Walking

If you’re in the habit to walk daily—whether for pleasure, your health, or a combination of both—you’ll certainly find you don’t have to surrender this pasttime while you’re vacationing at Walt Disney World.

It goes without saying that the parks will offer you plenty of opportunities to walk, walk, and walk some more. Once, in Epcot, just wandering from pavilion to pavilion, I clocked 8 miles in one day! By the way, if you don’t have a pedometer, you may wish to purchase one before your trip. It’s very interesting to see how far you’ve gone from sunrise to sundown. They can be had for $10-20 in the sporting goods section of your favorite department store.

One of my favorite walks is along the path from the Epcot Resort Area to Disney-MGM Studios. This path meanders to the rear of BoardWalk Villas, along the canal which connects Crescent Lake with the Studios. If you have the stamina, and can stand the heat, more often than not you can beat the water taxi to the park.

I’ve also noticed many “power-walkers” who do repetitive laps around the boardwalk and walkways of the Epcot Resort Area. In fact, you’ll find that because of the sheer size of most of Walt Disney World resorts, you’ll be able to burn off the calories you’re consuming at the more than 200 wonderful restaurants just by wandering around the resorts. They usually provide quiet, beautiful settings that make exercise seem more like a treat than a chore.

Another one of my favorite walking spots is the path from Wilderness Lodge to Fort Wilderness. This is by far the most peaceful of all the walking opportunities—and you have plenty of shade trees, to boot. Additionally, you’re likely to encounter wildlife from time to time, like armadilloes, deer, rabbits, and the occasional snake. BTW, once you arrive at Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, see if Cinderella’s miniature white ponies are off-duty. They are beautiful animals—along with the peacocks that often “strut their stuff.”

Finally, there's a lesser-known walkway which connects Disney's Old Key West Resort to Downtown Disney. This walkway is quite possibly the longest of the three mentioned here--and it follows the canal between OKW and Downtown Disney, passing through a variety of terrains from forest to golf course to parking lot (it's paved the whole way).

I'll bet there are more leisure trails around the World--and I'd love to know about any you've discovered. Please write me to share your discoveries. I'll add them to the list!!