Kathleen,
The answer is no, you do not have to use your park entries on consecutive vacation days. You definitely could have a day in the middle of your trip where you do not use one of your park day credits, in this case to enjoy all the great dining, shopping and entertainment of
Disney Springs.
When my family vacations at Walt Disney World, we always plan a single day in the middle of the trip to sleep in, enjoy the resort pool, and do some shopping at Disney Springs. We also plan a fun dinner at one of the resorts, like the
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. We never enter a park, and because we do not, we don't use that park day credit. So if we come for 6 vacation days, we buy a 5-day park ticket. We go to parks on our first and second days before enjoying our pool day. We then use our remaining three park days on our fourth through sixth vacation days.
If you write me back, I would be glad to offer suggestions of other things to do on your day away from the parks. On behalf of all the Disney Moms Panel members, I wish you a fantastic anniversary!
Have a Magical Vacation!
Doug