With Every Passing Hour, I'm So Glad I Left My Tower! My Solo Birthday Adventure *NEW 3/5

[SarahDisney]

I love your It's a Small World pictures! I totally agree with you - it always makes me happy - so I love seeing pictures!

I love all of your PhotoPass pictures! That Lumiere magic shot ... so nice of him to personally invite you to lunch!

 

[Saphire5742]

I love It’s a Small World. It is such a classic and it always makes me happy.

Me too! And your photos turned out great.

Love that photo of you and Lumiere.

 

[PippiDancer]

Congrats on getting Be Our Guest and (Pre-Park!!) Crystal Palace! Those are both awesome!

Thank you! I still can't believe I was able to get those reservations!

I'm so impressed by your reservations...and jealous! Dinner at Be our Guest is something I'd really like to try but only been able to get lunch before. That will be awesome. Your other ones sound great too.

I've been trying to get a dinner reservation at Be Our Guest since it opened. I can't wait to try it!

I love your It's a Small World pictures! I totally agree with you - it always makes me happy - so I love seeing pictures!

I love all of your PhotoPass pictures! That Lumiere magic shot ... so nice of him to personally invite you to lunch!

How can anyone be unhappy on the happiest cruise that ever sailed? I felt very honored that Lumiere invited me to the Master's castle for lunch. It was very delicious.

Me too! And your photos turned out great.

Love that photo of you and Lumiere.

Thank you!

 

[PippiDancer]

After my journey under the sea I wondered over to Storybook Circus.



And visited my favorite flying elephant





I only waited a few minutes before my flight






I love the details!






Great views!

Next I looked around Big Top Souvenirs and then checked out the Storybook Circus area a little bit.

 

[PippiDancer]

At this point it was about 10:30, I had a reservation for Be Our Guest at 11:20 so I wanted to stay in the area to minimize walking. I wasn’t really sure what to do since I had done pretty much everything I had wanted to do in the New Fantasyland area.

I found a bench and did a little people watching. Since I had already been on Peter Pan’s Flight I decided to change my later fp+ to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for 1:45.

While I was on the app I decided to check the wait time for Pete’s Silly Sideshow and found that Minnie/Daisy was only about 15 minutes so I headed there next.





There were only 5 or 6 families in front of me so I didn’t wait very long. It was fun watching the kids in front of me meeting the characters. There was one little girl who was SO excited to meet Daisy. She was dancing in line and when it was her turn she screamed “Daaaiisssyyy I love you!!” while running in for the biggest hug. It was so adorable.

And then it was my turn! It was the first time I met Daisy





She was so sweet, although it was a quick meet.

I had to wait a few more minutes to meet Minnie.





I told Minnie that she was my favorite and she told me she loved me too. But it was another quick meet

I thought about meeting Donald and Goofy but it was already 11 and I didn’t want to risk being late for my BoG reservation.

I went back over to the Belle area



I saw that Gaston was out so I decided to kill time by watching him. Which was hilarious.



There was one girl (college aged?) wearing a tank top with Belle and the Beast on it and Gaston made her wear her backpack on the front to cover the Beast. And there were some people with a selfie stick that he was making fun of. There was a little boy standing in front of me who started yelling to him so Gaston came over to talk to him for a second and before he went back to meeting he saw my birthday button and said Happy Birthday to me, along with a wink.

 

[SarahDisney]

I love your pictures with Minnie and Daisy!
Gaston is hysterical to watch. He really says and does the funniest things. I love that he wished you a Happy Birthday!

 

[Saphire5742]

There was one little girl who was SO excited to meet Daisy. She was dancing in line and when it was her turn she screamed “Daaaiisssyyy I love you!!” while running in for the biggest hug. It was so adorable.

I love seeing people especially little kids get excited about characters

I saw that Gaston was out so I decided to kill time by watching him. Which was hilarious

Smart idea. I love him. So very hilarious

before he went back to meeting he saw my birthday button and said Happy Birthday to me, along with a wink.

Awwww, lucky you! Love that he noticed your birthday button

 

[PippiDancer]

I love your pictures with Minnie and Daisy!
Gaston is hysterical to watch. He really says and does the funniest things. I love that he wished you a Happy Birthday!

Watching Gaston is a definitely a great way to kill some time. He is hilarious!

I love seeing people especially little kids get excited about characters

Smart idea. I love him. So very hilarious

Awwww, lucky you! Love that he noticed your birthday button

Watching little kids meet characters is always fun, I love catching a glimpse of the magic through their eyes.
Gaston is hilarious. I may have swooned a little when he said happy birthday to me

 

[PippiDancer]

And then it was time for a very important reservation! When Lumiere personally invites you to be his guest, you show up on time!







I had placed my order ahead of time so I skipped the ordering area and went straight to find a seat.

I tried to find a table next to the windows so I could watch the snow, but the Ball Room was packed and there wasn’t anything available. I was finally able to find a small table against the back wall underneath a little overhang.



The waitress brought me an empty cup for my soda to fill myself. This is one of the biggest down sides of a solo trip. I had to get up to get my soda, but I didn’t want to lose my table. So I left my bag at the table to save it, hoped no one would steal my stuff, and got my drink as quickly as possible.

Be Our Guest is my absolute favorite restaurant! The atmosphere is absolutely gorgeous and can not be beat. However, I’m not crazy about their lunch menu. I’m not really a sandwich person. So I decided to have a small lunch, just so I get back into this amazing castle. I had Potato Leek Soup and a Master’s cupcake.





The soup was good, very creamy and flavorful. Although it wasn’t the most amazing thing ever, I would definitely get it again and again since it the most appealing thing on the lunch menu for me and I just need to eat at Be Our Guest whenever possible. I can’t wait to have dinner there on my upcoming trip!! I still can’t believe I actually got a dinner reservation for Be Our Guest!



The cupcake was good, but nothing special. I hate those stupid cupcake wrappers. They are impossible to get off and I ended up eating my cupcake out of it with a fork, which isn’t the ideal way to eat a cupcake.


So beautiful!

After I finished eating I checked out the other rooms.



The West Wing has amazing themeing, but I don’t think I would ever want to eat in here. Especially when the Ballroom is an option.


I love that the rose is in here!

 

[PippiDancer]

On the way out I tried taking a selfie with the mosaic (the most perfect mosaic ever), which is really hard to do. Luckily a woman walked by and offered to take a picture for me.


One of my favorite pictures from the trip!

 

[PippiDancer]

After my lunch at the Beast’s castle I decided to visit Belle



And I GOT A RED CARD!


I just really love them, ok! No judgment.

I really love the theming of this queue, it really feels like you stepped into Belle’s cottage.







This line took forever, it took so long to get inside and it was so hot out. Plus most of the line was in direct sunlight, it was not fun.








I’ve never done Enchanted Tales with Belle before, so I took advantage of the slow moving line to take in all the details.

And I finally made it to the enchanted mirror. This is the one time I actually kept track of the wait time, I take my responsibility as red card bearer very seriously. The posted wait was 20 minutes, but I waited 30. Ok, I know 30 minutes isn't really that long of a wait, but it felt a lot longer, and it was one of the longest waits of the trip.





It was a pretty cute show.

 

[PippiDancer]

And then it was time for my Seven Dwarfs Mine Train FP





After that I just wondered around Fantasyland a little bit. Taking pictures, of course.









I took a little break in the Tangled area to rest my feet. Which is a gorgeous area, by the way.







I posted this (awfully lit) picture on instagram with the caption “with every passing hour I’m so glad I left my tower” and the TR tittle was born.

Warning: slightly long rant ahead.

It is the perfect quote to explain this trip. I’ve always been a shy, introverted, socially anxious person. I always hated being alone in public because I felt so awkward. In college, if none of my friends were able to go to dinner with me I would eat in my room instead of going to the cafeteria alone. And I when we went out to eat I used to make other people ask the waiter for something for me. But when I decided to go on this solo trip I took a huge step out of my comfort zone, my tower. And it made me grow as a person. Now I have no trouble asking for things at a restaurant or standing up for myself instead of avoiding conflicts. And now I don’t think twice about going to the movies or doing anything by myself. Something I would have never consider doing before. Not to mention I had an amazing Disney trip that I otherwise would have missed out on. So, with every passing hour I’m so glad I left my tower.

Ok, rant over. Now back to Disney.

 

[mdsouth]

Thanks for sharing your background and the reason for your title! WOW! GOOD for you! I am so glad that you planned and went on the solo trip to Disney. It is wonderful that the trip and your experiences there have given you the confidence to do things on your own at home that you would not have done before.

It is a nice feeling to know that you can take care of yourself and can do things on your own! Way to go! I have a feeling that you will be helping others do the same thing with this TR and the sharing of your own experiences.

 

[krysenchips]

Warning: slightly long rant ahead.

It is the perfect quote to explain this trip. I’ve always been a shy, introverted, socially anxious person. I always hated being alone in public because I felt so awkward. In college, if none of my friends were able to go to dinner with me I would eat in my room instead of going to the cafeteria alone. And I when we went out to eat I used to make other people ask the waiter for something for me. But when I decided to go on this solo trip I took a huge step out of my comfort zone, my tower. And it made me grow as a person. Now I have no trouble asking for things at a restaurant or standing up for myself instead of avoiding conflicts. And now I don’t think twice about going to the movies or doing anything by myself. Something I would have never consider doing before. Not to mention I had an amazing Disney trip that I otherwise would have missed out on. So, with every passing hour I’m so glad I left my tower.

Ok, rant over. Now back to Disney.

As someone with similar (I don't want to call them issues....) personality traits, I can completely understand this. It took me until I was a bit older than you to figure these things out and Disney is such a great place for solos with these traits. I'm very glad that you were able to broaden your horizons based on your experience at Disney!

I just binge-read your entire report, and have to say it looks you had an amazing time! I'm looking forward to reading more!

 

[SarahDisney]

I think everyone likes getting the red card

I love all of your pictures from the Enchanted Tales queue - I agree, it definitely is so well themed!

Thank you for sharing that insight into your history. I'm someone who has had similar situations in the past (you don't want to know how many times I've skipped events because my friends weren't there and I had nobody to sit with), and I definitely agree that taking that first step outside of your tower really makes a difference and helps you grow!

 

[PippiDancer]

Thanks for sharing your background and the reason for your title! WOW! GOOD for you! I am so glad that you planned and went on the solo trip to Disney. It is wonderful that the trip and your experiences there have given you the confidence to do things on your own at home that you would not have done before.

It is a nice feeling to know that you can take care of yourself and can do things on your own! Way to go! I have a feeling that you will be helping others do the same thing with this TR and the sharing of your own experiences.

Thank you! I always say that Disney helped me grow as a person, people often think I'm exaggerating, but it is very true.

As someone with similar (I don't want to call them issues....) personality traits, I can completely understand this. It took me until I was a bit older than you to figure these things out and Disney is such a great place for solos with these traits. I'm very glad that you were able to broaden your horizons based on your experience at Disney!

I just binge-read your entire report, and have to say it looks you had an amazing time! I'm looking forward to reading more!

Welcome and thanks for reading! Disney is an amazing place for solo trips

I think everyone likes getting the red card

I love all of your pictures from the Enchanted Tales queue - I agree, it definitely is so well themed!

Thank you for sharing that insight into your history. I'm someone who has had similar situations in the past (you don't want to know how many times I've skipped events because my friends weren't there and I had nobody to sit with), and I definitely agree that taking that first step outside of your tower really makes a difference and helps you grow!

Red cards are the best! It's almost like winning a lottery when you get them.

 

[PippiDancer]

My fastpass+ for Big Thunder Mountain was coming up, so I started heading in that direction.





There was still time until my fp window opened so I decided to check out the Enchanted Tiki Room.







The man sitting next to me noticed I was taking pictures during the preshow and insisted that I switch spots with him so I could get a better picture without the post in the way. It was such a considerate thing to do.



I had never seen it before, it was a cute show, very...interesting. I’m glad I saw it after I went on the Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour. I had more appreciation for it after hearing the story behind the creation of the attraction.

After the show it seemed like the perfect time to try my very first Dole Whip. I decided to go with the float and managed to find a table in the shade.



I have to admit, it wasn’t my favorite. I wasn’t expecting the ice cream to actually be floating on top of the pineapple juice. (I know its called a float but all other ice cream floats I’ve had never had the ice cream actually floating on top.) I couldn’t actually get to the juice while eating the ice cream part, so the juice was kind of pointless. And it was incredibly sticky and messy to eat, even with it sitting on a table. Plus it was just way too sweet for me, and I usually like sweet things. I would be willing to try a Dole Whip again without the float. But I thought the Citrus Swirl was better.

My original plan was to eat my Dole Whip, go ride BTMRR, and then get a spot for Festival of Fantasy. But while I was eating I realized that I was exhausted and wouldn’t have enough time for that. So I decided to skip BTMRR and go back to the hotel after FoF. I changed my BTMRR fastpass and my 3:55 Splash Mountain fastpass to 6:30 and 7:30. And then I headed down Main Street to get my spot for Festival of Fantasy, I had a very specific place that I wanted to watch from.

 

[KathyM2]

Thanks for sharing regarding doing things solo. I have a similar feeling about going to restaurants and movies alone. I would love to do a solo trip like this...maybe one day I will get up the nerve. I'm glad to hear it was such a positive experience for you and it helped you get over some anxiety.

 

[oceanmarina]

Really enjoyed reading your updates, I also know what you mean about feeling shy eating out alone in public, i'm the same way, so glad this solo trip gave you that confidence boost!

Love, love love the title of your TR

 

[Bailey22]

Warning: slightly long rant ahead.

It is the perfect quote to explain this trip. I’ve always been a shy, introverted, socially anxious person. I always hated being alone in public because I felt so awkward. In college, if none of my friends were able to go to dinner with me I would eat in my room instead of going to the cafeteria alone. And I when we went out to eat I used to make other people ask the waiter for something for me. But when I decided to go on this solo trip I took a huge step out of my comfort zone, my tower. And it made me grow as a person. Now I have no trouble asking for things at a restaurant or standing up for myself instead of avoiding conflicts. And now I don’t think twice about going to the movies or doing anything by myself. Something I would have never consider doing before. Not to mention I had an amazing Disney trip that I otherwise would have missed out on. So, with every passing hour I’m so glad I left my tower.

Just stumbled across your report and wanted to chime in on this part! Not gonna lie, I'm crying a little because what you wrote was perfect and really hit home for me. It always makes me so happy when people talk about finding courage from Disney because I'm the exact same way and it's nice to know others share that experience! I'm taking a solo birthday adventure myself next month and I hope I can have as much success with mine as you've seemed to have with yours!