8 day park schedule - need help with "rest" day! About This Page:

[MichaelF]

On rest days we usually went to the pool, DTD or visited other resorts.

Originally Posted by Canada Amy

I guess by "rest", I'm thinking of ideas for how to do a half day or so at one of the parks at a leisurely pace. The girls might be anxious to get back to MK after just being there the day before, so maybe we'd go for part of the day, head back to POR for the afternoon, and then after Ohana maybe back to MK or watch fireworks from Poly.

Looking at your schedule you might find after spending your first day at AK the second day is not needed. There is plenty to do at all the parks but usually a day at AK is enough. We always kept a day open for the kids to pick one park to go back to for their favority rides. They usually chose MK or Epcot.

[Straitlover]

Did you book a package? Did it come with the free Disneyquest voucher? If so, you cna use it on your rest day.

If it didn't come w/ the DQ voucher, it should have a free minigolf voucher for one person. That is another option.

[Canada Amy]

yes, waiting for our CAA documents to arrive in the next couple of weeks. I know we got free mini golf last time, but never had a chance to use it.

Interesting point about AK.... we had the equivalent of about 2 half days there last time because of needing to go back for a nap early afternoon the first day and having breakfast at Cape May Cafe the second day which took up most of the morning. we wished we had another day to do it all. We never did any of the exploration trails or Rafiki's planet Watch. Now we did do Lion King twice and will likely do that again! didn't find Nemo that exciting. I really don't like that whole puppeteering thing and didn't like it for Lion King's broadway show!

[mike56]

I agree with Downtown-visit Lego store-HUGE Disney store-new Bowling Alley,etc

[Suzie-Q]

Our rest day if we have one usually looks like this:
we sleep until we wake up on our own and make our lazy way out for a big breakfast/brunch. Then pool time or DTD or mini golf, or check out another resort to do some pin trading-usually a combination and then there are so many free and fun options for evening entertainment.

Here are our favs for all of the above:
-great breakfasts - Trail's End and we had no problem being a walk up at 10:30ish because most people are after early breakfast before the parks and we are in noooo hurry! If I were at POR and did not have a car, I am not sure where I would suggest for breakfast, because I am pretty sure that Boatwrights is not open. It would be possible to bus it over to the MK and take the boat from the Contemporary over to Trail's End - it's a beautiful place to walk around. If you got faint on the way, we love the breakfast at The Wave and you' could also try WCC which has been highly recommended on the boards for breakie.
If you have not done WL and FW then they are so fun for exploring with the kids.
One of the benefits of POR/POFQ is that there is lots of pool area to enjoy for an afternoon without getting bored. If this is your first time staying there then you could spend a very happy day just going back and forth on the Sassagoula ferry between DTD and the two resort pool areas.
Our fav evening activities are:
-movies at FW after campfire with Chip n Dale and s'mores.
-hanging out at the Poly for fireworks and water parade from the beach.
-visiting the arcade at our resort to use the free credits

We have had Boardwalk area and YC/BC on our "to-do" list for downtime for the past 2 trips and never made it that far...one thing we have found with our days off is that they go by so fast that we usually end up dropping some of the things off our list for the day but we always have a great day! Hope you have one too!

[Kelly66]

We usually find a gap between when we finish what we like at AK on an EE day and when the optimum way to see the shows happens in the afternoon, so if you would like a half day at a park, I would plan to arrive at AK for the afternoon shows. Also, if you are finishing dinner at 6 PM, don't forget the torch lighting ceremony at the Poly. We usually like a leisurely walk from the Poly to the GF - one time we even saw tire tracks in the sand shaped in a Mickey Head!!! Do they still to the electrical water pageant around 9 PM? I could certainly shop an browse between the GF and the POLY until then, but I admit the rest of my family couldn't. You could 'rest' in a hammock on the beach and watch the castle change colors in the night. Have fun-your plans look great.

[Canada Amy]

oh, so many fun ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! people think I'm nuts when I tell them that after last year's 9 day trip, we left with so many other things we wanted to still do! but I know you guys understand! I have a "cultured" friend who can't wait to take her kids to Europe and I tell her unashamedly that I'm good with yearly trips to Disney for the next 10 years likely before I ever have any interest in doing that!

speaking of WCC, I'm hoping we can take in the campfire sing-a-long after our dinner. We'll have to guage how tired the girls are. Kayla only turned 4 last week, after all! I suspect it will be a half day at Epcot that day, with a nap/swim afternoon break and then we'll leisurely make our way to WCC - which I know will be a pain from POR, but oh well. I'm trying to plan on afternoon breaks for at least half the days. of course if we miss the campfire after WCC, I suppose we could make our way there after the Poly/ Ohana when we've had a more leisurely day to rest up?

[WDWJAMBA]

Down time is so important to our trips. No matter how intense our love of theme parks is, we have to rest and regroup or my family gets cranky.

We're much more open to the magic if we've had a chance to sleep, swim, read, and just plain veg out.

[ANGSWIN]

We also like to go to Downtown Disney. We usually plan 1/2 a day for it. We eat at Trex, shop at the world's largest Disney Store and the Toy Store, and also play at the Lego Store. It makes a nice break from the parks without losing that Disney feel.