RECREATION

What to do when you're not in a Theme Park:  (these are items that usually cost extra - the free activities can be found on the Disney Resort Extras page).

Recreation:  Disney World offers many forms of recreation.  Fort Wilderness offers a large array of recreation that you can participate in even if you aren't staying at that resort (see below).  Information on renting electric carts at Fort Wilderness can be found on my Fort Wilderness page.

There are a number of watercraft that you can rent from various resorts.  There is waterskiing, parasailing, wakeboarding, tubing, fishing, fishing excursions, golf, excursion cruises,  miniature golf, tennis, biking, fitness centers, and spas.

Recreation PRICES: 

There are also entertainment complexes you can go to, which include:  Downtown Disney, The Boardwalk, Disney's Wide World of Sports, Cirque du Soleil, Disney Quest, Pleasure Island, and The Disney Institute.

Fort Wilderness:  These activities are available to all Walt Disney World resorts guests, and some are available to those staying off-site.  If you are staying at any Disney hotel, you can participate in:  volleyball, basketball, nightly campfire program.  

If staying off-site, you can still participate in these activities at Fort Wilderness:  Horse back riding, hay rides, pony rides.

Disney's Wide World of Sports:  Home of the Richard Petty Driving Experience.  This is where you get your choice of driving a race car, or being driven in a race car by an expert race car driver!  It's expensive, but sounds awesome! 

Surfing:  Here is a reprint from a post on a board that anyone interested in surf lessons will find helpful:  "Surf clinics for beginners are offered every Tuesday for and always before regular park hours.  Reservations can be made up to three months in advance by calling 407-WDW-Surf.  I made my reservations 2 days prior. They require a credit card number to hold the reservation and there's a 24 hour cancellation policy.

We were told to arrive at the park's entrance at 6am. At 6:15am a cast member opened the gates and did a roll call of participating guests and asked to see our charge cards for payment processing. Then we were escorted to the lifeguard towers to the right of the deepest section of the lagoon. There we met our instructors, Craig and Chip. They're from the Cocoa Beach surfing school and drive down once a week for the classes. They go over technique and safety precautions and allow everyone to practice on dry land the basic physical movements required to stand on the board during the wave. There are three different board sizes (6ft, 8ft and 9ft lengths) depending on your height and weight. All of them are provided and are made of hollow fiberglass.

Craig and Chip, who look in good enough shape, jump in the water and give us a demonstration. They perform flawlessly and make it look too easy. Two students surf at the same time in the lagoon. Each instructor positions himself at either side of the lagoon near the back wall. The first two throw their boards in the water and dive in. They get on the boards face down and paddle to their designated instructor. Your ankle gets strapped to a cord which is attached to the board. If you're "regular" (righty) then they attach it to your right ankle. If you're "goofy" (lefty) then they attach it to you're left ankle. After positioning yourself facing away from the wave, with the instructors help of course, you wait for the swoosh of the wave to signal that you have to start paddling hard. Once your lifted from the water by the wave you need to jump into position and balance yourself properly or face a wipe out in the wave. The waves come in 90 second cycles and after each run you need to paddle back to the starting point for a second try with your instructor. After that you move to the other instructor where you get two more runs back to back. So all told, you get 4 runs in a row,2 with each instructor. Then each student after you goes in order until your turn comes up again where you'll get 4 runs all over again.
There were 10 students in our class and all told I got to surf 12 times in a 2 hour and 15 minute time span. They did allow spectators so I brought my wife along to videotape the experience.

I have to say that the experience was wonderful. Living in the northeast I don't think I would ever have the chance to surf in a controlled environment like this. I must say I'm sold on the sport. It is however very physically demanding. I really did appreciate our instructors physical conditioning after paddling back and forth. My shoulders were fatigued after the first couple of runs and my whole body was sore for 2 days. I used muscles that I haven't used in a long time. I would suggest anyone trying this to do some swimming or shoulder exercises in the months prior to condition your muscles for the demand. I had so much fun though, it was a memorable experience. I highly recommend it and can't say enough good things about the instructors. They were always in the water with us and offered lots of words of encouragement and helpful advise.
I wiped out on most of the runs. I would manage to get up on the board but fall shortly after that. When I finally got a complete run in I felt this great sense of accomplishment. It's not nearly as easy as it looks, but the fun is in trying and watching everyone else struggle along with you. I have some great video shots which I'll cherish forever. I never would have thought a city boy like me had it in him, but you never know until you try.
An additional bonus of the program is that you can opt to stay in the park after class. Admission to typhoon lagoon is included in the fee so I guess you can deduct 26.95 from that price to get a final cost.
The lagoon can also be rented out after park hours for private parties for $1000. You can get a group of ten friends and split the cost, but you have to bring your own equipment. For that price you get 100 waves total. Apparently there are many people who do this."  

Surfing reservations can be made up to 90 days in advance by calling 407-939-7529.

Note:  The price for surfing does not include general admission to Typhoon Lagoon.  You will need purchase a separate admission if you want to stay after the event is complete.

Fireworks Cruises.

Cruises can be arranged to view either Wishes or Illuminations. Pontoon boats can carry up to 12 people (no more than 10 adults) and The Breathless (a mahogany Cris Craft)  can carry 6-7 people. You can bring your own food and drink on board, or have your event catered by WDW.  On the Wishes Cruise, you can see the Electrical Water Pageant from the boat. Call 1-407-WDW-PLAY to make a cruise reservation. These must be booked 90 days out. 

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