16 FREE Things To Do at Disney | Fireworks Shows, Skyliner Rides, and More!
Save money at Disney with these free things to do to have an exciting vacation without being overly expensive.
While most travelers know all about the magic inside Disney Parks, many do not know about all the FREE things to do at Disney World outside of paying for a day at the park! Going to the parks can get very expensive if you plan on visiting them every day of your vacation. Some of the most memorable things to do at Disney are the experiences you don’t have to pay extra for, so we’re going to share a few you may have not known about.
1. If you’re staying at a resort, know that transportation is included.
While staying at a Disney resort, buses are provided to all parks, resorts, and Disney Springs. If you are driving, you get complimentary standard parking at the parks and Disney Springs (which is always free!), but note that resort parking is $15.
2. There are tons of free recreational activities!
If you’re staying at a resort, you can enjoy various recreational activities, including volleyball on a sand court, playing a round of tennis, and hitting up the arcades. At least one pool in each resort area also has countless kids’ games and activities including trivia, scavenger hunts, and charades that are fun for the whole family!
3. Keep an eye out for free events, like yoga classes, at Disney Springs!
Keep an eye out for free events at Disney Springs, too! For example, in the past they have paired with Lululemon to host free yoga classes, and there’s always free seasonal entertainment, too. The Disney Springs website has updates for these upcoming events, and when you select the one you’re interested in, you’ll be redirected to register on Eventbrite. Keep checking back because these classes are constantly being added!
4. Enjoy free celebration pins for all kinds of occasions.
You may be familiar with Disney pin trading, but did you know you can actually get free buttons to celebrate your special day? Whether it’s your first time visiting, an anniversary, or your birthday, Disney offers complimentary pins at Guest Relations locations at Disney Springs and all parks, or at the front desk of your resort. This is a great way for a free souvenir that you can showcase around Disney!
5. Take advantage of the countless photo ops.
Sure, Disney Parks are full of Instagrammable walls, but the resorts are, too. Lively-themed resorts such as Art of Animation and Polynesian Village Village are various spots for amazing photo opportunities!
6. Watch Magic Kingdom fireworks from one of the nearby resorts!
You can actually view Magic Kingdom fireworks from neighboring resorts around the Seven Seas Lagoon, including Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
Preceding the fireworks, you’ll catch the adorable Electrical Water Pageant from those same resorts!
7. Catch EPCOT’s Luminous from Disney’s Boardwalk Resort!
EPCOT’s Luminous is a nighttime spectacular that pairs fireworks, music, lights & fountains for a dazzling display. You can see the fireworks portion from Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, Beach Club Resort, and Yacht Club Resort, no EPCOT ticket needed.
8. Enjoy the live music.
Throughout Disney Springs, you’ll find live music! House of Blues, Raglan Road, and Stargazers Bar are just some of the places you’ll find live music every day.
9. Speaking of entertainment, take advantage of the free street spectacles.
Often there are also street performers such as jugglers, comedians, magicians, musicians, and more performing in the evenings at Disney’s Boardwalk resort.
10. Enjoy a movie under the stars.
While staying at a Disney resort, almost every night they will have “Movies Under the Stars” where you can sit back, relax, and watch some of your favorite Disney films near the pool areas. It’s such a cozy activity to enjoy with your family.
11. Take a trip on the Skyliner.
Disney’s Skyliner is an awesome gondola experience that takes you to several resorts as well as EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s a fun ride and a great opportunity to explore some new resorts.
12. Enjoy a ride on the Monorail.
Enjoy a ride on the “inner” Monorail that circles the three Magic Kingdom Area Resorts (Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian). This is a great way to orient yourself and get a look at the resorts and an overview of the Magic Kingdom. You can get off and explore each resort or just enjoy the ride and the view. There’s even a monorail that circles around EPCOT!
13. Try resort hopping!
There are tons of Disney resorts to visit, each with a unique style and theme. You don’t have to be staying at one to take a visit! Coronado Springs has beautiful Spanish architecture, Wilderness Lodge has a mini Geyser, and much more. Each resort is extremely unique; there’s so much to see everywhere you turn. Plus, there’s nothing more relaxing than taking a stroll at night at any of the resorts!
14. Watch the animals roaming around Animal Kingdom Lodge!
Animal Kingdom Lodge has its very own Savannah with hundreds of animals! Throughout the day you’ll see tons of your favorite animals, including zebras, flamingos, giraffes, and more. On top of the actual hotel room balconies, non-resort guests can enjoy various viewing areas across the resort where you can sit back, relax, and animal watch.
15. Sing around the campfire.
Gather around the campfire at tons of different Disney resorts! This offer is fully complementary to resort guests as long as the weather is permitting. For specific times, double-check your resort’s recreational activity schedule. Some resorts even have grills you can use if you want to have your own BBQ, too!
16. Use a certified Disney vacation planner.
The BEST thing that is FREE when considering a Disney Vacation is the use of a Certified Disney Vacation Planner! While any travel agent can book your trip for you, only certified Disney vacation planners are specifically trained through Disney to best suit your family’s needs.
Not only that but most offer FREE price watching. That means that if you book your trip and later down the road a special comes out for your same stay, your package can be adjusted down to reflect the least expensive package price! Awesome!
So crazy but I have to agree with some of the posts here, we just got back from 5 days as Disney and it’s sooooo crowded. It’s always been busy but now it’s just insanely busy and the prices have just made it almost unenjoyable :/ it will definitely be awhile before we ever go back or if we ever do again. I’m just not sure I like the road Disney is headed on.
Resort hopping created many photo opportunities due to all the different themes. Even the value resorts have amazing places to take pics at. So, did the old Downtown Disney area.
Great ideas! I had no idea about the free buttons. I’ll have to keep that in mind. We have a trip planned this November. I am so excited to take my kiddos! It will be their first time and our first family “vacation” since we typically use vacation time to travel to visit family. I’m not really worried about things having changed because they won’t know any different and I think we will have a blast regardless! I’m just hoping they open up more character dinners before that time.🤞 I wanted to ask if anyone had suggestions on how to score a deal on the Disney bubble makers they sell in the park? So far they never seem to be on sale when the Disney store has sales and I’d really prefer to not pay $30 in park for them. TIA!
I bought everything on Amazon for our kids before we went. They don’t know the difference, and still had a blast with souvenirs. You might be able to have them shipped to the hotel. We brought ours with. We bought, lanyards, trading pins, shirts, etc.
We periodically go on cruises out of Port Canaveral and pre-game for a day or two in Orlando doing what we call ‘Fake Disney’ (i.e. not paying for park tickets or their pricey on-site hotels), and we do many of the recommendations listed here. I just love the SkyLiner – it’s tied with Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway as my current favorite Disney World experiences. I agree the parks are currently super-crowded and can be expensive but we still love them and it’s still worth the hassle, for now. This year we’re using annual passes that we purchased and have held onto since before the pandemic, and to economize we stay offsite and limit park meals to once per day. Once our passes expire it may be a while before we visit the parks again, but we’ll definitely continue to do a lot of the free stuff listed here.
Orlando native. Annual pass holder from out of state. We go every other month and I would have to say, if I didn’t have an annual pass, I’d be an extremely upset WDW visitor. We have the ability to shrug things off, go for a couple hours and then go home, try again the next day, just walk around and play the Adventureland Scavenger Hunt or explore Tom Sawyer Island without any rides, etc. If I invested thousands of dollars and lots of time planning, I’d agree that the “magic” is not the same. The magic is now what you make it, so you must go with sadly, low expectations. With that being said, if you have the ability to utilize a good neighbor hotel, stay off property, or just go and resort hop and enjoy the sights without the stress of the parks…do it! There’s Sangria class at Coronado, character dining at other resorts, bars galore, and so many fun excursions and things to do you just don’t even need to go to the parks. A lot of people will say their best days were non park days.
This isn’t quite free, but it was a cheap souvenir that provided lots of entertainment between getting in line for rides…my kids loved finding the pressed penny machines around the parks. There was one in every country in EPCOT’s World Showcase, as well as all over the other parks and resorts. They had a great time selecting which design they wanted from each machine and they collected them all in a little pressed penny case we got on Amazon before our trip. Each machine took 2 quarters and a penny, so it added up over the course of the trip, but I thought it was still reasonable for the amount of entertainment it provided.
We just went to Disneyland last month, and the pressed pennies are now $1 each, and they supply the penny.
FYI, we actually bought some pressed pennies less than a week ago at Disney World. They cost $1 each now (or $5 for all 8 designs) and most you have to pay with a credit card or mobile pay. Even at the 98% increase in price, it’s still a great deal compared to other souvenirs! 🙂
SWEET! Thanks for the helpful tip, Joan! I bet your kids love their pressed penny souvenirs! ❤️