Freebies and Cheapies at the World of the Diz

Yes, you can!!...do things at Disney for free or on the cheap.  My parents live in Florida, about 45 minutes from Disney World.  So just about every time we visit them, which is usually at least twice a year, we go to Disney.  We don't go go to Disney as in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, but we go do some of our favorite free and or cheap things you can do outside of the parks.  Here are a few of those ideas...

1.  Ride the monorail resort line. 

The Grand Floridian. 

This is a monorail loop that makes 4 stops at 3 different Magic Kingdom hotels.  (the 4th and 5th stop being at the ticket and transportation center and the MK).  It makes hotel stops at The Grand Floridian, The Contemporary (it actually stops INSIDE this hotel) and the Polynesian Hotel.  We sometimes will get off at each hotel and explore.  Disney hotels can be a complete destination in and of themselves.  Which leads me to my next free idea...








2.  Hotel Hop. 

big cow type animal behind Animal Kingdom Lodge

As I just said, Disney Hotels are cool.  They are intricately decorated and each has a different theme.  One of our favorites is The Animal Kingdom Lodge.  First of all, it's just a massive, beautiful hotel decorated with a African theme.  Just walking in to the lobby is awe inspiring.  If you walk out back, they have a mini savannah with live animals like zebra, giraffes, wildebeests, gazelles, pelicans and usually this really large cow type animal with enormous horns who's name I cannot remember.   Another favorite of our is the Grand Floridian.  It is a beautiful Victorian themed hotel.  There is a white sandy beach on a lagoon with chairs for you to lounge in and wooden bench swings.  There is usually a pianist playing in the lobby or an old timey band.  And then you can just hop on the monorail from there.  Another neat hotel to visit is The Wilderness Lodge and the Boardwalk which leads me to...



3.  Visit the Boardwalk near Epcot. 

inside the hotel at the Boardwalk

Not only is the attached hotel neat to look at and explore, there is an Atlantic City themed boardwalk out back complete with shops, restaurants, games and sidewalk shows.  It's right on a lake (I forget the name, shame on me as a Disney nerd).  You can walk around the lake to the sandy beaches of 2 more neat hotels, The Yatch and Beach Club.  Sitting here on the beach is a great place to watch the nightly fireworks they show at Epcot (Illuminations).  You can't really hear the music like you could if you were actually in Epcot, but you can see the fireworks just fine.  And you can sit on the beach while doing it.  And it's FREE!!  And they are awesome fireworks.  There's another neat thing you can do at the Boardwalk and that leads me to...



4.  Rent a surrey bike. 

A surrey bike.  Not the best pic of yours truly, but what can ya
do.  I'm dedicated to showing you a pic of a surrey bike and
this was all I could find. And I got tired of looking through all my
TONS of Disney pics.

What's a surrey bike you might ask.  Well, it's like a little carriage on wheels, that you have to pedal.  You can get on with one or two benches.  There are pedals in the front and back for everyone to share the load.  If you have a kid small enough, they can sit in the front basket.  It's a big basket.  You can actually fit 2 small kids in there.  We had a 6 and 4 year old in there once, together.  It's a big, strong basket.  There is a path to ride the bikes around the boardwalk and past the Yatch and Beach club.  There are many places you can rent surrey bikes at Disney.  We've rented them before at the Boardwalk and at Port Orleans Riverside Hotel.  You don't have to be a guest there to rent a bike.  Now, obviously, renting a bike is not free, but it's cheap.  I actually can't remember the number right now, but trust me, if it weren't cheap, we wouldn't have done it. 

Since this post is already getting kinda lengthy, I am going to stop for now.  There are many more free and cheap things to do at Disney.  I will write more later.  For now, this'll have to hold you over.  In the meantime, if you have any free or cheap tips, pass it on and I'll include it in my next post. 

To Swim or Not to Swim

On our first extended trip to WDW, we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside (and have ever since.). They have a pretty neat pool.  Actually, all the Disney hotel pools are neat.  They are an attraction in and of themselves.  However, on that first trip, we had spent all this money on park tickets that I didn't want to "waste" time at the pool.  We did anyway.  My girls love the pool.  Any pool really, but this one had water falls and a water slide.  And it was at Disney.  Who can argue? 

Even though we did swim a little, I kept telling the girls that one trip we would come and stay at a Disney hotel and just swim.  No parks, just pool time.  Maybe a water park. 

Well, that trip was about 3 years ago.

Last summer, we did it.  We returned to "our" hotel with the express purpose of just swimming.  It was nice.  We did go to Typhoon Lagoon.  They loved that.  But my hus and I really loved just chillin by the pool.  Not feeling like we had to rush off somewhere to be sure we got our money's worth. 
There is so much to do at Disney without going into a park and the pool is at the top of our list.  I'd like to do that again sometime.  It was fun.  We were at Disney. 

These pictures are from that first extended Disney trip, 3 years ago, the one where I didn't want to spend time swimming but did anyway. 

My now 5 year old, then only 2 (but almost 3). 

My then 5 year old (now almost 8).  We were at Disney to celebrate her 5th birthday.  She turned 5 on 5/05.

My then 7 now 10 year old going down the water slide at the pool at Port Orleans Riverside hotel.  Look how cute she was complete with goggles!  Gotta have the goggles!