This is a guest article written by @lauren.in.fantasyland from Instagram. Thank you Lauren for providing us with some insight on planning an adult Disney vacation!

Disney vacation and adults only…probably a combination of words many of you are trying to make sense of. How is that possible? Is that such a thing? What do I do?! Well, I’m here to tell you! I will forewarn you, though; you may never want to take the kids to Disney again after this!

Choosing your Resort

First up, choose a hotel that you and your spouse/significant other/partner/ friend will truly enjoy! By enjoy, I mean things like staying at the resort, relaxing by the pool, grabbing a drink at their bar and/or pool bar. I most often recommend a Deluxe resort for an adults-only Disney vacation, if the budget allows. The Deluxe resorts in Disney World have the most onsite amenities and luxuries, like fine dining restaurants, multiple bars or lounges, a quiet pool besides their main pool and oftentimes a spa and fitness club.

Dining Options

Second, I would map out where you want to dine.  Yes, sitting down for a nice enjoyable meal (even character meals!) with a glass of wine or a cocktail (or a few) is definitely an experience in Disney! Their Signature dining (a la carte fine dining) restaurants are what I first recommend (again, if the budget allows) for adults. There is such a wide variety of these restaurants in the parks and resorts. Besides these, EPCOT has amazing dining options in World Showcase and many resorts also offer sit down table service dining at a lesser cost of Signature dining.

Bars and Lounges

I would then plan out your nightcaps. Yep, dining and drinking around the World are quite a fun experience to be had when it’s just adults! There are so many bars and lounges around Disney, so I also suggest mapping out the ones you really want to try and coordinate them with your dinner reservations (plan bars/lounges as close as possible to each dinner spot). Maybe bars and lounges aren’t your thing or you’re not a big drinker. No worries there! If you’re a guest of a Walt Disney World or Disneyland hotel, you’re entitled to Extra Magic Hours, which allows you to enter certain parks (the schedules always change, so be sure to keep up with them daily to plan accordingly) either early in the morning or stay till late at night. Obviously, in this case we’re talking nightcaps, so some parks are open till as late as 3am! You must be sitting here saying to yourself, “How the heck am I supposed to stay up this late and be up so early?!” Well, 3am may be pushing it for some of you and that’s fine but remember, you can enjoy Disney at a bit more leisurely pace and potentially sleep in a bit if you so desire, which leads me to…

Planning your Fastpasses

I know there’s a lot of planning involved with Disney, even when it’s just adults, but the planning that’s done ahead of time is so worth it! My next tip is to choose the FastPasses you truly want along with the rides and attractions your willing to wait on. Most adults are happy with some of the bigger rides and don’t care so much to wait on line for rides like Goofy’s Barnstormer or Peter Pan’s Flight or to meet a certain character, so this does mitigate a lot of the waiting on line and running around like crazy.

Consider a Half-Day

Another awesome thing to do when it’s just the adults is plan a hotel day for half a day. I know this can be done with kids too, but it will look a lot different!

This can be done a variety of ways: grab breakfast at your hotel (or order room service if in a Deluxe resort) and head right to the pool (sometimes a nice leisurely way to start your Disney morning) or head to a park and return back to your hotel by 2pm the latest to relax poolside or go to the spa or gym. If you choose the latter, you can then enjoy the relaxation and then get ready to head out for your night in Disney! If you’re staying at a Deluxe resort, the quiet pool may be where you want to hang out. Maybe book a spa appointment or even get in a workout (so you can eat even more Mickey waffles or Dole Whips, even though calories don’t count in Disney)! Many resorts also offer watercraft rentals, surrey bikes or even horseback riding if that’s more your chill out speed than the pool, spa or gym!

Festivals

If you’re heading to Disney during a festival (Festival of the Arts, Flower & Garden Festival, Food & Wine Festival or Festival of the Holidays), be sure to plan the festival time in! Make it a point to head to EPCOT to focus and experience the festival! This is usually something that’s hard to do with little ones because they’re usually wanting to go on rides and meet characters! I always love getting the festival booklets and getting them stamped (well, now they just give you stickers) after I tried a food or drink! It’s a lot of fun to go around and experience and taste new foods and drinks with your fellow Disney adult.  It’s also another fun way to drink around the World (I really don’t drink as much as it sounds. Maybe in Disney I do though).

Disney Dining Plan Hack

Foods at the festivals count as snack credits! Save your snack credits to use them up at the festival as those items are usually more money than other regular Disney snacks, like Mickey pretzels and Dole Whips!

I hope these Disney plans for adults help give you ideas on how to experience the magic of Disney! There is a whole world beyond the Fast Passes, waiting in lines and character meet and greets. With careful planning based on your likes and dislikes, I’m pretty sure you’ll have a whole new level of love and appreciation for Disney World or Disneyland. If you’d like an expert planner to help you plan your vacation from A-Z for FREE, contact me via e-mail at Laurendambratravel@gmail.com or on Instagram by following along the magic @lauren.in.fantasyland