Disney World. Those words can make anyone’s face light up with the glow of magic. I moved to Florida a few months ago, and within the first month, I had already taken my first trip to Disney. Last-minute, our friends from California were coming to Disney for a wedding and me being a Disney Adult and travel agent I couldn’t wait. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see them and hit Disney at the same time. This was my first adult Disney trip and my first as a Disney travel agent.
Planning
In order to make sure the day went smoothly, I planned ahead. I pulled together my Ariel Disney-bound outfit, plan what bags to bring, and purchase our tickets. I made our park reservations through the Travel Agent Portal and booked our off Disney property room. We would have preferred to stay on Disney property, but there weren’t any rooms available when I looked so close to our trip date. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort Orlando off property but within 10 minutes of Disney property. Disney has an app for the parks called My Disney Experience. I created a “party” for us in the app that linked our reservations. That was as much planning had done until the morning of, but of course, there are always lessons learned. As I go through the trip below, I’ll explain it further.
Morning Of
We woke up that next morning incredibly excited! This was John’s first trip to Disney, so I wanted it to be as fun as we could make it. I put on my Disney-bound outfit #1, and I tossed my makeup in my bag to be put on at the hotel. We left that morning much later than I expected. Next time I’ll prepare to
1) go to sleep earlier and
2) have things even more ready the night before.
We live about 2.5 hours from the parks, so we needed to leave the house pretty early. We left later than I wanted, but life happens right? You live and you learn and that was just lesson #1 for the day. We’ll know for next time.
Before the Park
It was a long morning of anticipation, but we finally made it to our hotel. We checked in to the Holiday Inn Resort Orlando and reorganized our bags for the parks. I threw on some makeup; a girl can’t be a Disney adult and not look on point. Epcot was my favorite park as a 14-year-old. I was STOKED it was going to be Epcot. It’s going to be even better as an adult and the excitement was unreal. I couldn’t wait to experience adult Disney. We decided to take an Uber into the park figuring that it would be less than parking in the parking lot. In reality, it turned out to be within a dollar or two of the parking cost.
Lesson #2, if you are staying off Disney property, pay the parking fee. If you are a Disney annual pass holder, parking is free! Taking an Uber there and back, plus tip, turned out to be about the same cost as it would have been if we just paid the fee.
Epcot
Once we got situated, we were ready to enter the park. First, we met up with my clients who were there on their honeymoon! It was such a surreal experience. Meeting up with my clients on a trip I booked for them. We caught up for a bit, grabbed some drinks in Germany together, then I let them get back to their honeymoon! Afterward, we met up with our friends from California who were also here at Epcot. The rest of the trip was so much fun. Drinking around the world, grabbing delicious treats from the stands for the International Food and wine festival, riding the good rides, seeing shows, and all-around had the kind of fun you rarely get to have as an adult in the real world.
Disney Travel Agents Need?
At the end of the night, we made sure to get a great spot for Harmonious, the fireworks show at Epcot. My friends and I were emotional watching the show. It’s a surreal feeling being in a place so full of magic. It was getting late and I was hungry, so we grabbed some late-night drinks and appetizers at Three Bridges Bar and Grill at Villa del Lago. We took an Uber back to our hotel and immediately booked tickets for Magic Kingdom the next day! We had way too much fun to just drive home the next morning. Both of us had the day off, so why not join our friends at Magic Kingdom.
Magic Kingdom
The next morning we packed up our room at the Holiday Inn Resort Orlando and got ready for DAY 2. Magic Kingdom was calling me so I’m glad I had prepared more than one outfit for our Disney trip. That morning, our friend decided to purchase the annual pass! I’m still so jealous, but it may be on the list for this year. I have more Adult Disney shenanigans to do. Anyway, because she had the annual pass, we were able to drive in and not pay to park. Perks of being a pass holder, free parking.
Walking around Magic Kingdom I felt like a kid again. Walking down Main St, the USA towards Cinderella’s Castle was like a dream. The Tiki Room, Pirates of The Caribbean, the cavalcades, Splash Mountain, the classic Dumbo ride, and EVERYTHING just made my day. I can’t forget the Little Mermaid ride!!! I hadn’t ridden it before so it was exciting to sit in my shell. Watching Enchantment, the Magic Kingdom fireworks at the end of the evening, was just as emotional as watching Harmonious the night before.
A Few Things I Learned
Overall it was some of the most fun I’ve had in a very very long time. I’ll be sure to do a breakdown of each day in future posts. As an agent, I made sure to do a lot of research for content creation, took tons of pictures and videos, and made notes for educating my clients on Disney tips and tricks. There will be a post entirely dedicated to what I learned, but here are a few bullet points of things to know when heading to Disney for your next magical adventure:
- Make sure you have your bags ready to go the night before you are heading into the park. It will cut down on “getting ready” time in the morning, and you’ll be organized.
- You can bring in water bottles! They don’t require them to be empty. *For security I thought maybe they wouldn’t allow it.
- Pay the parking fee. Especially if you’re going more than one day. The cost of the trip, plus tip, usually comes out to be about the same as it would cost to park your car. It also helps just in case you need to head out to the car for any reason.
- Disney Springs is fun too! You don’t have to be on park property to enjoy the magic of Disney.
- First Aid carries over the counter medication, band-aids and more for free! No need to pack those with you. There is a First Aid Center in every park.
- Relaxation Stations! There are locations in Disney that are both indoor and outdoor and they are places where you can take your mask off. Some are air conditioned and just a place to sit and get yourself together before moving on to the next show or ride.
Conclusion
I hope these tips and my experience were helpful to you! If you want more helpful information my next few posts will be a continuation with more detail. A Day in Epcot, A Day in Magic Kingdom, as well as more Disney travel details and tips. Did I inspire you with my adult Disney experiences? Are you ready to make your way to the Most Magical Place in the world? Click the link to head over to the Need a Travel Agent? Page and fill out my form. I’ll reach out to you shortly to start working on your next Disney vacation!
Love hearing about your adult Disney experience! I’ve always wondered if it’s worth it to go back to Disney as an adult
IT IS 100% WORTH IT AS AN ADULT lol It’s almost more fun. When I was 14 I was kind of in-between so there wasn’t as much that I enjoyed. So much more fun now 🙂