Couples Only Trips: How Do You Tour?

[tarheelmjfan]

My DH has decided it's time for a couples only trip. We have APs, but I'll never talk him into WDW, if I schedule our days like I normally do. (There will be no getting up early for ADRs before the parks open, & no rope drops.) He wants a relaxing, romantic trip. He wants to sleep in until we wake up naturally, have a nice dinner, then watch fireworks from our balcony some nights. Do any of you travel this way, & not get to the parks early? How are you able to get anything done? What are you able to ride &/or see later in the day? Should we go somewhere else for this type of vacation? I hate having APs & not using them though. Sorry for so many questions, but I'm looking forward to your input.

 

[BradyBz12]

DH and I (no kids) always travel this way!

We take advantage of evening EMH to stretch out our days to get those leisurely mornings in. We also try to manage enough days at WDW so that we don't have to kill ourselves to do/see all our favorites in one trip.

We really enjoy being in the parks in the evenings - it gives you a whole different perspective to things, and of course there are the fireworks and SpectroMagic.

We've gone both routes where dining is concerned - from DDP and scheduling almost every meal, to this year when I only have 2 ADRs for 3 weeks and we're planning to wing it. The key is being really flexible, not being too hung up on eating TS every day, and knowing where the easier to get into dining places are (typically resorts and DTD). It means a little more traveling around, but we actually enjoy that part too.

We've even been known to do a "let's see if we can do all our favorite attractions one more time" day where we took the bus from FW to HS, boat to Epcot, monorail to MK and finished out with one last Wishes before taking the boat back to FW (and we didn't get started until about 11am that day!)

If you have APs, I'm assuming you've done Disney a time or 2 (or 12). We're at the point now where we make sure to do our favorites but don't worry about doing EVERYthing. And if we find we have extra time, or happen upon something with a short line - BONUS!

We do plan our days, but only in the sense of finding out which parks are best on which days, and factoring in the EEMHs. We do this just so we know what our options are more than anything. We also plan to eat at off hours (much easier to do without kids) and don't worry about staying out late, since we're not racing out the door at the crack of dawn.

Other than that... let the days and nights take you where they may and enjoy!

 

[Resseda]

Well, I will assume that since you have APs, this is not a rare trip for you. Given that, I would tour the way your hubby is suggesting. I honeymooned at Disney, and it's nice to just hit the things you want to hit, stroll the stores, relax, dine, talk. You could always hop to MK for Wishes or Epcot for Illuminations one night is that makes you feel like you're using your AP to the fullest.

When I go with my niece or my son, it feels like we're always running-where next, when's the parade do you want to sit, who needs to go to the bathroom? When you are just two adults touring, you can be the people other people hate, who just meander up Main St, looking at your map wondering what you want to do.

Ress

 

[nurse.darcy]

I have been three times to WDW this year and about 6 times to DLR. My favorite trip so far was the last one and I saw more of the parks during that trip than any other. I was with a friend who, like me, is an early riser. We hit rope drop without trying, went to the hotel each and every day for a relaxing swim and basically just relaxed in the evenings. Late dinner ADRs and Illuminations one evening and spectromagic another. I enjoyed it so much. The most relaxing trip so far.

None of my friends plan around EMH except to note that the park with EMH is the park we avoid for the evening (or morning). Crowds seem to be higher then and on my 2 adult only trips, I didn't want the big crowds. Relax, enjoy the resorts, don't overplan anything, wake up in the morning and decide what you want to do at that point. Have a leisurly breakfast at the resort and make sure to take a walk through the resort and look around. Discover something you haven't noticed before cause you were always too busy doing park stuff. If its warm enough, swim. or relax poolside with a cocktail. Make an ADR at Hollywood Brown Derby or Bistro de Paris, both great for couples. Most of all, enjoy each other and stop worrying about getting everything done. It will be there next time.

 

[wlhei]

interesting, I would like to know as well.

 

[whodini]

Our trip next week will be out 4th in 12 months and 7th in the past 3 years. We typically plan what parks to hit on what days, but don't go in with specific touring plans. We'll also aim for a time to wake up, but if we lay in bed for a little longer, we don't sweat it. We made AK rope drop last year, but not because we planned to, it just kinda happened that way. I personally prefer to wake up early, hit whatever it is we want to hit, and then come back and take a nap or lay around the pool in the afternoon before going back out again. That means that we will drive to most parks so we have the freedom to come and go as we please. The only park we won't drive to on this trip will be Epcot as we plan on spending several hours eating & drinking at the F&W Festival.

The only big thing we missed on our last trip was Toy Story Mania, so we do have plans to make morning EMH for DHS this time around specifically to get on that and then do ToT and RR.

We have 1 ADR for Narcoose's for our anniversary dinner. We did the same for our last trip when we ate at Jiko's. We typically are flexible with eating and tend to just grab food during off times.

~ Chad

 

[WannabeAriel]

We had an anniversary trip like that and it was WONDERFUL! We were so lazy! We stayed at CSR (my favorite moderate) and we got a great room by the beach with hammocks and not too far away from the pool. We had a leisurely pace all week and got to see things we normally missed. We still hit our favorites but weren't killing ourselves! We spent a lot of time in the hammock or the pool, as well as the lazy river at Typhoon Lagoon! It was the BEST!

 

[Starshine]

DH and I (no kids here either) have found that one of the best advantages of owning DVC is that we no longer feel the need to get up early if we don't want to. Since we know we'll be back soon sometimes we don't even leave the hotel until 10 or 11am!

One day last trip we slept in, did some shopping at DTD, ate at Raglan Road, and then spent the rest of the day at Epcot seeing Off Kilter and The British Invasion. We didn't ride anything that day, in fact we never left Canada and the UK in Epcot. It was loads of fun!

I definitely agree that a romantic, relaxing couples trip is wonderful! Just go with the flow, and enjoy things as they come.

As far as ADR's, lately we've only been making 2 or 3 "must-do's" for each trip. Lots of times we'll just head to restaurants that have a bar and order our entrees there. Or if we don't want entrees we can just order apps or dessert and not feel guilty for "taking up a table".

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for the tips & advice. We'll definitely make less ADRs, but that will mean no breakfast or lunch ADRs. Our favorite thing about vacation is a nice dinner. It would be nice not to worry about getting up at 5:30 am to get to our breakfast on time. It sounds like we could sleep in, & still be able to do a few things. We do love wondering around WS. After reading your posts, a "no rope drop" trip sounds much better.

 

[soulmates]

My next trip is just us, and no children, so this thread was helpful to me as well. I was also excited that this will be the FIRST trip there, I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn and worry about getting FIVE of us ready. Ohhhh the excitement abounds!!

 

[irisesareblue]

My next trip is just us, and no children, so this thread was helpful to me as well. I was also excited that this will be the FIRST trip there, I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn and worry about getting FIVE of us ready. Ohhhh the excitement abounds!!

We did this sort of trip at DL this past June and really enjoyed it - sometimes we got to the parks as late as 3 pm - we avoided the areas geared for little children and got to experience the Disney magic at a nice leisurely pace. And I got to people watch - my favorite thing to do!

The best thing we did is use the single rider lines. It sure cut off time, esp. when the standy lines were 45 minutes long.

 

[Pakey]

DH and I do one trip like this each year. We hire a limo to pick us up at the airport, we do a grocery stop for some nice bottles of wine (I pack plastic wine glasses and opener in checked luggage). We sleep in. If we get up early, we stay at the resort taking a walk and/or sit out with our books and read awhile. We do CS lunches, often at DTD. We hit the parks after lunch for a few hours at about the same time everyone else is leaving for naps!!! We leave the parks late afternoon, head back to the room, shower and sit on our balcony with a glass (or two) of wine. Then we head out for a late dinner at one of the signatures.

We've been to the Disney parks so many times that we just don't see the need during that one vacation to go into the parks that much.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

we do a grocery stop for some nice bottles of wine (I pack plastic wine glasses and opener in checked luggage). We sleep in. If we get up early, we stay at the resort taking a walk and/or sit out with our books and read awhile. We hit the parks after lunch for a few hours at about the same time everyone else is leaving for naps!!! We leave the parks late afternoon, head back to the room, shower and sit on our balcony with a glass (or two) of wine. Then we head out for a late dinner at one of the signatures.

That sounds like a perfect day.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

DH & I just spent a nice relaxing 4 day mini vacation @ AKL in September and it was perfect. We wanted to spend as much time as possible right there at the resort because our AP's were expiring and we weren't going to renew them. We scheduled dinner @ BOMA the night we checked in - spent time viewing the animals from all the different areas and then the night vision goggles. We had ADR's for breakfast @ CP in MK the next morning, but not too early - instead of touring the MK which we had just done in April, we opted to hop over to DHS and see TSM (we hadn't seen it before) and a few other rides there. Then back to the resort. The next day we spent the morning at AK doing everything we wanted to before it got too hot, then back to the resort to relax before dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe. Sleeping in was perfect and since we didn't "have" to do all the parks we could do what we wanted when we wanted. To my DH it was the best vacation we'd ever taken at WDW. Usually I want to go, go, go and we never get to relax and enjoy the resorts. This time I'm glad we did. AKL is amazing and there's so much to do right there that you don't have to go to a park if you don't want to.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[junecats24]

My husband and I just returned from a week at SSR. We have no kids either, so every time we've gone has been adults only. We rarely leave our room before 10am so we sleep in and enjoy a very leisurely breakfast. We don't try to hit a park every day. We take some days "off" and do things around the resorts at the pool or we go for a bike or boat ride. I've never understood the rush to do it all in a day - everyone ends up tired, sore, cranky and miserable - the opposite of what WDW should be (at least to me).

I love some of the other ideas I've seen here: bottles of wine enjoyed on the balcony, going to the parks late afternoon or evening...It gives me some ideas for our next trip!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. You guys are getting me excited about the possibility of us going alone. We may have to cancel our Thanksgiving trip, & reschedule a date for just the 2 of us.

I'm not sure how we could make a trip much more leisurely, but that's what he's wanting. On our last trip, we rode/experienced 2 rides/attractions at DHS, 2 at AK, 4 at Epcot, & 7 at MK. Naturally, our DS & his GF rode more than we did. We always take a midday break, & never rush to fit everything in. I think what he's really saying is that he doesn't want to get up early to get to a character meal before the park opens, or to make rope drop. He'd also prefer meals with a more adult atmosphere. The suggestion to enjoy room service on the balcony, including a bottle of wine, while watching fireworks, would definitely be a hit.

 

[wdwtheplacetobe]

We usually get up around 7am (most days), get to the bus stop at 8am (muffin in the room) and get to the Parks around 915am. Not quite rope drop but enuf after to not be IN the crowds. We meander up Main St, taking it ALL in. We plan to start at a certain Park each day. We also do 1 ADR per day, usu at a nice TS. Since WDW is where we met, dated, got engaged and were married...we plan to visit the sites this time as it is our First Anniversary Trip. (I have a few surprises for him along the way, but since he reads avidly, I can't post them)

Just go and have a Magical Time!

Don't worry about keeping too much of a schedule!

 

[scotas]

This coming September will be our first couples only trip. While our past few trips were with several other people, everyone kind of did what they wanted. We went for a pretty laid back trip compared to most in our group. So things we did:

We only picked 2 Dinner ADR's and 1 late breakfast one. All more adult. For a great breakfast option I would recomend Boma. We had a 10:30 am ADR for that one. Some great dinner options I've tried Narcoosee's (especially during wishes) We enjoyed Restaurant Marrakesh and the Maya Grill (at CSR)


In my trips down, I have never gone to rope drop. We always get up when we get up.

We know what we want to do at each park so we usually decide when we get up, where we want to go that day. Since we know what we want to do we know where to head.

We always go in September when it is quieter, short lines make it easier to get to what we want.

Maybe look into something you don't usually do. Some of the Spa's offer couples massages, maybe share an illuminations cruise, or do one of the tours.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

[joan4mickey]

March will be our first trip without kids (most of them adult age now) and it will be our 25 wedding anniversary. I am doing all the planning as DH said he would just go alone with what ever. I'll take any suggestions for things to do and places to eat.

 

[01Sweetpea]

DH just suggested to me that we do a long weekend getaway to Disney for our anniversary in April WITHOUT THE KIDS!

I don't know how to do a relaxing, laid back, just wing-it Disney trip. Is there such a thing? What about my 3 ring binder? My list of ADRs? My schedule of which parks to go on which days? People really come to the park AFTER rope drop?

This will be DH & my first trip alone to Disney. Looking forward to doing all the things (WorldShowcase) the kids hate doing.