Need some additions to itinerary: Anniversary Trip without Kids

[ontheuptick]

What would you have on your itinerary for an anniversary trip without kids? We've been to WDW 3 times, all with our kids (8, 5, 2).

Resort: Poly
Time: April (for Flower and Garden)
Tickets: Likely buying 1-day Epcot tickets, skip other parks this trip

My wife isn't big on signature dining and spending lots of money there - she doesn't get joy out of fancy food (like I do). It's not out of the question - maybe for appetizers, etc.

Thoughts on how to fill up my other non-Epcot days with stuff outside of the parks? Current ideas:
Relax and Enjoy the Poly
Disney Springs - shopping, Morimoto Asia
Yee Haw Bob - take boat from Disney Springs
Grand Floridian - enjoy a walk over to GF, shop, etc.
Boardwalk - Jellyrolls and strolling around the Boardwalk

Other things you would do? Specifically during the daytime?

Thanks!

 

[RustManFan]

Will you have a car?

 

[ontheuptick]

Will you have a car?

Still under consideration! Feel free to give suggestions that would require a car.

 

[lions1995]

My wife and I took a carriage ride through Port Orleans for our 15th anniversary. We also did dinner at
Narcoossee's and watched the fireworks from outside. I know you stated dining is not a big item for you. But we had our own menu which just for us (I think our names were on it). We got to take them with us.

 

[RustManFan]

Do you enjoy nature? My son and I are going to visit the Nature Conservancy run Walt Disney Wilderness Preserve:

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiative...sweprotect/the-disney-wilderness-preserve.xml

 

[tlmadden73]

How about the Spirit of Aloha at the Polynesian? It'd be like you would be in Hawaii!

 

[a742246]

Go to GF after 4:00PM when the piano player, and jazz band play, then have a drink in the lounge area (behind where the band plays) I forgot the name of it.
Spend time in Disney Springs in the evening. Play miniature golf! Walk around Fort Wilderness area! Ride one of those mini boats around Bay lake.

 

[Aggiegrl]

Fort Wilderness. Walk through the stables, take a carriage ride, get a drink and sit on the porch. Maybe HDDR if that's your thing.

Animal Kingdom Lodge. See the animals, sit by the fire pit, eat a meal at Boma or Sanaa.

 

[GPC0321]

Lots of great suggestions. I'd want to go to the MK if I was staying at the Poly though, but that's me. Especially late at night. If I were only going to Epcot, I'd stay at the Beach Club so I could walk over to Epcot whenever I wanted and enjoy Stormalong Bay and the Boardwalk area. But I understand that you might like the Poly for it's atmosphere not its proximity to a certain park.

What about tickets to La Nouba one evening?

 

[tlmadden73]

Lots of great suggestions. I'd want to go to the MK if I was staying at the Poly though, but that's me. Especially late at night. If I were only going to Epcot, I'd stay at the Beach Club so I could walk over to Epcot whenever I wanted and enjoy Stormalong Bay and the Boardwalk area. But I understand that you might like the Poly for it's atmosphere not its proximity to a certain park.

What about tickets to La Nouba one evening?

Agree .. if I was going on an kids-free anniversary trip I would still do MK over Epcot any day. Do those things your kids don't wanna do ... go have some nice sit down dinners at Be Our Guest or Skipper Canteen .. just being able to sit and watch the night shows without any worry about kids wandering off or getting tired. It would be a Magical day indeed.

I would add in a fun thing to do ... a lunch/dessert at Beaches and Cream while exploring the Beach and Yacht Club resort!

 

[ontheuptick]

Lots of great suggestions. I'd want to go to the MK if I was staying at the Poly though, but that's me. Especially late at night. If I were only going to Epcot, I'd stay at the Beach Club so I could walk over to Epcot whenever I wanted and enjoy Stormalong Bay and the Boardwalk area. But I understand that you might like the Poly for it's atmosphere not its proximity to a certain park.

What about tickets to La Nouba one evening?

Since it's just 1 day at the park - the additional 15 minutes it would take to get there from Poly isn't a big deal. We were just there in December and stayed at the Boardwalk.

Great idea with La Nouba!

Agree .. if I was going on an kids-free anniversary trip I would still do MK over Epcot any day. Do those things your kids don't wanna do ... go have some nice sit down dinners at Be Our Guest or Skipper Canteen .. just being able to sit and watch the night shows without any worry about kids wandering off or getting tired. It would be a Magical day indeed.

I hear you both, but we've been to WDW several times (including a month ago when we spent 3 full days at MK), so we know what we like and would want to do as a couple. A large for scheduling the trip during this time is for the Flower and Garden Festival.

 

[DisneyCAL]

If you enjoy adult drinks, try Mizners Lounge while at GF, preferably while the band is playing.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We like to play mini-golf! You could walk over to Fantasia when you are on the Boardwalk, but we prefer Winter/Summerland - you just need to take a bus to Blizzard Beach.

 

[courtneybeth]

Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian is always fun and a little romantic too

 

[Skullcrusher]

What would you have on your itinerary for an anniversary trip without kids? We've been to WDW 3 times, all with our kids (8, 5, 2).

Resort: Poly
Time: April (for Flower and Garden)
Tickets: Likely buying 1-day Epcot tickets, skip other parks this trip

My wife isn't big on signature dining and spending lots of money there - she doesn't get joy out of fancy food (like I do). It's not out of the question - maybe for appetizers, etc.

Thoughts on how to fill up my other non-Epcot days with stuff outside of the parks? Current ideas:
Relax and Enjoy the Poly
Disney Springs - shopping, Morimoto Asia
Yee Haw Bob - take boat from Disney Springs
Grand Floridian - enjoy a walk over to GF, shop, etc.
Boardwalk - Jellyrolls and strolling around the Boardwalk

Other things you would do? Specifically during the daytime?

Thanks!

Horseback riding at Wilderness lodge. Total fun time.. Ditto on the Hoop de Doo Review. Take the boat from Disney Springs back to POFQ or POR just for fun and see the tree houses of Saratoga Springs on the way.

 

[sazzifrazz]

My DH and I did a short anniversary trip a few years back. We hit the parks hard! lol I would do another park day

 

[ariane37]

DH and I have done 2 kid-free trips and we also spend lots of time in the parks. We do quite a few signature dinners too- would your wife enjoy maybe one? A pp suggested Narcoossee's since you can see the fireworks from there, we really enjoyed that.

What about adding a park day and doing a tour? That's something else we do when we leave the kids at home

 

[fhtpdw20]

A bit pricey, but a fireworks or Illumination cruise.

 

[ontheuptick]

Lots of good recommendations. Seems like a lot of recommendations are based on one thing: Buy more Park Tickets and more park time. Imagine that!

For a little background - the reason I had planned to buy 1 day tickets is mainly price. For 2 1-day Epcot tickets it would cost us $206. For a 4-day park hopper it would be like $731. That's a LOT of extra money. We could absolutely afford it but my wife thinks this additional trip is a little superfluous already..

And, we were just there in December 2015. Will be back in November 2016 (should have bought an AP on last trip). So honestly, we have spent a lot of time in Magic Kingdom. When I look at the things my wife and I would love to do together I think there are as many things at the other parks that we haven't done yet because of our small kids (ToT, RnR, GMR, EE, Nemo Musical, take a relaxing stroll around AK, etc.) that I think if we were going to do a 2-day ticket ($408), might as well just spend the extra $300-400 to get a 3 or 4 day park hopper.

So, at the current time it feels like we should spend $200 on park tickets, and the $500 we saved on tickets would cover most of our food. This is a bonus trip because we have a comped room at the Poly for 3 nights - so trying to be reasonable on expenses and enjoy the resort!