"For the first time in forever!" A July 2021 Solo Trip

[AllisonK]

Hi everyone! I'm Allison! This is NOT my first trip to the World, but it IS my first time writing a trip report! I haven't been to Disney World since 2012, so basically forever - hence the reason for this title!



This photo was taken a few summers ago when I was in Florida for another event (which is actually where I'm heading AFTER my quick Disney trip this summer) and my mother and I decided to have dinner at Chef Mickey's - there were no parks that trip but we did head to Disney Springs and Chef Mickey's. My last full trip was back in 2012 when my mom and I went to celebrate my college graduation. Previously, I had gone in 2009 with both of my parents (my father did NOT want to go back in 2012!), 2000 with my entire family (parents, grandparents, aunt and cousins), and in 1996 and 1993. I don't remember much of the first two trips (I was 4 on the first trip and 7 on the second trip) but here's a super cute photo from my first trip in '93. I've always loved Goofy! (Does anyone know what this picture could possibly be from?)



So a little bit about me!

Although my bachelor's degree is in journalism, I went back to school a few years ago for a post-graduate certificate to get my teaching license. I started out teaching English Language Arts, and I'm now a middle school special education teacher. I absolutely love my job and my students, but teaching in a hybrid model has been incredibly challenging this year. I also started at s new school this year, so throw that into the mix - I have not even met more than half of my coworkers and I work in a relatively small school!

I live in Massachusetts and in September I bought my first home, a condo! I also went back to school this past fall to begin my master's in Special Education. It has been a challenging few years, as I have had my position eliminated from two schools in the last two years. I am hopeful my position at my new school won't be eliminated this year either. I can't take another summer of job hunting and interviewing.

Outside of work and graduate school, my main hobbies are exercising at the gym I belong to and being involved with my local community theater - usually on stage, sometimes backstage! I was involved in theater from the time I was in third grade until I was a senior in high school, and I took a long, long break in college and for a few years after. Since I got back into performing again as an adult, I've been in productions of Legally Blonde The Musical, Mary Poppins, Grease, and Shrek The Musical, along with choreographing Mary Poppins Jr. at the first school I taught at, and I assisted with a production of Disney's Freaky Friday The Musical at the high school I taught at last year, but that production was cancelled because of COVID. I also love attending theater and I am a season ticket holder at Providence Performing Arts Center for the Broadway series, and I go to New York City whenever I can to see as many shows as possible! I went to college on Long Island and in my four years I saw close to 100 Broadway shows.

Here's some of my Disney favorites!
Favorite Character: Marie, from The Aristocats.
Favorite of the Fab 5: Goofy.
Favorite Princess: This is a toss-up between Belle, Anna, and Ariel.
Favorite Disney Movie(s): Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess Diaries, The Parent Trap
Favorite Ride in Each Park: Space Mountain, Test Track, Rock 'n Rollercoaster, Expedition Everest (this is funny because outside of Disney, I generally hate roller coasters!)
Favorite Food: The Grey Stuff
Favorite Disney Musical: Mary Poppins and Frozen (this was the last Broadway show I saw before the shutdown)​

This is going to be a solo trip - I was already planning on heading down to Orlando with my mom in July for another event, and I decided to tack on a few days at the beginning of our trip to go to Disney World. My mom wanted to go, but she is older and doesn't want to slow me down. We are going to plan a trip again over winter break in a year or so when it's not as hot!

Trip Details (So Far):
Dates: July 24-27
Resort: All-Star Movies (for now - this may change based on what my travel agent can help me with when it gets closer)
Flight: Flying in on Saturday from Providence via Southwest, which has been my family's preferred airline for years. I know many people don't like Southwest because of the non-reserved seats, but that has never been an issue for us. They are also the most reasonably priced airline out of Providence, and I don't have to go out of Boston.
Park Tickets: I have three-day park hoppers, as I don't check in until late on the 24th. I had travel credits on Southwest from a canceled vacation last summer, so my flight leaves Providence around 4:30 on the Saturday afternoon.

Right now, my reserved parks are:
Sunday 7/25 - Hollywood Studios
Monday 7/26 - Animal Kingdom
Tuesday 7/27 - Magic Kingdom

As of now, because it is such a quick trip, I am not planning on making any table service reservations. This could change based on my mood! I have always had the dining plan on past trips, so my plan for this trip is to pick up a Disney gift card at Target or BJ's before I go and load it into my MyDisneyExperience app and use the gift card for food and souvenirs. I am looking forward to seeing all of the new things that have been added to the parks since my last trip! I was last in a park for a day trip. to Magic Kingdom in 2013, so it's been awhile!

As far as COVID restrictions go, I know Disney has been taking incredible precautions. I have been teaching in person all year (the students are hybrid) so I have been at work every day since the end of August. I had COVID two weeks ago (it was mild, but still - I was able to work from home as all of my students were quarantined as well - that was NOT fun!). I am booked for my first dose of the vaccine next week and so I will be fully vaccinated by April. I am used to wearing a mask all day, so that will not be an issue for me. I will probably wear disposable masks. I will grab another box from the school nurse before the end of the year and bring them with me, as the ones my school provides for us are the ones that fit me the best - most of the other disposables I have tried have been too tall on my face and the ear loops have been too big as well). I also plan on bringing a reusable water bottle with me to the parks each day as well (I have a Britta bottle with a filter built in for that awful Florida tap water!) along with disinfectant wipes and plenty of hand sanitizer!

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Could that photo be from Cape May Cafe? The boxy white columns make me think it could be, although the carpet makes me think of the hallways at the Boardwalk resort, so maybe a restaurant there?

Bummer on the repeated position elimination at your job. Special education is usually a lot more stable, so hopefully you'll keep your position!
I'm an elementary school librarian and this school year (and last!) have been rough with the remote learning and hybrid models. We're hybrid, but I teach kids on their at-home days, so I'm still on Zoom most of the day.

I got season tickets to the local traveling Broadway shows last year. There are only 4 shows/year, and I only was able to attend 1. Hopefully it comes back soon!

Congrats on buying a condo!

You haven't been since 2013?! Hopefully you enjoy all the new attractions!

 

[AllisonK]

So I haven't updated this in awhile! I am 23 days out! I was able to pay off my balance using Disney gift cards purchased from Target, and I saved about $40 using my Red Card - I did have to purchase 8 separate cards and then combine them all, but it was worth it!

Trip Updates:
I was able to change my flight so that I am flying in a bit earlier on Saturday! Originally I was going to land at 9:30 PM and now I will be landing around 2:30 PM. My plan is to head to my resort (I decided to stick with All-Star Movies), unpack, and head to Disney Springs for dinner.

I have not changed my park plans at all, I am quite happy with my selections. I did end up making two table service lunch reservations. I am booked for Yak and Yeti on Monday the 26th and Skipper Canteen on Tuesday the 27th.

I will be attending another event after my trip held at Universal Studios. I will be meeting up with my mom for this event. She is flying in on Monday and will pick me up at All Star Movies on Tuesday night after Magic Kingdom closes. I will leave my bags with Bell Services before heading to the park that night. At Universal we are staying at Royal Pacific, and are most likely planning on one park day - we still have a few weeks to purchase a park ticket through our event, but it might be worth going for a day with the early entry and Express Pass. My mom has some health issues so isn't a huge fan of theme parks in the summer, but with the Express Pass it could be doable. The after party for our event is going to be held in Diagon Alley after-hours with the park open for party guests, so we did purchase tickets for that already, so there will definitely be some park time in our plans even if we don't do a full park day.

I have been purchasing some things for my trip each week - travel toiletries (not very exciting, but necessary), some Disney themed shirts, new Crocs flip flops (to replace my well-worn pair from the last two summers - I have very high arches, arthritis in one foot and am developing arthritis in one knee after meniscus surgery in 2018 - Crocs flips flops are my pain-free summer shoes) and a portable fan....

Life Updates:
I did get my position renewed for next school year! I will still be teaching 7th grade on my same team that I was on this year. I finished the first year of my M.Ed. in May - my program is not timed and I am doing it completely backwards (I took all the licensure courses first - I have had my English license for a few years now and was adding the special education license - I had already passed the required test and completed 150 hours of mentored teaching through my previous district, so I only needed the classes). But, I now have my license in special education! I only have to complete 18 more credits for my masters' and I anticipate being done by either December 2022 or May 2023.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Congratulations on your contract renewal and your new license!

Are you all packed for your trip THIS WEEK?!