Anniversary Dinner - do they do anything special for you?

[KarenAylwood]

DH and I are going to Disney for our first anniversary in September!! I'm so excited - he hasn't been since he was 8 and I haven't been... ok since last year I've never taken a guy to Disney- I always go with my mom each year and I'm so excited to share this with DH now. We've booked free dining in September and have reservations at the Cali Grill for our actual anniversary night.

On the phone when I booked the trip they asked if we were celebrating anything and I said our first anniversary. Then they asked again when we made dinner reservations and I again told them it was our anniversary.

Will they do anything special for us? I'd love to have them do something - whether it's free or I have to pay for it. If they aren't going to do anything (I'm fine with them just dressing up our desserts included in the dining plan) I'd try to get something set up like a cake or other dessert to surprise DH. I'd love to not have to pay extra for something because we wouldn't likely eat an entire cake esp since we already get dessert on the plan and don't eat much to begin with. I guess I could also just ask them if they could dress up our desserts?

Anyone have any Disney dining anniversary experience they can enlighten me with?

 

[Disnydad]

We got a nice desert at Artist Point once. They had written in chocolate "Happy Anniversary.

 

[kt_mom]

I think it all depends on your server. We celebrated our anniversary at CG a few years ago and I made a note on the ADR and when we checked in. We had a terrible server that night. I know they don't have to do anything for us. And it wasn't terrible service because he didn't acknowldge our anniversary. It was just really terrible service in general.

The following year we ate there again, its one of our favorites each trip even with the poor service the year before. This was not for our anniversary or anything though. We had a great server. I mean he was really nice and attentive and really interacted with us and we had the best meal there ever. He also reccomended some great wines to us. DD liked him so much she remembers his name to this day. Anyway, in the course of conversation with him our previous visit came up as we were discussing having been there before and it being one of our favorites. Well, at the end of our meal after we had ordered dessert and everything he brought out a champaigne toast and a special dessert with a Happy Anniversary chocolate thing for us to make up for our previous visit.

 

[billfatora]

Honestly... I cannot think of a single time - EVER - when I have mentioned that it was some type of "special occasion" (that includes anniversaries ! LOL !) that something "extra-special" wasn't done... at any restaurant... at any resort.... I've found that all you need to do is to tell them, and they have always gone out of their way to make it very special.... Congratulations... best of luck and ENJOY !

 

[sephorachick]

DH and I are going to Disney for our first anniversary in September!! I'm so excited - he hasn't been since he was 8 and I haven't been... ok since last year I've never taken a guy to Disney- I always go with my mom each year and I'm so excited to share this with DH now. We've booked free dining in September and have reservations at the Cali Grill for our actual anniversary night.

On the phone when I booked the trip they asked if we were celebrating anything and I said our first anniversary. Then they asked again when we made dinner reservations and I again told them it was our anniversary.

Will they do anything special for us? I'd love to have them do something - whether it's free or I have to pay for it. If they aren't going to do anything (I'm fine with them just dressing up our desserts included in the dining plan) I'd try to get something set up like a cake or other dessert to surprise DH. I'd love to not have to pay extra for something because we wouldn't likely eat an entire cake esp since we already get dessert on the plan and don't eat much to begin with. I guess I could also just ask them if they could dress up our desserts?

Anyone have any Disney dining anniversary experience they can enlighten me with?

AT Le Cellier we got chocolate moose & they wrote happy anniversary on it, at whispering canyon we got strawberries & champagne & they made us kiss in front of entire restaurant until they told us to stop LOL

 

[TinkLoverSam]

At CG (on our 1 week anniversary... we got married at WDW and stayed for 3 weeks to celebarate) we were given a champagne toast and I believe they wrote happy anniversary in chocolate on the plate as well... plus some Cinderella's Coach confetti on the table.

 

[Raenstoirm]

As others said, it really depends on the server. If you really want something special, I recommend ordering it. That said, last month we were in WDW for my birthday. We had 8 sit down meals. Over the course of those meal, I got three special desserts (Garden Grove, Cape May breakfast, Yachtsman) and a card from Boma. I didnt get anything from California Grill and actually thinking about it, we eat at CG almost every anniversary trip and never get anything from them. But they did make big fuss over us on our honeymoon, so I guess we used up the CG pixue dust then .

 

[Katti Michele]

AT Le Cellier we got chocolate moose & they wrote happy anniversary on it, at whispering canyon we got strawberries & champagne & they made us kiss in front of entire restaurant until they told us to stop LOL

Oh my gosh! That is too funny about Whispering Canyon! I'm tempted to go in Dec on my anniversary trip to see if they'd make us do that.

Disney seems to do a great job and go that extra step to make your celebration (birthday, anniversary, etc) extra special. But it's not guaranteed, so if you want something special on that particular day, I might not wing it and order something.

 

[TheNewMrsB]

I wouldn't expect anything as special as a free cake. Typically that's the sort of thing you call and order in advance.

In fact, now that I think about it, CG is the only place where we've never received anything more than confetti on the table and an anniversary message in/on our desserts - and even then, we're thrilled to death by it (and we've never had to ask - we just wear our anniversary buttons and we're all set). Other restaurants we get small desserts or champagne or wine but not CG.

Still - it's where we go on our anniversary. Because it's just the best, in our humble opinions. I can't wait! I'm sure you'll have a fantastic night either way.

 

[Simba's Mom]

DH and I are going to Disney for our first anniversary in September!! I'm so excited - he hasn't been since he was 8 and I haven't been... ok since last year I've never taken a guy to Disney- I always go with my mom each year and I'm so excited to share this with DH now. We've booked free dining in September and have reservations at the Cali Grill for our actual anniversary night.

On the phone when I booked the trip they asked if we were celebrating anything and I said our first anniversary. Then they asked again when we made dinner reservations and I again told them it was our anniversary.

Will they do anything special for us? I'd love to have them do something - whether it's free or I have to pay for it. If they aren't going to do anything (I'm fine with them just dressing up our desserts included in the dining plan) I'd try to get something set up like a cake or other dessert to surprise DH. I'd love to not have to pay extra for something because we wouldn't likely eat an entire cake esp since we already get dessert on the plan and don't eat much to begin with. I guess I could also just ask them if they could dress up our desserts?

Anyone have any Disney dining anniversary experience they can enlighten me with?

Yes, recently we celebrated our 30th anniversary at Artist Pointe and I wrote a review here of all they did for us, beginning with a glass of champagne with rasberries in it.

The wand was a gift from DH, not the restaraunt. We'd ordered a specialty cake for dessert, so no dessert from them, but we did get an "amuse bouche" at the beginning. The whole experience was just so memorable.

 

[PelletierBears]

We were served complimentary champagne and strawberries at Whispering Canyon and champagne, confetti and a chocolate Happy Anniversary "sign" at Cali Grill.

 

[Hopefully]

I have noted our Anniversary on our nearly annual October trip for years. Sometimes we get a cupcake and candle, sometimes nothing. We even noted our 40th anniversary and it was never acknowledged. I think wearing the buttons to dinner gets more notice.
If it is important to you, plan it in advance.

 

[catne]

we traveled with son & DIL last September, it was on their anniversary. I had noted their actual anniversary date 9/4 on the reservation, and also on the ADR for the day, which we happened to be having a Fantasmic dinner package at Mama Melrose on their anniversary. Since 3 courses come with the meal, we were not expecting anything special. They brought out 2 glasses of Rose Regale (sparkling rose wine) and the dessert they ordered had "Congratulations" written in cocoa on the plate (like with a stencil) Son & wife were duly impressed.

Now that was really nice, but do have to say that we have been there many, many times on both my husband's actual birthday and my actual birthday and I would say about 1/3 of the time we actually got something extra...confetti on the table, a candle stuck in the dessert we ordered (on dining plan). Sometimes it's wonderfully special: like at Sanaa, a bunch of employees came over to table and sang a birthday song in Swahili...beautiful harmonizing...the whole restaurant quit talking, quit eating and listened, it was that wonderful. But 2/3 of the time we just heard a nice "Happy Birthday" from the person checking us in and/or the server. But sometimes, there was nothing at all.

If you really want something special -- for sure -- order a cake in advance

 

[Jcricket Fan]

Any special occasion we celebrated at Citrico's they printed across the top of the menu what the occasion was and we were given the menu to take.

They also have given us comp. glasses of sparkling wine to celebrate with.

We have always loved the service and food at Citrico's.

Congratulations on your anniversary!

Colleen