The #1 request I get is for info on things to do at Disney World for adults. I'm in the middle of planning my own adults-only trip and I've got some ideas for you on when to go, where to stay and things to do during an adults-only Disney World trip.

I also have a tip on when to book your trip and how to apply discounts to your reservation.

These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.

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6 STEPS FOR PLANNING AN ADULT TRIP

Following my 6 step planning process, here are my ideas for planning a trip for adults.

Step 1: When to go
I suggest late April/early May or September/October for a trip. The crowds are light, the temps are warm enough to enjoy the swimming pool and there are special events happening at Epcot during those times. For more info on when to go, see my chart.

Step 2: Where to stay
I have a few ideas for where to stay on-site for adults.

• The Boardwalk area - The Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk Inn, Swan and Dolphin are all located within the Boardwalk area and walking distance to Epcot
• Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are both beautiful resorts with boats that go to Downtown Disney
• Animal Kingdom Lodge is a gorgeous resort and a good option for people who like to get away from the hustle and bustle

Step 3: Make your daily plan
When making your daily plan and deciding how to divide up your time, I suggest spending more time at Epcot, Downtown Disney, on the Boardwalk, playing a round of mini golf and fitting in a tour (such as the Backstage Safari Tour, Segway tour at Ft. Wilderness or 1 of the holiday tours).

Step 4: Pick your dining options
Consider choosing 1 of the finer dining options such as Victoria and Albert's, California Grill, Artist Point, Jiko, Flying Fish or Yachtsman Steakhouse.

Step 5: Plan park touring
My general touring plans should work for most adults as they include all of the highlights of all of the parks, including the thrillers.

Step 6: Add extra magic
Consider adding some extra touches such as having Disney Florist deliver flowers to the room (or decorate the room) or book a fireworks cruise to view Wishes or Illuminations.

QUICK TIP OF THE DAY

You can book your Disney World trip way before discounts are announced. People using a Disney agent (if you submit a request through this site, it'll go straight to my recommended agent) or calling Disney can book up to 500 days in advance and then when discounts are announced, you can have the discount applied to your existing reservation.

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Will you be taking an adults-only trip to Disney World? Do you have questions or suggestions on planning your trip?

Please feel free to share them in the comments.

People visiting Orlando for a Disney World trip might want to also spend some time at Universal.

Today, I have some information on Universal and my tips on adding it to your Disney World trip.

I also have a quick tip about how to easily rent a car to use for the day when staying at an on-site Disney resort.

These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.

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LINK TO RECENT POST MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Disney World park ticket comparison chart

ABOUT UNIVERSAL

Universal is made up of 2 parks (Islands of Adventure and Universal), a shopping area (CityWalk) and 3 on-site resorts (soon to be 4).

People who stay in 1 of the 3 on-site resorts get special perks:

• Unlimited Express Passes
• On-site transportation
• Early admission to Wizarding World of Harry Potter (located at Islands of Adventure)
• Priority seating at restaurants
• Room charge and package delivery privileges

Express Passes work kind of like FastPasses in that they allow you to enter a separate line. However, you get to enter the line immediately (as opposed to coming back during a 1 hour time frame) and there's no limit to how many you can have in 1 day. Off-site guests can pay to purchase the Express Passes. (Note: although most attractions offer Express Passes, Wizarding World of Harry Potter doesn't.)

To add Universal to a Disney World trip, I suggest spending 2 days there before your time at Disney World. We got through each park in just 1/2 day so ambitious people might be able to do both in the same day.

I don't suggest people with little kids or issues with motion sickness visit Universal because there aren't enough attractions for each to enjoy.

You can purchase tickets that include transportation from Disney World if you'd like.

You can review my post about Universal for more info, including touring plans to use in each park.

QUICK TIP OF THE DAY

You can rent a car when staying at an on-site Disney World resort which can be helpful when spending some time at places outside of Disney World (like Universal, the beach, etc.).

Alamo and National have offices at the on-site Disney World Car Care Center. They will send a shuttle to your Disney World resort to take you to get your car. The number for the Car Care Center is 407-824-3470.

Be sure to check out the rental car info on Mousesavers.com for more info on renting a car, including ways to find the best deals.

SUBSCRIBE TO GET NEW EPISODES

There are a few ways to get new episodes of WDW Prep To Go.

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Will you be adding Universal to your trip? Or do you have questions?

Please feel free to share them in the comments.

(Info last updated: October 3, 2015)

Today, I have 5 secret Disney World tips that you might not know.

After hearing each one, you'll have to decide if they make sense for you.

I also have a quick tip of the day regarding what time of day you can make FastPass+ reservations.

These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.

BECOME A WDW PREP TO GO PATRON

WDW Prep To Go Patrons pay a little to unlock even more content than what’s on the main podcast feed, such as a private FB Group and exclusive audio that’s released on a private podcast feed.
 
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LINK TO RECENT POSTS

Guide to Disney World discounts - https://wdwprepschool.com/guide-to-disney-world-discounts/

5 SECRET TIPS

Many of these fall into a grey area where some people may decide that they are ethical and others will decide that they aren't. Disney allows all of these things so decide for yourself if they make sense for you.

1. Quick Service credits aren't divided between adults and kids
Although Table Service credits are split between kids and adults, Quick Service credits aren't. That means that you can order adult meals at Quick Service restaurants for your children.

2. Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom has its own entrance
There's a gift shop inside Rainforest Cafe that has its own entrance into Animal Kingdom. If the main gates seem busy, you can check out the Rainforest Cafe entrance to see if it's less crowded.

(Updated 2/3/2015: this is no longer available)
3. You can get a FastPass+ reservation at Be Our Guest even if you aren't invited
Disney has a FastPass+ to eat lunch at Be Our Guest but they will tell you that it's by invitation only. The fact is that it's available to anybody.

You can get the reservation by visiting https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/. You will need your 12-digit numeric confirmation number (not the alphanumeric confirmation number) which can be found in your My Disney Experience account before MagicBands ship, on Magical Express luggage tags and in some emails that Disney sends.

These open up about a month beforehand so reservations for March will open up in mid-February.

4. Off-site guests can make on-site reservations to take advantage of some perks
People staying off-site often want to take advantage of on-site benefits such as Extra Magic Hours or being able to make FastPass+ reservations 60 days in advance. One way to do that is with a reservation for a campsite at Ft. Wilderness. The reservation works for up to 9 people.

People who stay at Ft. Wilderness are not a fan of these "phantom bookings" but other people will argue that when you pay for the spot, it's up to you how you use it.

5. Valet for $25/day at any Deluxe Resort (Updated 10/3/2015 - valet prices changed)
All Disney World Deluxe Resorts have valet parking available for $25/day. The non-valet parking has a limit of about 3 hours. This is especially convenient if you have a breakfast reservation at a resort and want to keep your car there as opposed to re-parking in another parking lot.

As long as you have your valet tag or receipt, you can valet anywhere on-site all day without paying any extra (though you should tip at each location).

Note: in the podcast, I said that on-site guests get free parking for up to 3 hours. I should have clarified that I meant when parking at other resorts. On-site guests using the general parking at the theme parks can park there all day.

QUICK TIP OF THE DAY

When making FastPass+ reservations 60 days in advance, you can begin at midnight eastern time (Updated May 19, 2016: it's now 7 a.m. eastern time). This is different than dining reservations which begin at 6 a.m. eastern time 180 days in advance.

SUBSCRIBE TO GET NEW EPISODES

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Photo credit

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Questions or other tips to share?

Please feel free to share them in the comments.

There are a couple dozen on-site resorts at Disney World. I often share matter-of-fact info on each but today, I'm telling you my favorites in each category.

I also have a quick tip about how to get Disney Dollars before your trip.

These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.

BECOME A WDW PREP TO GO PATRON

WDW Prep To Go Patrons pay a little to unlock even more content than what’s on the main podcast feed, such as a private FB Group and exclusive audio that’s released on a private podcast feed.
 
Become a Patron Now

LINKS TO RECENT POSTS

Thank you notes for Cast Members
The WDW Prep Quick Guide eBook plus bonus materials

MY FAVORITE DISNEY WORLD RESORTS

All of the resorts are listed in the Pros and Cons of every Disney World resort post but here are my favorites in each category:

Value Resorts
My favorite Value Resorts are Pop Century and Art of Animation. Both have direct buses between the resorts and parks which makes them more convenient than any of the All-Star resorts.

Pop Century is often the least expensive option on-site. Art of Animation has suites for families of up to 6 that include 3 beds, 2 bathrooms and a kitchenette. The non-suite rooms in the Little Mermaid section are usually excluded from promotions.

I recommend booking a Preferred room at Pop Century to be closer to the main building. At Art of Animation, I recommend requesting a room close to the main building because Preferred rooms aren't available.

Moderate Resorts
Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are sister resorts that are within walking distance of each other. Both are beautifully themed and complement each other nicely where the shortcomings of one are strengths of the other.

For instance, the transportation at Port Orleans Riverside is often not great but guests can use the Port Orleans French Quarter transportation instead. Another example is that Port Orleans French Quarter doesn't have as many amenities because it's a small resort but guests can walk over to Port Orleans Riverside to take advantages of things like an on-site restaurant there.

I recommend getting a Preferred room at Port Orleans Riverside to be closer to the main building. Port Orleans French Quarter is small enough that Preferred rooms aren't available or necessary.

Deluxe Resorts
My favorite Deluxe Resorts are The Polynesian and The Beach Club. Both are beach-themed, have convenient access to 2 of the 4 parks, have great on-site restaurants and easy access to nearby resorts.

People wanting to be closer to Magic Kingdom should choose The Polynesian. People who want easy access to Epcot should choose The Beach Club.

The Polynesian has some construction going on this year so I wouldn't advise it for 2014.

Disney Vacation Club resort
Most of the Disney Vacation Club properties are attached to Deluxe Resorts but I wanted to mention Old Key West as a standalone DVC property that has studios with more square footage and 2 queen beds instead of a queen bed and a sofa bed.

To learn how to rent DVC points, check out my article on how that works.

QUICK TIP OF THE DAY

Disney Dollars is paper money that works like gift cards and used to be more widely available but now they're only available in the theme parks or you can get them by calling 407-566-4985, press option 2 and then option 3.

These are especially convenient if you plan to play Tinker Bell during your trip. As of mid-May 2016, these have been discontinued.

SUBSCRIBE TO GET NEW EPISODES

There are a few ways to get new episodes of WDW Prep To Go.

• Subscribe in iTunes (and please leave a review!)
• Subscribe to the feed
• Listen on Stitcher

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Questions or other thoughts on the best place to say on-site?

Please feel free to share them in the comments.