A Royal Upgrade - Solo 7/14-7/16 (Completed!)

[MusicalAstronaut]

I'm back! You can check out my pre-trip report here if you'd like to know what my plans were.

Who went on this trip: This was a solo adventure! I'm Lauren. I'm a 29 year old microbiologist from Atlanta. I have 2 dogs, a cat, and a husband who doesn't love Disney and is totally fine with me taking off for weekends down there without him.

Where did I stay: I booked at room at Port Orleans Riverside through Hotwire. I'm a passholder but didn't see any super great deals through Disney, so off to Hotwire I went. I managed to get a garden view room for two nights at $106/night. Sweet!

Plans for the weekend: I didn't have any ADRs. I just booked a few fastpasses and took a cheap flight down on Spirit. One thing I did want to try was the new boozy beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter, but I actually never made it over there. Oh well, next time!

Table of Contents
Day 1 - Getting There
Day 2 Part 1 - Morning at Port Orleans Riverside
Day 2 Part 2 - Disney's Hollywood Studios
Day 2 Part 2 (continued) - More Disney's Hollywood Studios
Day 2 Part 3 - Afternoon at Epcot
Day 2 Part 4 - Pool & Animal Kingdom
Day 2 Part 5 - Animal Kingdom (continued), also Disney Springs
Day 3 Part 1 - DVC tour
Day 3 Part 2 - AK & POR & MK all night
Day 3 Part 3 - The End & Tragical Express
​

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Day 1 - Getting There
Hooray for Friday! I was SO ready to head to Disney World, but I actually had a million things to do first before my flight left at 10pm. After surviving work, I went to the park to do my 5 mile run that was scheduled for Saturday (but I knew I wouldn't do it on vacation).

This cloud was my best friend!! Thanks for the shade!
It was hot hot hot to run at 3:30pm, but I just considered this good practice for enduring the summer heat in Orlando! I grabbed a slice of pizza, a fruit bowl, and a large coffee on my way home to get the dogs. I didn't realize it, but I had just made a colossal mistake that would drag me down the rest of the trip.

World's cutest dogs on their way to boarding for the weekend.
I dropped the dogs off , went home to shower & double check my "free personal item" (tiny duffel bag) had everything in it, and off to MARTA I went. (If you're wondering, my cat just chills at home if I'm only gone for a day or two. I moved her Minnie Mouse cat bed into the middle of the living room so I could check on her with the nanny cam we have in our apartment. I'm pretty sure she slept the entire time I was gone.)

Hooray for MARTA!
My train came quickly and I happily rode past all of the people stuck in downtown Atlanta traffic to the airport. I got through security fairly quickly (20-30 minutes), went to my gate, grabbed a beer, and finally got to board my flight. The flight from Atlanta to Orlando is super quick, so by 11:30pm I was outside the airport hopping into my friend's car! The plan was to sleep on her couch and then check into Port Orleans Riverside first thing in the morning. Hey, remember that huge mistake I made earlier? I didn't take a picture of it, but its name was VENTI COFFEE AT 5PM. I don't drink coffee past noon. Ever. It keeps me awake, but I needed to make it to midnight! Well, Cinderella here didn't just stay up past midnight. At 2:30am I was still wide awake, practically hallucinating while I tried to force myself to sleep. I did eventually sleep a tiny bit, but by 6:30am I gave up. I told my sleepy friend goodbye and called an uber to take me to Port Orleans Riverside.

Next up: Day 2 Part 1 - Morning at POR​

 

[Newsies]

Following along!! Can't wait to read more about your adventures!!

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Day 2 Part 1 - Port Orleans Riverside
So, my uber arrived at Port Orleans Riverside around 8am and I practically bounced out of the car. I was here! Yes kind sir, I will take a Mickey sticker! I haven't stayed at POR since I was a little kid and it was still called Dixie Landings, so I was extra excited.

I tried to not make high-pitched sounds of excitement as we pulled in
I went into the lobby and got in line for check in. Even though it was pretty early, there were a couple of families there already so I had to wait a few minutes. I had done the online check in, but I had booked my room in a slightly convoluted way so I wanted to make sure I went to the front desk first.

Side note about my booking experience: I booked my room through Hotwire in two separate one night reservations. When I went to book originally the 2 night stay disappeared while I was entering my CC info. I went back and booked just Saturday and then just Sunday. It was a Hotwire HotRate deal, $106/night and it ended up giving me a Garden View room. I was expecting it to be standard view so that was great! Linking my Hotwire-purchased hotel to MDE wasn't difficult. I called Hotwire and told them Disney said they needed to call and get the Disney confirmation code. They put me on hold for 5-7 minutes and came back with the numbers I used to link the hotel to MDE. Easy. Then I called Disney and requested to be in the same hotel room both nights. They said it wasn't guaranteed but they'd put a note down. I'd read before that that's one of the things Disney will actually do automatically before you arrive, but I wanted to give it my best shot. It wouldn't be fun to be Disney Homeless for hours on Sunday!

The lobby is absolutely gorgeous. I wish I'd had a whole week to spend at this resort.
When it was my turn to check in I talked to my new favorite Disney CM, Rob. He said I was indeed in the same room both nights but it wasn't ready yet. I was expecting that since it was 8am and had planned on leaving my duffel with Bell Services. However, CM Rob said "Let me see if I can find something that's ready now". Cool! After a couple minutes he said "Okay, got you a room that's ready. It's here [shows me on map], it's a Royal Room, you're all set". Wait what?! I got an upgrade, my very first one! CM Rob was really casual about it but I thanked him profusely and headed straight to my room.

It was already a beautiful (and hot) morning.
I went out the back of the lobby, turned right, crossed a bridge, and then turned left for Oak Manor. It was next to a quiet pool on one side & the lawn where they do the evening movies on the other side. It was closest to the East (I believe) bus stop, and I switched between using that one and the main one at the lobby throughout the weekend. I never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus, and it was normally much faster. My bus stop was the second to last one at POR before it left for the parks, and second to last to drop off at the resort when you came back.

Left for Oak Manor!
My Royal Room was sort of at the back of the manor. It was room 9303, which was a corner room on the second floor. If you looked to the right you could see the parking lot but it was definitely on the garden area. I walked in and squeeeeeeeeed because it was so awesome!

I flopped onto the far bed before remembering to take a picture
I'm going to stop here for now! Next up: Disney's Hollywood Studios, no lines, and checking out Toy Story Land!​

 

[Newsies]

Wow!!! What an upgrade, that's so exciting!!! The room looks beautiful! Also, I love that caption... "I flopped onto that far bed before remembering to take a picture" too relatable

Can't wait to hear about DHS!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Now that's an exciting start to a trip.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Why an exciting start to your trip! The Royal Rooms are so pretty!

 

[rentayenta]

Yay for upgrades and subbing! I have fond memories of POR too. Our first visit to WDW was in 2007 and we stayed there. They have a great food court!

 

[Nohal]

Nice upgrade. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Day 1 Part 2 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
After I was done checking out the room and happily turning on the fireworks on the headboard for a good 15 minutes, it was time to hit the parks.

So pretty!
Next time I’ll remember to take more pictures of these things, but this is my first trip report and a lot of this I didn't think to capture! I carried my Doctor Who themed TARDIS backpack because it rolled up small & fit easily into my tiny Spirit-approved bag. I realized after checking in that they didn’t offer me a MagicBand, but I was already wearing my Epcot 35th anniversary band, so that’s likely why.

So please accept this stock photo of my MagicBand instead
Disney recently updated the My Disney Experience app to include bus wait times, so I pulled that up as I left the room and headed for the lobby bus stop. However, the app was REALLY slow to load. So slow that I arrived at the bus stop before it loaded. I asked the CM there how to check the wait times for when it actually did load, and it was pretty easy. It’s interesting how they did this – you can’t check wait times anywhere in the Disney area, only for your resort. It’s tied to your reservation so it’ll only show you when buses are arriving at your resort. I wish they also showed you when your resort bus arrived at a park. I once waited 45 minutes to get from Animal Kingdom to Beach Club in the morning, and knowing that the bus would take that long would have been very useful! Anyway, just keep that in mind for your future visits.

I got a lot of Cast Member compliments on my shirt - "Drunkest of them All"
I decided to go to Hollywood Studios first. Despite the fact that I call Studios a half day park, I can spend a TON of time there. It's probably because I'm happy riding the same 4 rides repeatedly. I’d already missed rope drop by a good bit but I hoped everyone was in Toy Story Land and the lines wouldn't be long. I arrived around 9:30am to a fairly empty park. Yay! I ran into Trolley Car Café (Starbucks) and while I was sorely tempted to buy a carrot cake cookie, I just got a coffee & banana. I did notice that they were selling the carrot cake cookies in these clear plastic containers, which was different from the last time I had one in May. Back then I received it in a bag (I asked if they had a container and was told no). It was too big for me to eat and got pretty squished in my backpack throughout the day, so it was nice to see them in sturdy containers now! That way you can have a bit & save the rest for later. After getting my coffee I went over to my favorite ride, Tower of Terror. It had a 13 minute wait and I walked right on.

It's not as ominous when it's nice & sunny out
I love riding in the front, but on my first ride I realized from that angle I couldn’t see into Star Wars Land. The next time I rode it I asked for the back, and when the doors opened at the top of the ride I could see right into the construction area. I just think that’s neat.

Pictures turn out even better when there are no people!
I thought about riding TOT a few more times, but I kept expecting the park to get much busier, so I went to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and went through the single rider line. The wait time for standby said something like 35 minutes but it really didn’t look that long. I was on & off really quickly and wasn’t sure what to do next. I thought this was the park I’d be standing in longer lines and had budgeted my time for that. I thought about seeing the Indiana Jones Show or getting a cream cheese pretzel, but I decided to walk through Toy Story Land instead. I was supposed to be trying new things this trip after all! A quick look at my app told me it still wasn’t going to load for me, so I told myself if the lines were crazy I’d just walk away. At this point it was starting to get Florida Hot. I’m from Atlanta so I’m no stranger to heat & humidity, but Orlando is something special. I was happy I remembered to pack and apply sunscreen, and drink liberal amounts of water. This meant I had to pee ever half an hour but it kept me from dying in the sun.

No wait for single riders!
That sunscreen ended up being really important in Toy Story Land because there was very little shade. What gives, Disney?! There were a lot of sweaty, red little kids.

Sweat City
I walked over to Andy’s Lunch Box but wasn’t really feeling hungry enough to order something, though I really want to try the s’mores French toast some time! I got in line for the Alien Swirling Saucers because it was a 25 minute wait. Toy Story Mania was 35 and Slinky Dog Dash was 45. In hindsight I should’ve gotten in line for Slinky, because when I got off AS---wait, I can’t abbreviate that name. When I got off the Alien ride SDD was 75 minutes. So no Slinky for me! Aliens had misting fans in line and a cute little structure that we all tried to squeeze under, but not much else. In the era of interactive queues I think they could’ve done so much more with that line. I saw kids touching the walls & stuff, hoping that things moved or turned. They did have a drinking fountain in line which was a good call.

The top was cool at least
As for the ride itself, it was fun! I’ve never been to Disneyland but I’ve heard it’s the same basic ride as the Mater Tractor Tow Ride (I have NO idea what the actual name is). Doesn’t matter, it was new to me! I really enjoyed the way you got slung around. It was reminiscent of Mad Tea Party but you weren’t just spinning. I had a lot of fun.

My sweet ride
Like I said, when I got off the ride the line for SDD had grown past the point where I was willing to ride it. Plus it was HOT and I wanted to get into the shade. Where to now? How about a delicious cool beverage!

Ace Space Bloody Orange Hard Cider AKA yasssssssssssssss
I love Baseline Tap House, I think it’s a great addition to Studios. It’s not “just a bar”, it has some really neat beers to try and some fancy apps. I wanted to get the new steak puff pastry thing, but I wasn’t hungry yet. In hindsight I probably was hungry but was too hot to realize it. I ordered the Ace Space Bloody Orange Hard Cider. That stuff is incredibly delicious! It’s sweet but not super sweet, it’s a little tart, and it’s strong for a cider (6.9% ABV) so it’s actually a really good price for what you get (I want to say almost $12 for 22oz). I sat in the wonderful shade drinking it for a few minutes and playing Pokemon Go on my phone. Does anyone else play or am I the only person left? If any of you play, they have a ton of PokeStops in Toy Story Land! That really surprised me, because the new Braves Stadium in Atlanta still has nothing there. Do you think Disney has people whose job it is to pay attention to things like this & make sure they are prevalent at Disney? It just made me wonder how that happened when TSL only opened 2 weeks ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, I'm sad to say I'll have to pause here. DisBoards cuts you off at 10 images per post apparently. I'll be back soon with more from Disney's Hollywood Studios! Before I go, how do you guys like my Trip Report so far? It’s my first one, so any feedback is really appreciated!!! What do you want to hear about or see pictures of? Thanks!

​

 

[SoosieQ]

So far, so good! Can't wait to read more. I am contemplating a solo trip next Apr/May and I am reading all of the solo trip reports to see how things go. Thank you for posting!

 

[rentayenta]

Great update! The hard cider looks delicious! Can't wait to try Baseline Tap House.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

That’s awesome you were able to get to DHS and ride Tower and RnR right away! Tower is one of my favorites!

I’m so nervous about the no shade in Toy Story Land when we go next month! Both new rides look like so much fun. I love the abbreviation for Alien Swirling Saucers! Haha!

Yum! That hard cider looks delicious!

 

[cajunfan]

I'm enjoying it! Can't wait to read more...only advice...take longer trips, lol!

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I’m so nervous about the no shade in Toy Story Land when we go next month!

I saw a lot of people using umbrellas for shade and I thought that was a great idea!

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

So far, so good! Can't wait to read more. I am contemplating a solo trip next Apr/May and I am reading all of the solo trip reports to see how things go. Thank you for posting!

They are super fun! I really like being to do whatever I want. If I want to take it slow, or rush from ride to ride, or just ride the train around Magic Kingdom, I can!

 

[heidijanesmith]

Great TR so far, looking forward to more updates

 

[jmb4118]

I really want to try that Blood Orange hard cider when I go in October. Adding that to my list!

 

[Belle stitch]

Love it so far! Never thought of using Hotwire for Disney hotels (AP holder and DVC member but points go quickly). Good tip!

 

[dbb727]

I still play Pokémon Go too! My husband gently makes fun of me, he is an IT nerd and a bit of a gamer, whereas I’m not into video or computer games so he thinks it’s hilarious that I’m still trying to catch em all