Anyone that knows me can tell you that I love all things, Disney. As a very girly little girl, I loved princesses. Dressing up as Cinderella for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom is possibly my favorite childhood memory. When my husband and I got engaged there was only one place I could imagine having my bachelorette party, Walt Disney World. Disney World makes a wonderful destination for a bachelorette weekend. There is an abundance of things to do, more restaurants than you can count and if you haven’t been since you’ve been a child, you might be surprised to know there is plenty of nightlife.
After hours of planning, research and Disney knowledge from many previous trips, my bridesmaids threw me a bachelorette weekend made of magic. Here are my tips and tricks to have a magical bachelorette weekend that you and your friends will remember for a lifetime! Whether you want to bar crawl around the world, a family-friendly day at the parks, or (like me) a combination of the two, Disney can be a perfect bachelorette party.
1. Go During “Off Season”
The timing of when you go can make or break your trip. If you have 6 or more ladies, trying to get fast passes, dinner reservations, and even accommodations will be a nightmare if you go during peak season. We went in early fall, but fall has now kind of become a second busy season with the Food & Wine Festival and Halloween parties, so I would recommend January or February. Avoid going during holiday weekends, race weekends, spring break, and summer if you can.
2. Stay Onsite
If you have a large group, you are going to want some room to spread out. An onsite resort villa will give you the option to have a kitchen, laundry, and more than one bathroom. This can be a huge life saver and you can split the cost. Also, having a kitchen allows you to cook breakfast, pack lunches or snacks, and have drinks without paying the price in the parks. If you have a very large group, 9 people or more, you will likely need to get more than one room or villa. There are few bigger villas on property, but they book up very quickly and come with a premium price tag.
Even if you need to split up into multiple rooms, I still suggest staying onsite. Staying onsite gives you free access to transportation which is a huge draw for me, especially with a large group! Some of the Deluxe resorts even have rooms that sleep 5, so if you have a group of 5 or 10 it may be worth it to stay Deluxe and trust me they are amazing if you plan the budget for it!
If you’re staying offsite you will need to find transportation and I highly suggest renting a car. However, then one person needs to be responsible for driving. If you don’t want that option you can split up and take taxis, Uber, and some resorts even offer shuttles to Disney.
3. Plan One or Two Park Days
This can help offset the cost of going to Disney, but you don’t want to pack too much if you are doing a weekend either. If you are planning for just a weekend visit, spend one night out at Disney Springs, one or two days in the parks and one pool/chill day. This way you get to spend a good time with your friends as well as going to Disney. Get park hoppers so you can visit more than one park or make the Magic Kingdom or Epcot your only park. The Magic Kingdom has the most rides, but at Epcot, you can eat and drink around the world. We ate at Disney Springs on Friday night, ate around the world on Saturday and cooked dinner in our villas Sunday. This gave us something different every day and plenty of time together. Our actual itinerary is at the bottom of this post!
If you want more park time, arrive early or stay late! I arrived in Florida earlier and stayed after everyone else left with my maid of honor and one other friend. We gave everyone the option on how many days they wanted to come so those that wanted to spend extra time at Disney and in parks could. The rest of the attendees arrived Friday and left late Sunday or first thing Monday morning. I am not saying you shouldn’t do 4-5 day or longer trip with multiple park days, if your group has the time and budget GO FOR IT!
4. Pack Bachelorette Party Swag
One of the fun parts of a bachelorette is getting to play dress up! At Disney, there are so many groups with matching shirts and many bachelorette parties join in the fun! There is no limit to the bachelorette swag you can find online or even make your own! My bridesmaids did an amazing job with the swag. Here is a list of the swag we had!
o Personalized Tanks
o Team Bride Buttons
o Temporary Tattoos
o Photo Booth, with props
o Personalized Tumblers
o Drink Tutus
o Bachelorette Sash
o Bridal Mini Ears
o Mini Tiaras
4. Decorate the Rooms
Even though you are at Disney, you can still decorate your villas or rooms a little for extra fun. My bridal party decorated our villa with a fun Team Bride theme and we even had a photo wall with props! It was so much fun taking photos before and after going to the parks. We also had team bride drinking cups, team bride straws, etc. for Sunday when we stayed at the villa. My bridesmaids saved all the decorations and brought them to decorate their hotel room at my wedding, which was the room I was going to get ready in.
5. Emergency Kits, Water & Starbucks Will Save You
Give each attendee an emergency kit as a gift with things like pain medicine, band-aids, emergency supplies, Gatorade packets, water, etc. This will actually be more like necessities. Have a least one or two girls take in a bag or small drawstring backpack to have extra supplies during your time in the park, a water bottle or two & EXTRA CELL POWER CORDS. You can get free cups of the water at any quick service restaurant.
Learn where coffee can be purchased in your resort and inside the parks. Stop here first before going to any rides! This will help keep everyone happy early in the morning. Plus, the bride might get a special message from a Disney cast member written on her cup if they notice all the swag!
6. Book Restaurants In Advance
If you have ever gone to Disney, you likely already know that you need to book everything early. This is even more important if you have a large group. We went to Disney Springs on Friday night. Since it’s outside the parks, it can be easier to get reservations for large groups. It’s also great to walk around, shop, or try out different bars. If you are staying offsite, it is free to park at Disney Springs and easy to get a taxi to/from. Epcot restaurants also typically have availability and they are all amazing. I highly recommend eating in Italy or France. If you can’t get reservations, eat around the world!
7. Everyone Needs a Disney Account and App
This goes along with my last point, but the My Disney Experience App will allow you to view real-time wait times, dinner reservations, interactive park maps, park times and more. You can link each one of the people in your group to each other’s account. Assign one person to be in control all of the fast passes, reservations, etc. to make it easier on the group, but everyone else will want to have the app to refer too. The app drains phone power quickly, so you will want to have extra power cords. There are multiple places to charge your phone at Disney, near the Rapunzel bathroom in the Magic Kingdom happens to be my go-to.
8. Eating/Drinking Around The World
One of my favorite things to do at Disney World, especially during any of the Epcot festivals, is to eat and/or drink around the world. If you are park hopping go to Epcot last to start the night off! Even if you aren’t drinking, you can have a feast and an amazing time. Epcot is host to the World Showcase, which has a pavilion from eleven countries and during any of the Epcot festivals there is even more. This means you can try different food items and beverages from a host of different countries all in one day! If you plan to drink around the world, be careful. Don’t eat AND drink in EVERY location. Instead, pick a few and have fun. Here are some of my favorites by items country:
o Mexico – Tacos / Avocado Margarita (Margarita from La Cava del Tequila inside the ruin)
o Norway – School Bread / Carlsberg
o China – Pot Stickers / Plum Wine
o Germany – Giant Pretzel / Warsteiner Dunkel
o Italy – Cannoli / Bellini
o The United States – Funnel Cake / one of the craft beers
o Japan – Sushi / Sparkling Sake
o Morocco – Baklava / Casa
o France – Any of the Tartes / Grand Marnier Slush
o United Kingdom – Fish & Chips / Black & Tan
o Canada – Maple Popcorn / La Fin du Monde
9. Plan For Transportation Time
It can take a lot longer than you think to get buses, shuttles, walking, waiting, traffic and even getting ready with a large group. Plan ahead and schedule in extra wait time. I would suggest you arrange for the early riser in your group to make sure everyone is awake and getting ready over an hour before you are supposed to be somewhere. The last thing you want during a bachelorette party is missing reservations.
10. Don’t Forget the Dueling Piano Bar
Disney has a hidden secret, well it’s really not a secret, but not enough people know about it. If you have ever stayed on the Disney Boardwalk you are probably well aware there are multiple restaurants, an ESPN Club and a wonderful Dueling Piano Bar, Jellyrolls within a short walk from the Epcot World Showcase gates. The piano bar can be hit or miss, but it’s always a good time on a Saturday night. Slightly overpriced and heavy poured drinks, this bar is your classic dueling piano bar that bachelor and bachelorette parties have always loved. The piano bar is the perfect spot to end a Saturday night during a bachelorette party, The musicians are sure to have your group singing along to your favorite songs at the tops of your lungs. Tip: If you stay until the last song, they may even take a photo with you on stage!
Our Bachelorette Party Weekend Itinerary
Friday
After you get settled in your room, take a thousand pictures and get all dolled up, head to dinner in Disney Springs. Great restaurants many of which have live music and amazing menus makes this a perfect first spot on a Bachelorette Weekend. After dinner, head to another bar like Wine Bar George or Hangar Bar or visit some shops, but make sure to get to bed semi-early for the park day!
Saturday
This was our park day! Purchase Park Hopper tickets and start with a coffee at the Magic Kingdom. Head to either Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, and Peter Pan’s Flight first or grab a Lightening Lane. After your castle picture and possibly a few more rides head to Hollywood Studios for lunch, Slinky Dog Dash, Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Tower Of Tower and don’t forget to check out Galaxy’s Edge if you have time. The Frozen Sing-Along is also fun for a group of ladies! For your final park hop head to Epcot to eat and drink around the World Showcase and amazing fireworks. End the night on the Disney Boardwalk at the Dueling Piano Bar.
You can mix this up if you want to do Animal Kingdom or do two park days with two parks each day. I like a Magic Kingdom/Epcot Combo and Animal Kingdom/Hollywood Studios combo personally. If you do Animal Kingdom make sure to check out Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest and Flight of Passage.
Sunday
Sunday morning, you will likely be tired. Head to the pool after a large delicious brunch. There are tons of brunch options at the Disney resorts or around Orlando. On Disney property, I recommend the Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast a character breakfast at Trattoria Al Forno at Disney’s BoardWalk. It is so sweet for the bride to be to get some marriage advice from Rapunzel and Flynn Rider or Ariel and Price Eric and fun for the entire group. After brunch, relax at the pool or resort, make or eat dinner at your resort and play bachelorette party games in your room as you reminisce about the fun weekend you’ve had!
If You Plan to Stay and Eat On Disney Property These Are My Favorites!
Fun Disney Resorts
Budget:
Art of Animation – get a Finding Nemo or Lion King family suite that sleep 6!
Pop Century – newly remodels rooms with one queen and one Queen Murphy Bed
Moderate:
Coronado Springs – largest Hot Tub and brand new Tower section
Port Orleans Riverside – ferry to Disney Springs, ask for a Royal room for a true Princess feel
Luxury:
The Grand Floridian – the very girly and gorgeous hotel with a monorail to Magic Kingdom & Epcot
Animal Kingdom Lodge – get a Savannah view and see animals outside your window
Yacht & Beach Club – very beach spa feel and walking distance to Epcot
BoardWalk Inn – throwback Atlantic City theme with bars and restaurants right below your room
You can get a studio, one or two bedroom villa at any of the Luxury resorts mentioned above!
Restaurants great for a group
Budget:
Liberty Tree Tavern – Magic Kingdom
Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria – Epcot (get a few pizzas to share!)
Raglan Road – Disney Springs
The Rose & Crown Pub – Epcot
Teppan Edo – Epcot
Moderate:
Be Our Guest Restaurant- Magic Kingdom (breakfast & lunch are Quick Service Dining)
Chefs De France – Epcot
Sanaa – Animal Kingdom Kidani Village
Tusker House Restaurant – Animal Kingdom
‘Ohana – Polynesian
Chef Art Smith’s Homecoming – Disney Springs
$$$$:
Le Cellier Steakhouse – Epcot
Cinderella’s Royal Table – Magic Kingdom
Yachtsman Steakhouse – Yacht Club
Morimoto Asia – Disney Springs
STK Orlando – Disney Springs
The Boathouse – Disney Springs
