I celebrated my bachelorette trip by drinking around the world at Epcot with my bridesmaids and my mom! We spent the whole weekend in Orlando and it truly could not have been a better weekend.

I had always planned on drinking around the world for my bachelorette party, but when Disney shut down over the summer due to COVID, I was so upset because I’d have to come up with a whole other plan B and that’s not easy to do when the whole world is going through a global pandemic. Fortunately, Disney opened back up with incredible safety measures. Temperatures were checked when we arrived at Disney Springs and Epcot, masks had to be worn at all times unless actively eating or drinking, the parks are at partial capacity, and the lines are marked for social distancing. We all felt so safe the entire time we were there.

We stayed at the Saratoga Springs Treehouse Villas. It was a 3 bed/2 bath cabin/treehouse with a nice living room and a full kitchen. We could not have picked a better place to stay. It was so cozy and fit all of us very comfortably. It was only a short walk to the bus that would take us anywhere we needed to go on Disney property.

Before we got there on Friday, Ashlynn and Allie (my two maids of honor) went up early and decorated the entire villa for the bachelorette weekend! It was a complete surprise to me! Ashlynn told me she was going earlier because she was meeting a friend for lunch in Lakeland and Allie told me she was coming home from Charleston, where she goes to school, early Friday and would meet us there. Little did I know, Allie had been home for 3 days and rode up to Orlando with Ashlynn to get it all set up! Somehow I bought both of their stories. The place looked absolutely amazing! They had a photo area, roses and rose petals all over to fit the “Bachelorette” theme, balloons galore, and hung up pictures of me with each of my bridesmaids all over the villas. It was so special to see all of my memories with everyone.

Friday after we all got there, we got ready and headed to Disney Springs for the evening. We went to STK for an incredible steak dinner and our waitress even brought us free lemon drop shots since it was my bachelorette celebration! After our delicious meal, we went across the way to The Edison bar that has a speakeasy vibe. We were seated in a lounge area with a semicircle of couches. There, we hung out and got another round of drinks to end the night.

Saturday morning we woke up to my mom making Mickey waffles in the kitchen for us! We had waffles, bacon, and fruit and it was the perfect, slow start to the morning. We got all dressed for the park and set on our way for the day. We had a few hiccups upon arrival to the park (they didn’t allow my sign in that Ashton made so beautifully, a couple of our tickets didn’t work so we had to go to guest relations, etc.), but once we were all in it was smooth sailing from there. Kate drove up that morning and met us at the park and got there at the exact same time we did, which couldn’t have worked out better.

I used my Cricut to make us all shirts for Saturday and I got everyone matching fanny packs (my favorite bag to bring to the parks). I spent forever trying to decide on a theme for our shirts when we went in the parks. I was throwing around ideas for Taylor Swift, Mean Girls, Disney, and then decided on The Bachelorette! My shirt had the Bachelorette logo, the bridesmaids had shirts that said The Most Dramatic Party Ever, and Mom’s shirt said Mom of the Bachelorette. They all looked so cute together and we got tons of compliments on them around Epcot. In the girls’ fanny packs I put eye masks, lip balm, hand sanitizer, and a gold ribbon hair tie.

When I drink around the world at Epcot I typically prefer to start to the right in Canada, but because we wanted to ride the Frozen ride in Norway, we went left and started with margaritas in Mexico. The line for Frozen was only about 20 minutes and went by so quickly. It’s such a fun ride! Then, we made our way around the world one country and drink at a time. I love the format of drinking around the world because you can drink as much or as little as you want. It took us longer than it typically would have because we had to be stationary while drinking due to COVID so we couldn’t walk and drink at the same time.

Rather than stopping for lunch, we each just got snacks at the booths in different countries as we went around the world. Some of our favorites were potato latkes, crab and cheese wantons, and pretzels from Germany. We lucked out and there seemed to be no one at Epcot while we were there! There were no lines for any booths.

Ashlynn and Allie brought bachelorette dare cards for the girls while we went around the world. You scratched off a card and had to either do the dare on it, or buy the bride a drink. The dares ranged from kissing a bald man’s head to dancing badly to touching a guy’s muscles. It was such a fun added thing to entertain us while we made our way around the world and it made for some great laughs!

After we made on lap around the world, we rode Soarin’, which some of the girls had never ridden before. Then we were going to ride the Three Caballeros ride in Mexico, but the line just to get inside Mexico was way too long. Instead, we just made our way to Italy for our dinner reservation at Via Napoli. It’s my favorite restaurant at Epcot and has the best Italian food. Our dinner was delicious as always and then we headed home for the evening.

When we got back to our treehouse, we of course turned on the SEC Championship game, in which UF played Alabama. Ashton watched for a little bit before turning in, Allie stayed up through halftime before going to bed, and Mom, Megan, Ashlynn, Brooke, and I watched until the very last second on the game clock. Even though we lost, it was a heck of a game and we were proud of our team.

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast, packed up our things, and headed home. On the ride home, Ashton asked me what my favorite part of the weekend was and after some thought, I told her it was seeing everyone get along so well. With my bridesmaids, I have a group of girls from so many different times in my life made up of childhood friends, college friends, a coworker who became a best friend, and a friend’s wife who quickly became a close friend. You never know how a group of girls who don’t really know each other will get along, but it was seamless. Everyone enjoyed each other’s company and bonded so much. It made my heart soar when I would hear girls who had just met the day before having their own conversations and connecting over aspects of their lives.

This weekend really showed me what a strong, passionate, funny, and kind group of girls I’m surrounded by and I can’t wait for them to stand by my side on my wedding day. And, of course, none of it would have been possible without my mom. Some people might think twice about bringing their mom along on their bachelorette trip, but it made my weekend complete and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’m coming away from my bachelorette weekend with the fullest heart.