Disney for Couples: Romantic Hotels, Date Nights & Fine Dining

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Hey traveler, welcome back to Talk Travel to Me. This week I'm answering the question, where can couples find some romance at Walt Disney World? So let's talk about it. First, when you're thinking of romantic vacation, you're probably not thinking, hey, let's go to Walt Disney World, unless you've been with your partner. And then you're like, yes, I'm all over this. It may be surprising to you to know that there are 1600 weddings every year across the massive Walt Disney World resort property. And it still, after all these years, is a top honeymoon destination for Americans and for couples coming from abroad.

And the reality is romance looks different to everybody, right? Our 25th anniversary, actually no, our 20th anniversary, we went to a Sandals Resort in Jamaica and we were thinking, oh, this is going to be fabulous. We're going to have this all-inclusive beach, king-size bed, flower petals, all of that stuff. And yes, it was great. I liked it for what it was. But by day three, we were looking at each other going, where are the roller coasters? Where are the fireworks? We are those people that want to have downtime, but also time to go out and do stuff.

And so for us, that shared experience where we can laugh, be ourselves, play, get a break from all of the outside world and just concentrate on spending time together, collecting those moments that we'll remember as memories forever, that's more romantic. That's more of a romantic vibe. So when I have clients that come to me and they're like, I want to plan a honeymoon or I want a romantic getaway or maybe even I just want to plan a couple nights while the grandparents in charge for us to go find some romance out and about at Walt Disney World, the first thing I ask people to consider is the resort choice.

And I'm going to say it, and I hope you understand, I'm not downing on any type of resort, but it's just the simple fact that the value resorts, the All Stars, Disney's pop century, art of animation, they're not romantic destinations. They're just not. It can't be romantic. I mean, I well, if something just happened in my head, I'm going to let it go aside. But it can't be romantic when a toilet flushing is happening and you're hearing it from every corner of your room, your upstairs neighbor, downstairs, your side to side. And that's pretty common in those value resorts because they are constructed with pretty thin walls. So that is where I kind of go, OK, if we're looking for romantic, I'd like to just swipe that right off the table.

When we get to the moderate resort category, we do have some touches of romance. For example, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, they have several villages across the resort that are themed after, you guessed it, Caribbean Islands. And that is an inherently romantic kind of vibe. They also have a lot of quiet pools that tend to be children are allowed for sure, but the kids are drawn to the main pool. So the quiet ones in the villages tend to be a little bit more quiet, romantic spaces to hang out. I don't find Disney's Coronado Springs to be overly romantic, although there is a bar there that I'm going to mention in a little bit that adds some adult vibe to it. But that has more of like a convention feel because it is a convention resort.

My favorite in the romantic category, though, is going to be Disney's Port Orleans Riverside or Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter. Both of those have really that rustic old world charm, Louisiana feel, French Quarter, of course, especially. And because of that vibe, it definitely has more romance to it. The other piece there that's key is there is a beautiful walkway between the resorts along the Sassagoula River. And so if you want to just go for a walk at night hand in hand, like that's a beautiful place to do that. So I think that in my category for moderate resorts, that would be my kind of that go to right off the bat.

But where the real romantic magic happens, I think, is in that deluxe and deluxe villa category. And that is going to be again, your vibe is going to make the difference. I love the Riviera. It definitely has an adult feel. Again, this is Disney, so kids are welcome. But there's not a lot to draw kids to the Riviera. The pool is kind of basic. There's nothing that's really flashy about it that screams like, hey, kids, you want to stay here. So it does tend to have more of an adult population. So there's that one.

I also happen to feel that the Grand Floridian, if you like a Victorian theming thing, is very like old school romance. Lots of weddings happen there, of course. And then Polynesian Village, with one caveat, that tends to be very busy, very child heavy. But if you are kind of off the beaten path, there is a separate pool that has very little for kids. So it ends up being more of an adult feel. And certainly, if you want one of those bungalows out front, it'll feel like you are in your own world completely. So that's fabulous.

My top two favorite, though, are Disney's Wilderness Lodge, which I have to in full transparency say that's where we spent our honeymoon. So for me, it feels like classic romance. It may not to everyone, and that's fine. You may think rustic large cabin built after a Pacific Northwest kind of feel isn't really my idea of romance. For me, sitting in that lobby sipping a hot chocolate, especially by the Christmas tree during the holiday season, or having drinks out at the Geyser Point bar. Those are spaces that are just inherently quiet, really kind of well lit and feel very romantic to me.

But I think the number one other than Wilderness Lodge, because even though I say that, but I'm talking to you and I'm saying unless the Wilderness Lodge has a feeling for you, you might want something different. And that would be what we call the honeymoon cottage cottages at Disney's Boardwalk Inn. They're officially called the garden suites, but there's only a couple of them and they are highly sought after. They're loft style. So they have a private white picket fence when you go in. It's a little courtyard that's all your own. You can sit out there and relax.

And when you go inside, there's our first floor living room and the king size bed bedroom is upstairs lofted. And then it also comes with club level benefits. So that room, when I think of honeymoons at Walt Disney World, that is the one I kind of think of most often. And I took a quick peek through my records and I've booked that more than 25 times for clients on honeymoons over the years, because it does give you lots of extra space. It feels like you are in your own private honeymoon cottage. So it's great. And being on the boardwalk is certainly something that is more adult feel. It definitely has that just that overall vibe.

Once we've picked our resort and you found the place that has the kind of romance that you're looking for, the rest of it is really about balancing park days with rest days and special activities. Because I'm right with you. If you are on vacation for a week and every single day you're going to a theme park and you're up for rope drop and you're staying through fireworks and all of that, that's not romantic. Like you're going to be so tired. They're going to be looking at each other and like probably arguing not too long into the deal.

But the idea is for a romantic escape, you want to kind of build in, yes, some time for parks and play and fun. But you also want to build in a lot of white space. You want to have time for things like, I don't know, couples massages at the Grand Floridian. You could do that. You also want to plan for no alarm clocks. Let yourselves just sleep in, relax, enjoy conversation in the morning. Maybe you have breakfast and then you go head out slowly, like that sort of thing, or come back midday.

Another win for Boardwalk is that it's super close to both Hollywood Studios and Epcot. And so if you're at those parks and you're like, hey, I just want to go back to the hotel. I want to take a nap. I want a midday break. You can very easily do that. So that ends up being a win. Now, some people, you might be one of them, thinks romance and thinks fancy dinner. And I want to dress up and I want to have an experience that is something that is totally unique and we can like really focus on each other.

You can do that at Disney World. In fact, Victoria and Alberts earned Disney's first ever and still only Michelin star in twenty twenty four. And it's had it in twenty four, twenty five and twenty six. They are the only restaurant owned and operated by a US theme park to have a restaurant with a Michelin star. So if you're into food, if you're foodies, like to me, that means nothing. Michelin is like the tire guy. But if you're into food and foodies and experience with that kind of thing, you want to do this. They also have like the triple A five diamond award every year since 2000. Forbes Travel Guide says it's a five star award for the last almost seven years. I think it is now.

it is a very fancy menu. You do have to dress up. You do have to wear a jacket and a tie for men, which is nowhere else on Disney property. You have to do that. The menu changes seasonally and they have like really interesting ingredients like the one that caught my attention. I have never done this. I've eaten at almost every other restaurant on Disney property and this one I will just not because I'm not fancy that way. But they had ingredients that stuck out to me. A Glacier 51 tooth fish. Huh? Like I literally was like I had to go down a deep dive to look at the rest of that. Apparently it's source from a location more than a mile under the ocean's surface in the Arctic.

So if you're into that, though, and I don't mean to mock that because you might be listening to this and thinking that sounds amazing. And I have absolutely made arrangements for clients and they have raved about these things, especially the chef's table, which there is one chef's table per seating. And you're going to pay for it. It's four hundred and twenty five dollars per guest, not including gratuity and tax. And it's a seven to ten course meal. It's a prefix meal. So the chef decides what you're going to have and you're just getting it for four hundred and twenty five dollars. It's a hugely difficult reservation to get because it is only one table per night. So you also get wine pairings with that for an extra two hundred and ten dollars per guest.

So that's but that's an experience that if that is what you're you're into, it is the ultimate in romance for someone that enjoys that type of thing. Now, if you want a good meal and you want a lot of flavor and some really high quality foods, we also have Narcoosie's, which is at the Grand Floridian as well. It's out by the water, which gives it a gorgeous view of Cinderella Castle and the monorail. If you time it right, you can have dinner during the fireworks. We also have Topolino's Terrace, so it's just at the Riviera and it's on the rooftop in the morning. It offers character dining at night, though it is a French and Italian dining experience for fine dining. There is a bit of a dress code and the views from the rooftop up there are incredible.

Now, if you're looking for rooftop views, but you don't really want to go that far out, you can go get drinks and tapas at the Dahlia Lounge at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort during the evening hours. Children aren't allowed up there. And so it ends up being a nice place for either couples or friends, that sort of thing, to kind of hang out and enjoy each other. You can also see fireworks from that spot. So fabulous, fabulous way to do that. Now, that's for the kind of more fancy among us.

For me, when I think about the romance, again, I mentioned the hot chocolate at the Wilderness Lodge. I also love the idea of going to Cinderella's Wishing Well at the Magic Kingdom during the Happily Ever Fireworks. So those are like, you know, Happily Ever After fireworks. They're shooting off above you. You've got Cinderella's Wishing Well and you can do, like, make a wish together. Drop a couple coins in there, make a wish and all of that, which is cool. Speaking of fireworks, you also could do a fireworks cruise, which it would be you and a driver. And you go out and you watch from a pontoon boat. They have them at Epcot and they also have them at Magic Kingdom.

My only caveat with this, because this is something that my couples have done during honeymoons, and I've always said, like, but remember, like the pontoon boats being driven by somebody, they do a good job if you want it to be more romantic of kind of like disappearing. But a pontoon boat is a pontoon boat, right? Like, there's not really a place for them to go. But that could be OK. You know, they'll kind of drift off and you can have your moment and just kind of cuddle together in the front and watch the fireworks, which is great. Similar to that, but with a little more distance. I love the horse-drawn carriage rides. And they have those at Port Orleans and at Fort Wilderness.

Granted, of course, there's somebody still driving. Is that what you call it? Driving a horse, driving the carriage, I guess, with the horse. But because of the way that that obviously is just set out there a little bit further. So you can have like private conversations. You can talk about whatever you want, like while you're enjoying that. And of course, like I mentioned before, my personal favorite is that couples massage of the Grand Floridian. I feel like that is one of those things that on a rest day or even a partial day, the idea of going over there and just being pampered and then just chilling for the afternoon and maybe going to a great restaurant at night for dinner.

One of my couple's favorite spots to go, especially those that are on date nights during family vacations, happens to be flying fish at the boardwalk. So they'll go over to the boardwalk. They'll have maybe a drink, an appetizer at Abra Kadabar because that's right there on the boardwalk. It's super cool. And then they go have a really nice dinner at Flying Fish. And then they can go out and watch the entertainment on the boardwalk. Just stroll around. If they're into dancing, there is the Atlantic Dance Hall there. It has just this like vibe that really works. And so that ends up being a really popular place too.

When we talk romance at Walt Disney World, no, we're not talking necessarily about all inclusive vibes where you're on a beach, although there are beaches and there are plenty of pools. But we're talking more about just finding moments of connection together. And I truly believe that you can find that romance anywhere. It's something that you carry with you and create together that we can do at Disney World. So it's in your heart. Corny as all get out. I know you're laughing, rolling your eyes and you're like, come on, Christy.

But I've been married a really long time and I can tell you that we have had some incredibly romantic experiences at Walt Disney World and just some of the best memories there. So I would just encourage you to think about it. Maybe it's a couple nights. It's not like week long vacation, but a couple nights there in the right hotel accommodations really can make all the difference. Oh, one more thing that I wanted to mention that I almost like ran right by is in Epcot. You may be aware. I'm not sure if you've gone through this whole thing before, but there are multiple countries around the world showcase and they were built. Each country was built with the help of their home country. Does that make sense?

And I was talking to somebody recently who just went to Paris and the pictures that they were showing me, I was like, wow, it looks just like Epcot. They were saying that, like, yes, they created Paris for sure right there in central Florida. And when they did it, they managed to do it with strong AC. They managed to do it without odors. There's some offensive odors apparently in the Paris area, including lots and lots of public smoking, which Disney does not allow. But they said like the feel, the music, the restaurants, like it's all like you're really in Paris.

So if maybe a trip to Paris is something you've done before and you want to relive but closer to home, Or if you're thinking about Paris someday, know that that that pavilion is going to give you a really great taste of that. Same thing for the other countries. But Paris tends to be the one that we think of when we think of romance. Right. All right. That's one more question unpacked. If you have a travel stumper you want me to tackle, or if you're ready to let a pro handle the heavy lifting on your next getaway, send us a text to the show or come find us at MickeyGuru.com. Or take a peek at the show notes.

I'd also love for you to pop over and say hi on Instagram or TikTok. See you next week when we'll be answering the question: How do we survive theme parks in the summer without having a complete meltdown? This is an episode for everyone, by the way, if you're contemplating a trip or planning a trip in the summer months, Whether you're traveling with kids or not, because truth be told, the worst meltdowns I've ever seen in the parks have been perpetrated by adults and not kids. All right, traveler. See you next time.

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