Top Five “Free Adventures” at Disney World!

Just this week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Walt Disney World Resort with a completely new perspective, as I toured the magical sights and sounds of the parks with my sister, who had not visited the Florida parks for quite some time. Park-hopping and resort-touring for three days, we embarked upon several unique adventures, which I believe not only enhanced our experience, but made it personalized, too.

5. Photo Scavenger Hunts

Now, this is not an official adventure, per se, but something that I really enjoy doing with my friends and family is setting an objective for photos – such as: take photos with “x” character, in front of our favorite attraction, or indulging in our favorite snack. This time, we made sure that we had a picture with each park icon that we visited: Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, and the Tree of Life. Bonus round this time? We got day and nighttime shots of us in front of that big ol’ golf ball!

4. A Pirate’s Adventure

I had read about this unique challenge on the blog a while back, but experienced it for the first time on this trip. Although we went in with little expectations, we actually had a pretty enjoyable time traversing Adventureland with our pirate map and talisman. The game didn’t require a lot of skill, but it was still fun to see interactive elements pop up along our quest, and it didn’t hurt to see the excited looks on other guests’ faces when they wondered how we could do things like activate the cannons or reveal sunken clues!

3. Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

Okay, I admit it: I am definitely behind the curve on this one, but I finally tried this popular game out and verdict is in: it is awesome! Since we had some time to kill before our FastPass+ to meet Mickey in Town Square Theater, we stopped in to the main card distribution center at the Main Street Firehouse and picked up our first set of cards! The Cast Member there gave us a quick run down on how to play, and we were on our way! It took about half an hour to complete our game (finding the portals took the longest for us!), but we enjoyed every minute. Here’s more information on the game if you want to try it out on your next visit!

2. Limited Time Magic – Secret Santa Week Quest!

Now, this specific adventure is one that only happened during the week we were at Disney World, but the varying offerings presented by Limited Time Magic certainly make some exciting adventures! My pal Morgan shared the fact that characters around the Magic Kingdom would be distributing special autographed cards throughout the week, and after two trips to the park, we found 21 of a possible 29. It was fun to have a souvenir to take home, and I look forward to finding the perfect way to display them at home.

1. Wilderness Explorers

While the other adventures we embarked upon certainly were free of cost, entertaining, and produced both memories and tangible goods, the stand-out experience of our visit was our time spent earning badges with the Troop Leaders stationed around Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Both my sister and I delighted in the prospect of completing missions in our Handbook, and actually walked away with a lot of knowledge on a range of topics that we discussed throughout the rest of our trip. Perhaps one of the best aspects of this game is the fact that it can be a long-term activity, spread throughout several return trips. It truly highlights the beauty of the unique theme park…oh, and it doesn’t hurt that we were able to share our badge-earning updates with Russell, himself! Want to try your hand at this fun experience through the park? Check out this post for details.

At the end of our trip, we looked back at a variety of fun memories – all experienced at no additional cost (beyond park admission, of course) and decided that we’d continue the trend on our next trip. I still haven’t tried Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure, so that’s definitely on the list and something that I look forward to checking out!

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Do you take the time to check out these sorts of attractions and experiences on your visits to Disney World? What other fun things do you, and your family participate in?