinding, and enjoying your piece of vacation may be all you need. Walk around, eat, swim, do whatever makes you happy. Another fun fact: every resort has an arcade!
- Disney does have 2 waterparks on property. Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.
Hopefully this list is helpful and gives you something to do. Not a park day? No worries! There is so much you can do when you’re not in a park. However, you spend your vacation, I hope you are able to enjoy it to the fullest no matter what you choose to do.
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