After a long hiatus, I went back, Solo! - Trip 2 - Pre-Trip
(Me) - Former quasi-Disney expert, just past 50 years old.
Resort:
Disney's Yacht Club
Dates:
January 7-11th
I first stepped foot in Walt Disney World in August of 1978. I was a little kid. I remember a little bit – it was extremely hot and everything was fuzzy (we would not discover that I was very near-sighted for another 4 years). I am glad that we took pictures because that is how I eventually “saw” Disney World. Well, actually I had to wait until we got the pictures developed once we were back home, where I could study them closely. I enjoyed tagging along with my “perfect sighted” siblings and parents. I also used my other senses to experience that vacation. I enjoyed myself very much as my mind was on record listening to my family’s banter about what they could see. I did not realize that I had a problem, I could see things close up & I just thought they had wild imaginations about the stuff far away. I especially was baffled when we were on the monorail approaching WDW for the first time and they were taking pictures of animals out the window. Later, when I saw the pictures, I was introduced to Disney topiaries for the first time! It made sense, the shrubs actually looked like elephants and other animals! Awesome!!!
I did not return to WDW again until after I graduated from college. Part of my family had recently relocated to Florida and my parents had a vacation spot there about 70 miles from WDW. I basically took nearly every vacation from work in Florida over the years, and I spent at least some time in WDW, along with the other theme parks and Florida Attractions. I liked Disney best, but I never stayed on property; I always drove back and forth to our home in Florida.
Well, that’s until my siblings got married and started making me an aunt, eventually 7 times over. When those little nieces and nephews got to be “Disney” aged. I would take them to Disney & eventually we stayed on property at Port Orleans Riverside – Alligator Bayou (I figured out that kids need naps & pools) to keep them happy in WDW, lol. In time, I got really good at being a “tour guide” for aunts & uncles, a grandparent, my parents, nieces & nephews, and a bunch of cousins. That is how I gained my deeper “knowledge of Disney”.
Eventually I had the privilege of putting this knowledge to “work for Disney” and that was mind-blowingly supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! When I was being trained for “working” at Disney, I had to attend training and they put us in The Yacht Club because it has a Conference Center. Although I love POR, the close proximity to Epcot won my immediate family over – especially my dad (we took our reward trip there as a family). Now, personally & I’d gratefully pick either Resort because I like the boat ride to Disney Springs & walking to get beignets at POFQ. However, for safety reasons (since I was going to be alone), my dad wanted me to go back to the Yacht Club for this trip too, so I did.
As I mentioned in the last report, I got a “Bounce Back” offer and I needed to log a few more days in the parks to make having an Incredi-Pass a bit more “profitable” by my calculations. It was not actually the “Bounce Back” offer that I took to be exact. I could not decide when to return, but I knew it would not be in August or during any school holidays, so I could avoid crowds and insure my time off from work. Disney announced early January discounts and that aligned with some of the lowest traditional crowd levels. Besides this was the time of when I would go to Florida and then I’d go again in October - when we had a house there. I took that offer. My dad declined returning outright because he said WDW annually is enough for him. :0
I started asking friends and family if they wanted to go with me to Disney. My sister was recovering from major surgery & her youngest kid broke her foot a week before I left (plus I would have been pulling her out of 9th grade – which is not good). The other nephews, nieces, cousins, relatives & my friends were either in school, recovering from surgery, or working. They could not join me, which left just me … I went alone. 😊
My goal on this trip was to go the road less travelled. Dad and I rode the major attractions and did the things new to us; but we skipped shows and lesser experiences due to time restraints and eventually illness. There were a few things that we did in the Magic Kingdom on my 1st trip that I never did again. For once in my life, I was not playing tour guide for anybody, so I could enjoy simple rides, details, and ambiance at my own pace and for my own enjoyment. Believe it or not this thought was both exhilarating and terrifying. I imagined 5 days of eating alone, not waiting in ride lines with people I knew (and not being able to talk to them), and not having someone there with me who knows my medical needs in case I had a crisis (most concerning I tend to be hypoglycemic & experience syncope. Basically, I will get dizzy and pass out from asthma. Especially when changing my routine of diet, medication and/or exercise - if I’m not careful – it is weird). Oh well, I packed carefully for every scenario, and I’ve been to Canada, Aruba & Hawaii by myself before without any incidents – why would this be any different? :D
Next: Day 1 – Hollywood Studios
