“I’m Joe from London, England and I’m a new WDW Radio addict! Me and my girlfriend are visiting in May for two weeks and staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort, with the quick service dining plan! I have a million questions and although I am very tempted to ask where I can get the best burger, my main two are this. This is my 3rd trip (although the last time I went I was 18 and now I’m 31), but its my girlfriend’s first, and I wanted to take her somewhere special as a surprise, so what would be the ‘must do’ experiences (dessert parties, restaurants, etc) that we would never forget? Also, it’s not long until we have to book our Fastpass+, but are there any queues we should not miss? Thanks for your time! Your podcasts are making the days fly by until may! Keep up the amazing work, Joe.”
Hi Joe, Felicia and Sean here from the WDW Radio Blog Team. We’re so excited you’re going to Walt Disney World and that you want to give your girlfriend a special surprise. We love surprises!
You could really take the surprise element in many different directions based on likes and price point, but since you mentioned food in the types of surprises you were thinking of, we have a few.
One experience we really love is Disney’s Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Coming from the East Coast of the United States, we’ve never been to the West Coast – much less Hawaii or any Polynesian Island – so, for us, it really feels like you are in a tropical hideaway. It’s a great dinner show with hula dancing, fire dancing, amazing cocktails and the best Ploynesian food. If you aren’t into the whole dinner theater scene, then another great option is ‘Ohana – same great authentic Polynesian food, but a quieter atmosphere. If you time it just right, you might also be able to catch the fireworks from Magic Kingdom across the Seven Seas Lagoon.
You could also try Dining with an Imagineer, where you and a small group of people dine at Citricos at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa with a real Disney Imagineer. You have the chance to ask any question you want about Disney magic, and for an additional fee, you can purchase a souvenir plate signed by your Imagineer host.
One more you might want to try, if your budget allows, is dinner at Victoria & Albert’s. There are several dinner options here, but for the ultimate dining experience, try dinner at the Victoria & Albert’s Chef’s Table, which affords you the opportunity to have a private dinner in the kitchen of Victoria & Albert’s with their head chef. There is a dress code here, so you will need to bring formal set of clothes if you decide to dine here.
Now, as for your second question about Fastpass+, here are our suggestions; unfortunately, the attractions you should get Fastpasses for also have the best queues, so our suggestion is to do them twice – one with a Fastpass and one without. (If you want to wait…you need to time it right so you aren’t waiting an hour or more in line.) We have noted a couple of attractions that do not have interactive/exceptional queues and could be done with Fastpasses only.
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – Magic Kingdom
- Splash Mountain (Fastpass only) – Magic Kingdom
- Jungle Cruise – Magic Kingdom
- Peter Pan’s Flight – Magic Kingdom
- Kilimanjaro Safari (Fastpass only) – Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Expedition Everest – Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Test Track – Epcot
- Soarin’ (Fastpass only) – Epcot
- Frozen Ever After – Epcot
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Great Movie Ride – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
We hope that helps, let us know what you decide to do as your surprise for your girlfriend!
(Logo property of WDW Radio. Photos from the authors’ personal collection.)
To learn more about Felicia and Sean and read their recent posts for WDW Radio, visit their author page by clicking on their names at the top of this post.
