Trip Report What do Harrison Ford and I have in common? We both played solo - a mini trip report

Sooooo...How's everyone

If you followed along with our August trip report (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...d-other-musings-an-august-trip-report.917713/), at the end I mentioned that I was going to be in Orlando near the end of October for the AFP Conference and that I would probably be hitting up Disney a bit while I was there.

Well......I did.

Ready???

OK...

Some pre-trip stuff

Who is going: Just me (Graham). I had a feeling this was going to feel weird being at Disney alone.

No, I don't wear glasses. I raided the lost and found at the kid's karate dojo. Steph (my daughter) said I Iooked like a hipster and told me to post it on Instagram. I guess it's like being Clark Kent vs my in-park Superman identity.

When: October 22-26th

Where: I was staying offsite at the Rosen Plaza Hotel (the AFP conference was at the Orange County Convention Centre, and I wanted to stay within walking distance of the place).

Well, that's it for now. I'll start posting shortly.

 

[gwhb75]

The picture of the empty seat of TTA made me

How sad!!

Oh no...didn't mean to make you sad.

I really did miss having the rest of the family with me, but it's not like I was miserable. It is weird being alone though (I struggled with feeling guilty that I was there and they weren't). I did have fun though.

 

[gwhb75]

Enjoying your report! I am always looking for conferences in that area... I am going down to Tampa for work in April, and I may just squeeze in a quick trip up to Orlando. Might be able to get my husband to join me, but I don't mind doing a couple of days alone either. I'll take what I can get! haha

Yeah, take what you can get for sure. While I wouldn't pick a solo trip, when the alternative is to sit in the hotel all night, then you may as well be alone in the parks. Hope things work out for you.

 

[gwhb75]

Monday October 24th

So this day is the first full day at the conference. This means that I was in seminars, etc from 8am until around 5pm. It was pretty interesting. I won’t bore you with the details.
After the conference was done for the day I was ready to head out. The plan was to go to EPCOT and then Disney Springs. I hopped in the car and before I knew it this sign was in sight.

I parked the car and walked from the parking lot to the front gate.

The first stop was a picture in front of Spaceship Earth to send home. I explained to the CM that I’d be sending it home to my wife and kids since they couldn’t come with me. She took the first picture, and then put then lowered the camera.
“Sorry, something is really bothering me. Your collar is folded in on the one side.”

I thanked her for telling me (see...this is why I need Tammy around), fixed it, and then she took a few more pictures.

Hey, I'm not alone after all

After the pictures I headed over to SE for my first FP.

I did notice the pictures weren’t working. No big deal, just thought I’d mention it. The ride was fun (I didn’t get to ride it in August so I was glad I got to do it at least once this year. One guy I feel bad for is the poor scientist on the left hand side of the ride (just past the moon landing scene). Everyone makes a big deal about the girl on the right,

while this poor guy diligently counts his reels and gets hardly even a second glance?

Poor guy.
more to come

 

[gwhb75]

Oct 24th continued

After SE I started heading over to the Land. On the way I passed the picture spot where Baymax and Joy and Sadness are. I stuck my head in and noticed the line for Baymax was almost not existent. What to do….. Who am I kidding, I knew exactly what I wanted to do….pictures with Baymax. (It’s weird being all serious and “adulty” during the day and then like a big kid at night). I get in line and soon I’m up at the CM.
“How many in the party”
“Just Me”
“OK wait here”
Soon it’s my turn. As I’m walking up the CM yells out “This one wants a big hug”.
I played along.

She was about to take the picture when she says “Wow, you’re really tall. You’re the same height as Baymax”. I give him a sideways glance to check if she’s correct, and Baymax gives me a wink.

Fun times. I sent the picture home with the tag “Not alone”.

With the pictures out of the way I made my way over to the Land.

I was well within my window for my Soarin’ FP, so I decided I’d ride Living With the Land since there was no line up for it.

After sailing through the greenhouses etc, I made my way over to Soarin’.

Nothing overly exciting happened, but I did enjoy the ride again.

More to come

 

[gwhb75]

October 24th continued
After Soarin’ I was ready to call it a day (again, the one cool thing about being alone is being able to just go to a park for an hour and then leave if you want). I was on my way out when I remembered something….Test Track has a single rider line. I headed over to TT and was happy to see a short sigle rider line (about 15 minutes).

I jumped in line and before long I was putting my test car through it’s paces.

So, to recap, I was in EPCOT for about 1 – 1.25 hours and got two sets of pictures done and rode four rides. I think that qualifies as a good, and efficient, day.
I headed out after TT and made my way over to Disney Springs (I was getting hungry).

One last picture on the way out

I got to DS in about 15 minutes and parked in the Orange parking garage. I had two goals tonight:
1) Eat at Blaze pizza
2) Pick up something for Steph at the World of Disney.
Goal 1 was reached quite easily. Blaze pizza is about a 5 minute walk away from the Orange parking garage.

The line was pretty short, and before long I was placing my order. I went with a “make your own” pizza with ham, pepperoni, pineapple, black olives and mushrooms. It was really good.

I fully recommend eating here if you are in the area.

With dinner out of the way I made my way over to World of Disney.

I still had no idea what to get for Steph. I texted Tammy to see if she had any ideas.

“Pajama pants” she replies

I guess that works, but there is a bit of a price difference between a small box of taffy and Pajama pants. I know what this means…I’m going to end up buying two pairs of pajama pants. At least they upped the DVC and AP discounts to 20% which helped soften the blow of two $40 pairs of PJ pants (That pricing is just insane. Converting that to Canadian works out to $52 per pair….for pajama pants). Steph got a pair of “Grumpy” PJ pants, and Liam got a plaid pair with a Mickey head near the waistband.

After making my purchases I decided to make my way back to the car. On the way I passed two human statues that were out for Hallowe’en so I stopped for another picture to send home. They were fun (one kept playing with my jacket collar, while the other threw her cloak over me).

I thought these cakes looked cool (from the bakery next to World of Disney)

After that I headed back to the car and was back to the hotel in a good time.

Well, that’s it for today. Tomorrow I won’t be going to the parks as I was invited to a party after the conference by our bank. The next day (and last day) I’ll be posting is Wednesday.

End of the 24th

 

[MinnieM123]

Great photos! I really liked the tilted angle of the cars at Test Track. Cool . . .

 

[LeighM]

We have a Blaze Pizza 20 minutes up the road from where we live. And that's NOT a good thing when your spouse is a pizza addict! I'm surprised the workers don't know our orders by now lol. R and I can never agree on a pizza so
Blaze works for me It's the only time I can get onions and peppers on my pizza I had to drag him away from the location at Disney Springs

 

[gwhb75]

Great photos! I really liked the tilted angle of the cars at Test Track. Cool . . .

Thanks. I try to do some different things when I take pictures, otherwise I'd have 10 trips worth of the same pictures. Thanks for following along

 

[gwhb75]

We have a Blaze Pizza 20 minutes up the road from where we live. And that's NOT a good thing when your spouse is a pizza addict! I'm surprised the workers don't know our orders by now lol. R and I can never agree on a pizza so
Blaze works for me It's the only time I can get onions and peppers on my pizza I had to drag him away from the location at Disney Springs

I could see me going there a lot if we had one nearby. I really enjoyed it.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

I loved your different poses on Everest! You really are a cool dad!!!! And that oxygen bar looks sooooo cool! Where can I buy myself one of them?!? Lol

I always say I wanna take a solo trip because I can never convince anyone to travel with me as much as I want to go... I just don't know if I'd be sad having to do things alone. I always get so excited and talk and get giddy and I just don't know if I'd be talking to myself lol

 

[MinnieM123]

I loved your different poses on Everest! You really are a cool dad!!!! And that oxygen bar looks sooooo cool! Where can I buy myself one of them?!? Lol

I always say I wanna take a solo trip because I can never convince anyone to travel with me as much as I want to go... I just don't know if I'd be sad having to do things alone. I always get so excited and talk and get giddy and I just don't know if I'd be talking to myself lol

I've gone solo for most of my trips to WDW. It's fun, and there's plenty of people to chat with! Plus, you can do whatever you feel like on a moment's notice, without messing up anyone else's plans. But solo is not for everyone--some people really prefer to have family or friends with them and that's fine. There's really no right or wrong answer, it just comes down to personal preference.

 

[gwhb75]

Man, you know you've really let things slip when you have to go to page 3 of the forum to find your current, unfinished, trip report.

In case you were all dying to know how the final day went, here goes:

Final days

Tuesday
As I mentioned, today was a non-park day. I was at the conference all day, and then at a party that the bank we use was hosting in the evening. I will say that if you ever get a chance to go off property, head over to Pointe Orlando (the party was at a restaurant in Pointe Orlando). It’s a restaurant and entertainment complex about 15 minutes away from property. The party was at a restaurant called Cuba Libre which was really nice. There was also an ice bar that I wouldn’t mind checking out some time (even though I don’t drink). It’s a bar that is basically in a giant freezer, and everything is made of ice (the glasses, bar, etc). I didn’t go in, but I checked it out on line when I got home and it looks really neat.
I did kind of mess something up though. I was so busy during the day that I totally forgot to log on to Southwest and check in. It was around 11pm when I remembered, so I quickly jumped on the app and checked in…Boarding group C…well that sucks.
Good night from Orlando for the last night.


Wednesday
So the last day is here. Unlike most last days at Disney, I actually can’t wait to get home. I’ve enjoyed my time in Orlando, but I’m really missing the family now. However, I do have almost a full day ahead of me (my flight’s at 6:00 tonight). There were a few morning sessions at the conference that I attended which took up most of the morning. At 11:00 the conference wrapped up and I was ready to go. I went back to the car, put my stuff in the trunk and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. I had no problem finding the proper road to the park this time, and got there around 11:45.

I drove in and headed over to the Peter Pan lot (an interesting “bookend”, since the first day I was parked in the Hook lot). Soon a tram came and we headed to the TTC. We had a brief delay at the unload dock as there was another tram that was a bit slow unloading its passengers. I was getting a bit anxious as I had a HM FP that was expiring at 12:30. I figured it would be OK since once I got off the tram I’d grab the express monorail to the MK….or so I thought. We finally disembark the tram and I make my way over to the Monorail loading platform. I see the monorail waiting there, so I was hopeful that it would be a quick trip….Then I saw the sign….”closed for testing” WHAT?? The monorail is down for “Testing” at noon? Suspicious indeed.
Regardless, it looks like the ferry is the only option. Sadly, it had just left when I got there so I had a bit of a wait. After wait for what seemed like forever, I boarded the ferry and made my way over to the MK. By the time I was at the gate it was 12:30 and I gave up all hope of using my HM FP. I made my way into the park and decided I would go to HM anyways (I really like HM and was hoping to ride it at least once). I passed through Liberty Square and caught the end of the new Muppets show.

It was nice to see so many people watching it.

I finally made my way to the HM. The standby line was around 45 minutes, and I really didn’t want to wait that long since I only had a few hours before I had to leave. Then I had an idea. What if I just go up and try to use my FP. Yeah, I’m half an hour late, but maybe the system will glitch and let me in anyway. So, with great trepidation, I walk up and tap my band…green Mickey head. “Just try and be on time next time” the CM said. SO HAPPY.

I took my ride through the supernatural, and then made my way back into the park.

Next I had a FP for Jungle Cruise. I made my way over to Adventureland and toured the great waterways of the world. The Skipper was really good. I always enjoy the JC.

It was now getting close to when I had to leave. However, I did have one last FP to use on Space Mountain, so I headed over to Tomorrowland and travelled through space.

Look... futuristic purple rocks

What a great way to end this trip.

As I mentioned at the start of this day, this is not a normal last day and I really can’t wait to get home. I happily made my way to the front of the park. I stopped for one last “all alone” picture

, and one last selfie on Main St.

One last look down Main St

With that I headed out of the park and back to the ferry dock.

Before long I was back in the car and on the way to the airport.

one more small bit to come

 

[gwhb75]

Last day continued

I stopped at the gas station on property (next to the car care centre) to fill up the tank, and then hit the road for the drive back to MCO. I arrived at the airport in great time, dropped the car off, and headed into the airport. I wasn’t looking forward to having to wait in a long line to check my bag, and was happy to find out that Southwest has an express line if you have a boarding pass already. I only waited about two minutes before my bag was taken away and I was free to go.

I made my way through security with no issues, and took the “fake monorail” ride over to my gate. It was now around 4ish, and I just realized I hadn’t eaten since 8 this morning. I hit up the Chipotle in the food court (a chicken burrito bowl). I really enjoy Chipotle.

After I finished dinner I headed over to my gate. Before long we started boarding. Given I was in group C I wasn’t sure where I’d be sitting. Well, imagine my surprise when I finally board the plane and saw an empty seat in the first row again. SO HAPPY AGAIN.

The flight home was smooth, and we landed a few minutes early.

Man, Buffalo sure looks blurry at night

I got to my car, crossed the border into Canada, and was home around 10:30. I was happy to see everyone and they were happy to see me.

Closing thoughts
You’ve probably guessed that while I really enjoy Disney, I enjoy it more when my family is with me. I definitely wouldn’t choose a solo trip, but it was nice being able to do one since I had to be in Orlando anyways.

Now for some new news…So as I mentioned, we bought APs last December (2015) that were set to expire this past December (2016). We debated if we should renew and get the new 13 month renewal which would take us to January 2018, and open up the possibility of another December trip in 2017. However, Disney also has the ticket deal for Canadians where we can get 25% off tickets. We decided that since we couldn’t commit to a December trip in 2017 right now, it wasn’t worth renewing. If we decide to do a December trip in 2017 we’ll just buy new APs then. We do have a trip tentatively booked for August again.

But talk about bad timing…this past Friday I get an email from my boss….”we want you to attend a conference in March in Orlando”. Well that sucks. I wish I had know earlier, so I could have at least renewed my AP. The conference is at the Hilton across from Disney Springs, so at least I’ll get a bit of a Disney fix (assuming I do end up going).

Well, thanks for following along.

 

[gwhb75]

I loved your different poses on Everest! You really are a cool dad!!!! And that oxygen bar looks sooooo cool! Where can I buy myself one of them?!? Lol

I always say I wanna take a solo trip because I can never convince anyone to travel with me as much as I want to go... I just don't know if I'd be sad having to do things alone. I always get so excited and talk and get giddy and I just don't know if I'd be talking to myself lol

The poses are something the kids and I do on every ride. I figure they'd appreciate it if I did it for them. Not sure my kids would classify me as a cool dad though (they are teenagers, so I'm happy with "not totally embarrased to be seen in public with you" dad.)

BTW, congrats on your engagement. Disney Honeymoon?

 

[gwhb75]

I've gone solo for most of my trips to WDW. It's fun, and there's plenty of people to chat with! Plus, you can do whatever you feel like on a moment's notice, without messing up anyone else's plans. But solo is not for everyone--some people really prefer to have family or friends with them and that's fine. There's really no right or wrong answer, it just comes down to personal preference.

I really do prefer having my family with me for sure. I'm not the "strike up a conversation with a stranger" type of person. It's weird, but I'm actually more comfortable doing a presentation in front of 150 people then I am striking up a conversation with someone I don't know. If I was a bit more outgoing that way I maybe would enjoy solo trips a bit more.

 

[Courtney6682]

There was also an ice bar that I wouldn’t mind checking out some time (even though I don’t drink). It’s a bar that is basically in a giant freezer, and everything is made of ice (the glasses, bar, etc). I didn’t go in, but I checked it out on line when I got home and it looks really neat.

I assumed that's what your house and every other building up there is like

 

[gwhb75]

I assumed that's what your house and every other building up there is like

LOL. Yeah, the place would feel just like home...

 

[CtDisneyGuy33]

I must have missed this trip report. Between the great pic and commentary, it was a great trip report for sure. I've never done a solo trip, but it is starting to sound better and better. Great job!

 

[sheriffwoody]

I was so busy during the day that I totally forgot to log on to Southwest and check in. It was around 11pm when I remembered, so I quickly jumped on the app and checked in…Boarding group C…well that sucks.

I did this last week. I was kicking myself, but then when I checked in I got A group! Our flight wasn't very full, so I just got really lucky.

Glad you had a good time, and I'm sure you're excited about your next trip with the whole crew!

 

[gwhb75]

I must have missed this trip report. Between the great pic and commentary, it was a great trip report for sure. I've never done a solo trip, but it is starting to sound better and better. Great job!

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. You should try a solo trip at least once if you can.