Disney Alone

[hiddenmickey06]

Has anyone ever gone to Disney by themselves? No family or friends, just you by yourself. What is it like? I was thinking of taking either a weekend trip, or a full week around November 2011 by myself, but I'm still a little bit unsure about it. So if anyone could help me out with suggestions or tips on dining, traveling, or just plain out what to do, please post it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ~Todd

 

[Magenta Panther]

Has anyone ever gone to Disney by themselves? No family or friends, just you by yourself. What is it like? I was thinking of taking either a weekend trip, or a full week around November 2011 by myself, but I'm still a little bit unsure about it. So if anyone could help me out with suggestions or tips on dining, traveling, or just plain out what to do, please post it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ~Todd

I went to WDW alone last time, and here's what I recommend: stay in an on-site hotel, use the Disney Magical Express to travel from and to the airport, get the Dining Plan, and do some research to decide which table service restaurants you'd like to dine at AND MAKE RESERVATIONS. That is a must. The last 2 times I went to WDW I tried to book a meal at the Castle, and no dice both times, even though I booked months ahead. Disney has a phone number you can call to make meal reservations - you should find it in your brochure should you use the services of a booking agent. Hope this helps!

 

[raven]

Do it! I did it for years and never had once regret. You can do what you want when you want. There are lots of threads on the boards about the same subject as well. Try searching for "solo trip" or "single" and see if anything comes up that you can read. But I loved my solo trips!

 

[ErickainPA]

I did it for years, than stopped going for a while and the just last year went back by myself, will be going again on Thursday alone, then my kids, hubby and I will go in Oct.

I really like going alone, it's things at your own pace, eat where you want and explore things you couldn't if you had others with you. My trip is only for 4 days but I am looking forward to the time away to do what I want, when I want to do it.

Definitely try it. I don't usually do many sit-downs, have about 2 planned for this trip, but that is just because I don't want to have to schedule my time to eat, just want to do as I want and eat when the feeling hits me.

 

[hiddenmickey06]

I went to WDW alone last time, and here's what I recommend: stay in an on-site hotel, use the Disney Magical Express to travel from and to the airport, get the Dining Plan, and do some research to decide which table service restaurants you'd like to dine at AND MAKE RESERVATIONS. That is a must. The last 2 times I went to WDW I tried to book a meal at the Castle, and no dice both times, even though I booked months ahead. Disney has a phone number you can call to make meal reservations - you should find it in your brochure should you use the services of a booking agent. Hope this helps!

Yeah it does help! Thanks! Does it get lonely dining by yourself though at a table service restaurant? I read a ton of reviews from other sites and they say that could be a trip downer. But I'm sure the CM's make it special, right?

 

[hiddenmickey06]

Do it! I did it for years and never had once regret. You can do what you want when you want. There are lots of threads on the boards about the same subject as well. Try searching for "solo trip" or "single" and see if anything comes up that you can read. But I loved my solo trips!

OK, thanks, I will try to check those out.

 

[hiddenmickey06]

I did it for years, than stopped going for a while and the just last year went back by myself, will be going again on Thursday alone, then my kids, hubby and I will go in Oct.

I really like going alone, it's things at your own pace, eat where you want and explore things you couldn't if you had others with you. My trip is only for 4 days but I am looking forward to the time away to do what I want, when I want to do it.

Definitely try it. I don't usually do many sit-downs, have about 2 planned for this trip, but that is just because I don't want to have to schedule my time to eat, just want to do as I want and eat when the feeling hits me.

That is the positive outlook I will have on the trip if I decide to do it. Just to have some alone time, to get away, and do what I want when I want. Thanks for your post.

 

[lilclerk]

Yeah it does help! Thanks! Does it get lonely dining by yourself though at a table service restaurant? I read a ton of reviews from other sites and they say that could be a trip downer. But I'm sure the CM's make it special, right?

I took my first solo trip last month. I only ate two TS meals and they were Sci Fi (so I could watch the movies) and Le Cellier (just because ) At Le Cellier, I had my phone with Kindle books on it so I had something to occupy myself with. I thought I'd be really uncomfortable but it was so relaxing that I didn't care haha.

 

[ScorpionX]

I would like to do Disney alone. But, I have never done so.

 

[preludevtec01]

I would like to do Disney alone. But, I have never done so.

Me too!! One day.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

Do it!!! I have taken several trips alone and really like it. I usually schedule a couple of TS meals but other than that it's usually eating when the mood strikes. You can see things at your pace and if you want to ride something more than once in a row you don't have to worry about another person

 

[hiddenmickey06]

Do it!!! I have taken several trips alone and really like it. I usually schedule a couple of TS meals but other than that it's usually eating when the mood strikes. You can see things at your pace and if you want to ride something more than once in a row you don't have to worry about another person

Those are some pretty positive points, and I like them. I'll have to do some research on things then.

 

[bamillerpa]

I would love to take a solo trip since my family aren't big Disney nuts like me. I can handle wandering the park alone and eating alone but what is like going on rides? I'm not sure I want to sit with a stranger. What's it like?

 

[ChrisFL]

I've done several trips solo, including my trips to Anaheim and Tokyo (save for meeting friends only part of the day)

It is easy to have fun, take lots of pictures if you want, you can stop wherever and whenever you want to. I think since a lot of CM's take their days off in the parks, it's also not that big of a deal to see "solo" people about.

 

[ErickainPA]

I would love to take a solo trip since my family aren't big Disney nuts like me. I can handle wandering the park alone and eating alone but what is like going on rides? I'm not sure I want to sit with a stranger. What's it like?

You usually don't have to sit with a stranger, but sometimes it's fun in the que. Last year I was at the Studios for Night of Joy, by myself all weekend. Got talking to a few women in front of me as they were asking about something to each other and I thought I could help. They appreciated the help and we got to talking and when it was our turn to go on the ride, one of the ladies said there are 4 of us (they were a party of 3) so I got to ride with 1 of them, and let me tell you, we laughed sooooo hard, we had tears in our eyes. (Toy Story Mania was the ride)

 

[bluefaery]

My last trip to disney my exboyfriend & I took a day to ourselves. He did his thing and I did mine. We had one rule, the only reason you could contact the other person was for emergencies only. I went to EPCOT and had a wonderful time. I got a FP for Soarin & killed time by going through Innovations (which I had never done before), the I went to the character connection spot (I'm 28 and still love visiting the characters) & finally I ate lunch at the Electrical Umbrella & people watched. I don't know if you would consider this going alone or not, but let me tell you it was the most relaxing day of that trip. I would for sure plan a WDW trip alone.

 

[ErickainPA]

My last trip to disney my exboyfriend & I took a day to ourselves. He did his thing and I did mine. We had one rule, the only reason you could contact the other person was for emergencies only. I went to EPCOT and had a wonderful time. I got a FP for Soarin & killed time by going through Innovations (which I had never done before), the I went to the character connection spot (I'm 28 and still love visiting the characters) & finally I ate lunch at the Electrical Umbrella & people watched. I don't know if you would consider this going alone or not, but let me tell you it was the most relaxing day of that trip. I would for sure plan a WDW trip alone.

It does make it nice. You don't have to make sure others in your party like the ride you want to go on, you don't have to hear them complain about the wait, you want something in say Japan but someone else wants Mexico, you want to sleep in and go out when you want but the other person wants to head out at the crack of dawn, there is no "I want to go to MK, while you really want to go to the Studios"

Don't get me wrong I love going with my kids, but the trip before last year was my whole family and my mom, and well hubby didn't make the trip that enjoyable, so I needed to go alone to get that "magic" back for me.

 

[CarlFredricksen]

I did it for 2 days in January. It was just OK IMO. I think what makes Disney magical is being able to experience it with others, and obviosully when you're alone, you don't get to do that.

I still had a great time and I'm glad I did it once, but I can't say I would go out of my way to plan a solo trip again.

Even when I go with family and friends, it doesn't bother me when we do something others enjoy, and I don't like. I enjoy seeing them happy, and as a result, I enjoy it for them. So for me personally, the reason that many enjoy going solo (doing what you want, when you want to), doesn't do that much for me.

 

[bamillerpa]

There's a chance that my husband may have a business trip to Disney in the next year or so and I'm expecting a lot of free time off by myself since we wouldn't take either kid with us. Now that I've read other responses of what it's like touring the parks alone I'm kind of looking forward to it. I love to do a lot of non-ride things and I love photography. I especially enjoy walking through the parks looking for non-traditional photo opportunities which the rest of my family definitely does not enjoy. Now I can't wait:sohappy:

 

[hiddenmickey06]

Don't get me wrong I love going with my kids, but the trip before last year was my whole family and my mom, and well hubby didn't make the trip that enjoyable, so I needed to go alone to get that "magic" back for me.

That is the one reason I want to go alone for a "me time" trip. I have been to Disney 4 times, 2 times with 5 people, and 2 times with 10 people. It gets really hard for everyone to agree on one thing, even something as simple as getting a spot for the parade. I am really thinking about this trip now, might be in the planning stages soon I hope