Free things to do at WDW!

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

This is a list I put together before our last trip: (I know the pettingg zoo is no longer at FW, but it won't let me edit it out.  Sorry!)

? Collect autographs instead of pins.

? Collect stickers from Cast Members

? Ask the front desk at your resort what ?free? things there are to do: for example at the Wilderness Lodge, one family gets to raise the flag each morning.

? Investigate special kids' programs at your Disney resort hotel. The Deluxe resorts usually have kids' recreation programs such as coloring, crafts, pool games, Hidden Mickey searches, and storytelling at various times. Cost: FREE to guests of the hotel.

? At Downtown Disney kids can play in interactive fountains or build legos for free at the Lego store

The major restaurant in the Marketplace is a Rainforest Cafe. It's overpriced tourist food, but since you are about saving money, just go inside and wander around the gift shop and seating area. It's filled with giant aquariums and all sorts of animatronic animals. Once you have had your fun, walk out and move on.

There is a Harley Davidson Shop.

 Check out the FREE magic demonstrations at the Magic Masters shop -- learn a card trick!\

 ? If you're looking for a fun photo opportunity, consider visiting the All Star resorts or Pop Century. These hotels feature enormous "pop culture" icons. Take a family photo in front of a 35-foot Buzz Lightyear!

? Several of the resorts, including Animal Kingdom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, and Yacht Club, offer FREE tours that are open to any Disney resort guest (whether you are staying at that particular hotel or not). Some of the tours require a reservation, so inquire in advance.

? Sing around the campfire and watch a FREE Disney movie. The campfire program at Ft. Wilderness is open to all Walt Disney World resort guests. It is held every evening, at about 7:00 pm in fall and winter and about 8:00 pm in spring and summer, near the Meadow Trading Post. The program starts with a sing-a-long and marshmallow roast. You can bring your own food or buy it from the Chuckwagon, which sells S'more kits for about $9 (makes enough for about 4 people) and also offers other food such as pizza and hot dogs. Chip and Dale meet the guests and sign autographs. Then a Disney movie is shown on a large outdoor screen. There is some seating on bleachers and benches, or you can lay out a blanket. No reservations necessary -- just show up. Cost: FREE to all Disney resort guests.

? A similar outdoor campfire and movie program is offered at Beach Club Resort. There is a campfire sing-along on the beach, followed by a Disney movie. (No characters attend this one.) Ask at the front desk for a schedule. S'more kits that make enough for about 4 people are sold for about $9. No reservations necessary -- just show up. Cost: FREE to all Disney resort guests.

? Port Orleans-Riverside offers a seasonal "Campfire on de' Bayou" with stories and sing-alongs around a fire at the Ol' Man Island Fishin' Hole. (No characters attend this one.) It usually runs in the winter, from Halloween through sometime in March, and only a couple of nights a week (most recently, Sunday and Thursday), weather permitting. Ask at the front desk for a schedule. S'more kits that make enough for about 4 people are sold for about $9. No reservations necessary -- just show up. Cost: FREE to all Disney resort guests.

 If you haven't planned this already, you will DEFINITELY want to watch the fireworks over Magic Kingdom, from across the lake at the Polynesian Resort. An hour or two before the fireworks (check the park schedule), take the boat from Ft. Wilderness across the lake to the Contemporary.. then either hop on another boat, or take the monorail, to the Polynesian. Find a nice spot and hunker down (as long as you can see the castle, you can see the fireworks)... your kids could bide time playing in the pool or on the beach... the fireworks are AMAZING from across the lake, much better than from inside the park IMHO. And it won't cost you an extra dime.

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? Take a stroll. There are lovely walkways or nature trails around almost all of the resorts. A great time for visiting the resorts is Christmas when they have their decorations up.

o

At night you can wander along the Polynesian's beach, sit in a cabana and watch the Electrical Water Pageant and the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom. Walk through the tiki-torchlit gardens between the Great Ceremonial House and the beach. It's all very romantic. (Please keep in mind that the beach and particularly the cabanas are primarily intended for guests of the Polynesian, though there is nothing to prevent the general public from using them.)

o Watch the Wishes Fireworks from the Grand Floridian boat dock. Narcoossees restaurant is nearby and receives the audio soundtrack from the Magic Kingdom, so you can enjoy the fireworks synchronized to the music. There's a little bit of delay due to the distance, but it still works. Seeing the fireworks reflect off of the lake is beautiful.

o

From the Boardwalk, meander up to the back gate of Epcot, or over to Disney's Hollywood Studios around closing time and enjoy the music and perhaps a glimpse of IllumiNations or Fantasmic!. The bridge that goes over to the Swan and Dolphin sometimes has nice views at that time.

o During the day, explore the woods from the Wilderness Lodge to Ft. Wilderness.

o Stroll from the Grand Floridian to the Wedding Pavilion and poke your head in. (Unless there's a wedding in progress, of course!)

o At Animal Kingdom Lodge, you can walk out to the viewing areas and see the exotic African animals roaming free. Note that the animals come out around dusk -- you won't see any during the day. (Please keep in mind that hotel guests' rooms open right out onto the viewing areas, so quiet is very much appreciated.)

o Visit the Butterfly Garden located behind Acadian House in Port Orleans Riverside's Magnolia Bend section.

? Watch the Electrical Water Pageant. This floating parade is visible nightly, usually starting at 9:00, from Disney's Magic Kingdom-area resort hotel docks and beaches. The pageant takes about an hour to move slowly around the lake, stopping at each resort in order: Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Ft. Wilderness and Contemporary. Cost: FREE.

? Make the rounds of the Disney resorts and collect something! You can make your own scavenger hunt for little or nothing

? Find ?Hidden Mickeys?

 Take a free tour of Wilderness Lodge Check with guest services for times and details. There is also a hidden Mickey hunt (list available from guest services)

We can spend all day looking for hidden Mickeys at WL and WLV. We get the sheet from the front desk that has riddles to solve to find the Mickey heads. Really fun way to kill some time.

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 Visit The Boardwalk  Best in the evening. Just stroll and take in the atmosphere. There's usually lots of "street entertainment" Every night there are several different street performers that rotate through their acts. These acts are normally somewhere between 10-15 minutes long and can be anything from juggling to magic to a guy playing a piano on a bicycle. Some nights the acts are good. Other nights they are a waste of time. But don't complain, because they are free!

 Visit the The petting farm at Fort Wilderness. The petting farm is open 7 am to dusk a. There is free day parking at Ft. Wilderness.

 Take a boat ride.from Dixie Landings to Downtown Disney - it's especially nice at night. Take a stroll round Downtown Disney and catch the boat back to your car at Dixie Landings.

 Ride a Monorail...The Disney theme parks are famous for their monorails. This futuristic form of transportation travels between the Magic Kingdom, it's hotels, and EPCOT. The best thing about the monorails are that it won't cost you anything to go for a ride.

Go for a Boat Ride

Walt Disney World has all sorts of water on their property. There are several good sized lakes as well as miles of man-made canals. With all of this water, what Disney wants you to do is pay lots of money to rent a boat.

Renting a boat is expensive, so why not turn Walt Disney World's free water transportation into entertainment. From almost every location on the property that has water, you can probably take a boat somewhere else for free. Explore where you land for a bit, then get back on the boat and enjoy your cruise back to your starting location. Nobody ever asks where you are going, so you don't need to be a hotel guest or any of that stuff. Sometimes they ask to see a photo ID before letting you board a boat, but once you show it to them, there isn't ever any problems.

Some of my favorite free boat rides are:

*Downtown Disney to the Port Orleans Hotel - It's a nice long ride, starting in Downtown Disney's lake. You then enter a canal and travel past the Saratoga Springs Resort, through golf courses, past the very cool condemned Tree House hotels (although they are in the process of reopening), and then finally arriving at the hotel. Get out and explore a little, then take the ride back. If you get a good driver, the whole trip will be narrated too, with all of the good stuff being pointed out along the way.

*Seven Seas Lagoon Boats - To get to the boats here, follow the same method to get through the tolls for free that you use when riding the monorail. Then take the monorail either to the front entrance of the Magic Kingdom or to the parking lot. Get off and pick your boat. The big boats here are the ferries that transport people from the Magic Kingdom parking lot to the Magic Kingdom park entrance. These are some of the largest boats on Disney property. They are two levels, and you are free to walk around whatever level you choose while the boat is moving (always go for the second floor). There are some great views of the lake, it's many islands, and the surrounding sights. There are several smaller boats that go to some of the hotels that are on the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake that are fun to ride too. Board these by getting off of the Magic Kingdom monorail station, and pick your boat. Taking a boat to the Wilderness Lodge is always fun, mostly because it is a nice long ride that takes you through the Seven Seas Lagoon, into a canal that passes over a road, then into Bay Lake.

If taking a boat here after dark, it's possible to see the Magic Kingdom Fireworks from the water and keep a lookout for the Electrical Water Pageant, which is a illuminated light show that floats across the Seven Seas Lagoon on barges.

*EPCOT Waterway Boats - These boats travel from the back entrance of EPCOT, up a canal into the lake surrounded by the EPCOT hotels, into another canal to the Swan & Dolphin Hotels, and then up to the entrance of Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM), and then turning around and repeating the whole trip. It's a nice long ride, but with all of the stops, it's quite slow going. There are pathways along the whole route so you can walk back if you choose not to ride round trip.

 Explore the Hotels

I have already mentioned some of the Disney hotels such as the Boardwalk and the Magic Kingdom hotels. What I mentioned previously only scratches the surface of the hotels though.

Just like when riding the monorail, when entering a hotel, if there is a toll booth, say you are going to eat dinner at the hotel. If you feel like a big over achiever, know the name of a restaurant, but this isn't necessary. The guard will most likely ask for photo ID and will copy your name down, and then will wave you through as easy as that. Once in, you are free to roam around the hotel. You probably will get hungry eventually, and Disney hotels have very good food, so chances are that you won't be lying about eating dinner there.

Here is a list of some of my favorites and some of the highlights of the free things to do at each one:

*Animal Kingdom Lodge - This is one of my favorites. It is built next to the Animal Kingdom Theme Park, and carries over an African theme. The massive lobby is filled with cool stuff like bridges spanning with width of the room between the upper floors and giant ostrich lamps. All of that is good, but the best part about the Animal Kingdom Lodge is by far the animals. The hotel has it's own recreated African Savannah, so the hotel guests can see gazelles and zebras grazing outside of their rooms. For the people that aren't staying at the hotel, you can walk around the outside of the hotel and some of the indoor hallways and get wonderful views of the animals. It's like a free zoo. If you pay admission into Animal Kingdom next door, you'll get to see one of the world's best zoos, filled with all sorts of impressive animals. Here you are limited to slightly less exciting animals like zebras, giraffes, and other grazing animals. It's not quite as exciting, but it's still pretty cool, and it's free!

*Wilderness Lodge - Another one of Disney's Lodge hotels. This one is themed to be somewhere in the American Northwest, specifically around the national parks. The setup of the hotel is very similar to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, only without the animals. It also has a massive lobby filled with all sorts of good stuff like giant totem poles, fireplaces, and hot springs. These fake hot springs bubble up into pools inside the lobby and then flows into a stream. The stream flows out of the lobby, where it forms a larger river outside. The river passes over several waterfalls and then flows into the Wilderness Lodge's swimming pool. It doesn't end there either. The water then flows out of the pool into another stream, and eventually flows out into Bay Lake. This whole water system is one of the highlights of the hotel, and it is very interesting to follow the flow of the water along it's whole path. Behind the hotel, along Bay Lake, there are some nature trails to walk around, and then their is the geyser. The geyser erupts every half hour and is a nice free show...

 Disney Character Outlet; We always go to the one near the crossroads just a couple of miles past DtD. It is an official Disney outlet and is staffed by Disney CMs. It's on the other side of the food court. We were there twice last week. I got some winter stuff like thermal long sleeve shirts that were 34.99 in WDW just last month and are only 9.99 at the outlet. Also got 3 teeshirts (one organic one, one kermit with a disney phrase about happiness is a state of mind, and one red/white/blue mickey one). They were 5.99 each. Got the grandgirls a small princess bag, regularly 18.99 and on sale for 5.99. They had lots of collectibles, holidays stuff and lots of winter sweatshirts. We never leave empty handed here and the stuff goes quickly. We got the dress up sets for the Minnie Mouse that you can change her outfits. The outfits were 5.99 and going fast. It takes me about 15 minutes to drive up and back and about 30 minutes at the store, so I can spare one hour of my precious vacation times saving a ton of money. Heck there are people who spend way more time than I do just waiting for buses!

We go to the one that is in the big outlet mall off of Rt.4, on Vineland Road (?), about 1/2 mile from the crossroads. You turn left at the light when you see the Vineland Road sign and it's about 2 miles straight ahead. Very easy to find. We only go to the Disney outlet and when we're done there is a publix across the street, so a good time to stop for water or refreshments before heading back to the room for a nap.

 consider visiting playgrounds at various resorts with little kids...some of them are pretty cool and so under used since most of us are so busy running to the parks. Favorite ones for my kids in the past have been the beach area of CBR, the POR , and the one at Fort Wilderness.

 There are Hidden Mickeys at Wilderness Lodge, and a train room, too. You could also check out the geyser there.

 I agree with the boat ride to DTD from Port Orleans Riverside. Here is how we like to work it. Take the boat from the Fort to MK. From MK take a bus to POFQ, go through the lobby (feel free to explore a little) walk straight past the pool (stop for pictures with the fiberglass alligators) towards the canal and boat launch BUT don't get the boat here. There is a sidwalk that runs along the canal, while facing the canal turn left and enjoy a leisurely walk along the canal to POR. This is where you will get the boat which will take you to DTD from which you can get a bus back to the Fort. This route will eat up approx 3 hours, more depending on how much you explore the 2 resorts and DTD.

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[Lou... 3,118]

That's a great list Marty. If you run out, I can probably add one or two things.

I do have one you should add to the list, take a ride on my bus, if you dare.

[bord1niowa......Curt 79]

That's a great list Marty. If you run out, I can probably add one or two things.

I do have one you should add to the list, take a ride on my bus, if you dare.

So what would be the best way to find you and your "dangerous" bus?  In the fort?  Zooming between resorts?  or???

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Will you be working next Sunday? I will be at the All Stars Movies overnight :D It would great to meet you

[Lou... 3,118]

I will be at the All Stars Movies overnight. It would great to you.

It would be nice to meet you too, but even if I were working, the odds of meeting a specific person on a bus are slim due to the fact that there are so many drivers and so many bus trips. I think the odds are about 1 in 6000.

I stole your bus smiley, had to have it, thanks.

So what would be the best way to find you and your "dangerous" bus?  In the fort?  Zooming between resorts?

I'm exempt from driving at the Fort, and I'm thankful for that. You won't find me going between the resorts because there are no such routes. The best way is to let me know when you're going to be hanging out at the Fort and I'll stop by.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Well then unless I get extremely lucky I will have to wait until July to meet you. I'm glad you liked the bus smiley

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Just bumping this up to help anyone planning vacys in the near future. :)

[Otter Spotter aka Debbie 58]

"The major restaurant in the Marketplace is a Rainforest Cafe. It's overpriced tourist food, but since you are about saving money, just go inside and wander around the gift shop and seating area. It's filled with giant aquariums and all sorts of animatronic animals. Once you have had your fun, walk out and move on."

I don't want to be a wet blanket but, unless you are actually dining at Rainforest or T-Rex, please don't go touring the dining room. It's hectic enough in there as it is, and it's very disruptive to people paying those big bucks for their meals. We eat at both places several times a year and I find it very annoying and rude for some kid to come running past or behind me and bumping the table so they can better see the animatronics - while I'm trying to enjoy my dinner. It's a restaurant and not a playground.

I'm not saying you would allow your children to free roam and behave inappropriately while in a restaurant, but a lot of parents are so busy looking around, they don't pay any attention to what their kids are doing.

Thank you!