Solo trip #2 Nov 13-21

[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! Glad all went well and that you made it home safe

[denygold]

Thanks Stephi

[princessgirls]

Great trip!!!

Thanks for sharing with us!!!!

Julie