Romantic Surprise 13th Anniversary Pre-Trip Report

[mweier]

OK, so I'm not even done with my last trip report and I'm already planning another trip down? So it goes

I've gotten the kids all lined up for a whole week at the grandparents this August, for the week around my wife & I's 13th anniversary. I figure it's a pretty insignificant number of years normally, so the perfect time to totally SURPRISE my wife with a short trip for just the two of us to WDW.

I've gotten 3 nights planned for POR, flying out from Minneapolis the day after the kids are dumped on the grandparents. I've already gotten our magic bands set with custom names commemorating the anniversary (easier said than done, given how few characters they let you print!!).

ADR-wise, I've gotten the following set up for now:

Thursday (we arrive) - no parks, but a leisurely dinner at Boatwrights, with a visit to Yee Haa Bob's afterwards. Wanted to keep this day chill and not try to fit too much in as I suspect there will be tons to see just at the resort. I'm still on the fence as to whether to book a carriage ride - this could be a cool surprise ending to the night.

Friday - this will be our MK day based on TP crowd calendar. I wanted something romantic yet accessible to MK for this. My first impulse was Narcoossee's, but based on the pricing, I figured I could find something a bit less "deluxe". We had a date night last trip at California Grill, which was Amazing, but I wanted to try something we've never been to. Based on some DisDad's advice, I've instead booked a table for two at Artist's Point in WL. We've never been to WL before, so should be interesting. We love mission-style architecture and lighting, so I'm expecting the dining area of Artists' Point to jive with our sensibilities of what's awesome.

Saturday - This is our EPCOT day. With all the options right in EPCOT that we've never tried, I had to pick something in-park. Given that we're going without our kids this time (for the first time ever!), I figured we'd spend tons more time in World Showcase than we normally get to. I also knew that we could coordinate a dining experience with Illuminations to round out an awesome weekend the last night of our stay. In the end, I chose Tokyo Dining as an off-the-path approach to a romantic sushi dinner with views of Illuminations either from our table or from the balcony.

 

[mweier]

What are your suggestions of ways to add additional layers of romance to the surprise trip I'm planning? My wife has been to the parks 2 times in the past couple years, but I'd love to have a seemingly endless barrage of fun ideas to surprise her with (even if they're just off-the-beaten path moments) as the weekend progresses.

 

[Mr Morrow]

@mweier I love your ideas so far! Congratulations on the 13th Anniversary! You have done the best thing in booking as soon as possible, but would love to see that last trip report to see what you got up to last time!

Something tells me that the Hollywood Tower Hotel needs to be prominent in the Anniversary plans, you know, 13, 13th floor, 'beyond the deepest, darkest corner of the imagination' and all that! I'm not sure how much of a fan you are though of the ride.

I will be going to Artist Point for the FIRST time this September and I cannot wait! I think you've made a great choice with your 'deluxe' night and from what I've read, you won't be disappointed.

Saturday.. what better way to spend the next day in EPCOT and strolling around the various countries on the World Showcase in the evening? Great decision.

As far as 'adding layers' to the romance, get a souvenir photo of the two of you to add to the mantel piece, a spa treatment is always an option and maybe order some flowers from the Disney Florist

I hope you have a superb trip, you transport your wife directly to the... 'Twilight Zone', oh and don't forget to buy a disney themed gift to bring home to your kids!

 

[mweier]

@Mr Morrow -- here's a link to my last trip report which is trickling out one day at a time.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/first-time-on-property-bazillions-of-photos.881437/
SOO many photos to go through and it's been busy at the home front. Hoping to push up another 5 days' worth of photos as I get time.

I heard a podcast in which someone rode ToT 13x on their 13th anniversary. Don't think that will fall in our plans, and unfortunately, and I think we'll probably opt out of park hopper and skip HS altogether, sticking with 2 parks for 2 days since we won't have a long enough window to stay for another day.

I like the spa idea. Was toying with that, though I'll have to look into pricing a bit more to see if a couples' massage will fit our budget. Some good reviews here: http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/best-spas

I'm also thinking more about booking the carriage ride at POR as it should be easy to get to. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/carriage-rides/

 

[Betsyboo]

@Mr Morrow -- here's a link to my last trip report which is trickling out one day at a time.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/first-time-on-property-bazillions-of-photos.881437/
SOO many photos to go through and it's been busy at the home front. Hoping to push up another 5 days' worth of photos as I get time.

I heard a podcast in which someone rode ToT 13x on their 13th anniversary. Don't think that will fall in our plans, and unfortunately, and I think we'll probably opt out of park hopper and skip HS altogether, sticking with 2 parks for 2 days since we won't have a long enough window to stay for another day.

I like the spa idea. Was toying with that, though I'll have to look into pricing a bit more to see if a couples' massage will fit our budget. Some good reviews here: http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/best-spas

I'm also thinking more about booking the carriage ride at POR as it should be easy to get to. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/carriage-rides/

Love that your surprising her! DH and I celebrated our 15th back in February at POFQ. I love the carriage ride idea and really like your dining choices. I agree with @Mr Morrow and would suggest something from Disney Floral and Gifts or a cake to be delivered to your room or to Artist Point. If you go the cake route there's a great thread on here with wonderful ideas. I'll find it and post. Can't wait to read about the surprise reveal!

 

[Betsyboo]

Here it is - http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...fficial-cake-talk.863023/page-15#post-5888449

Options are on the first few pages.

 

[mweier]

wow! Those cakes are cool! We're carb-watching so I think the flowers are the simplest/best route for me.

I checked into Spa sessions/couples' massage at Dolphin and GF and they are well beyond the cost of a day in the park so I think I'll probably skip that. If we had more time to stay there, it could be cool for a non-park day, but just not in the budget.

I'm curious if anyone has any favorite spots for photos in/around POR, as I've never been there before.

 

[Betsyboo]

wow! Those cakes are cool! We're carb-watching so I think the flowers are the simplest/best route for me.

I checked into Spa sessions/couples' massage at Dolphin and GF and they are well beyond the cost of a day in the park so I think I'll probably skip that. If we had more time to stay there, it could be cool for a non-park day, but just not in the budget.

I'm curious if anyone has any favorite spots for photos in/around POR, as I've never been there before.

There are lovely gazebos around the property at PORS and the river and bridges are also really pretty for pictures.

 

[mweier]

cool - i'm going to make sure we leave plenty of time to just explore the resort and relax in the quiet pools. My wife loves running so (if August heat/humidity allow in the AM) hoping she can enjoy an early morning jog along the Sassagoula as well.

Every time we've come with the kids, it's been more about trying to fit all the parks in so they don't miss anything awesome (irony: Splash has been closed the past two times we've come in winter, meaning despite our best efforts, we DO miss something awesome anyways)

 

[mweier]

86 days and counting so I figured I'd post a quick update.

My plans and scheming have continued and K still has no clue that this is coming. I managed to pull some strings with my wife's boss and get her out of her work shift on the day of our anniversary (unbeknownst to her). So, rather than staying 3 nights at POR, we're now going to be staying 5 nights!! I was able to get the reservation extended for the King room.

While I've added 2 more nights, I only added 1 more park day, in order to give us a full day off to chill at the resort in the middle. K tends to feel exhilarated but exhausted after our WDW trips, so I am going to try to make sure to block out a good 4 hrs each day to chill by the pool and just relax in addition to the full day out of parks. Our other trips have been more intense so this should be a fun change that no kids will be around to complain about.

In addition, I splurged on another special surprise for her: 2 tix to La Nouba (Cirque du Soleil in DTD). I "skimped" to a degree by settling for the cheaper Level 2 tix, but ended up with FRONT ROW SEATS all the way to the left. This is going to be AMAZING as I've never seen it before and never had a front row seat for anything before.

I've also re-jiggered my ADR's a bit...

Here's the new itinerary as it stands:

Day 1 (Thurs) fly down and check in. Hit DTD at some point in order to try out Raglan Road ADR just as the music kicks in around 6. After this, we'll get to the 9pm showing of La Nouba an hour or so early.

Day 2 (Fri) Epcot. I've got our AM chilling a bit in Futureworld West, followed by lunch in France (my wife's favorite country outside the US). France is also where we had our honeymoon 13 yrs ago. From there, we'll take in some of the World Showcase that the boys have never had the stamina to enjoy. We'll have a long break in the heat of the afternoon, followed by a return to the park for some more World Showcase and a partial round of snacking/drinking around the world. We'll end up at Tokyo Dining in Japan for some sushi at 8:15. I'm hoping we can get a table by the windows in order to take in Illuminations.

Day 3 (Sat) MK. We'll focus mostly on the things we weren't able to do our last trips. 7DMR twice first thing followed by Splash Mountain, BTMR, and some other odds & ends around Frontier/Liberty Square. Any suggestions for a healthy(ish) romantic lunch spot in-park? After a break this afternoon, we'll return to the park and boat over to WL for a sunset dinner ADR at Artist Point. After that, we'll return to the park for a few more rides and Wishes. I'm hoping to catch it from a new angle this time (frontier-land side) as we've seen it from the same bridge in Tomorrowland the past couple times. The park is open til 1am so this should be a fun night.

Day 4 (Sun) Break day. Just gonna sleep in and laze around the resort this day. Lunch we may wander over to POFQ for a change of pace and to check out their food court. Supper I have ADR at Boatwrights back at POR just to keep things simple. Later that evening, i've got a twilight reservation for carriage ride.

Day 5 (Mon - Anniversary). By this time we should be recharged from our day off and ready for one last day in the park. We've focused mostly on the kids the past trips to DHS, so this time we'll try to hit some other highlights. In particular, I want to be sure to hit One Man's Dream, more of the Animation Academy stuff, RnRC, and possibly one of the stage shows. After another afternoon break, we'll mix things up by taxiing over to AKL for a sunset ADR at Sanaa. I realize it's probably not the fanciest place but it looks cool and we love african and indian food (unlike our kids). After that, we'll bus it back to DHS for the 10:30pm Fantasmic before calling it a wrap.

Day 6 (Tues) we fly home

Day 7 (Weds) I'm back to work and K is off to pick up the boys from their vacation with the grandparents.

 

[mweier]

Actually just realized that MK EMH is open til 1am on Day 4. Shuffled as follows since I'm skipping park hopper:

1) Arrive / DTD / Raglan Road / La Nouba

2) Epcot Future World West / Boulangerie Patisserie lunch / World Showcase / Tokyo Dining dinner / Illuminations / EPCOT PM EMH

3) DHS AM EMH / Lunch TBD / Sunset Dinner @Sanaa / Fantasmic

4) MK / Lunch TBD / Artist Point sunset dinner / Wishes / Late night EMH MK

5) Recover at resort. Walk to POFQ's Sassagoula Floatworks for Lunch at stay at POR's Boatwrights for dinner. Cap it off with carriage ride.

6) Pack/Depart

 

[mweier]

Ah the joys of pre-planning... Disney just changed which day has MK PM EMH twice on me now, from Saturday to Sunday (at which point I made FP+/ADRs) and now back to Saturday.

Based on the friendly advice of park guru @lentesta, I'm going to stick with the ADR's & FP+'s that I made in May.

However this means we lose our MK PM EMH, so I'll have the following options if we decide we really want those awesome middle-of-the-night MK hours. It's only 2 hrs but they're among our favorite due to the lighting and ambience of the park at night (not to mention lower crowds and cooler temps).

Option 1) add Park hopper and go from HS to MK after Fantasmic, as we could still pack in 2-3 hrs of bonus MK time. If we opt to skip Fantasmic (which I still have never successfully seen), we could just hit MK entirely after Sanaa, which would be less bussing. If it's rainy, I'll probably push towards that since rain cancelled Fantasmic on us last time.

Option 2) Skip the hopper and pay about the same to add a 4th day of tickets to our package. This is around the breakpoint where adding days gets cheaper and cheaper in a big way, so this wouldn't cost that much and would give us a ton more hours for our money than park hopper. It will depend on how serious K is about slowing down and having downtime. She said she wished we'd relaxed more after our last trip, but I know she loves touring as much as me so we'll see how she sways after the reveal.

If I do either of these options, it will be decided w/ K's input after the reveal at the resort.

Here's the adjusted itinerary re: EMH MK

1) Arrive / DTD / Raglan Road / La Nouba

2) Epcot Future World West / Boulangerie Patisserie lunch / World Showcase / Tokyo Dining dinner / Illuminations / YeHaa Bob at POR

3) DHS AM EMH / Lunch TBD / Sunset Dinner @Sanaa / Fantasmic / (park hop to MK for PM EMH?)

4) MK / Lunch TBD / Artist Point sunset dinner / Wishes

5) Recover at resort. Walk to POFQ's Sassagoula Floatworks for Lunch at stay at POR's Boatwrights for dinner. Cap it off with carriage ride. (or another day of parks if K would rather do that - will decide later)

6) Pack/Depart

 

[mweier]

I think I posted elsewhere, but forgot to mention that my FP+ draw for EPCOT came out aces. I had already had Soarin'/LWTL/Nemo set prior to the recent tier changes in EPCOT. Now that LWTL is tier 1 and Maelstrom is Tier 2, I was able to swap LWTL with Test Track (another Tier 1). I was also able to swap Nemo with Maelstrom (now Tier 2) for a completely awesome, formerly impossible combo. winning!

 

[Mom@disney]

What a great trip planned for your anniversary! I'm sure your wife is going to be amazed! Cirque de solidly is awesome and front row!!! Wow you'll really feel part of the show.
I would pick option 2, this way you have less travelling around and more park time.
I would definitely do the horse carriage ride at POR and the resort is so beautiful that anywhere you take a picture is great. But the bridges over the river is breathtaking. Oh, and you can't miss YeeHaw Bob. Catch dinner, relax on the couch in the lounge and enjoy some fun!

 

[mweier]

What a great trip planned for your anniversary! I'm sure your wife is going to be amazed! Cirque de solidly is awesome and front row!!! Wow you'll really feel part of the show.
I would pick option 2, this way you have less travelling around and more park time.
I would definitely do the horse carriage ride at POR and the resort is so beautiful that anywhere you take a picture is great. But the bridges over the river is breathtaking. Oh, and you can't miss YeeHaw Bob. Catch dinner, relax on the couch in the lounge and enjoy some fun!

Good rationale. We'll see if the wife can be talked into a fourth park day or if we can slow down to just focus on the resort

 

[mweier]

BAM! Got this in the mail today! It took some creative thinking since you only get 9 characters on the name customization but I managed to get the year & anniversary number included.

only 24 days til we leave (I'll give her the MB and share the surprise in 23!).

 

[Mom@disney]

So close! It's always exciting to have Disney mail. Very creative with the band names.

 

[mweier]

On a whim, I decided to try http://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com one last time in case there was a way to get in for a lunch fast pass. I had set up access to this earlier but it kept showing no times available.

It worked! I don't know if someone canceled their reservations or if I was just trying too early.

My wife was a French major in college (and has been there several times) so having a lunch at Boulangerie the first day in EP and a second chance at a tasty Niçoise salad at BOG the last park day in MK should be a nice throwback nod to our honeymoon in the south of France. Neither of us have tried BOG yet so should be a nice novelty.

 

[smk]

Sounds like you have planned a wonderful trip! Enjoy!!

 

[Mom@disney]

That's great! We ate at BOG on our last visit. My oldest daughter was especially thrilled since Belle is her absolute favourite princess. We were not disappointed with our meal, atmosphere, or service. I tried to see if I could book the fast pass lunch for our upcoming trip, but I have no idea what the reservation ID is. Could you help me with that? Thanks