Anyone Do a Solo and NOT Like It?

[disney_mommy]

I am going on my first solo next January after the half, and I've been reading all of the reviews from the people who loved their solo trip, but now I'd like to hear from those that didn't. Maybe if I see your cons, I will know what to expect and can be prepared, or recognize what to avoid. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

 

[Shannon84]

I think you should be prepared to reach out and talk to strangers...you can end up meeting some interesting people. I really love my "alone time", but when I go to Disney sometimes I really have a hard time not being able to "share the moment" with someone. I think you should take advantage of the fact that you get to plan everything yourself with out any outside opinions influencing it and take lots of pictures!!

My only other personal thing is that I love to go places like the movies alone, but I do not enjoy eating out alone...so I would probably stick more to counter service...but thats just me...next time I will try branching out a little more

 

[PaulaSB12]

I think you should be prepared to reach out and talk to strangers...you can end up meeting some interesting people. I really love my "alone time", but when I go to Disney sometimes I really have a hard time not being able to "share the moment" with someone. I think you should take advantage of the fact that you get to plan everything yourself with out any outside opinions influencing it and take lots of pictures!!

My only other personal thing is that I love to go places like the movies alone, but I do not enjoy eating out alone...so I would probably stick more to counter service...but thats just me...next time I will try branching out a little more

I agree you have to be prepared to reach out to people, if you are not sure look at the meet board and see about spending some time with us disboard folk. As for meals I find eating solo as easy to do as eating with someone so don't be put of the idea of a ts service restaurant, especially these with a food bar such as Jiko, I had a great conversation with a music teacher from New York in 2007.

 

[teruterubouzu]

I didn't go solo, but I had a lot more alone time than I expected on my last trip. Maybe it was because I wasn't prepared for it, but I actually felt very lonesome and emotional when I had to watch Illuminations by myself. I just kept thinking about how much more fun I'd be having if I had one of my loved ones with me. I think Disney can be difficult solo because everyone else seems to be with friends and family. Some things were great though! I really enjoyed being able to walk around and snap photos without feeling like I was slowing anyone else down. Cast members also seemed to go out of their way to be friendly with me.

 

[PaulaSB12]

I think you should be prepared to reach out and talk to strangers...you can end up meeting some interesting people. I really love my "alone time", but when I go to Disney sometimes I really have a hard time not being able to "share the moment" with someone. I think you should take advantage of the fact that you get to plan everything yourself with out any outside opinions influencing it and take lots of pictures!!

My only other personal thing is that I love to go places like the movies alone, but I do not enjoy eating out alone...so I would probably stick more to counter service...but thats just me...next time I will try branching out a little more

I love going to the movies solo, and eating solo can be fun as well. Next time go to Victoria and Alberts it is wonderful and they make you feel so comfortable. When are you going again?

 

[Hallowishes]

yes, i agree that i wished i had someone special to celebrate my wdw trips with. but ... i pay alot of money for the wdw vacations, and gosh darn it! im going to have a FABULOUS time! I think its great to be able to do whatever i feel like when the mood strikes ... too hot in the MK? skip on over to the contemporary and have a drink ... go to dtd and shop for hours! i love having the flexibility and freedom to go where i want when i want!

 

[JDUCKY]

I think you should be prepared to reach out and talk to strangers...you can end up meeting some interesting people. I really love my "alone time", but when I go to Disney sometimes I really have a hard time not being able to "share the moment" with someone. I think you should take advantage of the fact that you get to plan everything yourself with out any outside opinions influencing it and take lots of pictures!!

My only other personal thing is that I love to go places like the movies alone, but I do not enjoy eating out alone...so I would probably stick more to counter service...but thats just me...next time I will try branching out a little more

I totally agree with that. Did enough solo dining on business over the years and even though I'm now living a little over 30 min. from the parks, I don't know if I'll go to the table-service restaurants there that much unless my daughter is with me (or a fellow DISer is in town )

 

[sandy5764]

I went solo 4 times because of finances mostly. The first 2 were okay, but the last 2, and especially the last one, I absolutely hated. I was extremely lonesome, felt like I was the only person there at times, and was very uncomfortable. Luckily my fairly new husband loves Disney almost as much as I do, so my solo days are over!!

 

[SanFranciscan]

Well, Disney Mommy, you don't have to be alone all of the time if you don't want to be. The fact that you are a woman will make you much less threatening to people fearful of strangers. Even families with little kids or other lone women are usually not afraid to let a woman hang out with them or to give her a ride somewhere or whatever the situation may call for. If you are single and heterosexual, you could meet up with any single man who didn't give you the creeps and probably have a good time.

 

[Shannon84]

Im going at the end of October, with parents in tow, and I cant wait...itll be a good balance of alone time and time with them....and hopefully meet up with fellow DISers at some point

 

[DisCopper]

I've been solo a bunch of times. They were all as part of a business trip where I took a day or two extra at the Parks.

I've never had a BAD time, but it's certainly not something that I seriously enjoy. If you're at all familiar with Myers-Briggs (MBTI), I come out as an extreme Introvert. In a nutshell, that means that I get energy when I'm alone, and being in groups can drain me. I figured that I'd really enjoy being on my own. I never really have.

Others mention huge lists of benefits to being alone. I agree with them. It's nice to whip through the single rider lines, etc...

But my negatives:
- I don't enjoy dining alone. It's just uncomfortable. I also view dinners as a relaxing period, and it seems that single diners are usually rushed through the meal.
- I HATE being in lines by myself. I always seem to end up next to a group of 6, fifteen-year old girls. There's nothing worse than being stuck in the Mission Space cockpit with 3 giggling fifteen year olds. Yes, I try to talk to people, and I've had a few times when I've ended up teaming up with someone else for the day. But often times, this just doesn't happen. It may help that you're a single woman.
- Wishes, Fantasmic, and Illuminations are especially bad alone. Yes, it's very enjoyable to watch them without interruption and just get into them... but the wait for Illumininations alone is agonizing.
- People always talk about cast members being very friendly... you can relax and chat with one of them. I'd say wrong on that one. They're friendly, but have a job to do and are usually very busy.

My advice: alcohol helps! LOL. I spent two very pleasant evenings happily buzzed: one at the Food & Wine Festival, the other doing the Monorail Pub Crawl and then wandering the Magic Kingdom.

After all those cons, would I plan a trip by myself? Absolutely no way. I don't think I could handle it for a week. But if I'm in town for business, would I plan another day or two by myself? HECK YEAH! It's Disney! Even with some cons, it can't be beat!

 

[disney_mommy]

I thought since this is still a concern of mine, and it's been about 5 months since the last post, maybe some more people might have something to say about this...

Let's hear the bad and the ugly side of Disney alone. (If someone mentions something that concerns me, maybe I can be ready for it if it happens to me...)

 

[Judy in Texas]

The first time I went to WDW solo I was concerned about being in a room that was out of the way. I didn't want to be walking in any dark corners at night. When I checked in, I explained my concerns and the CM upgraded me to a preferred room closer to the main building. The only other issue was not having someone right beside me to share with; but, that is insigificant to the great fun you will have. Take pictures and keep your cell phone handy. Don't worry about riding single. Except for smaller rides like Dumbo, most rides have an attendent whose job it is to organize the riders. When you get to the front of the line and they ask "How Many", proudly say "One" and they will tell you where to stand. I never had an issue being a single rider.

 

[nurse.darcy]

Solo time at the world. First of all, even though most of my trips have been "solo", I have always been with other DISsers. However, in December I was touring during the days very much solo. My touring DISfriend was playing golf. I liked nearly everything about touring alone. I took lots of pictures, ate anywhere I wanted and got to share with my touring partner in the evenings. Had he not been there I would have been on the phone with my bestest buds. When I wanted a table service meal I didn't eat at a table, I pulled up a seat to the Bar and struck up a conversation with the bartenders. I even won a dream fastpass at Animal Kingdom while there.

I always went to Disneyland by myself and never had any issues. . .

Here are some tips:

If you don't enjoy eating at restaurants by yourself at home, you will not enjoy it at WDW. Choose to eat at the bar in the table service restaurants. . .

In ride lines entertain yourself by either talking to those in line or writing in a journal.

Take a camera and a journal and document. . .it passes time and makes you appreciate your alone time.

 

[Simba's Mom]

A PP mentioned not liking dining alone. It took me about 6 solo trips to get used to that (I go solo every year-DH just doesn't get much vacation). After about 3 solo trips where I did exclusively CS, I decided to try TS. I hated it solo, so I went back to exclusively CS. Then after about 3 more trips, I tried it again and it was OK. Now after 10 solo trips, I actually prefer TS because I don't have to fight for a seat. I always have my own table. And since I'm a sudoku addict, I can easily keep myself occupied while I eat with my electronic sudoku game. So don't push yourself to do anything you're uncomfortable with. I was so miserable when I thought I "should" like TS dining but didn't. And like another PP, I'm always careful about room placement-I ask for an upper floor room, and as long as I have that, I'm fine. Only once have I had to ask to be moved after getting a first floor, and like Judy in Texas(also) said, the CM was very nice about moving me. I delibrately don't drink alcohol much on solo trips, some people do. Like I said, so what YOU feel comfortable doing.

 

[norybell]

I loved 99% of everything about my solo trip. I only had one problem: one morning at rope drop, I encountered a particularly mean guest (it was a very bizarre and tense situation, I thought this guy was going to hit me for getting to the bag check line before he did!). It was the sort of thing that, if I'd been traveling with anybody else, we would've laughed about and gotten over within minutes. Because I was alone, it was difficult not to dwell on it for a few hours, which put a damper on things for that particular morning.

But that's really the only negative thing I can say about my whole trip!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I loved 99% of everything about my solo trip. I only had one problem: one morning at rope drop, I encountered a particularly mean guest (it was a very bizarre and tense situation, I thought this guy was going to hit me for getting to the bag check line before he did!). It was the sort of thing that, if I'd been traveling with anybody else, we would've laughed about and gotten over within minutes. Because I was alone, it was difficult not to dwell on it for a few hours, which put a damper on things for that particular morning.

But that's really the only negative thing I can say about my whole trip!

Heck with him! He was probably just the kind of guy who figured he could bully one woman by herself. Any more would be too much for him. Having said that, I'd probably be feeling rather tense about it, too, if it had happened to me. It's easy to tell someone else that it's not worth dwelling about, but I understand-it would have been on my mind for a while afterwards. Why do people have to be such bullies?

 

[norybell]

Heck with him! He was probably just the kind of guy who figured he could bully one woman by herself. Any more would be too much for him. Having said that, I'd probably be feeling rather tense about it, too, if it had happened to me. It's easy to tell someone else that it's not worth dwelling about, but I understand-it would have been on my mind for a while afterwards. Why do people have to be such bullies?

Exactly! Thanks for your understanding words. Even two months later, it still riles me up a bit to think about it!

 

[button409]

Hi there!
I travelled on my own in Feb, and had a great time! I am from the UK and have a friend living near Naples, who I was going to visit for a week, so figured why not make it a 2 week trip and spend a week in Orlando!
I had a great time! I love just walking around the parks with an ice cream, and watching all of the parades etc. I didn't eat at any full-service restaurants on my own, just counter service - but it's cheaper that way anyway!!!
I found CM's to be friendly, and ended up taking to lots of interesting people in the R&C pub, and DTD when getting a drink.
It can be difficult sometimes, but if you really love Disney, there is more than enough to keep you occupied. I made sure I watched all of the parades and shows - being on your own can be great as you can do your own thing, to your own schedule.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[LindaBabe]

Please DON't be afraid to eat alone at a table service restaurant. I'll be traveling alone in January, and you'll find me at The Wave, Sanaa, and maybe Kouzzina.

This blogger captures my feelings on the subject.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2353486