Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. Everyone needs a getaway sometimes...parents, couples, and solo trips. While Walt Disney World may not be at the top of your list of ideas for an adults only trip, that's exactly what Julie just did. This week, let's talk about what to do in Walt Disney World to have the best adults only trip.
Listen in with Travel Advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She's a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories...it's always all Things Travel.
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Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. Everyone needs a getaway sometimes...parents, couples, and solo trips. While Walt Disney World may not be at the top of your list of ideas for an adults only trip, that's exactly what Julie just did. This week, let's talk about what to do in Walt Disney World to have the best adults only trip.
Listen in with Travel Advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She's a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories...it's always all Things Travel.
Join us for the Viking Virtual Cruise Night! You must register and attend to unlock some great promotions!
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Sep 24, 2024 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Viking Cruises Night with All Things Travel
Grab Julie's free download for a baby and toddler vacation packing list: https://bit.ly/babytoddlerpackinglist
Ready to plan your vacation? Most families are confused and overwhelmed when planning a vacation. We work with you to plan a trip perfect for your family. Saving you time, money, and stress!
Contact Ryan at ryan@creatingmagicvacations.com
Contact Julie at julie@creatingmagicvacations.com
Join the travel conversations and the fun in our ...
Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. Everyone needs a getaway sometimes. Parents, couples, solo trips. And while Walt Disney World may not be at the top of your list of ideas for an adults only trip, that's exactly what I just did. This week, let's talk about what to do in Walt Disney World to have the best adults only trip. Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And I am a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, Top vacation tips or sharing personal stories. It's always all things travel. So I know not everyone will think of Disney as a great adults only destination, but for those of us that are in that Disney adult category, it is such a great getaway. You're still in the Disney bubble. You can have so much fun and there's a lot of new experiences that you can have.
Julie:
I've done Disney many times as an adults only trip, whether it's our agency meeting that is adults only. I've never taken my kids to that meeting. I've also met groups of friends down there and we've done Disney trips and I've had a couple of business trips down there where I've actually gone by myself. I think Disney is a great place for adults because of a lot of reasons we're gonna talk about today that you may have thought about, but maybe will pique your interest in, being at Walt Disney World. Before we talk about that though, I want to remind you that last week's episode was all about river cruising, where Julie and I did our April live episode, and we talked about my recent trip on the Amma Mora. In the netherlands and belgium, so julie, I want to talk about a couple reasons Why you should choose disney as an adults only destination First of all, like you said you're in the bubble So basically it's kind of once you're there everything is there for you, right? It's not the all inclusive nature of a cruise or a resort but Everything is there. You don't even need a rental car to get around this giant complex. Your food is there. Your entertainment's there. Everything's there, right?
And really, that allows you to immerse yourself in your vacation. For some people, especially people who have enjoyed Disney their entire lives, they can have that nostalgia, right? They can ride the rides they rode as a kid. But also experience new things and as adults now they have money so they can get any treats They want they can buy things from the gift shop that when they were little mom and dad said no
absolutely saw. I saw something on Instagram about that recently, about, like, comparing going as a child versus going as an adult and now you can buy all the things you want. That, is that right?
Julie:
And I'm, and I'm going to throw one more in here that you don't have on my list is Disney has amazing options when it comes to festivals, when it comes to food and when it comes to drinks, there is high class Michelin star options, and there are really good kind of street food level options Types of cuisines all over the world tons of drink options It's just you can really you can really have a good time with it in that respect
And I just want to, drive home the point that the thing that really makes Disney A destination for me for an adult only a trip is a combination of like the immersion, the nostalgia. It really just allows you to just completely disconnect. I'm not checking the news. I barely know what day it is. I only know what day it is because of what dining reservation I have that day or, or what park I'm
You're just having fun. And it's just such a great way to really be able to focus on having fun and, and disconnecting from everything else. That's such a huge plus for me. Now that we've hopefully convinced some listeners why Disney should be an adults only destination, let's talk about where you would stay.
there are, when I do an adults only trip, I want to spoil myself a little bit. You will probably be able to enjoy the resort and your accommodations more when you're traveling just yourselves and when you're bringing your whole family with you. So to me, it's, it's worth that upgraded experience., We're going to list out like top four resorts and they're all kind of different price points, which helps a little bit. So the obvious number one should be no surprise to anyone for me is the Polynesian.
the right resort for families, Julie? Polynesian. What's the resort, what's the perfect for solo trips? Polynesian. What's the best for adults? Polynesian. What's the best for left handed Filipino visitors? Polynesian.
Oh, you caught me, Ryan. You caught me, but let me tell you why it's great for adults only. So I absolutely love the Polynesian because of the vibe and the tropical feel. The best way I can explain it is it feels like a resort that could be a stand alone resort and then there's the bonus of having Disney there. So yes, there's kids and there's music and kids activities, which is great for families. They have this amazing water playground, but they also have a quiet pool, which is so quiet and relaxing. When I think of a getaway, like that's where I want to be. And they're bringing you your frozen spiked, dull whip, margarita, whatever it is to you as you're sitting in your chair. I mean, that's just perfect relaxation.. So after, a day at the quiet pool, you can stroll down to the beach. You can watch the fireworks, which can be, you know, romantic, relaxing. There's great lounges on site. There's a couple to choose from. There's two different pool bars. There's a couple lounges inside. And then that very themed Trader Sam's Grotto.
Julie:
love it. Especially with a group of adult friends, and Julie and I had the pleasure of doing that in January. It's amazing.
So the last thing that makes the Polynesian a great destination is that you have the monorail to get to the other monorail resorts, right? The Grand Floridian and the Contemporary. And both of those also offer restaurants and lounges.
Julie:
That's a solid choice. That's a solid choice, Julie. Absolutely.
See, I did, I did hopefully convince some people, the Polynesian is it.
Julie:
So number two takes us to my favorite resort area, which is not by the Polynesian, but I'm taking us over to Yacht Club in the Epcot area because I love the boardwalk area. There is so much to do here. you've got the Yacht Club, you've got the Beach Club, you've got Swan and Dolphin, you've got the Boardwalk. I'm choosing the Yacht Club specifically because I think it has some interesting options for adults. It tends to have a little friendlier price point. And it's not right there at the pool, so if you don't want to be around all the kids playing, you've got a little bit of breathing room there. And it's closer to walk around to the boardwalk than some of the other hotels So you're within walking distance to ebcot here to hollywood studios. You have access to many restaurants And really I just love the aesthetic. It feels a little more upgraded a little bit more adult when it comes to the disney theming I I can't say enough about the boardwalk area if you have never been to the boardwalk area You Do yourself a favor, the next time you're at Epcot, hop out in the International Gateway and just walk over and check it out. You'll, you'll absolutely love it.
Another resort I would recommend if we're doing adults only is the Wilderness Lodge. This is probably the one I recommend most because it has a pretty fair price point. Mm hmm. But it still isn't a great location. To me, it still feels secluded
Julie:
Oh, it feels totally secluded and in a bubble in itself, absolutely. Absolutely.
Yeah, even though it's still in the Magic Kingdom Resort area and you can get to the park via boat, which is super convenient. I like that there's fireplaces in the lobby and on some of the upper floors. So you can relax there. It's really cozy. They have really great lounges, like the outdoor lounge geyser point. You can sit out there, you can watch. You love the burger is what you love.
Julie:
I do. I love the burger, but no, it's just such a cool atmosphere. It's open air. You can just sit and relax and, and it just feels good. resorty
it does. It feels resorty. You're not staring at the magic kingdom, but then the electrical water pageant comes by and you're like, Oh yeah, I'm in Disney still. I really recommend that option a lot for adults that are looking to get away.
Julie:
So here is my winner out of this list And this is actually the one that I've booked the most for adult couples who want to get away for a trip and that's going to Disney's Coronado Springs and Staying specifically Julie in the Grand Destino Tower, and we've talked about this tower off and on during the show I It's on the same property. It's the large outer building that's part of Coronado Springs, and it is an upgraded experience. You walk into that tower and it does not feel moderate. it is a very nice hotel anywhere that it would be. The rooms are a little more tastefully designed, I think. You have some amazing options right there in the tower. So you've got Toledo, which is in the rooftop, which I think is one of the best kept secrets when it comes to dining at Disney. Attached to that, you have the Dahlia Lounge, you have the Barcelona Lounge in the lobby, which offers coffee drinks in the morning, alcoholic coffee drinks too if you want, and a really nice bar in the evening. I remember, Julie, specifically with the Tower area, the first time I ever stayed in the Tower, I had been to Spain a couple weeks before, and I could see, Barcelona and Madrid and kind of the nods with the tiling and the mosaic and everything I'm like, yep, they really thought this through I mean, it's not surprising right but they really thought through how this is supposed to look and then obviously You've also got the wonderful three bridges bar, which is right outside the tower Where you can do the Sangre University. I talked about that a few weeks ago, and it's just a cool place to relax I'm I love Grandestino Tower as an adults only option.
One thing I want to mention about all four of those resorts that we talked about, the Polynesian, the Yacht Club, the Wilderness Lodge, and Grandestino Tower, is that they all also offer a club level.
So you could upgrade to a club level room if you wanted to. And make that trip even more special.
Julie:
So, Julie, we're going to talk about some tips for adults only trips and some how tos. But first, as always, I want to talk about where in the world does all things travel? So when I went back to recent locations, a new one for me that came up is Grand Rapids, Michigan. And I know Grand Rapids, Michigan quite well, but my guess is you probably don't.
So I think it was when I was in grad school in the early to mid 2000s, michigan actually did like this cool cities initiative and they chose Grand Rapids as kind of their test subject and So they pumped in a bunch of money to the downtown area So there's breweries and bars and restaurants, and they've got a great convention center. They've got minor league sports teams there, they bring in concerts. It is an awesome town to visit. And one of the coolest places I've been in Grand Rapids, other than the Belgian brewery, which I really, really loved, is the Frederick Meyer Gardens and Sculpture Museum. It's 158 acre attraction that features the most comprehensive outdoor sculpture collection in the midwest It has indoor and outdoor gardens The largest tropical conservatory in the state, nature trails, guided trams, and a five acre children's garden. And it is absolutely beautiful and it is amazing, and I loved the Japanese garden until I lost my son in it for about 45 minutes. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I will say though he was a toddler at the time, so you know, give him a little bit of grace. But
Grand Rapids is a cool, cool city. The Meijer Gardens is really cool. I love the fact that people are listening to us up in Grand Rapids. So do me a favor Grand Rapids, reach out and send me a note on either Facebook or on email because I'd love to give you a little thank you gift and I'm even gonna meet you up there at Founders Brewery and I'll give it to you in person.
All right, so after you've picked your resort Julie planning your itinerary can be really fun Especially as an adult's group because what's the advantage you can do whatever you want. However you want, right? You get to choose exactly what you want to do Even if it's just a short weekend trip You can pack a lot of experiences in when you don't have kids or you don't have extended family so julie, what's your first suggestion?
I would say to alternate days that you wake up early for rope drop, with days that you can sleep in and relax. On days that you rope drop, I would go straight to the rides that you can't ride with your kids. So that's probably my like number one tip for an adults only trip. Don't spend your time riding It's a Small World. I mean, unless it's your favorite and you have to do it every time, focus on rides that your kids or other people in your family are either. too short for, too scared of, they don't like it, and enjoy the big rides like Rise of the Resistance, Guardians of the Galaxy, Tron, Tower of Terror. Definitely get a park hopper so you can enjoy those attractions and maximize your time.
Julie:
If I was on an adults only trip and I had a park hopper, every night would end at Epcot. No matter what park we were at, dinner would be at Epcot, drinks would be at Epcot. That just makes sense to me.
I think a lot of people would agree with that. Absolutely. So if you're going to sleep in, this can also really work to your advantage. You could go to the park later in the day. And when you purchase Genie which we'll talk about later, you can really stack your rides and make for a really great evening. Or you could just enjoy your resort all day, go to a nice dinner, enjoy a signature restaurant like California Grill, do a monorail crawl, skyliner crawl. All sorts of stuff.
Julie:
What I like about what Julie's talking about too is one of the things that you can do by sleeping in is you can maximize pool time by getting to the pool before everybody else does. So instead of waiting till 3 o'clock when everybody's there because they're hot and they're tired from the pools, you go at 11
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, and so you go at 11 you still sleep in you have a nice leisurely breakfast You head down to the pool. You get a couple hours of pool time in Then you can go back to your room You can get ready for your day Or if you're just spending the day at the resort take a nap and and spend some more time there
So with genie plus this is a really cool way to think about it. Since it's just adults and couples, the cost of Genie Plus and individual Lightning Lanes will be lower because you're not buying it for your whole families. And the amount of time you can save using Lightning Lanes, At your attractions in the parks is so valuable Julie told me in her last trip with her husband that she saved over 220 minutes one day Using genie plus at hollywood studios. You can spend that time relaxing back at your resort Enjoying a new lounge or doing whatever it is. You want to do
So the way that works, Ryan, do you stack lightning lanes when you
Julie:
I I do. Yes So so basically the idea is you've got your lightning lanes that you're doing in the morning. You take a break You As your break is occurring, you're stacking lightning lanes for later in the day.
Yeah. And stacking just means that you have multiple lightning lanes reservations booked at the same time. When you do that, they could be overlapping with their timeframes, which means within one hour, you could do three rides using the lightning
Julie:
Basically, what you need to do is you just need to pay attention to your app and you need to watch that countdown clock. And every time that countdown clock hits zero, you add another attraction for later in the day.
Absolutely. So I like to set an alarm for when I can book my next attraction and then I go in and book it. the benefit to being able to do that in the evening is that. Like when you go to the parks first thing in the morning and your genie plus is for early in the day. You have to, wait to book your next ride until you've done that ride. So the benefit of going and stacking them later in the day, which is that you can book a lightning lane every two hours after the park opens. So if the park opens at 9 a. m., but you're not going to go to the park until 5 p. m., you can book a lightning lane at 7 a. m. Bye. Bye. And then again at 11, so two hours after park open. And then at 1, and then at 3, and then at 5. So you can have five lightning lanes booked for your evening time. You can basically walk into the park, ride all the rides, and head back out.
Julie:
or you ride the rides and keep getting lightning lanes for later on, because those are more plentiful than the early day ones are. Sure.
last tip I'd recommend doing during your adults only Disney trip is to try new lounges and restaurants. There are more restaurants at Disney than I can count. And I definitely have not tried all of them. When you plan a trip with your family, your focus might be on what the kids want to eat, what restaurant theming your family is looking for. But when it's just adults, you can do whatever you want. Which Could mean an upgraded dining option or maybe a restaurant with a more adventurous menu. So the last adults only trip my husband and I went on, which was just a couple weeks ago, we were able to try Space 220 because I've been hesitant to take my kids there. For the price point that it is, but it was a good option to try it for just the both of us. We also did Steakhouse 71 and we did it multiple times because we could just either walk up or just check the app that day
Julie:
Well, and you were saying it, you were saying it contemporary for party group visit too,
Absolutely. Yes. Yep. So it was really great. So because we were staying there, we could get Steakhouse 71 to go. And we literally ate filets in our room one night for dinner. Is perfect.
Julie:
and I would add to this, Julie, you mentioned lounges it's totally fine to just go eat at the lounges. Most of the lounges that are attached to a restaurant have very similar, if not the same menu. You've got some more baby breathing time here without your kids, without your extended family. Just relax, have a drink, and have a more casual experience, and not worry about the reservations, because you don't need reservations at the
You don't need it. Absolutely. One night we went over and ate dinner just at Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace, which is at the Polynesian, but it's outside of Trader Sam's Grotto. So have you've ever been inside Trader Sam's Grotto? It is a super fun experience, but it is so small. It is hard to get in there. And we didn't really feel like waiting so we just ate outside at the terrace. The food is so good. The drinks are so good. There's a little waterfall. There's a guy playing ukulele. It is, you know, basically my dream experience.
Julie:
You're going to love Alani when your family goes to Alani soon, Julie. That's all I have to say, having
said that. When you have so many destinations to choose from for an adults only trip, we hope that you'll consider Walt Disney World. It's definitely one of our favorites time and time again, and you have an entirely different experience every time you go, especially if you're used to going with the family and now you only go as adults.
If you want to plan a trip to an amazing destination like Walt Disney World, but don't know how to get started. As your travel advisors, we work with you to create a customized itinerary for your vacation and take the stress of planning away so you can focus on the fun and creating memories. You can reach me at Julie at CreatingMagicVacations. com.
Julie:
You can reach me, Ryan, at CreatingMagicVacations. com. We look forward to talking to you next week on All Things Travel as we wrap up the second part of our Pacific Coast driving trip.
