Adults Only vs. Kids Trip to Disney World!
Living in Central Florida, I have the privilege of living less than hour from the Mouse himself. Growing up, I was always a big Disney fan, but now that my daughter shares my love of Disney, it’s even more fun! Recently, I had the opportunity to go on two trips to Walt Disney World less than two weeks apart. While I had an amazing time – they were both wildly different trips! In this blog post, I’m going to break down the two different trips, and share my tips and tricks for a successful day at Disney!
Adults-Only Trip Itinerary
Night 1: We enjoyed dinner at Markham’s Restaurant at the Golden Oak Summerhouse. It was steak night, but I ended up going with the buttermilk-fried chicken and gravy. It did not disappoint! After dinner, we hit the Boardwalk for a night of singing at the famous Jellyrolls Piano Bar. At Jellyrolls, dueling pianos play your favorite hits live. It’s always a packed house, so get there early for a seat! Then, the girls hit the dance floor at the Atlantic City Dance Hall. We danced the night away while our favorite 90s and 2000s music videos played on the big screen.
Day 2: For our day at Disney, we had the opportunity to take a VIP Tour! Disney VIP Tour Guides plan the most efficient, enjoyable trip for groups of up to 10 people. You get to hit all your favorite rides in one day at multiple parks by skipping the lines and using behind-the-scenes entrances. Each VIP Tour is customizable to your group and what you want out of your trip: thrill rides, character meet-and-greets, or premium seating at the parades. It’s a complete luxury experience, with the price tag to match. Tours can cost anywhere from $450 to $900 per hour, in addition to your theme park admission. If you’re planning a once-in-a-lifetime Disney trip for a family though, it’s worth it in my opinion.
Our group was all about the rides. I was brave and tried the new Guardians of the Galaxy Ride… big mistake. I was so motion sick. It’s a great ride, but ride with caution!
Kids Trip Itinerary
For my daughter’s third birthday, instead of a party, we decided to plan a trip to Disney to see all the princesses. She is princess-obsessed! My mom, sister, husband and I all went on the trip together with our daughter. She hadn’t yet turned three, so she was still free!
Night 1
We stayed at a private residence in Golden Oak. We kept night one low-key, cooking our own dinner and just enjoying the pool. She had an absolute blast, and we could see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the pool deck. The BEST part about staying at Golden Oak was the transportation… the ability to arrange a shuttle from the house to the parks was a game-changer. My daughter started calling it the “Magic Bus.” She truly believed it we were staying at Mickey Mouse’s house!
Day 2
Day 2 started bright and early. We had breakfast reservations at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Storybook Character Dining at the Norway Pavilion in EPCOT. Of the two princess dining options at Disney World, Cinderella’s Royal Table at the Magic Kingdom is certainly more popular. The food is more traditional American cuisine (as opposed to Norwegian at Akershus), and you can’t beat the atmosphere of dining Cinderella’s castle. However, Akershus has just as many princesses, the experience is less expensive, and it’s much easier to get a reservation. Plus, if you get a breakfast reservation, the breakfast food is the traditional American favorites you’d expect at Disney World – Mickey waffles and all. Not that my daughter ate a single bite… she was WAY too excited!
The character interactions were priceless – I shed actual tears. Just seeing her so excited made it all worthwhile! While at EPCOT we did the Frozen ride, we met Alice in Wonderland (another big favorite), and we walked through the new Moana-inspired Journey of Water.
Night 2
We went back to the house, ate lunch, and had a nice long nap. Then, we went to the Magic Kingdom for dinner and fireworks. The park was open until Midnight that night, so our plan was to hit up as many rides after the fireworks as possible and to go as long as we could last. We were pleasantly surprised to find that even thought it was only November 4 the Magic Kingdom was all decked out for Christmas, giant tree and all! We took lots of great pictures, including our family Christmas card.
It became clear pretty quickly that Madi isn’t a fan of up-close fireworks, so we started hitting the rides during the show. We walked on almost everything we wanted to ride and met Cinderella (another huge favorite). Madison liked the Ariel ride, but her favorite was the Speed Racer cars in Tomorrowland. I managed to score a Lightning Lane for the “Jingle Cruise,” which was the last ride of the night. It was completely slammed, and I didn’t really understand why, because it was basically the Jungle Cruise but with Santa Hats on all of the animatronics. I don’t get the hype, but we still had fun!
Pro-Tips for your Disney Trips
After our whirlwind weekend of Disney fun, here are a few things I’ve learned!
DO take advantage of early or late Magic Hours! Disney advertises that if you stay on-property, you can take advantage of “Early Magic Hours” and get into the park early. However, what they don’t share as openly is that if you have a breakfast reservation at the park, you get the same advantage. Just show proof of reservation when you arrive and skip the “Rope Drop” crowd. Pay attention to late-night hours too. Everyone just assumes that the park closes after the firework show, but that’s not always the case! Take advantage of those short lines hours before the park closes!
DON’T over-pay for Genie Plus! Genie Plus is Disney’s new fast-pass system. It’s priced based on crowd levels and can cost up to $27 per person per day. It’s a little bit complicated to figure out – I watched lots of YouTube videos (All Ears and Disney Tricks are my favorites). Once you get the hang of it, it can be a very handy tool! However – don’t make the mistake I made by double-paying for two parks. I thought I had to buy Genie Plus for both the Magic Kingdom AND EPCOT, and I completely missed that there is a Multiple Parks option. I still cringe that Disney got an extra $70 from me that I didn’t need to pay.
Also, depending on what you want to do, Genie Plus may not be worth it. I would say it is an absolute must have for the Magic Kingdom. However, most of the rides that Madison could ride at EPCOT had pretty low wait times. I think we definitely could have lived without it at EPCOT.
DO go into your day with a plan. If you only get to go to Disney once in a while, make sure you have an idea of what you want to do. Even with Genie Plus or a VIP tour, there is no way that you can do everything at Disney. Talk with your party ahead of time about what your priorities are. That way, you can schedule out your day strategically, and it can also help you manage your expectations. With Madison, I knew we were going to do the Princess Breakfast, we wanted to ride the Frozen Ride, and we wanted to see the new Moana water adventure. Everything in addition to that was just icing on the cake!
DON’T underestimate EPCOT for little ones! I think everyone assumes that EPCOT is an adults-only theme park. However, most of the rides for little ones (and there are lots of them) have very low wait times, and there are more princesses to visit in EPCOT than any other park! There’s also an awesome indoor playground right inside Mission Space to catch some A/C and get the wiggles out. EPCOT is also home to some excellent character dining experiences, like the very underrated Garden Grill Restaurant where you can meet Chip ‘n’ Dale, Mickey, and Goofy. You can almost always get a reservation!
DO try to plan for a midday nap or rest time. Most park tickets, even day passes, will allow you to leave the park and come back to enjoy the second half of the day. This was a game changer for us. We were able to give Madison a nice long rest, and then we were able to enjoy so much more. I think if we had pushed it and tried to go without a nap, we would have burned out so much faster.
Amazon Finds to Make Your Trip Magic!
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- A super-cute, comfortable, and durable walking shoe!
- This adorable little purse for less than $10!
- The viral “Everywhere” belt bag.
- These shorts to wear under your dresses to prevent the dreaded “chafe!”
- This viral battery-operated fan to attach to the stroller – an absolute must-have!
I hope you enjoyed my Adults vs. Kids Disney Trip review! Hit me up the next time you’re heading to the most magical place on earth!
