First Post About First Solo Trip:)

[fairybelle928]

Hello All, This is my first official post. Yay!! I am a Mom and Wife and have Never been to WDW with out my Family, But Have been given the opportunity to attend a Conference in Orlando. It so happens to be the First day of the Food and Wine Festival. My Company has extended our stay thru the weekend so I dont have to Drive home so I figured I would try a Solo trip. But I am as nervous as can be! Can anyone offer me some Do's and Donts and maybe some experiences I really think I want to give it a try.....

 

[travelin' tigger]

Hello All, This is my first official post. Yay!! I am a Mom and Wife and have Never been to WDW with out my Family, But Have been given the opportunity to attend a Conference in Orlando. It so happens to be the First day of the Food and Wine Festival. My Company has extended our stay thru the weekend so I dont have to Drive home so I figured I would try a Solo trip. But I am as nervous as can be! Can anyone offer me some Do's and Donts and maybe some experiences I really think I want to give it a try.....

The only advice I have is to do the things you normally don't do with your family as solo trips are all about YOU!! Ride your favorite rides over and over, eat at a restaurant you've always wanted to try, sleep in if you want or grab a photo with your favorite character... it's endless what you can do!!

Have a great time!!

 

[Taja]

Yep! Just plan to do what you want, when you want and enjoy yourself!

Too bad PI and the Adventurers' Club have closed. That always was one of my favourite evenings on solo visits!

 

[DFD]

to the Boards...

plan..plan..plan...

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

to the boards!

I did my first solo trip last April and loved it so much I'm doing another.

For don'ts: Be careful going to and from your hotel room. Disney is relatively safe but anyone alone should be aware of their surroundings at all times.

For do's:
Put the chain on your hotel room door as soon as you get in the room for safety. I also put the TV on low for noise.

Talk to CM's and even other guests as you are waiting for rides and table service restaurants. I met some great people that way and never felt lonely. I was even invited to go on an Illuminations Cruise by one family. They'd won it and were trying to find people to help them fill up the boat. Boy was I sad it was the night I had to catch my plane to go home!

Head to the single rider lines. They really do save alot of time!

Plan something that the rest of your family never wants to do but you have wanted to. For me that was the Behind the Seeds tour. I was so happy to finally do it and enjoyed it. I also did my first Art of Animation Class at DHS. It was so fun, I now do it every time. I also tried my first Dole Whip on that trip. Yum.

But the most important, is to relax and have fun!

 

[norybell]

You'll have an amazing time...solo trips are wonderful! They're just different, that's all.

It's nice to have something to do while you're eating alone or standing in line. For me, it was reading my book or taking notes for my trip report. For others, it might be doing crossword puzzles or playing games on their phone or taking lots of photos.

Don't be afraid to strike up conversations with CMs or other guests. You'll end up meeting some interesting people that way!

If you want to read about my first solo experience, check out the trip report in my signature. I loved it so much, I'm going solo again next month!

 

[honeydiane1953]

I would give my right arm to go solo. EVERYTIME I plan a trip some family members just can't believe I will have a good time. Well u got it they go with me. I looove my family but next time I plan a trip NO one will know till I get there and inform them I am safe and having a blast. I would NOT be even the slightest scared of staying alone. My neighborhood is more dangerous than Disney. I would eat, drink, ride sleep in and go to the spa at the Dolphin any time I wanted. I am jealous goooo and have a great time.

 

[natt]

I'm to relieved to read that I am not the only person who feels the need to see WDW on my own terms... after micro-planning several trips through the years, trying to make 4 or more people happy!
Can't wait for my first solo trip next week... I was starting to feel anxious whether I'd made a hasty decision to do this... but reading this has made me excited again!

 

[tlionheart78]

Hey welcome aboard! I just went on a solo trip a few weeks ago and let me say, it was a blast! Here's a few of my do's and don'ts:

Do...
-make a list of what you want to do. Best part of this is that you aren't constrained by other people. See and experience the stuff you wanted to do when others while you were in a group didn't give an interest in.
-highlight attractions that you want to do and do them immediately. You don't want to leave WDW with a feeling of "Oh, MAN, I should've done this ride or seen that show!"
-character meals/meet-and-greets! This was the highlight of my trip. Interacting with the fab five (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy), the Fairies (I loved chatting with Vidia), and (especially) the Princesses (mad love for Ariel!) made me feel like I was more than welcome in the parks.

Don't...
-be a wallflower. SOCIALIZE! Everyone, from cast members to your fellow guests, have set aside the real world and have come to relax and have fun like you. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to strike up a conversation with other cast members and guests in the park. So, take a load off and try to make some new friends while you're there. :3
-forget a cast member's name. Cast members are wonderful as they easily go out of their way to make your vacation beyond pleasant. If anything, you can send WDW a message commending a cast member who went above and beyond to make your vacation wonderful.

Well, that's all I can think of. Keep those things in mind and, most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!

 

[acm563]

Going solo is AWESOME! All of those things that you do not get to do when you go with family, now all of a sudden you can!!! You can go at YOUR pace, not someone elses, you can eat where you want and what you want, if you want ice cream for breakfast, go for it you dont have to worry about setting a good example for the kids.

As for safety questions that I keep on seeing on the boards we need to all stop and realize that we live in a scary world on a daily basis yet very seldom do any of us worry about going to the mall alone, or out to dinner alone, or to the grocery store alone or where ever alone.... yet all of a sudden when we go to Disney we think we need to be concerned. We are surrounded by people at Disney, and probably 90% of them are decent people, thats a lot better odds than what you find in most cities, or even rural areas. Someone had posted about the safety of DTD, yet there are security guards all over the place.

My point is go...have fun....use common sense of course, but do not be scared to be there solo. I understand that I don't have a timid bone in my body, but even for the meekest of people I believe WDW is safer than going to the grocery store to grab a gallon of milk at 9pm.

The CMs do a great job of making the solo traveler have a great time. I value and look forward to my solo trips, as much as I value my trips with family. If you feel melancholy at the parks without your family, lay by the pool with a good book, go get a massage, pamper yourself....and look at it as therapy for the soul!