Solo WDW:Avoiding a Divorce when NDH Goes Hunting thru Bday and Anniversary Upd:1/14

[trixiequilts]

Hey Jen! Great Chapter! See it's not so hard to tell about your planning process, is it? You're doing a great job! Hey, you must have a fabulously talented editor! (Hi Trixie! )

Aw, shucks... thanks!

 

[jenjolt]

Aw, shucks... thanks!

You really are the best!! THANK YOU!!!

 

[glo]

Nope the Swan and Dolphin are "NOT" Disney owned resort. They are considered Deluxe resorts if you call Disney and book those through them though. The BIG difference is that you do not get Mickey soaps, and wake up calls, and you can't charge back to the rooms. You can also have all your packages sent back to your hotel like Disney resorts. You do get the EMH and you have full use of Disney transportation. So, Disney busses go to the Swan and Dolphin (They often share busses with the Boardwalk and Beach Club). The nice thing is that for $149 sometimes you can get a 4* hotel that you can walk to Epcot and HS. Wake up and get something to eat at the Boardwalk Bakery, have night time entertainment at the Boardwalk and the Swan, and pay a fraction of the cost! I have been staying there since 2000 because of the teacher discount. I know that LotusPhere is at the Swan and Dolphin the weekend we are there, so I know they are pretty booked up. The thing is for convinience and location you can't beat the cost. I am staying at the BWV because my friend owns DVC otherwise that would be so way out of my price range on my salary and with three kids!

 

[BellaSoleil]

Woo-hoo! You gave me a shout-out!

I'm having a blast reading your PTR!!! You should consider the Swan. It's very beautiful and you would feel like royalty. Just a thought!

 

[jenjolt]

Hey Jen! Great Chapter! See it's not so hard to tell about your planning process, is it? You're doing a great job! Hey, you must have a fabulously talented editor! (Hi Trixie! )

Awww thanks for always giving an encouraging word Kim!! It really means a lot to me!!!!

Woo-hoo! You gave me a shout-out!

I'm having a blast reading your PTR!!! You should consider the Swan. It's very beautiful and you would feel like royalty. Just a thought!

Of course I gave you a shout out..you are too awesome for words!!!
I will definitely have to consider that, I'm still patiently (does it count if I'm obsessively refreshing the mousesavers site) for those codes LOL

 

[MAGGIED]

still no codes............they are killing us...........

 

[BellaSoleil]

When do we get an update? The crowd is getting restless!

 

[jenjolt]

When do we get an update? The crowd is getting restless!

It is with the proofreader now and just for you guys I made it extra long for the extra long wait LOL!!!

 

[jenjolt]

Much love and thanks to Trixiequilts, by far the best editor EVER!!

Sorry that it has been almost an entire week since I’ve updated! I’d say I’ve been terribly busy, but then you all know I live on the Snowbirds thread and would just laugh at me LOL!! No, seriously. Between grades, homecoming, an NHS community service event that involved washing dogs, and this incurable disease that I have called procrastination, I’m just now updating…please forgive me!

Episode 8: “What Do You Mean I Can Actually Sit Down For A Meal?”

For those of you who have military husbands or husbands who once served, you can relate to my pain on this. My NDH (who by the way found my opened screen on DIS and started reading my PTR…he was amused to say the least and has totally come to terms that he married a “Disney cuckoo” as he now refers to me LOL) served 5 years in the United States Army. Well, he left the Army, but the Army hasn’t left him LOL! My hubby, bless his poor soul, still thinks every meal must be eaten in 2 minutes flat or his food will be taken away from him. No matter how much I try to convince him that no, the food will still be there and you’d probably enjoy it more if you actually took the time to taste it, he still eats at Mach 5. So he suffers through sit-down restaurants with the longest part of our meal being the wait for our food. When dinner arrives, he’s done in less than five minutes and I don’t want to feel horrible for eating while he’s not eating, so I hurry to finish in about ten minutes. Most take-out nights involve Subway; his eaten in the car on the way home and mine eaten on my own with no worries.

As you all know this trip is about me doing everything at Disney I have ever wanted. This is my dream trip and I’m going to unashamedly steal an idea that I saw in another trip report and make a To-Do list of things for me to accomplish on my solo trip. As you all also know, I’m a planner. So it would only make sense I would have a list of all the cool things I really, really want to do. I have made a promise list and as we go through this PTR I will share with you some promises I’ve made to myself. Talking about dining means I must mention one of my promises…I promise to enjoy a sit down meal every day at Disney, and every one will last more than 20 minutes. Yes, that’s right! I’m going to take on and conquer my fear of solo dining and I have booked a TS meal everyday of my trip. I’m also going to enjoy my food, do some people watching, and if I actually remember, I will journal for my TR!

Enough of all this babble, I’m sure you want to hear about my choices. Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Yes, I made about 6 calls to the wonderful people at Disney Dining. Yes, I have their number memorized. And yes, I made changes. But at this point in the PTR I’m pretty sure (HA!) that my choices are finalized.

For my first full day (Friday) I will be dining at Tony’s Town Square. I’m an Italian girl; I love pasta so it was a no-brainer for me that I would try this restaurant. Besides, my best friend’s daughter (3 yrs old) loves Lady and the Tramp and I intend to buy her a few things while I’m there. Moving right along, Saturday I will be enjoying my day at EPCOT, so this is where I have TWO sit downs (I’m going all out LOL)! I will be enjoying lunch at Les Chefs de France and eating dinner at Teppan Edo. Okay I must interject here; my hubby is a meat and potatoes type of guy. He is not the type of person to try something exotic. He doesn’t like Mexican too much, we don’t ever do Chinese, and we certainly haven’t done anything even more exotic like Thai or Greek. This trip allows me to eat at places I would love to go…without him just ordering a drink off the menu LOL!! So I’m going to eat French and Japanese that day. Teppan Edo seems like a really cool place for solos to go since you get placed with 8 other people and I have no problem talking to other people (you wouldn’t have guessed that about me, would you? LOL).

On to Sunday. I will be spending my day at DHS. I must confess this is the one I’m a little nervous about. But I’m going all out so… I will be dining at 50’s Prime Time Café. I’m so excited about the interaction; I hope the fact that I’m a solo traveler will not deter my server. I totally want to be yelled at for elbows on the table and be told to eat my veggies.

Monday is my relaxing day (I’ll explain more about that in the next episode). For dinner that night I will be eating at 1900 Park Fare in the beautiful Grand Floridian. This brings me to the next two promises I made to myself. I promise to ride the ferry to the Grand Floridian and explore this beautiful hotel. I have wanted to walk around the GF from the moment I first saw it in 2005. This is my chance. Next promise, I promise to attend at least one character meal. I was a bit nervous about this one, too. I mean, a solo adult at a character meal? Aren’t these meals usually for kids? But my best friend reassured me that they are also for “kids at heart” and I definitely fit that bill. So that evening I will be dining with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the Step Crew!! I must tell you I’ve heard some great things about the interactions with the stepsisters and I can’t wait EEEKK!! (That’s my can’t-hold-in-my-excitement noise LOL!)

I must also put a small note here (I promise more detail later), but this is the night that I will be meeting a DISser who I have come to adore!!!

Tuesday I will be at Animal Kingdom. This day I’m going to be enjoying the breakfast buffet at Boma. I really want to see the Animal Kingdom Lodge so this is my chance to do so. I’m going to just enjoy some counter service for the rest of the day. I think I want to either try Flame Tree BBQ or Yak & Yeti. What are your recommendations? That evening I think I’m going to go back to DHS and ride some of my favorites again (I’ll also talk about park rides in a future episode…and there will be more promises regarding the rides, too).

Wednesday is my last day at the world. I will be enjoying the morning at Magic Kingdom before heading home. That morning I am dining at the Crystal Palace. Once again, I’m going to brave the character dining experience and have breakfast with Winnie The Pooh and his friends.

There you have it; all of my meal plans and three promises for me to keep. Thank you for taking the time to join me today! In my next episode we’ll discuss my special events on Monday of my trip(another surprise from NDH). Future spoilers: The parks and the rides I have to go on…and the rides I’ve promised myself I’ll go on LOL!!! (There is a difference.)

 

[MAGGIED]

Jen.... I say try Yak and Yeti.... we really enjoyed it when we ate there in April.....

 

[jenjolt]

Hmmm I have heard some really good things about Yak and Yeti....what did you get Wendy??

 

[JPFamilyMom]

just jumping on board now. LOVED reading your posts. I'm fairly new on the DIS though a long time disney nut, how I never knew of this board I do not know. I started my own PTR before reading yours and mine is so boring, lol. I need to go back and do something else. Anyhow, love your reports, keep them coming, subscribing.

 

[jenjolt]

just jumping on board now. LOVED reading your posts. I'm fairly new on the DIS though a long time disney nut, how I never knew of this board I do not know. I started my own PTR before reading yours and mine is so boring, lol. I need to go back and do something else. Anyhow, love your reports, keep them coming, subscribing.

Ahhh..thank you for such kind words!! I completely understand the whole Disney nut thing LOL BTW totally love your siggy!!!

I doubt that your PTR is boring and I will definitely look forward to hopping over and reading it LOL

 

[BellaSoleil]

I really like Flametree and we are trying Y&Y for the first time this trip. I'm for either, though the atmosphere at Y&Y is probably much better.

Check out this solo trip report. It's one of my favorites. She did some character meals solo and it has great tips for character interaction.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1891819

I can't wait to do 1900 Park Fare. I'm only doing it for the step-sisters. I hope they flirt shamelessly with my husband. He's very shy and it would crack me up.

I'm going to tell them he is single and looking to mingle.

 

[jenjolt]

I really like Flametree and we are trying Y&Y for the first time this trip. I'm for either, though the atmosphere at Y&Y is probably much better.

Check out this solo trip report. It's one of my favorites. She did some character meals solo and it has great tips for character interaction.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1891819

I can't wait to do 1900 Park Fare. I'm only doing it for the step-sisters. I hope they flirt shamelessly with my husband. He's very shy and it would crack me up.

I'm going to tell them he is single and looking to mingle.

That is priceless, if they make him dance with them you'd better be taking lots and lots of pictures (I want to see a ton either way) !!!! I'm still very shy about how to interact with them so I will need your guidance LOL!!

 

[BellaSoleil]

That is priceless, if they make him dance with them you'd better be taking lots and lots of pictures (I want to see a ton either way) !!!! I'm still very shy about how to interact with them so I will need your guidance LOL!!

I am not shy at all! I would talk to a wall if I thought it might nod back. I also love to have fun. I just PMed you with some ideas.

I sure wish we were traveling on the same dates.

 

[princess&her4princes]

Great update, Jen! I'm impressed that you're doing this trip alone....I can't wait to hear all about it..you've got some great places booked and can't wait for the TR!!!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Great update Jen!!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I really like Flametree and we are trying Y&Y for the first time this trip. I'm for either, though the atmosphere at Y&Y is probably much better.

Check out this solo trip report. It's one of my favorites. She did some character meals solo and it has great tips for character interaction.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1891819

I can't wait to do 1900 Park Fare. I'm only doing it for the step-sisters. I hope they flirt shamelessly with my husband. He's very shy and it would crack me up.

I'm going to tell them he is single and looking to mingle.

Ha!!! That is going to be great!! They are probably gonna think-what? This cute guy with 2 pretty girls...hmmm....? Take loads of pictures!!!! I wish I could be there just to see that!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Hey!! I just hit 900 posts!!!!!!

Woo Hoo!!!!




Jen--love this last Episode Installment!!! It's good to enjoy food, isn't it? I had attended a High School which lovingly gave us a 30 minute break for lunch---If we went to the cafeteria we had to walk next door (kinda far) to the elementary school---we shared it with the littles!! So, I learned to inhale a burger pretty fast!!! I still catch myself eating WAAAAYYY too fast sometimes--it's a hard habit to break. I wanted to join the service-parents weren't goin for that!! But the food thing would've been a piece of for me!!!


Can't wait till your next piece comes out!!!!