Slow Down And Enjoy Your Resort
Contributed By:
Melissa McGill
Disney is known for being all hustle and bustle... but it doesn’t have to be.
One of the best ways to slow down is to enjoy resort time. We call this option your 'rest day' which is absolutely needed when enjoying long days in the parks!
However, what if you focused an entire trip on resort time?
We did just that and had a great experience!
In this blog I’ll cover the specifics of our trip, everything we did, and some favorite moments.
Trip Overview
We decided to do a resort focused trip to reduce our spending due to a shift in my work life. Real life happens, so we adjusted our plans.
We had our trip booked a year in advance, and then eight months before we were supposed to travel, I was laid-off. It took a lot longer to find a new opportunity than I anticipated. We still wanted to enjoy some family time, though, and the best way to do this and remain aware of our finances was to skip the multiple park days and focus on the many ways the entire property can be enjoyed.
Instead of planning a typical 4 or 5 park day experience, we decided to do one park day with a complimentary ticket we still had from a previous trip and add Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. The rest of our vacation would be dedicated to exploring our resort and other magical extras!
The trip itself was a 7 night stay at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort in a One bedroom Villa.
This room choice was on purpose for two reasons:
1 - We wanted to be away from the parks and closer to Disney Springs.
2 - We wanted more space since we’d be in the room more.
Saratoga Springs met these needs and offered a great price.
From there, we looked at activities we could do outside the parks and developed our plans for our trip.
What We Did
Something we realized early on, even before this resort focused Disney trip was that there is A LOT to do in Disney World. We knew there were a few key things we enjoyed doing on most trips and there were some new experiences we wanted to try.
A main focus for this trip was to visit other resorts, and we knocked that goal out of the park! If you haven't seen all the hotel options that Disney World offers, you should definitely make some time to explore them. So many fun themes inspired by Disney's stories can be seen all over! In total we visited 10 on-site resorts over 8 days. We took advantage of being on the Sassagoula River and took a boat ride to Port Orleans French Quarter. We also knew a top intention was to do a monorail loop (a FREE ride for kids!), so we scheduled that for early in our trip along with a dinner at Disney’s Polynesian Village and Resort.
Next, we wanted to experience an overlooked activity that is included (yes, free!) with your resort stay-- Mini Golf! We chose Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf and followed it up with a walk over to Crescent Lake for an evening on the Boardwalk with ice cream.
Finally, we knew pool time was going to be a big part of our trip so we made sure to break up our days with lots of time at all 3 main pools at Saratoga Springs. This was another big reason we chose this resort. Our favorite pool there is The Paddock. The slide is super fun, the pool is easy to navigate, there is a kids play area, and the grille offers super yummy food and drink options. If you enjoy pool slides, you'll want to stay at at least a moderate resort in order to enjoy this addition specifically.
To say we did a lot is an understatement.
Here's everything we did on our Disney World Resort focused trip:
-Visited 10 Resorts In 8 Days
-Attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
-Enjoyed a Monorail Resort Loop
-Played Mini Golf at Fantasia Gardens
-Explored the Crescent Lake Resorts and Enjoyed Ice Cream at the Boardwalk
-Epcot Food + Wine Festival
-Shopped at Disney Springs
-Experienced an Evening at Hollywood Studios
-Ate Dinner at Sebastian's Bistro
-Lots of Pool Time
-Breakfast with Mickey at Topolino's
-Took a boat ride for Spooky Beignets
Why We’d Do It Again
Short Answer: We loved it!
It was so much fun to enjoy so many resorts. It also helped us decide where else we wanted to stay on future trips. While we love the parks, this was a great opportunity to unwind and just enjoy being in the Disney bubble without having to think about where we needed to be or what Lightning Lane attraction we would choose next. This trip was slow and steady and worked for us!
Resorts I’d recommend for a resort focused stay:
-Disney’s Saratoga Springs
-Disney’ Old Key West Resort
-Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
-Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
-Disney’s Riviera Resort
-Disney’s Port Orleans: French Quarter
-Disney's Port Orleans: Riverside
-Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
Still not convinced this type of trip is for you?
Try a few days at the end of your magical trip to unwind from your time at the parks.
Be intentional with your activities, resort choice, and time.
Focus on relaxation over doing as much as possible.
When you’re ready to plan your magical trip, the travel planners at A Mouse and A Beach Travel Co., are ready to help you plan it. Get a quote today!
AMAAB Travel Advisor
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