Listen to me. Adult friendship is hard.
Most of the time, it’s just an endless cycle of scheduling a brunch three months out, only to have someone cancel the morning of because of a work crisis, a sick pet, or just the overwhelming inability to put on hard pants that day. We rely on group chats to keep us alive. We love each other deeply, but we rarely see each other’s actual faces.
That is why you need a Disney trip.
My best friend (and business partner) Arya and I have been traveling to Disney World together for over a decade. We have done the “broke 20-somethings staying offsite at a cheap hotel, and we’ve done the “adult money staying at the Poly” trips.
We started this site specifically because we realized that traveling as two child-free women in our 30s is a completely different ballgame than the family trips everyone else is writing about.
There is a specific kind of magic that happens when you take your best friend to Walt Disney World. You strip away the laundry and the emails and the endless mental checklist that follows you everywhere, and suddenly it’s just the two of you, a stack of cookies from Gideon’s, and the kind of laughter you haven’t had since high school.
But, traveling with friends as adults comes with its own set of risks. Trust me, I have almost lost a friendship over a hangry breakdown in the Epcot heat. We are set in our ways. We have strong opinions on thread counts and wake-up times.
So let’s talk about how to do this right.
First, You Have to Find Your “Disney Person”
Your Disney Bestie might not be your everyday bestie. That is okay.
Sometimes your ride-or-die friend from high school hates crowds and thinks humidity is a personal attack. Do not take her. I repeat. Do not take her. You will both be miserable.
Your Disney Person is someone who matches your vacation energy.
Maybe it is the coworker who also has a stash of ears in her office drawer. Maybe it is your sister who swore she was “over Disney” until you handed her a margarita in Mexico.
You are looking for the person who will not judge you for crying during the fireworks. You want the friend who will look at you at 10 a.m. and say yes, absolutely we need that pretzel right now.
The Cast of Characters
On any good girls trip, there is always at least one person quietly holding the entire operation together and one person pretending not to notice.
While I think we are all a bit of a mix, I can say with my full chest that if I had to pick, Arya is definitely the Logistics & Rope Drop arm of the friendship, while I bring the vibes.
The Logistics Queen
This friend has a spreadsheet. Actually, she has multiple spreadsheets linked together. She knows exactly where the nearest bathroom is in every land, and she knows that walking from Space Mountain to Pirates takes exactly 14 minutes if you walk at a brisk pace (looking at you, Arya).
We tease her, but we need her. Without her, we are wandering aimlessly in the sun, wondering why we can’t get a dinner reservation. If you are the “vibes” friend, buy this woman a drink. She is the reason you aren’t standing in a 90-minute line.
The Vibes Manager
She didn’t read the blog posts. She honestly forgets how Genie+ (or whatever they are calling it this week) works. But she knows when everyone needs to sit down.
She spots the empty table in the shade at Nomad Lounge. She reminds you to take a selfie because the lighting is hitting just right. She is the one who says, “Who cares about the wait time? Let’s just go get a Spicy Margarita in Mexico and people-watch.” She keeps the peace and ensures the blood sugar and alcohol levels stay stable.
The Rope Drop Warrior
This is the friend who is up at 6:00 a.m. with coffee in hand, ready to “conquer” the park. She is amazing for getting things done, but you have to watch her. If you are on a relaxed girls’ trip, she will run you into the ground by noon.
(If you are reading this and thinking “that’s me,” I promise I’m not judging. I just don’t want to wake up at 5:45 for every single day of a trip!)
If you have a Warrior in your group, you need to set boundaries early, or just agree to meet her at lunch after she’s ridden seven rides and you’ve had your beauty sleep
The Boring Logistics (That Will Save Your Sanity)
I know, I know. You want to talk about matching shirts and which ears you are buying. But we need to talk about the unsexy stuff for thirty seconds. Because nothing kills a magical buzz faster than arguing over a $14 Uber charge.
Get This App
Before you even get on the plane, download Splitwise. Here is the rule: If one person pays for it, it goes in Splitwise. The Uber? Splitwise. The grocery run for wine and cheese? Splitwise. The round of drinks at Oga’s Cantina? Splitwise. Stop trying to “remember” who paid for what. Stop passing the card back and forth. Let the robot do the math so you can focus on the fun.
The “My Disney Experience” Headache
You have to link your accounts. You have to be “Friends and Family” in the Disney app or you cannot book rides together. Do this at least two weeks before the trip. Do not do this at the park gate while people are shoving past you. It is a little glitchy. It is annoying. Do it from your couch with a glass of wine in hand.
Where to Have Your Adult Sleepover
If this is a girls trip, we want maximum convenience and minimum “school cafeteria” vibes. Here are our three picks for where to crash.
The “We Are Balling Out” Option: Disney’s Polynesian Village
You are on the monorail, which means no closing-time bus lines. You can grab ‘Ohana noodles at the Tambu Lounge without a reservation. And yes, the lobby smells like a specific mix of bamboo and aloe that you will want to bottle and take home. If you have the budget, this is the ultimate “we made it” vibe.
The “Classy but Reasonable” Option: Port Orleans French Quarter
This is my personal favorite for an adults-only trip. It’s the smallest resort on property (less walking to your room at night), and it has Scat Cat’s Club, where you can get boozy beignets and listen to live jazz. It feels like a boutique hotel in New Orleans, not a theme park dorm.
The “We Are Here to Party” Option: Pop Century
Listen, the rooms are small and you will be tripping over each other’s suitcases. But you are on the Skyliner. This means you are a ten-minute flight from EPCOT’s International Gateway (the “back door” of the park). If your main goal is drinking around the World Showcase, this is your strategic base camp.
The Bestie Survival Kit
If you want to win “Best Friend of the Year,” pack a little care package for your roomie. Hand it to her at the airport and watch her face light up.
- Liquid IV: Because Florida is hot and the margaritas are strong.
- The Good Blister Bandaids: Not the cheap ones. The gel ones.
- A Portable Fan: Because sweating is inevitable, but melting is optional.
- Earplugs: Because even soulmates snore sometimes.
Choose Your Fighter: The Itineraries
It is my experience that nearly every Disney Adult wakes up with one of two personalities:
One wants to rope drop Slinky Dog Dash at dawn to maximize the investment. The other wants to eat a Gideon’s cookie in bed and not speak to a human until 11 a.m.
Arya and I have done both. We have had trips where we tracked our steps in a spreadsheet, and we have had trips where our biggest accomplishment was trying three different margaritas at La Cava.
Both are valid. But you need to agree on the vibe before the alarm goes off.
Option 1: Rope Drop (AKA tour like Arya)
Best for: High-energy days when you want to feel superior to the crowds. Also best after you’ve had a good night’s sleep.
If my BFF Arya is leading the charge, this is what our morning looks like. It is aggressive. It is efficient. It is honestly a little scary. Here’s an example of what that might look like at Hollywood Studios:
- 6:30 AM: The alarm goes off. There is no snoozing. We are applying sunscreen in the dark.
- 7:00 AM: We are on the bus or the Skyliner. We are mobile ordering our Joffrey’s coffee while in transit so we don’t have to wait in line.
- 7:30 AM: We are through security. We are doing the “Disney Walk”, you know, that fast-paced weave where you dodge strollers and slow walkers with surgical precision.
- 10:00 AM: We have ridden Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog, and Toy Story Mania. We look at the 90-minute wait times building up behind us and high five.
- 11:00 AM: Cocktails and lunch!
The Reward: You have conquered the park. You head back to the hotel at 1:00 PM for a nap because you are an adult and your knees hurt.
Option 2: Late Start with Lightning Lanes (AKA Tour like Skye)
Best for: Days when you were at Trader Sams until midnight and just cannot deal with the sun yet.
This requires a different kind of strategy. We aren’t lazy; we are just smart. We use the “Stacking” method with Lightning Lanes (Multi Pass) to book rides for later in the day, while we enjoy a slow morning
- 9:00 AM: Wake up. Wander to the lobby or food court for coffee.
- 11:00 AM: We head to Disney Springs for brunch. Boathouse or Wine Bar George is usually the move here. Mimosas are not optional; they are required.
- 3:00 PM: We finally head to the park. The sun is starting to lower. The crowds are sweaty and tired, but we are fresh. We walk in and use the three Lightning Lanes we’ve been “stacking” on our phones all morning.
- 8:00 PM on: We close down the park while everyone else is fleeing toward the exit.
The Reward: You are not (as) sweaty. You are well-rested. You actually remember the conversations you had because you weren’t hyperventilating from power-walking.
How a Friend Day *Actually* Goes
If we are being honest, a Disney day follows a specific pattern.
You start out ambitious. You have cute outfits on. Your hair looks great. You have a list of five rides you are going to hit before lunch. You feel unstoppable.
By 1 p.m., the “Disney Humble” sets in. It is 94 degrees. Your cute shoes are betraying you. You realize you walked four miles before noon and you are technically dehydrated.
This is the make-or-break moment.
Novices push through and end up fighting. Pros (that’s you) stop. You find a dark, air-conditioned spot (American Adventure, anyone?), you chug a bottle of water, and you reset. Then, you head back out to the World Showcase, share a flight of margaritas, and laugh about how you thought you could wear heels to a theme park.
The Rules of Engagement
I want you to have the best time. I want you to come home with inside jokes that last for decades. So here are my non-negotiable rules for a girls trip.
1. Talk about the money first.
Do not make it weird. Just ask. Are we splitting meals? Are we doing the fancy sit-down dinners or are we grabbing quick service? Are we splurging on cocktails? Everyone has a different budget. Respect it. Talk about it before you are staring at a menu.
2. Normalize time apart.
You are grown women. You do not need to be tethered together. If one of you wants to sleep in and the other wants to go ride the roller coasters, do it. Meet up for lunch. It gives you something new to talk about.
3. Have a “tap out” phrase.
You need a code word. A safe word, if you will. Something that means I am overstimulated and if I do not get air conditioning and silence in the next five minutes I will lose my mind. When someone uses the code word, you stop. No questions asked. You find a dark ride or a quiet lounge and you reset.
4. Choose the friendship over the plan.
This is the big one. If you miss the fireworks because your friend is exhausted, let it go. If you don’t get on the new ride because you spent three hours talking over appetizers at a lounge, that is a win. The point of the trip is not to check boxes. The point is to be together.
Just Book the Trip
We spend so much of our lives waiting for the perfect time. We wait for work to calm down. We wait for the bank account to look better. We wait until we lose five pounds, which, realistically, is most definitely not happening before this trip.
Stop it.
Send the text. Call your person. Pick a weekend.
Life is heavy and hard and serious. Go somewhere where you can wear sparkly ears and eat food shaped like a mouse. Go somewhere where your biggest worry is which pavilion has the best margarita.
Go make some memories with your best friend. You both deserve it.