Booked my first trip...help me surprise my boyfriend!

[blacksand]

As an anniversary/birthday gift for my wonderful boyfriend, I have booked us a vacation to his favorite place on Earth. We're going to Disney in October! I am nearly 30, but believe it or not, I have never been to WDW before. I am giddy with excitement. I feel eight years old again! My boyfriend, on the other hand, has been many times before. With family, with friends, with exes, etc. He loves it, and he’s very excited as well. But, as it is our first trip together, and we will be celebrating his birthday there, I want to make it extra special for him.

My dilemma is this: having never been to Disney before, it is difficult for me to plan surprises for my boyfriend, who is a veteran. I am uncertain how much time it will take us to accomplish everything we’d like to accomplish, don’t know how far it is from one place to another, don’t know how early we need to arrive for shows and other experiences, etc. So I need help from people with experience!

We will be at the Magic Kingdom on the 26th, which is my boyfriend’s birthday, and we’ll be attending MNNSHP that day. As my boyfriend is a kid at heart, a huge fan of pirates, and we’ll be going to a Halloween party, I was thinking of surprising him with an appointment at the Pirates League that day. It’s new since the last time he was there, and I don’t think he even knows about it. Unfortunately, our time in WDW is limited, so it looks like that will be our only full day at the Magic Kingdom. I’m afraid we just won’t have enough time to explore the park if we have a sit-down appointment like that at a specific time. I’m also a little afraid that he’ll be embarrassed to walk around with his face painted, but I could see him getting into it. For those who have done it, do you think it would be worthwhile? Will it take up too much time in our precious one day? What other birthday surprises do you think I could plan instead, keeping in mind our limited time [and budget!]?

Thanks for any help and suggestions you might have. Any general suggestions about grown-ups celebrating birthdays at Disney would be much appreciated! First-timer tips are welcome as well!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

to the Dis, blacksand!

First of all congratulations on your upcoming trip, I am sure you BF will be thrilled to be going and that you are suprising him with it. I would personally skip the Pirates League thing without running it by him first and that of course would ruin the suprise. MNSSHP will be enough of a suprise I'm sure and he will love it. Maybe you could shop for pirate costumes at home beforehand for you and he and pack them so you can dress up for the party.

You mention only one day at MK and that is the MNSSHP day. How many days overall are you staying in the area? Your MNSSHP ticket will get you into the MK at 4pm so you should use your ticket for the party to get into MK that day and use a regular MYW ticket another day to get into MK and maybe got to another park the morning of the MNSSHP (AK would be a good choice, IMO).

 

[blacksand]

Thanks so much. I think I am in a little over my head here, and getting ahead of myself!

First, my boyfriend does know that we are going, and he knows about MNNSHP. I bought the tickets as a surprise for our anniversary a week ago, but I told him about it on our anniversary. Since we will be there on his birthday, it is kind of a birthday present for him as well, but it won’t be a surprise for his birthday, of course. That’s why I wanted to plan something just a little unexpected on the actual day.

Now, as for tickets, we’ll actually be getting regular park admission through my Disney employee cousin, so I’m not especially concerned about the price of admission. We do have to buy tickets for MNNSHP, sadly no discounts there, but since we’ll be getting into the MK free that morning, I’m not really worried about what we do before 4:00 PM. That’s a great tip, though, and one we’ll probably use for a future visit!

Our current plans are as follows: we arrive on a Saturday afternoon, so we’ll spend the evening at Epcot for Food and Wine and Illuminations. Sunday, we’re going to AK in the morning, then HS in the afternoon/evening, as it’s the only chance we’ll have to see Fantasmic. Monday, my aunt and uncle who live in the area are meeting us and taking us to Universal’s Islands of Adventure for the day. Tuesday is his birthday, so we’ll do the MK and MNNSHP. Opening to closing is the plan [I’ll need energy drinks]! Wednesday, back to Epcot for rides and a restaurant, then, if we have time, either we go back to another park to catch whatever we missed, or we go to Downtown for La Nouba. Not sure yet. Thursday, we leave. Our flight isn’t until fairly late Thursday evening, so we could potentially do something Thursday morning/early afternoon, but we don’t want to get too carried away, as it will be a busy day with packing, returning the rental car, etc.

So, in theory, we might have a little time either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning to return to the MK, but we only officially have one day planned there. I am already worried we won’t have time to do everything we want to do, so you’re probably right about Pirates League. I think we’ll skip it. Maybe next time, when I know the lay of the land a little better, and seeing everything for the very first time isn’t as much of a priority! But what other fun, little things could I surprise him with on his birthday? I just want some little magic moment that he isn’t expecting. I’ll be seeing everything for the first time, but I want there to be at least one little thing that is new and surprising for him, too!

 

[robsmith1098]

Welcome to the DIS! I have been in a similar situation as you - my wife has been going to DW all of her life, so it is sometimes difficult to surprise her while we are there. If you haven't already, be sure to note on your dinner reservation that you will be celebrating your boyfriend's birthday. We always use tourguidemike.com and it is very helpful with all the planning that we do. Also noticed you mentioned energy drinks. We use XS (0 carbs, 0 sugar, uses B12) and have it shipped to our resort. PM me for more info about it.

 

[blacksand]

Thanks! I will be sure to include a note with our dinner reservation. We're still deciding what we want to do for dinner that night. So many options!