Adults only tips?

[kanderson89]

Hi All - My partner and I (55 and 42 yrs old, respectively) are very excited to be going to WDW. We have the Birnbaum WDW for adults book and it's helpful, but I wondered if there are any lived-experiences you could share about tips for enjoying an adult trip.

Let me be the first to say I love kids. I'm an educator. And I expect to see a lot of them at the park and will enjoy them. But I also would treasure a quiet dinner, a hidden path, a ride that is geared toward older folks, a time in the pool that is more quiet, etc. We don't golf or do spas, but we will probably rent a boat, have ressies at pricier/nicer restaurants, etc. We are visiting in January.

Any tips would be great.

 

[WUVmyDISNEY]

One of the best things about an adult only trip is that you can take things at your pace and not have to make sure the kids get to see all they want to see. DH and I did our adult only trip this past May and it was great. I felt like I was actually on vacation! We went to MK, Epcot and DHS. I found we did things a lot differently then when DS is with us. We usually went to a park in the morning and left around lunch time and spent a LOT of time at the pool lounging around and relaxing. It really was a good time. In the Epcot resort area there is the Boardwalk dance hall and also jelly rolls, a piano bar. Many people on the DIS really like Jelly Rolls but it wasn't my cup of tea. Ya may want to check it out anyway. On the monorail line, a fun thing is to make stop at each of the resorts lounges for a drink and soak in the atmosphere and people watch. We didn't do any of the signature restaurants but that may be something you want to try for a nice quiet dinner. We did take more time to really take in some more of the live entertainment at Epcot and really learn about the countries. At DHS, the drawing lesson was really cute too and something we never did before. MK...well, what can I say about MK....it is just great. The best part was, just taking our time and really appreciating all of what Disney has to offer and not being on a set schedule and taking the time to relax. Have a great trip!

 

[marielynn724]

check out the weddings and honeymoon boards - whether or not this trip is in that category there are tons and tons of fabulous tips about adults-only ideas.

i would say, if you want to have a fabulous 'adult' experience, definately try out some of the signature dining options - cali grill, etc. also pay attention to what resort you are staying at, some cater to families more than others. i don't know your budget, but a lot of the deluxe resorts have more sophisticated, less theme-parky atmospheres. if that's not really an option, try the port orleans riverside or port orleans french quarter. both are beautiful. also check out some of the spas!

 

[Atchley]

My husband and I are 36 and 38. We just returned from a trip in September for our 15th anniversary. We left the kids with their Mammaw. We had a couple of different meals in Epcot that my kids would never enjoy. We also took time to slow down and look at what we wanted. With the kids there, we are always running from one attraction to another or in a hurry to look at everything at which the kids wanted to look. It was nice to slow down and take a breath.
We also rode rides together. This is not a common occurrence since Mom is usually riding with one and Dad with the other. We rode all the rides together! Dumbo, Peter Pans Flight, Small World, even the Tea Cups! (DH doesn't like the Teacups and Mom usually is the only one that rides with the kids but he did it for me) We had a great time.
Have a wonderful trip.

 

[marielynn724]

sorry - i didn't read that last bit you said about not liking spas.

in the parks, my favorite areas include animal kingdom and epcot's world showcase. since you are an educator, you probably would get a lot out of both of these. there are so many beautiful paths and walkways. tons of hidden gems of things to see and do. some of my favorite attractions are the lesser-frequented trails in animal kingdom. you can just soak in the beautiful theming and enjoy the animals without dealing with crowds.

 

[mainegal]

I often read advice that says go back to your resort mid-day for naps and pool.

You don't want to do that.

In January it might be too cold for the pool. You might not need a nap the kids really need them. And park hours are shorter, so you really do not want to leave the park and lose park time.

If you need some "down time", don't leave the park. Just find a quiet place to rest.

 

[Silver Queen]

We are two middle-aged educators who just returned (yesterday) from a short trip to Wilderness Lodge. This was our fourth trip in less than one year. I agree with all of the tips that have been given so far including the tip not to go back to the resort because the park hours are shorter in January. We have loved our adult trips to The World and have another one planned for early December. We are enjoying the signature restaurants and all of the little entertainment opportunities that the world offers (singers, mini-shows, etc.) We like doing rope drops so we are usually leaving the park by noon to find a nice place for a quiet lunch (we recommend Grand Floridian Cafe, Sanaa. Turf Club (very few children). We also love riding all or most of the attractions (not fans of Stitch). On our recent trip we rode Expedition Everest for the first time. We love ToT, Rn'R, Splash, Big Thunder, etc.. We also love the parades and fireworks shows. We don't do golf or spas either.
As adults it's great to be able to be able to stop and admire the landscaping and read some of the information included with some Epcot attractions It think you will like Wilderness Lodge. It has a wonderful environment and Artist's Point is a great signature restaurant.

Have a great time. We saw many adult couples there without children, in fact, we kept taking an informal survey and actually saw more adults groups than groups with children.

Have fun! We're gong back again in December.

 

[Spikekc1]

My husband and I traveled to WDW before we had kids. You will have a fabulous time. One thing we learned from our adult only trip - don't dismiss something just because it appears to be "just for kids". If we had, we might have missed some of the rides and moments that were most special to us. That said, some of the quiet, relaxing things you have planned sound fabulous!

 

[connie1042]

We took an adult trip this past Sept. We did go back to our resort in the afternoon to swim and cool off. CBR Loved this resort. We sat on the beach, went to the pool, had a few drinks at the pool bar. We did the parks in the morning,We would ride a ride, then get a FP for that ride. We collected 5 FP's in the morning, return times were short, and went back in the evening and watched the fireworks and used all of our FP's. We ate at Fulton's crab house on the deck. Great views. The highlight of the trip was going to LaNuba at DTD. That was a great show and worth the money. Another great restaurant we like for couples is Narcoossee's. Make your reservations so you can watch wishes from there. It was a great trip and the only drawback was the heat, but there is nothing anyone can do about the weather.Have fun.

 

[TillyMarigold]

I would say my top 2 tips are take at least one tour (I recommend Wild by Design or Keys to the Kingdom) and do some signature dining (our favorite is Jiko).

 

[CoffeeCup]

My DH and I are in our late 50'5 and early 60's, and we love going to WDW by ourselves. Dinner at Narcoossee's is wonderful, and you can watch Wishes while eating. We also enjoy sitting on the beach at the Polynesian to watch the fireworks and electric boat parade. If you want to stay at a moderate hotel, I suggest Port Orleans French Quarter. It's romantic, quiet, and beautiful. If you can afford deluxe, Animal Kingdom Lodge is wonderful. We stayed there in June and ended up buying a DVC membership there. Sitting on your balcony, drinking coffee, and watching the animals is fantastic. There is so much to do there that we had to make ourselves leave the resort to go into the parks.

Take your time and enjoy looking at the little things as you walk through the parks. WDW is fun with children, and a slower-paced visit is a different experience, but just as nice, if not better. You can take time to sit on a bench and see things you don't notice when you are racing through the park with kids. When we go back next year, we want to do some of the behind-the-scenes tours since we've never done any of them. Our favorite park is EPCOT, and we enjoy the shows and entertainment there....the Beatles group, the movies in France and Canada, the street entertainers, things like that.

We've done the rides, and now we go on only a few...Soaring, the Great Movie Ride, and a few others. All of the shows are wonderful....Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical in AK, Beauty and the Beast in HS, are our favorites. We always try to do the Fantasmic Dinner Package with dinner at Mama Melrose and then Fantasmic.

As a retired teacher who still works part-time simply because I enjoy working with kids, I love seeing children having fun at WDW, but I cherish the adult time DH and I can have at WDW and the opportunity we can have to be carefree and do silly things simply because we are at Disney World. Enjoy your trip!

 

[kanderson89]

Thanks, All, for the great advice. We are staying at WL, in fact, and have the Dolphins in Depth tour scheduled as well as dinner at Narcoosee's and Yachtsman Steakhouse....and a Fantasmic dinner package. Sounds like we are on the right track, and we are ready to enjoy being kids at heart

 

[Chellymouse]

DH and I are DINKS (dual income no kids) and we've been going to WDW for the past 10 years. This summer was our first trip ever with a child (we invited our friends and they have a DS8) It was an interesting experience. We decided to wait until our youngest niece and nephew are older before we attempt the big family trip. Having said that, WDW is amazing for adults! The WS at Epcot is wonderful and while DH and I can spend nearly 2 whole days touring (and eating and drinking around the world) it was hard with their 8 y/o because he was pretty bored pretty quickly. Also, don't forget to meet your characters. It's fun and they are just as wonderful with the adults as they are with the kids. There are also several backstage tours (no children under 16 are permitted) that are amazing. If you enjoy animals, the back stage safari is well worth it. Additionally, the Keys to the Kingdom tour is amazingly good! If you have a Disney Visa, there is a 20% discount on the tours and there is also a discount if you have DVC or an AP. There are many things to see, including the magical landscaping at all 4 parks that if you are touring "commando style" are very easy to miss. In the evenings, there are carriage rides over at POR-riverside and french quarter that aren't terribly expensive and they are very intimate and private. A great way to see the grounds. If you are considering nightlife, now that PI is gone the only places on property to go are over at the Boardwalk, Jellyrolls is a dueling piano bar and Atlantic Dance Hall is great if you like to dance. Otherwise, cab it over to Universal City Walk (It's about $50 round trip, but it's less expensive than renting a car, paying to park and then some one having to DD).
Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Good ideas here and a good place to ask additional questions........

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=54

 

[Nadjalu]

The only dinner we had that was hardly any kids was the San Angel Inn in Epcot. It was fabulous, very romantic, the atmosphere was terrific. The food was pretty good to. More traditional food, not tex-mex style.

We found a quiet place in MK (believe it or not), there is a path that runs along the outside edge between tomorrowland and the train depot at the back of the park. We used this trail more than once, it hardly ever had people on it and the park was full!!

I would suggest taking this short cut, there weren't any benches to sit down at (that would've been nice) but it still has MK atmosphere just quiet.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

If you're looking for fun with a lot fewer kids around, Hoop de doo Revue at 9:30 is a corny blast. Plus free beer or wine. Some one mentioned taking tours. Good idea. Check on the adults and solo travelers board for meetups with other dissers. They can be fun.
I've been 14 times, and am heading back in 7 weeks. Next Sept, I'll be going with a kid for the first time, my niece's 2 yo. I'll be searching the boards on how to do that.

 

[mcco5543]

You had mentioned eating at "adult" places, but my wife and I don't feel totally immersed until we interact with the characters and a good way to do that is a character meal (hey you gotta eat too right!) I also am an educator, love children, but enjoy my adult vacations. We found that if you want to do a character meal. Book the latest time slot available. Particularly for breakfast. We had a 10:00am reservation at O'hana and there were some kids but it was not packed. We had a very quiet relaxed breakfast, saw characters without other kids scrambling for their attention (they come to each table), and got to interact with characters and still have a nice adults breakfast. ...Just another idea for you to consider..have a great time!

 

[TillyMarigold]

The only dinner we had that was hardly any kids was the San Angel Inn in Epcot. It was fabulous, very romantic, the atmosphere was terrific. The food was pretty good to. More traditional food, not tex-mex style.

We found a quiet place in MK (believe it or not), there is a path that runs along the outside edge between tomorrowland and the train depot at the back of the park. We used this trail more than once, it hardly ever had people on it and the park was full!!

I would suggest taking this short cut, there weren't any benches to sit down at (that would've been nice) but it still has MK atmosphere just quiet.

Also, there is a little courtyard off of Liberty Square, behind the Christmas shop, that almost never has people in it.

 

[GoofEeyore26]

I agree with everything people have been reccomending; they're great suggestions.

One suggestion I have is to spend a day taking in the resorts. Last time my DGF and I basically took a day off from the parks and spent an entire day touring the resorts. It was a blast. We grabbed a late-ish breakfast at Spoodles (which unfortunately is no longer there) and then went to each of the resorts - stopped at the lounges, walked about the pool areas and lobbies, etc. - really took them in. So after going to Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin, YBC, we walked through Epcot to grab the Monorail (stopping for a pint in UK and a quick ride on Spaceship Earth, of course). We then went to the GF looked around for a while, walked to Poly along the Seven Seas Lagoon. Stayed there for a bit and had a delicious, slightly fruity, cocktail. After that, a nice stroll to the TTC, took the boat to MK, and switched boats to the Wilderness lodge and had dinner. Finished off the day back at MK watching Wishes - perfect ending to a fun, relaxing day...and we got to see so many things we hadn't seen before.

One restaurant tip I have, as TillyMarigold mentioned, is Jiko. I can't say enough about the food there. Also, if you can, ask for Ron, he's the best. And, if you like food and a little behind the scenes info, get to AKL at 4:00 and head to the check in desk by Jiko for the Culinary Tour. Its a 30-45 tour of Jiko and Boma (free), and you get to interact with some of the Chefs and even taste a few things. It's a lot of fun. Then head to Jiko for a 5:00 reservation!

Hope these help!

 

[dopeynme]

DH and I are DINKS also! We love WDW and go once per year, sometimes twice. We have never gone with a child. (We invited our friends, whose son will be 6 next summer. Using our new DVC membership, we can treat them to a studio......but they want to leave the little guy with his grandparents and come with us on an adults only trip! Maybe we will get to enjoy the place with a child we love at some point!)

Anyway, my experience has been that the kids at the signature restaurants are pretty well behaved. Maybe we have just been lucky, but it seems to me that the parents who take the kids to nice restaurants on vacation also take them at home, so they know how to behave, they have had a nap or whatever else they need. Of course, anyone can have a meltdown if hot and tired (but I try not to do it publicly )

Have a great time!