First Ever Romantic Disney Trip November 2023

[kaetra]

I've booked a week long trip to WDW for November 2023. I'm taking my dashingly handsome boyfriend on his first ever trip to WDW. He is absolutely my Flynn Rider. We've been together for 4 years and lived together for three.

Though not a Disney fan, my BF is a gifted artist, majored in Art in college and his dream job was to be an animator and voice actor. His career path wound up taking him in a different direction, but he still does commissioned artwork and graphical design from time to time.

I've been doing Disney fairly regularly since 2010 (as my nifty signature shows). I am up to date on the latest changes at WDW, and consider myself to be a seasoned Disney vacation planner. My touring style is absolutely COMMANDO - Rope-Drop-to-Close crazy. I thought my mania would wear off after several trips, but alas, why wait until the next trip to do something when you can do it now if you plan well.

When my 20yo DD found out I was taking BF to WDW, she talked to me privately about my touring style and advocated for my BF - "Please Mom, do NOT make him do rope drop every day. Don't wear him out on the first trip! You don't want to put him off future trips, do you?"

She's right, of course. Her father (we divorced in 2016) was also an A-type vacationer and also enjoyed a commando approach. My new guy, however, is a slow-burner and while active and in good health, in all honesty would probably prefer a beach vacation where you spend most of your time relaxing in a lounge chair. To me, that is the absolute worst kind of vacation. I can bum around at home. If I'm travelling I want tons of FUN things to do that I can't do at home.

Trip details:
Resort - 5 nights in November at All Star Sports (only $130 a night and I only sleep and shower at the resort)
Tickets - 4 day park tickets with no park hopper (I may add it later)
ADRs - Tusker House and SciFi Diner
Transportation - Southwest flights, Alamo rental car. I'm SO happy you don't have to pay to park at the resorts anymore!

I've got all the basics planned, now I just need to work in the romance and work out how to set my commando touring style aside - just this once!

I'm so SO happy!!

 

[kaetra]

Food Plans - ADRs

SciFi Diner - I felt pretty lucky to get a 1:45pm ADR for SciFi Diner. In all my trips to WDW, I've never dined there even one time. For several of my Disney-loving friends, this is their favorite table service restaurant so I'm going to give it a try. The videos online must not do it justice, because in the videos it just looks like a giant room with car tables, one big screen and not much else going on. I really hope the theming is as rich as other places, and has lots of small details that don't come through well on youtube. The menu also looks pretty average to me - like food you could get anywhere you go, so I hope the food is at least above average in taste and presentation. Also the car table’s eating space looks very cramped to me!

My BF is a meat and potatoes guy, so I figured I can't go wrong with SciFi for him.


Tusker House - This is my all time favorite buffet at WDW, but the last time I ate there was in 2018. I'm really hoping not much has changed in that time, and that they still have carving stations and lots of interesting sides to choose from. I also hope my BF isn't weirded out by the character aspect. I did an adults-only trip in 2018 and we all loved getting visited by the characters. I have warned my BF that they do come around, but I'm not showing him any youtube videos of anything because I want him going in blind and without pre-judgement of any of the experiences.



Food Plans - Counter Service

Epcot - With F&W going on, my plan is to browse and nibble all day with a variety of F&W savory and sweet treats. I've reviewed all the menus and watched DFBs review that was made before September. I haven't seen any videos yet about the Brew-Wing Lab in the Odyssey, but wings are my BFs favorite thing so we're definitely going to check it out. Many of the dishes I saw in the review didn't look all that appealing to me, to be honest, but I'm going to keep an open mind and maybe we can share something that we're not sure about just to taste it. If F&W fare doesn't fill us up, there's always Fish and Chips in England or the Patisserie in France. I've checked out some of the resort restaurants attached via the Skyliner. I'd love to ride it as I have not yet. But if I know me, I'll be loathe to leave the park for a resort restaurant. With all the construction going on the view probably isn't going to be that great anyway, I'm guessing.

Magic Kingdom - I'm just here for the cheeseburger eggrolls LOL. These days I literally eat nothing but those and Dole Whip at MK. My BF better like those egg rolls, too! Ha! He's a very tall guy with a big appetite. Worst case scenario I'm eating a dry rubbery chicken sandwich from Cosmic Ray's or mediocre tex-mex at Pecos Bills. Maybe I can talk BF into Columbia Harbour even though he's not a huge seafood person. He's gonna see those other non-snack restaurants and ask why can't we eat there? And I'm going to say "you just gotta trust me on this, babe."

Animal Kingdom - Lunch Research Needed. Our big meal at TH isn't until 4:30, and I don't imagine we'll be doing much but walking around taking in the sights after our early dinner because we'll be stuffed. Since I'm doing all our breakfasts in our room with grab-and-go items from the grocery store, I'm guessing we will want a light lunch at some point in the park. My guy doesn't like BBQ (kinda crazy to me but it is what it is) so that means Flame Tree is OUT.

Hollywood Studios - Snack Research Needed. Our SciFi res is at 1:30 pm, and I'm sure we'll be able to hold out until then and be plenty stuffed afterward and not wanting much until 7 pm. Probably a light meal or large snack somewhere, and I'm thinking ABC Commissary if we're in that area. Their food there in December was really good, and gets much better reviews now from DFB. I do need to research additional places as a back up as ABC closes at 8pm. Woody's and the bar at Brown Derby are out. I tried BD in December and was very disappointed in the charcuterie board and even the popular grapefruit cake was a let down to me. The only good thing I had that night at the BD was my cocktail.

 

[kaetra]

Arrival Day - Sunday

Our flight from Chicago leaves at 8pm. I'm no dummy, I know the 8pm flight will be the victim of every cumulative delay that happens through the day and we're likely to not board until 9pm. I'm hoping we land by midnight. I have a skip the counter rental car lined up, and a one night stay at a 3 star hotel near the airport.

We'll land, get our luggage, grab the car and hopefully have heads on pillows by 1:30am. Fingers crossed!

 

[kaetra]

First Park Day - Monday - Epcot
I'm going to wake up super early just because I'll be so excited. I fully plan on getting Genie+ fired up and ready for LLs and BG set up before 7am. I'm not going to do an ILL this day, GoG spinning makes me very nauseous. I'll get a BG and let BF go twice. For LLs I'll pick later times in the day if at all possible. (Need to refresh my Genie+ knowledge. I used it in December last year and thought it was really easy.)

LL priorities will be based on what I think my BF will enjoy most. (I've done it all, already, many times):
1. Remy
2. Test Track
3. Soarin (California is really back?? Yay! my FAVORITE)

My BF will probably sleep in, and I'll get ready very quietly while he sleeps. I really hope we can be out of the room by 9am. I don't want him to be too short on sleep, but I don't want to start too late either.

We'll do a drive through breakfast and head to Epcot!

 

[kaetra]

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom
If I can only get him to rope-drop ONE day, it's gotta be today.

We had a short talk about rope-dropping over the weekend. I explained the concept. He did not seem thrilled at all. So, fingers crossed that Epcot is a great experience and he'll be excited to get going on our MK morning. If not, well, I told him he can take his time and catch the bus. He said "you'd leave me behind?" I said "On Magic Kingdom day, um YES."

Genie+/ILL priorities:
Tron - Virtual Queue AND Individual Lightning Lane
BTM, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan

I've been reading about the high cost of the Tron ILL. I'm just going to pay it. I'd love to get an ILL for Mine Train too if it's $12 or less.

A note on Rope Drop Math - If you get to the park an hour before it opens for Early Entry, then you hustle to the rope for Fantasyland and wait another 30 minutes until it opens, then you wait another 20 minutes to get on 7DMT - you're still technically waiting almost 2 hours to get on the ride - you're just waiting in different places than the queue. You're waiting outside of the Magic Kingdom gates, you're waiting in that CRUSH of a mess at the Fantasyland rope, then you're waiting in a quick moving line, but it's still a line. I dunno if the math is working unless you are at the very front of the line at park entry, then walk as fast as you can to the Fantasyland rope on the bridge.

The Fantasyland bridge is also packed with people at rope drop, and they CUT left and right because they'll send a "runner" then have the slower moving members of their party cut the line to get to their group. It's Bull*hit. Unless your physical body is 1 inch from the Fantasyland rope, you're gonna get shoved aside by A-types who do not think the normal rules of society apply to them. I've seen it many times now and it's very disappointing. You're also smashed in so close with a bunch of obnoxious people across the bridge and everyone is trying to jostle for better position.

It's almost not worth rope-dropping, especially since there's literally no queue for TRON except the Virutal Queue.
Maybe I really can skip rope dropping MK this time?

 

[kaetra]

Wednesday - Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom is easily my favorite park. I cannot wait to share it's vibe with my BF! I hope he likes it!

Genie+/ILL priorities:
Flight of Passage
Expedition Everest, Na'vi River, Kilimanjaro Safari

BF loves roller coasters, so we should be able to get at least a couple good spins on EE. I don't usually spend too much time on the animal trails here. I love the safari, but the extra walking for the animal path is not often in my bandwidth.

I imagine after our dinner at TH, we'll mosey the back way over to Pandora to see all the bioluminescent stuff, then we'll probably leave not long after and get some much needed rest at the hotel - stuffed like turkeys and completely exhausted - that's my perfect end to a Disney park day.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Wow. You are the definition of hardcore.

 

[kaetra]

Wow. You are the definition of hardcore.

I genuinely need to try NOT to be that this time.

Old habits die hard.

 

[kaetra]

Thursday - Hollywood Studios

As always, I will spend my last park day at my least favorite park. I find this helps my post-Disney blues considerably. I like to NOT end on a high note when it comes to the most magical place on earth.

Genie+\ILL Priorities:
ILL - RotR
Genie+ - ToT, M&M, TSM

I will say that over the years, HS has improved considerably. It used to be a half day park for me. I was also never a huge fan of Fantasmic, but it is growing on me. I sure do appreciate that it has actual seating and unobstructed views. (Especially since MK fireworks are nearly impossible to watch without having someone's phone in your face while they record it in it's entirety, only to maybe watch one time later - so dumb.)

I think BF will LOVE ToT. If he wants to venture RnR that's OK with me, but it's too loud for me and neck-whippy. Maybe I will take some industrial strength earplugs and try it? Maybe that small accommodation will allow me to enjoy it.

He's not a Star Wars fan, but I don't see how ANYone could not appreciate RotR.

And I know he'll love the charm of M&MRR. I sure do.

This park is growing on me for sure.

 

[kaetra]

Friday - Goodbye Mickey

We check out of WDW today and have no park tickets. We'll have the rental car that we take back to the actual airport instead of a satellite location, and our flight isn't until 8pm.

That means we'll have from the time we wake up until about 4-5pm to explore the area.

I'd love to see a beach and just walk in the surf with my pants rolled up. Cocoa Beach is an hour away from WDW and an hour back to the airport. I think it might be worth a day visit. Maybe I'll check out the boards and see if other people do a beach visit and if so, where they go.

The year we went to Universal (shhh, don't tell Mickey) we drove to the beach somewhere I can't remember where, but it had some of the Disney cruise ships parked nearby. I don't think it was a sailing location, they just seemed to be parked there for storage or maintenance maybe? I dunno but those things are HUGE. Maybe someday when I'm old I'll do a cruise, but I'm not ready for a floating hotel just yet, not even a Disney floating hotel.

When we land, we'll still have a few hours drive home from Chicago. I still need to look for a hotel for the return night. Maybe we can spend Saturday checking out some Chicago sites before we head home.

Ok, my outline of plans are in place! I can't wait to take my fella through the looking glass into this WDW fan's magic heart!