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There were a few other miscellaneous things we did around Disney during our trip that didn’t involve the amusement parks. If you recall, this was our first time ever staying on Disney property. And to be honest, I had never really even been to or seen any of the Disney resorts or hotels. (Except for riding the Monorail through The Contemporary, of course).
For our trip, we opted to have one non-amusement park day, where we could just experience things like the pool at our hotel, the Port Orleans Riverside, and walk around a few of the other resorts.
So, besides going to the pool Port Orleans Riverside (don’t worry, I’ll spare you the photos of us in our swimsuits) what did we do during our “off” day at Disney?
Kids Drawing Class at Art of Animation
Our niece LOVES to draw, so when I heard that the Art of Animation offered free little drawing sessions, I definitely wanted to take her there during our trip.
It takes place right in the lobby of the Art of Animation. The instructor draws from the podium, and it shows up on a TV screen for the kids to follow along.
The instructor was teaching the kids how to draw Darkwing Duck that day!
Our niece was following the instructions intently!
I think she did great!
Here was the instructor’s drawing:
And here was our niece’s finished product!
Afterwards, our niece was excited to show the instructor some of the drawings she had been making in her Disney autograph book. The instructor was super nice, and even gave her some extra pointers!
Monorail Ride
Since we were staying at the Port Orleans Riverside, which is not a monorail resort, we wanted to make sure we took our niece and nephew on a monorail ride!
After breakfast one morning at Chef Mickey’s at The Contemporary (more on where we ate at Disney in the next post!), we rode the monorail to the Disney Transportation Center. Then we boarded a bus to the aforementioned Art of Animation for the drawing class.
Visiting Disney Resorts
So many of the Disney resorts are spectacles themselves!
For example, before the drawing class, we walked around the Art of Animation.
Visiting the Art of Animation
The lobby was covered with sketches and drawings from famous Disney movies.
The pool area at the Art of Animation was also phenomenal! (We just walked around though.) It’s designed to make you feel like you’re the size of a fish in the sea!
In addition to the pool area at the Art of Animation, there are many “storybook landscapes” on the grounds. We walked around the “Cars” landscape quite a bit before the drawing class started.
I thought everything was so exceptionally well done and laid out! This was such a fun resort to walk around.
Polynesian Resort
One morning we had breakfast reserations at Kona Cafe. So after breakfast, we walked around inside the main building and around the grounds of the Polynesian.
For anyone who knows anything about Disney, it goes without saying that this is a stunning resort!
We wandered outside for a little bit at the Polynesian.
The beach area looked terrific.
And of course, those overwater bungalows.
From the beach area, you could see the Grand Floridian hotel in the distance:
And, as we wandered back through the lobby to catch an Uber back to our room at the Port Orleans Riverside, we took some photographs of the lush-like vegetation at the entrance to the hotel.
Disney Wilderness Lodge
And last, but certainly not least, we walked around Wilderness Lodge one evening after eating at Whispering Canyon Cafe. This resort is tops on my list for one to stay at around Christmas time. I bet this one is so cozy and stunningly decorated at the holidays!
I loved these rocking chairs in front of a fireplace in the lobby!
The lobby furniture in general is was just all very cozy looking.
Have you done other fun things at Disney that didn’t involve the parks themselves? Or, have you walked around the resorts just to enjoy the sites? What are your favorite things to do?
