Solo in the World: This Chick's Adventure -- A Pre Trip

[lizardqueen]

A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFO

Michelle (Hey, that's me!) -- hopeless 30 year old Disney fanatic who is in SERIOUS need of a break from reality. I work for a temp agency, which really allows me the freedom of "vacation" time whenever I want and am also a foster mom. My loves include dole whips, pirates and wandering aimlessly through Adventureland!

A BRIEF BACKGROUND

DH detests WDW . He says he doesn't care if we EVER go back. Hold on a minute buddy -- if you don't ever want to go back to see Mickey again, that's cool, but don't expect that I am going to be trapped in a mouseless world for the rest of my life! So, after some love-filled arguements, I was going and he was staying home. 'Nuff said

DD and DS -- our foster children of 16 months. The absolute loves of my life. We were supposed to be able to adopt them and then POOF, all of a sudden DYFS has changed the plan and has thrown everybody's lives (most of all these poor babies) into a whirlwind of terror. DH and I are still working on getting them back. There's nothing we wouldn't do for our babies. So, I guess it should be noted here that even if it is the day before I leave and DYFS calls saying that the kids can come back, this trip will turn into a family trip early next year. We were fortunate enough to get to take them to WDW last year and we all had a blast. It will always be the best week of my life.

So, that boys and girls is how this solo trip came about. I did take a 1 night solo trip to WDW back in March and loved doing what I wanted to do, so I guess that's how the bug bit me and convinced me that taking a much longer trip by myself was needed!

THE TRUE PRE-TRIP REVEALS ITSELF

When to go? Where should I stay? I had visions of Christmas time at the Polynesian. But, hey, who was I kidding? If I booked the Poly, it would be for 3 nights tops and that just wouldn't cut it for me. I wanted a LONG vacation. In the midst of my planning woes, the announcement came about the and party making a return in August, followed by the announcement of Free Dining. C'mon now, pirates and free food? Who could pass that up? Certainly not me! So, on April 12th, I was up at the crack of dawn with the rest of the free world, who also decided that the allure of free dining was too good to pass up and after being on hold for a little over an hour, I had my reservations!!! At that time, Pop Century was all booked for my dates, so I went ahead and booked a room at All Star Sports. Now, no offense to All Star Sports (or those of you who love it), but I really wasn't thrilled about staying there. I was trying to get myself psyched for the stay, beings that I had never stayed there before and it is a goal of mine to stay at every Disney owned property. But the big draw back for me is the shared bus situation. Several weeks went by, and people started cancelling their reservations or changing them and I was able to secure a room at Pop! SCORE!! I was ecstatic to say the least.

Now that the rooming situation is all taken care of and my dates are all set, I started planning (oh, who am I kidding? I've been planning this trip for weeks now!). It was exciting thinking about all the new foods and restaurants that I could try. Knowing that I could spend an entire afternoon doing nothing but watching the Captain Jack tutorial, ride POTC and eat dole whips if that's what I was in the mood for. But, I would also be lying if I didn't mention that the thought of spending 10 days in the World without my kids was weighing heavy on my heart. Well, I still have several months to try and get everything worked out and then maybe DH and I will get the chance to take them back for another family trip.

SO -- what can you expect out of this trip report after all is said and done? Just me, being my crazy self. A nice dining review, hopefully a very nice list of characters that I meet and tons of pictures. Photography is another baby of mine. I would be lost if I couldn't take pictures. So, I promise you, by the time this report is all said and done, you will feel as if you had just traveled to the House of Mouse yourself. You will recognize me so well that you will begin to think that we are somehow related to one another. And hopefully, you will be entertained, I know I will be!

 

[oybolshoi]

I love reading solo TRs and this one sounds like it will be a good one.

Hope everything works out to your advantage with the foster kids - such a tough situation to be in.

By the way, I must ask... does your user name have anything to do with the Simpsons?

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[lizardqueen]

I love reading solo TRs and this one sounds like it will be a good one.

Hope everything works out to your advantage with the foster kids - such a tough situation to be in.

By the way, I must ask... does your user name have anything to do with the Simpsons?

Looking forward to reading more.

DING, DING, DING! You get a prize (well, OK, you get a conversation with me) for being the first one to reply to my TR!

The Simpsons -- everything I need to know in life, I learned from them! Can't really pinpoint it, but after seeing the rerun of that episode for the umpteenth time (probably) "I am the LizardQueen" just stuck in my head and I've been using it ever since!

Stay tuned for more updates and I promise to try and post some Disney pics from the past! Thanks for reading!

 

[oybolshoi]

DING, DING, DING! You get a prize (well, OK, you get a conversation with me) for being the first one to reply to my TR!

Well I should be working but until one of my lenders calls me back I'm stuck.

The Simpsons -- everything I need to know in life, I learned from them! Can't really pinpoint it, but after seeing the rerun of that episode for the umpteenth time (probably) "I am the LizardQueen" just stuck in my head and I've been using it ever since!

Stay tuned for more updates and I promise to try and post some Disney pics from the past! Thanks for reading!

My hubby and I are huge Simpsons fans and that episode is one of my all-time favs, which is why I had to ask you about it.

 

[lizardqueen]

Well, I've been working on my itinerary for quite some time now. I feel that in going solo, I HAVE to have everything planned -- you know, a time and a place for all. But I also know that being by myself means the freedom to change my plans on a whim. I plan on trying several new to me restaurants as well as some other activities. I've got a couple of ADR's that I want to change and still some that have to be made.

This is what the plan looks like so far (tell me what ya'll think).

Sun 8/26
Early flight from Philly to Orlando
DME from MCO to Pop Century
Check in at the Pop and just spend some time relaxing
Magic Kingdom is open for PM EMH tonight until midnight

ADR: Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian (2 pm)

Mon 8/27
MGM all day today (PM EMH) (9am - 1am)

ADR: 50's Prime Time (1 pm)

Tue 8/28
Epcot (AM EMH) (8am - 9pm)
MK for the Pirate & Princess Party (4pm - 12:30am)

ADR: Boma/AKL (10 am) I'm thinking about moving this to 9/3

Wed 8/29
Animal Kingdom (PM EMH) (9am - 8pm)
Possibly spend some time at the Boardwalk/JellyRolls this evening

NO ADR'S FOR TODAY

Thur 8/30
Magic Kingdom (AM EMH) (8am - 10pm)

ADR: Ohana (10 am)

Fri 8/31
Epcot (PM EMH) (9am - Mid)

ADR: Coral Reef (Noon)

Sat 9/1
Animal Kingdom (9am - 5pm)

ADR: Narcoossee's (9:30pm) I really want to change this to a different restaurant, but I don't know if I want to spend time at Downtown Disney or watch Wishes from the Poly. I'm so !

Sun 9/2
Magic Kingdom (PM EMH) (9am - 1am)

ADR: Liberty Tree Tavern (1 pm)

Mon 9/3
Free time in the a.m.
MK for Pirate & Princess Party (4pm - 12:30am)

No ADR'S for today, but may decide on Boma from earlier in the trip
ANY SUGGESTIONS???

Tue 9/4
Check out of Pop
Not sure what to do today -- will probably head over to the MK

Again, No ADR'S, but not sure that I want to take alot of time out of my last day for a sit down meal

So, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. I'm sure I'll make a few small changes here and there, but for the most part (with the exception of the ADR's), I think it's pretty set.

 

[hayanyujah847]

Well, I've been working on my itinerary for quite some time now.

Me, too! I have been obsessing over it lol

We are going to be at the Liberty Tree Tavern the same day as you...but not until dinnertime

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! As a solo traveler myself, I love reading other solo reports!

You're going to have so much fun! I'd love to do the P & P Party- the more pirates the better!

 

[lizardqueen]

Hey to all my rabid readers!!! Nothing much new to report, but since I started this so early, I feel that I need to do a little update every now and again.

I wanted to post some Disney pictures from our big trip last August, but I don't have any downloaded without the kiddos in them and I can't post them for privacy reasons. Wish I could show them to you though because they are the 2 cutest kids in the world & the expressions on their face when they were "living the magic", well -- you know, it's priceless. Hopefully one day I'll get to take them to WDW again. Well, enough with the sadness... One of these days I'll get my fat rump in gear and download the pics from my one nighter this past March for the & Party. Man, that was a blast!!!

I've been working on this trip planner/journal idea of mine. It's nothing fancy, just a little book that I put together with my itinerary and a zillion various planning spreadsheets (you know, attraction lists, characters and the best locations to find them, things I really want to buy, snacks that I have to have -- all the really important elements). I take great pride in the amount of anal-ness that I had to have in putting it together. DH just rolled his eyes when he asked what I was doing and I showed it to him. Then he wanted to know if I was going to show it to "all your little Disney friends on the internet". Honestly, I have to train him to call ya'll by your proper name.

ME: "Their the DISers, honey"
DH: "What are you talking about?"
ME: The people on my message board, we collectively refer to ourselves as DISers"
DH: "Yeah, why are we talking about this?"

Geez, I swear the man doesn't pay attention even when HE'S the one to start a conversation! But I digress. Anyway, I plan on carrying my little journal around the parks with me for note taking and the occasional autograph. What kind of Pirate lover would I be if I didn't get the fine Captain Jack to sign something for me to remember him by! . Yes, Yes, Yes -- I realize he's not really the "real" Captain Jack -- but a girl can fantasize, can't she?! When I get around to taking some pics of it, I will post them for you. You all know that you can't wait to see it and bask in the awsomeness of my planning and crafting abilities!

I decided that in order to enhance your viewing pleasure of my trip memories, I really need to buy a new digital camera and camcorder. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm looking for maybe an advanced point and shoot digital -- one that has a few cool features and a decent zoom lens. Camcorders, I really don't know, I want something small and maybe one that records to DVD's. Soon, I'll start searching the Best Buy and Circuit City websites.

In other news, I am really wanting to change my Narcoossee's dinner reservation that I have on 9/1. I want to watch Wishes from the Poly beach and then head over to Downtown Disney and the AC. With my dinner reservation at 9:30 -- that would just be too late for me to really do anything afterwards. Also, that would free up an extra TS dining credit and I am already having trouble deciding where to eat and when! I love the dining plan, I really do, but it seems to take the spontaneity out of your trip. Well, I have a little while to try and get things rearranged to my liking.

And, on a side note: Wow, a response from none other than Crystal/WDW Poly Princess on MY TR thread! It's an honor . No, really, I've enjoyed reading your TR's and honestly, long ago, reading them is what initially made me think about going solo. So thanks a bunch!

Well, it's about time for me to start getting ready for work -- so until next time...