Passing Time During the Florida Resident Summer Blackout Season

Posted by Scott Sevener on June 1, 2007 under My Time with the Mouse... - the column | Be the First to Comment

Oh bother, what’s a Florida Resident Annual Passholder to do?

While some of you are currently scratching your heads in confusion, my fellow Floridian Disney fanatics know exactly what I’m talking about! As we slip into the month of June and begin to prepare ourselves for all that summer has to offer, sadly us Florida residents also must prepare for the two-month long summer blackout period that comes along with our Walt Disney World Annual Passes. Sure, it’s hotter than the devil outside, and the crowd levels at the parks will be at their highest, and we get a considerable discount for opting out of visits during these times … but still, that’s two months without a single, solitary visit to Disney World! Oh, the humanity…

I think I speak for just about everyone when I profess that the summer blackout period for us is by far the worst of them all. The two weeks around Easter don’t really even phase me because I’ve already made the mistake of visiting the Magic Kingdom on Easter Sunday and certainly learned my lesson from that jam-packed, let’s wait two-and-a-half hours for Splash Mountain kind of experience! Yeah, the two weeks between Christmas and New Years are a bit tougher because of all the holiday festivities going on, but I’ve found that I can still get my fill of Disney Christmas in between Thanksgiving and mid-December just fine, and besides, there’s no doubt plenty of Christmas-related chores to be doing around my own home during this time anyways!

But summer … that’s about 10 weeks of time to kill and even if you tend to follow my lead and plan a weekend getaway at the beginning of June just to help ease the transition, that’s still a long ten weeks! Or maybe not, for how soon do we forget that there’s more to Walt Disney World than just the four theme parks? Between Downtown Disney, two water parks, mini-golf, spa treatments, and a plethora of other non-park activities that we normally find ourselves vainly attempting to crunch into our regularly scheduled vacations at the resort, maybe it shouldn’t be so hard after all to get our much-needed fill of the Mouse this summer while our annual passes are on seasonal blackout! In fact, now that I’ve actually got a list to work off of, I kinda doubt that I’m even going to get to do most of this stuff this summer while I’m locked out of the parks! Nonetheless, I’ll certainly have an absolute blast trying…

By no means is this the entire list of things you can do at Disney World throughout the summer without ever swiping your ticket through a turnstile, but I like to think that it’s a pretty good collection of the ones that I’d like to do … and that works out because it’s all about me, right?!

Shop Your Heart Out at Downtown Disney
Why put off until December 24th what you could actually start doing ahead of time?! Downtown Disney is one of the few places that this guy actually likes shopping, outside of Best Buy and Toys ‘R Us, of course! And really, who wouldn’t love a little browsing (and eventually spending) at this outdoor marketplace that seems to have something for all of our favorite indulgences – from toys to trinkets, cookware to Christmas ornaments, pins, beachwear, legos – you name it! Of course, Downtown Disney also features the largest Disney store in the world, appropriately named The World of Disney, where just about anything Disney you could possibly imagine can be found. I’ve gotten lost in this store many times, and yet I didn’t really seem to mind…

And of course, no trip to Downtown Disney is complete without a visit to Goofy’s Candy Co. for enough sweets to put your dentist’s kids through college!

Get All Wet and Wild at Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon
When any of Florida’s hundreds of beaches, ocean and gulf-side, simply won’t do, there’s only one place to go where you can truly immerse yourself in liquid happiness … well, scratch that – actually, there’s two! Often considered day trips all by themselves, Disney’s water parks are the perfect solution to a hot summer day whether you’re looking to scare the sweat off your body by plummeting straight down a “water slide” at 60 mph or simply beat the heat in the cool, shallow water of a lazy river that circles each park. Both look equally cool for anyone who’s seen the pictures, but there’s just something about Blizzard Beach and the idea of swimming around what appear to be giant mountains of snow that lowers my core body temperature just thinking about it! Plus, don’t forget that annual passholders get a discount … as if you needed an excuse to go swimming…

Dance the Night Away at Pleasure Island
Now I’ve never been myself, but I hear that the young ‘uns tend to have themselves a grand, old time at Disney’s premiere night club setting, located in the heart of Downtown Disney! The one distinct area of the resort earmarked for adults only, Pleasure Island features a large enough variety of clubs that even a square like me finds himself increasingly curious of what could be found on the other side of those flashing lights! Of course, those so inclined to dance will have their choice of retro, techno, top 40, classic rock, and hip-hop beats in a number of different clubs, including one that even has a revolving dance floor. And while yours truly can hardly keep his balance on a regular dance floor, they’ve also got some other choices such as the Adventurers Club, a sort of “living theater,” if you will; the Comedy Warehouse, an obvious comedy club; and even live bands for the concert-goer in you! It may take some prying out of one’s shell, but it still sounds like it could be a fun night to me…

Putt-Putt the Night Away at Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens

An all-time favorite in our household, very few of our trips to Orlando are considered complete without a round on one of Disney’s miniature golf courses, and as somewhat of a connoisseur myself, I must proclaim that Disney operates some of the best putt-putt golf courses I’ve ever seen! Winter Summerland at the foot of Blizzard Beach is great for those jonesin’ for Christmas, but if you want a real challenge, try your luck on the Greens course at Fantasia Gardens – this 18-hole menagerie features quite possibly the most insane shots ever to be featured in mini-golf history … you really have to putt for yourself to truly understand the frustration! Of course, with everything themed after the Disney animated classic Fantasia, right down to the soundtrack playing in the background as you progress through the course, the setting is almost enough to make you forget that you just got ten over par on the hole that has you shooting straight up.

“Which time?” you ask? Yep, you’re definitely at Fantasia Gardens…

Catch Dinner and a Movie … Oh, the Possibilities!
We’ve done this one several times and it always makes for a nice night out of the house – there are plenty of great restaurants to choose from at Downtown Disney, and even some upscale counter-service locations (like Earl of Sandwich, Wolfgang Puck Express) if you’re not quite rolling in the dough for Fulton’s Crab House just yet! Another option would be to make reservations at that resort restaurant you’ve always been wanting to try, but could never quite fit into your touring plan – this is where the possibilities really do start to add up! Hop back over to the AMC Theater at Downtown Disney’s West Side after your meal for a relaxing night at the movies and you’ve successfully pulled off your Disney date without ever paying $70 / person to set foot inside a theme park!

Watch Others Infinitely More Flexible Than You at Cirque Du Soleil
Albeit a bit pricey starting at $67 / adult, they say that you won’t find a more impressive performance act this side of the Vegas strip. Some of the top acrobats, gymnasts, and dancers make Cirque Du Soleil’s shows simply jaw-dropping as they proceed to do the unthinkable for 90-minutes straight, all to an original soundtrack that nearly hypnotizes the crowd as the action unfolds around them. I’m told that it’s hard to beat a night out after you’ve experienced La Nouba, and be forewarned that they’ve been known to bring members of the audience into the production from time to time! Not sure where’s best to sit to avoid this, but please do tell if you’ve got any hints…

Unleash Your Inner Geek at DisneyQuest
For all of us ever-yearning for a world in which magic mushrooms and golden coins spring forth from every brick we touch, the only thing better than playing video games is getting to design your own and at DisneyQuest, you actually get to do a little of both! This virtual theme park is all about interactivity, meaning rather than just battling pirates on a TV screen, you actually steer the ship while others in your party man the cannons and fend off the enemy looters; a ride on Aladdin’s magic carpet has you donning a VR helmet to immerse yourself in quite literally a whole new world; and the grand-daddy of them all, CyberSpace Mountain allows you to design your own rollercoaster on a computer, then ride it in a simulator! You can’t do that in Rollercoaster Tycoon…

Romance Her (or Him!) with a Little Disney Magic, California-Style
We all love the massive fireworks presentations that close out the evenings at most of the Disney theme parks, but just because you can’t step foot inside the parks doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on the show all summer long. Aside from just hanging out at the boat docks in front of the Magic Kingdom, your next bet for a very special presentation of Wishes is a late dinner reservation at the California Grill, high atop Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The perfect hotel for anyone who literally has to be right in Mickey’s backyard, not only can you walk directly to the Magic Kingdom from the resort or take in the view of Cinderella’s castle right from the balcony of your room, restaurant guests at the California Grill also get the distinct pleasure of watching Wishes either right from their own tables or from the magnificent observation deck outside the restaurant at the top of the hotel. With the lights dimmed and the soundtrack pumped throughout the restaurant, you’ll get a whole new look to this magical fireworks spectacular!

Also, I’m told that their food is some of the best you’ll find in Walt Disney World, if you’re the kind of person who goes to high class restaurants for the food…

Quite the list, eh?! And to think that that doesn’t even include boating, parasailing, stock car racing, a trip to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (not for me, of course!), and all of the swimming and relaxing and exploring to be had by simply staying at one of the Disney resorts! With so much to do around here outside of the theme parks, they could blackout the whole summer for us and we’d be so busy that we probably wouldn’t even notice, right?!

Just kidding…