jwhtewolfd
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2008
- Messages
- 891
Who: me
What: solo trip
Where: WDW, ASMusic
When: January 19 - 26, 2011
Why: I was single after 6 years of engagement (we broke up shortly after the 9/09 trip - you know it's bad when you can't get along at the happiest place on earth), and feeling lonely and wondering how I would ever get back to the World. This was 6 days tacked on to the end of a trip to Orlando for the North American Veterinary Conference - a great excuse to try a solo trip.
Deciding to do this trip was a big step for an introvert like me; I wasn't entirely sold on the solo idea. I had some time to warm up to the on-my-own-in-public thing while at the conference. Even still, going from a conference populated with solo travelers to a family theme park was a little jarring.
My goals in this TR are (a) to explore how I felt as a solo traveler, (b) to review a different time of travel and resort than I have previously experienced and (c) to document my day-to-day activities (for selfish reasons of coming back and reliving my trip from time to time). I tried to reign myself in and control my picture taking, but I still took far too many pictures. I'll try to refrain from posting all the obvious pictures that everyone has, but I'll admit up front that I won't be able to resist posting a few "standard" shots just because of the "pretty" factor.
So let's get started. It's been a long week. My grandma's funeral was Friday morning, which postponed my planned drive time from 3am to 3pm. Couple the stress and wear of the funeral with an all night drive, and I'm pretty much a zombie the first day of the conference. While sitting through lectures all day isn't exactly invigorating, the pace was right for my state of mind at the time. Each day was a little easier to wake up and focus, and by the last day I was anxious to exit work mode and get onto Disney property.
Wednesday afternoon I packed up the car and headed over to check in to Music. I reached the gate to the All Stars, but when the guard asked for my ID, I couldn't find it! He was trying to be nice and let me through anyway, but I had already gone into panic mode. The problem wasn't that it was "somewhere" and I just couldn't find it. The problem was that I knew EXACTLY where it was supposed to be, but it wasn't there. How will I check in? How will I get home? I pulled into the check-in parking lot and searched frantically, finally finding it well nestled between the passenger seat and the center console. I can only assume it somehow fell out of my wallet and out of my purse while I fumbled through my conference paperwork looking for my Disney paperwork.
Relieved, but still frazzled, I staggered into in the online check-in line. The lady behind the desk assigned me to a Country Fair building, but I didn't have my wits about me to request something else. She then proceeded to review the details of my reservation. All the standard stuff, yada yada yada, until she got to the dreaded Party Size. Verbatim:
CM: ...of...one?
Me: Yes.
CM: Just one?
Me: Yeah.
CM: Only one?
Me: You don't have to rub it in. :::weak, unconvincing smile:::
Now I had mused on this during the planning stages and realized that I'd be proclaiming my solo-ness throughout the trip, especially when dining alone and when asked for party size when being seated for rides. But I had assumed the CMs would just go about their business and that the awkwardness of being alone would be all in my head. I wasn't prepared for this level of un-professionalism. Combined with the loosing-the-license debacle, I was suddenly thinking this solo trip was the worst idea I've ever had.
The other CM behind the counter must have heard the exchange, b/c while my Ms. Clueless was printing up my stuff, she walked over, handed me a rose and told me to have nice trip. I have to admit that did help me feel a LITTLE bit better.
Downtown Disney is the arrival day tradition, and dinner at Earl of Sandwich was delicious. (Note that roast beef sandwiches do not photograph well.) I had a mission to find a new park bag, lest I be stuck with a difficult to access backpack. I achieved success in World of Disney, but suddenly realized I had forgotten my leopard print hat and matching headband ears! They were back home, prominently perched on my stuffed panther's head. A lot of good that will do me. I console myself with an amazing Ghirardelli chocolate shake, and wrap up the night shopping and strolling through DTD.
Thursday 1/20
I underestimated the time needed to walk from Country Fair waaaaaay in the back to the bus stop all the way in the front. Because Music is sandwiched between Movies and Sports, it's layout is more linear than the other two. Being in the back means you literally have to walk past every other building, and while the grounds are very nice, it can be a very long walk, especially when you are returning at night and shivering in the cold. I liked Music otherwise, but am seriously considering splurging on a preferred room for the next January trip, just to get out of the cold quicker.
I decided to start the trip at Animal Kingdom. I thought it would be fitting, coming from the vet conference. While I love AK, I now realize that I simply must start a WDW vacation at MK. I am psychologically not at Disney World until I see the MK rope drop show.
The rope drop ceremony at AK has changed since '09. We were held back in the Oasis, and Mickey was on the truck instead of off in the distance by the Tree of Life. That little distance sure felt like it made a difference on the way to the Safari. But it was worth the effort. Our truck got stuck behind two cattle in the road that decided to stop for a snack. We had to wait for a pickup truck to come and herd them off to the side. I walked the Pangani Trail quickly. I don't particularly care for gorillas, and I wanted to make the first showing of FotLK. All the shows I caught throughout the day were well attended, but the walkways and rides didn't seem crowded.
After FotLK, I "hopped" in line to meet Thumper and Ms. Bunny. This was the second time I would feel truly alone. I was in line behind a family and had a couple behind me. The family in front of me finished, and as I stepped up to hand my camera to the photopass photographer, the girl from the couple behind me ran to the rabbits and merrily started her meet and greet. Suddenly feeling terribly sorry for myself, all I could manage was a "I wasn't with those other people" under my breath. Ms. Oblivious (I hope - I decided it would be better for me to think she was plain dumb than to take it personally) finished her turn, and I finally got my picture. You can sort of see my new Mickey-head bag and the matching pin on the strap.
I somehow mustered up some self-respect and forced myself to get in Safari Mickey's line right away. Gotta get back on the horse, and all that. Being first in line at Flame Tree BBQ allowed me to venture off to one of the secluded seating areas and wallow in my self-pity. No. I did sit alone with my chicken, but I enjoyed the peacefulness, the beautiful surroundings and the company of the birds.
On my way to Expedition Everest, I had to stop at the character landing to meet Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. Eeyore gave me kisses.
I walked the stand-by line for Everest for the first time, and it is impressive. I spent a good bit of time on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. The bats and tigers were really on the move, but I lingered over this tiger:
His face is the EXACT same shape as Louie's (the orange cat in my sig). Everyone at home who knows Louie agrees. Louie is unimpressed.
The Louie-look-alike almost made me late for Finding Nemo, but I was able to find a single seat near the front. Score one for the solo traveler. Flights of Wonder had a few less-than-cooperative birds, but it's still a neat show that I like to fit in whenever I can. I wasn't quite hungry just yet, but I knew I had a long night planned, so I grabbed some Honey Chicken from Yak and Yeti CS and found a seat to watch my favorite daytime parade: Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. Bark and Growl and Screech and Roar! Stomp and Jump and Leap and Soar! Trying to eat and photograph the parade was an adventure in itself.
I did some light shopping on the way out. Had to get another AK shirt. Almost bought a hat, but passed on the giraffe print. They so would have had my money if the zebra print was on a hat instead of a visor.
Bused over to HS for Fantasmic! and got my first taste of Bra-zillion Tour Group hatred. They have no concept of personal space and can't be bothered by trivial things like realizing there are other people in the park. Waiting for F!, it felt like no one else in Disney World spoke English. I literally did not see or hear another American in my range of sight or hearing. Feeling awfully small and alone again.
It took forever to get out after F! For some reason the tour groups decide to stand in place instead of (a) remaining seated, (b) filing out of the theater or (c) allowing anyone to get by. Bus lines were a mess by the time I got out. I was the last one the driver let squeeze on. Another small victory for the solo traveler. Of course we were then gridlocked into the charter bus lot by all the tour group buses. We had to wait for someone to come direct traffic to let our Disney bus out. Finally we were on our way to Epcot.
I managed to secure a front and center view for Illuminations at the front of World Showcase. It's an excellent place to watch to get the effect of the countries lighting up, but the area right by the lagoon is off limits. And the crowd that ends up sitting behind you is daunting. You'd have to be early enough to be front and center; if not, I'd find somewhere less crowded, deeper in World Showcase to watch.
Recapping Day 1, we had a couple of lonely times, a couple of times where being solo allowed me to squeeze in somewhere, a good safari, an awesome parade, 2 nighttime spectaculars and a long, cold walk back to the room.
What: solo trip
Where: WDW, ASMusic
When: January 19 - 26, 2011
Why: I was single after 6 years of engagement (we broke up shortly after the 9/09 trip - you know it's bad when you can't get along at the happiest place on earth), and feeling lonely and wondering how I would ever get back to the World. This was 6 days tacked on to the end of a trip to Orlando for the North American Veterinary Conference - a great excuse to try a solo trip.
Deciding to do this trip was a big step for an introvert like me; I wasn't entirely sold on the solo idea. I had some time to warm up to the on-my-own-in-public thing while at the conference. Even still, going from a conference populated with solo travelers to a family theme park was a little jarring.
My goals in this TR are (a) to explore how I felt as a solo traveler, (b) to review a different time of travel and resort than I have previously experienced and (c) to document my day-to-day activities (for selfish reasons of coming back and reliving my trip from time to time). I tried to reign myself in and control my picture taking, but I still took far too many pictures. I'll try to refrain from posting all the obvious pictures that everyone has, but I'll admit up front that I won't be able to resist posting a few "standard" shots just because of the "pretty" factor.
So let's get started. It's been a long week. My grandma's funeral was Friday morning, which postponed my planned drive time from 3am to 3pm. Couple the stress and wear of the funeral with an all night drive, and I'm pretty much a zombie the first day of the conference. While sitting through lectures all day isn't exactly invigorating, the pace was right for my state of mind at the time. Each day was a little easier to wake up and focus, and by the last day I was anxious to exit work mode and get onto Disney property.
Wednesday afternoon I packed up the car and headed over to check in to Music. I reached the gate to the All Stars, but when the guard asked for my ID, I couldn't find it! He was trying to be nice and let me through anyway, but I had already gone into panic mode. The problem wasn't that it was "somewhere" and I just couldn't find it. The problem was that I knew EXACTLY where it was supposed to be, but it wasn't there. How will I check in? How will I get home? I pulled into the check-in parking lot and searched frantically, finally finding it well nestled between the passenger seat and the center console. I can only assume it somehow fell out of my wallet and out of my purse while I fumbled through my conference paperwork looking for my Disney paperwork.
Relieved, but still frazzled, I staggered into in the online check-in line. The lady behind the desk assigned me to a Country Fair building, but I didn't have my wits about me to request something else. She then proceeded to review the details of my reservation. All the standard stuff, yada yada yada, until she got to the dreaded Party Size. Verbatim:
CM: ...of...one?
Me: Yes.
CM: Just one?
Me: Yeah.
CM: Only one?
Me: You don't have to rub it in. :::weak, unconvincing smile:::
Now I had mused on this during the planning stages and realized that I'd be proclaiming my solo-ness throughout the trip, especially when dining alone and when asked for party size when being seated for rides. But I had assumed the CMs would just go about their business and that the awkwardness of being alone would be all in my head. I wasn't prepared for this level of un-professionalism. Combined with the loosing-the-license debacle, I was suddenly thinking this solo trip was the worst idea I've ever had.
The other CM behind the counter must have heard the exchange, b/c while my Ms. Clueless was printing up my stuff, she walked over, handed me a rose and told me to have nice trip. I have to admit that did help me feel a LITTLE bit better.
Downtown Disney is the arrival day tradition, and dinner at Earl of Sandwich was delicious. (Note that roast beef sandwiches do not photograph well.) I had a mission to find a new park bag, lest I be stuck with a difficult to access backpack. I achieved success in World of Disney, but suddenly realized I had forgotten my leopard print hat and matching headband ears! They were back home, prominently perched on my stuffed panther's head. A lot of good that will do me. I console myself with an amazing Ghirardelli chocolate shake, and wrap up the night shopping and strolling through DTD.
Thursday 1/20
I underestimated the time needed to walk from Country Fair waaaaaay in the back to the bus stop all the way in the front. Because Music is sandwiched between Movies and Sports, it's layout is more linear than the other two. Being in the back means you literally have to walk past every other building, and while the grounds are very nice, it can be a very long walk, especially when you are returning at night and shivering in the cold. I liked Music otherwise, but am seriously considering splurging on a preferred room for the next January trip, just to get out of the cold quicker.
I decided to start the trip at Animal Kingdom. I thought it would be fitting, coming from the vet conference. While I love AK, I now realize that I simply must start a WDW vacation at MK. I am psychologically not at Disney World until I see the MK rope drop show.
The rope drop ceremony at AK has changed since '09. We were held back in the Oasis, and Mickey was on the truck instead of off in the distance by the Tree of Life. That little distance sure felt like it made a difference on the way to the Safari. But it was worth the effort. Our truck got stuck behind two cattle in the road that decided to stop for a snack. We had to wait for a pickup truck to come and herd them off to the side. I walked the Pangani Trail quickly. I don't particularly care for gorillas, and I wanted to make the first showing of FotLK. All the shows I caught throughout the day were well attended, but the walkways and rides didn't seem crowded.
After FotLK, I "hopped" in line to meet Thumper and Ms. Bunny. This was the second time I would feel truly alone. I was in line behind a family and had a couple behind me. The family in front of me finished, and as I stepped up to hand my camera to the photopass photographer, the girl from the couple behind me ran to the rabbits and merrily started her meet and greet. Suddenly feeling terribly sorry for myself, all I could manage was a "I wasn't with those other people" under my breath. Ms. Oblivious (I hope - I decided it would be better for me to think she was plain dumb than to take it personally) finished her turn, and I finally got my picture. You can sort of see my new Mickey-head bag and the matching pin on the strap.
I somehow mustered up some self-respect and forced myself to get in Safari Mickey's line right away. Gotta get back on the horse, and all that. Being first in line at Flame Tree BBQ allowed me to venture off to one of the secluded seating areas and wallow in my self-pity. No. I did sit alone with my chicken, but I enjoyed the peacefulness, the beautiful surroundings and the company of the birds.
On my way to Expedition Everest, I had to stop at the character landing to meet Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. Eeyore gave me kisses.
I walked the stand-by line for Everest for the first time, and it is impressive. I spent a good bit of time on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. The bats and tigers were really on the move, but I lingered over this tiger:
His face is the EXACT same shape as Louie's (the orange cat in my sig). Everyone at home who knows Louie agrees. Louie is unimpressed.
The Louie-look-alike almost made me late for Finding Nemo, but I was able to find a single seat near the front. Score one for the solo traveler. Flights of Wonder had a few less-than-cooperative birds, but it's still a neat show that I like to fit in whenever I can. I wasn't quite hungry just yet, but I knew I had a long night planned, so I grabbed some Honey Chicken from Yak and Yeti CS and found a seat to watch my favorite daytime parade: Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. Bark and Growl and Screech and Roar! Stomp and Jump and Leap and Soar! Trying to eat and photograph the parade was an adventure in itself.
I did some light shopping on the way out. Had to get another AK shirt. Almost bought a hat, but passed on the giraffe print. They so would have had my money if the zebra print was on a hat instead of a visor.
Bused over to HS for Fantasmic! and got my first taste of Bra-zillion Tour Group hatred. They have no concept of personal space and can't be bothered by trivial things like realizing there are other people in the park. Waiting for F!, it felt like no one else in Disney World spoke English. I literally did not see or hear another American in my range of sight or hearing. Feeling awfully small and alone again.
It took forever to get out after F! For some reason the tour groups decide to stand in place instead of (a) remaining seated, (b) filing out of the theater or (c) allowing anyone to get by. Bus lines were a mess by the time I got out. I was the last one the driver let squeeze on. Another small victory for the solo traveler. Of course we were then gridlocked into the charter bus lot by all the tour group buses. We had to wait for someone to come direct traffic to let our Disney bus out. Finally we were on our way to Epcot.
I managed to secure a front and center view for Illuminations at the front of World Showcase. It's an excellent place to watch to get the effect of the countries lighting up, but the area right by the lagoon is off limits. And the crowd that ends up sitting behind you is daunting. You'd have to be early enough to be front and center; if not, I'd find somewhere less crowded, deeper in World Showcase to watch.
Recapping Day 1, we had a couple of lonely times, a couple of times where being solo allowed me to squeeze in somewhere, a good safari, an awesome parade, 2 nighttime spectaculars and a long, cold walk back to the room.
Can wait to read more from your trip. And thanks for the tip on the Wishes pictures...
