Dates: October 16, 2018 – October 24, 2018
Resort: Pop Century – Standard Room
Visitors: Me, myself, and I -- 56 and proud to be a Disney Phanatic!


“Now it’s time to say goodbye…” Well, not in this case! It’s time to say “Hello!”

…continued…

Now, where did I leave off???? Ah, yes, to the weekend….


Day Five: Saturday, October 20, 2018

IF I can get up early enough, I believe that I will try to make AK my first stop and see if I can finagle a ride, or two, on FoP. (Yeah, like that’s gonna happen!!) This was my planned morning park in any event. I have FP+ options here today.

My FP+ options are: Kilimanjaro Safaris (KS) @ 9:40am; Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain (EE) @ 11:40am; and FoP @ 1:00pm.

At this stage of my trip, all my plans are etched in sand and the tide is coming in….Other than the scheduled FP+ options, I really am free to pull a Tiggr and bounce whenever and wherever I feel like.

My current thought pattern is to make this evening my final visit to MK for this go ‘round and just meander through the park soaking up all the decorations and goings on…Hit whatever rides and attractions that have ‘short’ queues (anything 30 minutes and under I consider a ‘short’ queue)…and maybe try to find some characters to interact and get photos with.

A NOTE on Character Photos: I had made a number of trips and never gave the first thought to getting photos with characters, but about 5 years ago, I did a charity (Avon Breast Cancer Awareness) Dessert Viewing of Illuminations and after the show, there were CMs to take us backstage over to the back door of Soarin’ for a special ride. After the flight, we were escorted to an area where Aviator Minnie was waiting to take photos with each party/group. Well, that started me and now I try to get at least a few Character photos on each trip, and at least one that I hadn’t gotten before. So far, so good – 4 WDW trips, 1 DL trip and new and different character photos on each trip!!!

But I digress…


Day Six: Sunday, October 21, 2018

Sunday is a day of rest, right? Not when you are on vacation at WDW!!!!

DHS is the Morning EMH park, so let’s see if I can get up today? Figure if I can get there early in the EMH, I might get a ride on Alien Swirling Saucers (SS) {bet you thought I was going to use a different acronym, didn’t you? LOL I think the Imaginears did this on purpose, don’t you? To use the same words, I would have called it Swirling Alien Saucers (SAS)} Possibly even get in a ride on Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM) if time and crowds permit.

My FP+ options are: MuppetVision3D @ 9:40am; Rock n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (RnRC) @11:10am; and Slinky Dog Dash (SDD) @ 12:35pm. Yes, I DID get SDD without a hassle.

For the evening festivities, it’s back to EP for ‘visit’ number 4 and to pick up my Cutting Board. (At least sometime before the Festival Center closes and/or I leave for the evening!) E2B concert for tonight is the Devon Allman Project. Would really like to check this one out. Other than that, grab a Grand Marnier Slushy (or two) and take in Illuminations are the only real things on my agenda while here tonight. IF the queues are not too long for Frozen Ever After (FEA [Is it wrong that, every time I see this acronym, I think of Finite Element Analysis? I guess that’s just the engineering geek in me!!]) I would like to do Test Track (TT) after dark as well. In all my visits to EP in the evenings, I have never taken a night ride!


Day Seven: Monday, October 22, 2018

What a way to start a ‘work’ week!!! Hard to believe that this is Day Seven already….

AK opens early today, so once again, IF I can get my backside up and moving, I will be heading out bright and ugly for the park. I am putting a lot of faith and hope in thinking that Morning EMH crowds will be light and I might be able to get some rides in – first to try Pandora, then, if that doesn’t work out, catch an early ride on KS. This will be my final (scheduled) visit to AK, so I’ll get in as much as I can before leaving for my afternoon park – DHS.

Yes, I AM spending a lot of time in DHS on this trip, but you go where the newest attractions are! (Just like everybody else!!) I should be arriving in DHS early in the afternoon, but not too early.

My FP+ options are: For The First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration (FSA) @ 4:00pm; Slinky Dog Dash (SDD) [first go!!] @ 5:15pm; and Star Tours – The Adventures Continue (ST) @ 6:15pm.
NOTE: Due to the possibility of hitting SDD as the light starts waning (may still be a little early for that, though), I might just try to catch the very end of my FP+ window for that one. Should still have plenty of time to get to ST for my FP+ window.

Depending upon how I feel, weather, and crowd levels, I may just stick around for Fantasmic! and the Star Wars show…


Day Eight: Tuesday, October 23, 2018

We’re getting near the end now….(I’ll bet there are a lot of my dear readers who are very glad about this!! LOL) This is my last full day in the parks.

I have tentatively scheduled DHS for this morning, but I am kind of on the fence about where I should start my day. There is no Morning EMH park, so I will at least get an extra hour of sleep!! (Did we turn back the clocks overnight???) EP has Evening EMH (the only park to have it this entire trip!), so I am definitely there for the evening.

Soliciting ideas for the morning……LOL

My FP+ options are: Mission: Space (MS) @ 3:05pm (gotta get my rockets off!! LOL); LwtL @ 5:05pm; and FEA @ 6:45pm.

Other than wandering around aimlessly before Illuminations, and hoping the Kringla Café og Bakeri is back open for my School Bread and Viking Coffee (Yes, I know the School Bread is still available, but it just isn’t right without the Viking Coffee!!!), I am pretty much going to just bounce around and catch anything I can with short queues.

Since I plan on staying for the Evening EMH, I am not too concerned about doing anything other than people watch…and hit the F&WF kiosks!!!

During the EMH, I hope to hit TT when it is definitely dark, Soarin’, FEA, and whatever else strikes my fancy. (I honestly do not know how Evening EMH is in EP, so I’ll play it by ear.)


Day Nine: Wednesday, October 24, 2018 -- Departure Day

“Now it IS time to say goodbye…”

I am certain this will be an interesting trip, and, as always, very enjoyable, but “all good things must come to an end.”

My departing flight on LUV will be at 6:25pm – MCO to BWI, arriving ‘home’ around 8:30pm, so I should have until around 3:00pm to bounce around a park.

I have decided to make one last trip to DHS and try to hit TSL one more time.

My FP+ options are: TSMM @ 9:05am; ST @ 10:20am; and RnRC @ 11:55am.

A busy morning, but should be satisfying. We shall see if I can fit anything else in there before I head back to Pop to sit and wait for my DME service. I try to give myself a little cushion and be back to the resort at least half an hour before my pickup time. That gives me a chance to brood over having to leave, but look back at all the fun I had. (Yeah, that does make one rather moody!! LOL)


Just a few ‘idiot-orial’ comments:

I have been doing the solo deal for a few years now, so although I have all these things ‘planned,’ anything can change and at a moments notice.

If anyone will be in the general vicinity, I would NOT be averse to meeting up, just to say “Hello” and put faces to the INTERCOT names. (See above comment – There is nothing constant in this world but change.)

I did not go into detail about the where’s and when’s for meals because I do not do the dining plan when visiting solo, and with the amount of time I will be in EP for F&WF I should be ‘picking’ all day!! LOL

This is the final trip on my PAP and I will be deciding whether or not to renew it, but probably will. Don’t think I’ll get 3 trips in on the next one, but two of 6 – 8 days would be sufficient to make it worthwhile.


I hope all who made it this far, through my rants and ramblings and musings, enjoyed the read. Stay tuned for the post-trip reports sometime in late-October!!!! (Those I tend to do on a day-by-day basis as you can see, I get a bit carried away!!)


"M-I-C....See you real soon!
K-E-Y....Why? Because we like ya'!
M-O-U-S-E!!!!!!!!"