My "Currently in Progress" First Solo Trip Report (05/08-05/13)

I'll start at the beginning. I have only recently become a Disney World fanatic. My first trip to Disney World was last year around this time. Since then, I have been 3 more times, and am going for the 5th time now, before my AP runs out. (Not that it matters, I've already renewed it for another year ).
So this will be my 5th trip in the last calendar year, so I guess you could say I'm a little obsessed. However, this will be my first solo trip, so I predict an entirely different experience and plan on sharing my trip along the way to make it more fun and keep me from feeling lonely. Plus, I think sharing my experiences at the places I eat will keep me from feeling silly eating alone, because I'll just pretend I'm a food critic.

Some background... I live in Mississippi, and I have a not so Disney crazy husband, and 2 Disney crazed kids who are 6 and 4. I'm a Family and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and am starting my 10 hour journey to Orlando as soon as I get off tonight at 9 pm. (Yes I'm at work right now, but Saturdays are kind of slow and I get bored.) I am going on my first solo trip to celebrate the completion of my Doctorate! It's not official until June 29th, but then you'll all have to call me Dr. CC!

To celebrate this milestone, I of course, immediately decided on a Disney trip and then begged my poor husband (who keeps funding all these Disney adventures) that I needed to go again because I needed a break after all these years and years in school, and would he pwease pwease let me go again.... sweetheart that he is, the man said YES!

I promised to keep this impromptu trip as economical as possible, so I will be staying at the POP century resort. This is my first time at this resort, but I'm excited. So far my basic trip plans are as follows:

May 8th: I'll get to Orlando around 9:30 am, and even though I'll have already been up a good 24 hours, I plan on immediately hitting Magic Kingdom. I mean, MK and I have missed each other after all, I'll sleep when I'm dead!!! I'll play in the park all day and do BOG for supper and the Wishes Firework party.

May 9th: My HS day! I know not everyone loves HS, but it is my second favorite park and I love it there, so I'll be here all day! I have a Fantasmic lunch at Mama Melrose, never eaten there so I'm super pizazzed.

May 10th: Avert thine eyes if you must, cuz I'm actually going to Universal Studios this day. Gonna hang out in Diagon Alley and have some butter beer. Worry not though, I shall be returning to Disney property later in the day and having dinner at Narcoosee's and watching the fireworks with my meal.

May 11th: This is my Epcot Day. Dinner at the Yahtsman's Steakhouse, also a first for me, so there will def be a review for that restaurant too and some pics.

May 12th: Back to MK. BOG again for dinner. I know I know, twice in one trip you say.... It's gorgeous in there I say!!!

May 13th: AK with Yak and Yeti for lunch, and then heading home.

I can't wait to share my trip with everyone. I hope it's as entertaining to ya'll as it will be to me.

Day 1 is now at a close, time for a recap!



I actually arrived in Orlando a little earlier than I thought I would this morning (about 8:30 am local time) so I decided to run by Universal thinking I'd just go to the ticket window and pick up my annual pass so I would be able to get straight in the regular line on Wednesday, which was my designated Universal day. Around 9:15 am I had my AP in hand though, and I looked around and there was hardly anyone there, so I decided to go jump on a few rides. I only hung around for about 3 hours....but I got so much done! I rode the Hogwarts express, both sides of the dueling dragon coaster, Escape from Gringotts, the Forbidden Journey, some Rip Rocket coaster, and had breakfast at the Three Broomsticks. (But I know Universal is not what you want to hear about, so moving on) I started getting sleepy from my long night on the road and decided to head to POP century to rest.

This is the lobby.

While I had been running around Universal, I had received a text from POP saying my room was ready and I could just go straight to my room, which was so nice and convenient! In the online check in where they let you choose two requests, I had requested to be near the transportation and to have a water view...I was given both. I got the cheapest room, not a preferred room, so I don't know how I got so lucky.... but I received a room in building five (1960's), right beside the pool and main building, with a water view!!! I headed straight to my room and took a 3.5 hour nap. Life on the road is hard!!!


I got up around 5pm, freshened up a bit, and headed to my favorite park....Magic Kingdom! Again, once I arrived, I was super surprised to look around and see that there were not as many people as I was used to seeing. Maybe because it's Mother's Day? Anyways, I had an ADR for BOG at 8:05pm, and I wanted to do some rides before it was time to eat, so I got down to business. One of my favorite rides is the People Mover, I just like it, I don't know why, so I rode it first. LoL

My view on the people mover.

Then I used a fast pass to ride Space Mountain, shot some aliens on Space Ranger Spin, shopped a little, used a fast pass to ride Winnie the Pooh, took a ride on Small World, and then it was time to check in for my ADR. I actually checked in at 7:30 hoping to get in a little early, and it worked, I was seated by 7:36 pm!

Dinner was nice. There was a pretty napkin folded into a rose at my seat, and I was seated in the beautiful ball room. The waitress took my drink order, and then brought around some rolls while I glanced through the menu. I don't really do appetizers because I won't eat my food, so I went ahead and order the strip steak. Also, since I was kid free this trip, I also decided to do the BOG wine sampler. This included the Enchantee Rose, L'ombre de la Bete Chardonnay, and L'ombre de la Bete Vin Rouge (The Shadow of the Beast). I don't know much about wine, so please forgive my lousy descriptions and impressions, but I do know the red ones are stronger in taste so I started with the lightest one, the yellow (Chardonnay). It was okay, light and fruity, I definitely could tolerate it. The Enchanted Rose was second, it was as a blush color. I hated this one. It reminded me of Robitussin-DM and I had to chase it with Coca Cola. I was most afraid of the dark red one (The Shadow of the Beast), especially after I hated the pink one (Enchanted Rose), as I knew the red one would be even stronger. I smelled it, and it smelled awesome, like Welch's grape juice, so I braved a small sip. It was definitely a strong robust flavor, like grape juice and cherries, but I actually really liked it! I could only take tiny sips because I'm not used to wine and the flavor was intense, but it was good!

Wine Sampler/ Dinner

At some point during the wine exploring, my meal also came. I got the strip steak which also came with pommes frites (fancy french fries). I have to say this steak was delicious. It was so tender and juicy and I loved it, but the best thing on my plate was the little dish of truffle mayo they brought with the fries. I don't really know what a truffle is, but it was supposedly on the fries and in the mayo, and it was amazing. I even dipped my steak in the truffle mayo!

I talked to a nice family from Pensacola while I ate and my waitress was really nice and chatted with me when she could. Another server named Molly is who actually brought out my food, and I was so embarrassed because she had been standing beside me with my plate waiting on me to stop texting, and I didn't even see her. I apologized profusely, saying I didn't mean to be rude I didn't know she was standing there, that I was trying to assure my husband I was fine and having fun, that he was worried because it was my first solo trip. She told me it was no problem at all, that she hoped I had the best solo trip ever, and left my food. About ten minutes later, she came back and gave me a free gift.... a fast pass to ride anything in the park I wanted, and told me again she hoped I had a wonderful trip. I couldn't believe it. I was accidentally rude to her, and she rewarded me with a FP. So sweet!!!!

I didn't do dessert at BOG since I was heading to the Wishes Dessert Party at some point before 10pm. I immediately went and used my FP on 7DMtn and it was wonderful, I was on and off the ride in like 12 minutes. Next I used my FP for Peter Pan and then hurried to check in at the Tomorroland Terrace for the dessert party. They had a lovely dessert buffet set up with lots of options, so I grabbed a couple and went to look for a seat. Previously, at this event they had assigned seats, they've changed it now though and you just take any seat you want. I got there late in the game, so there was only about 8 seats left. I took my seat to enjoy the show. The show was beautiful as always, and then headed back to my hotel with the masses for a good nights rest.

My view of the Castle from my Table at the Dessert Party

Anyways, I'm very excited for tomorrow. Tomorrow is my HS day. I'm doing the fantasmic lunch at Mama Melrose and I'm staying for Fantasmic and the Star Wars fireworks!!!! Alrighty then, I'll talk to ya'll soon.

Great trip report so far...I'm tagging along for the rest of your trip! You can tell that you're a true Disney fan!

Thinking about my first ever solo trip in August... Looking forward to the rest of your posts! And congratulations on your doctorate!!!

juneaubiscuits said:

Great trip report so far...I'm tagging along for the rest of your trip! You can tell that you're a true Disney fan!

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Thanks! I most certainly am, through and through!

katethegreat24 said:

Thinking about my first ever solo trip in August... Looking forward to the rest of your posts! And congratulations on your doctorate!!!

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Thank you! You'll love it, I'm having a blast!

Sorry for the belated Day 2 Post, but I've been a busy busy girl!

Day 2 was my Hollywood Studios day. I should preface by saying I like to sleep late on vacation, so I didn't even get out of bed till eleven. hehe. So I got ready and headed straight to Mama Melrose once I got to the park. The place was quite adorable, very eclectic, but cute.



When you eat Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic package, you get an appetizer, Entree, and Dessert included. So, since I tend not to do appetizers, I wanted to get something light. So, I chose the mozzarella and fresh tomatoes in Vinaigrette sauce. It was yum yum yummy!!! I made the right choice. I ate almost the entire thing before my food came, and Mama Melrose was super fast!



For my entree, I ordered the Penne alla Vodka. I read in a review that you need to mix this one up really good before you eat it because there is this creamy bacon sauce stuff that sinks to the bottom. So I mixed it up really good and dug in. It was so delicious! Rich and creamy, but the tomato sauce still kept it pretty light. It was a good pick.



Dessert is pre-selected for the Fantasmic package, and it's a lovely little dessert trio. The first selection was Amarettini Cheesecake, and it was my favorite. The second was Tiramisu which I didn't try because I just don't like tiramasu. The Cannoli cake was also really good!



After dessert, I paid and headed out for some HS fun! My first stop was Star Tours, as I happened by there was only a ten minute wait so I jumped on board. I love this ride, it is always so fun. BB8 from the newest Star Wars movie even made an appearance. I had a FP to get to next so I headed to tower of terror. I never get to ride this one when I go with my kids because they don't like it, so I've only ridden a few times. I love all the drops and the lovely view of the park when you get to the highest point. Since it was right next door, I went to Rocking Roller Coaster. My kids are too little for this ride, so I have only ridden it once. I loved it so much I rode it 3 more times, thanks to the single rider line!!! Finally a ride that goes upside down at disney!

I got tired of so many thrills and wanted to sit and watch some stuff. So I walked over to the Beauty and the Beast show. I forgot how completely adorable it was!!! I didn't have a fast pass, so I got there like forty minutes early so that I could get a good seat. I was right in the middle and only a few rows back. Loved it.



I went to the Indiana Jones stunt show next. It was really funny. I had never been to this attraction before so I was completely tricked when the hostess lady started punching the audience volunteer. Haha. Around this time I started to get a little hungry, and had two hours to kill before my Toy Story Mania ADR, I needed some dinner. I checked the app and Beaches and Cream had an opening so I hopped on the friendship boat to take the scenic route and headed to eat. I've eaten at Beaches and Cream before, and its one of my favorites. I love the theming and the old timey music. Before my meal came I wanted to try something different, so I chose the Coney Island Hard Root Beer. OMG it was so good! It really tasted like root beer, just blew my mind. I got the Cheeseburger with gravy fries for my entree, and I wasn't disappointed. Sadly though, because my food was so good, and I practically licked the plate.... there was no room for any dessert.


Once my meal was finished I went back outside to catch the boat back to HS. I've never stayed at any of the resorts in this area before, but I have to say, I need to! The Boardwalk looked gorgeous, and Yaht Club and Beach Club weren't bad either. Haha I am going to have to add the Boardwalk to my list of Must Do resorts. So, I headed back to ride Toy Story Mania. This ride is so much fun and I just LOVE the Queue. I feel like I'm a little kid and I wanna play with everything. Once I got off the ride, it was about 8:15 so I went ahead and got my Fantasmic ticket out and headed that way.

I bought myself a beer and chose a seat in the middle, but in the very back so I wouldn't get wet. I met a lovely couple from Arizona while I waited for the show, Diane and Dennis. They told me they had been to Disney World over 70 times!!!!! That's what I'm talking about!!!! We had another beer and sat and talked while we waited for the show to start. I love Fantasmic, it is almost as good as Wishes to me. It was wonderful. I love when Mickey appears at the summit with his sorcer outfit on and directs the fireworks. So good! Sadly, it ended too soon, and I said goodbye to my new friends and rushed to find a good spot for the Star Wars Fireworks. I LOVE these fireworks... the music is just so good, and they're shot so close.... you feel like you are right there in the action! They are a must do!

After the fireworks I headed to the busses. It was a great day, and a relaxing day! Tune in soon for Day 3. I meet a fellow disser and enjoy some Narcoossee's!!!!!

I'm enjoying your report. I'm going solo in August for the second time, and I can't wait!! Looking forward to day 3!

[QUOTE="
I promised to keep this impromptu trip as economical as possible, so I will be staying at the POP century resort. This is my first time at this resort, but I'm excited. [/QUOTE]

Loving the trip report, but I'm guessing the term 'economical' is subjective in this case...Narcoose? Yachtsman? Dessert Party?

Or was that just the term you used to get hubby on board

It sounds like you had an amazing time

KMWoolley said:

[QUOTE="
I promised to keep this impromptu trip as economical as possible, so I will be staying at the POP century resort. This is my first time at this resort, but I'm excited.

Click to expand...

Loving the trip report, but I'm guessing the term 'economical' is subjective in this case...Narcoose? Yachtsman? Dessert Party?

Or was that just the term you used to get hubby on board

It sounds like you had an amazing time [/QUOTE]

Perhaps you are correct! Haha. I will say it was a lot easier to afford the dessert party and certain restaurants being alone.

I promise to get the rest of the trip done soon, day 3 by the end of the week. Things got crazy again once I got home. Hehe