Sunday, November 23, 2003 - Day 10 Final thoughts
I woke up at the Hilton and got dressed immediately. I walked around the hotel a bit just taking everything in then went for breakfast, krispy kreme donuts and milk. I checked out of my room at 10:40 and waited out in front of the Hilton for 10 minutes for my Mears Shuttle to show up. Mears came right on time and picked up 6 people. We left made one additional stop and I was at the airport at 11:40. My flight wasn't scheduled to take off until 2:00 and I would be back in New Orleans for 2:20. I wondered around the airport in and out of the various shops, got a happy meal at McDonalds with a Dr. Pepper (let me tell you it was so good to have that Dr. Pepper), got on the plane and arrived at home at 2:20, uneventful flight. My mom was so happy to see me and the entire way home we discussed the trip. Got home and she wanted to see some of the film (watched about 4 of the 11/12 hours took) so we had a disney film festival. Mom's review was magnificent, she almost felt as though she was transported there. You know having that much film is like the best of two worlds, I can sit in my own home and be transported to Disney.
Final Thoughts and lessons learned:
I have been very fortunate that I have been able to go to Disney about every 3 to 4 years and would call myself a veteran of the parks as I certainly know my way around without needing a map. My dream is to be able to go to Disney at least once yearly if only for a brief 3 or 4 day solo trip and eventually stay at every resort on Disney property.
I didn't realize that I was so stressed out about my life until I was suddenly on this trip alone then some of those thoughts invaded. I have made decisions so that I will not be in this position again which is why I do not know if I will be able to return to Disney in 2004. However, if I am lucky, I certainly will be there in 2005.
PORS - Despite the little problem with Mousekeeping, I love this resort and will return in the future. The resort is quite beautiful and very peaceful and I will have future stays here as well.
Mears Transportation - never had one problem with them. I was in vans and leaving to and from before I knew it and received good and timely service.
Lessons Learned:
10 day solo trip - People couldn't believe that I was going to Disney solo and certainly they couldn't believe that I was going for 10 days. Well, I showed them, ha ha. It allowed me to destress and I had plenty of time to enjoy life. I had completed everything I wanted to do by Day 6 so the rest of the time was just to repeat those things that I love to do. I certainly will be going solo again and I encourage anyone thinking about going solo to at least try it once if only for a short 3 or 4 day trip. This is certainly a different way to see Disney. Yes there were a few times that I did feel lonely but they were very short lived and then I would have an extremely nice and pleasant conversation with someone out of the blue and would forget that lonely thought a few minutes earlier. It is also extremely nice to do what you want when you want and ride as many times as you want. It was great being a solo in the parks.
Next trip will be a shorter trip - if for some great reason I would get to go next year, I would probably only have a 4 or 5 day park hopper. I have done everything that I truly wanted to do this past trip and certainly don't need to repeat some things for awhile.
Car Rental - I usually drive to the World (about 10 to 12 hours) from my house. Having my own vehicle was something I missed. This trip was purely a Disney trip. NO personal vehicle, only used their transportation and never really went off property. I now know that if I fly again, I will rent a vehicle at some point. I do like getting off property which I did often on other trips even if was just to do a bit of shopping off property or site see. We also used to eat off property a bit more when I had my vehicle. I also missed not having my own snacks. As we usually drive, we bring up plenty of snacks and NON-COKE products (Dr. Pepper). I really needed Dr. Pepper, I was truly sick of Coke by day 4.
Waterpark - next trip I am leaving a full day at a waterpark. I intend to put in a full day at either TL or BB right in the middle of my vacation to break up the theme parks. I thought that I would only need 3 or 4 hours at TL but really would've enjoyed the entire day there - it certainly flew by.
Truly, I did enjoy my solo vacation and would do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks for reading my reports and I certainly hope that each of you get to enjoy your own Disney vacation soon.
I woke up at the Hilton and got dressed immediately. I walked around the hotel a bit just taking everything in then went for breakfast, krispy kreme donuts and milk. I checked out of my room at 10:40 and waited out in front of the Hilton for 10 minutes for my Mears Shuttle to show up. Mears came right on time and picked up 6 people. We left made one additional stop and I was at the airport at 11:40. My flight wasn't scheduled to take off until 2:00 and I would be back in New Orleans for 2:20. I wondered around the airport in and out of the various shops, got a happy meal at McDonalds with a Dr. Pepper (let me tell you it was so good to have that Dr. Pepper), got on the plane and arrived at home at 2:20, uneventful flight. My mom was so happy to see me and the entire way home we discussed the trip. Got home and she wanted to see some of the film (watched about 4 of the 11/12 hours took) so we had a disney film festival. Mom's review was magnificent, she almost felt as though she was transported there. You know having that much film is like the best of two worlds, I can sit in my own home and be transported to Disney.
Final Thoughts and lessons learned:
I have been very fortunate that I have been able to go to Disney about every 3 to 4 years and would call myself a veteran of the parks as I certainly know my way around without needing a map. My dream is to be able to go to Disney at least once yearly if only for a brief 3 or 4 day solo trip and eventually stay at every resort on Disney property.
I didn't realize that I was so stressed out about my life until I was suddenly on this trip alone then some of those thoughts invaded. I have made decisions so that I will not be in this position again which is why I do not know if I will be able to return to Disney in 2004. However, if I am lucky, I certainly will be there in 2005.
PORS - Despite the little problem with Mousekeeping, I love this resort and will return in the future. The resort is quite beautiful and very peaceful and I will have future stays here as well.
Mears Transportation - never had one problem with them. I was in vans and leaving to and from before I knew it and received good and timely service.
Lessons Learned:
10 day solo trip - People couldn't believe that I was going to Disney solo and certainly they couldn't believe that I was going for 10 days. Well, I showed them, ha ha. It allowed me to destress and I had plenty of time to enjoy life. I had completed everything I wanted to do by Day 6 so the rest of the time was just to repeat those things that I love to do. I certainly will be going solo again and I encourage anyone thinking about going solo to at least try it once if only for a short 3 or 4 day trip. This is certainly a different way to see Disney. Yes there were a few times that I did feel lonely but they were very short lived and then I would have an extremely nice and pleasant conversation with someone out of the blue and would forget that lonely thought a few minutes earlier. It is also extremely nice to do what you want when you want and ride as many times as you want. It was great being a solo in the parks.
Next trip will be a shorter trip - if for some great reason I would get to go next year, I would probably only have a 4 or 5 day park hopper. I have done everything that I truly wanted to do this past trip and certainly don't need to repeat some things for awhile.
Car Rental - I usually drive to the World (about 10 to 12 hours) from my house. Having my own vehicle was something I missed. This trip was purely a Disney trip. NO personal vehicle, only used their transportation and never really went off property. I now know that if I fly again, I will rent a vehicle at some point. I do like getting off property which I did often on other trips even if was just to do a bit of shopping off property or site see. We also used to eat off property a bit more when I had my vehicle. I also missed not having my own snacks. As we usually drive, we bring up plenty of snacks and NON-COKE products (Dr. Pepper). I really needed Dr. Pepper, I was truly sick of Coke by day 4.
Waterpark - next trip I am leaving a full day at a waterpark. I intend to put in a full day at either TL or BB right in the middle of my vacation to break up the theme parks. I thought that I would only need 3 or 4 hours at TL but really would've enjoyed the entire day there - it certainly flew by.
Truly, I did enjoy my solo vacation and would do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks for reading my reports and I certainly hope that each of you get to enjoy your own Disney vacation soon.
