Have you ever heard of the term “Disney Adult”? Sometimes it’s thrown around in a derogatory way, so I thought I’d define it for you.
Disney Adult [proper noun]:
1. Someone who willingly goes to Walt Disney World without any children.
2. Someone who is unapologetically themselves and has a hole in their heart whenever they’re not at Disney.
3. Someone who is in crippling debt because of a mouse (this is a joke, PLEASE don’t take this one seriously).
If you are also a self-proclaimed Disney Adult, odds are you have thought about having your bachelorette weekend at the most magical place on Earth. I did! I wanted to share my advice and tips on how we made it happen. Not only did we (myself & my incredible MOH) make it happen, it was the most incredible weekend. Not just for the bride either. Everyone had a BLAST!
There were seven of us who went and we were definitely a mixed bag. Two girls had not been to Walt Disney World since they were 3, one girl had literally lived in Orlando and done Disney’s Culinary Program, one girl (me) is a Disney travel expert, one girl literally lives in Florida and then two others had gone to Disney with me before. So there were some newbies and a couple pros. I’m telling you this because maybe your group of friends is similar and I am here to tell you how we still had an incredible time going at everyone’s pace. Disney can be a bit hardcore. IYKYK.
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Zero Regrets.
The first thing I wanna say is that I have absolutely zero regrets about having my bachelorette at Walt Disney World. A Disney Bach can be very intimidating. The biggest reason why is the fact that not everyone is going to be able to go. By deciding to have my bachelorette at Disney, five people from my bridal party couldn’t make it. That was something I really had to think about before deciding if this was something that I wanted.
Take the pressure off of the invitation. When I decided that I wanted to do Disney for my bachelorette, I reached out to a couple friends that I knew would be “in” (but remember I have a Disney pro and a Florida resident in the mix haha) to make sure at least 2-3 bridesmaids would be excited about it. In general, you should never pressure anyone into going to your bachelorette, but especially Disney because it’s not cheap. When I shared with our wedding party what I wanted to do, I simply said that. That I wanted to go to Disney and anyone else that wants to come can come. No one felt required.
I just felt like I really needed to share that piece of planning. Especially if you know how toxic weddings can be.
In all, the weekend of my bachelorette was one of the most incredible experiences that I will never forget. Never will I ever have a group of such important people from all seasons of life come together like that again. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never take for granted.
Airbnb or Disney Bubble?
The answer to this question depends on two things. The size of your group and everyone’s budget. If you are planning your bachelorette with three other girls and you can all split a room at an All-Star Value Resort that fits your budget…DO IT. In my opinion, you should always stay on Disney property when you can because the amenities and conveniences that come with the territory are always gonna be worth it.
**This is where I am going to drop in to let you know that I am a Disney-obsessed and experienced travel professional. If you are planning on booking a vacation with Disney, click here and fill out my form. I’ll reach out to you with a quote for your customized vacation package. And yes, I will totally help you plan your Disney bachelorette! My services are 100% free.
Where were we? Ahhhh yes! If staying on Disney property isn’t in your budget because you have a larger group, you found the perfect Airbnb or you have some other plan for lodging…DO IT. Do what works best for you!
Since we had a group of seven girls, finding an Airbnb that was close by ended up being the best thing for everyone’s budget. We were able to find a house that was about 15 minutes from the Disney bubble and saved us a couple hundred $. But what worked for us, may not work for you so always look at all your options!
Traveling with a Big Group
When you have people coming from all different seasons of life, odds are they might be coming from all different places in the US. That was only half the case for our group because we were only coming from Connecticut, Maryland and Florida. It also worked out where we could do travel buddies! I flew from BWI with my close friend from college, two girls were on the same flight from CT, another two girls grabbed a later flight from CT, and our Florida local grabbed us all from the airport.
I would highly recommend as many people as possible traveling together if that’s doable for your group. If you are staying outside of the Disney bubble, you are going to need a rental car to get from your Airbnb/hotel/whatever to and from the parks! If you are staying on-property (this is where the convenience of the Disney bubble kicks in), you’ll just need a ride to your resort (so Uber, Lyft, etc.) and then you can use Disney’s free transportation from there!
Where Should You Eat?
The answer to this question is going to depend on your group’s budget.
If you don’t know this already, the food at Disney is absolutely, deliciously amazing. Let’s also just pretend those adjectives totally fit together. So the answer to this question could simply be “everywhere.” But your budget could say otherwise. This is where having a travel agent to help with reservations and planning could come in handy.
**Hi, me again. Disney expert planner.
We decided to only make a couple of reservations so that our schedule was flexible, especially having as big of a group as we did. We kept it pretty simple by sticking to quick service meals in the parks. However, we had a reservation for Olga’s Cantina at Galaxy’s Edge and my MOH scored us a reservation to Summer House on the Lake in Disney Springs during our non-park day.
For lunch and dinner in the parks, we used the Walt Disney World app to place mobile orders and then found a table to sit and eat. This took a lot of stress out of our day because we weren’t forced to follow any specific timelines catering to dinner reservations.
Our Itinerary
If you’re asking yourself, “Where do I even begin?” I hope this helps. This is basically a rough estimate of our day because I honestly didn’t really time-stamp things and we all just went with the flow. But, I do have time stamps on my photos in my phone so I am really trying to keep this as factual as possible for you.
Thursday: Day 1
We all had landed at MCO by 1 PM on Thursday. Once we had everyone and were in the car, we headed to our Airbnb! Our Airbnb hostess was kind enough to let us check in a couple hours early so that helped a ton.
Once we got to our Airbnb, my MOH wanted to decorate so I got kicked out for like 40 minutes and I sat by the pool. We were all dressed and ready to go by 4:50 PM (I know this because that’s when our pictures started).
We headed to Disney Springs at 5, and got through the parking garage and security by 5:30 PM. We definitely lucked out with traffic and parking so make sure you give yourself plenty of time for those things. Orlando traffic on a Thursday can get a little crazy.
We walked around the shops, grabbed a couple drinks along the way, and then headed to Summer House on the Lake for our 8 o’clock dinner reservations! Summer House on the Lake is beautiful so if you’re looking for the perfect aesthetic for your bachelorette, I would check this one out as an option!
We ended up staying at Disney Springs until 10:30-11 PM. We wanted to be back to get some rest before our early morning. I am a park open-to-close kind of Disney adult. The best kind.
Friday: Day 2
9:00 AM: Hollywood Studios opened so naturally we were there at 8:30 AM to get in line. One mistake that we made was not getting breakfast beforehand. It had been a while since I’d stayed outside of the Disney bubble and had to park so I was a little too eager with anticipation for the traffic that we never experienced. We totally could have made that Starbucks run.
9:01 AM: Got Starbucks after running past everyone.
The first ride we went on was the Tower of Terror because it is one of my favorites in all four WDW parks! We then headed over to Toy Story Land at 10 AM.
10:00-11:00 AM: We rode Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania.
We then got in line for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railroad. At around noon we made our way towards Galaxy’s Edge.
12:00 PM: We met the Mandalorian which was something that was on my Disney bucket list so that was pretty EPIC. We then rode Millennium Flacon: Smuggler’s Run. We took a pit stop for lunch at Docking Bay 7.
1:45 PM: We rode Rise of the Resistance and then left Galaxy’s Edge. However, we did head back over to Toy Story Land to stop at Joffrey’s for a coffee and a snack. The cart is located right in between the entrance to Toy Story Land and Runaway Railroad.
We ended up riding Tower of Terror three times throughout the day, one time was at night. I highly recommend trying Tower of Terror in the dark because it makes it even more terrifying (in a good way)! We did a mobile order for dinner at the ABC Commissary. I had the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich and it was so good! We also watched Muppets 3D and rode Star Tours.
We did have a later reservation for Oga’s Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge. 10/10 recommend going there for the experience if you’ve never been. The bar is themed to look like the cantina from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Pro tip: they let you take your drinks to-go! Right before you’re ready to head out, ask for another drink in a to-go cup because you can walk to your next ride with it.
Saturday: Day 3
9:00 AM: We DID get Starbucks beforehand. We arrived at Epcot at 8:30 AM and didn’t sit in a lot of traffic trying to park. We were at Epcot for Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival too (pro tip: try to plan your bachelorette around one of Epcot’d festivals).
9:13 AM: The first ride of the day was Test Track. This timestamp is extremely important and you are about to find out why.
9:26 AM: We got stuck on Test Track and had to be escorted off the ride by Reedy Creek Disney’s on-site 911 emergency medical service) because one of us had a physical disability so we couldn’t take the stairs. Why is this important? Because it’s EPIC. If you’ve ever wanted to be escorted off a ride, you know just how epic this is because we got to walk almost the whole length of the track. EPIC.
Getting stuck on Test Track took a good hour of our day so we headed over to Epcot’s World Showcase a little before 11 AM. I’m just gonna go ahead and stop the time stamps now because we didn’t leave the World Showcase until 6:45 PM.
During that time, we drank around the world. Don’t worry, it’s documented.
But wait, there’s more.
We had got a virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind for 8:15 PM. After riding the most incredible ride that’s ever existed, we explored Epcot’s newest attraction, Journey of Water which is inspired by the film Moana. We ended our day at 9:00 PM.
Sunday: Day 4
Since most of us traveled separately to get to Orlando, it was pretty similar to getting home. Everyone from CT headed home on an early flight. However, my friend from college & I had ourselves a day!
We went deluxe resort hopping! You’re either gonna love resort hopping or be asking yourself, “Why in the world am I doing this right now?” But it helps if you appreciate the history of Walt Disney and the fact that Walt had a hand in intentionally designing some of the deluxe resorts on World Disney World property. Yes, you literally just take Disney’s free transportation (monorail, skyliner, bus, and boat) to different resorts.
We explored The Contemporary Resort, Grand Floridian, Disney’s Boardwalk, and Yacht & Beach Club Resort. We obviously stopped food because well, when in Rome.
My No. 1 Piece of Advice
My number one piece of advice that I’m going to give is to do things that will take the stress out of your bachelorette. Planning out our day in the parks was easy for me because I am already an experienced travel agent. Unless you’re a pro or you have a Disney-obsessed friend that wants to tackle the planning with you, reach out to a travel agent that is familiar with group trips like this.
When you book a vacation package through Walt Disney World, you are already paying for a travel agent. The costs for a travel agent are already built into that package so not only are my services 100% free to you, but you’d be wasting money by not working with an agent like me.
An other tip I wanted to share (& this is a pretty important one), lower your expectations and remember to have fun. Going into my bachelorette I knew that seven girls could equal a lot of stress. That is not saying anything about people’s personalities or the friendship dynamic, it’s just a fact. More people can equal to more problems. There’s going to be things on your bachelorette bucket list that you didn’t check off. Just remember that it’s okay. A huge thing that was on my list that we didn’t have time for was meeting Figment. It just didn’t work out with how much time it takes seven people to get around the World Showcase (add in drinking & rides).
The trip is going to be as amazing as you make it out to be. Stay excited, stay positive, and stay open-minded.
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