I had a quick solo trip planned after DH and I dropped both of our boys at college, to stave off our brand new empty nest a few more days. I tacked the trip on to a wedding DH and I attended in Chicago. I flew in on Sunday 8/27 and was scheduled to leave on Wednesday 8/30. I stayed at the Yacht Club, a first for me, and enjoyed Epcot on Sunday evening. I got up and hit HS on Monday morning, and stopped at the hotel to figure out what to do about the storm. I live in the midwest and while I didn't want to cut my already very short trip shorter, I also didn't want to be stuck. YC told me they could only guarantee me a room through 8/31, because they were at full capacity starting on 9/1 due to Labor Day weekend.
So, I grabbed a late afternoon flight back home on Tuesday instead, and I went to enjoy MK on Monday afternoon. By Monday night, I was starting to worry that I'd still get stuck if I was flying out on Tuesday afternoon, so with help from a TA friend, I swapped my afternoon flight for a morning flight out on Tuesday. Gah...there went my two TS reservations and my dreams of hitting all four parks.
I scheduled an Uber for 7:30 am and gave myself three hours before my flight's departure on Tuesday morning, like WDW recommends. However, I woke in the early hours of Tuesday worried that I wasn't getting up and out early enough...my thought process was that a ton of people might also be trying to check out when I was (I was told by a CM that I had to check out in person because I was leaving my reservation early and it was the only way Disney could give me a refund for my last night). So, I got up even earlier, and hustled down to the lobby at about 6:30 am. GAH! I was literally the only person in the lobby besides the CMs behind the counter. Ugh! They chuckled at how early I was and said from their perspective, most people were extending their stay and were going to ride out the storm at Disney. So, I checked out easily and sat in the lobby with a book until my Uber arrived.
I got to MCO very early, and while security was mobbed, once I got through it (thank goodness for TSA precheck) I was surprised at how calm everything seemed at the gate. No one was rushing around, everyone was kind and in a good mood. Even the gates around mine seemed empty.
I flew home without incident, for which I'm grateful. However, now I'm wondering if I should have stayed through 8/31? Of course I didn't have a crystal ball, but would I have been stranded? Or could I have enjoyed more park time and even enjoyed more empty parks? Would I have been able to fly home on my original flight in the late afternoon on 8/30? Or would I have been able to fly home easily today (8/31)?
Needless to say, I told DH that I need a solo trip "do over".