Working remote during day, Disney parks at night worth it?

[disdani]

I just recently came back from a week long WDW trip with friends and now I'm ready to try my first solo trip. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take time off from my WFH job, but fortunately, I plan on going when the Christmas parties are in full swing. I'm curious if any part of my plan sounds like a bad idea to the WDW solo experts!

My plan is to stay 4 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, 4 nights at Pop Century. Doing Very Merry Christmas Party, one full day at Epcot, Animal Kingdom extended evening hours, and Jollywood Nights. I plan on working from my room during the day, going to different hotels for lunch/dinner when possible, and doing the 3 of the 4 parks after work hours.

So my main questions are:
1. Does this plan sound good? Should I modify it or wait for another time when I can take time off?
2. I am a petite woman traveling solo. Is it a dangerous/weird idea to do WDW solo during nights in December?

If anyone has experience with working remote at Disney, traveling solo at night or anything else related, please share your experiences! Thank you!

 

[BrianL]

I just recently came back from a week long WDW trip with friends and now I'm ready to try my first solo trip. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take time off from my WFH job, but fortunately, I plan on going when the Christmas parties are in full swing. I'm curious if any part of my plan sounds like a bad idea to the WDW solo experts!

My plan is to stay 4 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, 4 nights at Pop Century. Doing Very Merry Christmas Party, one full day at Epcot, Animal Kingdom extended evening hours, and Jollywood Nights. I plan on working from my room during the day, going to different hotels for lunch/dinner when possible, and doing the 3 of the 4 parks after work hours.

So my main questions are:
1. Does this plan sound good? Should I modify it or wait for another time when I can take time off?
2. I am a petite woman traveling solo. Is it a dangerous/weird idea to do WDW solo during nights in December?

If anyone has experience with working remote at Disney, traveling solo at night or anything else related, please share your experiences! Thank you!

If that is something that you want to do, then I don't see why not. The value proposition probably wouldn't be there for me as I like to maximize my park time as compared to ticket costs. That said, it is generally perfectly safe at WDW so I wouldn't worry about that.

Welocme to the DIS and have fun!

 

[Miffy]

1. The only difficulty I see with your plan is that you'll be changing resorts, so the day you change, you won't have a room for several hours. I'm not sure how you'd be able to work during those hours.

1a. If you are going to change resorts, I think you might be happier going from Pop to AKL, not the other way around. It's kind of a bummer to go from Deluxe to Value, although I understand you might be doing it this way to coincide with your evening plans.

2. Not dangerous or weird. I'd stick to Disney transport, however, not necessarily because rideshares can be dicey--I've never had a scary rideshare experience at WDW or anywhere--but because I have had a couple of rideshare experiences at Disney where there was a language barrier between me and the driver and that made me quite uncomfortable. Also, I once had an Uber driver take me to the parking lot at DAK instead of to AKL.

Also, just in general, you're a woman alone. Better to stick to official Disney transport. I think you'll be more comfortable. I know I would be. I've never felt anything but safe at the parks and resorts, though, and I'm sometimes alone in the evening.

 

[disdani]

If that is something that you want to do, then I don't see why not. The value proposition probably wouldn't be there for me as I like to maximize my park time as compared to ticket costs. That said, it is generally perfectly safe at WDW so I wouldn't worry about that.

Welocme to the DIS and have fun!

Thank you! I definitely understand wanting to maximize the park time for ticket costs! There's a part of me that is being uncharacteristically financially reckless with this trip, even with saving money at Pop. I don't know why! But I'm glad to hear that safety is much less of a concern.

1. The only difficulty I see with your plan is that you'll be changing resorts, so the day you change, you won't have a room for several hours. I'm not sure how you'd be able to work during those hours.

1a. If you are going to change resorts, I think you might be happier going from Pop to AKL, not the other way around. It's kind of a bummer to go from Deluxe to Value, although I understand you might be doing it this way to coincide with your evening plans.

2. Not dangerous or weird. I'd stick to Disney transport, however, not necessarily because rideshares can be dicey--I've never had a scary rideshare experience at WDW or anywhere--but because I have had a couple of rideshare experiences at Disney where there was a language barrier between me and the driver and that made me quite uncomfortable. Also, I once had an Uber driver take me to the parking lot at DAK instead of to AKL.

Also, just in general, you're a woman alone. Better to stick to official Disney transport. I think you'll be more comfortable. I know I would be. I've never felt anything but safe at the parks and resorts, though, and I'm sometimes alone in the evening.

Good point. I was thinking it's pretty quiet in AKL lobby, so I could work from there and move over to Pop after my workday is over and my room is ready for check-in. But if it gets loud or the lobby's wi-fi isn't good, this plan may not work out.

You're absolutely right - the change is in that order to accommodate evening plans. Otherwise, I'd I would love to do the opposite order or even stay at AKL the whole time.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with rideshare and about feeling safe alone in the evening! I will stick to Disney transport during my trip, probably will even try out Mears Connect just to be safe to/from airport.

 

[Scootin'By]

Your trip sounds amazing! I would totally do it if I could. I vote, go for it!

I'm sure on the day you transfer between AKL and Pop, then you can find WiFi somewhere (even if it's just a random Starbucks offsite).

Let us know if you decide to go. I want to hear all about it!

 

[Chili327]

Sounds amazing!!
Definitely report back.

 

[disdani]

I will update this thread and also post a trip report if I go through with this plan! Thank you, I'm feeling better about it already

 

[georgina]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with rideshare and about feeling safe alone in the evening! I will stick to Disney transport during my trip, probably will even try out Mears Connect just to be safe to/from airport.

Uber and Lyft around WDW are fine. I have a lot of experience with them as a single female traveler.

 

[ak517]

I have done this as a solo adult woman, though only for a few days. Totally worth it to work from resort and head to the parks later on! I also recommend working at different resorts if you don’t need silence etc.

 

[nw6675]

The wifi can sometimes iffy and check park hours ahead of time to make sure you have enough time. It sounds fun! Enjoy your trip!

 

[jo-jo]

I would say, finding a place to work on moving day probably would be easier at AKL. I would check out and park myself somewhere near the lobby. Quieter corner. Wait until you have a room at pop before moving.

note, i have no experience with this, I’m lucky I can find an old message on my phone. Never mind doing real work with a computer.

 

[disdani]

I have done this as a solo adult woman, though only for a few days. Totally worth it to work from resort and head to the parks later on! I also recommend working at different resorts if you don’t need silence etc.

Fantastic! I might try working at different resorts I don't need complete silence so I might bounce around the skyliner and monorail resorts to work in some of the other lobbies.

The wifi can sometimes iffy and check park hours ahead of time to make sure you have enough time. It sounds fun! Enjoy your trip!

Thank you! May end up using my mobile hotspot for this trip

I would say, finding a place to work on moving day probably would be easier at AKL. I would check out and park myself somewhere near the lobby. Quieter corner. Wait until you have a room at pop before moving.

note, i have no experience with this, I’m lucky I can find an old message on my phone. Never mind doing real work with a computer.

Hahaha! Thank you, jo-jo, your advice sounds solid to me.

 

[ParrotBill]

I am also going solo in December. Map out all the park hours for each day. Studios and Mk close early many nights for holiday parties. AK always closes early. Extended hours is very limited that month - I see one late EPCOT night only in my week.

 

[zackiedawg]

The past few years, Disney seems to have done pretty good at updating wifi in most of the resorts - I've done some work from Disney for at least 10 years now - usually just 2-3 hours on weekday mornings by remoting into my office computer. Early on, it was painful as the wifi was too slow for remote desktop connections or cloud streaming - I could do it, but there was a lot of clicking then waiting for something to respond. Typing notes or e-mails often meant typing an entire sentence, then watching my words slowly type in from about 15 words back. But the last few years, delays have been minimal, and even controlling a computer remotely has been pretty pain-free at least from my room (have never tried working in lobbies though).

 

[Skippyboo]

AKL has lots of nooks area to hang on your transfer day. There’s that circular room by the DVC stand, the two outdoor lobby overlooks, the wings have overlooks, you could probably use the bar that overlooks Boma which doesn’t open until dinner time, plus pool loungers.

 

[footballmouse]

All I can say is that I wish I had a job that would allow this!!!

I would definitely do it if I could and since you're going to the parties that works out perfectly. Have fun and can't wait to hear how it went.

 

[rdevans_2000]

I just recently came back from a week long WDW trip with friends and now I'm ready to try my first solo trip. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take time off from my WFH job, but fortunately, I plan on going when the Christmas parties are in full swing. I'm curious if any part of my plan sounds like a bad idea to the WDW solo experts!

My plan is to stay 4 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, 4 nights at Pop Century. Doing Very Merry Christmas Party, one full day at Epcot, Animal Kingdom extended evening hours, and Jollywood Nights. I plan on working from my room during the day, going to different hotels for lunch/dinner when possible, and doing the 3 of the 4 parks after work hours.

So my main questions are:
1. Does this plan sound good? Should I modify it or wait for another time when I can take time off?
2. I am a petite woman traveling solo. Is it a dangerous/weird idea to do WDW solo during nights in December?

If anyone has experience with working remote at Disney, traveling solo at night or anything else related, please share your experiences! Thank you!

In reverse order:

- Not dangerous, IMO. I think it's actually one of the safest trips you can take
- Definitely a great plan, if "value for the money" isn't your primary concern. Late afternoon and nights are fantastic in the parks. Your trip is long enough that you can still get so much done. And since you are solo, you can take advantage of lots of single rider lines.

Hope it works out.

 

[jimmymc]

I tried this last year and really enjoyed it. I worked three days, during the week, took two off for full park days, and did the Christmas party after my last work day, and it was a lot of fun.

I'm doing something similar again in about 6 weeks. My schedule is flying in Tuesday night, Jollywood party on Wednesday, Jiko dinner Thursday, MVMCP Friday, and Epcot all day Saturday. Flying home Sunday morning, which gives me three parks with zero PTO used.

If I had an annual pass, I would definitely spend additional nights in the parks during the week, but I can't justify buying tickets just for around 5 hours after work. I think your plan sounds pretty good, giving you enough time to do the best of each park.

 

[Mike Marzano]

You mentioned going to different hotels for lunch/dinner. Just make sure you account for enough time.

You're going to need to do Uber/Lyft/Minnie Van between resorts when staying at AKL.

When staying at Pop, you can walk to Art of Animation, or take the Skyliner but you'll still have to account for the travel time.

 

[jtopp]

Last year, I spent the week working remotely from OKW, and joined the family for dinner and evening plans. Having a change of scenery while working was a blast, and I was able to enjoy early morning coffee with the family. Lunch was a short walk away, and working on the balcony was a fabulous way to pass the work day. Having evenings free was just enough to enjoy the parks and lounges, and a good time was had by all. As for your safety concerns, I'm sure you could access security if you were uncomfortable in your surroundings, but I don't personally see that as an issue. Enjoy!