Here’s a tip worth mentioning: Don’t buy park passes for every single day of your WDW vacation. Reserve at least one of those days for a huge and sometimes overlooked “attraction” - the free stuff at the resorts. For your next seven day vacation. buy a six day hopper pass and spend the seventh day taking advantage of all kinds of stuff..

Today I’ll concentrate on the Monorail Resorts, and move on to others later. The monorail is a fun ride all in itself, but you could spend a whole day at the stops along the way. So put your park hopper away and start your day at the TTC, the Ticket and Transportation Center.

I love the TTC because it is the best place to hear classic Disney music and it’s a great place to people watch. You could take the monorail from here, but why not start out on a boat? Why not

take the ferryboat to the Magic Kingdom?

From the Magic Kingdom, take the short walk over to the Contemporary Resort. Along the way, admire the Disney topiaries or look down and read the sidewalk; it used to be that you could buy a tile and have written what you wanted on them (with certain limits, I imagine).

There’s plenty to do at the Contemporary, and although character meals aren’t free, if you are going to do one, I think this would be a great day for it. Why waste a ticketed day doing a character meal when you can have a great one outside the parks at a resort?  Probably the most famous character meal is “Chef Mickey’s”, at the Contemporary, Have brunch with Mickey and Minnie, and then explore the rest of the place. The CR has great shops, a decent video arcade, and a bar with a view of the lake called “The Outer Rim”.  You can even take a stroll down to the lake and have a cocktail at their poolside bar or go Parasailing, Waterskiing, Wakeboarding, Jet Skiing, or Tubing. Reservations are recommended and can be made 90 days in advance by calling 407-939-0754.

From the Contemporary Resort, hop on the monorail and head over to the WDW’s flagship resort, the Grand Floridian. There’s a character breakfast there (1900 Park Fare) , but also a nice, subdued, not over the top Disney place for lunch called “ The Grand Floridian Café”.  Afterwards, have a massage or pedicure at the GF’s spa, or explore the grounds, stalking the famous people that supposedly stay there.

Want to see how Disney fanatics with money to burn get married?  From the Grand Floridian, instead of jumping back on the monorail, take the path that connects the GF and the Polynesian Resort, and stop at the Disney Wedding Chapel.  I can totally get the appeal of a WDW wedding, but I still can’t help laughing at the idea of brides taking sacred vows in the backdrop of the stained glass mickeys and minnies , and I can’t help wishing Lauren gets married in a real church. But that didn’t stop us from pretending she was engaged (we said to her friend Eric) and popping in for a tour of the facilities. (We said that Eric and Lauren’s dad were out golfing - you know how men are...yada yada yada.)  Now there’s a fun activities the guide books don’t tell you about!

From the Wedding Chapel follow the path to the Polynesian Resort and there, you’ll find boat rentals, shopping, a tiki bar, and a Polynesian dinner show. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and have tiki torches and soft island music that serenade you. Stay and watch the fireworks from the resort’s sand beach, which looks out to the Magic Kingdom and Cinderella Castle. They even provide the audio for “Wishes”, so you can enjoy the show with a cocktail  while walking barefoot on the beach.

Again, you could return to the TTC on the monorail, but there’s a path from the east end of the Poly grounds and it is so pretty at night. From the TTC, if you haven’t had enough, jump on a bus to Downtown Disney (still not park pass required) and catch a movie, see a concert at the House of Blues, or go to Cirque Du Soleil.