Around the world in 8 days - A Solo Trip Report - Final Thoughts Page 5

Quacktatty

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Messages
1,311
Welcome to my Trip Report. I don’t leave for 2 weeks, but I thought it was a good time to start.

A little bit about our cast:
There’s me, myself and I. That’s right kids – this baby is a SOLO trip!!! :banana:

Also to make a guest appearance or two:

DDad – Tell him that you like ANYTHING, and you are instantly bombarded with emails, websites, newspaper articles, radio shows, whatever he can get his hands on that relates to the subject du jour. And being recently retired, this has only gotten worse over the last year.

DMom – Won’t go to the bathroom by herself, let alone a Vacation. Travels to WDW once in a while with her company for conferences, the result usually being a visit to Physical Therapy after a mistaken drunken ride on RNR. She broke her back about 10 years ago and still hasn’t learned.

DBoss – Best boss I’ve had in my short career. Also shares a love of all things Disney and it’s not uncommon for us to spend our one on one’s discussing our trip plans. Purchased me my very own PassPorter for Christmas!!

And last but not least are my DFish who are sure to miss me while I am gone. I have a 20 gallon tank that contains 7 fish and a 1 gallon tank for my betta – Jake. He’s the only one who has a name, the others die too quickly to get attached. :fish:

Here’s a little bit of Quacktatty Disney history for you –
I don’t remember the dates of my past trips, but I know that I loved it! I went at least 3 or 4 times I believe since I was probably 7 or 8 years old. This included trips to both Disney World and Disneyland. I am pretty sure that the first trip was to WDW in 1987 or 1988. Along with my parents, we also took my Grandmother. I am the 2nd oldest Grandchild and this was Grandma’s first trip to the world as well. My father doesn’t do rides, neither does my grandma, so this was a fun trip for me and Mom. Dad got to take pictures like he always does and Grandma just did a lot of people watching.

My memories are few from that trip, but I did find a few pictures the other day. I discovered that I had a different ugly pink outfit on each and every day. But my Goofy hat kept me looking styling. One thing that does stand out in my memory – and chances are I am remembering this TOTALLY wrong – is riding to EPCOT Center on a Double Decker Bus. Is that even possible??? :confused3 I remember seeing Spaceship Earth and riding it as well, but beyond that the trip is a blur.

Me and Chip (no I don’t know who that lady is!)


Baloo using my head to sign an autograph


The rest of my trips as a child were mostly to Disneyland with other family members and memories from those are dim as well. I do remember my mother telling me not to be disappointed by DL though LOL!!!!

My senior year of high school, we went to WDW for a band thing. I got to experience the Utilidors and other backstage areas. After one session backstage, a CM brought us up a secret path right into Frontierland, I think by the French Fry cart! We also got to see Eeyore without his head and Eeyore was A GIRL! The absolute greatest memory of that trip though was going down through the Utilidor underneath Cosmic Rays, being loaded up in an elevator and then riding it to the top to start playing on stage at Cosmic Rays. It was a really cool experience, and funny to watch that Alien rise up to the ceiling while we came from underneath. We also played at DTD that trip, and I remember that it was seriously WINDY!

I had a one day quick trip during spring break my senior year of college with my at the time best friend. We had a good day, but she didn’t like most of the rides so I didn’t get to do much. I did get to experience Alien Encounter before it closed though – I will miss it.

My last trip was in October 2003 with my DCousin who was 17 at the time. She was heading off to college the next year, a very Christian college, in Florida and had never been to WDW as a child and I figured this was her last chance. We had an awesome time and over the course of 4 short days were able to fit in a great deal, including MNSSHP. That MNSSHP was DCousin’s first experience with Trick or Treating!!! We even had costumes, her in a Pluto hat and me in a Goofy hat. We were able to ride Splash Mountain 3 times in a row without stopping. Only had to say PRETTY PLEASE to the CM as we came through the unloading area.

DCousin and I on the teacups



Stay tuned for Pre-Trip part 1 – Do I really want to go alone? :scratchin
 
YAY for solo trips! It's too bad you're not going a few days earlier, our trips would overlap!
 
Looking forward to hearing about your solo adventure! You know part of me would love to do a solo trip. I think it would be so much fun to take the World at your own pace and do what you want to do. I think my kids would kill me though if they couldn't come. Maybe when they are older!

Allyson
 
Pre-Trip Part 1:

Since my Oct 2003 trip I had been getting the Disney bug a couple times a year. I would go on to Disney.com and price a trip, price the plane tickets, and then talk myself out of it. I didn’t have anybody to go with, I was sure it wouldn’t be as much fun. :confused:

Fast forward to Oct 2006. I started a new job, a job that I was very nervous about, but I know love. With the job came a significant promotion and raise. I also got a terrific raise in July as well as a great bonus in February. So now money wasn’t an excuse. I had it to spend and I wanted to do something with it to enjoy myself.

I am a martial artist and often travel to the West Coast for Seminars. This year would be a little different as I had a bad experience in August and because of that experience my instructor recommended that I do not travel to the West Coast this year. Okay, fine, he knows what’s best for me. That left me with a lot of vacation days. I knew I would be traveling to Finland this summer, but that would only be about a week and half. That left me with about 20 days left to use for the year. Disney started to creep back into my head. At the end of October I went on a business trip with my new boss and she began to discuss her May 2007 trip with me. That really got Disney on my brain! So no less than 4 days after I came home from that trip, I was online and pricing the trip.

When to go?? Well, January seemed like a slow time of year, as did September. But there was NO way I could wait until September. I had made the decision and I gotta go soon! I broke out my old Unofficial Guide – the 2004 edition and started to look at resorts. I had stayed at All Star Movies on my last trip and I enjoyed myself, but wanted something a little quieter and upscale. I was going to spoil myself. I narrowed it down to Coronado Springs and Port Orleans French Quarter. After doing some quick research on various sites (I wasn’t on the DIS yet), I elected to go with POFQ.

Now I had to book – but oh no – I forgot about plane tickets!!! Well have no fear – I have Mastercard points!!! So without having ressies at WDW yet, I booked my flight – direct flights there and back. My flight down would arrive at 10:00am leaving practically a whole day for the parks and my flight back would not leave until 7:30pm allowing for the extra long departure day! I was 1/3 of the way there and so far hadn’t spent a dime! :cool1:

I finally called Disney on October 31st. The CM I spoke with seemed about as excited as I was that I was going to be booking a trip!!! I told him what I wanted – 7 nights at POFQ with a King Room Water view and an 8 day Park Hopper. Then I asked about AAA discounts – I saved about $300 overall that way – GREAT! I happily booked and hung up the phone. Shortly afterward I received my confirmation and though, uh oh, that doesn’t look like the price I was quoted. Sure enough, I called back and spoke with an AWESOME CM who told me that the previous guy I spoke with hadn’t applied the AAA discount in the end. PHEW…glad I caught that one. So she updated my price, and let me know what my new balance would be. I had already payed in full for admission and one hotel night and my final balance would not be due until check-in. One of the benefits of booking with the AAA discount, that’s for sure. :yay:

Up Next – the Planning begins
 

YAY for solo trips! It's too bad you're not going a few days earlier, our trips would overlap!

Thanks for checking out my TR!! I have read your TR too and it really made me excited to be doing this one solo. I wish we could have met up at WDW, maybe another time. I am sure that I'll be doing this again and hopefully soon!
 
Looking forward to hearing about your solo adventure! You know part of me would love to do a solo trip. I think it would be so much fun to take the World at your own pace and do what you want to do. I think my kids would kill me though if they couldn't come. Maybe when they are older!

Allyson

Hi Allyson,

Thanks for checking out my report. I have been following along with yours and am enjoying it so much. The video at the beginning seriously made me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants. Loved the comment about the dreidels and not getting presents from Goofy! Kids are too funny sometimes. I am really looking forward to this trip, nobody to consult with every 5 minutes to talk about what to do next, just do my thing and take it all in! By the way I am originally from RI and my mother now lives in MA - Attleboro, so it's great to hear about somebody from my neck of the woods!
 
keep it coming!

Last year I spent 3days/3nights at WDW solo - flew down & back w/a friend and her DD. They had a cheerleading competition to attend but joined me for our last 5days. This April Im going 8days/7nights completely Solo! Have 3 Behind the scenes and 8 ARs booked. How about you?
Im also flying down from CT (Bradley) at 7am (landing at 10) and returning on a 7pm flight (get into Bradley about 10)
 
Pre-Trip Part 2:

Now that the hard part of getting the room reservation was done it was time to think about what I wanted to do, what ADRs I needed, was there anything else I was interested in seeing? :confused:

I started out with Park days, then I could organize my ADRs around that. I knew that my 2004 Unofficial Guide wasn’t going to cut it anymore, so I got on to Amazon and ordered a new one. Along with a few other books to keep me entertained. Two of the books haven’t been opened yet and will probably make an appearance in my Trip Report – they are the Hidden Mickey’s guide and the Ultimate Queue Line Survival Guide. I began by reading the Unofficial Guide cover to cover (no lie!). I then got myself a subscription to the UG’s website. That allowed me to determine what the best park days were. I knew that for my first and last days I wanted to leave them open. Try to visit my favorite attractions at each park. So for the 6 days in the middle, it goes a little something like this:
Day 2 – AK
Day 3 – MGM
Day 4 – MK
Day 5 – MK
Day 6 – Epcot
Day 7 – Epcot/AK EMH

During this phase of the trip, I often had DDad calling up and saying things like, don’t go to MGM, I just heard on the radio that it’s defunct – it’ll probably be closed when you get there. Ahhhh Dad!! :lmao:

Now that I had my days set, I wanted to check out some restaurants that I hadn’t been to before. That’s when I found the DIS. I wandered over to the Adults and Solo Travelers board and asked about some Tours that I had always been interested in going on. The three that stood out for me were Keys to the Kingdom, the 2 hour Segway tour and Backstage Magic. After realizing that Backstage Magic would take a whole day (and didn’t require park admission that I had already paid for) I would forget about that one. So I booked KTTK and the Segway tour for the mornings of my first MK and Epcot days.

That left me with all the time in the world to settle on my ADRs…right? WRONG! I had them decided on by the next day. I called up the dining folks and made my ADRs for Le Cellier, 50’s Primetime and Boma. These three little ADRs would be the only thing that would change about my trip.

I am one of those crazy planners, I make sure that I have a plan for each and everyday and that my rides are planned as well. So out came the UG and the website, I created a touring plan for each day, supplemented with the things they left out and was on my way. My goal was to see each and everything thing I could fit in. There were a lot of things I had never done! Country Bear Jamboree, Tom Sawyer Island, any of the shows at MGM, Soarin’, most of the World Showcase. I couldn’t believe how much I was missing out on!! I made sure all those things made there way into my touring plan.

Over the next coming weeks, my ADRs changed a couple times. I switched Boma for the Kona Café and 50’s Primetime for Mama Melrose. I felt like these places were more “ME”. I am still regretting Boma a little bit, but I think I was only in it for the Zebra Domes. I can do without those if need be!

At Thanksgiving, I broke the news to my DMom that I was traveling to WDW alone. She said, “Why would you want to go there alone? Aren’t you going to be bored??” BORED? At Disney?? NEVER!!! When I saw her again at Christmas time she asked no less than 10 times if I was sure I still wanted to go. She even announced to some family friends my trip plans and immediately they were concerned with my safety. First off, I’m a black belt, and second off, it’s DISNEY!!! What safer place is there to travel alone?

My trip is planned, I still spend hour upon hour on the DIS though! I listen to podcasts, I checkout all the menus at Allearsnet, I can’t get enough. I’m going to go through some serious withdrawal when I get back. :surfweb:

Stayed tuned for my countdown to Disney and my Solo Trip Pledge!
 
keep it coming!

Last year I spent 3days/3nights at WDW solo - flew down & back w/a friend and her DD. They had a cheerleading competition to attend but joined me for our last 5days. This April Im going 8days/7nights completely Solo! Have 3 Behind the scenes and 8 ARs booked. How about you?
Im also flying down from CT (Bradley) at 7am (landing at 10) and returning on a 7pm flight (get into Bradley about 10)

I'm doing 2 tours and 3 ADRs, I can't wait! We are probably taking similar flights, are you going Delta?

Thanks for reading!!
 
I'm doing 2 tours and 3 ADRs, I can't wait! We are probably taking similar flights, are you going Delta?

Thanks for reading!!

Yes I caved in and booked Delta. I'll have a full day on each end - could have gotten a cheaper ticket but since its only 1 tick I thought it was worth it.
What tours did you book? I booked EpCot Garden, FutureWorld and Countries tours. What ARs? I booked all lunches so I can take a break and have a lunch salad - Prime Time, Brown Derby, Liberty Tree, Rainforest/AK, LeCellier, San Angel, Rose & Crown, Coral Reef (1st time - others Ive been to before).
Going back solo again for a wk in Nov to celebrate my 50th.

Looking forward to reading your trip reports
 
What tours did you book? I booked EpCot Garden, FutureWorld and Countries tours.

I booked Keys to the Kingdom and the Epcot Segway Tour. Have you done any tours in the past?

What ARs?

I am doing Kona Cafe for dinner, Le Cellier and Mama Melrose for lunch. I haven't been to Kona or Le Cellier before, so I am really looking forward to it!
 
Ooooh Le Cellier is so yummy! The pretzel bread is fantastic!

And newholidayx2 I am from Central MA too!

Allyson :)
 
I booked Keys to the Kingdom and the Epcot Segway Tour. Have you done any tours in the past?
I am doing Kona Cafe for dinner, Le Cellier and Mama Melrose for lunch. I haven't been to Kona or Le Cellier before, so I am really looking forward to it!


Last March when I was at WDW solo 3 days I did the KTTK tour. It was interesting/fun. You'll like it.
Ive eaten at LeCellier a few times - its always a "must go again". Make sure you take the time while in Canada to see at least one (or 20) Off Kilter shows!
 
Awesome pre trip report! I have always wanted to venture to WDW solo...but at this point...it's just wishful thinking! I cannot wait to hear about all of the magic you have during your trip! And don't worry....;) Jake will be very well taken care of in your absence and looking forward to your return! I am sure he would really appreciate something to set right outside of his tank that you purchase from the Living Seas at EPCOT! ;) :fish:
 
Yes I caved in and booked Delta. I'll have a full day on each end - could have gotten a cheaper ticket but since its only 1 tick I thought it was worth it.

You may already be aware of this, but just keep an eye on your Delta flights. Mine have changed a couple times since I booked in October (to my benefit actually). But it's better to be safe than sorry. Just keep an eye out and make sure your seat selections are the same as what you originally requested. They are notorious for changing their minds about comings and goings! :rotfl:
 
Awesome pre trip report! I have always wanted to venture to WDW solo...but at this point...it's just wishful thinking! I cannot wait to hear about all of the magic you have during your trip! And don't worry....;) Jake will be very well taken care of in your absence and looking forward to your return! I am sure he would really appreciate something to set right outside of his tank that you purchase from the Living Seas at EPCOT! ;) :fish:

Thanks for joining us jaycns!! I hear that there is a pet store at DTD and I'm wondering if I'll be able to find something for my fish? I guess it's always worth a shot to look.
 
You may already be aware of this, but just keep an eye on your Delta flights. Mine have changed a couple times since I booked in October (to my benefit actually). But it's better to be safe than sorry. Just keep an eye out and make sure your seat selections are the same as what you originally requested. They are notorious for changing their minds about comings and goings! :rotfl:
When you booked your air did you ask for window or aisle? I asked for window but wondering if I should have asked for aisle so I wasnt so closed in, easier to get up, etc
 
When you booked your air did you ask for window or aisle? I asked for window but wondering if I should have asked for aisle so I wasnt so closed in, easier to get up, etc

I went with window seats, but I also specifically requested the row that I wanted. I really like to choose where I am going to sit and use the seating charts from www.seatguru.com to figure out which are the better seats to be in.
 
Pre-Trip Part 3:

The days are winding down, I am getting more and more excited by the second!!! 6 days from now I will have just touched down at MCO and be on a Magical Express bus on my way to the best vacation ever!! :yay:

After seemingly billions of hours on the DIS and other Disney websites, I think I am finally ready. My suitcases are packed with Magical Express tags already attached. My clothes are laid out for the airplane. My Passporter is chock full of everything and anything I could need. I have checked the weather 3 times a day for the last week. Not much else to do!! This is going to be a very long week at work, I just know it! :surfweb:

I thought that what I would do before I left was right a Solo Trip pledge. All the things that I may or may not have done before, but don’t want to forget. I’ll be sure to post on the results when I return. So here it goes:

• I will jump on the bed at my resort at least once.
• I will eat junk food for breakfast at least one day.
• I will cry at one point during my visit out of sheer joy
• I will ride an attraction more than once in a row, just because I can
• I will laugh louder than anybody else at the stupid jokes on the Jungle Cruise
• I will make a big effort to visit every attraction that I have missed in previous visits – these include:
It’s Tough to be a Bug
Tricera Top Spin
Festival of the Lion King
Flights of Wonder
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
American Adventure
Reflections of China
Country Bear Jamboree
Tom Sawyer Island
and others on a long list of 25
• I will talk to people and CMs that I don’t know
• I will pass some pixiedust: on to a family that really needs it
• I will use the single rider line and laugh at those waiting in Standby
• I will use FastPass for the first time ever
• I will take time to people watch, I don’t need to be doing something active 24 hours a day
• I will eat at a TS restaurant and tip way too much if my server deserves it
• I will buy a souvenir that I don’t need just because I can
• I will sing along during shows and not be afraid of who can hear me
• I will take time out to experience some Streetmosphere.
• I will eat a Dole Whip Float!!!!

I’m sure there will be more things that I will experience that will make this trip special. I am looking forward to my tours, meeting new people, and having an all around great time.

Only 6 days to go – please come back in two weeks when I will begin my Trip Report!

:cool1: :dancer: :banana:
 
make sure you see at least one (or twenty) Off Kilter shows!
thats top of my list

have fun
 


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