Our first time without kids...interested in what others have done on their trips

[SarahD112]

So outside of rides, which we’ll still do, what things do you do when your kids aren’t with you? I’m thinking my husband would love the behind the scenes tour of living with the land, if they still offer it. I’d also like to see some of the hotels we haven’t stayed at. Any other suggestions? Assuming all has returned to normal or near normal, we‘ll be there in late April with park hoppers. Our favorite resort is Pop, so planning to stay there. Skyliner is a game changer and we‘ll probably ride over to Epcot most evenings to walk around.

 

[georgina]

So outside of rides, which we’ll still do, what things do you do when your kids aren’t with you? I’m thinking my husband would love the behind the scenes tour of living with the land, if they still offer it. I’d also like to see some of the hotels we haven’t stayed at. Any other suggestions? Assuming all has returned to normal or near normal, we‘ll be there in late April with park hoppers. Our favorite resort is Pop, so planning to stay there. Skyliner is a game changer and we‘ll probably ride over to Epcot most evenings to walk around.

Hard to say what things will be like then. Hands down, our favorite thing is Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk (currently closed), Trader Sams at the Poly (closed), getting a drink and listening to the band at GF in the evening. Yes, we definitely drink more at WDW than we do at home!

Edit because of below comment - I didn't say anything about getting drunk and acting like a fool. Jellyrolls is a piano bar where 2 piano players take audience requests, very fun and entertaining place. Trader Sams is also a unique themed place, and sipping a drink while listening to a small orchestra is not drunken partying. We drink very little at home.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

To sum up "what others have done on their trips":

WHATEVER and WHENEVER you Want and it was Wonderful!!

I'd go into more detail, but with the current WDW experience it's a mute point.

 

[bakerworld]

Without the kids we discovered - and continue to discover - all the places we would never or could never or felt comfortable going with the kids. It is so relaxing. Tons of themed lounges, pool bars, ESPN to watch a game, relaxing at a table without feeling like I needed 3 eyes. No need to plan meals or make reservations because all the bars serve the same food as sit down. Walking past a ride with a long line without a negative reaction to ignore. Totally skip loud confusing QS with running obstacles (kids). Shopping in stores is a whole different experience - very relaxing = no one walking up with a $40 shirt, and I can actually walk out with nothing and not have to justify such a revolutionary action. In 15 years of vacationing without kids we've never taken any tours and I am still noticing things keeping the kids in line never gave me time to see.

 

[goofyernmost]

It does open yourself for more exploring, but don't underestimate the idea that even if you thought you were "doing the parks for the kids", a very large part of yourself was enjoying them as well. I find that all the park attractions that I loved when I went with my kids, I still love. I skip things like Dumbo and the things that really are more designed for the young, but I still get excited about going there. I don't drink, other than an occasional light imbibement, so the clubs and the "getting drunk and acting like a fool around the world while spending a small fortune" has never been a draw for me. I'm sure there are others that enjoy that and now without the kids you are much more able to enjoy that experience. The only thing you have to remember to do to enjoy Disney at any age is to bring you inner child with you. It still lives within, even for a 72 year old grandfather of four.

 

[kwdw]

Who knows what will/will not be happening then - but I do recommend the Behind the Seeds tour as you mentioned. It's inexpensive, not too long, and pretty interesting! I travel to Disney solo, as half of a couple, and with family groups - and when traveling as a couple - the best thing is that "we" are pretty good about recognizing the vacation needs of each other - and it's really easy for us to plan along with way based on our moods. We might have a long day at a park - go-go-go - or we might have a lazy morning in our hotel room. I do tend to book more TS meals when we travel as a couple - but note - we do cancel some of them the day before.

 

[plygph]

Have fun........

LOL it was a lot of fun when we have done our no children trips to WDW there have not been many but we still enjoy the parks be it a little slower pace taking time to sightsee the things we have walked past when we were getting the kids to the things they wanted. We were to say it selfish, we ate in places we would not eat in with the kids, took the time to sit down eat snacks, and people watch, ride the rides we like, really explore future world at Epcot, because we love Halloween time Food and Wine is so good who knew not us because we had our kids with us and talk about how the kids/grandkids would love this. Then laugh your head off because they are not there, it's like you are getting away with something. This list could go on and on go have fun reconnect, enjoy the parks in a way you could not do with kids on the trip, read the windows on main street USA, have a mickey bar. most of all have fun.

 

[Blondie58]

We are between kids and grandbabies and still love WDW. We do one or two tours each trip and fine dining at least two evenings each trip. The Chef's Tables at restaurants offering this service are really fun and unique. We enjoy one day at the spa (or partial day) and also like to make at least one visit to Top of the World Lounge. Often at home we are very busy so we have taken time to go to a movie at DS while at WDW. We enjoy so many of the attractions in addition to the rides that we do at least once but often not multiple times as one may do with the kids. (Except for Splash Mountain. Love the music, characters, and the ride.) We also take time to check out other resorts when we visit. Last time we rode the gondolas just to see what we could see. A stop for a drink or to see the resorts was fun. We also walk between four and eight miles each morning to see WDW from a different aspect. Each resort has so many places to walk and enjoy the quiet of morning.

 

[wdwjeffc37]

Doing whatever you want at a pace that you like. It’s been a few years. We went during the Flower and Garden Festival and were able to enjoy the exhibits without having kids say this is boring. Also, was able to go to a couple of seminars. Going with the kids was great but the adults only trip was a really nice change of pace. Cheers !!!!!!!!!

 

[HAPPINESS101]

So outside of rides, which we’ll still do, what things do you do when your kids aren’t with you? I’m thinking my husband would love the behind the scenes tour of living with the land, if they still offer it. I’d also like to see some of the hotels we haven’t stayed at. Any other suggestions? Assuming all has returned to normal or near normal, we‘ll be there in late April with park hoppers. Our favorite resort is Pop, so planning to stay there. Skyliner is a game changer and we‘ll probably ride over to Epcot most evenings to walk around.

My husband and I steal a few days here and there before our grown kids arrive. We have so much fun. We check out places that our kids fly past. We take our time and enjoy being together discovering new things. We love meals together, we love walking, swimming, reading ... just about anything is fun. It’s the perfect ‘date’ spot! Enjoy!

 

[bookgirl]

Tours are awesome and I've done a few. Keys to the Kingdom is a good first tour if you like behind the scenes/history of Disney fun. I also really liked the Behind the scene Steam Train tour but it's kind of a niche thing. As for Epcot they have a cool Future World Tour. I think there's one for the World show case as well but I haven't done it. Also if you really like Animals check out the tours at Animal Kingdom. That was really fun. I did the general behind the scenes one and that was interesting, but I recently did the Elephant tour and it was outstanding!

Also I took a bunch of friends (down for a work confrence and many of them did not have tickets to parks) on a Monorail Crawl around the Bay Lake resorts. We met at Wilderness lodge and had drinks/bar food. Took the boat to Fort Wilderness to experince that and see the woods (also there is a bar there but it was packed so we skipped it), boat over to the contemporary where we went to the bar at California grill and had drinks and timed it so we were there when the fireworks went off ( they pipe in the music and the view is really cool) then monorail to Poly and drinks at Trader Sam's (you could also do the fireworks here), then monorail over to Grand Floridian where we skipped the bar but had cupcakes (from the quick service) while sitting around the lobby. Everyone really enjoyed it and they loved looking at the different lobbies and gift shops as they were not staying at on site or visiting the parks.

Also I would suggest the carriage rides around Fort Wilderness or Port Orleans. That's a really sweet couples thing to do.

 

[SWDisfan]

So outside of rides, which we’ll still do, what things do you do when your kids aren’t with you? I’m thinking my husband would love the behind the scenes tour of living with the land, if they still offer it. I’d also like to see some of the hotels we haven’t stayed at. Any other suggestions? Assuming all has returned to normal or near normal, we‘ll be there in late April with park hoppers. Our favorite resort is Pop, so planning to stay there. Skyliner is a game changer and we‘ll probably ride over to Epcot most evenings to walk around.

I’m not sure park hopping will return by then. Hopefully sooner, but spoke to an agent this morning with no hopping on the horizon. That being said we do Disney every year without kids for my bday in September. It’s great! Food and wine festival! We tried doing beers around the world but after 3 different kinds, and none we liked we opted for desserts around the world instead! Lol! Enjoy!!

 

[rdevans_2000]

So outside of rides, which we’ll still do, what things do you do when your kids aren’t with you? I’m thinking my husband would love the behind the scenes tour of living with the land, if they still offer it. I’d also like to see some of the hotels we haven’t stayed at. Any other suggestions? Assuming all has returned to normal or near normal, we‘ll be there in late April with park hoppers. Our favorite resort is Pop, so planning to stay there. Skyliner is a game changer and we‘ll probably ride over to Epcot most evenings to walk around.

Fine dining, spas, golf, guided tours, naps, touring resorts, bars (like Cava del Tequila and tons at Disney Springs), Cirque du Soleil, and so much more. My wife and I have three grown sons, all in their 20s, but no grandkids yet. We do adult trips with our sons and their girlfriends, but we also go every year just the two of us. Such an amazing experience. Surprising how many people would never consider Disney World as a adult/couples vacation option. My wife and I were there in September, staying in both of our DVC resorts (AKL and BWV). We did three of the four Disney parks and both Universal Parks.
Fantastic, even with face coverings and no nighttime entertainment. Still anxious for things to return to normal. Try it out and have a blast!

 

[jecarnl]

The wife and I have been doing trips with just the two of us since 2006 and it never gets old. We always find that there is something new to discover. We also discovered that we now don't get in hurry to do anything. We go and leave the parks as we feel like it. While we have our favorite resorts, we also try to stay somewhere different every now and then. WDW is still a magical place for us year after year.

 

[redc]

When our kids were younger, the expectation and planning for a trip was always better than how it eventually turned out. We always felt like we needed a vacation when we returned. It was exhausting tending to the the kids desires and needs. Leaving a negative impression of the entire experience.
Now that we've been traveling without kids or with adult children who can/want to do their own thing, it has been a wonderful release of responsiblity and anxiety. Everything about the experience is carefree and unstructured. It is truly a blessing.
Don't know how trips with grandkids will pan out.
But I'm sure they'll be fun because we'll play the grandparent role.

 

[gharter]

We did trips for years with our kids for years and enjoyed them. Now it just the 2 of us or our adult kids with us. Either way, its a totally different experience.
We enjoy still doing the rides and attractions.
We spent more time watching street acts (when they were there).
Love trying different restaurants (especially the fine dining) and the lounges. Enjoy TOTWL and Trader Sams among others.

 

[StargazerNova]

EAT EAT EAT
DDP is what my wife and I did .
We ate at the most elegant places

 

[Hennessey63]

So much fun!! My wife and I went with another couple two years ago without all of our kids. We felt a little guilty for about 5 minutes and then proceeded to have a blast! We went straight to Epcot and drank around the world, ate dinner at a restaurant that our kids would not have liked, stayed out late, slept in, next day went to a Villains Night, hit some rides and finished at Disney Springs the next evening for dinner and drinks. We are planning another grown ups only trip for next year.

So outside of rides, which we’ll still do, what things do you do when your kids aren’t with you? I’m thinking my husband would love the behind the scenes tour of living with the land, if they still offer it. I’d also like to see some of the hotels we haven’t stayed at. Any other suggestions? Assuming all has returned to normal or near normal, we‘ll be there in late April with park hoppers. Our favorite resort is Pop, so planning to stay there. Skyliner is a game changer and we‘ll probably ride over to Epcot most evenings to walk around.

 

[Twitterpaited]

I have done 4 adult only trips to WDW and 2 to DLR. Many of these were in the 1990s and early 2000s. That being said, one difference with these trips is we bypassed Fantasyland, especially since it was before it had been renovated. One other difference was that meeting characters was a bit more awkward, but we sucked it up to meet Chewie at Star Wars Weekends. He was so cool that it was one of the highlights of the trip.

 

[KareyS]

Our first trip without the kids was our Honeymoon but that was too long ago to be relevant. We have had 1 post kid trip and we had a great time. We got up a bit later as we only had ourselves to get ready. We ate at restaurants we wanted to eat at and splurged on apps, desserts and drinks. We enjoyed Flower & Garden. We park hopped more, because we had no 'plan' other than our initial fastpasses. We staked out a spot for the fireworks early and sat and talked as we waited. We didn't need our normal mid day break because we just took it slower. We appreciated being able to ride rides together versus splitting up with kids.