I took my children (then aged 6 and 8) to Disney World, Florida, in 2017. We had an amazing time, came back with some fantastic memories. But it left me wanting to go back without them! Not because I hate them! But because I wanted to take my time and absorb the details. That is what Disney is about – attention to detail. When you are walking around the parks the details are unbelievable, but children don’t want to hang around and take in the details, they want to race to the next ride or character meet and greet, or go back to the hotel and swim in the pool. A few months later, when I was thinking about what to do for my 40th birthday the following year, I decided that what I really wanted was an adults-only trip back to Walt Disney World! And that’s what we did…

We stayed at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort French Quarter (which we stayed at in 2017 with the children). The atmosphere here is relaxed and laid back, and it is themed just like New Orleans French Quarter. There is a large swimming pool with a slide for the kids, a splash pad, plenty of sun beds, and a pool bar. Resort amenities include a food court, gift shop, lounge bar, laundry facilities and an arcade. They also have movies at night on the lawn with a campfire and you can toast marshmallows. This resort is the smallest Disney property which is why we prefer it. Your room is never too far away from anything and there is only one bus stop, meaning you usually don’t have to stop anywhere else to pick up or drop off guests. It is also well located, so most parks are within a 20-minute bus trip.

As we were there without the children, we only had 6 nights. Was it relaxing? No. But because we only had to worry about ourselves, we were able to get up and out in reasonable time, and we could do whatever we felt like!

Day 1: we got an Uber to Walmart and stocked up on some bargains. Then we got an Uber from there to the Vineland Premium outlets to seek out some higher end goods as well as visit the Disney Character Warehouse where you are sure to get some absolute bargain Disney merchandise. After a quick lunch back at the resort we jumped on the free Disney transportation to Animal Kingdom where we spent the rest of the day. My favourite ride here was Avatar Flight of Passage, in the world of Pandora. A highly immersive 3D simulation where you get to ride on a banshee that lives and breathes beneath you. Truly the best ride I have ever been on. We did the safari and walked around the stunning animal encounters. This park is my favourite. The atmosphere is amazing, I love it. It’s not ‘in your face’ Disney, but it is still obviously Disney, in a good way.

Day 2: Magic Kingdom. We rode all of the rides we wanted to, saw the parades and the evening fireworks show ‘Happily Ever After’ which tugs on my heart strings every time. This is my favourite show out of all of them. And we tried some yummy Disney treats.

Day 3: Epcot, and again we rode all of the rides we wanted to including Soarin’ and Frozen (which did feel a bit weird without the kids…). We also explored World Showcase, each and every world pavilion, which we had just skipped through last time. There is so much to see and do in each one and I wanted to take our time around here. It was the Flower and Garden festival while we were there so there were international food stalls all around the park where you could experience different food and drink from around the world.

Halfway through the day here we left the park via the International Gateway and walked along to the Beach Club resort. We had brought our refillable mugs with us so were able to go into the food court and help ourselves to a cup of coffee, and take some time out for a breather. It also gave us the opportunity to experience a different Disney resort – this time a deluxe resort (Port Orleans is a moderate resort).

We returned to Epcot and finished off the day with an evening meal in Mexico, followed by the Epcot Illuminations. This is another fantastic evening show however this has now come to an end and there is another night-time show (which is currently only temporary as there is another bigger, better show in the pipeline).

Day 4: Hollywood Studios. I was really looking forward to experiencing Toy Story land. This hadn’t been open when we were there previously and I had been looking forward to riding Slinky Dog Dash. It did not disappoint! We were entertained in the queue by the Green Army Men who were fantastic! We ate our lunch at Woody’s lunchbox where I had the beef brisket toasted sandwich (delicious!) and then went and rode Star Tours 3 times in a row due to there being no queue!

We also rode Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster and the Hollywood Tower of Terror (never again for me but my husband loved it!). We soaked up the atmosphere and ate some ice cream, before settling down to watch the Star Wars themed evening spectacular.

Day 5: Animal Kingdom in the morning, to finish off the bits that we didn’t get to do, and then we went to Disney Springs to mooch around the shops. We had also booked tickets to see Marvel’s Captain Marvel in the cinema at Disney Springs – well that was an experience! The seats are like armchairs, the popcorn buckets are bigger than my head! I would highly recommend!

Travel home day was spent relaxing a little. We strolled up to the sister resort Port Orleans Riverside so we could check out the facilities there. It looked really nice, very colonial. Once we were finished there, we got on the boat to Disney Springs to finish off our shopping (at the largest Disney Store in the world!)

Then sadly it was time to catch the ‘Tragical’ Express back to the airport for our overnight flight home.

To summarise, as much as I did feel guilty going to Disney World without the children, I would definitely recommend it. It is a completely different experience to taking your children. I probably would have felt guilty if I had never taken the children to begin with, but they were fantastic, we Face Timed them every day and they not once made us feel guilty for being there without them. Obviously, we had to promise to take them back, but I think I can handle that…