Trip Report One Girl, Three Nights, Four Parks November 2014

The Who: Just me for my first ever solo trip
The When: November 7th-10th
The Where: Walt Disney World of course!!
The Why: To get a much needed escape to the World, enjoy the Food and Wine Festival and finally get to experience Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party!

Day One- Friday November 7th:

I went to bed super early so I would be well rested, but I was just too excited to sleep and I ended up falling asleep at 1 am and woke up before my alarm at 3 am. After getting ready and getting the last of my things together, my husband and I drove to Philadelphia International. After a short but sweet goodbye, it was off to airport security since I only had a carry-on and I did online check in the day before my flight. It was still really early so getting through security took all of 5 minutes and I was sitting at my gate a few minutes after 5 am. Thankfully one of my friends works at the airport and she came up to chat until it was time to board, which made the time fly by! My flight departed on time and the captain said we would arrive in Orlando early, woo hoo when does that ever happen?!? We ended up arriving in Orlando a half hour early at 9:22 am, I made a quick pit stop at the restroom on the way to Disney's Magical Express to take some of my layers off as it was already getting hot. After a quick check in I hopped right onto a waiting bus and we were off at 9:35 am. Our first stop was Art of Animation, followed by Pop (my home for the next 3 nights) and then the bus was going to Animal Kingdom Lodge. I arrived at Pop at 10:11 am and got in line for the online check in where I was helped right away. The wonderful cast member told me my room was ready so I was off to the 70's section, building 6 third floor. Not only was I surprised that my room was ready so early, but they also were able to accommodate my two requests, a water view room on the 70's section! I quickly dropped off my bags and headed to grab a bus to Magic Kingdom, where wouldn't you know one was just boarding!

I arrived at Magic Kingdom at 10:50 am, I couldn't believe that it only took an hour and a half to get from the airport to my hotel to the park!!!

I took some pictures of the beautiful Christmas decorations and headed to Adventureland. It's a tradition to start the trip riding Pirates of the Caribbean, and thankfully there was only about a 15 minute wait. As much as I love POTC, I was a little disappointed, the mist and projection were not working and the mermaid effect was down as well. Also, during the scene with the fighting pirate ship and cannons I got completely drenched! The rest of the ride was great as usual. After Pirates I headed to Frontierland where Splash only had a 10 minute wait so of course I jumped in line! Most of the effects seemed to be working, the bee's nest, the jumping water and the final riverboat scene. I managed to stay dry, which was nice since my pants were still soaked from Pirates. After Splash I decided to make my way towards Fantasyland since I had a FastPass for Be Our Guest. I made a quick detour at Haunted Mansion since there was only a 15 minute wait, my doombuggie stopped for a few minutes in the party scene, which I didn't mind because it gave me some extra time to watch the ghosts and see some details I've missed before. I checked out the haunted mansion store where I could have spent some serious $$, there were a ton of people in the store and it was a little claustrophobic for me so I made a quick pass and left. I walked through Fantasyland and arrived at Be Our Guest at 12:41, I had made my meal selections beforehand so I was able to bypass the ordering screens and went right in to find a table. I really wanted to eat in the West Wing but there were no tables available so instead I picked a seat in the music box room. When I was in Disney in 2012 I was able to get a sneak peek at BOG during one of the MNSSHP nights but this was my first time eating here. I had the roast beef sandwich with fries and the masters cupcake and it took 23 minutes from the time I check in until I got my food, I really think they need to get a better system going as the food took forever!

My sandwich was delicious, but I would have liked the sauce to have a little more of a kick to it, and I thought the cupcake was very light and delicious. I liked the little carts that the servers use to bring out the food, I thought they were cute and fit well with the theme, and I'm sure its easier than carrying a tray since the crowds in there were massive and kids were running around. After I was finished eating I took a look around the ballroom and the west wing, I loved that the ballroom was decorated for Christmas with a tree and garland hanging from the balconies around the room. I plan on eating here on my future trips for lunch and I really want to try their dinner. When I left BOG I headed over to Under The Sea to use my first fastpass, my clam shell stopped twice during the ride, the first time was during the backwards going under the sea part, and the second time was in the Ursula room. I wish the ride went a little slower, especially during the "Under The Sea" section, there is a lot going on in there and I would like a little more time to look around. After leaving Ariel, it was time to see another princess, Snow White! I had my second fastpass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train so I was able to bypass the 100 minute stand by line. Since I was a single rider I was seated next to another adult, and I must say, it was a very tight squeeze, our knees and elbows were touching the whole time. Overall I really enjoyed the ride, the swinging cars were pretty cool and I think there was just enough of a thrill factor for a kids coaster. I also really enjoyed the mine section and I was happy that the carts slowed down to give you a little more time to look around. The only downfall to the ride was that it was very short, almost too short. After 7DMT, I headed over to Storybook Circus where I met Donald and Goofy since the wait was less than 5 minutes, then I explored some of the details that I often run right past, like the elephant footprints and peanuts in the cement by Dumbo and the animal markings near Casey's splash area. I love all the little touches that Disney does even tho most guests will never notice them.

Then I made my way over to Tomorrowland and rode one of my favorites, the People Mover! There was, as usual, no wait so I hopped right on and gave my back and legs a much needed rest. Right after the Space Mountain section our car stopped for a good 5 minutes, they turned the lights on and I was stopped right next to a Space Mountain employee access door, thankfully our car started moving again and there were no more stops. It was about a half hour before the Festival of Fantasy parade so I decided to head over to the hub to find a spot. I was able to grab a seat right next to two young girls from Brazil, who were super nice! They had been in Florida for 2 weeks and it was their last day in the Magic Kingdom, they were surprised to find out I was there alone and even more surprised to hear it was my 15th trip to Disney! They said they can't wait until the next time they can come back because they fell in love with Disney World. Soon I heard the music for the parade, and I must say I was in awe at the beautiful floats and dancers, it was so amazing that I actually started to cry a little

After the parade it was time for my Anna and Elsa fastpass!!! I figured the meet and greet would be quick since the wait was over 80 minutes and I was a solo adult, but Anna and Elsa spent a ton of time with me, which was awesome! Anna was very funny, when I first got into the room she was hiding behind the piano and jumping around just being goofy and playful. I brought 2 photo mats with me for the characters to sign for my 2 nephews and Anna was joking saying that its perfectly normal to talk to pictures on the wall as long as they don't talk back, we took some fun pictures with the frames around our faces and she sent warm hugs to my nephews. Both of them were very sweet and interactive.

I decided to stay in Fantasyland and I ran into Mickeys Philharmagic since the next showing was about to start. When I came out they were beginning to hand out the MVMCP wrist bands so I jumped in line and grabbed mine, I'm glad I did because as the day went on the lines got HUGE! I then went over to Small World, which was pretty uneventful, and the song got stuck in my head as usual for the rest of the day. Then I went back through Liberty Square and headed to Country Bear Jamboree since the next show was starting in 2 minutes, it was sad that there were only a handful of people in the theater, its such a classic and its always good for a few laughs. I noticed that there was a lot of noise coming from the heads on the wall, you could pretty much hear every movement they were making and it was pretty distracting. Other than that the show was good. After my visit with the bears I made my way back to Adventurland so I could ride the Jingle Cruise. The wait time said 25 minutes, but it was closer to 40. I didn't really mind because it gave me a chance to look at all the Christmas decorations the skippers put up. I got on my boat just as it was getting dark, which I was a little bummed about since it made it harder to see some of the Christmas things. Our skipper was great and I really enjoyed the new jokes mixed in with some of the classics. After we got back from our 2 week adventure I made my way over to Main Street, my friend Anna wanted me to grab her the special card they were giving away for the SotMK game since I don't play. Then I went into the Emporium to grab my MVMCP shirt and pin, it was a mad house in there so I made my purchase then made a quick exit!

People were already lining MSUSA for the parade, so I headed up closer to the castle and found a good spot right past the ice cream parlor. Since it was only 6:30 I had quite a long wait for the parade so I started talking to a very nice family next to me. They watched my spot so I could go grab some cookies and hot coco from Tomorrowland and I grabbed them some too. I thought the hot coco was good, but I wasn't a big fan of the cookies that were at that location. Another family squeezed in behind us and that's when it got interesting. The family thought they would be able to stay for the party even though they didn't have tickets, they of course got caught the second pass that the cast members made and were asked to leave. The mother started freaking out at the cast member saying she spent a lot of money to come to Disney and she was not made aware that they would have to leave the park early that night. The cast member was very professional and apologized that she was unaware but that it was a special ticketed event and if they did not have tickets for it they must leave. The woman started cursing and said she was not leaving because her family had a right to be there since they purchased tickets for the park. The cast member remained calm and said there was nothing he could do, but if the woman wanted to speak with a manager she could go to Town Hall and speak with someone there, but since the party was sold out they were going to have to leave. The woman cursed a little more then finally grabbed her kids and husband and left. I thought the cast member did a wonderful job handling the situation and I felt bad that he had to deal with these angry guests since he has no control over these types of situations, it made me very grateful that I no longer work in the customer service field!! Finally it was time for the parade, which was absolutely amazing and for the second time today I found myself crying

I waited for some of the crowd to clear out and then I made my way up closer to the hub to watch the fireworks, which of course were awesome, the songs they played were perfect and again some tears trickled down my face. Before the fireworks started there was the celebrate the magic show, which was amazing and I loved the change from the first time I saw this a few years ago.

A lot of people started leaving after the fireworks but I was planning on staying until the end, so I headed back to Fantasyland and jumped in line to meet Cinderella and Prince Charming and Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Again the character interaction was wonderful and they spent a great deal of time with me. Rapunzel commented on my magic band which I painted to look like the stained glass from Beauty and the Beast and me and Prince Charming were talking about how my prince was back at home and he feels his pain since us women always go out and leave the men behind.

I decided to check out the Enchanted Tales with Belle, mostly because I wanted to see in her cottage and check out the special effects, but it was pretty cute. I'm not sure I would do it again tho unless I have a child. I noticed the stand by line for 7DMT was about 10 minutes so of course I took advantage of this. This time I was able to see the interactive elements since earlier in the day I used the fastpass line. Again I got seated with another adult and again I was squished, but I must say, riding it at night it really cool and more thrilling because you can't see the turns or drops. After my ride I decided to stop in and see Gaston's, I was debating getting a sticky bun and try LeFou's Brew, but I was still pretty stuffed from lunch and the hot coco and cookies. It was a little after 11 so I decided to start making my way to the front of the park, on my way I met Mary Poppins, Bert and a penguin. The only downfall to this meet and greet was that there was no photopass person and since I was by myself I had to ask someone in line to take my picture so it didn't come out great.

I left MK about 10 minutes before midnight and there was a huge line for Pop, a bus had just left so we were stuck waiting about 20 minutes for the next one. By time I got back to my room it was close to 1 am, I quickly unpacked, showered and was in bed around 2, at this point I was up for 24 straight hours so I had no problems falling asleep quickly.

 

[Tinkerbell 8]

Day 2- Saturday November 8th:
I had my wake up call set for 7 am, I was looking forward to hearing my old pal Mickey Mouse wake me up after a short 5 hours of sleep, but alas, it was Olaf who called. I got sluggishly got dressed and headed over to Classic Hall to have some breakfast, I decided on Pop waffles with bacon and fruit and I finally picked up my refillable mug. After gobbling down my breakfast in record speed, I made my way out front to wait for a bus to Epcot. There were long lines already at 8 am at the entrance so I knew it was going to be a busy day.

I made my way to Spaceship Earth as it was a walk on and I had some time to kill before my Soarin' fastpass time. After SSE, I headed over to the Land Pavilion, I was going to watch the Circle of Life film, but I had just missed the show and I did not feel like waiting 22 minutes for the next one, so instead I rode Living with the Land, another one of my favorites. I always enjoy this relaxing ride and I find it fascinating at the food they grow here since I am the worlds worse gardener. It was finally time for my fastpass for Soarin' so I made my way over there and enjoyed a brief 10 minute wait before I was seated in the front row, which is always my favorite so I don't have peoples feet in my view. They really need to either clean the film or make a new movie because there are specks of dirt all over the screen and it really takes away from the movie. I was finally done in the Land Pavilion so I headed over to the Imagination Pavilion to pay a visit to my friend Figment. Its so sad that people pass this ride by all the time, I was the only person on there when I rode and the cast members seemed excited to finally have someone walk in. When I was done with Figment it was time for my Nemo fastpass, which I felt ridiculous using since there was only a 10 minute wait, I hate the whole tier system in Epcot and Hollywood Studios because you are forced to use fastpasses for rides that they aren't necessary for. After Nemo I headed towards World Showcase because it was almost 11 am and I wanted to start eating early since I had a lot of food on my must try list. I guess they opened before 11 because there were already people walking around with food and drinks so I hopped in line at New Zealand where I got the Lamb Meatballs:

I thought they were pretty tasty, there was a nice kick to the sauce but I was a little turned off on the bread, I get really grossed out by soggy bread so I was only able to eat the sides since the bottom was all mush. Next I stopped at Australia and had the lamb chop with pesto and potato crunchies, I tried this back in 2012 and it was so good I had to have it again. The lamb chop was a little fatty, but still delicious:

By now I was pretty thirsty so I made my way to La Cave del Tequila in Mexico for a margarita. I've tried about half of the margaritas they serve so far but decided to stick to an oldie but goodie this time, the jalapeno margarita:

A plus to this margarita is that because its spicy it takes longer to drink, I wanted to pace myself since this was going to be a 10 hour day at the Food and Wine Festival! I relaxed for a little while outside of the Mexico pavilion before continuing on to Farm Fresh where I had the pepper bacon hash, which may have been my absolute favorite dish of the whole festival, it was a pretty decent size portion and the flavors blended together so well:

I hung out in the shade for a little bit since it was already a hot day in the sun, I was happy I went with the shorts and tshirt since I was already sweating! Next I stopped at China and tried the Beijing roasted duck in a steamed bun with hoisin sauce. The duck and sauce were really good, but I was not really a fan of the steamed bun:

At this point I was starting to get a little full so I decided to wander around the China pavilion for a little bit, I didn't stay for the movie because the last time I did I got really sick. After some exploring I continued my mission and stopped at South Korea where I had the roasted pork lettuce wrap with kimchi slaw. The pork was very tasty and went great with the slaw, but the lettuce wrap was very messy and fell apart so I ended up eating the pork and slaw and left most of the lettuce:

I'm not a big beer drinker but I had to stop at the brewers collection booth to get the Schöfferhofer Grapefruit beer, I had it 2 years ago and LOVED it, it was quite refreshing, but I would have enjoyed a larger portion:

I noticed that Snow White was getting ready to come out so I decided to wait and meet her since there were only a few people waiting at that point:

At this point I was pretty full and my knees and back were killing me so I decided to take the Friendship Boat back and do some more rides in Future World. I haven't been on the new Test Track yet so I made my way over there and jumped in the single rider line. Within 5 minutes I was loaded into a car and on my way. I was never a real fan of Test Track and I'm not sure if this "upgrade" was a big improvement. The only fun part of the ride is when you're outside and going 65 mph, the rest I could do without. I made a stop at the festival center and grabbed a shirt and was very disappointed to find out they had no more pins. I relaxed for a few minutes before making my way over to Innovations East for the Disney Chase members character meet and greet. I've never done this before even though I've had a Disney Visa card for 7 years. I was able to meet Mickey and Goofy pretty quickly and on my way back to World Showcase I decided to stop into the Character Spot since there was a 5 minute wait. In here I met Mickey, Goofy and Minnie:

I was feeling a little hungry again so I made my way back to World Showcase and went right this time. My first stop was Hawaii where I had the Tuna Poke and Aulani Sunrise. Last time I did the festival Hawaii was my favorite and I really enjoyed the Tuna and the Pork Sliders, this time I skipped the sliders to save room for other dishes and I was a little disappointed with the portion of the tuna, they only gave me two pieces, however the Aulani Sunrise was delicious:

I was going to stop at Greece for the spinach pie and griddled cheese, but the line was ridiculous, I've tried the food before and I can get better greek food at home since my uncle is greek. Instead I joined the long line at the Canada booth and had the cheddar cheese soup, which was my favorite from last year, and again it did not disappoint:

I wanted to get out of some of the crowds so I explored the Canadian and United Kingdom pavilions a little bit before making my way across the bridge to France. The line for France was huge but I figured the lines were going to be long everywhere at this point so I sucked it up and got in line, which was about a half hour long. I decided on the Escargot and the Passion Martini Slush since they were favorites of mine. I must say I was very disappointed with the tart portion of the Escargot, it was super dry and I ended up just eating the escargot with the spinach and left the tart. The slush on the other hand did not disappoint and I enjoyed both of them while sitting by the fountain:

Next up was Brazil, again with a long line but atleast this one moved a little faster than France. Here I had the Crispy Pork Belly and it was delicious!! I could have done without the black beans tho:

I decided to explore the Morocco Pavilion and I noticed that Aladdin and Jasmin were getting ready to meet and there was only one other person in line so I quickly got behind her:

I continued walking around WS and I went right past Japan, America and Italy. I made my way back to the Brewers Collection booth for another cup of the grapefruit beer. I was pretty full at this point and pretty exhausted so I stopped into Mexico to relax on the the Grand Fiesta Tour, this is where I ran into some obnoxious drunk people. I was in line and all of a sudden a woman slaps me in the head and screams to her friend "OMG LOOK AT HER CUTE EPCOT HAIR BOW!!!" I turned around since she pretty much punched me in the head and I was shocked that she was a woman in her late 40's to early 50's, I was expecting someone younger to be that obnoxious. I gave her a dirty look and prayed that her and her drunk friends would not be on my boat, unfortunately this was not the case and they were seated in the row infront of me. They continued to talk quite loudly through the entire boat ride and the one woman had the most annoying laugh I've ever heard, she sounded like one of the hyenas from Lion King. Then as we were getting ready to pull up to the platform to get off the boat, another stupid drunk person in the front of the boat wasn't listening to the cast member who said to keep their hands inside the boat, so we sat there for a good 5 minutes while the cast member kept repeating to put hands inside the boat before we could unload, well the woman heard the word "unload" and decided to stand up, guess she didn't realize we were no where near the platform, the cast member asked her to sit back down and she laughed as one of her drunk friends pulled her back into her seat. Finally we were able to move forward and unload, at this point I decided I was done with the festival, it was about 8 pm and I wanted to leave the park before everyone got ready to watch Illuminations. I noticed that the line for the Mexico booth was pretty short so I got in line and grabbed the shrimp taco, which was delicious, the sauce they used was soooo good:

I then noticed there was hardly a line for Duffy and I decided to make a quick stop to see him since both me and my dog sleep with a stuffed Duffy:

I wanted to grab dessert before I left the park and there was hardly a line at the Dessert booth, I decided on the dessert trio which was yummy, my favorite one was the chocolate espresso cake, YUM:

After my dessert I stopped at the photo center to pick up my free Disney Visa picture, I swear I was in line longer there than I was for any of the rides/booths all day!!! When I left the shop it started raining so I put on my poncho and made my way towards the exit. I wanted to head to Downtown Disney to do some shopping, but of course that meant I had to hop a bus to one of the resorts to transfer to Downtown Disney. I think this is one of the dumbest things ever by the way, would it really be that hard to have a bus go from the park to Downtown Disney??? I picked hopped onto the bus for Caribbean Beach Resort since it was at the station and since its close to Epcot. I got off at the first stop at CBR and waited about 10-15 minutes for a bus to DTD. Once I got to the Marketplace I went right to the Christmas store because I wanted to get a Just Married ornament for me and my husband. I went with the silver ball with the Mickey top hat and Minnie vail and had them write our names and wedding date on the back. I was surprised when the cast member told me it would be ready in about an hour!! I then walked over to the World of Disney store and did the rest of my shopping, I didn't get much, but I was super excited to see car air fresheners! I ended up getting the Mickey Premium Bar and the Dole Whip ones, the Dole Whip is currently in my car and it smells delicious! I wanted to get something for my dog, but they had nothing for pets, when I asked a cast member she told me there was a kiosk near the Co-Op store so I made my way over there. I was disappointed that the kiosk had dog stuff, but none of it was Disney themed, so I didn't get Bella anything there. Then I went into the Co-Op store and I wanted to buy pretty much everything!! If only I was made of money!! By now it was time to pick up my ornament so I headed back to the Christmas store and it was ready and waiting for me. I had planned on spending more time at DTD, but my body was killing me from all the walking I did around WS and I was exhausted, so instead I headed back to Pop. It was a few minutes before midnight so I stopped at the food court to grab some iced tea then headed right to my room, I took a quick shower then jumped into bed and turned on Sleeping Beauty, within a few minutes I was fast asleep.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Nice report - love the photos.

 

[Allym146]

This solo trip looks wonderful! I'm tempted to leave my husband behind and do this myself! Looking toward to more.

Leave at home! Not actually leave him LOL

 

[Tinkerbell 8]

Day Three Part 1: Sunday November 9th:

I woke up at 6:30 am so I could grab a quick breakfast at Pop before heading over to Animal Kingdom for the morning EMH. When I walked out of my room I noticed that it was raining and a tad chilly, perfect weather for Animal Kingdom, less crowds and more active animals! After some french toast I went outside to wait for the bus, at this point it was raining pretty hard making me the only person in line for a bus for quite some time. After waiting about 15 minutes the bus finally arrived, I was thankful since my feet were wet and cold and my poncho had a rather large rip in the front, the poncho has made it through 4-5 trips so I guess it was worth the money. I got to Animal Kingdom around 7:30 and I was the first person in line at the one entry point, my assumption was right, so far there was only a handful of people waiting to enter for the EMH. A few minutes before they started letting people in, the rain stopped, perfect timing! Along with a few other people, I quickly made my way to Kilimanjaro Safari, I've never seen the park so empty!

Because it was so early, the animals were being fed, making for some great sightings!! The hippos were as usual all in the water:

I was surprised to see how many crocks there were!:

Sadly I only got to partially see one giraffe:

And one lone elephant eating his breakfast:

Now this fellow was about a foot away from our truck:

The lions were as usual just relaxing, but we did see 2 females and 1 male:

The last animal we saw on the safari were these twisted horn beasts, again eating:

After the safari I decided to check out the gorillas, only two of the bachelors were out, but they were both enjoying some breakfast:

I also saw some zebras feeding:

I decided to head over to Asia before EMH were over and I was able to ride Expedition Everest with less than a 5 minute wait! On my way over to the jungle trek I decided to stop for a few minutes and watch these active cuties:

After spending about 15 minutes just watching these guys play, I decided to head into the jungle trek.
I first came across this big guy:

I spent a few minutes watching him relax on the rock and talking to one of the cast members. She was very friendly and very informative, and after a few minutes I continued to the bats, which I was really looking forward to, but I was told it was too cold for the bats and they might be out later I was also disappointed that I wasn't able to see any tigers, there was one out, but he was laying behind a tree so all you could see were the tops of his ears. I never walked through the jungle trek before, next time I might wait until later in the day. Next up was a quick stop to meet these two:

I decided to head over to Dino Land and see if there was a wait for Dinosaur, which was posted to be 10 minutes so I quickly went inside. I was never a big fan of this ride, but I was running out of things to do while I waited for lunch time. The photo portion of the ride wasn't working, which is fine by me since they take the picture in the worst spot and everyone always looks bored! The park still seemed to be pretty empty and the wait times for everything were pretty low, which was great for me I made a quick detour to meet this little lady:

There was one meet and greet that I was dying to do and as soon as I was done meeting Daisy I walked over to this great pair:

Meeting these two was a highlight of my trip, they were amazing, soooooo interactive!!! If you scratch behind Dugs ear, his foot goes crazy, just like my Bella, and he also loves to give kisses! I wish Carl was with them too, that would make for some interesting photos! Finally it was close to lunch and people were already lining up at Flame Tree BBQ so I headed over there to grab a spot. I've never eaten here but I've read so many great reviews I had to try it out, and boy was I not disappointed!!

I went with the half rack of ribs, key lime moose and the mandarin orange vodka lemoade. I decided to grab a seat all the way down by the water with a great view of EE, it was very relaxing and it seemed to be miles away from the rest of the park and other people. After lunch I made my way towards the park exit to head over to Hollywood Studios for the rest of the day. I just missed the bus to HS so I ended up waiting almost a half hour for the next one. Up next one of the most exciting things that's ever happened to me in WDW!!!

 

[myhappyplace]

Love your report so far! Sounds like you had a great time at F&W, aside from the drunkies. My husband and I loved our M&MS with Dug and Russell too!

 

[Doc Disney]

Love that you went on a solo trip! I always thought it would be fun to go alone sometime and just spend the days doing things I want to do without feeling like I'm forcing my family to do things they probably do not want to do Did you enjoy going alone?

 

[Tinkerbell 8]

Day 3 part 2- Sunday November 9th:

I got to Hollywood Studios a few minutes after noon so I had some time to kill before my Fastpass for Tower.

The next showing for Voyage of the Little Mermaid was being let it so I decided to check it out. I've never seen this show before and with all of the closures going on at the park I decided to check it out incase it's on the chopping block. I thought it was a cute little show, Ariel had a great voice and I was in awe at the huge Ursula!!

After the show let out, I walked over to The Great Movie Ride where there was a 15 minute wait. Our driver was pretty good, but the gangster was annoying. After a quick ride through the movies, it was time for my fastpass so I made my way down Sunset Blvd to check in to the Tower Hotel.

The ride was great as usual and I thought it was pretty cool that they now take a video of the ride that magically shows up on your MDE account! I walked back to Pixar Place and took a seat to people watch while I waited for my FP window for Toy Story. This part of the park is so crowded, I really hope that with the new plans there will be added attractions back here to absorb some of this traffic! Finally it was time for TSMM!!! I love this ride, but it was sad to not have anyone to play against. However, I did get my all time high score of 198,000, which also was the high score for the ride vehicle!!

I walked past the closed backlot tour and was a little sad to see it all closed up, I know it was a watered down version of the original, but it was still something I enjoyed doing. I stopped at High Octane for a drink, I don't remember exactly what I got but it was one of the specialty mixed drinks and it was yummy!

I had a fastpass for Muppet Vision 3D, but the wait was so short I decided to just use the standby line so I didn't have to wait for my FP window since I was very early.

I was getting hungry so I decided to grab dinner at Min and Bills Dockside Diner. I have never eaten here but it seemed like the best option for quick services in the park. I got the Italian sausage with peppers and onions, a bag of chips and a soda. I assumed the only desserts they had there were the cookies, but the cast member told me I could get a milkshake as a dessert so I did that instead and tried the seasonal Caramel Apple milkshake.

The food was delicious! I love that they stuff the sausage and peppers completely inside the roll so nothing falls out. Also, the milkshake was great and super thick. This may become my go to for quick service food in this park! I decided to head back to Streets of America where I came across the group Mulch, Sweat and Shears. I took a seat and enjoyed the rest of my milkshake while listening to some great music!

I had some time to kill so I headed back to check out the Frozen store. I found it annoying that they make you go around to the play area to enter, I had no interest in this part I just wanted to check out the merchandise. After I left the store, I got in line to meet Mike and Sully. One of the adults in front of me was talking to the cast member and trying to ask how old the person is playing Mike since he is so short. Thankfully the cast member was great and said he wasn't sure how old Mike and Sully are since monsters live to be older than humans, the guy in front of me was getting annoyed that he wasn't breaking the script, but its his job to keep the magic for the rest of the guests and he did a great job!

It was about an hour before the Osbourne Lights were going to be turned on, so I went down the Streets of America to grab a spot so I could watch them flip the switch. I sat on the curb right next to the blocked off area and I started talking to the family sitting next to me. The mother and daughter were locals and her father was visiting from New England. They were a great family to be sitting next to and we talked for almost the whole hour while we waited for it to get dark. Now, the most AMAZING thing happened next. Two cast members came up and started talking to us and they asked if our family would like to help Goofy turn on the Osbourne Lights!!! I told the cast member I wasn't part of their family and I told the family I would take pictures for them. Well, the woman asked the cast member if she could "adopt" me for the night so I could join them and the cast member said sure!!! We were quickly escorted behind the barriers and were instructed on what we would need to do to turn on the lights. They positioned us around the switch and we waited for Santa Goofy to come out which seemed to take forever!!! There were a handful of photopass photographers waiting to capture the moment for us and all of a sudden Goofy was standing there and there was our cue to flip the switch. Within seconds the whole street was illuminated and I had never seen anything so magical and beautiful in my whole life. We took a few more pictures with Goofy, watched the lights and then we went back onto the street with the rest of the guests. Since this was my first time seeing the lights I hung out on the Streets for quite a while, I kept moving around so I could see all the sections and I noticed that there were a few tears running down my face.

This was perfection, the music, the lights, the snow, everything was perfect. I could have stayed there forever watching them, but I was meeting up with a friend in a little bit so I stopped and got a hot chocolate and then made my way towards the BAH. I took a seat on a bench and waited for her and her dog to get there. I met her on this site about 5 years ago, we chat online, text and talk on the phone, but we have never met in person since she lives across the country. She was in WDW for the marathon so we made a plan to meet finally!! She got there around 7:30 so we quickly went over to Tower before park close. I love riding Tower at night, its even more scary looking out over the park when its all dark and only the rides are illuminated. When we got off, the park was closing, so we decided to head over to Magic Kingdom to spend some time together.

When we got to Magic Kingdom we stopped at the firehouse to grab some sorcerers cards, I have never played but she had a ton of cards so I figured I would try it. We headed over to Frontierland and rode Thunder Mountain, I missed this the other day and I love riding it at night. It was just about time for the fireworks when I got off so we walked over to Tomorrowland and waited in Monsters Inc so her dog wouldn't get freaked out with the fireworks. After the fireworks were over, we rode the People Mover and then Buzz Lightyear before heading to Fantasyland. We decided to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel before closing. On our way out of the park we went in some shops on Main Street because I still needed to buy something for my dog, I ended up getting her a Pascal stuffed animal since they didn't have any dog toys. I was thinking about staying to see the kiss goodnight, but when I asked a cast member I was told it wouldn't happen for another hour, I was beyond exhausted so I decided to skip it. We exited the park and made our way towards the busses. We said our goodbyes and headed for our own resorts, we decided to meet up the next day for breakfast before I had to catch the bus to the airport. I got back to my room around midnight and fell right to sleep.

 

[Tinkerbell 8]

Nice report - love the photos.

Thanks! Its amazing how many pictures you end up taking when you've been there so many times already!

This solo trip looks wonderful! I'm tempted to leave my husband behind and do this myself! Looking toward to more.

Leave at home! Not actually leave him LOL

Haha, I was worried I was going to be lonely and miss my husband, but I gotta say it was pretty great being there alone. Now that I've done a solo trip I think its something everyone should do because it gives you a chance to experience the parks differently.

Love your report so far! Sounds like you had a great time at F&W, aside from the drunkies. My husband and I loved our M&MS with Dug and Russell too!

They are the BEST aren't they???

Love that you went on a solo trip! I always thought it would be fun to go alone sometime and just spend the days doing things I want to do without feeling like I'm forcing my family to do things they probably do not want to do Did you enjoy going alone?

I LOVED the time alone! Like you said it was nice to do whatever I wanted to do and not worry about what others were interested in. Also, I found that other people were more willing to talk when waiting for shows/parades since I was alone, I met a lot of great people and families! I think that doing a long weekend alone was great, but I think if it was any longer I would have missed my husband too much.

 

[FlaggNL]

Great you had a nice solo trip! Can't imagine that I would ever have a solo trip! Thanks for sharing!

 

[kimberlymautz]

I've never thought of going on a trip to Disney alone, but you're making it seem incredibly appealing.

 

[epcotisbest]

Enjoying your trip report. Looks like you had a wonderful time. Looking forward to more.

 

[mrdrift]

What a fun time at the world. I would love to try a solo trip once but my kids always say no way they want to go also. The Christmas light pictures are so beautiful. Following along.

 

[Tinkerbell 8]

I've never thought of going on a trip to Disney alone, but you're making it seem incredibly appealing.

I was skeptical at first being alone but once I got there I had a great time!

Enjoying your trip report. Looks like you had a wonderful time. Looking forward to more.

Thanks! I'll try to post my final day tomorrow, grad school is kicking my butt right now with finals!

What a fun time at the world. I would love to try a solo trip once but my kids always say no way they want to go also. The Christmas light pictures are so beautiful. Following along.

The lights were amazing, so glad I finally got to see them in person!

 

[Tinkerbell 8]

Sorry for the delay in posting the last day, I have been working on finals for grad school and haven't had the time, but one final is done, 2 left so I figured I needed a little break!

Day 4- Monday November 10th:
Since my flight wasn't until noon, I had some time in the morning to grab breakfast and relax. I decided to head over to Art of Animation for breakfast and to explore the newest resort. My plan was to meet up with Anna again, but unfortunately her dog had a little incident she had to take care of, so it was breakfast for one again. It was such a beautiful morning.

First up was the Nemo section:

Then I headed into Animation Hall which was pretty cool looking:

The food selection was pretty good for breakfast, and I was shocked to see a "build your own omlette" section. I choose spinach, tomato, ham and cheese for mine:

After a quick bite, I continued to explore the resort. I headed towards the Cars section:

Then it was onto the Lion King section:

And finally Little Mermaid:

The resort seems to be pretty big and I noticed the Little Mermaid section was pretty far from everything else and the bridge back to Pop. I spent about an hour walking around the resort then I walked back over the generations gap (is this still the name for the bridge since they didn't build the other half of Pop??). I headed back up to my room to grab my bag and make my way to the Magical Express pick up location.

My DME pick up time was scheduled for 8:55, but the bus was about 10 minutes late. This is by far the saddest part of any Disney trip:

The ride to the airport was uneventful, I was taking US Air so I was the second drop off. The line for security was pretty short and before I knew it I was on the tram over to the terminal. I was at the farthest gate and before we started boarding I tried to get a snack to bring on the plane, but the closest store was having an issue with their credit card machine and it was cash only, so no snack for me. This turned out to be a good thing, our flight hit really bad turbulence for most of the ride back to Philly, it was so bad people around me were getting sick Thankfully there were tv screens on the backs of all the seats so to help keep my mind off of the horrible flight I watched Frozen for the millionth time. I landed in chilly Philly around 2:30 and my wonderful husband was waiting to pick me up. I stopped by my ex husbands house to pick up my dog Bella and we got home around 5 pm and I fell asleep on the couch and slept for 14 straight hours, guess my Disney trip took everything out of me!! The best way to get over your Disney withdraw is to start planning your next trip. My husband agreed to go with me for a week, but not until December of 2016 BUT we will be visiting Disneyland Paris in August when we travel to France for 2 weeks!!

Well that's it folks, thanks for reading along!!

 

[mrdrift]

Thanks for sharing the wonderful adventure. All of the pictures turned out really nice. Glad to hear you made it home in one piece just a little shaken. Thanks again.

 

[cgersic]

I have lived in SW Florida for almost 19 years and try to make it to Disney at least once a year. Last year for my birthday, I did a solo trip for 5 days. Not only was wearing the birthday button for the first time an absolutely wonderful experience, but I found going "solo" meant that I could do whatever I wanted without being on anyone else's schedule. I spent one entire day going to all of the resorts that I haven't stayed in - how cool is that?? And that also gave me a chance to try restaurants/Disney food that I hadn't tried before. If you don't mind traveling alone and are a Disney lover like me, it's a truly great experience!

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for sharing your magical trip!