Did I Hear That Right? A Solo Adventure at WDW Updated 8/30

[PhoenixStrength]

I didn't even know Stitch included a water feature at World of Disney. Guess I'll be more careful going past him from now on!

I too plan on getting several car items for myself this upcoming trip. I haven't seen those animal Mickey antenna heads before, I will have to look for them!

 

[Pluto0809]

I didn't even know Stitch included a water feature at World of Disney. Guess I'll be more careful going past him from now on!

I too plan on getting several car items for myself this upcoming trip. I haven't seen those animal Mickey antenna heads before, I will have to look for them!

Yep, Stitch "spits" on you if you are not careful! Just watch for the puddle of water in front of him and avoid that area.

I've seen the animal print antenna heads at both AK and DTD. They only come in the pack of three.

 

[ronnmel]

I like all the stuff you bought, especially the villains sweatshirt.

 

[Pluto0809]

I like all the stuff you bought, especially the villains sweatshirt.

Thanks! I have not found out if my Aunt likes the villain sweatshirt because my Counsin decided to wait and give it to her for Christmas.

 

[Pluto0809]

I had not planned on going to DTD this trip but I had to find those sweatshirts for my family. Actually my original plan for this day was Epcot all day. But I just was not feeling Epcot at all this trip. I decided early on in the trip to spend only 2/3 of the day at Epcot and then hop back to MK for the rest of the night. MK was open till midnight again and I was going to savor every last minute!

I’m going to apologize now and say I was a very bad DISer on this night. I decided to be completely selfish and for the most part put my camera and phone away. I did take some pictures just nowhere near the normal amount I take. I wanted to enjoy and take in every last minute I had left in WDW.

My unexpected trip to DTD had put me a little behind schedule so I had to hurry down Main Street to avoid the 7 pm MSEP. First though I stopped and got a FP for the Mickey meet and greet. I couldn’t leave WDW without a visit to the head honcho! This took me a bit longer than expected because I had no idea that the FP machines were down the alley by the hat shop.

I needed to get something for dinner as I had one CS credit left so I headed to my second favorite CS in MK, Casey’s!

The line was really long and by the time I got my food, the MSEP was going. There were no seats but I managed to find a standing table around the corner towards the Baby Care Center. I got a hot dog, ketchup only just like my burgers.



Fries:



And for dessert, a chocolate brownie:



I stood and ate while watching the MSEP go by in the distance. After a few minutes, a family asked if they could join me and I said no problem. We chatted for a while but I have no idea at this point what we talked about.

I have to say I didn’t enjoy the Casey’s food as much as I usually do. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but I think I had finally hit that proverbial food wall. My stomach was just not happy with all of the strange foods I had been eating all week. The brownie though was delicious! Casey’s brownies are really good. They are soft and chewy and have chocolate chips in them.

I finished up my food right around the time MSEP was done so I thanked my new friends for the pleasant conversation and then headed to find a spot for the Castle Show and Wishes. Here’s where I ended up.



I watched the two shows without taking one picture and loved every minute for the second time. I cannot wait to see Wishes again in a few short months!

I followed the crowd back down Main Street and headed into the Town Square Theater to meet the big cheese. I didn’t need the FP, the wait time was only five minutes. Despite not seeing another person around, the CM gave me one of these:



I don’t even think I had it in my hand for more than 30 seconds before I handed it off to the next CM. There were two families in front of me once we entered Mickey’s room so I snapped a few pictures.







And then it was my turn. There was no PP Photographer but the CM was nice enough to take a few pictures for me. There was nothing special to note about the meet. I basically got a hug and a few photos and was out of there.



Wish I had a better smile in this second one:



My hip was starting to get really sore at this point especially after standing to eat dinner. But nothing was stopping me on this night so I took some pain meds and headed back down Main Street.

I stopped for what would be the last set of PP pictures. That was when I realized that I didn’t get any at Epcot that morning.





I continued down Main Street headed towards Adventureland. My plan was to make the same circle I had done two nights before. As I got to the Hub, all of the lights went out for the second castle show and I got a little lost in the dark and ended up in Liberty Square. No problem, I walked around and went in the Christmas Store and also the Hall of Presidents store to look around. I considered the Hall of Presidents for about 30 seconds but I knew I would be seeing it in October and February. Both DH and my Brother count this as their favorite attraction in MK.

I finally found my way to Adventureland and decided to visit my favorite birds again. Since I ended up in the front row (I don’t think there were enough people to fill any row but the front one) I was able to get a few decent shots of the main guys.







Sometimes I wake up randomly singing “Let’s all sing like the birds sing, tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet”. Anybody else have a Disney song that sticks in their head all the time? The funny thing is, I don’t even have that song on CD so the only time I hear it is in the Tiki Room.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

Continued from Previous Post - Don't miss the first half of this update on page 23!

Next I headed towards the Jungle Cruise. I was not going to ride this one a third time but there was no line. As in I walked all the way to the front with no one ahead of me. For a second, I thought I was going to be the only one on the boat. At the last moment, two other families came up so there were a total of 9 people for our jungle cruise. I am so glad I took this ride! The captain, Dan, was sooooo funny. Well, it could have been the fact that I was really tired at this point but I don't think so. He noticed me mouthing along with the jokes at the beginning and I think because of that, changed some stuff up a bit. I don't remember most of it but there were a lot of jokes that were different from the other two times I rode.

One thing I do remember, when we came up to the natives who attack us, he yelled duck and hit the floor of the boat. He stayed down there for at least a minute. I was laughing so hard at that point both at him and at the confused expressions on the faces of the other people. I'm giggling now as I write about it.

Next it was time to visit my Pirates. No line and I walked on once again. Our boat was only half full and I could hear the Pirates conversations a lot better on this ride. Maybe because there were so few people riding or maybe they turn the volume up at night? I didn't quite get my fill with that ride so I circled around and got back in line. I can't remember which line I picked but if I had gone the other way, I think I would have gotten a boat to myself. The CMs on that side were sending the boats out empty. As it was, there were three girls together that sat one in each of the first three rows. I was by myself in the fourth row and there were a few people behind us. Unfortunately the three girls in front talked loudly the whole ride and jumped from row to row. I was so hoping they would get in trouble when they got off the ride but no one stopped them.

I continued my circle and headed into Fronterland. At that time, the 2nd MSEP was passing so I cut through Pecos Bills and ended up right outside of the Country Bear Jamboree. I remembered that I wanted the pressed penny of Big Al so I went in the lobby.



Since the next show was about to start and I couldn't get across the road because of the MSEP I went and saw my bears again. I just noticed that I tend to refer to all the rides as mine. My bears, my birds, my pirates.... Well, they are all mine and you can't have them.

Ok, moving on from that little tantrum, the parade was done when I left the CBJ so I headed across to BTMR. Unfortunately I think everyone had gone straight there after MSEP and the wait time was 30 minutes. Judging by how the line looked at the moment, it was going to be even longer than that.

So I left that area and walked into a deserted Haunted Mansion. This was the point where I realized just how tired I was. Do you know how surreal the HM is when you are exhausted? This was one of the strangest experiences of my life. My senses were on overload and I was noticing all kinds of little details. At the same time I felt sort of like I was hallucinating. It certainly made for an interesting ride. We stopped for a few minutes as usual on the ride and I got bored. So my camera came out and I was able to get two sort of good pictures. I stopped in front of the changing portraits, right before you enter the library.





Next of course was Fantasyland. PP and WTP still had long lines but everything else was a walk on. I rode Little Mermaid again, then Dumbo and the Barnstormer. As I was walking the secret path to Tomorrowland, I took my phone out for a minute to make sure I hadn't missed any texts or calls. I posted on Facebook "Just rode Dumbo and every person on the ride was an adult. Strange." It was really weird riding both Dumbo and Barnstormer with all adults. But it was fast approaching 11 pm at this point and most kids were probably back in their rooms asleep.

In Tommorrowland I hit up Buzz Lightyear first.



Looking a little tired in this picture:



Next was a spin on the TTA and then on to Space Mountain. This was where I got my third one of these:



Well, I kind of cheated on this one. The family in front of me actually got it but their little girl chickened out so I offered to take it the rest of the way.

I was getting pretty silly at this point and decided to do some different ride poses. This one was supposed to be so tired I fell asleep on SM but the two boys in front of me were so funny I couldn't help but laugh at them.



They were pretending to be scared out of their minds and were screaming like little girls. If I hadn't been so tired I may have found it annoying but this late at night it was hilarious. They carried on through the whole ride and I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. I even thanked them at the end for the fun. This was the only ride I ended up in the last seat and I will say it is much rougher than any other seat.

When I got off of SM, it was after 11:30. I thought about going back to Fronterland to catch BTMR but decided that was too far of a hike. So I got back in line for my seventh ride of the trip on SM. On this ride photo I looked the wrong way on purpose.



Then it was 11:55 pm and time to head out of the park. But wait, the line for Buzz Lightyear was still open! In the spirit of squeezing every last second out of my last day, I got in line. I was definitely tired at this point and my score reflected it.



And my final ride photo of the trip. I call this one "A Zombie rides Buzz Lightyear".



I made my way back to Main Street but I wasn't quite done yet. I had to take one more picture of Main Street.



And also one of my beloved castle.



I went into the Emporium because there was one thing that I was not leaving MK without buying.



Yep, I had to get the Wishes soundtrack. I'm sure I could have found it cheaper online when I got home but I needed it right then. I'm sure you know how that goes with Disney souvenirs.

I still had two snack credits left so I stopped in the Confectionary to get some treats for the flight home. I got a chocolate chip cookie (sorry but I broke off a piece before I remembered to take a picture).



And some chocolate fudge.



And then it was time to go. I left my happy place and caught a bus immediately. On the ride back I posted the following on Facebook. "On the bus to my resort. 12 rides, 2 shows, one fireworks show and one character meet between 8 pm and midnight. Successful last night at MK."

I was back in my room by 12:45 am. I tried a piece of each of my treats and wrapped the rest up for the next day. This is when the nausea hit me. I felt awful! I think I just overdid it with too many strange foods and sweets. I went to bed about 1:15 am after finishing my packing and hoped I would wake up the next day feeling better.

Two quotes from this day and the first was a dozy.

"Now remember, we are going straight to Figment to ride before it gets crowded." Said by a father to the rest of his family while in line to get in Epcot. I really thought he was joking but I saw them sprinting towards the Imagination building while everyone else was headed to Soarin.

"I'm scaredily excited!" Little girl to her mother while waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion.

Up Next: I Don't Want to Go Home!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

You got a good amount of things done that night! I'm really looking forward to having MK open until midnight on my first day as I know after Wishes at 10pm the park will clear out and I can have 1.5 hours of easy lines! Funny that you had a surreal experience on HM, and adults only on Dumbo and Barnstormer.

Sorry your stomach got upset at the end.

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[marDgreen88]

I'd definitely call that a successful last night! Sounds so fun! Too bad you weren't feeling well at the resort though.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Luvchefmic]

I could NEVER but I cheer you for you accomplishments that final MK night Forgot to mention I love your " Quotes of the Day" could potentially see a big business with t-shirts

 

[Pluto0809]

You got a good amount of things done that night! I'm really looking forward to having MK open until midnight on my first day as I know after Wishes at 10pm the park will clear out and I can have 1.5 hours of easy lines! Funny that you had a surreal experience on HM, and adults only on Dumbo and Barnstormer.

Sorry your stomach got upset at the end.

It was really amazing how fast MK cleared out after Wishes. I was especially lucky because Wishes was at 8 pm so I had all the way till Midnight with barely any lines.

I was definitely a surreal night overall. MK is such a different place that late at night!

Great update!

Thanks!

I'd definitely call that a successful last night! Sounds so fun! Too bad you weren't feeling well at the resort though.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

It was a successful night for sure! I have no one to blame but myself for not feeling well. I know my limits but I always seem to overdo it at Disney. Way too many yummy treats!

I could NEVER but I cheer you for you accomplishments that final MK night Forgot to mention I love your " Quotes of the Day" could potentially see a big business with t-shirts

Believe me, I paid for it the next few days. I went back to work on Wednesday and could barely walk! But it was so worth it to get on all my favorite rides one more (or two more) times!

Thanks on the Quotes of the Day, I found with being alone, I paid a lot more attention to the people around me.

 

[Pluto0809]

I've got four more posts for this TR and I'm planning on finishing it out this week with one post a day so hang on for the ride! Then next week I will start the PTR for my October trip.

I only have two pictures from my last day and neither of them is actually at Disney. So I will make this update short and sour (not going to say sweet because last days are never sweet). Don’t worry though, I still have recaps to do of the souvenirs, resort and food.

My goal this morning was to get up, check my bag and then walk around the resort to take some pictures of the areas I hadn’t seen yet. But when my alarm went off at 6 am, I still felt awful. So I laid there a while and ended up falling back to sleep. Yikes! I woke up after 7 am and had to really hurry. I ended up not washing my hair, just threw it back in a pony tail and headed out of my room at 7:45 am. I just had time enough to check my bag, fill my mug one last time with some soda to try and settle my stomach and get on the DME.

The ride to the airport was uneventful. That video always makes me sad. I sat with a lady who was there with one of her kids and grandkids. We chatted a bit and the ride went pretty quickly.

After I got through security I was feeling a little better and decided to get a bagel from Starbucks. When I ordered, the girl snapped at me “I can’t heat that up or toast if for you”. Wow! Disney bubble burst, she was so rude! I said no problem I just want it like it is.

I sat at my gate and ate the bagel and boy it was no Disney one that’s for sure! Yes, even the bagels at Disney are superior to Non-Disney bagels. It wasn’t very good but I was hungry and needed to get something in my stomach.

The flight home was also uneventful, I tried to read but keep falling asleep. I don’t even remember who was sitting in the other two seats in my row.

DH picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at my car which was parked at his work place. I was home by 2:30 pm. My babies were excited to see me. Alex and Sierra were right up in my face the whole time.





Eddie was more interested in seeing what he could find to eat in my bags so I didn’t get a picture of him.

I did some laundry and worked on my pictures from the trip. I ended up going to bed very early that night because the next day was back to work.

Some highlights (and lowlights) from the trip:

I watched all three night shows, Wishes, Illuminations and Fantasmic. Wishes has now become a must do for me. Fantasmic I will probably catch every other trip. And Illuminations? I could care less if I ever see it again.

I tried out a lot of new things this time. The new Test Track, Reflections of China, Fiesta Margarita, Captain EO, Goofy's Barnstormer, BOG restaurant, Enchanted Tales with Belle, The Plaza Restaurant (well I thought this was new to me but if you stick around for my PTR you will see that I recently discovered it wasn't new), Animation Class, Starring Roles cupcake, new Pirates Experience at DH.

BOG, The Plaza, Animation Class and the Starring Roles cupcakes are now new favorites. I'll definitely continue to ride Test Track and Goofy's Barnstormer but they are not must dos. ETWB was ok but I probably won't see it again without having kids along. Reflections of China was probably a one time thing. Glad I saw it but no need to see it again. I could care less if I ever see Captain EO or the new Pirates thing at DH again. And as for the Fiesta Margarita, it just was not for me. I loved the strawberry part so I'll probably just get a strawberry one in the future.

I've definitely come to the conclusion that I would rather be on a ride than anywhere else while at Disney. There were some pretty hefty crowds but I still managed to do some serious riding. Here's my ride count:

7 times - Space Mountain
6 times - Buzz Lightyear
4 times - Pirates
3 times - Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Little Mermaid, Dumbo, TTA, TSM, Expedition Everest, Soarin.
2 times - BTMR, Test Track, Goofy's Barnstormer

There were many more rides that I did just one time.

It was COLD and windy!!! On Saturday and Sunday I wore two hoodies and bought a cheap pair of gloves at the Emporium. They were cheap in quality but not in price. Best $10 I've ever spent though. Despite the layering I still spent the whole day both Saturday and Sunday shivering. But, I didn't have one drop of rain the entire time and the weather didn't stop me from doing what I wanted.

As for going solo, I loved it and will do it again in a heartbeat. The only time I felt slighty uncomfortable was at the sit down meals that I did. If I was looking around at the scenery I felt like I was getting looks for "staring" at other tables. Next time I may skip the sit down restaurants or pick ones that give me more to look at. Coral Reef was the best because everyone was looking at the aquarium.

And that’s the end. Despite the slow start, it turned out to be a wonderful trip, one of my best yet! While I would never trade a trip with Mom or other family members I really enjoyed solo time and want to do it again. I’m sort of looking at November 2014 for the next solo adventure because I want to see the Christmas decorations again!

I do have a quote from this day.

“Boy you look like sh@t!! That must have been an awesome vacation!” Said to me by DH when he picked me up at the airport. He blurted out that out without thinking first of course. I pretended to be all offended but inside I was laughing. I’m sure I looked horrible after five days of going nonstop at Disney!

Up Next: Souvenir Recap

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I think being sick the day you leave is a double-edged sword. It's never fun to be sick, but it does make it a bit easier to leave, knowing you wouldn't have enjoyed the day much anyway. Your husband's quote was pretty funny!

I feel similar to you about the fireworks shows. Wishes is a must-do (I'm planning on seeing it 3 times this trip), Fantasmic is an every other trip and Illuminations is my least favourite. I also agree about Eo, ETWB and Pirate at DHS.

 

[Pluto0809]

I think being sick the day you leave is a double-edged sword. It's never fun to be sick, but it does make it a bit easier to leave, knowing you wouldn't have enjoyed the day much anyway. Your husband's quote was pretty funny!

I feel similar to you about the fireworks shows. Wishes is a must-do (I'm planning on seeing it 3 times this trip), Fantasmic is an every other trip and Illuminations is my least favourite. I also agree about Eo, ETWB and Pirate at DHS.

Yeah, not feeling well did make me ok with going home.

I still tease DH about that quote! He regretted it at soon as it came out of his mouth but I thought it was really funny.

I think I'm going to be stuck seeing Captain EO one more time because DH wants to see it. If it's still around in February, I'm going to steer my family away from it!

 

[Pluto0809]

When I planned this trip, I was on a budget so I swore I wasn’t going to buy many souvenirs. Of course as soon as I entered the first store, that oath went right out the window! I just cannot resist anything with Pluto on it.

So, let’s revisit all of the goodies I bought on this trip.

Pluto items for me:

1. Pluto trinket box







2. Mini Glass Pluto – I love this little guy so much I may get a second one to have on my desk at work.



3. Pluto figure modeled after the Characters in the parks



4. Plush Pluto key chain



5. Mickey dressed as Pluto



6. Car decal set that includes Pluto



Other items that I bought for myself:

1. Mickey luggage tag to replace the one that broke on my carry-on bag.





2. Disney Frame – I still have not gotten a picture in this one. Mom convinced me that I need to find a Beauty and the Beast frame for my picture with the Beast. I’m going to look for one of those when I go in October and if I can find one, I'll use this Mickey one for a different picture.



3. Cinderella’s Carriage necklace from Pick A Pearl – I love this necklace and wear it way more often than the one I got in November with Mom.



4. Mickey Earrings from Arribas Brothers – These have become my go to earrings for the weekends.



5. Hoodie with the Fab 5 on it. Even though I bought this more out of desperation than want, I do like it and have worn it since. Just took it last weekend to the theater when I saw Planes.





Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

Continued from Previous Post

6. Cheap quality gloves that were not cheap cost wise. I probably should have just thrown these out when I got home but they went in my Disney box in case I ever have another trip with arctic temperatures.



7. Address Book



8. Animal Kingdom antenna topers for my car. These are tucked away in a drawer and will be used when the one currently on my car wears out.



9. Pin exclusively for Disney Visa cardholders. I saw somewhere that they now have a Monsters U one. I’ll have to get that in October!



10. Wishes soundtrack – I listen to this at least once a day so it was well worth the investment.



11. Big Al pressed penny. I’m still on a quest to find a Pluto one so if anyone ever sees one, please let me know where!



Pins I traded for, not a very big haul this time. DH has eagle eye vision so I plan on enlisting his help in October to find more pins than I did this trip.





Items I bought for other people

1. Pluto T-shirt for my “mini-me” (my Cousin’s little girl). She loves Pluto almost as much as I do. I plan on giving this to her for her birthday in November along with a note asking her to bring it to Disney in February so we can get our picture together with Pluto in our matching shirts. I got the same shirt on my November trip. I also got her a Pluto pillow pet as part of her birthday gift.



2. Grumpy Sweatshirt for my Mom







3. Evil Queen Sweatshirt for my aunt. Don’t know if she likes this or not yet, my cousin is planning on giving it to her for Christmas





4. Angry Bird Donald magnet for DH



And that’s it for this trip! I’m sure I will find lots more to buy in October!

Up Next: All Star Music Resort Review

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'm the same way, I say I'm not getting much in souvenirs, then I get a ton!

I know there are pressed pennies with Pluto, but I don't remember where. If I see any during my trip I'll be sure to let you know where!

 

[April7901]

Here are the Pluto pressed coin locations:

http://www.presscoins.com/search/?a...luto+&limit=&sort=&cointype=All&Submit=Search

 

[TARAMEOW]

Omg I love the Mickey dressed as Pluto Where did you buy it?

 

[Pluto0809]

I'm the same way, I say I'm not getting much in souvenirs, then I get a ton!

I know there are pressed pennies with Pluto, but I don't remember where. If I see any during my trip I'll be sure to let you know where!

I can definitely spend the money while in Disney! Thanks for looking out for Pluto pennies for me!

Here are the Pluto pressed coin locations:

http://www.presscoins.com/search/?a...luto+&limit=&sort=&cointype=All&Submit=Search

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I've bookmarked that site and will print out a copy right before I leave for my October trip. I saw that there is one at Pizza Planet which is where I'm planning on eating so hopefully that one will still be there.

Omg I love the Mickey dressed as Pluto Where did you buy it?

I got him in the World of Disney in DTD. If I remember correctly he was in the baby/toddler room for boys.