3 Days, No Parks Trip Report Begins Post #62 - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We're staying Dec 24-28 prior to a Fantasy cruise and will only do 1 park day. Love the cupcake crawl idea! I think we'll also enjoy doing some of what we never have time for!
We did a 3 day no park trip in April. It was a blast. Planned it on Wed, left on Thurs am and came home on Sat night. We stayed at the Dolphin. Our days were filled with swimming, resort hopping, DTD, Cirque de Soleil, bowling at Splitsville, shopping, and eating! We did go to Boma, Kouzzina, House of Blues, Pollo Comparo, POFQ for beignets, and Captain Cooks for a Dole Whip! There's plenty to do - and you have the benefit of a savannah view - I could lose a lot of time just animal watching! Have a great trip!
I love your no parks plans! Being at Kidani with a savanna view balcony will by itself give you plenty to do. We loved the entertainers at BWV, too. We ate at Kouzzina's this past June, but since it was raining none of the performers were out. I'm sure they were inside, but we didn't want to go into the resort.
Kidani is the perfect "No Park" resort in my opinion
Quote:
Originally Posted by kangelop
What fun! Do tell more. . .
More coming up!
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Originally Posted by num1DVCfan
I think your "no plans" sound like a ton of fun. You'll have plenty to keep you busy...cupcake crawl....yum!
I will have plenty to keep me busy, as you'll see with the next update.
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Originally Posted by JenniferLynneRose521
Checking in Your plans to have no plans sound great!!
Well......you'll see how the "no plans" turns out with this update....
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Originally Posted by OhToodles!
Love the no park plans. There's a few of us doing this very same thing this year, me included (although I am going to MK for MNSSHP).
with your stay. Not going to the parks might be tough but having the Disney Fantasy to look forward to makes it easier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Sounds like a fun stay - I think I could definitely enjoy a few non-park days (espeically before a cruise ), there is just so much to do at WDW without stepping into a park.
The culinary tour is on our list for our trip as well, we wanted to do it last year but just never found ourselves at the resort at the tour time, this trip we are going to definitely try to make sure we are there to try it.
There is plenty to do, which has become a problem in itself I have wanted to do the culinary tour since I first heard about it and I've had 2 AKL stays since that time, and I never did get around to it
Quote:
Originally Posted by buzzspal2
I don't know if I could do no park. have fun.
I helps a lot to know that the Fantasy will be waiting, and that I have a WDW trip planned for early December
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
We're staying Dec 24-28 prior to a Fantasy cruise and will only do 1 park day. Love the cupcake crawl idea! I think we'll also enjoy doing some of what we never have time for!
You'll be going at a great time for a "No Parks" trip......think of touring the all the resorts to see all the Christmas decorations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackid2
Great start. Love the no park thing. Some day we'll have to try that. Love the Cupcake Crawl idea, hmmm something else to add to my to do list
We did a 3 day no park trip in April. It was a blast. Planned it on Wed, left on Thurs am and came home on Sat night. We stayed at the Dolphin. Our days were filled with swimming, resort hopping, DTD, Cirque de Soleil, bowling at Splitsville, shopping, and eating! We did go to Boma, Kouzzina, House of Blues, Pollo Comparo, POFQ for beignets, and Captain Cooks for a Dole Whip! There's plenty to do - and you have the benefit of a savannah view - I could lose a lot of time just animal watching! Have a great trip!
I'm thinking we'll have a lot of fun too!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start Holly!
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Originally Posted by scrapsoflife
I've thought of doing this sort of thing--just take a long weekend and resort hop/DTD and relax. Looking forward to seeing how it works for you!
Okay, this “No Parks” thing I think I can do. The “No Plan” is proving to be more difficult for me .
I spent a good portion of the day yesterday making shirts for Pirate Night for our cruise (using a very cool idea I found on Pinterest……told you I’m addicted to Pinterest.) I also looked at some Personal Navigators from previous Western Caribbean Cruises on the Fantasy to get an idea of some of the on-board activities I wanted to do. And I spent a good deal of time looking at (and planning) some activities for our “No Park” days .
I have more than I can fit in easily.
I want to take the Culinary Tour @ Boma and Jiko (4p.m.). The tour at Sanaa looks good too, but it’s also at 4 p.m. I have rsvp-ed for the DVC Open House to view the Grand Floridian Villas (4:30p.m. on Friday at SSR). That’s more 4 p.m.s than I have!
For evening entertainment, I have “check out the Territory Lounge at the Wilderness Lodge then view the EWP and Wishes from the beach at the Poly”, “stroll the Boardwalk and check out the evening entertainers ,maybe go to Beaches and Cream”, and “catch YeHaa Bob Jackson’s show at POR”. Again…..running out of evenings. And there are still the cultural safaris at AKV, evening storytelling at the fire pit, viewing the savannahs with night vision goggles…….. I do have the option of changing my DVC Open House time (but I think I have to do it soon). Unfortunately the other options are later in the evening, not earlier in the day which would work better.
I have one tour that is fitting in my schedule rather easily –taking the Wonders of the Wilderness Lodge tour. I have always wanted to take this tour but I have found that the 9 a.m. start time interferes too much with my park plans. I don’t have that worry this time. And finally, this morning I have been tossing around the idea of booking a “mixed water sport” adventure with Sammy Duvall……except I think that we’d only want to do the tubing so it’s not really mixed. I’ll have to return to that idea later
ARGH!!!!
Okay, deep breath. I need to stop planning. This post was supposed to be about how I plan on packing some wine, cheese and crackers, veggies and such to enjoy in the evening on our balcony as we animal watch on the savannah
So, information is power, right? I know when all of these things are. If we feel like doing any of them, great! If not, no worries .
Maybe I should post my cruise plans. If I focus on that, then I won’t feel the need to plan my No Parks days.
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Looks like you'll be able to stay quite busy out of the parks!
That's for sure!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
This update had me chuckling! We are here because we're planners addicted to planning! So hard to keep ourselves from booking all the cool stuff.
This is so true Planning is what we do, isn't it? I'll add that I'm posting an update today because DS and I are going to meet DSis tomorrow to check out the JFK Library Museum in Boston (Sis and I have been....DS has not), go on a chocolate factory tour (Sis and I both used to work for a chocolate factory so chocolate factories and candy stores are kind of a "thing" for us), and go to the Cheesecake Factory for 1/2 price cheesecake. This all started with "we should go to the Cheesecake Factory for 1/2 price cheesecake on Tuesday" .
I’m happy to report that I’m officially “over” the planning frenzy . Well, at least the “planning of the 3 days before our cruise” frenzy . This is primarily due to the fact that I have to get busy packing. I am addicted to planning but packing I’m not in love with so much . I’ll get it done, and hopefully I won’t forget something important, but I do put it off longer than I should. My packing difficultly is compounded by the fact that DH waited until yesterday to check his wardrobe and then go shopping for things he needs .
It has to get done today because tomorrow DS and I are going to MA to see my sistah (you have to say “sistah” in the greater Boston area ). This little road trip started with an email and a Groupon. A few weeks ago my DSis let me know that ½ price cheesecake day was coming up for the Cheesecake Factory. I love me some Cheesecake Factory ! I replied that I saw a Groupon for a chocolate factory tour. Both of us used to work at a chocolate factory when we were teens so we are very interested in chocolate factories and local candy stores. The Groupon was sold out, but we checked out the factory and found the tours to be plentiful and reasonable ($5 per person) . Let’s go the same day! Hmm, the tour doesn’t start until 2 pm and it’s very near Boston, so DSis reserved her library passes for the JFK library museum and maybe we can head there in the morning. (She has the planning bug too! Don’t know where we got it as our parents rarely plan anything. Hmm, maybe that’s why ……)
Okay, so I promised you our cruising plans…….
We are going on a 7 Night Western Caribbean cruise visiting 4 ports.
Grand Cayman: We have snorkeling scheduled as our Port Adventure today. We’ll visit 2 sites –the shipwreck of the Cali and a nearby reef. DH is most excited about this one. I’m a beginner at snorkeling but I’ve been practicing a bit in our pool so I think I’ll be okay. According to my trusty PassPorter , this excursion has very good reviews and is supposed to be good for beginners.
Costa Maya: Today we’re going on an excursion to see the Chaccohoben Mayan Ruins. My PP Cruise Guide didn’t have any rating for this tour, but I’ve read some very positive reviews on Trip Advisor so I’m hopeful. I added this tour as I knew that the Tuluum excursion from Cozumel wasn’t going to work for us (see below) and I would like to see some Mayan ruins.
Cozumel: This is what I am most looking forward to –swimming with the Dolphins ! I choose the Dolphin Swim excursion with Dolphinaris. I did some research on the Dolphin swim options available for our cruise and this one sounded like the best fit for us. I’m hoping that I made the best choice. I’m starting to doubt myself as the dolphin experience at Chankanaab National Park would allow us to enjoy the park afterwards, but reviews of the dolphin experience are mixed. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll have a fabulous time. Can’t second guess myself at this point.
Castaway Cay: This day has the biggest “surprise” of the trip. The “surprise” part is that what my DS most wanted to do was–Parasailing ! DS is generally pretty low key and cautious by nature. He is not a thrill ride junkie and he doesn’t like to come out of his comfort zone, so when he said he really, really wanted to go Parasailing, I had to book it. It will only be the 2 of us. DH said he would give this a pass (which actually surprised me). I am a bit afraid of heights so there is that, but I had to do this for DS.
As for our onboard time, on our first cruise we enjoyed all of the stage shows so those are a must this time too. I would like to try a wine and/or champagne tasting and there is a chocolate tasting too! DH would like to play a little Bingo, and of course we’ll all have to try the Aquaduck. We aren’t foodies so we won’t go to Palo or Remy’s. I’m going to drag the two of them to the DVC Member Mixer (or whatever they are calling it) and I’ll try to convince DH to participate in some of the trivia and/or game shows. I haven’t pre-booked any spa treatments but I may if I see some good specials offered. The fireworks are a must as our first cruise didn’t have them (Alaska).
I’ll try to post an update before we leave for the airport on Wednesday. I’m so excited!!!!
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Great plans!
I'm really thinking about parasailing with DD on our next stop at CC. We were supposed to do it on my 45th birthday trip, but the weather cancelled all boat-related excursions on Castaway Cay.
Hope you had fun today - but with chocolate and cheesecake, seems hard to miss!
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We loved the entertainers at BWV, too. We ate at Kouzzina's this past June, but since it was raining none of the performers were out. I'm sure they were inside, but we didn't want to go into the resort. 
with your stay. Not going to the parks might be tough but having the Disney Fantasy to look forward to makes it easier. 
.
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Planning is what we do, isn't it? I'll add that I'm posting an update today because DS and I are going to meet DSis tomorrow to check out the JFK Library Museum in Boston (Sis and I have been....DS has not), go on a chocolate factory tour (Sis and I both used to work for a chocolate factory so chocolate factories and candy stores are kind of a "thing" for us), and go to the Cheesecake Factory for 1/2 price cheesecake. This all started with "we should go to the Cheesecake Factory for 1/2 price cheesecake on Tuesday" 
. This is primarily due to the fact that I have to get busy packing
. I am addicted to planning but packing I’m not in love with so much 
! I replied that I saw a Groupon for a chocolate factory tour. Both of us used to work at a chocolate factory when we were teens so we are very interested in chocolate factories and local candy stores. The Groupon was sold out, but we checked out the factory and found the tours to be plentiful and reasonable ($5 per person) 
. Let’s go the same day! Hmm, the tour doesn’t start until 2 pm and it’s very near Boston, so DSis reserved her library passes for the JFK library museum and maybe we can head there in the morning. (She has the planning bug too! Don’t know where we got it as our parents rarely plan anything. Hmm, maybe that’s why 
! I choose the Dolphin Swim excursion with Dolphinaris. I did some research on the Dolphin swim options available for our cruise and this one sounded like the best fit for us. I’m hoping that I made the best choice. I’m starting to doubt myself as the dolphin experience at Chankanaab National Park would allow us to enjoy the park afterwards, but reviews of the dolphin experience are mixed. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll have a fabulous time. Can’t second guess myself at this point.
! DS is generally pretty low key and cautious by nature. He is not a thrill ride junkie and he doesn’t like to come out of his comfort zone, so when he said he really, really wanted to go Parasailing, I had to book it. It will only be the 2 of us. DH said he would give this a pass (which actually surprised me). I am a bit afraid of heights so there is that, but I had to do this for DS.
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