PTR for my first solo trip to Disneyland!

[CamoMama]

Hi gang! This is my first solo trip, heading to Disneyland Sunday for 3 days of awesome.

Cast:

Me. Just me. I'm the mom to a pair of teen aged girls, 16 and 15, and have been divorced for 10 years or so. I got back from a National Guard deployment to Afghanistan in December and took the girls on a reunion trip to WDW Florida in February. We had an amazing time. I am a serious Disney junkie, but have only ever gone with either my parents or my children (or all of them at once) and I always feel like I'm planning for other people, to make sure they have a good time. While I always have an incredible amount of fun, I've thought many times how I would do things if it were just me. So now it is. I turned 37 on Wednesday, so I'm doing it all for myself this time.

What and Why:

I was planning this trip to attend the Disney/Pixar/ESPN Veteran's job expo as I've been unemployed since I returned from overseas, and who doesn't want to work at the happiest place on earth? They have some HR positions available, so I was going to go for it. Then I was offered a great job here at home with my Commander from Afghanistan, so no need for the job expo. But I already had a room reserved and I had purchased a Premium AP as I had planned to visit the Land before and after the expo, then again in July and early next year, and if I have an AP I may be able to fit in some other trips here and there. Since it was so close to my birthday, I decided to give myself a gift, 3 days in Disney on my own for once.

More to come.

 

[CamoMama]

The preparation:

My mom is always worries about me, and she's been driving me nuts since I told her I was going alone. She should know better after 10 years, especially since I live 12 hours from her and have traveled the world without a husband since then. This is nowhere near the longest road trip I've taken alone, either. But she's a mom and she worries, I know how that is now that I have teenagers.

Today and tomorrow I'm detailing my house so I can come home and just be able to relax and recover from the drive. Today I shampooed the carpet and rearranged furniture in my living room and did a boatload of laundry. Tomorrow I'll be doing the carpets in the bedrooms and detailing the kitchen, then I'll pack. It's not a long trip and it's just me, so packing will take all of a half hour once everything is ready to go.

My oldest daughter moved in with her dad a couple of weeks ago, she is at the stage where I am everything that is wrong with her life and she thinks it will be better with him even though he hasn't spent more than a weekend with her in 10 years and hasn't provided for her in any way, financially or otherwise in that same amount of time. But I let her go, as long as she's safe she's old enough to make her own decisions. My youngest wants nothing to do with him, so she's the only one that I have to worry about while I'm gone. I have an awesome relationship with her best friend's mom; she's a single parent as well, so we trade off helping each other out. The best friend will spend the night here tomorrow night and the girls will hang out here for the day on Sunday. Her mom will pick them up in the afternoon and she'll stay there until I get home Wednesday. We actually considered having them stay at the friend's grandmother's and the mom come with me, but she couldn't swing it with work.

The road trip:

Sunday morning I'll be heading out at around 4am. Google maps claims that the drive is 9 hours, but I've never had it take more than 8, even with both the kids and my parents and needing to stop frequently for bathroom and food breaks. I am planning on stopping once for gas at around 8am and grabbing a quick drive through breakfast at the same time. Since the trip was meant as a job hunt and I'm not yet working (the new job should start around the 1st) I'm trying to be frugal (and I still have a hard time spending money on myself, this trip is me working on being kinder to me), so staying at the Motel 6 maingate. I got a great rate and I really don't plan to spend much time in my room anyway. I should arrive there sometime between noon and 1pm, too early for check in, so I'll head straight to the parks.

 

[CamoMama]

Day 1:

When I arrive at the parks I'll need to stop by and exchange my AP voucher for the real thing. Once I get inside I'll be making a beeline for Fantasyland and lunch at the Troubadour Tavern. I've seen pictures of the baked potatoes there in the food porn thread in the Disneyland forum, and wow. Sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon and chives. Oh. My.

After lunch I'll head to my favorite Fantasyland ride, the Storybookland Canal Boats. It's not a thrill ride, but it's a nostalgia thing. It's one of the few rides I clearly remember from my first trip to Disneyland in 1978, it's changed a lot since then, but it's still a lovely ride. And of course right after lunch it's probably not a good idea to get on the tea cups. After the boat ride I'll be texting a friend who lives in the area and will be in the park for Bats Day and we'll meet up wherever they are. At 6pm I'll head back to the motel to check in and get online. I have an internet seminar scheduled for school at 7 and I can't miss it. At 8 I'll head back to the park and meet up with my friends for dinner. I realized while I was looking through the attractions on the DLR website the other day that I have never seen Fantasmic. I'm not sure how that is, but it's true. There are two shows Sunday night, so I'll decide after dinner whether I'm going to attend the first or second show depending on the crowd levels and how tired I am by then.

 

[CamoMama]

Day 2:

I love rope drop. It's one of my favorite parts of any trip to Disney. I haven't fully decided whether to drive to the parks or walk. I have free parking with my AP, but it's only a 10 or 15 minute walk, and I really hate trying to find my car at the end of the day. And besides, I won't have my kids, I may want to have a couple of drinks! I don't get drunk, but I also don't drive within an hour of even one drink. So I'll probably walk. Anyway, the Magic Kingdom opens at 9 on Monday, so I'll walk over at around 7:30. I'm not usually a big breakfast person, but at Disney I need to eat in the morning if I want to make it through to lunch without passing out or devouring the entire contents of the bakery by 11am. Although that does sound kind of fun...

So! After rope drop I am going to head to Fantasyland and ride everything that I didn't get to Sunday night. If I've done everything that I wanted I'll go straight to Tomorrowland instead. There will be Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and Star Tours. I've done everything else and really the only reason I'd do them again is for the kids. Oh, and they won't be there!

After Tomorrowland I'm going to hop on the Disneyland Railroad and take a spin around the park. I haven't decided which land to hit next, I'll be making many decisions on the fly, because I can! I will likely skip Toontown altogether, or else I'll just run in to do a strategic Roger Rabbit run. At around 1 or 1:15 I'll head to the Golden Horseshoe for lunch and Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, my favorite show in the Magic Kingdom. After that it's all about Jungle Cruise, Indy, BTMRR and Slash Mountain and whatever else I can manage before 7pm. That's when I have a reservation for the Blue Bayou for my birthday dinner. Oh yes, there will be gumbo. Gumbo!

I've usually been with people who get tired after a full day in the parks, so I've never stayed past dark aside from the night we saw WoC, and we left immediately after. I'm definitely staying until closing on Monday. I've heard that BTMRR is great after dark and I'm going to find out for myself. At midnight I'll wander slowly back to the motel and crash. Thank goodness Tuesday is for DCA and it doesn't open until 10.

 

[CamoMama]

Day 3

Oh California Adventure day. Since it's still under construction and I have no idea how difficult it's going to be to get around I'm just going to do the absolutely can't miss things and head back over to the Magic Kingdom to do some of my favorites a second time.

I really do not like Soarin'. Sorry, I know most people love it, and I really do like the smell of the orange groves and the beauty of the film reel, but I have a really weirdly defined fear of heights. Most rides are fine for me (I am soooooo looking forward to California Screamin') even if they're high up, as long as I am securely strapped in and have something under my feet. On Soarin' my feet are dangling and I swear that glider seat just doesn't feel broad enough for me. I always have a minor panic attack when I ride it, I only do it for my kids and parents who LOVE it. Since I'm not there for them this time, I'm not doing it. I am, however, doing ToT, California Screamin', the Grizzly River Run, Ariel and TSMM. And I'm definitely going to see Aladdin.

I haven't decided on lunch for Tuesday yet. I might just wait and eat wherever is close when I start to feel hungry.

Tuesday evening I'm going to head over to DTD and have dinner either at the Jazz Kitchen or the House of Blues. After that I may or may not go back to the park, depending on how I feel at the time.

 

[CamoMama]

The letdown:

Wednesday morning I'm going to head over to the park again for a short time, just on Main Street, then DTD for a little bit of shopping. I can't go to Disney without my kids and not at least bring them home a present. After that I'll pop in the car and begin the drive home. And the after Disney depression will set in until I fnd out for sure whether I can go in July, then I'll start planning for that trip and will feel all better!