A Whole New SOLO World: A July 2015 WDW TR - My 1st! (complete)

[bamacmac]

Day 5: Wednesday, July 22nd

Part 4















After I wiped my tears and regained composure, it was time to head to Liberty Square for yet another trip through the Haunted Mansion. I think this would make 3 times for the trip. Yeah, I love it.

Got a cool picture too...



I spent some time shopping on Main Street before I left. Had to get a few things for the kiddos that I had been waiting to buy.

Let me tell you a funny story here. So the 6 year old girl I keep had wanted something Belle related. She didn’t really care what, just wanted something that had to do with Belle. (I had asked each of them to give me an idea of what they might want…either a character, or type of item.) She still enjoys playing with Barbie dolls a lot, so I got her this Belle doll, knowing that she would love the beautiful dress and would love the little comb that came with it too. This is Belle when I purchased her.



Fast forward to the week after my trip. I had given the kids all their gifts that first Monday back with them. The 6 year old LOVED the Belle doll. She was so excited. I had done well.

I was off the next day. So I go back to work that Wednesday and the kids are all still asleep when I get there. The Mom tells me that Belle was involved in an unfortunate incident involving their 10 month old lab puppy. Belle had been left where the dog could get to her and it did not end well for Belle.



As you can see, Belle had tragically lost both of her hands. The sleeves of her dress had disappeared. Her dress was slightly ripped in a few places. Her hair was...well, quite a mess and pieces of her hair were found near the crime scene. But, she was still smiling and her makeup was intact. What a girl. That Belle.

The Mom said there were BIG tears over this. HUGE tears. She said they would replace it, but I told her no, I would do it, no problem. So I called the Disney Parks Merchandise number and a very nice Cast Member located the correct Belle and had her on her way to us. Problem solved and hopefully lesson learned! (I did make sure she understood this would be the last replacement doll though! Hahaha.)

One more post to go for Day 5...

 

[bamacmac]

Day 5: Wednesday, July 22nd

Part 5

Anyway, back on track. I left the Magic Kingdom that night, with a big smile on my face. It had been a lovely day and a lovely evening.

Here are few of the last Magic Kingdom pictures I got...



It made me smile even more to realize that the next time I saw the beautiful castle, it would covered in twinkling lights.





And of course this favorite of mine, Roy and Minnie...



I had parked at the Polynesian...




....and was pleased to have an entire monorail car to myself on the return trip. That doesn’t happen very often!



Back to the hotel I went, very excited for Day 6. I would be exploring Orlando a little bit! This would include a stop at I-Drive 360 (home of the Orlando Eye), a little apartment hunting and an afternoon/evening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

 

[tinkfan160]

Love your trip report so far! I read them all the time, but this is the first time I've commented, but we just have so much in common I couldn't resist! We were there at the same time as you (July 19th-25th)...I'm just finishing up posting the last couple days on my own TR! I am also a History major who loves the American Adventure and gets emotional during Wishes! I also have to say that your pictures are GORGEOUS! I took a lot of pictures with my iPhone and they don't look like yours! I'm really enjoying your perspectives on a solo trip as it is something that is on my Disney Bucket List. I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

 

[bamacmac]

Love your trip report so far! I read them all the time, but this is the first time I've commented, but we just have so much in common I couldn't resist! We were there at the same time as you (July 19th-25th)...I'm just finishing up posting the last couple days on my own TR! I am also a History major who loves the American Adventure and gets emotional during Wishes! I also have to say that your pictures are GORGEOUS! I took a lot of pictures with my iPhone and they don't look like yours! I'm really enjoying your perspectives on a solo trip as it is something that is on my Disney Bucket List. I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

Aww! What a nice comment! And I'm touched that you decided to comment when you normally don't! Thank you! Getting feedback on my very first one has been huge for me. And yes, we do have a lot in common then! Funny that our trips were at the same time. I will have to check out your TR too!! As far as the pics go, if you take enough, you are bound to get some good ones. And then let Instagram do the rest of the work for you. Haha. I love the lo-fi filter on there and use it 90% of the time. I also discovered that using Instagram automatically resizes the pictures and makes the majority of them the right size for posting on here. There have been a few I have had to make smaller, but it's been so helpful! And also I learned recently that for fireworks, burst mode is the way to go. So you end up with a ton of pictures, but it's fairly quick to choose the ones you want to keep out of the burst. But thank you, I have been pretty pleased with how most of these turned out!

I never would have thought I would want to go there alone, not when I loved going with the ex so much. But life happens. And I'm so glad I took this trip...it was better than anything I could have imagined. Hope you get the change to go solo one day!

Once I move down there, we should meet up in the parks one day when you are visiting!

 

[Angeejoe]

Enjoying your TR! Thanks for sharing!! Poor Belle a Doll!! I can't believe she lost her hands!

 

[bamacmac]

Enjoying your TR! Thanks for sharing!! Poor Belle a Doll!! I can't believe she lost her hands!

Thank you!! I know, right? We don't think the dog had very long with the doll before the Mom found her with it, so I can just imagine that she would have eaten the entire thing if she had had more time (this dog will eat anything and everything, food or not...it's unreal). I'm just glad the little girl wasn't the one to find it like that. That would have been even more traumatic!

 

[KingLlama]

-why do I feel like popping an Eggo waffle in the toaster after reading this?
-I think Meth Lab Belle still looks nice
-The Plaza has always seemed like an afterthought to me in the MK. Glad to see a review that confirmed that view.
-good stuff, C-Money

 

[bamacmac]

-why do I feel like popping an Eggo waffle in the toaster after reading this?
-I think Meth Lab Belle still looks nice
-The Plaza has always seemed like an afterthought to me in the MK. Glad to see a review that confirmed that view.
-good stuff, C-Money

-I fully support waffle eating at all hours of the day and night. So go for it. However, I should warn you. It will not, in fact, be as awesome as a Disney waffle. At all.
-Meth Lab Belle....now there's a money making idea for you King. Something to appeal to all those little Disney princesses who have lost their way...
-I would never have even considered eating there, to be honest. But someone repeatedly told me how much they loved it. No clue what they were talking about now. It was the first and will be the last.
-Thanks! (And I see we have added on to my nickname...out of curiosity, I wondered what a google search of this would find. According to urban dictionary....don't ever call me that again!!! LOL)

 

[KingLlama]

After careful consideration, you'll now be known as C-Note. You're welcome.

 

[bamacmac]

After careful consideration, you'll now be known as C-Note. You're welcome.

This seems safer. The consideration is appreciated. And I suppose it was silly of me to think I was worth a million bucks!

 

[2golftoday]

Wow, your pictures are gorgeous! I can never get fireworks pics to come out right.

 

[KingLlama]

This seems safer. The consideration is appreciated. And I suppose it was silly of me to think I was worth a million bucks!

$1,000 maybe #CAKE

 

[bamacmac]

$1,000 maybe #CAKE

The cakeS sat here waiting for you all week. I finally gave them to neighbors. Sigh.

But now I'm very popular in my building.

 

[KingLlama]

Hmph.

 

[sara1215]

Day 2: Sunday, July 19th

Part 1


Thankfully I was able to sleep in a little bit, as I knew the next few days would be quite busy. I grabbed some free breakfast at the hotel and loaded my suitcase back into the car, since I would be moving from the Fairfield Inn to Caribbean Beach Resort that afternoon.

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I headed over to Downtown Disney, which was much easier early in the day. I was able to get a decent parking spot in one of the lots available across the street and it was an easy walk over to the shops and restaurants. I had over an hour until my lunch reservation at Raglan Road, so I spent that time just wandering around, looking through the shops and getting a few souvenirs for myself and the kiddos I am a nanny for. My favorite part was checking out the Marketplace Co-op for the first time! I got a D-Tech on Demand iPhone case there too. So fun!
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Time to head to Raglan Road!

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This was my first time dining there. I had heard such great things about it. Despite having a reservation, I still had to wait over 30 minutes for a table for 1 person, which I did find to be a little ridiculous. But I finally got a table and had a good view of the stage. I loved the entertainment. The Irish music and dancing were so fun. I had a wonderful waitress. I can’t remember what I ordered to begin with, I only know that I had tried to go with something a little more authentically Irish. But 10 minutes later, the waitress came back out and told me that wasn’t available. So I ordered pancakes (I know, I know…but it was Sunday brunch afterall). They were some of the best pancakes I have ever had! My waitress and I got to talking and she had just moved to the Orlando area the year before. So she was able to tell me about some places where I should check out apartments and told me some places to stay away from. So it was great to get a little bit of info from a local!
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While I was waiting for the check, I got a text that my room was ready at CBR! Yay! It even told me my room number and that I could go straight to my room. So that was very exciting. I quickly paid, made it to my car and was ready to go get settled into my “home” for the next few days.
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I got to my building and had no issues getting into my room and getting settled. So happy to be back at a Disney resort! I had only stayed on property one time previously, at Port Orleans Riverside. I was so excited to get to check out a new resort. I was very pleased with this place. I was in a standard room with 2 queen beds, in the Jamaica section of the property (building 41). I was slightly disappointed not to find towels in the shape of a Mickey head on my bed. Boo to you Mousekeeping! (I have read that this isn’t being done as much anymore, but still…I was hopeful.)
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Also, the pictures online of the resort had shown some subtle Finding Nemo theming in the rooms. However, mine really had zero Disney theming at all. This wasn’t a huge deal to me, but I do like to have at least a little “Disney” in the room. Oh well. I could live without it.

I allowed myself about 15 minutes to “rest”, before I got ready to head to Epcot for the evening! Even though I had been at MK the night before and I love it dearly, there is just something about Epcot that feels like home to me. Whenever I catch even the slightest glimpse of that big ole geodesic sphere, it makes my heart happy. I find myself just staring at it. Sigh.

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I arrive and have 3 fastpasses scheduled for the evening. I really only cared about doing Soarin’ on this first day, but it gave me one to meet Mickey and friends, so I kept it in case I decided to do it. I hadn’t done an actual character meet ‘n’ greet since…well ever I think. I might have stood in a short line to get a picture with Mary Poppins once, but that was really only because I am in fact Mary Poppins in real life, so it was a necessity.

(to be continued in Day 2 - Part 2)

Love the phone case!!

Loving your TR so far. Solo trip would be a dream come true. Can't wait to read more.

 

[bamacmac]

Love the phone case!!

Loving your TR so far. Solo trip would be a dream come true. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks and thanks! While I was on the trip, I was texting with a friend who is married with 3 young boys. She said she would love to go to Disney by herself!

I should have another day posted by tomorrow night! I hope.

 

[LowesChevy]

Thank you for your comment! I try! So from your name...Jimmie Johnson fan?? I'm a huge nascar fan.

Lol, oh yeah! No prob--glad to hear. We are getting close to Chase time!

 

[bamacmac]

Lol, oh yeah! No prob--glad to hear. We are getting close to Chase time!

Yes we are! Can't wait. I'm a Harvick fan. Bobby Labonte was my guy for years though.

Going to try to make Talladega this fall since it will likely be my last chance to. But I'm more excited to be so close to Daytona after I move! Love that place!

 

[bamacmac]

Hello everyone!

I'm working on Day 6 and was hoping to have it posted by tonight, it's just taking me longer than I had planned. So hopefully I will have it done by tomorrow or Thursday.

Just wanted to say a huge thanks to all of you for following along and for all of the great feedback! You have made this so fun!

Christy

 

[FosterLovesMickey]

Ahhh…. you saw Eugene! I'm SO hoping that I spot him during my solo trip in 23 days!!! Love your, TR!!