1-Day No Parks Disney World Itinerary
Wondering what to do outside of the parks with your free day at Walt Disney World? You could relax around the pool, decompressing after a long day in Magic Kingdom. Or, you could have a day jam-packed with fun and the multitude of other entertainment beyond the theme parks in the Vacation Kingdom of the World.
In this touring plan, we take a look at how you can fill that free day from morning until night, exploring parts of Walt Disney World you might not otherwise see. Unlike our other 1-Day Disney Parks Itineraries, here we have a “choose your own adventure” element as some of the options here may not appeal to everyone.
So, we have an alternative path: Adventure B. This path is geared more towards families, but when you don’t see it as an option, it’s because the recommendation is the same for all. (Except Trader Sam’s…that’s for adult playtime after the kiddies are in bed.)
While this touring plan will work year round, if you’re visiting during Christmas season, I highly recommend following our Self-Guided Yuletide Tour of Walt Disney World plan instead of this one. Check out our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World for additional ideas to fill out the day if you want more to do.
It’s also worth noting that you could literally fill a week or more enjoying the non-park side of things at Walt Disney World. There’s a lot to do in the parks, but it’s much easier to narrow each of the parks–even the Magic Kingdom and Epcot–down to a single day.
If this full day schedule is too ambitious for your “relaxation day,” feel free to cut elements and slow things down. You could also use the second half of the touring plan for your arrival day at Walt Disney World if you’re not heading into the parks! Even with the full day, a lot of possibilities have to be cut, so I’m hoping those of you Walt Disney World veterans who read the blog make additional suggestions in the comments to help the first-timers out.
Alright, let’s get started with our day…
Trail Start for Breakfast – Our tour begins here, on this haunted trail. Well, I’m not sure Trail’s End is actually haunted, but it’s where I recommend starting for breakfast, with a 7 am reservation (no sleeping in on this “relaxation” day!).
Not only is breakfast at Trail’s End cheap, delicious, and quiet, but an early morning stroll in Fort Wilderness will have you saying to yourself, “I’m at Walt Disney World?!” The overgrown woods, the morning light illuminating the Spanish Moss, and the secluded, underdeveloped nature of it all makes it feel unlike anywhere else at Walt Disney World. I often say Fort Wilderness is one of the overlooked gems at Walt Disney World, and this is a great chance to take it in. Next, take a boat to Wilderness Lodge…
Adventure B: Breakfast at Cape May Cafe at Disney’s Beach Club Resort. This is a character breakfast, so it might be a better option for those with kids.
Wonders of Wilderness Lodge – In our Free Things at Walt Disney World post, we cover some of the free tours at Walt Disney World. One such tour is the Wonders of Wilderness Lodge tour, which is held at 9 am Wednesday through Saturday.
The tour covers everything from Walt Disney’s love of trains to the materials used in building Wilderness Lodge to its backstory and inspiration from Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park, among other National Park Lodges. As this review accurately states, the content on this free tour rivals many of the paid tours.
Adventure B: Swan-shaped paddleboat rental at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resorts, spending an hour on the water.
Head to the Springs – This blog used to rag on Downtown Disney as being a waste of time. With Disney Springs, this is no longer the case. If anything, you need days (plural) to try all of the exceptional restaurants at Disney Springs. The shopping is good, too–but we’re all about the food.
The new shopping and entertainment district also has a great vibe to it, and there are some interesting stores and entertainment options. Plan to spend 2-3 hours here, doing whatever interests you.
If you want to grab snacks at Disney Springs, our top recommendation is Amorette’s Patisserie, which serves some of the best and most beautiful desserts at Walt Disney World. For a full meal, there’s no shortage of options, so consult our Disney Springs Restaurant Rankings.
Savanna Fun – Much like Fort Wilderness, Animal Kingdom Lodge is another out-of-the-way place many Walt Disney World guests never visit. This is a shame, as I consider it the best and thematically-richest of all the resorts. Don’t worry (were you getting worried?), we are going to spend a decent amount of time there.
Start by heading to Sanaa in Kidani Village, which is another of my hidden dining gems at Walt Disney World (request a window table) for a late, light lunch (or do The Mara counter service in Jambo House if you really aren’t hungry). This can be a culinary adventure, but there are safe options for picky eaters in your party.
After this, head to Jambo House for more fun. You can start by heading out behind the building to the trails that allow you an up close view of the savanna. Here, there are Cast Members who are incredibly knowledgeable, and can teach you about the animals and life on the savanna (some nice “edutainment,” so you don’t feel as guilty about pulling the kids out of school for the week! 😉 ).
After this, at 4 pm, head to the Boma restaurant podium. No, we aren’t going to eat again already! This is for another free tour, this one the Culinary Tour of Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is a 30-minute tour covers the art and culinary inspirations of Boma and Jiko (plus free samples!), and is fascinating even if you aren’t a foodie.
Adventure B: Play a round of miniature golf at Winter Summerland, located near Blizzard Beach water park.
Transportation Fun – Once finished at Animal Kingdom Lodge, catch a bus to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. From there, catch a boat to the BoardWalk to enjoy a pleasant afternoon (perhaps sunset, depending upon the time of year) stroll there, perhaps stopping to split a snack at Boardwalk Bakery (one of the best bakeries at Walt Disney World) if you’re at all hungry.
Walk around the full loop that goes past Yacht & Beach Club and the Swan & Dolphin, and then take the walking path back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (or take a boat). From the Studios, catch a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then take a monorail to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Walt Disney World transportation is a means of getting from point A to point B, but if you slow down and enjoy it, boat and monorail transportation can be attractions unto themselves.
Adventure B: Take a bus directly to the Magic Kingdom, then a boat to Wilderness Lodge.
Polynesian Dinner Delights – There are a lot of great places to eat dinner at the Magic Kingdom area resorts, but I’m going to suggest dining at either ‘Ohana or Kona Cafe at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort because of the way it sets up the rest of the evening.
Both of these restaurants are delicious, family-friendly places. If you want something more romantic, try Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge or The Wave at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, both of which I consider hidden gems. After dinner, you can enjoy the Electrical Water Pageant from the Poly.
Adventure B: Head to Wilderness Lodge for a hijinks-filled meal at Whispering Canyon Cafe, and then head to Fort Wilderness for the free Chip ‘N Dale’s Campfire Sing-A-Long.
Free-irworks – There is no better way to end a day at Walt Disney World than with fireworks. Fortunately, with fireworks being so high in the sky, it’s pretty easy to watch them for free.
The beach of the Polynesian offers a nice view, and the new Sunset Pointe is another good spot, but my favorite location for watching and photographing the Magic Kingdom fireworks is at the Ticket & Transportation Center, to the right of the ferry dock. This is a short walk from the Poly.
Nightcap – Since you’re only a stone’s throw away from the #2 bar in all of the worldwide Disney Parks, it would be a crime not to go to it, right?! (Yes, yes it would be.) From here, take the walking trail back to the Poly, which makes for a delightful nighttime stroll. Once there, end your night with drinks and kitschy fun at Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto.
After this, stumble back to your room and you’ve just completed quite the jam-packed “rest day” outside of the Walt Disney World parks!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? If you’re interested in learning more about hotels, our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page is a good place to start. For where to eat, try out our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. If you want to save money on tickets or determine which type you should get, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at unconventional things you should take on your trip. Once you arrive at the parks, our Walt Disney World “Ride Guides” are great for determining what to do and when to do it. For overviews of all of these topics and so much more, the best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!
YOUR THOUGHTS…
What do you like to do outside of the parks at Walt Disney World? Do you typically plan a “rest day” outside of the parks? Anything on this plan you’d change? If you have any thoughts or questions, please post them in the comments!
There are SO many things to do at WDW that are outside of the parks. We explore one or two hotels other than ours each trip and frequently have a meal there as well. The horses and ponies at Fort Wilderness are fun to visit and the Hoop-de-Doo dinner does not require staying on the premises or even staying at WDW! Disney Springs provides hours and hours of shopping, sightseeing, and eating fun. You don’t have to spend a dime on merchandise to enjoy playing with Legos in the Lego store or seeing the beautiful artwork for sale in different shops. The various boats around Disney Springs, from Hollywood Studios to EPCOT, and the Skyliner don’t require staying on property. I’m talking myself into a day visit just to seeing everything else since money is quite tight at the moment and I am missing Disney World terribly.
Do your homework and you can enjoy so many things to do outside of the parks that focus on nature, water or water sports, hiking or walking, or just a leisurely people watching sit.
I too, was wondering if these are doable in 2021. Most of these have never heard of doing! We would love to spend a couple days going to different resorts that we have never went to before. Let me know if we can still do resort hopping. We are staying on Disney property by the way. When we went in November, it would not let us on to another resort property unless we had A dining reservation.
Is this still doable in 2021? Wondering if the tours you mentioned are still open? I’d love to see a similar itinerary for 2021 for resort hopping/rest day for newbies. Specific instructions on how to get from point A to point B would be great too! Thanks!
The article mentions going to Artist Point for a romantic dinner. Now that they have the Storybook Dinner, I think it falls more in the family-friendly category.
Tom,
I have loved poking around your site but sadly found it so close to our travel dates to really dig deep! We have family near WDW so we never stay on site. Can we do a lot of these activities in the “Outside the Parks” post without staying on site? Thanks & keep up the great articles!
Tom could you do a video showing the most efficient way to go to all the Disney World resorts in one day and all the important things to see in each one of them? I’m taking a resort day the first day I get there instead of going to the parks. Could you explain which resorts are close enough together to walk to, take the monorail to see or to take a boat to arrive at in the most efficient manner possible. I’ll be taking a solo vacation there this year from September 9 – 12 for fun and research.
I’m going to be retiring & moving to Orlando in 6 years to work at Disney. I have read several Disney books about the people, parks & company since last fall to learn much of the history. It is going to be cool to be able to experience many of the things that I’ve been reading about and seeing in videos when I come to the parks and resorts this fall.
Headed to WDW for the first time in early December 2019 for 5 days after a few days at Universal. With a 7 year old we probably need a day (or half a day) break at some point. Any suggestions on non-park activities for young kids (pools likely not an option given the time of year)?
Tom as spot on as ever!
Except, a bit disappointed in your choice of the Board Walk Bakery over Ample Hills Creamery. What happened to your ice cream addiction??
We used this post as inspiration for a “no park day” on our recent Walt Disney World vacation. We started out with breakfast at The Artist’s Palette as we were staying at Saratoga Springs Resort. We have never used Uber or Lyft but we took Tom’s advice and decided to try Lyft for the first drive of our day. I was surprised to receive a call from the driver as we waited. He asked which room we were staying in and then picked us up very close to our room. We then found out that he had previously worked for Disney for ten years at SSR! We had a great ride to start the day.
First stop was Wilderness Lodge. We had never visited this resort. We were in awe when we entered the main lobby. Beautiful! We joined cast member Jack at 9am for the Wonders of Wilderness Lodge tour. It was a private tour as myself, my wife, and my 13 and 15 year-old children were the only participants. Jack was very knowledgeable and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour. A highlight was the room in the Boulder Ridge section dedicated to Walt Disney’s love of railroads and trains, and especially the two original train cars from Walt’s Carolwood Pacific backyard railroad at his home in LA.
We then travelled by boat to Fort Wilderness Campground. It was my first visit to Fort Wilderness since I was there with my family as a teen 30 years ago. We enjoyed a quiet, peaceful stroll around the grounds. On the boat ride we saw what remains of the River Country water park. My son, being a fan of Disney history, wanted to see this site. We noticed that demolition has begun in preparation for the new resort planned for the site.
We then travelled by boat to Magic Kingdom. We had never been on the boats on Bay Lake. The serene setting is a nice compliment to the busier parts of WDW.
At Magic Kingdom we transferred to the bus and travelled to the Swan Resort. From there we made the short walk to Fantasia Gardens miniature golf. Tom has an excellent post describing the Gardens and the Fairways courses. We decided on the Gardens course. The course is very well maintained, and has some uniquely designed holes which require some skill and some luck! Although no course records were set, a good time was had by all!
We were then back on the bus travelling from the Swan to Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge (after changing buses at Animal Kingdom Theme Park) We had never been to Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were very impressed again. We enjoyed some time at the savanna viewing area and chatted with several cast members. We then rode the resort shuttle over to Jambo House. Another amazing resort lobby! Here at the Zawadi Marketplace we had one of the best cast member interactions of our vacation. My daughter had fun with the African gentleman who was doing the pin trading activity. As an aside, we have found that Disney pin trading (following Tom’s tips on acquiring low cost trading pins!) has been a great way for the kids (and us) to meet and interact with many friendly and interesting cast members.
We then did the Animal Kingdom Lodge Culinary Tour. This was very interesting and included tasty samples from Jiko and Boma, including the Zebra Domes. And they did live up to the hype! Very Delicious! We then had a light dinner at The Mara, a counter service restaurant adjacent to Boma. The atmosphere was very relaxing and quiet, and the food was great.
We travelled by bus back to Disney Springs. The kids have wanted to do the Aerophile Balloon Ride on our last several visits but between us being too busy and it being grounded if there is any wind, we hadn’t had the chance to do it. Well this was the night. We went up over 300 feet which provides a very different view of WDW. I was amazed at how spread out the parks are. Definitely a different perspective.
We then decided to check out another of Tom’s favorites, Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto. Back on the bus to The Polynesian Resort and after finding Trader Sam’s, we had about a 15 minute wait to get in (luckily since the kids are only allowed until 8pm). I guess I was surprised at how small Trader Sam’s was when we entered! We felt like VIPs in an exclusive club! The drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and the effects were a lot of fun. Definitely worth a visit if you get a chance. We then hopped on the monorail to Epcot (since we hadn’t been on the monorail yet during this visit) and one last bus ride from Epcot to SSR.
Whew! What an action packed itinerary! Thanks Tom for the tips and suggestions, we really enjoyed this day!
HI, we are travelling to WDW in 2018. Are you able to please update some of your content for 2018. Not sure how much more ‘progressed’ Disney Hollywood Studios will be. I know the Star Wars land will not be opening until 2019
We just came back from Disney World where we spent three days in the parks. I was also super keen to go for a fourth day and complete this itinerary (I even printed it out…) We basically followed the itinerary to the letter and it was so much fun! We were amazed at how much we could do for free, including all the transportation. Breakfast at Trail’s End was delicious and being veggie I had plenty of options to eat – this is not always the case, especially at Disney where there’s often only one uninspiring choice. We had a great time at Animal Kingdom Lodge watching all the animals and the culinary tour was amazing, hearing about the design of the restaurants and getting to sample the famous zebra domes (we got one each which seemed super generous) and soup at Boma as well as bread/dips at Jiko. Watching the fireworks at the Polynesian was a great way to end the day! Thanks so much!
Hi Tom! Thank you! This blog was helpful. A tip for those who are not staying at any Disneyland resorts. You can park at the Disney Springs and take the bus to any of the Disney hotels. Or make an early breakfast or dinner reservation to any of them. Otherwise the guards will not let you in the resort. We were only able to park at the Wilderness Lodge because we told the guard we were attending the Wilderness Lodge tour. From there we were able to take the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a late lunch and the Culinary tour. Come nighttime we were able to watch the fireworks and the short water Electrical Parade from the Geyser Point Restaurant which had an unspoiled view of the lake and marshland. We also drove to the Cocoa Beach Pier to surf.
I’ve heard their is a free tour of the Boardwalk hotel, called the Boardwalk Ballyhoo. Have you ever been on it or know if it still exhists?
I’ve honestly never even heard of that tour! I sure hope it’s a new one that just isn’t on my radar yet–I’d love to take it!
I’d add done with an animal specialist at Sanaa. By far our favor experience. Plus garlic naan. I’m in heaven just thinking about it. Ps. Love the blog. Long time readers. First time posters. ,)
Is the free Culinary Tour of Animal Kingdom Lodge for Disney guests only or can you also attend if staying off-resort?
Anyone can attend and you don’t have to be a Disney guest as long as you can make it inside the lodge. If you make a dinner reservation the guard will let you in. Or you can go to Disney Springs and catch the free bus to the Animal Kingdom.