Tan and rested and alone (Almost!) – An August 2015 Solo TR - UPDATE 11/14 WRAP UP - TR COMPLETE

[SnowWhiteOz]

Welcome one and all to my first ever trip report from my (hopefully inaugural) solo trip to WDW from 13-20 August 2015.​

About Me –General​

(Normal)​

(Princess mode)​

I’m 28 years old (but probably more like 6 at heart) and I’m originally from Melbourne, Australia but currently live in our nation’s capital, Canberra.​

I’m a public servant (I think you call them civil servants in the northern hemisphere) and work for the federal government.​

I love to travel, have been to over 25 countries, and, if I’m in a country with a Disney park, I will always go.​

More Importantly, About Me – Disney Edition​

Favourite Park: Pre this trip -Hong Kong Disney, Now – It’s tied with WDW
Favourite Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Favourite Character - Princess: Snow White
Favourite Character - Non-Princess: the Genie
Favourite Disney Movie: Aladdin
Well for starters, prior to this trip I’d never been to WDW (shock horror! ) but I have been to all the other parks so I felt like I’d been saving the best for last.​

My first trip to a Disney park was to Tokyo Disney all the way back in another millennium, 1990. And despite my grumpiness in the photos I'm assured by my mother that I actually did have fun. My sole memory from the trip is going on the Jungle Cruise ride and then being bought a raspberry popsicle by my Uncle.

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It was then a while before my next trip when I went with my DM, DF and 2 DB to Disneyland on our family vacation in 1999. CA was not open at that point, but I have fond memories of Disneyland even if they are a little blurry now.​

In 2007 I visited Paris Disney, and yes it is small, but it still has that all important Disney magic. (Importantly I apparently kept up the tradition of wearing red and finally learnt how to smile)​

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In 2009 to celebrate graduating university I went back to the States and went to Disneyland, and this time, to California Adventure as well. I wasn’t a huge CA fan (this was pre-Cars land and other exciting additions) but DL can do no wrong in my book. As a bonus I was there at Halloween and the attention to detail was incredible.​

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And now to the last time I was at a Disney park, Hong Kong in 2012 (which seems oh so long ago but still fresh in my mind). I loved HKD. It is perfectly sized, is tremendously clean, everyone is friendly and as a bonus they have Toy Story land! ​

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If you want to see the obsessive planning that went it to trip (and to see how useful or otherwise it ended up being as you follow along you can read my PTR - I want to be where the people are… (and not in cold Canberra!) An August 2015 PTR​

I'm also a bit of a foodie so if you're interested in that sort of thing check out my DR - I don’t *like* food; I Love it – A Solo August Dining Report​

Now that the introductions out of the way, let's begin!​

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Table of Contents
· I know exactly where I'm going
· A great warm welcome will be waiting for me
· I’m so rumbly in my tumbly
· They’re quick but I’m much faster
· Shining, shimmering, splendid
· I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good
· Ay ay ay! No me gusta
· We can make it if we run
· See, here I'm now sitting by myself, uh, er, talking to myself.
· Oh, the places you’ll go
· I knew it! I knowed I made a good choice
· Shoulder to shoulder into the fray
· Just look at the world around you
· The nicest thing about the rain is that it stops. Eventually.
· There’s magic everywhere
· Hands down, this is the best day of my life
· After all, Miss, this is France
· I'm a very busy woman and I haven't got all day
· The night will weave its magic spell
· Your miles and miles from your nice warm bed
· Ain’t got time for messing around
· Hey you! Let us through
· I’m where I’m meant to go
· How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

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Let’s start at the very beginning (which is a very good place to start if you haven’t heard). And that beginning would be at 06:30am on Sunday August 9 2015 when I began my mammoth trek to Florida which would see me cross two Australian states, New Zealand and two more US states before I would end up at Walt Disney World. ​

This is what I left with for my two week trip to the States. I've perfected packing after numerous trips so was able to travel with just carry on which is so much easier. ​

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It began with a taxi ride from my home to the centre of Canberra where I boarded a bus to make the 3 and a half hour journey to Sydney Airport. This part of the trip was uneventful but I should have known that it wouldn’t last. After checking in and grabbing some lunch I waited for my flight to Auckland which was due to depart at 3:45pm. This is where the first delay of the trip happened. Thankfully this one was only for half an hour but as I only had less than an hour to make my connection in Auckland I was a little concerned. ​

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We eventually departed and managed to make up most of the delay on the flight over and landed at 9:00pm. I raced across the airport and went through the international transfer security and arrived at my new gate just as we were meant to begin boarding. Well that’s where the fun started. At first we were delayed half an hour. This was because the plane had apparently been struck by lightning as was being assessed for damage. ​

Half an hour became one hour which became two which became four (we were given some food vouchers at 1.5 hours and again at 3 hours). At this point the damage could not be repaired and the flight was cancelled. ​

So at 1:00 in the morning they began putting people up at hotels. This of course meant we had to collect our bags and go through customs and immigration. At 2am I was on a bus to a random airport hotel in Auckland and was finally in bed at 3am. ​

Our new flight was rescheduled for 1pm and we were told to be at the airport at 10am. So after a quick breakfast it was back onto the bus at 9:30am. Thankfully this flight left on time and was really uneventful but it meant that instead of arriving in Los Angeles at 2:55pm on Sunday 9 August as planned we arrived at 7:30 in the morning on Monday 10 August. ​

Thankfully I had a few days to recover before arriving in Orlando. I spent a day in LA with my little brother who lives over there and then we spent two days in Las Vegas for his 26th birthday. ​

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After that I was finally on my way to WDW. I had an 8:30am flight from Las Vegas and was dropped off at the airport at 7am. A quick breakfast later and I was ready to go. This flight left on time and a short 5 hours later I was in sunny Florida!​

Next – Boarding the DME and checking into Disney!​

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[HeyIt'sMe]

Oh my gosh - we met you in Disney! We were the family you chatted with in line for SDMT (Aug 18).

It is so cool that you have been to all the Disney parks. I liked your Halloween DL picture. We usually go to WDW in October and love the Fall decorations, Halloween party, and Food & Wine. We went in August this year instead because our daughter started college.

Wow, you sure pack light. Kudos to you! We were in Disney for 5 days and had 4 suitcases plus carryons!

I'm excited to read all about your trip!

 

[drp1989]

Following along

I'm a very light packer for trips but I think you could easily out do me! Lol

 

[bc7ate9]

Those flight delays sound maddening!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Oh my gosh - we met you in Disney! We were the family you chatted with in line for SDMT (Aug 18).

It is so cool that you have been to all the Disney parks. I liked your Halloween DL picture. We usually go to WDW in October and love the Fall decorations, Halloween party, and Food & Wine. We went in August this year instead because our daughter started college.

Wow, you sure pack light. Kudos to you! We were in Disney for 5 days and had 4 suitcases plus carryons!

I'm excited to read all about your trip!

I can't believe I had a dismeet and didn't even realise it! That's super exciting.I hope the rest of your trip was awesome

I used to overpack but by overplanning before travelling (like set outfits for each day in their own ziplock bag) I've managed to do just carry on for the last few years, including for a five week trip to France!

Following along

I'm a very light packer for trips but I think you could easily out do me! Lol

Those flight delays sound maddening!

They were and unfortunately, spoiler alert, they weren't the last for the trip

 

[magicallyDisney001]

Tagging along as well!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Tagging along as well!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Now where were we? At that’s right, landing in sunny Florida. I did say sunny right? Well nope, it was not sunny when I landed – it was raining, and raining, and raining. In fact my first two hours in Florida were more like being back home in the winter I’d left behind than the tropical paradise I’d been imagining. But I wasn’t going to let that get me down – I was this close to being in Disney. After riding the faux-no-rail and collecting my bags I finally saw this sight.



I was on board the Disney Magical Express by 4:30 and just 15 short minutes later (who am I kidding, they were some of the longest minutes of my life – I was like let’s just get moving already!) we were on the road.





After a quick stop at Art of Animation I finally turned the corner and saw my home for the next 7 days – Pop Century.



In all my trips to the other Disney park I have never stayed on site so this was going to be a whole new experience for me – one on which I was willing to spend the extra money (everything is that much more expensive as a solo traveller – no one to help with any of the costs!). I had done online check-in but still had to go to the desk to collect my magicband. Thankfully there was no line so I was checked in by a super friendly CM (a good start) and was in my room by 5:20pm.







I’d put in a faxed room request through touringplans.com and had requested 50’s building, lake view and top floor. I pretty much got 2.5 out of three when it came to the room. It was 50s and top floor and had a partial lake view but I couldn’t see the fireworks from inside the room – I had to go all the way onto the balcony/walkway ; )





I dumped my bag in the room, quickly changed into more summer friendly attire (hopeful that the rain would stop and the sun would come out) and made the trek to the bus stop ready to catch my first proper Disney bus.

Next – Downtown Disney, Disney Springs or whatever you want to call it.

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[Aulika]

Following along

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Following along

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

3 minutes. That’s how long I had to wait at the Pop bus stop for the bus to Downtown Disney. All I could think was are you kidding me? All I read on the disboards is how long people have to wait for buses and if this is what it’s going to be like I don’t know what they’re complaining about! But then there was no time for thinking I had to get on the bus and go.

15 minutes later and we pulled up at DTD just as the rain began to ease off – the emergency poncho in my purse would have to wait for another day. I hopped off the bus and headed straight on in.



The Christmas store caught my eye straightaway but I figured I’d save it to last seeing as it was right next to the bus stop.



Instead I let my stomach lead the way and tried to find Earl of Sandwich. 10 confused minutes later and I finally spotted it (I think I’d walked past it twice without noticing it J). I’d joined their eClub online before my trip and had a free sandwich coupon burning a hole in my pocket. I knew exactly what I wanted to – the Holiday Turkey sandwich. Well the ordering went well but the paying was a different story. The coupon created a lot of dramas and after about 5 minutes and an intervention from the manager I managed to have it honoured and got my sandwich. My delicious, delicious sandwich. Despite the coupon dramas I am an Earl of Sandwich convert, so thank you to those on here who recommended it in their reviews.



I then walked the length of DTD up to the cinemas and back to see what was around. Yes the walls are annoying and yes they do take away from the atmosphere but I could see where the direction of DTD was headed and think it will be fantastic when finished.



I stopped in to one of the stores and bought my first Disney purchase, a ring for myself and something I had been eyeing off from back home – magic bandits. Now I had read mixed reviews on these and many people had claimed they fell off far too easily, but I can say I wore them every day of the trip and not one fell off and it never felt like they would either. I went with the set of four park themed bandits and coordinated them to the park I was in each day.



Shopping of course makes me hungry (in fact most things make me hungry as you’ll find out) so I headed off to my other planned meal stop at DTD – Ghirardelli Soda Fountain. Hmm. What can I say without offending the many Ghirardelli lovers on the Dis? I had the mint bliss sundae and thought it was supremely average tasting and way too overpriced. In fact, two thirds of the sundae ended up in the bin. Maybe I picked the wrong flavour, but I had so much better ice-cream in other spots across my trip that there is no way I’d go back.





After a little more shopping the early start to the day began to kick in so I headed back to the bus stop to head back to the resort to have a quick swim and then an early night. I had to wait a full 8 minutes for a bus (ridiculous, I know) and was back at Pop in no time.



Unfortunately I wasn’t the only thing to head back to Pop as the rain returned with a vengeance. So the swim went out the window and I instead headed back to the room to watch a little TV.

Not too long after I heard a sound I had been waiting for – the fireworks. I couldn’t see them without stepping out on to the corridor but from there it was a great view.

A few minutes later I decided to call it a night and prepared for my first sleep at Disney...or so I thought.

Next – A full day in the parks on no sleep? You bet.
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[SnowWhiteOz]

What do you get when you’re exhausted from travelling, you have an early night and you know you have a big day the next day? About 2 hours sleep. Apparently I was either too excited or just so tired that I couldn’t sleep as I could not fall asleep. After trying every trick in the insomniac’s book (which I’m well versed in) I managed to fall asleep around 4am. Unfortunately I had an 8am ADR so I was up at 6:30am.

I got dressed and made my way down to the bus for my first visit to a WDW park. I was at the bus stop by 7:06 and was on a bus by 7:10. Where was I heading? The magical menagerie better known as Animal Kingdom. Just 12 short minutes later and I was there. With just one other family already there and they were busy taking photos so I was the very first person in line. I had a lovely chat to the CMs who were getting ready to start there day on the turnstiles and they thoughtfully told everyone else to line up behind me. That’s right I was going to be the first person in the park that day!



At 7:45 they came to tick us off the pre-RD ADR list and we were let in to the park. After a few empty park shots I made my way up to Tusker House.



And yep, I was the first person there as well – let me just say that it is super weird to be seated in a restaurant that size with no one else in the room. After a few trips to the buffet and some happy snaps with Daisy, Goofy and Mickey I settled the bill and was out into the park by 8:50.

I had an FP booked for Kilimanjaro Safaris later in the day but as it is the closest attraction to Tusker House I made my way over there and was on the ride before 9:00. It was a pretty good safari and we saw a lot of animals, my favourites were the swimming hippos and the chillaxed elephant who was just happy hanging by himself.





After the safari I decided to change my later FP to something different and then headed off to my first FP of the day – Dinosaur. I know people love this ride but seriously the best part is the pre-show video. The ride itself is terrible! By this stage it was only about 9:15 and I had 45 minutes til my next FP so I hopped in the supposedly 10 minute stand by line for Primeval Whirl. 2 minutes later and I was on the ride – I enjoyed it but it is the same as any mad mouse ride that shows up at a school carnival!



After looking around Dinoland USA I slowly wandered around to my next FP – Kali River Rapids. Another walk on at this time of the morning – and I of course ended up in a seat that got quite wet (although the woman next to me got drenched!). This was one instance where I was thankful that AK is hotter than the surface of the sun as I was dry in about 2 minutes!​

I then headed to Expedition Everest to see what the stand by time was. It was listed as 60 minutes already but there was basically no queue for the single rider line so I headed in that way and basically walked on. I enjoyed the queue theming and thought the ride was good (but definitely not great).

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So by 11am I had managed to ride all four big attractions. Having a pre-RD ADR definitely help and I would try and get one if (when?) I go back. I then headed off to the FP that I had changed earlier – the meet and great with Mickey and Minnie. I still had a little time and was super hot so I stopped off for an adult beverage –the Coconut-Lychee Lemonade from Drinkwallah – um amazing, I would definitely recommend this as a delicious way for grown-ups to cool down.

While waiting for my FP window to open I noticed that Dug and Russell were out so I jumped in the line and in about 15 minutes I was meeting my favourite wilderness explorer/talking dog.



It was then into the air-conditioned line to meet Mickey and Minnie. It was great being able to meet both at once and they were very chatty for silent characters! I had originally planned to have lunch after this but was still full from breakfast. I quickly grabbed a fourth FP and instead went to meet my first princess. Pocahontas. I was the last person to join the queue before it was closed off and about 20 minutes later we were chatting about jewellery our mothers had given us.

Now AK doesn’t have that many attractions and after doing all the headliners I didn’t want to take someone's chance away from riding them so I chose to see a singing stingray with my next FP. I saw the 1pm showing. It was an enjoyable show – I didn’t love the songs and it’s certainly no festival of the lion king but it is definitely a good way to get out of the sun for a little while. After the show I went to get my next FP. The only other thing I really wanted to do was Festival of the Lion King so I grabbed the first available time which was the 3pm show.

I had time to fill in so I decided to catch the train to Conversation Station and Rafiki's Planet Watch. I had just enough time to meet with a few animal friends before catching the rain back to Harambe. I love the Mickey on the outside of Harambe!





I stopped for an quick afternoon snack at Zuri’s Sweet Shop and then headed into the line for FoTLK and was seated in the lion section. The show is amazing – I had seen it in Hong Kong in 2012 and the show, while identical, probably is a much better fit in AK. ​

After this I was really starting to feel the effects of the lack of sleep. I had planned to spend all day at AK before heading across to EPCOT for plans later that evening but decided an afternoon at the hotel would be a much better time to spend the afternoon. The plan became have a swim and then a nap before heading to EPCOT. Unfortunately the weather had other plans as soon as I made it back to the AK bus stop the heavens opened. ​

Next – Rain, rain go away – I have fireworks to watch!​

 

[Nakkira]

following along

 

[N8sgirl12]

Following!

 

[GPC0321]

Loving this!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

following along

Following!

Loving this!

Thank you!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Where did we leave off? That’s right – with monsoonal rain hanging around Pop. The plan for a swim was quickly dashed but the plan for a nap suddenly became more and more appealing. So I ran back (more like power-walked) to the room and jumped into bed. I managed to nap for almost two hours which was heavenly.

But then it was time to venture back out and to head to my second park of the day – Epcot. While planning my trip I decided to treat myself and had booked in to the Illuminations Sparkling Dessert Party. So all this rain seemed like putting a damper on it (pun fully intended!) – but the show must go on as they say. So I stood in line in this waiting for the bus to Epcot.

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And of course this ended up being one of the longest waits of the week – a whole 13 minutes spent praying for the rain to stop. By 6:55pm I was on the bus and on my way and 20 short minutes later I was pulling up to Epcot just as the rain was being to stop. Just five minutes later and the rain had finally finished. I had made it inside only the slightest bit damp and got my first glimpse of one of the iconic images of Disneyworld.



I had half an hour before check in for the party opened so I went to see what FP were still available. The only thing left that I wanted to do (and didn’t have an FP for later in the week) was the meet and greet but the only time available was 7:45pm. To fill in time I headed to a ride with a single rider line - Mission: Space. I decided to go to the Orange side – a move I would be regretting later that night, but for the time being I enjoyed myself despite all the jostling.





I then made my way back to the meet and greet location at 7:40 – and asked the CM how long it would take to go through – and they said even with the FP it would be a good 15 minutes. I decided not to push it before the party and changed the FP to later in the evening instead.

I then headed on down to the World Showcase – with the rain the party had been moved inside the Odyssey building. It was actually quite pretty and there was plenty of food available (if you want a detailed review here is a link to my dining report chapter on it - Illuminations Sparkling Dessert Party).



At 8:45pm we started to move outside to our location for Illuminations. This is located right behind the Disney Traders store.



There was an awesome CM manning our spot who was hilarious and shared lots of little tidbits about Illuminations with us. And a few minutes later it began – I thought it was a really enjoyable show and the fireworks were pretty awesome (although really hard to take a photo of with a terrible old camera!).

After Illuminations I headed back into Future World. I went to see what the wait time for Soarin was (70 mins - no thanks) so I headed onto the no wait ride Living with the Land instead. This was interesting and I think I would definitely do the Behind the Seeds tour next time I’m there.



It was then time to use my FP for the M&G. It was actually really good even though I had met the same characters earlier in the day at AK. Minnie was hilarious and we had a dress competition and a pose off! Clearly Minnie won



But then the day came to end as all good things must. Epcot had EMH until 11pm but by 10:30 I was exhausted and feeling a little unwell so I made my way out to the bus stop and straight on to a waiting bus. I was back at Pop by 10:50. And then spent the next hour being unwell (which I blame on Mission: Space and the fact that I’d pretty much only eaten sugar all day!). But day one was done and it was a great introduction to WDW.​

Next: Something, something Dark Side
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[SnowWhiteOz]

Day 1 Wrap Up

Parks visited: 2
FPs used: 6
Favourite Ride: Kali River Rapids
Favourite Show: Festival of the Lion King
Characters met: 14
Steps taken: 23,777
Miles/Kilometres walked: 11.4mi/18.91km
Calories burned: 2,392
Calories consumed: 2,326 ​