The13thLetter
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2018
Hey everyone, here again with another just back post (this one will be shorter I promise).
I ended up having a work conference near Orlando Sunday night to Wednesday so me and my annual pass flew down a day early to have some solo fun.
I got in early Saturday morning and the wait for the magical express was not bad at all. The ride was quick as well and I ended up dropping my carry-on bags with bell services, changed in the bathroom of Riverside (it was pretty cold when I left NY), and jumped on a bus for HS.
At HS I really only did some exploring and eating (again stopping at woody's lunch box for the grilled cheese, raspberry tart, and grownup lemonade). SDD was 120 minute wait so I skipped it (if it was 60 i probably would have grabbed another grown up lemonade and did the wait). After lunch I grabbed a beer from baseline taphouse, bought by little guy a Muppet Babies Kermit doll, then took the walk to Epcot.
On the way I stopped at Ample Hill on the boardwalk for some butter cake ice cream because why not.
Epcot was pretty busy compared to the times I have been there in the last 4-5 years. There was even a line to just get to the bar area of Rose and Crown which I had never seen. I walked around quite a bit, revisiting some food and wine booth favorites from last month's trip, grabbed my AP Mickey cutting board and drank around the world (10 of the 11 countries at least). I rode Soarin and then deciding to check my Disney app to see about fast passes at MK. I originally planned on staying to see Illuminations one more time (in case it was gone by my trip next year) but since I was able to make a fast pass for Splash Mountain and MK was open until 11, I headed over.
Got off the monorail at MK around 8, rode Splash Mountain, watched the fireworks, did a few more rides I missed last month (lines were non existent after happily ever after), tried to get cheeseburger spring rolls (they were done for the day), watched the kiss goodnight, bought my wife a Disney spirit jersey, checked out what places were still open after park close (which actually seemed like quite a bit; Casey's still had a line for food around 1130) then headed back to Riverside.
Back at Riverside I had to grab my bags, find my room, and finally stop moving for a few minutes before I went to bed.
Next day I got up and explored the Riverside resort and let me just say that it is beautiful. It really was a perfect weather day and that just made the resort seem that much more spectacular. I told myself I did not really want to stay at resorts that were so large and had 4 or 5 bus stops, but I may have to reconsider.
After I was done walking around a bit I took a boat to Disney springs, had brunch at Art Smith's and then the Cap'n Crunch Ice Cream at sprinkles.
After going with my wife multiple times, and last month us going with our little one, this first solo trip was definitely different in both good and bad ways. Obviously I was a bit lonely but made friends waiting in lines and such. My "Disney Resort Check Out Depression" was wayyy more than normal and I attribute that mostly to my wife and son not being there for me to sort of sit back and think about how much fun we all just had and how soon the next trip is. I did get to do "whatever I wanted" which was a fun part of the trip since I tend to be preoccupied with making sure everyone else is having a good time and enjoying their trip.
The next planned trip is at the end of August and will be with my wife, my son (who will be a little over 1 by then) and my parents (first time with me since I was a kid) so that will definitely be another one I will write about as it will be a brand new experience for us all (if of course I haven't been kicked off the board by then for rambling too much).
Anyway, just wanted to post something since I had never gone by myself or done a 1 day trip (hitting 3 of 4 parks, not too shabby) and thought maybe others who have done this before or may want to in the future could see how it was.
Cheers!
I ended up having a work conference near Orlando Sunday night to Wednesday so me and my annual pass flew down a day early to have some solo fun.
I got in early Saturday morning and the wait for the magical express was not bad at all. The ride was quick as well and I ended up dropping my carry-on bags with bell services, changed in the bathroom of Riverside (it was pretty cold when I left NY), and jumped on a bus for HS.
At HS I really only did some exploring and eating (again stopping at woody's lunch box for the grilled cheese, raspberry tart, and grownup lemonade). SDD was 120 minute wait so I skipped it (if it was 60 i probably would have grabbed another grown up lemonade and did the wait). After lunch I grabbed a beer from baseline taphouse, bought by little guy a Muppet Babies Kermit doll, then took the walk to Epcot.
On the way I stopped at Ample Hill on the boardwalk for some butter cake ice cream because why not.
Epcot was pretty busy compared to the times I have been there in the last 4-5 years. There was even a line to just get to the bar area of Rose and Crown which I had never seen. I walked around quite a bit, revisiting some food and wine booth favorites from last month's trip, grabbed my AP Mickey cutting board and drank around the world (10 of the 11 countries at least). I rode Soarin and then deciding to check my Disney app to see about fast passes at MK. I originally planned on staying to see Illuminations one more time (in case it was gone by my trip next year) but since I was able to make a fast pass for Splash Mountain and MK was open until 11, I headed over.
Got off the monorail at MK around 8, rode Splash Mountain, watched the fireworks, did a few more rides I missed last month (lines were non existent after happily ever after), tried to get cheeseburger spring rolls (they were done for the day), watched the kiss goodnight, bought my wife a Disney spirit jersey, checked out what places were still open after park close (which actually seemed like quite a bit; Casey's still had a line for food around 1130) then headed back to Riverside.
Back at Riverside I had to grab my bags, find my room, and finally stop moving for a few minutes before I went to bed.
Next day I got up and explored the Riverside resort and let me just say that it is beautiful. It really was a perfect weather day and that just made the resort seem that much more spectacular. I told myself I did not really want to stay at resorts that were so large and had 4 or 5 bus stops, but I may have to reconsider.
After I was done walking around a bit I took a boat to Disney springs, had brunch at Art Smith's and then the Cap'n Crunch Ice Cream at sprinkles.
After going with my wife multiple times, and last month us going with our little one, this first solo trip was definitely different in both good and bad ways. Obviously I was a bit lonely but made friends waiting in lines and such. My "Disney Resort Check Out Depression" was wayyy more than normal and I attribute that mostly to my wife and son not being there for me to sort of sit back and think about how much fun we all just had and how soon the next trip is. I did get to do "whatever I wanted" which was a fun part of the trip since I tend to be preoccupied with making sure everyone else is having a good time and enjoying their trip.
The next planned trip is at the end of August and will be with my wife, my son (who will be a little over 1 by then) and my parents (first time with me since I was a kid) so that will definitely be another one I will write about as it will be a brand new experience for us all (if of course I haven't been kicked off the board by then for rambling too much).
Anyway, just wanted to post something since I had never gone by myself or done a 1 day trip (hitting 3 of 4 parks, not too shabby) and thought maybe others who have done this before or may want to in the future could see how it was.
Cheers!
