In light of the planning, I'm haunting my old sites about Disney. SOme are just fun image sites, some are budgeting sites, others are message boards, and some are shopping sites.
I admit it, I'm drooling at the prospect of going to Walt Disney World next Spring. I am keeping well enough in mind that it may not happen. Let's face it, it's not a cheap vacation, especially factoring in 5 people going.
So, in keeping with the budgeting theme, here are some free & low cost things you can enjoy while at Disney, without buying a park pass to do them!
Let's start with Downtown Disney. When last I was there, it was a small conglomoration of shops near Pleasure Island. From what I understand, it's grown quite a bit since then. I spent an entire afternoon just walking around the shops.
There are interactive fountains which are fun to watch or even play in, especially for the kids. Just make sure you are wearing clothing that will dry easily!
Check out the Lego Imagination Center, which is free, and features 3,000 square foot of outdoor lego play. In addition, there are some neat sculptures built from legos in the area to look at.
The Magic Masters shop also shows free magic demonstrations.
Now, most of the restaurants in that area can be pricey, but you can order an appetizer, or go to one of the small snack shops for a cheap mid-day snack before going to a park, or back to your room.
I've heard that Earl of Sandwiches is cheap, and you can get a custom made sandwich there. Supposedly, it's one of the cheapest places to eat in all of WDW. One reference I found to it says you can order a custom sandwich, a bowl of soup, a lemonade, and a cup of tea for under $10! I don't know how dated that is, though.
At the Ghiradelli Soda Fountain, you can occasionally find a shop girl (or boy) carrying a basket of free samples of chocolate- always worth a stop, right? That chocolate is GOOD! I just recently got Nick hooked on it at Christmas.
The Raglan Road Pub has live music nightly, and is fun to listen to, apparently- especially after people start joining in and singling along. Watching is free- the Irish Guinness will cost you extra, however!
Speaking of live entertainment- when you are in Downtown Disney, check out the dock stage. This is where you will occasionally find live entertainment for free. When my dance group danced at Walt Disney World, this is where our show was!
If you want to visit the Downtown Disney area at night, you can enter Pleasure Island for free. Be forewarned, it will cost to get into the nightclubs, but the atmosphere outside is awesome from what I remember.
That alone will likely take up a good portion of the morning or afternoon, more if you spend a lot of time browsing the shops. Don't forget to bring a camera to take plenty of fun shots here!
From the Downtown Disney area, you can take one of the ferries for free over to the House of Blues or to the Port Orleans resort. From Port Orleans, you can walk around, or hop a bus elsewhere, or even just hop on the ferry and head back to Downtown Disney.
Hope this is a good list of things to do on a limited budget while at Walt Disney World!
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Comments: 23
Even then, the only reason I did see it was because I found a deal where I got both Pocohantos and Aristo Cats for only $20 brand new, packaged together... and then, it was my 2 year old's FAVORITE movie, so I got to watch it nightly. Go figure.
We have a friend who is a photographer there- usually in MK, but I think he's also worked MGM a few times. He's said he can help get some free entrances, but we don't want to plan on it (it IS far away- he might not still be there), so we'll likely order tickets for every day but 1, and use that extra day to laze around, relax, etc. ;)
Thanks Sue- if I think of anything, I'll definitely take you up on the offer to bounce questions off you and your daughter. ;)
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