The "Make It Up As I Go Along" PTR - Cast of One - Solo trip has started!

[wakica]

rofl!!! That schedule makes me dizzy just reading it!!! So i'm not sure if the walking or driving is best b/c i'm always a one park a day gal.

Im glad your feeling so good today. Must have been all that pixie dust

Have you started packing????

 

[Corrine 1973]

I am so jealous that in 3 days time you are going to be warm in the Florida sun while I am here freezing my butt off in this Chicago Winter.

Hope you have fun and see lots of animals while at AKL.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I am so jealous that in 3 days time you are going to be warm in the Florida sun while I am here freezing my butt off in this Chicago Winter.

Hope you have fun and see lots of animals while at AKL.

Thank you for the good thoughts! I'm very excited to get outta here for a few and hopefully get some decent weather. What area of Chicago are you in? I'm in the northwest suburbs and we definitely got a fair shake of snow the other night- we had a ton of people working from home on Friday!

To be honest, I am looking forward to setting the animals too, it's novel. I am going to try something on Tuesday night that probably won't work, but if my flight gets in on time and I can make it to the contemporary before 8, I'm going to go ask the guard there if I can park in the lot until MK closes. I'll tell them that I just got in on the plane and was really hoping to get one or two rides in that night, and offer my reservation number at AKL, and just beg. Maybe it'll work, but there's no harm in trying, right? If there aren't a lot of people staying at the contemporary it might work out.

 

[Merida]

Hey there! I'm glad you saw this, because I didn't even know you started your trip report and now I can go check it out! Hope you had a great trip! Can't believe i'm alreadyheading back after such a short time. I'm definitely ready to go.

Haha, I've been kind of stuck on our Islands of Adventure day. It was fun, but not a super awesome experience and going through photos/writing it up just sometimes seems sooooo boring. I could go for a quick solo trip right about now; I've priced out so many different trips Disney's been sending me non-stop emails about the reservations!

Your schedule looks awesome! For that short of a trip, having a really intense schedule should only affect you until coming back home. I would probably drive from MGM to Epcot; I wouldn't want to walk back to MGM then to pick up the car. Also I really like the parking lot names in Epcot.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Haha, I've been kind of stuck on our Islands of Adventure day. It was fun, but not a super awesome experience and going through photos/writing it up just sometimes seems sooooo boring. I could go for a quick solo trip right about now; I've priced out so many different trips Disney's been sending me non-stop emails about the reservations!

Your schedule looks awesome! For that short of a trip, having a really intense schedule should only affect you until coming back home. I would probably drive from MGM to Epcot; I wouldn't want to walk back to MGM then to pick up the car. Also I really like the parking lot names in Epcot.

I was trying to decide exactly where to park; it's interesting because your suggestion is the first thing I thought too but then decided against it and I can't remember why. It is pretty intense but I also thought that I'll be alone so I can just set what I want to see at a leisurely pace and then move on, so hopefully it's more relaxing than anything. But I always have these grand plans and end up doing so much less; once I get there I'll really figure it out.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Well, unfortunately, it is NOT looking good weather-wise for my trip tomorrow. We're supposed to get about two more inches of snow, and it's supposed to snow ALL DAY TOMORROW until nightfall - my plane leaves in the afternoon. Looked up the stats on the flight, and it appears the flight I'm taking is commonly 45 minutes delayed! Add a common delay to snow and below-freezing temperatures, and I'm starting to get worried.

Supposed to be snowy and icy on the way home, too. I'm going to be lucky to get out of O'Hare, and lucky to get back in. Wish me lots of luck.

 

[wakica]

ok, you need another dose of pixie dust!! A MEGA dose this time!!!

Here you go....

AND... I even remembered Tink this time

 

[ZehnJahren]

Thanks for the pixie dust!! While I think I'll be ok getting out tomorrow, I do think I'll be delayed. That's ok, though, I have a very nice phone that allows me to watch movies, surf the Web, play games, listen to music... I'll have plenty to do at the airport. I hope. And if God is willing, I'll be at AKL tomorrow night! They actually offered me a "cheap" upgrade to first class on the way down but I turned it down. Maybe I'll ask tomorrow and get a fee upgrade out of it. Not crossing my fingers on it though.

I'm all packed up, just waiting on last minute stuff. I have a very full day of work tomorrow, so I will be starting work around 7 am and not taking a lunch to try to get these reports out to a customer. The reports HAVE to go out by the time I leave town - I probably need more luck to get these done than to make it to Orlando!!

Regardless I'll try to update when I'm on the trip, just because I can. I love my new phone!

 

[wakica]

Have FUN!!! and DEFINITELY do check in when you can so I can live vicariously through you!!

 

[Corrine 1973]

You might not get this until you come back, so hopefully your trip was magical.

I am looing our the window now and getting a little worried about all the snow that is falling outside. Hope it doesn't interfere with your flight to much.

I live in Northern Illinois about 20 min west of Gurnee Mill Mall.

Have a safe and fun trip.

 

[ZehnJahren]

You might not get this until you come back, so hopefully your trip was magical.

I am looing our the window now and getting a little worried about all the snow that is falling outside. Hope it doesn't interfere with your flight to much.

I live in Northern Illinois about 20 min west of Gurnee Mill Mall.

Have a safe and fun trip.

Oh, in anticipation of my trip I'll be on and off these boards every time I need a break from these reports.

I see the snow here too - it's very light, and the "sun is already up" (if that's what you'd call it), so I'm just holding on to hope that the big melt we had with the higher temps yesterday will keep O'Hare clean. You couldn't even see the ground outside our condo yesterday, and today I see a ton of brown and green everywhere (we live about 10 miles west of O'Hare). I think as long as it continues to fall this way, I'm 100% good!

And super excited!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Have FUN!!! and DEFINITELY do check in when you can so I can live vicariously through you!!

Well then you'll have to do the same when you go in May! By then, this trip will be far behind me and I won't have another one coming for several months, so I'll need to live vicariously through someone else as well.

 

[Corrine 1973]

Well then you'll have to do the same when you go in May! By then, this trip will be far behind me and I won't have another one coming for several months, so I'll need to live vicariously through someone else as well.

Looks like it is a little worse up here to the North. It's falling pretty steady out here, but the roads were fine when I took my son to school. Hopefully everything is great for your flight. I remember when I went last may I was so worried about our flight because there was a fog around Lake County that only got a little better near Midway. There was also a thunderstorm on the way. Luckily everything was fine and we left on time.

I should find out in a couple days if I am able to make a trip in early March, so feel free to live vicariously through me at that time. I know I am living vicariously through you at this moment.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Looks like it is a little worse up here to the North. It's falling pretty steady out here, but the roads were fine when I took my son to school. Hopefully everything is great for your flight. I remember when I went last may I was so worried about our flight because there was a fog around Lake County that only got a little better near Midway. There was also a thunderstorm on the way. Luckily everything was fine and we left on time.

I should find out in a couple days if I am able to make a trip in early March, so feel free to live vicariously through me at that time. I know I am living vicariously through you at this moment.

Good luck with your possible trip!!! It is really just lightly snowing down here - I think it's supposed to be 1 1/2 inches, but over a period of about 5 hours. just kind of looks like it's raining as I look out the window. Little windy though. Oh well, whatever, I'm going.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Well there goes my "touring plan". The President will be giving some sort of speech on Thursday, somewhere in WDW, and most think it's going to be from the Contemporary. It will be impossible to get anywhere NEAR the place, and I was doing MK for EMH on Thursday and then the parade that night. Now I'm not so sure; they've extended hours for Epcot to midnight and HS to 10 p.m. that night, so I'll have to make some last-minute changes!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Well I made it! So far everything is going according to plan. Here are some pics for you to live vicariously through.

And...

And...

Sorry these aren't in any good order but I'm doing this on my phone and with photobucket!!!

Hope you all have a great week!

 

[wakica]

Oooooohhh! Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!
Sorry, I couldn't resist ooohing and aaahhhing over your pics b/c that's what I would have said when I walked in a saw the room and like I said - I'm living vicariously through you!!
So THANKS for sharing them Is it warm?? Is it muggy?? b/c it's BLOODY COLD here now!!! We have finally gotten our rightful winter weather which was over a month overdue. We were so spoiled to be around 32 which is 0 for us but now it's back to normal and we are at -40!!! THat's -40 in C and in F - they meet up at that point. LOL.

Anyway, enough about me and more about you!!! lol. If you think of me at a time when you see something that you could take a picture of that could help me to feel the warmth it would be greatly appreciated!! lol. I need to FEEL the heat!!!

Oh and as for the president thing I am hearing they are closing down Main Street on the 19th but also getting HS ready somehow - I can't remember right now what I read but it almost sounds to me like he's going to be making his rounds through the park so hopefully that's some consolation that he won't be in any one park all day and the people there to see him will follow him and leave the park for later in the day too???
I think you need a little more of this
to help you over this little bump!!!

HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Merida]

Animal Kingdom Lodge looks lovely! Where were you in the building (savannah view is my ultimate dream view because, hello, animals. Halfway to being a Disney princess who entices woodland creatures into doing chores!!) I'm glad the weather turned out to be okay, nothing more nervewracking than flying in winter weather.

I would totally go and try and hear Obama speak - I like listening to speeches and watched too much West Wing growing up so it's the best of both worlds! Also presidential history is really fascinating (fun fact: William Howard Taft is the only person to have been both president and on the Supreme Court. At different times, obvs).

 

[ZehnJahren]

Checking in briefly from my walk-in lunch at Sci fi! Parks are nice and quiet today, toy story mania was a 20 minute ride. Yes, 20 minutes. They were trying to convince everyone to come in and save their fastpasses for later. Never seen anything like it!

Weather is nice and everyone seems to be in a great mood.

 

[wakica]

wow! Walk in at Sci Fi?? Did you have a shake??? They are to die for

and 20 min wait for TSM??? What time of day was that??? wow

Sounds like some WONDERFULLY low crowds for you!!! Hope it's sunny and hot too!

By the way - you must be back now hey?? Better start reporting soon so I can get my disney fix. LOL