I took my boyfriend to WDW for the first time in Dec 2015, and he has now decided he's up for going every year. We visited again in Dec 2016, and we might be back again this Dec. Below are the few things I did with my boyfriend in mind for our two trips:
1. Make room in your schedule for more downtime than you think you need.
Though my boyfriend is in great shape, his feet aren't used to walking as much as we did in the parks. He needed to sit down for a bit between each attraction because his feet hurt for the first few days, and that definitely took a bunch of time.
2. Do not plan anything on the day of arrival.
We used our first day to sleep and relax. The week leading up to travel is particularly stressful for us, and by the time we arrived at our room, we were both incredibly exhausted. Using the first day to relax and sleep in helped us feel recharged by the time we hit the parks the next morning. Also, my boyfriend and I get really grumpy when we are tired and stressed, and that's when arguments ensue. The last place I would ever want to argue with him for no reason is at the parks, so we were both grateful for our recharge day.
3. Write an itinerary based on your reservations, fastpasses, showtime options, and park opening/closing times, and share this itinerary with him.
I wrote our itinerary in Google Sheets and shared it with my boyfriend for easy access. This gave my boyfriend a good idea of what to expect each day. My boyfriend is definitely a planner, and he gets nervous when there is no structure or plan to each day (not just on vacation, but every day in general). Having a written itinerary put him at ease knowing we had a plan, but I also reminded him that we needed to be somewhat flexible in case something unexpected happened. The only changes we made on the fly were a few fastpass adjustments, but that was about it.
4. Try the attractions you like once, and ask him to give feedback on what he likes/doesn't like throughout the day. I was very surprised by my boyfriend's feedback. His favorite attractions were Big Thunder Mountain, the Peoplemover, Spaceship Earth, and the Carousel of Progress. He disliked Star Tours and Space Mountain because they made him dizzy, and I quickly figured out he got dizzy on rides where movement and sight can get distorted or out of sync. We then repeated his favorites with extra time we had, and we avoided rides that would make him dizzy (we skipped Mission: Space for this reason).
5. Take what you already know about him, and plan attractions around those ideas.
My boyfriend LOVES aquariums. We've been to aquariums in every city we have ever visited, and he never gets tired of staring at saltwater exhibits. When I go to WDW with my family, we usually skip The Seas with Nemo and Friends entirely because it's not particularly interesting to us, but with my boyfriend, I planned spending at least an hour in that pavilion. We ended up spending almost 3 hours there. He loved it. I also reserved dinner at the Coral Reef, and he absolutely loved the aquarium view in the restaurant. It was a definite highlight of the trip for him.
6. Don't sweat it and just have fun.
One of the things my boyfriend said made the trip most enjoyable for him was seeing me have as much fun as I did. He said he never saw me happier than when we were at WDW together, and in turn, my happiness made him incredibly happy. He loves going to WDW now, and of course, I love that he loves it!
I know this list isn't specific about attractions and restaurants, but honestly, I think those decisions are best made by the person who knows your boyfriend the best: you! I hope this helps, but more importantly, I hope you guys have a fantastic trip!
