Some Call Us Disney Adults! Inside Our Perfect Child-Free Millennial Day at Disney

The term “Disney adults” has become popularized in recent years. The internet defines this title as an adult who loves Disney just as much as a child does. These individuals have a devout love for all things Disney and going to the Disney theme parks in particular. Disney adults are also known to collect Disney merchandise, enjoy Disney films, and above all, have a prideful passion for all things Disney.

The term “childless millennial” has also come to go hand-in-hand with the term Disney adult. This is a pretty self-explanatory term, referring to someone who fits into the millennial generation that has no children.

So, that brings us to how we spent an unforgettable day as childless millennial Disney adults at Walt Disney World. Keep reading for all the details!

Designing the Perfect Disney Adult Day at Disney

There's nothing like the freedom of a day at Walt Disney World free of nap schedules, unmet ride height requirements, and navigating a stroller through a crowd. That’s what you can expect out of a day as a childless millennial Disney adult at the Walt Disney World parks. But just because we enjoyed a day like this doesn’t mean it came without planning or foresight!

The truth is that there’s so much to do at Walt Disney World that appeals to adults, meaning we couldn't squeeze everything into one day. To make the most of the day, it was important to prioritize what we wanted to do and when we wanted to do it. Keep reading to learn everything we did for one of the best days ever at Walt Disney World!

Get Genie+ and Lightning Lanes

Right at 7:00 am, we're on our My Disney Experience apps to purchase Genie+ for the day and book our Lightning Lanes. My Disney Experience is the Walt Disney World app that acts as a central hub for your trip. There, you can look at attraction wait times, mobile order quick-service meals, view park maps, look up showtimes, and so much more. While Genie is the free service on the app to help you organize your day with things like dining and park reservations, Genie+ is the paid version that allows you to book “Lightning Lane” selections, where you skip the standard queue for rides and instead wait in a much shorter line. We almost always opt for this service in order to make the most of our park days, but you certainly don’t have to!

Each park offers Individual Lightning Lane for select attractions, which means you’ll have to pay an additional charge to skip that standard line for the highest-ticket rides. For this day in particular, we decide to grab Individual Lightning Lane entry for Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind so that we’ll have a chance to ride it when we park-hop to Epcot later in the day. We also grab a Slinky Dog Dash Lightning Lane (which is included with the purchase of Genie+) at Hollywood Studios for the first available time slot, which is starting at 9:00 am. We always try to log onto the app right at 7:00 am when they open up for the day to make these selections, as they’re in demand and can sell out quickly!

Early Morning Hotel Check-In

At the start of the day, my husband and I arrived really early and checked into our hotel! We live about an hour away from Disney World and decided to do a staycation so we could really get the most out of our trip. We stayed at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, which is located in the Epcot resort area. This is the area between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There are six hotels in this area: Boardwalk, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve.

READ MORE – Best Secret HACK to Beat the Long Dole Whip Lines at Magic Kingdom!

Although we knew we likely wouldn’t be able to get into our hotel room as early as 7:00 am, we wanted to drop off our bags before heading to the parks for the day. Being a hotel guest allows us the privilege of entering the parks a half hour earlier, which is key to beating the crowds at some of the high-ticket attractions. Every Disney resort hotel guest gets this benefit every day of their stay, and some participating Orlando area hotels offer the same benefit.

For our first park of the day, we have a reservation at Hollywood Studios. From the Epcot area hotels, you can take Disney buses pretty much anywhere, and you have the added benefit of being able to take the Disney FriendShip Boats from the Epcot area hotels to either Epcot or Hollywood Studios. Guests of these resorts can also walk to either of those parks.

On this day, we decide to save ourselves some steps and take the FriendShip boat from Boardwalk to Hollywood Studios. It’s such a tranquil experience hopping onboard the boat!

Rope Drop Hollywood Studios

Once we arrive at Hollywood Studios, it’s about 8:00 am. Perfect timing, since early entry admission begins at 8:30 am! Getting there 30 minutes before early entry begins can help expedite our entry and ensure we’re among some of the first people to get to the busiest attractions. We line up at the park entrance and get ready to head into the park as soon as they let us. Keep in mind that Cast Members will be checking for your valid Disney hotel reservation to ensure you have admission into the early park entry.

Head to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is one of the most in-demand rides, not only at Hollywood Studios but in all of Disney World right now. This is for good reason, as it’s an unbelievable and completely immersive attraction. So, upon entry into the park, we head right over to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and get in the standard queue for this ride. Since it’s first thing in the morning, the line isn’t bad at all and we only have to wait about 15 minutes. This is our only time riding Rise of the Resistance on this particular day—that’s because this is the one ride at Hollywood Studios that’s a paid Lightning Lane and we decided not to spring for it. Read our Hollywood Studios morning rope drop strategy for all the tips to follow!

Take on Toy Story Land

Next up, we are already over near Toy Story Land, so we decide to head over there. We have our first Lightning Lane at 9:00 am for Slinky Dog Dash, but since the line is light, we get in the standard queue to do it that way first. You can only use a Lightning Lane once a day per attraction and you can only make an additional Lightning Lane reservation for a different attraction after you use the first one or it’s been an excess of two hours since you last booked one. After going on Slinky Dog, we go on again using our Lightning Lane for an even shorter wait. After that, we do Toy Story Mania. While we’re in line for that, we make sure to grab our next Lightning Lane—a 9:45 am for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.

Fuel Up at Joffrey's

By this time, it’s still pretty early, but we’ve done a lot! That can only mean one thing: it’s time to fuel up with some caffeine. We head over to Joffrey’s, located right outside of Toy Story Land at Pixar Place. Nothing tastes better than a cold brew and a giant donut on a rope drop morning! See the best breakfast options at Hollywood Studios.

Work Our Way Through Hollywood Studios

After that, we work our way through Hollywood Studios, mostly utilizing Lightning Lane selections to skip any long lines. We ride Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster. We also see the Muppet Vision 3D show, which is a personal favorite.

Take a Break and Refresh

After we’ve done everything we wanted to at Hollywood Studios, it’s time for a break. Sure, we’re adults, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t get tired out! We take the FriendShip Boat back over to Disney's Boardwalk and are delighted that our room is ready! It’s the perfect time to unwind for a bit, charge our phones, and take a quick shower. Even an hour break makes a big difference!

Head Over to Trader Sam's Grog Grotto

By now, we’re hungry and ready to have some cocktails. So, we take a quick Uber over to one of our favorite bars, Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, located at the Polynesian resort.

We sit down and order some drinks and appetizers. My personal favorite drink there is Rosita's Margarita, but you really can’t go wrong! See some more of our favorite Disney World cocktails that you won't want to miss.

Monorail Over to Epcot

After we have a delicious meal, it’s time to take the monorail over to Epcot! Conveniently, you can grab the monorail from the Polynesian resort. As of right now, it’s still required to wait until 2:00 pm or later to park hop. However, starting January 9, 2024, visitors can park hop any time with a valid ticket.

Enjoy the Rides

Now that we’re at Epcot, it’s time to enjoy the rides! We do have a paid Lightning Lane for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, but before we head there, we have some time. We use Genie+ to book Lightning Lanes for other rides: Soarin’ Around the World (which is currently Soarin’ Over California in celebration of Disney’s 100-year anniversary), Test Track, Living With the Land, and Spaceship Earth. After that, we utilize our Guardians Lightning Lane.

From there, we head over to the World Showcase, which is the area of Epcot that features individual pavilions representing 11 different countries. Here, we do the rides that are located in this part of the park: Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After.

Drink Around the World

Now’s my favorite part of the day: drinking around the world! This is the term used to describe the activity of traveling around Epcot’s World Showcase, indulging in a drink from every country. While we didn’t get a drink in every country on this trip, we did get our favorites. My top pick is always the Grand Marnier Orange Slush from the France pavilion. Some other favorites are the Tennessee Lemonade from the America pavilion, the Schöfferhofer Pink Grapefruit Hefeweizen in Germany, and the Swirl Frozen Sangria in Italy.

This is up to personal taste, and there’s so much to sip on. By the end of our journey, I was feeling great! We take a few hours to really enjoy this time and, of course, indulge in some snacks as we’re making our way around, too.

Head to Our Dinner Reservation and Watch the Fireworks

To end our day in Epcot, we head to our dinner reservation at Spice Road Table. This is one of our favorite spots to dine here, mostly because it presents the perfect place to watch the fireworks! The current fireworks show, Epcot Forever, starts at 9:30 pm this evening. We watch it from our table, and it's the perfect way to end to the night!

End the Day at the Hotel

From there, we take the FriendShip Boat one last time back to Boardwalk. We’re tired but very happy! It was the perfect day at two of the parks enjoying many rides and indulging in all the food and drink our hearts desired!

The best part? As proud Disney adults, we get to do it all again the next time we visit!

READ MORE – Are You a Disney Snob? 9 Red Flags to Spot

There are several little luxuries and conveniences you can opt to spend money on that can elevate your Disney vacation, but if you find that you'll settle for nothing less than these things, you may be a “Disney snob.” See the 9 red flags to spot that may indicate you're a Disney snob! 

Disney Employees Immediately Know You're a Rookie When You Make These Mistakes

It's easy to make some rookie mistakes that can put a damper on the magic during your time at the parks. Learn the top mistakes you need to avoid during your next Disney trip!

These 15 Disneyland Secrets Have Been Kept Quiet For Years

There are countless secrets and stories about Disneyland that will change the way you look at the park. Read about the most shocking ones in our list of 15 incredible Disneyland secrets!