My brother ended up working on Saturday, so I had one more day to kill in the Orlando area. I considered Universal Studios until I discovered that tickets were in the $70+ range. I decided to see if I could cheaply fill a day at Disney World without going into the parks. Here's what I came up with:

1. Park at Downtown Disney and walk to the Disney Transportation bus stop. MAKE SURE TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE YOU PARK!

2. Take a bus to the Contemporary Resort. Enjoy the view of 7 Seas Lagoon and Magic Kingdom from the upper levels.

3. Take the monorail to the Polynesian Resort. Walk in barefeet on the beach. Rest in a hammock.

4. Take the monorail to the Grand Floridian for a baby grand piano recital.

5. Take a monorail to the Magic Kingdom exit and board a small boat to Wilderness Lodge.

6. Soak feet in the pool. Enjoy the free poolside concert, complete with dancing. Splurge if you want and buy a drink. (I got a stack of free stickers with my drink!)

7. Take a bus to the Animal Kingdom. Transfer to a bus going to the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

8. View caregivers feeding animals. I saw giraffes, wildebeasts, ostriches and assorted other large birds. The caregivers are very friendly and knowledgeable.

9. Take bus back to Animal Kingdom and transfer to Pop Century bus. Scope out this new “value resort” to plan for next big trip.

10. Take a bus to Epcot, then transfer to the Monorail headed for the Ticket and Transportation Center.

11. Take the Resort Monorail to the Polynesian to make a reservation for dinner at O’Hana.

12. Take monorail to Magic Kingdom, then transfer to resort boat to Wilderness Lodge. (alternate: do 2 laps on the ferry boat.)

13. Play poolside bingo at Wilderness Lodge.

14. Take resort boat back to Magic Kingdom, then transfer to resort boat to Polynesian.

15. Take a load off and spend a little money for the best meal in all of Disney World: drinks, bread, salad with citrus dressing, pork wontons with dipping sauces, lo mein noodles, BBQ chicken wings, broccoli, and skewers of fire-grilled steak, turkey, pork and the most phenomenal shrimp ever, topped off by scrumptious Bananas Foster for dessert. Pace yourself as you eat and enjoy the antics of Nicole, the ukelele-playing native, while she teaches guests Hawaiin songs, dances and games. Participate and you get a lei. The favorite seems to be the coconut race, involving pushing coconuts around the restaurant with brooms.

16. Walk along the beach in bare feet to a raised, grassy lookout hill and watch the Electric Light Pageant, followed by fireworks across the lake above the Magic Kingdom.

17. Stroll along the torch-lit Polynesian walkways to the Transportation and Ticket Center.

18. Ride the monorail to Epcot. If the crowds are still flocking out following Illuminations, take another lap on the monorail, returning to a much emptier Epcot.

19. Take the first resort bus that shows up. I ended up going to Coronado Springs.

20. Transfer one last time to a bus heading for Downtown Disney. Do a little window shopping before attempting to find your vehicle in the parking lot. (Don’t ask!) Pull out with a smile on your face.

ok, I'm confused as I obviously missed something, but what happened to the other thread? I'm lost as to why it's missing...

On topic, I'll repeat myself and say- sounds fun, we do things like that fairly often being locals. Great ice cream over at the Yacht and Beach Club, and the Boardwalk is a blast at night. And save some walking for reservations by calling 407-WDW-Dine since they can do them all over the phone.

> ok, I'm confused as I obviously missed something, but what
> happened to the other thread? I'm lost as to why it's
> missing...

Hmmm... Strange things are happening at Hogwarts. I too puzzled, as I had replied to both the original as well as the "new and improved" thread.

> On topic, I'll repeat myself and say- sounds fun

Guess I'll reply once again, lest Judy thinks I'm a cad for being silent (smile)... if I can recall what I posted yesterday and the the night before.

Thanks Judy (and George), sounds like fun - sort of like window shopping - having a good time browsing without spending a fortune. I'll keep your list handy for our Orlando trip next month. There will likely be days when we just want to take it easy.

> I'll keep your list handy for our
> Orlando trip next month. There will likely be days when we
> just want to take it easy.
>

"TAKE IT EASY?!" Did you see how much she got done that day??!!

Mike

> I'll keep your list handy for our
> Orlando trip next month. There will likely be days when we
> just want to take it easy.
> > "TAKE IT EASY?!" Did you see how much she
> got done that day??!!

> Mike

Mike, Mike, Mike, someday I'll have to show you a list of a FULL park day. The one I remember burning me out the most involved hitting all 4 parks in one day, accompanied by a friend with autism (go to the head of the line immediately pass), niece (age 5 at the time), nephew (age 3 at the time), brother and sister-in-law. We were on the bus by 7:30 a.m. My brother's family left around 11 p.m.. My friend and I finished up at the Magic Kingdom at 1 a.m.

> ok, I'm confused as I obviously missed something, but what
> happened to the other thread? I'm lost as to why it's
> missing...

I was just as confused myself.

http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/forums/cgi/forum1.cgi?read=206949

That's just really weird Eric. That thread wasn't showing up at all for me yesterday. Dunno, but that's really odd.

Random thought here, but why doesn't Disney World build trains as a form of transportation to other parks like AK and Studios?

> Random thought here, but why doesn't Disney World build
> trains as a form of transportation to other parks like AK
> and Studios?

simple answer- to expensive. Things like that all come down to money, and they don't see a need- especially not one that justifies the cost.