"Free things to do at Walt Disney World" Walt Disney World Tip by TheTravelSlut

Favorite thing: I can't think of one thing--only many things to do here and I wrote a few down:

Go to the Contemporary Resort and to the California Grill on the 14th floor about a half hour before the fireworks start at Magic Kingdom. You have to go to either the 2nd or the 4th floor to catch an express elevator to the restaurant. Tell the check-in desk that you don’t have reservations but are going to the California Grill for drinks (you really don’t have to buy any) and to watch the fireworks. This is the tallest building in Disney and they have large windows and also two outdoor viewing walkways --- one on each side of the restaurant) that overlook a vast area. You can view the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom – for free-- and actually have a more unique view than many of the people inside the park! You don’t even have to buy anything at the California Grill although their martinis are quite nice.

Go to the Wilderness Lodge – check out the lobby – they usually have a wonderful gingerbread house collection during the holidays. Then go outside – to the pool area, and follow the sidewalk down to the geyser area

Downtown Disney is free as well as Pleasure Island now. Park at one end of the parking lot) and walk all of the shops. There is a Lego store that has an outside play area with tables & chairs and all sorts of legos that the children can just play with as long as they want. The stores are awesome – all child friendly – toys, candy and clothes.

All of Disney’s Resorts will be decorated for the seasonal Christmas-time holidays, so resort-hop just to look at the beautiful special themed decorations. Just visiting the grand lobbies and their gift shops can be sensory overload for the children.

Just about anyplace near a theme park or Downtown Disney will provide nice viewing of fireworks displays at night.

If you are at WDW during January, you can watch the annual Disney marathon like I did this year for friends from England who asked that I take a “Flat Stanley” with me.

Fondest memory: Going to WDW takes you away from the "real" world--even if it is for a short time and it takes you into a world of wonder, a world of fun, and a world of imagination & dreams. One thing I do enjoy is the monorail for a great overview of part of WDW.

You don’t have to stay on property to be able to take the Disney transportation system (most people don’t know this). You can ride the boats, monorail, buses etc. but have to access this free transportation from a Disney resort. Every Disney resort has a gatehouse with security as a security precaution. Just tell the guard that you are “meeting friends” inside, checking out the resort for future stays or are going to eat at one of the resort restaurants. They will jask for picture ID (driver’s license) – just show it --and then drive inside to the self-parking area.

The monorail also goes right thru the lobby (on the 4th floor) of the Contemporary Resort. Stand in line, then get on the monorail and ride it around to two other resorts – The Grand Floridian and Polynesian Village - getting on & off – to go inside each of those resorts to see their Christmas decorations during the holidays. Kids will think it’s an “adventure” just to take the monorail ride & it’s free!

Also, you can ride the monorail to the stop at Epcot Center. It runs above parts of Epcot so you can see how large Epcot & the World Showcase really are. To get to Epcot from the Contemporary resort monorail station you need to ride the monorail to the monorail transportation center (on the way to Polynesian and Grand Floridian resorts). You will need to disembark and then board the monorail that only goes to Epcot