Disney date night 2011
Walt Disney World really is a perfect spot for a family vacation.
That said, it’s still nice for parents to get away for an evening alone. Disney might be perfect for the whole family, but it’s also great for a grown-up date night. In fact, Epcot ranks as one of our favorite spots for an evening out.
What should you do on an adults-only evening out at Epcot?
And more importantly, what in the world should you do with the kids? There’s a ton of choices for the date night and a few great choices to entertain the kids.
Our kids anxiously await “date night” on all our Disney trips.
Our perfect date night at Walt Disney World follows.
These are our favorite choices. The schedule is adaptable, and we’ll offer some alternatives. You should know that we view an occasional beer, glass of wine, or cocktail as part of the good life. As such, Epcot is the place to be in Walt Disney World.
Before we get to the fun, let’s answer the question:
What do you do with the kids?
You have two options.
- In-room child care
- Children’s activity centers
In-room child care is pretty self explanatory. You can read about the details on Disney’s official website. We generally refer to the Children’s activity centers just as the kids’ clubs.
The kids’ clubs are our three children’s favorites.
Again, our kids love the clubs and would be disappointed if they missed out on visiting them anytime we’re at Disney.
The clubs include (club – resort location):
- Sandcastle Club – Yacht/Beach Club Resorts
- Never Land Club – Polynesian Resort
- Cub’s Den – Wildness Lodge and Villas
- Mouseketeer Club – Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
- Simba’s Cub House – Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Camp Dolphin – Dolphin Hotel
The Never Land Club is currently closed for remodeling and will reopen sometime in May 2014.
You can read all the club details, including costs, on Disney’s official site.
Ages allowed range from 3 to 12.
Our oldest is 12 and says that we must visit Disney again before she turns 13 just so she can enjoy one last stay at the Sandcastle Club – her favorite.
So, you dropped the kids off at the club…what’s next?
We head for Epcot.
Disney date night 2013
We love Tokyo Dining in Japan and always make a reservation for sometime about an hour after dropping off the kids.
Read a Tokyo Dining review from the Disney Food Blog.
Tokyo Dining is popular, but it is large and we never seem to have a problem making reservations even just a day or two before dining.
On our most recent visit, we stayed at the Yacht Club.
We dropped the kids off at the Sandcastle Club and strolled toward Epcot. The walk from the Yacht Club/Beach Club complex is a ten minute stroll along the canal to Epcot. Being sans kids in Disney will make you feel like a teenager again, playing hooky from high school (and you’re old enough to drink).
Be prepared, you’ll be on a high, especially for the first few minutes of the evening.
Canal between Epcot and the Yacht/Beach Club
Before arriving for our supper reservation, we like to do an abbreviated version of the Drinking Around the World pub crawl.
If you haven’t already, check out our favorite Drinking Around the World Review from EasyWDW.com – remember it’s an adults-only experience, and while there’s nothing racy in the review it is all about alcohol consumption and understandably geared towards adults.
We try to keep it quite abbreviated though, since we do have to pick the kids up after supper!
The Rose and Crown
Once through the International Gate, we take a quick left and head for the Rose and Crown Pub in Great Britain for a pint. I am a fan of Bass Ale.
Check out Disney Food Blog’s review.
The Rose and Crown can be busy.
Outside the Rose and Crown
Don’t hesitate to squeeze up to the bar, grab a beer, and head outside to the tables along the sidewalk. You can also walk just past the building to the beer stand and enjoy the outdoors a bit.
A beer at the Rose and Crown
Jennifer and I are both of English descent so it makes us feel a little proud to visit the Rose and Crown. Jenn’s maiden name is Hawks…a pub known as the Hawks and Newsome sounds quite authentic, don’t you think?
After the Rose and Crown, we walk along to Canada and usually stop at the drink cart near the entrance to Le Cellier.
It can be a little too popular for our tastes though and reservations are hard to come by.
The cart near the Le Cellier entrance is pretty available, and they usually have Moosehead, which is one of Jenn’s favorite beers. Once you pick up a brew, take the walk through Showcase Plaza around to Mexico, and to one of my favorite adult spots in all of Disney World, La Cava del Tequila.
If you haven’t visited La Cava del Tequila before, it is an amazing Tequila bar inside the Mexican Pavilion’s pyramid. Check out a Disney Food Blog review here. The bar is dark and grown-up, and has one of the best selections of Tequilas and Mezcals in the country.
My favorites are the flights of Mezcals served with the deliciously-liquid-salsa-like chaser known as Sangrita. We like to bring home a little Epcot and make this in our own kitchen in Burlington.
Tequila and sangrita in our own kitchen back in Burlington!
We keep it to one flight, shared, and head out to stroll through Norway and China to Germany where we love to split another beer from the stand just inside the Pavilion.
We always go with Radeberger Pilsner.
The walking helps maintain a thirst, and we stroll through Italy and the U.S., and enter Japan. By this time, our reservations are no doubt close, but I always like to grab a Sake at the stand across from Tokyo Dining. If we have time, we’ll take a walk up through the gardens leading to Katsura Grill.
Disney date night selfie in Japan!
Now for the food – a real live dinner-date with just the adults!
Tokyo Dining is one of our Disney favorites, and a visit for just the two of us has become a family tradition. The sushi and tempura are always great and the company is even better.
Laughing it up at Tokyo Dining
I love to finish the meal with one of their sparkling sakes.
Sparkling sake from Tokyo Dining!
Alas, it will be over too soon.
You’ll still get to enjoy a walk through Morocco and into France, where we’ll often split a final glass of wine – mostly Champagne – enjoy a walk past the street artists, and head back along the canal to the Sandlecastle Club to pick up the kids, and get ready for another day of adventure at Walt Disney World.
Full moon over Morocco on a Disney date night!
Strolling home along the canal to the Yacht Club
That’s our standard Disney date night.
You can vary the stops, the drinking, and the dining locations, but don’t miss the chance to enjoy a little of the grown-up side of Walt Disney World – you won’t regret it, and the kids will have a ball, too.
Never forget to:
Relax…you CAN get to Disney from here.
Hi! I'm Jennifer Newsome and I own and operate Southern Girl Travel with some help from my husband, Mark, and our three kids. This shot was taken in beautiful 