August 2018: A Summer Solo Disney Trip: Day 2, Part 2

Day 2, Part 2

The bus ride was uneventful, and when I got to Music, I discovered that I could actually see my building at Movies from the bus stop. So, it was a quicker walk from Music to my room than from the bus stop at Movies. I didn’t know yet just how handy this information would be.

So I made the stupidly quick walk back to my room, and found that...housekeeping hadn’t been there yet. UGH!

Those who read my April trip report know we had an issue with housekeeping and their room inspections at Pop Century. Although the manager who responded to my email about these issues had said I could schedule future room selections, I’d decided to take a chance and not, based on mixed reviews on how that’s working out in real life.

Side note...I’m not opposed to extra security. However, from what I’ve seen in my own experience, and what I’ve seen reported by others, Disney’s current hotel room check strategy is, much like the TSA, security theater. As an added bonus, I was solo on this trip, and didn’t particularly want to find myself in my room when housekeeping came knocking. I’m pretty sure the entire 10% of Disney’s housekeeping force that is male, had been assigned to my building.

Housekeeping was nearby, and the pool right outside my room had less than 20 people in it, so I decided to quick change, and head for the pool. My foot was bugging me, and I figured that’d be a good way to stay off my feet for a bit and cool down, outside of my room.

I was in the pool for almost an hour, watching to see when housekeeping reached my room. Like a watched pot that never boils, housekeeping didn’t make it to an observed room. Since it was getting close to the time I wanted to leave, I headed back to my room, changed clothes probably faster than I ever have, and got ready to head back to the parks, all before housekeeping finished with the room next to mine.

Refreshed and recharged (both me and the cell phone battery), I headed out, ready to finish the day strong. I got to the bus stop just in time to hop on a loading Magic Kingdom bus. Might as well check the parade off the to-do list.

The trip to the Magic Kingdom took awhile. What a construction mess! Plus, there was a traffic backup trying to enter the bus area that appeared to be the result of a couple of blondes who had tried to enter the bus zone in their personal car. Not kidding.

Once I was off the bus, there was another exceptionally thorough bag check, followed by another not moving Passholder entrance line, despite being shorter than the other lines. Ok, done with those!

Entering the park, I was really pleasantly surprised to see that the crowds weren’t yet thick for the parade. Like if I had wanted to, I could have gotten a front row spot on Main Street. I didn’t want to, though. There was at least another hour until the parade reached Main Street. In this heat, it’s all about Frontierland and being first to see the parade.

I hiked over to the land of the Frontier, and managed to find a spot in the shade at the DVC booth. As an added bonus, it was a totally legal parade viewing spot! By this point, there was less than half an hour until the parade. I passed the time texting, watching the chaos build, trying to avoid being trampled by the kid who couldn’t have been older than 5 with the cell phone that was live streaming the parade, wondering why I thought watching a parade in August was a good idea (hello sweat…), watching the Country Bears wander the street, and enjoying the Main Street Marching Band.







Pretty soon it was time for the parade. It’s been several years since I’ve seen this, so I enjoyed it, despite wondering why I thought watching a parade in August was a good idea. If anyone is wondering, the dragon float is still out of the parade. I didn’t have my big camera with me, but I did decide to take a few pictures on the phone.

Following the parade, I made my way slowly toward Fantasyland, to try to find some air conditioning. When I got there, I saw that the standby line for Small World was “only” 25 minutes (as opposed to Peter Pan’s 75). Knowing that that queue is inside, I entered, because hey, air conditioning!

After Small World, it was clear that a storm was on the way, but things looked lighter elsewhere, so I got the heck out of the park. I made it to the express monorail platform just as the thunder started booming and the rain started falling.

Thankfully, a monorail appeared quickly, and it was off to the TTC. However, we ended up holding over the TTC walkway for a few minutes and all of us in my monorail car were pretty sure it was hailing. THAT was a slight freakout moment. I heavily debated finding a place to wait out the storm at the TTC (I know, good luck with that…), but, once my monorail finally got cleared to enter the TTC, I did step over to, and get on that Epcot monorail. The sky was looking lighter in the direction I thought Epcot was in. The Magic Kingdom was an entirely different story.

I had totally forgotten about the recent incident where a monorail door opened while the monorail was moving. I remembered, however, when I realized that EVERY time the monorail left a station, an announcement was made (following the canned announcement) by a CM to please not lean on the doors. Got it!

The rain lightened dramatically as the monorail approached Epcot. In fact, it was barely raining as the monorail circled Future World.

That did change, and I ended up spending some time under the cover of Spaceship Earth, but the storm didn’t get anything near as wild as it looked over by Magic Kingdom, and after probably 10 minutes or so, I was on my way to the Land. Realistically, I totally could have gone sooner, but I was enjoying the breeze from the storm, so the idea of throwing a poncho over me was just not exciting.

When I got to the Land, I still had some time before the fastpass I had found that morning for Soarin, so I grabbed some dinner at Sunshine Seasons. I ended up with sweet and sour chicken, which really was an amazing value as Disney food goes. And very tasty too.

Once I’d eaten, it was late enough to use my fastpass for Soarin. I breezed through the fastpass line. Actually, that’s a bit of a lie. I limped through the fastpass line. Hmm...day 1 ½ and limping. That’s a successful trip right? So...I limped through the fastpass line. Or, really, the fastpass lane. There really wasn’t a line for fastpass.

I ended up in section C, top row for this flight, on the very end. Soarin was enjoyable, as always.

By the time I was done with Soarin, it had stopped raining, but the sky still looked pretty questionable, so it was off to Nemo. Unlike the Little Mermaid, which I enjoy more with every ride, the more I ride this one, the more I realize I really don’t like this ride. Much like Nemo the Musical over in Animal Kingdom, Nemo the clamshell ride is just missing something.

After I’d escaped the clamshell, a quick look at MDE showed it was time for my Spaceship Earth fastpass, so I made my way over there. Now, when I first entered Epcot, the wait for Spaceship Earth was over half an hour. Somehow, in about 2 hours, that wait dropped to as fast as you can walk. Needless to say, I didn’t use my fastpass, because I would have had to walk through a longer queue than the regular one, with a similar amount of people.

The lack of sleep was catching up with me. Spaceship Earth ended up being borderline naptime. Oh well.

Naptime interrupted by the end of the attraction, I headed for World Showcase. I was morbidly curious about the most recent group to grace the stage in Canada: The Blueberry Grass Band. When I got to Canada, there was about a half an hour until the next set, so, I headed for O’Canada, where, as luck would have it, the next show was starting in less than 10 minutes. I grabbed a seat in the waiting area, and enjoyed the cool air, surprising peace, and the time off my feet. That right foot was really aching.

I enjoyed O’Canada, and then watched the Blueberry Grass Band for a bit. For the first couple of songs, they were fine; they’re no Off Kilter, but they weren’t bad. BUT...then they performed “My Heart Will Go On”. The jury is no longer out. I don’t like them.

When they started pretending they were part of the Titanic movie, I headed for France to get some ice cream before Illuminations.

I think the ice cream I got involved cinnamon and apples. It was really good. After enjoying my ice cream, I found a spot on the bridge between the UK and France, and parked myself on the ground to text, facebook, and wait for Illuminations to start. And I watched some pretty epic parking of Illuminations cruise boats. 

It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with my Disney trips, that the wind picked up dramatically AND shifted direction in the last 10 minutes before showtime, so that it was blowing directly at me. I was bummed, because given the rumors flying, I have a feeling this trip was probably my last opportunity to see Illuminations, but I wasn’t going to try to find a different spot.

When Illuminations started, I pulled my hat down as low as possible and enjoyed the show as much as possible. The ash fallout wasn’t AS bad as I expected, but I was definitely reaking of sulfur by the end of Illuminations.

At the end of Illuminations, I limped to the bus stop. Thankfully, I got a seat on a bus, eventually. These buses really are not coming as frequently this trip as in previous trips! When I got back to the hotel, I hit the mug station for a Powerade refill and then limped back to my room. It was when I got back to the room, that it became a bit clearer just why I was limping. Oh, hey, one of these ankles is not like the other!

With that realization, I got ready for bed, set the alarm for slightly later the next morning, and hoped the swelling would miraculously disappear overnight, before I crashed hard.

August 2018: A Summer Solo Disney Trip, Day 2, part 1

Day 2: Thursday, August 9, 2018, Part 1

I think my alarm went off around 5:15. It was a very short night! I got ready for the day, and headed for the bus stop a little after 6. As usual, I was surprised by how much later the sun rises in FL than in NH. At this point in the day at home, the sun is up. I know, because it’s the sun that makes the dogs think that it’s time to go out this morning. Trust me, it was a lot of fun in June when it started getting light before 5!

I got to the bus stop around 6:15 or so. I’m really liking this 7am EMH concept. First off, it’s SO much cooler. And second, you can get some pretty neat pictures on the way to the bus.

The bus arrived shortly after I did, and it was a relatively quick and quiet trip over to Hollywood Studios. I think that the bus unloaded pretty close to the entrance, which was nice. Bag check was once again thorough bordering on asinine. I was glad I was carrying just a string backpack today.

Once through bag check, the entrance touch points were open. I made my way to the Passholder one, because that line appeared the shortest, and us passholders should know how to use these things to make the lines move more quickly, right? WRONG.

I swear half of the entrance staff was tied up at the Passholder entrance touch point, because of Passholders struggling to make the thing work. UHHH. And...foreshadow alert...this became a theme for the week. In case anyone was wondering, the Passholder entrances are not quicker than the mainstream ones…

Once I finally made it through the entrance, I continued about halfway up the main street of Studios (this is still the park I pay the least amount of attention to), to where they had stopped everyone. The crowd really was not bad at all. Of course the people immediately behind me were lamenting that they were going to miss the ride, because of so many people in front of them. If I had to guess, their wait for Slinky Dog, if they went straight there, was probably less than 15 minutes. It really was not a large crowd yet.

We were held there until 6:45, which was only about 2 minutes from the time I stopped walking, and then we were led as a mass of humanity to Toy Story Land. While most people headed straight to Slinky Dog, that was not my mission this morning. I’d ridden last night, and still had a fastpass for Saturday, should I decide to ride again. My mission this morning was to ride Alien Saucers, because I was pretty sure it was going to be a boring ride, and I didn’t want to wait in line for it.

Mission accomplished. I think I was about the 5th person in line for the Alien Saucers. It was cute. Kiddos should love it. Pretty typical carnival ride, dressed up in Toy Story Aliens, and mind sticking music. I’m glad I rode but I won’t make Nick try it when he first experiences Toy Story Land.

Next? A bit of picture taking.

Then? Toy Story Mania. I ended up riding three times in a row, because, with everyone in the ever growing line for Slinky Dog, it remained a walk on, which is awesome. And my score improved each time!!

Carnival games played, it was time for breakfast at Woody’s Lunchbox. I had to try multiple things here. I got the raspberry lunchbox tart and the banana split yogurt parfait. I liked the yogurt parfait a lot. I also really liked the flavor of the lunchbox tart. The tart itself was a little dry. And the best part of breakfast? The view.

Once breakfast was done, it was time to head out of the park. I left leisurely, browsing some stores on the street that Tower of Terror is on, and then I headed for the exit.

It was already getting quite warm, and my foot was kind of achy, from a blister on the bottom of it, so, since a boat was pulling up to the dock, I decided to take the boat to the first stop. It was a nice leisurely ride to the Swan and Dolphin dock.

From here, I headed over to the Boardwalk to browse the store there. On my way, I couldn’t get over the amount of people running in this heat. I don’t run on a cool day, so the idea of running in FL August heat and humidity blows my mind.

Shopping done at the Boardwalk, I headed for the Yacht and Beach Club, stopping in both of their stores, before parking myself in the Breezeway at the Beach Club Villas for probably a good 45 minutes to just chill. It was so nice and relaxing (and well air conditioned), and a perfect break spot. It also got me thinking about how nice it is to be in the Disney bubble. Which led to the idea that maybe, instead of our previous idea of getting off the cruise ship in April, getting a rental car, and exploring the coast for a day, perhaps we should just hop on the Disney buses at the end of the cruise, stay on Disney property for our last night in FL, and hit some of the restaurants Nick’s been wanting to try, but that I refuse to pay for when grazing our way around Epcot during a festival. (And Nick is in favor of this idea, so...it’s probably the route we are going!)

After relaxing at the Beach Club for awhile, I headed for the bus stop. A bus to Disney Springs arrived about 5 minutes after I got there. It was still pretty early in the day for Disney Springs, so I was the only one on that bus. And upon arrival at Disney Springs, I learned that if I’m the only one on the bus, I really should sit on the side of the bus opposite the driver. He forgot I was on the bus, until I stood up when he stopped at the sidewalk right before the bus “gates” to find out where he should go! OOPS!!!

Disney Springs was busy enough, but not crazy. I poked around the usual stores, buying ornaments in the Christmas store, and, surprisingly, not buying anything in World of Disney. I was pleased to see, though, that, while the store is still under construction, it’s way less miserable now that they’re refurbing the half of the store closer to Starbucks. It was a much better situation than in April!!

After browsing a few stores, it was time for lunch. I was pretty excited for lunch today, to be honest. Just a few days before my trip, Chicken Guy had opened. Chicken Guy is over near Planet Hollywood and is a joint effort between Guy Fieri and some other chef. The emphasis is, well, chicken. I like Guy Fieri, and I like good chicken tenders. Plus, the prices are pretty reasonable by Disney standards. This seemed like a natural lunch choice.

Once I got there, I found a short line outside, with an employee letting a few people in at a time. The wait in the sun felt really long, but really wasn’t, and there was virtually no line when I got inside (about 3 people). You order at a counter, they hand you a tracker, and then they deliver your food to you.

I got the chicken tender value meal. 3 tenders, fries, and a soft drink. Every meal comes with 2 sauces. You have a choice of 22 sauces. I got garlic parmesan and bourbon bbq sauce. The girl at the counter was very friendly.

After ordering, I got my beverage, and managed to snag a seat at a table inside, right next to the soda machine, that people were leaving as I was getting my soda. That’s probably my only complaint about this place. There is minimal indoor seating.

My food appeared right after I sat down. It was delicious, and the portion was really good. I was not able to finish everything. I liked the bbq sauce, but I LOVED the garlic parmesan sauce. If you like garlic, this is your sauce!

Once I had inhaled all that I could, I vacated my table, refilled my soda, and headed for the bus stop to get back to the hotel. I did learn in doing this, that it’s much closer to walk from Chicken Guy, towards the nearby parking garage, and then head to the bus stop, then it is to head back towards the entrance to the bus stop that’s tucked in between stores. This is especially true if you are making the trek to the bus stops for the value resorts. And yes, I learned this by walking the long way!

As I got to the bus stops, I saw that there was a bus at both the All Star Music and All Star Movies stops. The bus at the stop for Music was a Disney bus. The bus at the stop for Movies was a coach bus, by Dynamic. Now, roughly 10 years ago, a friend shared with me that Dynamic doesn’t have the best safety record, and that I should never set foot on one of those buses. That tidbit of information has stayed with me always. So, I decided to hop on the waiting Disney bus to All Star Music, and walk from there back to Movies. It can’t be very far, right?

August 2018: A Summer Solo Disney Trip: Day 1

Day 1: Wednesday August 8, 2018

My day started before 6 when the darling dogs woke me up to go out. Guess (as usual lately!), I don’t need my alarm today! I did crawl back into bed for a bit, but I didn’t go back to sleep. I started checking out stuff on my phone, and very quickly discovered my flight was delayed by nearly an hour and a half. UGH.

A little after 7, I got up when Nick did, got ready and threw the last couple items in the luggage. When Nick left for work at 8, I went for a quick walk, because not arriving in FL until mid-late afternoon meant my step count for today was going to be much lower than a typical Disney trip.

Once my walk was done, I hopped in the car and drove to my mom’s. I got there about 9, and already, the delay had been shortened by about 15 minutes. We decided to just head for the airport. We very quickly transferred my luggage to her car, and we were on our way.

The ride to the airport was uneventful, and pretty soon I was listening to mom’s “have fun, be careful, and CALL me once in awhile” spiel, as we pulled up to the curb.

After explaining to mom, as I do every trip, why I was headed inside instead of checking my luggage at the curb, I said goodbye, and headed inside. I walked straight up to a bag check kiosk, tagged my bag, and within about a minute and a half, I was on an escalator up to security, where I found no line for pre-check. YAY!

I’ve smartened up, and pulled the food out of my carry on bag for security, so security was a breeze, and I was gateside within 7 minutes of pulling up to the curb. LOVE Manchester Airport!

By the time I reached my gate, I found another alert, that the delay had been shortened again. New estimated departure was 12:00, just 50 minutes late. That’s definite progress! I settled in for a bit to charge my phone, swap my watch for my Magic Band, and listen to the lady a few seats over talk about her park touring strategy, based on current wait times...you know...like 5 hours before any of us could possibly enter a park! Plus I spammed Facebook a bit!

Eventually, I went in food, disappointed more than usual in the available options. I can usually get a basic sandwich at MHT, but this day my go-to for that was closed. That left Dunkins, Burger King, and a sit-down place (that was still serving breakfast) as my options. I’ll spare you the reasoning, but I ended up with a bagel toasted with butter, and hashbrowns from Dunks for food. Boy I hope those non-peanut snacks they’re serving on the flight are good!

While I was eating, the gate agents were running in circles, trying to reschedule people whose connections had been canceled in Chicago (they were going out of the gate next to mine), and even one who was impacted by our delay. The summer of weather hell continues!

About 11:30, our plane pulled up to the gate. Boarding announcements were started, and they got us lined up so that they could turn the plane as quickly as possible. I was on board by 11:45, in about the 5th row, by the window, despite my horrendous B10 boarding position (and yes, I paid for Early Bird…). It was a completely full flight, but one of the quickest boarding I’ve ever seen. And while the flight attendants were unpacking snack boxes, the gate agents boarded the plane to close up overhead bins, to expedite our departure. There’s a reason MHT keeps winning Southwests’s ground/gate crew awards!

We pushed back by noon, and Captain Leadfoot shared that the winds were in our favor today. Despite leaving 50 minutes late, we should anticipate landing around 2:40, just 30 minutes late. YAY!

The flight was uneventful, and despite the wild summer weather, the view was clear, and the ride was smooth for the vast majority of the trip. Captain Leadfoot’s faithful sidekick even gave us a guided tour down the east coast, pointing out different landmarks, such as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. And it was so clear that it was very easy (and interesting) to see it, despite flying at 38,000 feet. I will admit that this one was particularly remarkable for me, because we were just talking a few weeks ago at a family gathering about how my great uncle was involved in crane operations when they built this tunnel.

Captain Leadfoot was true to his word, and we touched down in Orlando about 2:39. As seems to be my usual upon arrival, we came in to the very last gate at the end of the terminal. But hey, I see palm trees! And is that REAL air conditioning?!

Yes, folks, one of the most exciting things about this trip was the prospect of consistent air conditioning. It’s been a hot, rainy, humid summer at home. My house has exactly 2 air conditioning units: a window unit that’s more temperamental than I would like, and a portable thing that looks like Wall-E. Central air is not a widespread thing in NH. But it is in FL!

I booked it down to the DME counter, you know...a couple miles from my gate, texting people about my arrival while I walked. There was no line to scan my band, and pretty soon, I was in line to board a bus.

Probably less than 15 minutes after stepping into the bus line, I was on a Disney Cruise Line bus, excitedly thinking about the fact that I’ll be on one of those buses on my way to a Disney Cruise in 254 days (but who’s counting…). It was at this time, well after 3 PM, that I got my room ready text from Disney. I’d be in the Mighty Ducks section, in room 3803.

Pretty soon, the bus was full enough, and the driver boarded. She meant business! It was an uneventful bus ride, but staying at Movies meant that I was the 4th (of 4) bus stops. I did a lot of texting! And even a little picture taking...

I made it to my hotel about 4:20. Less than an hour and a half from touch down to arrival at the hotel. Not bad, especially since I was the 4th bus stop! Since I finally had my room number, I headed straight there. It was a pretty straightforward walk, and really not that long, to my building, building 3. My room was on the second floor.

When I got into my room, I quickly discovered that I’d been put in a handicap accessible room with a roll-in shower. While I’m glad these rooms exist for those who need them, I can’t say I was excited about the prospects of flooding the bathroom everytime I tried to shower.

Room explored, I put together a park bag, and headed back to the main building. It was WAY past time for dinner! That single bag of veggie wheat thin chips on the plane didn’t quite cut it after the bagel and hashbrowns at MHT!

After exploring the food court a bit, I settled on a chicken parm sandwich. And after a brief battle with the soda machine that was apparently out of Powerade (always pre-hydrate for the parks!), I settled down to eat shortly after 5. I just about inhaled the sandwich, even though it had WAY too much chunky sauce on it.

Once I’d eaten dinner, I refilled my new refillable mug with Powerade, and headed for the buses. I don’t think I had to wait very long before a Hollywood Studios bus came along.

I think it was a relatively quick ride to the turn for Hollywood Studios. From that point, to the parking lot, however, was another story. Because of the gondola construction, about a week before my trip, they moved the bus stops around, plus relocated part of the walkway to the Epcot area resorts. The result was a total mess, and a pretty accurate representation of what the park looks like right now in general. We were dropped off pretty close to the gate, though.

The walk to security was quick. Security? Not so much. I thought Disney’s bag checkers couldn’t get more thorough after this spring’s trips. I was wrong…

Once I made it into the park, I started wandering, trying to get the lay of the land a bit. Plus I did some store browsing, since I still had awhile before my fastpass. My wandering led me to One Man’s Dream.

Granted, One Man’s Dream hasn’t really changed (with the exception of adding character greets, and swapping out some of the models on display), but it’s amazing how much smaller it seemed this trip. Last summer, Nick and I went to the Disney Family Museum while we were in San Francisco during our honeymoon. One Man’s Dream pales in comparison.

Next, I decided to find the entrance to Toy Story Land to take some pictures. Now, logic should have told me to look at the park map, but I’m a New Englander. What’s a map?! So, while I was actually basically right next to the entrance, I ended up over near Muppets before I actually looked at the map. OOPS!

Since I was near Muppets and a bit warm, I walked into the next show. Literally...I waited about 1 minute in the holding tank before they opened the doors into the theater. The show was pretty full. It was good air conditioning. I enjoyed it, as usual.

Once the theater had been blasted, I returned to the park, and actually found Toy Story Land. I did a bunch of picture taking, because it wasn’t quite time for my fastpass for Slinky Dog yet. I absolutely loved the theming of this land. 

At 7:25, right when it was time for my fastpass, I headed for the fastpass line. I was on Slinky Dog in less than 10 minutes. I have to say, for a ride that’s advertised as a family roller coaster, this one is actually really impressive. I really enjoyed it, and it will be a must fastpass for all future trips. Everest is still my favorite Disney coaster, but this is a good one.

After Slinky Dog, it was time for Epcot. I started walking, and couldn’t help but notice some green army men, and also some really cool kiddie measurers.

When I finally finished taking pictures in Toy Story Land, I really did head for the park exit. As I was walking, it became clear it was going to storm, however, the clouds seemed to be building primarily over Hollywood Studios, so I decided to still make the trek to Epcot and see what happened.

The beginning of the walkway is pretty meh right now, because of all of the construction. Thankfully, it does eventually join the regular walkway, and the construction materials do disappear.

Along the trek to Epcot, the wind picked up, and by the time I was cruising past Stormalong Bay, it became very evident that nature was going to put on its own fireworks show tonight, and I would not be seeing Illuminations.

From here on out, it was basically a race against time. Thankfully, International Gateway security seemed to understand that concept as well, and moved the line quickly there. I walked straight through Epcot, working my way toward the bus stop.

As I was moving as quickly as my short legs can carry me past Spaceship Earth, a heart stopping lightning bolt lit the sky. No exaggeration, there was a collective “woah” from about 90% of the people around me, and we all picked up the pace exiting the park, as all the little ones started melting down, terrified of the storm.

I made it to the bus stop just before the deluge. And that was really all that mattered. It was a surprisingly long wait to get on a bus, as I will, for this one, give Disney the benefit of the doubt that they were planning a mass exodus about 45 minutes later than it actually happened. But, by the time a bus showed up, the rain had slowed to a drizzle, and I’d been waiting under cover, so it was all good.

When I got back to Movies, I filled my mug with more Powerade and got myself a Pineapple Swirl cupcake, to be known from here out as the Dole Whip cupcake. 

Since it was just sprinkling, but threatening to rain much harder, I took my cupcake back to my room to eat. The cake itself was kinda boring, but the cupcake as a whole was REALLY good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And yes, that’s a flavor injector. I poured the pineapple syrup all over the top of the cupcake.

Cupcake destroyed, I quickly showered (flooding the bathroom as expected, despite trying to take a quick shower), and crawled into bed. It was closing in on 11 before I went to sleep, which was going to make for a short night!

August 2018: A Summer Solo Disney Trip: Pretrip

So, we all know I’ve been to WDW quite a bit lately. However, most of those trips have been weekends or 1-day visits, and by last fall, I’d started really jonesing for a “true” Disney trip, where I hit all the parks in one trip. So, I crunched some numbers, did a little Disney justification, and, when I was in Disney for the Food and Wine festival last November with my mom, I upgraded my 2 day park pass to an annual pass, ensuring that, as long as I could get good airfare, I’d be doing a “true” Disney trip this summer.

So, sometime in March, on one of the 15 days we missed of school this year due to weather (or perhaps one of the half dozen plus sick days I ended up with?), I found airfare I didn’t mind, and booked myself a Disney trip. When all the details came together, the trip (a solo trip) was scheduled for August 8-13, with a stay at All Star Movies.

With a never ending school year, followed by a summer where we celebrated my grandparents’ 70th anniversary and Nick’s grandparents’ 60th anniversary, and I worked summer school, my plans for this trip were a bit thrown together. And by that, I mean that at 60 days out, I made a bunch of fastpasses for Flight of Passage and Slinky Dog Dash, and then didn’t really do any other planning until roughly a week before the trip. And even those plans were not very detailed. But at least I knew which parks I was going to which day.

Summer school ended about the same time I figured out my park plans, Nick and I celebrated our first anniversary by going to Boston to see the Broadway version of Aladdin, and then the countdown truly ticked down to the final (3) days. With my departing flight not scheduled until 11:10 am, packing was done pretty leisurely on the day before the trip, and I actually got to spend the night in my own house the night before flying out. It was a very different pre-trip!