Girls Trip 2005!

[Amirah95]

My best friend is planning and PAYING for a Girls Only Disney Trip for October 2005 for 7 nights and I told her that I am "so there"!!! It will be myself (41), my sister (35), my best friend (41), her sister (45) and my other best friend (41) and her sister (37). There will only be six of us going so she is planning on booking three rooms at one of the Disney hotels. She knows I'm the planning nut for all of our trips near and far but she wants to give it a Disney try this time (with a little help from me). She asked me which hotel will be the best for six female adults and I have no clue because my first time on-site will be at the Poly in Sept. 2005 with my family.

I told her that we are definitely doing MK, AK and Epcot but we will only be doing the parks on three of the seven days and only staying half days. The group expressed that they want to see what Disney has to offer other than just the amusement parks so we will want to take advantage of the spa at GF, do a few tours and whatever else she digs up in her research.

Note: Only my sister and I have been to Disney World numerous times with our children so we have no clue what adults do and the rest have never been (one set of sisters is coming from Florence, Italy and the other set from London).

1. Can you guys recommend a few hotels for us on-site and why it will be good for a group like us to stay there?

2. Also, I've never been to PI either and I was wondering which places it is best to go for our age group. If not, we'll just skip it and go to the House of Blues.

3. I also need to know which restaurants will suit us if we decide to dine at Epcot with an adult type atmosphere. We all agreed we don't want to do Mexico or Germany.

We love to site see and most of the group loves coasters. Any info will be appreciated. I'm psyched!

 

[monte]

Wow, you have a great friend to be flipping the bill Hubby and I stayed at the Yacht Club and loved it....very classy and quiet and it's w/in walking distance to Epcot, which is nice. Have you all thought about parasailing while you're there? You could also rent a pontoon boat, or do alittle water skiing. As far as restaurants go we loved Beirgarden, Marakesh (sp), The Brown Derby and Cape May has a nice breakfast buffet. Whatever you decide to do I'm sure you will have a wonderful time. I'm so jealous

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

If you like coasters why skip MGM? Also...as an adult I find doing a split decision to be the best way to go. Go to AK, MGM and MK for three or four hours up until lunch time and EPCOT on two nights. You can do all four parks easily in 3 days this way. Also...you didn't say what time in October. Oct/Nov is Food & Wine (great for adults!) and Mickey's Not So Scarey Halloween Party. MNSSHP is an extra a ticket and you can pass on it if you want. Food & Wine is worth checking out...plenty of adult things to do then. Focusing on the shows is worth doing too. I'd probably do the third evening at MGM.

The Adventurers Club and the Comedy Club are worth doing one night at PI...I'm not sure about the dance clubs...people say Thursdays are the nights to go.

Adult dining places in EPCOT...Canada, Japan, France, Morocco. One of my favorites during F&W is the outdoor carts in the World Showcase...you can eat and drink your way around the world...starting at Canada since the most potent alcohol is on that side of the "world". Each country has a cart that has a sample size plate of native foods...including Florida as a country. Some have native drinks as well.

None amusement park stuff...spas, mouseboats, golf, tennis, biking, parasailing, the Richard Petty Driving Experience (is that still there?).

Best Hotel for Adults...I'd pick the Beach Club Villas or Y&B. Nice pool, nice walking area...plenty of good hotels with bars and restaurants and evening entertainment. Wonderful atmosphere. The reason I'd pick Y&B/BCV is because of the pool and the proximity to EPCOT. I'd pick Boardwalk/BWV or the Swan/Dolphin for proximity to MGM and the same atmosphere. Failing that I'd probably try Saratoga Springs...very close to Downtown Disney. The advantage of using DVC units is you get a small apartment to work with.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

I would check into renting points from a DVC member.OKW 2 bedroom would be 232 points for a week in October.You can find someone to rent you points for 10.00 a piece,you may luck up and find them for 9.00,so at 10.00 a point that would be 2320.00.OKW 2 bedrooms are huge,there is the master bedrrom which has a king bed and the second bedroom has 2 quen beds and then the living room has a pullout sofa,the kitchen is big and then you have 2 bathrooms.You could also see if there is somone out there that has BWV points that can book for you now and try to get a standard view 2 bedroom and its 236 points.I Love both resorts and you cannot go wrong.But if you are interested in BWV then you need to book now as the standard view go very fast and they may already be gone.

OKW 2 bedroom is 1410 sq ft,and BWV 2 bedroom is 1071 sq ft.
Misty

 

[Amirah95]

If BCYC is a villa then she doesn't want that. She said that she doesn't want a stove or microwave anywhere where we're staying. It reminds her of being home (and she has a maid --GO FIGURE!). I think that doing the DVC points is a good idea because it will save her money and we all get to stay in the same apartment, but she doesn't want any parts of that. I think the suggestions I got from the boards are Swan/Dolphin, BC, Yacht Club, and OKW. We were on the phone and online together and she pointed out that maybe one of the Deluxe hotels will be best for us since the Spa is there. She said she wants conceirge if possible and all rooms need two queen sized beds with a great view. I am confused now because I have no idea which hotel has what view. She is well off (I wish I was) so flipping the bill for her isn't a problem.

With my own family we would skip Epcot and do MGM, but I'm travelling with a bunch of college professors (eeek I'm a professor too) and they want to do Epcot because it's more "interesting" than MGM. The majority of the group has a thing for animals (I do too but it's not on my list of priorities). My sister and I are thinking about leaving the group for a morning on one of the off days to do MGM on our own.

I think that the Adventurer's Club will suit us best because nightclubs are way out of our league. We also want to do a Sunday gospel brunch at the House of Blues. And yes, we will be there for F&W Festival. I wrote down all of your dining suggestions. We still have a lot of work to do.

 

[Princess Tess]

A friend of mine and myself just booked a long weekend in April for a "girl's only" trip. We wanted to plan one big one trip with all our GF's since we are all hitting the big 40 this year but believe it or not many of my friends are just starting thier families now!
I am very interested to hear what others have to recommend as well. I am going to check out the House of Blues brunch, that is one thing we definately want to do in an adult atmosphere. We are staying at SSR mostly because the things we want to do invlove DD and thier Spa. We don't plan to attend any parks.
The only thing I can offer you as a suggestion is that even tho' your friend doesn't want to see a kitchen the DVC rooms offer something that the hotels can't....relaxing as a group....morning coffee or latenight chats...I don't care how old we are, we're still girls! If you are in a hotel room and you all want to sit around and just talk it's not nearly as comfortable sitting on the beds and whatnot. Having said that I have no idea what your lifestlyle is like and whether or not it would matter to you.
The F&W Festival is a great time and in my opinion if you want to take in some of the Chef demos and such a 2 time trip.
Good Luck,
Terry

 

[spiceycat]

how about the Polyn or AKL?

especially if she wants conceirge.

why the Polyn - a lagoon view looks out over seven seas lagoon where the MK is.

why AKL - you can look out your window in the morning and have a giraffe looking back....

I would go with a 2-bedroom at BWV or BCV - since then you could easily walk to Epcot.

OKW is a wonderful resort (my home) - but for first timers it is far away.

tell her not to worry about the appliances - they are just decorations - or so several other DVC members have told me.....

here are some pictures and reviews of all the WDW resorts
http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_hot.htm

here is Doc's site on DVC resorts
http://www.homestead.com/disneydoc/

boy you have a great friend!!! tell us what she decides!

 

[spiceycat]

the link tells about the conceirge

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=679928

 

[k-wa]

My friends and I are celebrating our 30th birthdays at Disney World. Only three out of the eight women have been there before. All are excited about our trip but a few are a bit apprehensive about all the kids. I know they'll have a great time though.

Anyway, we are staying in a two-bedroom at Saratoga Springs. You can cook as much -- or as little -- as you want in a villa. Don't forget the other amenities you get: a living area, wine glasses/opener, a refrigerator, a washer/dryer, a whirlpool tub in the master bedroom. Also, there is a spa at Saratoga.

As far as restaurants go, I KNOW we'll hit Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It has unusual, gourmet dishes fit for carnivores AND vegetarians alike. Plus, it has a spectacular wine list. I think we'll also go to Citricos or the California Grill at the Grand Floridian for similar reasons.

Happy girl trip!

 

[Tinks]

I am trying to plan a smaller but similiar trip for 2006. I've been thinking and researching resorts. I think I would chose the Boardwalk Inn deluxe concierge for your party, although if you are getting 3 rooms you may not need the extra space that the "deluxe" room gives you. BWI is close to EPCOT and MGM (walking to both) and is right on the boardwalk!(lots of good restaurants and entertainment.)

My other choice would be GF concierge. I'm thinking about this one, too, because it is right there by the spa.

Hmmmmm...choices..choices! Have fun! What a treat!

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

If you really don't want to stay in the 2 bedroom DVC units because of phobia of kitchen appliances, and if money really is no object, then definitely get one of the 2 bedroom concierge suites at the Poly.

Something about that castle view...but then make sure it DOES have a castle view.

Dining: Victoria and Alberts for expensive luxury, California Grill for a great view of WIshes and the food is tasty and beautiful to look at to boot.

I think you should all do a character meal for fun...maybe Cinderella's castle since you are all princesses or princess wannabees.

If you only do parks half days, you might miss:
Wishes at MK
Fantasmic at MGM (tho it isn't as good as it was nor as good as Disneyland version is (unless they messed with that too)
and Illuminations....all are at night.
You might find that if you do early morning and then break for swimming/sunning/lookylooing in the afternoon, that you actually want to go back into the parks at night for a while.

You will have an awful lot of fun....I wanna go too!
Colorado Belle (newly single, empty nester and not loving it)

 

[Amirah95]

An update!!! My friend chose GF w/ concierge services and has already began working on our itinerary. So far she says she has all of our days planned out. We will be getting there on a Saturday and Wednesday will be a day for us to do anything we want (my sister and I can go to MGM on this day and also see Fanstasmic--woot!).

She also said that she wants to see fireworks so I told her to work in Wishes on MK day. She said she has already chosen most of the places to eat and that Princess Character meal, ColoradoBelle suggested, is not a bad idea. I'll run that by her...most likely she'll jump at the idea. We are not dong Vicky and Al's. I'm very excited that there will be no kitchen and that I won't have to budget to eat. Well, I may have to budget my snack money and for my souveniers.

She's doing a good job thus far. We are going to use a car service to get us there and use Disney transportation (I've heard horror stories as well as good ones).

Disney without the kids! I cringe when I say that. I hope to have a blast. Thank you for all of your ideas and advice.