First Timers celebrating Birthday and Anniversary

[Detia]

Hello,

my boyfriend and I are staying at Walt Disney World for the first time in September. It will also be our first visit ever to the United States. We will be staying on property the whole time (13 days).
During our visit we are celebrating the 29 birthday of my boyfriend and a few days later our fifth anniversary. On his birthday we want to visit Epcot during the day and MNSSHP in the evening. I'd like to prepare something "special" that day for him (as a small extra surprise). Since our MDE accounts are linked it should be something that does not show up there. Also we are currently searching for something special but relaxing to do on our anniversary.
Any suggestions?

Thanks very much
Sarah

 

[Detia]

@ATLmouselover I am afraid that since we are 'small portion eater' spending $80 on brunch isn't worth it for us, even if we will be able to see the fireworks from a special location. But I will definitely keep an eye out on other dining options that include watching parades or fireworks...
@LeighM yes, the Keys to the Kingdom Tour is about 5 hours long and costs $99. Since we will have at least 13 days to visit the parks and have park hopper included time isn't a big issue...
@Tom 55 We will stay there from 9/17 to 9/30. So your first days and our last days are overlapping. Sure it would be great, thanks for that offer.
@cdeev8690 I will check out the mouse to your house offerings. Maybe one of these will complete my 'homemade in-room celebration decoration'

I just found out that we will arrive at Dapper Day. Do you have any experiences with that? I guess the park will be very crowded that day.

 

[cdeev8690]

I just found out that we will arrive at Dapper Day. Do you have any experiences with that? I guess the park will be very crowded that day.

Dapper Day is no more crowded than a normal park day, in my experience. It's only for a couple of hours early in the day, people will take photos in the usual spots and then they leave. I checked the dates for WDW Fall Dapper Day and it falls on November 17th and 18th so I think you're in the clear if you'll be visiting WDW in September.

September, in my experience, has been my ideal time to visit as I don't have children but most of the schools in the US are in the first few weeks of classes. Parents are much less likely to remove their kids from school in the very beginning of the school year. The weather is starting to cool a bit and it's just been pretty pleasant. You just need to monitor the weather as it's hurricane season and add travel insurance to your trip if you haven't already done so.

 

[LeighM]

@LeighM yes, the Keys to the Kingdom Tour is about 5 hours long and costs $99. Since we will have at least 13 days to visit the parks and have park hopper included time isn't a big issue...

If time isn't a consideration, then I would be more interested in doing the Keys to the Kingdom tour. There's another long tour at Epcot that looks really interesting as well. I went at the end of September and it was still really hot and crowded. I was expecting lower crowds and less wait times but it just didn't happen. I think the Halloween parties and Food and Wine bring in more crowds now. I've learned to not travel during hurricane months because every time I go to FL between August and October, the state is threatened by a hurricane. My grandmother was the same every time she tried to visit New Orleans LOL. We just have bad hurricane luck

 

[Detia]

@cdeev8690 I now found out that Dapper Day will be celebrated at Epcot in the morning of 09/18/2018. I think we will visit Epcot that morning just to make this experience and see all the people dressed up... With making fast pass reservations for the afternoon I hope we won't end up standing in line for hours...
@LeighM Since it would be our first trip to the United States and WDW of course I hope we won't get hit by a big hurricane. Anyway I'm not afraid of the rain and even got same ideas what to do if some rides are closed or we have to stay at our hotel
To be honest I'm very nervous about making this experience because here in Germany we do not have any comparable weather phenomena.

I currently check out some dining packages. Does anyone have any experience with the Fantasmic Dining Package at Mamma Melrose or Hollywood and Vine or the Rivers of Light Package at Tusker House?

 

[LeighM]

@cdeev8690 I now found out that Dapper Day will be celebrated at Epcot in the morning of 09/18/2018. I think we will visit Epcot that morning just to make this experience and see all the people dressed up... With making fast pass reservations for the afternoon I hope we won't end up standing in line for hours...
@LeighM Since it would be our first trip to the United States and WDW of course I hope we won't get hit by a big hurricane. Anyway I'm not afraid of the rain and even got same ideas what to do if some rides are closed or we have to stay at our hotel
To be honest I'm very nervous about making this experience because here in Germany we do not have any comparable weather phenomena.

I currently check out some dining packages. Does anyone have any experience with the Fantasmic Dining Package at Mamma Melrose or Hollywood and Vine or the Rivers of Light Package at Tusker House?

Dapper Day is November 17-18. Here's the website with details: http://dapperday.com/fall-2018-wdw-fl

And Disney is the safest place to be during a hurricane. The resorts really do go out of their way to keep you safe. It's harder at the resorts that are so spread out and isn't connected to a main lobby. But when we were there during Matthew, we just had plenty of snacks to last us for a day (not needed because it turned last minute) and Disney left a flashlight in every room in case power went out. My biggest concern was the ability to get back to the airport because we were supposed to leave in 2 days.