Miss Independent takes on the World, a May 2014 Solo Trip

[NSDisneyGirl]

Loving the trip report so far I'm considering taking my first solo trip this December so I'm loving reading all your experiences!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

I just found your report tonight and I'm definitely joining in!

What are your dates in September? We'll be there, too from 9/13-9/20

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Enjoying your trip report. Thanks for sharing. I read trip reports when I need Disney fix.

I do the same thing when I need my Disney fix. Which is very often

I'm a big lover of Country Bear Jamboree, also. Most of my family does not share the love, so I've gone solo many times.

How disappointing to have both Pirates and Haunted Mansion down.

I agree that the right skipper can make the Jungle Cruise more enjoyable.

It was sad that they were both done, but I did have the opportunity to experience both before the end of my trip

Loving the trip report so far I'm considering taking my first solo trip this December so I'm loving reading all your experiences!

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it.

I just found your report tonight and I'm definitely joining in!

What are your dates in September? We'll be there, too from 9/13-9/20

Welcome!!!!
Boo I'll just miss you. I'll be there September 8-12. A short little trip before this AP expires. Then it'll be time to plan trips for 2015

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Day 3 5/2 Part 1:
Off to Neverland​

This morning I woke up around 6:15. I took my time getting ready, grabbed my mug and headed to the food court for some breakfast a little after 7.
I got a bacon, egg and cheese bagel sandwich. It did it's job, and hit the spot. I headed back to the room and got my stuff together for the day. I also made sure I put my poncho in my bag because the weather forecast was calling for rain today. And boy did it look like it wanted to rain.
I headed out and this morning I was headed to the Magic Kingdom. I love, love, LOVE rope drop at the Magic Kingdom. The singing, the dancing, the characters coming in on the train... it's such a magical way to start the day. It never fails to make me cry.
I made it to the Magic Kingdom around 8:15, plenty of time to find the prefect spot. It wasn't all that crowded yet and I managed to get a spot right up front and center.



Awesome, right?
I was all prepared to sob as we waited. And waited. And waited. It was past the time the Morning Show started and we had nothing.
And then this happened...



Yup. Empty train.
Turns out that because of the media event that morning for the Mine Train dedication, the skipped the morning show
Oh well. I still had another morning I was planning on for Magic Kingdom. And it's hard to be too sad when I'm looking at this.





Yup. The castle has a way of making everything better.
I headed back into Fantasyland and pretty much walked right on to Peter Pan's Flight. (That's another reason to love rope drop, the non existent lines)



After my journey to Neverland, I came off the ride and stumbled upon this...



Peter Pan! He and Wendy were on their way to the first meet and greet set of the day. And of course this little character lover followed the leader.



I was the third person in line and very quickly I was greeted by Peter and Wendy. I was pretty excited because I hadn't seen them in years.



Peter was very interested in my pins. He told me that boys were smarter than girls because boys hide their treasures and girls wear their's around their neck. HAHAHAHA
Wendy and I disagree and told him that girls are very smart. Peter told us he didn't need to be smart because he was clever. He also didn't think school was necessary even though Wendy and I think it's important.
Basically this was an awesomely fun meet and greet. They were very into character. Peter was very mischievous and fun and Wendy was very sweet and proper. So far, my character greets were going great!







I had some time to kill before my FP+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle and since I was near the castle, I thought I might try to catch the Fairy Godmother's set so I headed over that way.



There were about 3 groups ahead of me waiting, so I joined them. The set time came and no one came out so we waited awhile. The first group was a family and they were getting... irritated. They stopped a CM and asked what the hold up was. She went to check and it turns out that the Fairy Godmother was unavailable and that perhaps the mice were going to come out instead. Let me tell you, this family freaked out. I understand that a Disney vacation is expensive and very often a once in a lifetime trip. But to freak out on someone who has no control over a situation, that I will never understand. Sometimes stuff happens that's unexpected, you just gotta go with the flow.
The rest of us (myself, a group of girls on their CP and a local couple) were more than happy to wait while the CM confirmed whether or not there would be a replacement greet.
I chatted with the girls in front of me while we waited. They had forgotten the names of the mice and I told them they were Suzy and Perla. The CM came back and apologized but there wasn't going to be a greet. We all said ok and goodbye and went our separate ways.

​

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Day 3 5/2 Part 2:
Who Could Ever Learn to Love a Beast?​

I headed over to New Fantasyland and jump in the FP+ line for Enchanted Tales with Belle.





This is such a cute experience. I fell in love with it back in the fall of 2012, when I got to be a test audience for this.



Next I headed over to get in line for lunch, even though it was just after 10:30. I knew it would take at least 30 minutes to get in. Where was I going?



Be Our Guest! Between the delicious food and the details, I can't even tell you how much I love this place. It really does feel like you're in the middle of the movie.





For lunch I got the Croque Monsieur, pomme frites, and the strawberry cream cheese cupcake. Yum!!!!



After lunch I walked around and took some pictures.













When I got outside it was POURING!!!!! I put on my poncho and headed on my way.
​

 

[marDgreen88]

Oh my gosh, the lack of morning show that day was so sad! It was just so casual, I was so confused! Hahaha

The Peter and Wendy meet sounds like it was just so fun! I bet they're a blast to meet together.

Be Our Guest...best CS ever! Omg, I had a feeling you would find out about the rain when you were finished with lunch, because it started really coming down around 11:15 or so. Lovely. Curious to see if we crossed paths at all that day!

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Oh my gosh, the lack of morning show that day was so sad! It was just so casual, I was so confused! Hahaha

The Peter and Wendy meet sounds like it was just so fun! I bet they're a blast to meet together.

Be Our Guest...best CS ever! Omg, I had a feeling you would find out about the rain when you were finished with lunch, because it started really coming down around 11:15 or so. Lovely. Curious to see if we crossed paths at all that day!

I know! I was super confused that morning I had no idea what was going on.
Peter and Wendy were awesome! I was just laughing the whole time. I hadn't met them since 1998, so this was long over due.
Be Our Guest... I fall more and more in love with it each time. It's so amazing! I even went back another day just because

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Day 3 5/2 Part 3:
I'm Officially the Coolest Aunt Ever
​

When I last left off I was just leaving Be Our Guest and it was pouring rain.​

What's a girl to do? Why put on a poncho and keep moving, of course!
I shuffled my flip flop wearing feet over to Mickey's Philharmagic! Again, I have such a love for this attraction and it was inside, which was definitely a bonus!
After the show, I headed over to Liberty Square figuring I'd hit up the Haunted Mansion since I missed it the day before. Well, those happy haunts were still up to some mischief because it was down once again. Boo
So instead I made my way over to Adventureland. Pirates of the Caribbean was open! Yes! A pirate's life for me!



It was listed as a 30 minute wait but I was more than ok with that. It got me out of the rain and it was killing some time. Basically, at this point, I was mostly just killing time until my next FP+
The time was pretty accurate, I think I waited close to 30 minutes, but then I was off on my pirate adventure. Ugh, I wish the would get rid of that creepy mermaid skeleton and the stupid singing. Other than that, this ride is such a classic.


"We want the red head! We want the red head!!"

When I got out, it was probably close to 1 and I still had a little over an hour to kill before my FP+. I made my way over to Main Street and figured I'd check the time for the Mickey meet and greet and jump in line if it wasn't too long.
I made my way over to the Town Square Theatre and the wait for Mickey was listed as 65 minutes. I love Mickey as much as the next girl, but I wasn't feeling an hour wait.
As I debated on what to do I saw someone who looked familiar zip by on a scooter.
Ok, I need to back track for a moment. So, as I was planning my trip, 2 people I know from home were also planning a trip around the same time. Angela and Dave own a little collectable store at one of our local malls. It's got all kinds of cool stuff, old toys, books, etc. My friend and I had stopped in one because it looked cool and there was also a sign in the window saying Disney pins for sale. Well, lo and behold there really were Disney pins. Angela (who we didn't know at the time) happened to be working that day and she was telling us how much of a Disney fan she was and she was a big pin trader. In the course of trying to complete sets, she ended up with a ton of duplicates, so she sells the duplicates. And that is when our Disney friendship was born. So fast forward a couple of years and we're friends. Since they were going to be in Disney at the same time I was, we were going to keep an eye out for each other. Most of the week we'd text each other and just miss each other but this day...
So anyways, I thought to myself "hmmmm that guy on the scooter kind of looks like Dave." I look over to the porch of Tony's and I see Angela and her mom! Haha! It was Dave I saw! He was getting the scooter for his dad. They had just finished lunch at Tony's. So we all hugged and chatted about our days. It was great to see them. Angela and I had Dave take a picture of us.


Photo credit goes to Angela.

Next I decided to browse the shops on Main Street on my way to my FP+
What was my FP+?





Anna and Elsa!
I totally lucked out with this one. It next to impossible to get a FP+ for them and the stand by line is crazy. I saw it earlier that day listed as 5 hours. Yeah.
Well, my oldest niece, like many little girls, is obsessed with Frozen. I wanted to try to meet them, and get something signed for my niece. A few days before I left, I was fooling around with MDE and was surprised when I found available FP+ times for Anna and Elsa! I snagged one for 2:15 (so basically my advice is, if you don't get a FP+ for what you want in advance, schedule something else and keep trying, because something might eventually open up)
I got in right at 2:15 and after about a 5 minute wait I was meeting the lovely ladies of Arendelle.



They were perfect. Elsa was very regal and elegant and Anna was adorably awkward lol



I love this shot of Anna making faces!





They were sweet enough to sign a book for my niece (I can't even begin to tell you how much my niece freaked out when I gave it to her)
After Anna and Elsa, the character attendant (she was super sweet, we were chatting while the family in front of me were meeting the princesses and she took pictures with my phone for me) asked if I wanted to wait for Aurora (seems like a lot of people skipped her )
Um... yes! I would like to meet Aurora.



She was sweet. She was my favorite princess when I was little, you know, until Belle, Ariel and Jasmine came along lol
After my meet and greets, I decided to head out.
Before I left, I stopped in Arribas Brothers. I was looking at tiaras earlier and decided to get one.
I kept moving through the shops on my way out and stumbled upon the Dapper Dans singing in the Jewelry Store.



They were awesome! I watched them for awhile and then headed back to Pop to relax, dry off and change before my evening adventures.



This is the tiara I settled on. Every princess should have one!
​

 

[Angeejoe]

Great updates! What a nice picture of you with the tiara!

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Great updates! What a nice picture of you with the tiara!

Awwwww thank you!

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Day 3 5/2 Part 4:
Stupid Energy, Stupid Judy

So I hung out at Pop for awhile. I changed into some dry clothes, I called my sister, watched some tv.
I headed over to the food court around 5:30 to grab some dinner. I ended up getting a cheeseburger, fries and the King cupcake for dessert.



The cupcake was good. It was chocolate with peanut butter frosting, which was really good, not too sweet. The only thing I didn't like was the banana pudding stuff in the middle of the cupcake. But that was easy enough to avoid.
After I finished eating, some of the CMs started doing the hustle and encourage people to get up and dance. A few people did, and of course I did! Oh the silly things I do on vacation lol.
After it was over they handed out pins to those of us who danced.



Free souvenir!
On my way out, I stopped by the lobby. The pin board was out so I did a little trading.
My original plan for the night was to head to the Animal Kingdom, they were having EMHs until 8 and since I've never been to AK at night... well the rain kinda changed up my plans a little. I decided instead to head to Epcot, which was also doing EMHs and tomorrow I would do AK instead of Epcot (my original day 4 plan).
So off I headed to Epcot. It was still raining on and off so I headed for...



Ellen's Energy Adventure!
I made it into the last show of the day. Perfect! It is the best place to get out of the rain for awhile. I know it can be a little boring at times, but I do love Ellen, she's pretty funny. And Jamie Lee Curtis as "Stupid Judy". And Bill Nye the Science Guy. And Alex Trebeck. You can't go wrong with this. It's also a good place to get out of the heat and a good nap location if anyone in your group is getting kind of cranky because they missed nap time. Just saying
I decided that I was going to wonder my way around World Showcase and do some pin trading, and snacking of course!
This time I started on the Canada side.







So cute!
I stopped in France and headed back to Les Halles Boulangerie.
It was time for a little snack.



Everything looked so good! I had a hard time deciding what to have. Eventually I settled on this...



Holy cow, was this GOOD! I will definitely be back here.
I continued to browse through France. I always feel so fancy here. I even practiced my very limited French with the CM I pin traded with haha.
I continued to make my way over to Japan, where I stopped for...



Some Frushi!!!!!
This was really good too. I browsed through the store in Japan for a while and then I snagged a good spot right along the lagoon for Illuminations. Thanks to the rain, I got the spot about 10 minutes before Illuminations started. Yay for rain! LOL
​

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Day 3 5/2 Part 5:
Illuminations and EMHs​

Illumination time!





















Such an amazing show! It's been awhile since I've actually seen it, but I do love it.



Happy princess!
I continued wandering around World Showcase. It's so peaceful during EMHs.



I don't know why, but I always have to take a picture of the pickle tree lol
I stopped by Norway and rode the Maelstrom and Mexico for the Gran Fiesta Tour.
As I made my way over to the bridge to Future World, I noticed there were 2 Disney gift cards lying in a puddle. I picked them up and looked around. No one was around so I headed over to Mousegears, where I knew I would find a CM, and I turned them in. Not sure if there was anything on them, or if they could trace who they belonged to, but I wanted to make the effort. I like to think that the family that lost them got them back.
My good deed done I decided to head over to Soarin'.
It was after 10 at this point and the park was really quiet.





I love the glowing sidewalks in Epcot!
I made it over to Soarin' and walked right up to the boarding gate. I was sent to a row and there were 4 people in front of me. One of the women in the group looked kind of familiar. Now I need to digress for a moment... when my friend Allison and I go, we have a tendency to see people that remind us of people back home. It's kind of ridiculous, but we do. We even start to keep track of how many people we think we see. So... I just assumed that this woman reminded me of someone from home and I just couldn't place it. Well... they were talking and I heard one of them mention Gertie and then I knew! It was our very own Gertie loving Theresa, aka arbolita on disboards!
So of course I get all excited and said "Oh my god! You're on disboards!" and she got excited because it was the first time she's been in line and randomly recognized. It led to lots of laughter all around. Soon we heard Patrick's safety announcements and boarded, flying high over California. I bid Theresa and her family farewell and made my way out. It was pretty close to 11 so I just headed out and back to Pop.
Somehow, once again I managed to delete my pin trade picture but I did post it to Instagram as well so...



I watched some tv and then headed for bed. Animal Kingdom in the morning!

​

 

[Angeejoe]

The strawberry tarte & the fruit sushi look yummy! It looks like you had a wet trip & made the best of it!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Oof, and hour wait for Mickey is a little steep. I agree, I love him too, but that's a little much.

We did the same thing with Anna and Elsa and were able to get times that we wanted. There was nothing at first, but then they released more times and we were good to go.

OMG, your Anna was awesome! Love that face she made.

I am so bummed out that I missed the frushi. I had a complete and utter brain fart and just forgot to order it.

Being randomly recognized from the DISboards is awesome. I had it happen for the first time in May and I was completely taken back.

 

[heaven2dc]

Your lunch at Pop looks delicious! I would have to agree that the banana filling doesn't sound like a good combination with chocolate and peanut butter. So nice of you to turn in those gift cards!

I was trying to look up how Disney makes fruit sushi rolls....do you know what they make them out of? I would love to try making them at home.

 

[pirateprincess1976]

The strawberry tarte & the fruit sushi look yummy! It looks like you had a wet trip & made the best of it!

The tart and the frushi was sooooo good! Highly recommend them. This was definitely the rainiest trip I've ever had but I didn't let it stop me. It did eventually get really nice though, so stay tuned

Oof, and hour wait for Mickey is a little steep. I agree, I love him too, but that's a little much.

We did the same thing with Anna and Elsa and were able to get times that we wanted. There was nothing at first, but then they released more times and we were good to go.

OMG, your Anna was awesome! Love that face she made.

I am so bummed out that I missed the frushi. I had a complete and utter brain fart and just forgot to order it.

Being randomly recognized from the DISboards is awesome. I had it happen for the first time in May and I was completely taken back.

I had some awesome meets this trip but I do think Anna's face is my favorite, she was just so into it. It was hilarious because Elsa and I had no idea it was going on
I'm glad I remembered to try the frushi because there was so much I forgot I wanted to try. Like I completely flaked on the violet lemonade everyone raves about.

Your lunch at Pop looks delicious! I would have to agree that the banana filling doesn't sound like a good combination with chocolate and peanut butter. So nice of you to turn in those gift cards!

I was trying to look up how Disney makes fruit sushi rolls....do you know what they make them out of? I would love to try making them at home.

Yeah, that banana filling really threw me. Not good.
I saw the recipe for frushi on the disney food blog http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013/...ots-international-flower-and-garden-festival/

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Day 4 5/3 Part 1:
It's Nahtazu!!!!!​

I woke up around 7:30 and started getting ready for the day. I was heading to the Animal Kingdom this morning instead of my original Epcot plan.
I headed over to the food court and once again had bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel. Nothing exciting but it did the job.
I grabbed my bag and my pins and put on my super cool zebra mouse ears. I also through on my raincoat because once again it was rainy, not too bad at the moment.
I headed out to the bus and made it to the Animal Kingdom right around 9.



It started POURING as soon as I got there. So the first place I headed was It's Tough to be a Bug. They made us wait right outside the start of a queue for a few minutes before they let us in. I was a little water logged but you know, sometimes you gotta go with the flow. Pretty soon I was walking around the Tree of Life.



I don't know what it is about the gorilla, but like the pickle tree I always have to take a picture of it.
I made it to the theatre, grabbed my bug eyes and headed into the first show of the day. I'm not a big fan of bugs but this show is cute. Funnily enough, this was one of my grandmother's favorite shows. Every time I'd come back from Disney World, my gram would ask if I saw the bug show LOL
When I got out of the show the monsoon had let up a little, down to a steady rain so I headed to Africa and to...



Kilimanjaro Safaris!



I love, love, LOVE this. I'm kinda in love with the giraffes, they're so cute!
There was no line at all. Score! I made my way right down to the trucks.



A rainy day in Disney is better than a sunny day at home
Now we get to tons of animal pictures....





















What can I say? I really like giraffes
​

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Day 4 5/3 Part 2:
Animals Really Like the Rain
​

More safari pics. This was a pretty awesome safari. The animals were super active. They love the rain. If you get a chance, head to the Animal Kingdom in the rain and go ride the safari.













I managed to capture a picture one of the cheetahs up and walking around! It was so cool!







I had such a good safari, I turned around and walked right back on. Here's a few from that trek.













We got stuck for awhile because the rhinos wouldn't get out of the road.
Overall I had such a great experience. Tons of animals out and about, the cheetah walking around... so cool!
I decided to skip the trails since it was still raining and I headed off to my next destination.
​

 

[pirateprincess1976]

Day 4 5/3 Part 3:
"Really, I don't work here."​

I decided to head over to Dinoland USA.
On the way, I passed the Mickey and Minnie meet and greet and the wait time was only 10 minutes. Of course I hopped in line. This area is so cute. I love all the pictures of Mickey and Minnie on their travels.





I mean, how cute are these?
I waited about 10 minutes and then was let in to meet the most adorable couple ever.



They were super cute and sweet. I love their safari outfits. I thanked them and continued on my way.
Right before Dinoland, I passed the Pooh and Tigger greet. I pin traded with the CMs at the entrance and they said that there was no wait for Pooh and Tigger, so I decided to head on down. There was absolutely no one down there. I got to spend plenty of time with Pooh and Tigger. They were so sweet and cuddly. Tigger was awfully bouncy. I might have sang "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers".





After meeting Tigger, I went to grab my jacket and started chatting with the character attendants, one of them was actual one of the ones I pin traded with at the beginning of the line. As we were chatting one of them said something along the lines of "well, you know, you work here." And I had to tell them sadly I did not. Yup, once again this girl was mistaken for a CM (which totally made my day, btw). After they recovered from the surprise of me not working for Disney, they asked about my trip, how long I was staying, where I was from. They told me when I come back in September I'll have to come see them in the Magic Kingdom since that's where they were being relocated to when the Pooh greet ended at the Animal Kingdom.
My notes say that their names were Brain and James so I guess that was their names LOL. They were super nice. I must admit that being solo allows me to have some of the best CM interactions.
Next I made my way into Dinoland and head straight to Dinosaur.





After successfully surviving my time travels I did some pin trading in the dump shop. I saw a completely awesome Soarin' pin on one of the CMs lanyards that I just had to trade for...



I LOVE this pin!!!!! It's too perfect! This is why I love pin trading. Not only is it fun to talk to people but sometimes you find the most amazing pins and it totally makes your day.
I headed over to Finding Nemo: the Musical.



It's been awhile since I've seen this and I almost forgot how cute it is.
When it was over, the rain had let up! Yay!
I headed over to Flame Tree Barbeque for lunch. I ended up getting the BBQ chicken salad and the chocolate mousse. So good!



Since the rain was done I had one more stop to make before I headed out...






It's Yeti Time!!!!!
I jumped in the single rider line (best thing ever) and after a few minutes I was zooming off in my train.
I survived my Yeti encounter and headed out. Even though most of the day was soggy, I had a great day at the Animal Kingdom and I was excited to see what the night would bring.




​

 

[ZehnJahren]

I just found your TR. We were both solo at Pop at the exact same time, both on an AP; I was next to the bowling pin pool and you were next to the Hippy Dippy pool! It was such a short walk to the main building; I paid for a pool view this fall so I'm hoping for the same walk on my upcoming this trip in October!

My trip was 4/29 - 5/2; all that rain was such a party pooper for me because I wasn't prepared for it and got soaked. My last day I went to Epcot (you were there too I think for Illuminations) and left EVERYTHING but my magic band with the baggage handlers - my credit cards, my driver's license, my phone, everything. I was just tired of being worried all my stuff was going to get ruined in my "water resistant but not water proof" travel purse!

I looked very closely in your backgrounds of your photos to see if I saw myself, but I didn't! I always wonder if any Disers catch other Disers in their photos.

Anyway, joining in for the rest of the TR now!