Solo trip #2 Nov 13-21

[denygold]

Long day getting here ! Made drive to San Francisco (1 1/2 hrs) the night before as flight was at 7am. Last time I went alone my son drove me to airport on a sunny morning, nice start to trip. This time I spent rainy night alone in dingy motel without sleeping. Depressing start. JetBlue flights both arrived early and went well. The JFK jetblue terminal that they made a big deal about was pretty disappointing I thought. Got lost at MCO looking for Magical Express, finally found it. Was on bus in like 60 seconds, but then sat & waited for about 20-30 minutes. Pop Century was first stop though. I requested top floor and lake view, didn't get either one. Room is on second floor, 70's bldg. Good news is that it is close to main bldg, so will save some mileage on my feet. MK first, then extra magic hours at EPCOT tomorrow.

[faline]

Typically, travel (especially air travel) is not the most fun part of any trip. Hopefully, now that you've arrived and gotten settled in, you'll more than make up for the downer of a start!!

[denygold]

Friday Nov 14 was first park day. Slept late due to travel exhaustion. Since I know I will be staying out late, I am trying to rest as late in the am as I can. Caught bus to Magic Kingdom at about noon. Crowded, but not terrible. Was able to do pretty much what I wanted to ( I am not a coaster person). TTA, Philharmagic, Buzz, Mansion, Hall ofPrezs, Peter Pan (with FP+) Carousel. Had late lunch at Sleepy Hollow- ham & Swiss waffle. I was starved , but it was too big too finish. Pretty good, my gripe is that waffle is warm, filling is cold. Took lap on RR. Then caught crowded monorail to EPCOT around 6:30.

[denygold]

Friday night at Epcot, again it was crowded but not too bad. Rode Spaceship Earth, then hit Cantina for dinner. Had BBQ taco plate, really liked it and would recommend it if it was $10 or so, but $12.50- seriously? Lurked around inside pyramid for a while (love that theming) , rode Amigos, then started towards Canada. Last trip I saw Illuminations three times from Norway, I am determined to try different perspectives this time! Had time to Listen to the Land, and Imagination twice - both rides walk ons. While there were tons of people in area, the good thing about Canada is that you can go up the stairs and get an elevated view of Illuminations. EMH til 11, so I thought I would start by seeing Impressions in France, only to discover it was closed. Ended up doing a Spaceship Earth marathon til 11. Sort of burned myself out on one of my favorites! Buses for Pop come regularly, but they are always crowded! Tomorrow is reverse plan- Epcot first, then MK til 1am!

[denygold]

Saturday Nov 15- weather is nice, not as warm as I expected. Got going about noon and took bus to Epcot. Started with Ellen's Adventure, then back to Mexico for ride & some shopping. No idea how I am going to fit porcelain cat & bull into my suitcase! Wandered around World Showcase, stopped to watch Chinese gymnasts. Stopped at Biergarten at 3- thought that I could get in at off time, no way. So I went to Liberty Inn and had chicken sandwich which was ok. Lots of seating there inside and out. Voices of Liberty and American Adventure were great as always. Tried to bypass Mitsukoshi Dept Store, but just couldn't do it. For some strange reason I love that place! Saw new music in Morocco, while I won't make it a priority, it feels more genuine . Saw Impressions in France, Lived With The Land again and rode Nemo (love that Queue). At about 8 I jumped on monorail for what would probably be a madhouse at MK. We'll see.

[faline]

Some nice touring going on!!

[denygold]

Saturday night at MK, whoah there's a lot of the human race here. Line for TTA snaking out into dance party territory. Found a place to sit for awhile then jumped in TTA line, only about 10 minutes & got to talk to a pretty lady there with her daughter. From TTA we saw standby time of 20 minutes on Space Mt and they went off to ride it. I declined invitation to "go with" then regretted it two seconds later, but they were already lost in the massive crowd. I have only been single for 2 1/2 yrs, I think I will have the single thing figured out in about 20-30 more years. Watched Wishes from back of park for first time, no idea how many of the fireworks were behind the park! Waited ten min for Mansion, then checked out Momento Mori store- meh. Second Main St Electrical Parade was at 11, at 11:15 I walked up to front row view in Frontierland. Lots of people gone by now. Went and rode Pirates, had snacks- Pretzel (nice) corn dog (not so nice). Then walked through fantasy land again, rode Its A Small World, checked on Pan, sign said 30 min, looked more like 10-15 to me. Finished night with Mansion marathon (4 times). Got in line at 12:55 and drug my feet little so that I was last rider. The hostess was a young, pretty, very short girl and she was Awesome! Never broke character and scared the you know what out of lots of people by sneaking up behind them. Out of park at 1:30 and Pop Century bus was Still full! I got very spoiled last trip by the Coronado Springs buses. Even though the Pop buses are not my favorite- I think the bus logistics that Disney goes through are amazing.
Tomorrow ( Sunday) Animal Kingdom.

[denygold]

Sunday Nov 16. Started day by calling to wish my "little" boy Happy 19th birthday. Weather was noticeably warmer, the first couple of days were coolish. Bus to Animal Kingdom after stop at Blizzard Beach, total time from arrival at bus stop to exiting bus, 50 min. Bad bus karma this trip. Arrived at AK at about 1 & started for Dinosaur, but thought better of it as I had skipped breakfast again, so I tried Restaurantosaurus ( I am making a concious effort to try new meal locations this trip). Food choices were limited, I just had burger- it was ok, standard Disney burger. Fixings bar is nice and restaurant is really well themed. Did Dinosaur with FP+, standby looked like about 20 min. To me the park was really crowded, I am used to Sierra and Coast range trails, so maybe I am not the best judge, but the Maharajah and Pangani trails were really packed! Got a beer at the Dawa bar and sat down for Burudika Band 2:50 show- fantastic! Got grapes and cheese at marketplace , then used FP+ for Safari at about 4. Safari was pretty uneventful, Giraffes were active, cheetahs were visible. The "bad" bridge doesn't really even move anymore does it? Wonder why they even bother with that part of the spiel anymore. Back to Dawa for another! beer( that's about a month's worth of alcohol for me- lightweight booze wise) and the 4:50 Burudika show, yes I really enjoy them. Saw 6pm Lion King, outstanding as always. Theatre about half full. Walked out of AK in the dark, first time ever for me- lots of atmosphere. End of day at AK is much calmer. Grabbed bus for AK Lodge, checked out Kidani- never been there. Lobby far tinier than Jambo, but really liked the feeling there. Walked over to Jambo House and just sat in lobby for about 15 minutes soaking it in. Did some shopping, then had dinner at Mara- African Stew was pretty good, slightly spicy , but not much. The ordering system at the Mara is a little chaotic. Back at Pop in room by 9- feels odd to be in so early. The plan tomorrow is MK and Downtown Disney, Looking forward to Raglan Road!

[denygold]

One more stray thought about Animal Kingdom- there really are a LOT of construction walls up and they are somewhat detracting from the ambience.

[VWL Mom]

Enjoying tagging along with you :thumbsup:

[KylesMom]

Love your touring style - going where you want, when you decide to go! Doing an awesome job of sharing all the details with us - Thank you! :mickey:

[stephicakes]

Keep up the reports!! :thumbsup:

[denygold]

Monday Nov 17- late start as usual and bad bus karma as usual. Long wait for MK bus, arrived at about 1 pm. Feels crowded again, started on TTA, then wandered over to Liberty Belle Steamship which I have never ridden. Relaxing ride, good views of Big Thunder- wouldn't make it a priority to ride. While on ship, it started to lightly rain, no problem. Rode Mansion, sign said 20 min, It was actually about 10. By the way I have lost track of exactly how many times I have done Mansion this trip- 7, 8 ? Never gets old for me. On the way to steamship the wait for Pan was 30 min while IASW was 20. A good illustration of what FP+ hath wrought- I would guess that it would be 45/5 before. After Mansion however, that Pan wait was now 70 min! On way back to Tomorrowland it started to pour, really pour. I got soaked and ducked into Buzz- good decision as 20 min listed wait was actually 5. Did TTA again then checked out Sunny Eclipse while eating chicken sandwich. After good show and mediocre lunch, I went to Adventureland and found Jingle Cruise to be basically a walk on, yeah! Right? Uh oh, as we were loading the skies REALLY opened up. It was an extremely wet trip down the river. The jingle overlay was ok, not particularly exciting. Dried out a smidge on Pirates with about a 10 min wait ( the rain lessened the crowd quite a bit. )At about 4:30 I decided I was done and headed for Downtown Disney.

[denygold]

My streak of bad transportation guesses continued tonight- I oh so cleverly bypassed the express monorail for the resort line. Then from the crowded queue on that side, I was able to observe three practically empty express monorails arrive and leave before ours arrived. Sigh. Took monorail on to EPCOT, then oh so cleverly waited 20 min for a bus to Port Orleans Riverside so I could ride the boat to Downtown Disney. Arrived at Riverside, checked out the lobby and got to boat dock just as they were closing down the boat. Back to bus stop, waited ten minutes for DD bus, when it arrived, everyone at bus stop converged on it wildly. I backed away, did not want any part of what looked like a sardine can as it pulled away- then, before it even left the stop, another DD bus! Empty seats, calm, minor pixie dust! Had plans to have dinner at Raglan Road, but was not hungry, so I inspected Splitsville ( like it- looks like lot of fun) and noticed that a movie I wanted to see (Interstellar) was playing in 15 min at AMC. I liked it, but it was longgggg. Didn't feel up to Raglan, so started back towards bus stop. Went through World Of Disney- incredibly busy as usual, then checked out the new Co-Op . Seems like a really good concept, they can shift stores around however they want in there. Lots of folks in there too. OK, bus karma has maybe shifted, Pop bus was waiting at bus stop, security guard was nice enough to make sure the bus waited for several other guests and me. Back to Pop by 10:30, had sloppy joe (not recommended -bland and greasy, the onion rings are unhealthy but taste excellent). Picked up my package from EPCOT at store (porcelain bull & cat from Mexico) and back in room by 11. Tomorrow Boardwalk and Studios.

[Katzateer]

Thanks for your reports. Love the solo trips!

Never would have thought to watch Illuminations at top of France stairs. Was it a good view??

[denygold]

View from stairs in Canada was pretty good, not great, but might be a good place to try on a busy night.

[denygold]

Tuesday Nov 18- welcome to balmy, tropical Florida! Brrrrrr! Left for Studios about noon. Crowds were still with me, packed streets here. Rode Great Movie Ride with only 15 min wait. For the first time ever I got the western shootout scene! I have ridden this ride 10-12 times and it was the gangster every time, I thought the other scene was just a rumor. Walked down towards Tower and Rockin Coaster, then decided to get something to eat at Starring Rolls, not to be as it was 3:05 and they closed at 3:00- on a jam packed day with about a dozen people trying to get in- strange decision. Ah well, off to Toy Story for 3:15 FP+. Standby was 90 min, I was on ride in 15 min. Picked up burger at Backlot Express, basic food, good theming. From there to Indiana Jones Stunt Show, seen it at least six times, never gets old. Then Muppetvision- great as always. My only complaint is that I would like more time in the holding pen to check out the gags, the doors to the theatre always open too soon! Was planning on seeing Osborne lights tonight, but this place is way too crowded, I am out of here to check out EPCOT.

[denygold]

Walked up just as EPCOT boat was pulling out of Studios dock. Oh well, get to burn off some burger and cookie calories. The walk was beautiful, sky was very photogenic. I was at International gateway 23 minutes after leaving boat dock. Turned into World Showcase and start by seeing Impressions in France again, my fav movie in WDW. Crowd level here is way lower, partly I'm sure because of the arctic weather, but still way fewer than Studios. Hung around Morocco for a while, then circled around to China, inspected terra cotta warriors and saw Reflections. Window shopped in China, then reversed direction, wandered in Italy & Germany briefly. Sat on bench looking out towards Spaceship Earth, found myself starting to get cold & depressed- time to move! Went to Mitsukoshi Store and passed a pleasant half hour. Bought a nice shirt for my son, good luck cat for my ex mother in law. Walked out of store at 8:50 and there was no one along Lagoon in front of Japan.
By 9:00 there were people there with me, but pretty much everyone had a front row view of Illuminations. Took my time leaving, shopped in Mouse Gear, sat under Spaceship Earth for a while. Hoping to wait out bus throngs. My bus luck is definitely changed- I was that guy this time, you know, the guy that the bus driver waits for with a packed bus that is itching to go. Something to consider about Pop Century, the buses are ALWAYS crowded, even an hour after parks close. The bus stop is also ALWAYS the farthest away too, the price you pay for saving money on your hotel room. Back at Pop by 10:15.
Big challenge tomorrow, I actually have to drag myself out of bed for Undiscovered Future World tour, need to be at Epcot by 8:45!!!!

[denygold]

Postscript to Tuesday night at Epcot. Whoever pitched the idea for Spice Road Table clearly has some 'splainin to do. At 7pm I walked through and there were no- zip, nada- tables occupied. At 9pm the only tables used were the five along the water.

[denygold]

Wednesday Nov 19- it is friggin cold this morning! Left room at 7:40 and froze in EPCOT bus line til 8:05. Let me get my rant out of the way first, the Pop bus service stinks. Long waits, fully packed buses every time. My name was at the gate and I proceeded to a nice warm Customer Relations office to wait for Undiscovered Future World Tour. Tour was very worthwhile, spent time on every part of FW except Energy. Rode Soarin with no wait, went upstairs to old Image Works at Imagination and went backstage twice. It lasts 4 1/2 hrs and is a lot of walking. The costuming department is amazing. Our excellent guide shared a lot of insights and several rumors including an added theatre for Soarin when the new film arrives. He also told us that John Lassiter inspected the Imagination pavilion upstairs and down and "loves" it's potential. After tour hit Ellen's advent, had French Dip Burger at Electric Umbrella (yechh), Listen To The Land, Imagination and O Canada. If you haven't seen all of the films- I think they are all worthwhile, I think France is the best and it has seats, but the other two are very good. Left through Intl Gateway and boarded Friendship boat for Studios at about 5pm.

[denygold]

Studios feels crowded again tonight. Used FP+ at Great Movie Ride, but standby was only 10 min. Toy Story standby was 90 min when I cruised by. Spent some time in One Man's Dream, then had my health food dinner- Pretzel hot dog at Min & Bills! I am not a hot dog fan usually, but these are good. Watched Mulch Sweat & Shears do a set, then waded into Osborne Lights crowd. It was packed, but you could move in whatever direction you wanted. Lights are amazing as always. I watched the lights dance a couple of times, took the required photos and then waded out. I was on low energy alert, so I hit the road. I won't repeat my bus rant, all I will say is that I counted over 40 buses that arrived before Pop including three for Art Of Animation. The Pop line was spilling a long way up the sidewalk. Back in room before 8. Last park day tomorrow, Magic Kingdom & EPCOT.

[denygold]

Thursday November 20- Started at MK at about 10:30 am- it was already packed! Rode TTA, then headed for Columbia Harbour House at about 11:40 figuring that it at least wouldn't be crowded- wrong. Line to order was out the door, when I finally got tuna sandwich (excellent as always) there were no tables to be found, even upstairs- that was a first for me. I ended up at the outside tables a little towards Hall of Prez. While eating, I decided that the crowd was too much for me, so after I did a farewell ride on TTA, I got going towards Epcot.
Wait times were not incredibly bad at MK- some that I noted were Mansion 35, Pan 50, Pooh 35, Buzz 25, Space Mt 35- but there were droves of people everywhere. Made a beeline for express monorail only to find it closed ???
Went around to resort monorail line which was - what a surprise , packed. While waiting, my transportation karma decided on another trick- the express monorail suddenly opened - hah ! Oh well- another standing trip, I'm used to it.
Epcot monorail came fairly quickly, but it was just as crowded.

[denygold]

Arrived at Epcot at about 2pm, way earlier than I had planned- 7hrs til Illuminations !
Rode SSE- 10 min posted wait was about 5. Took a ride with Ellen for the third time, then hit Mexico- another first for me- the line for three Amigos is spilling out into Marketplace!
Skipped it for now and headed around World Showcase. Norway seems sad and abandoned, saw the flagwaver show in Italy- meh, it's ok. Got sucked in the Mitsukoshi vortex again and bought a couple more gifts. Not sure how I am going to possibly fit them all in suitcase. Saw American Adventure again- Voices of Liberty were not there- it was an instrumental group that was pretty good. I have a 6:35 ADR for Biergarten, so I went to Germany and found a bench to relax on and people watch. The check in for Biergarten is wildly busy- there is about a ten minute line just to tell them that you are there and get a pager! I am seated at about 6:50 with a couple from NY, a Disney photographer and a family from Ontario. My fears of going alone were resolved quickly as my table companions were excellent company.
Just like any buffet, there were highlights and lowlights, but I found plenty (tomato, cucumber & potato salads, pork roast, apple strudel and the berry compote- mmmm!) that was satisfying. The service was good and the show was entertaining. It is a little sticker shock to pay $66 for dinner when you have been eating counter svc all week! Went back to Mexico- rode Amigos (suggestion if you are tall- I am 6'4"- ask for the front row, lots of knee room). Found a spot for Illuminations near Norway, lots more people here tonight, so no front row view, but thats ok. I tried to figure out how many times I have seen Illuminations either 10 or 11. I never tire of it. Took a leisurely stroll around World Showcase, sat near fountain for a while (it is noticeably warmer tonight), then window shopped in Mousegear for a while. At about 10:20 I thought it might be safe to start out to bus. The gremlins had one more little surprise for me- at 10:30 the bus line for Pop was massive. I would guess about 4 bus loads or so. Hmm, the stop next door was Art of Animation- thought I would try it as there were only about ten people in that line. While waiting, one bus for Pop pulled up- didn't even make a dent in the line, next a double accordion bus filled for Pop, I still would have been a long way back in line. Art bus came- only about 3/4 full- I actually sat down on a bus! That was a rare occurence this week. Walk from Art bus stop to my room at Pop was about 8-10 minutes. Tomorrow- long day on planes.

[denygold]

Friday Nov 21- Hung out in room as long as I could because Magical Express bus is not until 12:55. Went and had lunch at everything Pop- realized that I had $33 Disney Visa gift card that I completely forgot to use, so I used it for lunch and a few snacks for plane. $4.50 left for next trip !! Trip back was looong, DME was efficient as usual, arrived at MCO at about 1:30, somehow I am on TSA pre check list- no idea why, but it is great- ripped through security check in about a minute and a half. Got to San Francisco at 12:10 am- (3:10 Florida time) home at 2:45 am. Last thoughts:

Pop Century- Buses are horrible!, Rooms are noisy, very thin walls (I took a white noise machine and was very glad I did). However- theming is great and I reminded myself every day that Caribbean or PO Riverside would have cost me about $50 a day more.

The week before Thanksgiving week- back in 2004 & 2006 when I brought my family here, this week was magically uncrowded. Disney has fixed that though- don't expect this week to be slow.

Disney employees- I am constantly amazed at how the cast members deal with what is thrown at them every day. The great majority that I encountered were cheerful and helpful.

Weather- You never know this time of year. It was fairly hot for a day or two, then a day later freezing.

Overall probably more positives than negatives for me this week. Trip ended on a high note as I had a great conversation on the last leg of flight with a lovely young lady from Brooklyn on her way to Berkely to visit her sister. There are lots of good things about going solo- the freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want is pretty incredible. Even things like navigating through a crowd become a lot simpler when you are not with someone else.
There are lots of experiences in WDW that would be better shared though- I have gone solo twice now and I think that I won't be back until I have someone to take. In my opinion it all boils down to your mental attitude going in, if you are positive and outgoing- solo will be great.

[stephicakes]

Thanks for the reports - enjoyed reading them! :thumbsup: Glad all went well and that you made it home safe :)

[denygold]

Thanks Stephi

[princessgirls]

Great trip!!!

Thanks for sharing with us!!!!

Julie:mickey: