"It's Safe to Say, I Love You!" A Solo Jan Adventure!-Now Completed!

[ronnmel]

The Cindy I met was a bit bland, so I'm glad your was good. I really need to go and make a list of all the characters I've never met for next trip. Just from your TR I know I need to meet Tiana & Naveen, Peter Pan, Ariel with Prince Eric (met her without), etc.

 

[katt789]

The Cindy I met was a bit bland, so I'm glad your was good. I really need to go and make a list of all the characters I've never met for next trip. Just from your TR I know I need to meet Tiana & Naveen, Peter Pan, Ariel with Prince Eric (met her without), etc.

Cindy's usually not that exciting of a meet & greet for me. The "original" princesses never really are. I'm all about Ariel, Rapunzel, and Tiana, they've got the "spunk" (although in the movie, Belle really has it too). I think that there's just more to sctick with when you're characters more fun, and some of the girls don't really know what to do with a "bland" character.

You need to!! Gah! Tiana & Naveen are a never miss! Peter can be hard to find, but is so awesome!!

 

[jane2073]

As usual, I am really enjoying your trip report!

That has got to be the cutest Peter Pan 8 have ever seen!!

I think the second Tiana is the one we met several months ago. She and Naveen were so sweet about listening to my daughter go on and on about dinosaurs. They were so great!

 

[Rhiannona]

Wonderful trip report! <3

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

I'm not sure how I came across your TR's Katt, but I've read 3 in 2 days! I love how detailed your reports are, and I *love* reports with lots of pictures!
Very jealous as to how often you go - and would love to go solo (not that I don't love my DBF, but he just doesn't share the same Disney love as I do!)
I'll just keep living my trips through you and subscribe!

Steffi xx

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I just found your trip report and wanted to jump in and say hi as I'm going back to read. I did read another of your reports. I believe you were with another friend and were auditioning at Disney. I enjoyed reading that one and I'm sure this one will be great as well.

 

[katt789]

As usual, I am really enjoying your trip report!

That has got to be the cutest Peter Pan 8 have ever seen!!

I think the second Tiana is the one we met several months ago. She and Naveen were so sweet about listening to my daughter go on and on about dinosaurs. They were so great!

Thanks!! Oh my gosh he was adorable! All the Tiana's that I've met have been fantastic! Thankfully!!

Wonderful trip report! <3

Thanks!!

I'm not sure how I came across your TR's Katt, but I've read 3 in 2 days! I love how detailed your reports are, and I *love* reports with lots of pictures!
Very jealous as to how often you go - and would love to go solo (not that I don't love my DBF, but he just doesn't share the same Disney love as I do!)
I'll just keep living my trips through you and subscribe!

Steffi xx

Wow that's a lot of reading!! I'm so glad you like them! I do my best to put in a lot of detail & pics, I find myself thinking lots about my TR's while I'm out on the trip, another bonus of going solo, you can take the time to catch up on a tr journal or phone "note"

Haha! I don't know how I do it, it's quite amazing, I feel like after my ap has expired i won't be going as often.

I just found your trip report and wanted to jump in and say hi as I'm going back to read. I did read another of your reports. I believe you were with another friend and were auditioning at Disney. I enjoyed reading that one and I'm sure this one will be great as well.

Yay! Yup! That TR would have been the december one, I'm glad that you're enjoying reading!!

 

[katt789]

I exited the Town Square theatre through the little gift shop, and as I rounded the corner, I nearly ran into Pinocchio! Seriously! He was right there, so how could I not stop and say a quick hello?!

After a quick glance through the square, I saw that Snow White was out, although on her way back in, after a quick question, I knew she’d be back out soon, and plonked down on a bench to wait while I wrote in my travel journal. Mary Poppins came out while I was waiting, so I jumped in line for her, and made a new friend! (Not really, but the girl was also alone in line so we did the whole “I’ll take a pic for you if you’ll take one for me!” thing, Mary asked if we were friends, to which we said we had just met, but were helping out, which she thought was very nice of us!

Next up, Snow was back, and she had a photopass! Bonus! Yay! I honestly couldn’t tell ya what we talked about, or anything about her, but I have it written down that she was EXCELLENT, and I do remember really liking her, so, double thumbs up!

I said good bye to the fairest of them all, and figured, “hey, you’ve got a fast pass for Splash, why not use it now?!” Enjoying my trip down Main Street, I also figured “hey, you paid for the photopass cd already, why not get some extra shots?”

The photopass girl wasn’t the greatest, she was trying to get some idea of something “fun” for me to do, I’m assuming especially because I was by myself, but it just ended up being REALLY awkward for me. I’m okay with doing ridiculous things when I’m among friends, but not by myself in the middle of Main St, It just weird.

Anyway, off through Adventureland and to the land of Frontiering I went! The line went SUPER quick, especially because I had a FP to use! Yay! Before I knew it I was aboard my log & traveling through the Briar Patch!

One thing I’m happy to report: all of the animatronics were up & running today! Every time I was on it there was a little back log of logs at points, but nothing horrendous. I seriously think that people way over react about Splash “always being backed up or broken” yeah, some of the animatronics aren’t always on, and hey, I’d much rather there be a hold up before the drop than my log smashing into someone else’s. Safety first, right team?

Yay!! Heck yes! I found it funny & cute that after the drop, the little girl in front of me turned around and all excitedly tried to talk to me…in Spanish…So sorry little girl! But I have NO clue what you’re saying!? On my way back through, I took a picture of one of my favorite rides (although I’m pretty sure that was it, I don’t actually know if I went on it or not lol)

And then I noticed Donald & Daisy going for a little walk around in their “natural” outfits. TeeHee….I’m so funny…

 

[Merida]

I would totally put any safety concerns first on Splash! I enjoyed the ride but I'm still half convinced that it's Disney's version of Russian roulette.

Disney seems to get the best people for Mary Poppins! I really want to get Mary, Bert, and the penguins - bonus if it's Mary in her red coat. I love that outfit! I mean, the white one is probably a little better fit for the Main Street setting... maybe white dress Mary in MK and red coat Mary in the UK pavilion?

 

[katt789]

As I neared the hub, I could hear that there was a party going on that I was more than welcome to join!! And again, all of these are taken with my Iphone. I tried to get a couple with my camera, and they just weren’t turning out, my phone has WAY better zoom. So sad. I really do miss my old camera!

Adventure!!

Donald is JUST the cutest! Especially as Captain Hook, so adorable!

Oh no! Here comes Maleficent to ruin the day! But don’t worry, because “DREAMS COME TRUE” gawd, I tear up every time I hear that chanting part, sap alert, right here! I know I managed to not get any pictures of the actually dancers from the show, but I looove the dresses they have on (both the blue & silver ones) during the show. Also, little fact; I was listening to this music yesterday when my Iphone screen smashed… le sad…. Another fact: I’m tall enough to dance in this show! So, fingers crossed when they have permanent spots open up next year!
My observation from the show: GOD some of these girls are absolutely TINY, like, I know they’re dancers, I know I’m “big” for a dancer, but really, these girls are getting skinnier & skinnier!! Not cool!!

I then too realized that all my dreams would one day come true, especially if I worked hard to make them that way! And decided that it was about time to take a journey through the skies of Tommorowland, somehow, I ended up passing through Fantasyland t get there, and got distracted by a particular White Rabbit.

Next up, it’s written in my travel journal exactly this: “I should watch parade. Long way around Adventureland”

…..and the next picture I have is a dole whip…I clearly need to be more detailed. I clearly had the thought of watching the parade, and for some reason, ended up back in Adventureland…so…that’s up next!!

 

[ronnmel]

I went to the Hallmark store today and they have several Disney frames and collectibles there. There is a quote on every one of them, from Walt Disney as well as some characters. One had "My, oh my, what a wonderful day". I knew EXACTLY where it came from. Ahhhh, Splash Mountain! Such a great attraction!

 

[katt789]

I would totally put any safety concerns first on Splash! I enjoyed the ride but I'm still half convinced that it's Disney's version of Russian roulette.

Disney seems to get the best people for Mary Poppins! I really want to get Mary, Bert, and the penguins - bonus if it's Mary in her red coat. I love that outfit! I mean, the white one is probably a little better fit for the Main Street setting... maybe white dress Mary in MK and red coat Mary in the UK pavilion?

Bahah! Fair enough! I would love love love to see Mary in her red coat, but my guess is it really only comes out at winter, it seems like it would be pretty hot to wear in Floridia, it would make sense to have her in one costume in MK, and the other in Epcot, like Belle...

I went to the Hallmark store today and they have several Disney frames and collectibles there. There is a quote on every one of them, from Walt Disney as well as some characters. One had "My, oh my, what a wonderful day". I knew EXACTLY where it came from. Ahhhh, Splash Mountain! Such a great attraction!

Gah! I could spend so much money on Disney stuff, it could end badly! That's why I always want to make sure that the souviners I buy are something practical that I'll actually use haha! I love Splash!!

 

[katt789]

When we left off, I clearly had a case of the too much pixie dust and didn’t know what was going on in my life! Also known as: it’s been 2 months since my trip and I’m not sure what I meant by my writing down-ness. SO! I was over in Adventureland, and had just scooped up my own little Dole Whip!

I’ve tried a variety of different things from Aloha Isle as I’m not the biggest pineapple fan, I didn’t really like the float (I know, I know…I’m insane…but hey, this has already been established!) I got the orange and pineapple swirl soft serve, and it was delicious, a little too sweet, so I only ate half of it. I did this while outside of Tinker bell’s Nook, I had planned on doing it while in line, but they didn’t even allow food in the line, so I hung out with the cm who was working the door for a bit, her name was Jenna, and she was super nice & sweet. After my half ice cream was done, I jumped in line to see the fairies.

The wait time was posted at 25 minutes, I don’t think I ended up waiting that long, there were maybe 2 groups in front of me, including another girl who was around my age and also solo. After a bit in line, she turned and asked me if I was a cm, of course I said no, she replied saying that I looked like one, and when she saw my Tink bag she thought maybe I was friends with her. We had a nice chat about auditions & the college program, which she was doing, it was nice to see someone else solo my age who really enjoyed Disney.

Soon enough, we were in! And yet again, I lucked out! Terrance was inside! EEE!!

He was fantastic!! Let’s also keep a note now that I have been to Pixie Hollow 3 times on this trip, and have managed to meet a different fairy each time! Bonus! Terrance asked how my trip had been, when I was leaving, the usual, when he found out that I was leaving really early the next morning, he said I should just stay here in Orlando. Not to mention then my wings would stay unfrozen too! Yay! I totally would if I could Terrance!

Tink was good, she was a different one, yet again, nothing superbly memorable, but some of my favorite candid shots of the trip!

At this point, I apparently also had grabbed another FP for Splash after disembarking the last time, and circled BACK around to go on it one more time. We stopped a few times, but that was it, I was super glad to have a fp this time around as the line had continued to grow.

I cut through the hub to head over to Tomorrowland, and along the way, had another cm ask me “Aurora?! Aren’t you supposed to be with your Prince?” Yup…another incident of being told I looked like a Princess. Yup….really need to get to that audition… I’m not a huge Tomorrowland buff, and I usually skip past it, but there are a couple of attractions that I do really like. My first stop was to help Buzz defeat the evil Emperor Zurg!

After that, it was time to rest my feet and a take tour through the skies of Tomorrowland, as I was on my way over to the People Mover!

Ah Space Mountain…a ride I will never go on… but hey, it works out for me be able to be the fast pass runner while others are on it!

Astro Obiter? No thanks, if I want something that’s just going to spin me around in circles I’d much rather be on an elephant, or a magic carpet…especially if Aladdin is involved! Haha

My journey through Tomorrowland was complete, and I wandered my way through Fantasyland while debating about dinner, I had an ADR booked for 1900 Park Fare, and really did want to go to it, but just wasn’t sure how I felt about dining at a character meal solo. In the end, I decided to ditch it, I just wasn’t comfortable doing it alone. I picked where I did want to eat supper, and headed over there, but not before grabbing a FLE pic!

Can we talk about how excited I am for all of this to open?! It’s all my favorite movies, all my childhood, being awesome!! My HUGE hopes are that with Gaston’s tavern being part of the expansion, that maybe he’ll come out for meet & greets?! (And that last MNSSHP was a test to see how he was received?) *fingers crossed* (This is also the point that I’m just going to say; Disney should REALLY make a character meal of all the “Princes” ex: Aladdin, Charming, Flynn, Eric, Naveen & Cap’n Jack. Just THINK of the money they could make!! And it would be something that would get boys more into that kinda stuff too!)

(I’m also just going to have to add in now that half of this update is being written while I’m getting over an insane flu, and may or may not be hopped up on cold medication…. My apologies…)

ANYWAY, I headed over to Pinocchio’s Village Haus for dinner, I had the Penne Pasta served with meatballs!

It was good! Super filling, a whole lot of food. Observation: the food in Disney may be pricey, but heck, you sure do get A LOT of food, it’s super helpful when there’s people like Sylvia & I that can just share 1 entrée. Then there’s the meals that are $60.00 upfront, but you get bread, an appetizer, a meal, a dessert, unlimited soft drink & juice, a wishing wand/sword, and princesses!! (for example, and hey, for me, dining in the castle will always be worth $60 haha)

With that! I will leave you for now!

 

[tinawv]

I am so enjoying your trip report and can't wait too read more along with your future trip reports. It is so refreshing to see someone who has a love for Disney as I do.

 

[shan23877]

I fell a few updates behind, but I'm all caught up now! You got to meet Terrence? He's on our "must meet" list, so I'm super jealous on Maddie's behalf.

Are you getting packed for the trip? 10 days now!!!

 

[katt789]

I am so enjoying your trip report and can't wait too read more along with your future trip reports. It is so refreshing to see someone who has a love for Disney as I do.

Yay! I'm glad you're here to enjoy and will follow along with future ones! Disney is such a love, my happy place, just the coolest place ever!

I fell a few updates behind, but I'm all caught up now! You got to meet Terrence? He's on our "must meet" list, so I'm super jealous on Maddie's behalf.

Are you getting packed for the trip? 10 days now!!!

Yay! Yeah, I honestly don't know how I managed it, I was super excited! Hhaha And not at all! I have some of my stuff (cash saved up, my american cash, wallet, park bag) that are all together, but I'm not packed at all!

Partially because I've been so many times, I know what's going to go in my suitcase, and I'm not too worried about packing last minute, and partially because our washer was broken and we just got a new one yesterday

 

[katt789]

....and the last official update of the TR!! It's taken nearly 3 months, but we're coming to a close now, I still have 3 updates of other stuff after this, but this is the last "I'm in Disney" update!

After my dinner over in Fantasyland was finished, I figured I may as well do one last loop of the park, and use that last Splash Mountain fast pass of mine. When the ride was done, I decided it was too cold, and it was time to start thinking about leaving the park. I headed down Main St and browsed through some of the shops there, I could hear the Move It Shake It Celebrate It street party starting, and headed outside to watch it.

I half followed it up to the hub, but having caught bits & pieces of it throughout the trip, I was ok not standing around for the rest of it, so I veered off when it hit the hub. Now, where did I veer to, you may ask? Well, it was nearing that time of night, and I veered off to Liberty Square of course!

I jumped in line for Tiana & Naveen, as it was my last night, and hey, Naveen had told me to come back again today, right? When I finally got to the front, Naveen was all “Hey! I was waiting for you!” And quickly turned to Tiana to say “She’s come to see us the last 3 nights in a row!” to obviously update her. They were both pretty awesome about that, and there were numerous hugs all around.

Naveen asked when I left, to which I told him, technically, tonight, which sucked. He said that I should definitely stay, I mean, Disney was way cooler than home, right? I said I had to work, and we got talking about that, where I worked (dinner theatre) and that that was so cool, they thought it would be a good idea for Tiana’s restaurant.

We chatted about that for a bit, they asked questions, etc. I said that I’d be back again soon, and my *for sure* next trip that was booked was September, and I’d be here over Halloween (possibly as Lottie). It was pretty much love all around, especially when Naveen went “I think, it’s safe to say that I love you” While we talked about the fact that I had been to visit the 3 nights in a row, hey, they’re awesome, they’re some of the greatest meet & greets, and I had nothing else to do, why not?! Am I right?! With love all around, we took the final pictures, and did a last round of hugs for everyone, and I said goodbye to my new friends!

So much awesome! On my way out of the meet & greet, there was a Dad who was just waiting for his family who commented “old friends, hey?” Yup…just a little bit. Now that my final meet & greet was out of the way, and it was a little chilly for me, I figured it was time to leave. I wanted to swing down to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping before bed, and bed needed to happen soon as I had to be up at 3:00am to catch the Magical Express!

*sigh* one of these days I *will* stay at that resort and it will be a beautiful gorgeous time! I jumped on the Monorail over to the Contemporary where I caught a bus to DTD. While I was waiting, there was a little girl and her parents walking through the parkin lot, and she asked “What time are the fireworks?” they told her 8pm, and she went “That’s past my bedtime! But that’s ok, I’m on vacation, it’s special!” Yup, totes adorable!

I shopped around a bit at DTD, I have pics of all the souvenirs in the next post, then headed back to the Poly, where I grabbed one last snack, and packed before bed. I chose the Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cupcake this time:

And at 3:00am when I got up for the Magical Express, I was very sad that it was time to leave and go back to the real world for work!

And with that…was the beginning of my bad luck. I won’t go into huge detail, but my first flight was fine, I slept the entire way, and we landed late. I RUSHED over to my next gate, and they weren’t even boarding yet…weird… One of the guys waiting in the area asked if I was flying to Calgary, yes I was, he said the flight was cancelled, and I needed to talk to them. What…I’m sorry, WHAT?! I had to work that night! They had another flight that was going to take us all to Calgary….in 6 hours…we were given $14.00 of airport food coupons, and that was it…uggg…There was a WolfGang Puck Express in the airport, so I definitely jumped on that and got the 4 cheese pesto pizza. It was incredible!! So absolutely amazing, I wish we had them here! If you get the chance to try one, DO IT. I ended up calling my boss & explaining what happened and she was fine with it, I mean, it’s not my fault right? Thank god there was internet in the airport!

I finally land in Calgary, tired, grumpy, and just want to go to bed, and the customs official, of course, finds it SO weird that I was in Disney by myself. So after grabbing my bag, they pulled me into a little side room and had to search through all of my luggage and ask me a million questions. Yes, I get it, it’s kinda weird to go Disney by yourself, but not really at ALL, I mean, I’m not a creepy looking middle aged man, I’m me! I think they were probably more concerned that I was lying about where I was, or what I was doing. I got out of there quickly, (and no, coming back from DLR solo there was no problem, I just told the guy I was there for an audition)

THEN, I get in the cab, he doesn’t know where he’s going, and forgets to turn on the meter, then takes me to the wrong place, and I’m all “this isn’t my house…”. When I finally do get home, nothing about the tv works, so I seriously just climbed into bed in my room & watched Princess & the Frog. This story: proof that once you leave Orlando, there’s no pixie dust…anywhere.
BOO.

Now that I’ve told my sob story, I’ll say that there will be 2, maybe 3 more updates on this TR before it is officially done. I’m very glad that all of you came along and jumped in to comment along the way. Going solo was one of the best trips I had, I was constantly surrounded by Magic & people were fantastic. It wasn’t weird to be there alone, and it was super nice to be able to go at my own pace and do what I wanted, when I wanted. I encourage all of you to try a solo trip, or even just split off from your group at some point to wander by yourself. I really needed a break from real life at this point back in January, and nothing could have refreshed me more than a Deluxe stay at Disney. When I did finally get back to work, a friend and I had a big dance number that we do (styled after Julianne & Derek’s Jive: I don’t know if this link will work, but it’s worth a try: http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=10150521266285816&set=t.645435646&type=2&theater ) and it honestly went the absolute best it had ever gone after the magical break.

So, again, thanks to all of you, I hope you’ll stick around my next years worth of TR’s and join the adventures over & over again, and have a magical day!

Incase you've missed it: here's the link to my next set of TR's: Dreams Come True Again & Again

 

[Merida]

Timon's parade jacket is... interesting. I wonder who picked that out?

That was so nice of Tiana + Naveen! I'm seriously awed at how good they are at remembering faces and conversations considering how many people they must see day after day! They seem like they would be great friends to have

I love the outside of the Grand Floridian but the rooms really need an update. Maybe with the new DVC coming, it'll get a refurb?

Ugh, your trip back sounds horrible. At least there was some Princess and the Frog at the end (I was so mad when they took it off Netflix, I should look and see if it's back on. Such a great comfort movie)?

 

[ronnmel]

That was so nice of Naveen to say he loves you.

 

[katt789]

Now, I move onto just overall reviews. I like to try and get you all as much information as possible, and I find it really helps with planning trips & getting to know as many different opinions as possible.

January: A GREAT time to go! I’m sure the weekends are still busy, but as I arrived on Sunday, I couldn’t be sure. There were a few tour groups in the parks, but they mostly travelled all in one big group, and it was easy enough to avoid them. It was super warm, I was in shorts & t-shirts the entire time, and really only needed a sweater at night. The only downside I would say was that it was a little to chilly for Splash at points, but that’s about it. Crowds were light, weather was good, I got a deal on the room!

The Polynesian: I honestly have no words for how wonderfully amazing this Resort is, but I’ll dig some up for ya. It’s in the perfect location where you have white sand beaches, a view of the castle, you can take advantage of watching Wishes from the beach! It has it’s own monorail line, along with busses, and you can definitely walk straight to the TTC from your room to get you anywhere, which is extremely helpful. The rooms are huge and gorgeous, with comfy beds, and lots of space to spread out among the room. The blinds are blackout blinds, so if you are a nap taker, it’s like it’s the middle of the night. I assume all rooms have balconies and even in a standard view room, the view is great. Another bonus, you can get room service to your room from any of the Kona food, and it’s amazing, speedy, hot & fresh & awesome!

Food: C’mon, all the Disney food is great! I seriously recommend the Tonga Toast, Starring Rolls Cupcakes, and Cosmic Rays sandwiches!

I’m not really sure what else I can review on, the transportation was all great all throughout the trip, the express monorail was down the one morning, but it was still more than fine. I had a fantastic time.