Couples Trip Dining strategies

[Mika02]

Hi

I will be return to WDW in April for my Birthday weekend. I will be traveling with my boyfriend and this is his 1st time at Disney. I'm trying to figure out my ADRs for when bookings open up next week. When I went on a Solo trip last year I did a lot of F&W and since I had DDP I had a table service meals for all other meals which I enjoyed.

There are definitely a couple of restaurants I want to try since I will be kid free but since it's my Boyfriend's 1st time I want to let him enjoy the iconic Disney snacks available too. As well he's a drinker (so am I without my kids lol) and I was thinking of doing some lounge hopping at the resorts.

So I was wondering for all those that have done couples trips what has been your dining strategies? What did you like to do?

I'm leaning towards booking a fancy dinner every night and then winging the rest of the meals. I know one day will be a Flower and garden day. I think I want to try the Highway Dine around our arrival night. I also may do the Afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian for my birthday.

We we will be there 5 days with 3 day park hopper tickets.

Thanks for any suggestions

 

[kiramay]

Sounds like fun!

When I went with my husband last year (kids stayed home), we did California Grill and Biergarten (tradition) and winged the rest. He wasn’t feeling good so I did most of the snacking and drinking alone.

When I went with my sister in February we had the best time. Our favorites were the Brown Derby Lounge, the Wave Lounge, the Baseline Taphouse (HS), and Trader Sam’s. Lots of adult beverages! We tried the Epcot Festival of the Arts but everything seemed jacked up, even for Disney. We booked ADRs on the fly in Epcot, and had a surprisingly great meal at Coral Reef.

 

[Mika02]

Sounds like fun!

When I went with my husband last year (kids stayed home), we did California Grill and Biergarten (tradition) and winged the rest. He wasn’t feeling good so I did most of the snacking and drinking alone.

When I went with my sister in February we had the best time. Our favorites were the Brown Derby Lounge, the Wave Lounge, the Baseline Taphouse (HS), and Trader Sam’s. Lots of adult beverages! We tried the Epcot Festival of the Arts but everything seemed jacked up, even for Disney. We booked ADRs on the fly in Epcot, and had a surprisingly great meal at Coral Reef.

This all sounds wonderful. That's good to know you could get a last minute meal somewhere. I'm such an over scheduler lol. I'm trying to reform lol

 

[supitscarrie]

Seconding California Grill. When my husband and I were there for our honeymoon we closed out the trip with fireworks viewing/dinner there, and it was fabulous. One of the best meals I've ever had!

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

Ive heard that the Flower and Wine festival has some of the same drinks and snacks that they have during Food and Wine festival so that will be good to check out! I like th idea of a nice dinner most nights / every night!

Some bars to check out are Abracadbra Bar at Boardwalk and the Edison after 9 pm or 10 pm is supposed to be pretty cool...

Have fun!

 

[sanapp]

I know I am in the minority, but I do not like Cali Grill for dinner all that much. I am planning on giving it a try for brunch on my February trip.
Have you considered doing the deluxe dining plan? If you are thinking of doing a signature every night anyhow it might work out and remember that a drink is included too.
I have dlxdp for my February trip and I am doing an early lunch (one breakfast at Boma) and then a signature every night.
You could always do a few character breakfasts if you think he would like that. Perhaps Tusker on a AK day or take him to Akershus to meet his favorite princess.
On deluxe you could go to say Boathouse for dinner in Disney Springs and then hit up a lounge or two after.

 

[queenvee]

We love going to Trader Sam's, Nomad Lounge, Le Cava de Tequila, and also venturing outside of the parks to Disney Springs for dining.

 

[Mika02]

I know I am in the minority, but I do not like Cali Grill for dinner all that much. I am planning on giving it a try for brunch on my February trip.
Have you considered doing the deluxe dining plan? If you are thinking of doing a signature every night anyhow it might work out and remember that a drink is included too.
I have dlxdp for my February trip and I am doing an early lunch (one breakfast at Boma) and then a signature every night.
You could always do a few character breakfasts if you think he would like that. Perhaps Tusker on a AK day or take him to Akershus to meet his favorite princess.
On deluxe you could go to say Boathouse for dinner in Disney Springs and then hit up a lounge or two after.

So I have a tables of wonderland card. I'm not doing a package and so I really planned on going OP cash and gift cards for the meals I'm really worried about spend the money on the dining plan and ending up leaving meals on the table.

 

[need2travel]

DH & I like to balance it out between signature dinners & lounge crawls. We'll do Flying Fish one night then Crew's Cup & Abracadabar the next then Jiko then a monorail crawl, etc. The days we do lounge crawls we usually do a sit down lunch somewhere & the days we do a signature dinner we'll do CS or QS for lunch. Enjoy your trip!!

 

[ttintagel]

We really enjoy the Wave Lounge; the atmosphere is super-chill, and I love the local organic beer flight.

The really nice thing about being a party of two is, it's a lot easier to get the ADR's you want on shorter notice! We always get lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, and when we knew we were going to miss our reservation they were able to fit us right in an hour later.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

When we are adults only we like to go to nice lounges and get appetizers and small plates with libations. In many lounges you can get meals from the accompany eatery.

 

[Mika02]

DH & I like to balance it out between signature dinners & lounge crawls. We'll do Flying Fish one night then Crew's Cup & Abracadabar the next then Jiko then a monorail crawl, etc. The days we do lounge crawls we usually do a sit down lunch somewhere & the days we do a signature dinner we'll do CS or QS for lunch. Enjoy your trip!!

Yes this exactly what I was thinking Flying Fish, Jiko were on my ADR list along with the new Artist Pointe meal.

We really enjoy the Wave Lounge; the atmosphere is super-chill, and I love the local organic beer flight.

The really nice thing about being a party of two is, it's a lot easier to get the ADR's you want on shorter notice! We always get lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, and when we knew we were going to miss our reservation they were able to fit us right in an hour later.

Ahh good to know when were together we kind of go with the flow so I was wondering about short notice Adrs in case we want a bigger lunch

When we are adults only we like to go to nice lounges and get appetizers and small plates with libations. In many lounges you can get meals from the accompany eatery.

Yes I was thinking we can share some meals from the adjacent restaurant and enjoy the drinks and apps. I'm going to look for some lounge hopping opportunities.

 

[Disney_Alli]

We like to book late lunches (2pm) and really late dinners (8-9pm) for a slightly more grown up feel too.

 

[Mika02]

We like to book late lunches (2pm) and really late dinners (8-9pm) for a slightly more grown up feel too.

Awesome idea