Have Pen, Will Travel: A Solo Trip Report--Includes Dining and CSR Reviews and Photos! About This Page:

[Pixar Pixie]

Feel better soon!!!!

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

I read both your PTR & TR and have really enjoyed both! I took a solo trip myself in 2009 (TR can be found here: http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ly-4-24-a.html) and just had a fabulous time, as you seem to be doing!

Have you ever listened to the WDW Radio podcast? Lou Mongello is the host, and he takes "research" trips all the time! I think you'd really enjoy it. You can find it on iTunes or wdwradio.com.

Can't wait for more!

[elbodans]

Day 2 Part 1--Epcot Rope Drop and My First Time on Soarin!

The plan for day two was Epcot, park open to park close--and I’ll kill the suspense right now by proudly admitting that I made it--12 hours in Epcot! I think I could spend 12 days there, to be honest. It’s really my favorite park.

My transportation luck continued, as the second I placed by rear on the bench at the bus stop, an Epcot bus arrived--an EMPTY Epcot bus! Even after stopping at El Centro I was the only person on the bus, so the ride to Epcot was just for me!



The trip to Epcot took maybe six minutes; I arrived as the sun rose behind the golf ball...



Because Epcot is my favorite park, this is also my favorite photo op--I have photos of Spaceship Earth from almost every angle! I was fifth or sixth in line at the turnstiles, and met a very nice man also traveling alone, as well as the grandparent portion of a family traveling together. Once again I realize that even when you are traveling ‘alone’ in Disney, you’re never truly alone.

I was given some encouragement by the man I met to ride Everest the next day when at AK. I chickened out on my last trip, but this guy was so very enthusiastic about it, I assured him I’d be riding. He also gave me some pointers on how to get to Soarin first thing.

Silly me, I thought I needed DIRECTIONS to Soarin. Um...no. I just needed to follow EVERYONE ELSE IN THE PARK. I’ve never experienced anything like this--and it was a low crowd day! It was like a parade all the way to Soarin from the turnstiles, but when we finally stopped our early morning jog (could they put that ride any more out of the way???!!!???) this is where I was...



I had the first ride of the day!

I was seated in the middle row, in the middle of the right ‘unit’. There were feet above me, but I didn’t feel like that ruined my experience in any way. I did get a bit dizzy--and closed my eyes for a second during the opening cloud flying part--but I knew that would happen. For whatever reason, I’m perfectly fine with actual rides that go fast, but anything similar to an IMAX movie makes me dizzy. Go figure.

Of course I really enjoyed the ride--it is impossible to avoid smiling whilst on Soarin. However, I wasn’t as ‘swept away’ as I thought I would be. I think it was the transitions that bothered me--I wasn’t prepared for that, so I was a bit shocked. However, the smell of the orange groves was amazing! I now know why people get all misty eyed when talking about it!

Of course, as soon as I exited I grabbed a fastpass--it was 9:20 at this time, and my fastpass ‘matured’ at 10:45. Due to the fact that I knew it would be a long day, I decided to minimize walking as much as possible, which meant doing attractions based on location. Thus, I boarded Living with the Land, which I was quite excited about having seen lots of photos on here of ‘the giant lemon’--I needed to see it for myself. I was a bit more intrigued by the hanging pumpkins...



I can not wait to bring my mother here in May--she’s going to LOVE Living with the Land.

I started to feel badly about spending so much time indoors, so I headed outside for a bit, and made my way towards the seas...but not before pausing to take a few more photos of my favorite landmark...





I rode Nemo again, even though I didn’t love it the first time; as I came out I found Turtle Talk--which we missed on our first trip--and checked that out as well. Very cute! Crush actually picked on one of the moms in the audience, and it was amusing for the kids and the adults.

After Turtle Talk I contemplated roaming about the Seas to take notes, but I decided I’d ‘come back later’--yeah, much later. Like in May. It was around this time that I realized how many days of research I can do at Epcot, so most of that is going to have to wait for the Grand Research Trip in the fall (but more on that MUCH, much later--I have to get through this trip report first, and then the PTR for our May trip, and THEN I can discuss that--whew!)

As it wasn’t time for my Soarin fastpass quite yet, I decided to kill some time yet stay in the area by checking out Journey through Imagination. It was...different. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

It was approaching 10:45 at this point, so I headed back to Soarin...but not to ride. I returned to get a second fastpass so that when my friend arrived, she could ride, too. This is probably where I should tell you about my friend...

I have a friend, let’s call her Steph (because that’s her name!) Steph and I went to high school together--we actually used to be next door neighbors. She lives in the Tampa area, less than two hours from Disney, and she has a ten year old son. And she’d NEVER been to Disney before! She drove out to visit me when I was there for the convention in November, but it was very late at night and all we did was have dinner (at Flying Fish Cafe). This time she was actually going to do two parks, meeting me at Epcot around 3pm, staying at CSR with me overnight, and then accompanying me to Animal Kingdom the next morning.

Ok--now that you know all about my friend, you’ll understand why I wanted to get a fastpass for her. So I did. More on how that turned out later!

It was finally time to cross the park. I walked through both wings of Innoventions, where I decided I’d also need days and days to take notes, and found myself right here...



...and so I thought ‘why not?’ And entered the theater. I came in late for the intro video, and was quickly ushered into the seating area. Little did I know that this would be the ONLY quick thing about this ‘ride’!

I really liked Ellen’s Energy Adventure--truth be told, the dinosaur part is more like what I was hoping DINOSAUR would be like (anyone who read my first trip report knows that I was TERRIFIED by Dinosaur!) However, the worst part has to be exiting the theater. I’ve never been so blinded in all my life!

Skipping right over Mission Space (I’m still afraid--remember how I said I have an aversion to simulator rides?) I made my way to Test Track. My husband and I didn’t even consider this last time, as it does make a very scary, very fast sound. But the single rider line read only a 20 minute wait, so I thought--what the heck?



The sign lied. There was not a 20 minute wait. There was not a 2 minute wait. I walked directly onto the ride. Thus my love for single rider lines was born!

Up next--my Test Track experience, lunch at Les Chefs, tasting Beverly, and the arrival of my Florida friend!

Note--actual time elapsed for this entire post: 4.5 hours, 3.5 of which were IN epcot.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start to your day!

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince

I read both your PTR & TR and have really enjoyed both! I took a solo trip myself in 2009 (TR can be found here: http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ly-4-24-a.html) and just had a fabulous time, as you seem to be doing!

Have you ever listened to the WDW Radio podcast? Lou Mongello is the host, and he takes "research" trips all the time! I think you'd really enjoy it. You can find it on iTunes or wdwradio.com.

Can't wait for more!

i have not listened to the podcast, but i'm going to go look for it right now. i'd love to hear someone else's research trip experience!

i'm also going to check out your solo trip report. thanks for sharing!!!

EDIT--i'm loving your TR already! i just got to the 'took some pictures of the wall, got strange looks' part, and i'm literally laughing out loud, because that's EXACTLY what i did! ha! here...check this post out...http://virtualpassenger.wordpress.co...3/05/dont-ask/

[debrabrown]

I'm in awe.

[elbodans]

Day 2 Part 2--Test Track, The Flower and Garden Festival, Lunch at Les Chefs

Note--the following takes place in between the hours of 12:30 and 2:30pm. I think I understand why my feet (and legs...and hips...) hurt so badly!

Test Track was kind of like driving with my mother, particularly the brake test portion! Or, at least, driving with my mother back when she had a Mustang Cobra (she has a Forester now--MUCH less scary!) I was surprised at how much I liked the fast portion of the ride. The only part that made me a little uncomfortable was the fact that I was in the back--for some reason, going that fast makes more sense in the front of the car. But then perhaps if I sat in the ‘driver’s seat’, I would have felt like I should have been in control of the car!

Upon exiting Test Track I got my first real taste of the Flower and Garden Festival that had started the day before. Because the festival continues for several months, I ended up being here at the very beginning--day two--and I’ll be back with my mother at the very end! I walked through the Fairy Grove (that’s not what it is called, but I don’t remember what it IS called!) and thought these trees were interesting...



Upon exiting the ‘fairy area’, I couldn’t resist another shot of ‘the ball’, this time complete with F&G fest accents...



Then there were the topiaries. Oh the topiaries! Here’s one from one of my favorite movies...



The above display was in between the UK and France, and that’s where I was headed--a bit late for my 1:15 lunch reservation at Les Chefs. Fortunately, they were still able to seat me--after a maybe 10 minute wait. I hadn’t realized how close together the tables were--it really was like being in Paris in that aspect (but the waiters were nice and the bathrooms were free--sorry, but I spent two weeks in Paris last summer and won’t be going back--it’s a LONG story!) Still, I had no issue with dining alone here. Check me out, dining with myself in the mirror...



Can you find me? I’m wearing pink and holding my iPhone.

The menu was giving me Paris restaurant flashbacks, but I managed to order what was to become tied for best meal of the trip--the lobster bisque and the tomato and goat cheese flatbread.

First, let’s address the soup.



It was pretty good, after I added a bit of salt. It had become quite windy and a bit cool (and I was wearing yet another sun dress), so the warm soup really hit the spot. It is kind of hard to tell in the photo, but there was a pretty good amount of lobster lumped in the middle (it is all under the surface, kind of like a lobster ice burg!)

Now, on to the flatbread. Doesn’t it look like a pizza?



Yeah--it’s not. I don’t love pizza. I don’t even like pizza. Fortunately, this was not a pizza. This was pastry hand tossed by god himself, smeared with basil studded tomatoes and dotted with warm goat cheese. It. Was. Awesome. I have no idea how they get the crust so thin, but this is really what makes the dish...



People were looking at me funny as I tried to take this photo (go ahead--picture it in your head. A woman sitting alone, using her right hand to take a photo of the food in her left. It’s ok--you can laugh. Everyone else was, too!)

In between my soup and my flatbread, Remy was wheeled by. He didn’t stop at my table (thankfully--I’m good with eating solo, but not with entertaining a mouse whilst doing so!) but he did stop at the table next to mine. I snapped a pretty crummy photo and smiled.

My meal, with a glass of Beaujolais, came to $31.26, $7 of which was the wine, so $24.26 for just the food, including tip. Not bad.

As I left Les Chefs, I texted my friend to see where she was. Her reply? Turning onto Lake Buena Vista Drive! Good thing I asked--I was originally planning on circling World Showcase before her arrival. Instead, I sauntered back towards the park gates, stopping briefly in Canada to check out a (Canadian?) bagpipe band...



And to click a few photos of the Canada Pavilion, as this was the only Pavilion we missed on our last trip (because of my husband’s infatuation with the Cider in the UK pavilion’s pub!)



On my way back into Futureworld, I got a better idea of what this whole Flower Garden Fest thing is all about. How beautiful...



Up next--meeting my friend and drinking in WS!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update! That pastry pizza thingy looks delish!

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

Originally Posted by elbodans

EDIT--i'm loving your TR already! i just got to the 'took some pictures of the wall, got strange looks' part, and i'm literally laughing out loud, because that's EXACTLY what i did!

I know what you mean! I was taking notes on my iPhone during the Keys to the kingdom tour (highly recommend it, BTW!) and the tour guide stopped the tour to ask me "What ARE you doing?!?" I told her I was taking notes and read them back to her so she wouldn't think I was texting!

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince

I know what you mean! I was taking notes on my iPhone during the Keys to the kingdom tour (highly recommend it, BTW!) and the tour guide stopped the tour to ask me "What ARE you doing?!?" I told her I was taking notes and read them back to her so she wouldn't think I was texting!

nice! i should have done that--the reading back what i'd written--several times on the trip. i tried to smile at as many people as possible in a 'i'm NOT A jerk walking around texting, i really like it here i swear!' kind of way, but i'm sure many people went home with stories of 'that odd lonely woman texting on the rides'!

[elbodans]

Day 2 Part 3--Club Cool and my not-solo-anymore Drinking Around the World (mis)adventure!


I realized I was making pretty good time, and didn’t want to arrive at the turnstiles too far before my friend arrived. So I stopped by Club Cool to try out the different soda products. This is one thing that I didn’t even know existed on my last trip--I believe I scribbled ‘I can’t believe I missed this!’ in the margin of my guidebook when I first learned about it. And I have to admit--I really liked Beverly, the drink that no one likes. It is bitter in the same way Tanqueray and Tonic is (and I love that!)



My only complaint about Club Cool is that it is a bit wasteful. I wished the machines didn’t dispense so much at at time--it was impossible to pour just a sip. Each time you tried a new one, the machine filled up the (admittedly very small) cup entirely. I’d have tried all of them, but I feared a tour of ‘Restrooms around the World’! (though that is kind of what I did later that evening...but more on that later!)

I made it to the turnstiles as my friend entered, and we did the whole hugging thing, and tried to chat as we’ve not seen each other since November, but the entrance to Epcot isn’t the best place for a conversation! She pointed to Spaceship Earth and asked if ‘that was a ride’ and I said yes, but I’d never been on it. So we hopped on. There was no line, though we did have to walk through the queue, but all of a sudden we were on board and my friend was saying something like ‘oh my goodness, we’re ON a ride already!’ I think she was picturing really long lines. Nope! Yay for low crowd days!

We both really enjoyed Spaceship Earth (and I took some notes). What I didn’t realize was that was to be my last ride of the evening (and possibly of the trip). Why? Because I’d failed to take into account that into my solo world entered--gasp--another person! And that other person had things she wanted to do--namely, drink around the world.

If you read my last trip report, you are required to be thinking ‘here we go again!’.

If you didn’t read it, here’s the short version of the story--my husband wanted to ‘drink around the world’, and while I did join him and did have a couple of drinks here and there, he DID drink (a LOT) around the world, and then I became in charge of him as he de-evolved into a drunken mess.

To save you some time reading (and me some time typing) know that this evening was to turn out pretty much the same way. Only less fun somehow--perhaps because I drank even less (and was trying to get work done).

Here’s my first drink--a cucumber margarita from Cava de Tequila...



And here’s where I gave up trying to do research--when my friend purchased the Wine Walk for us to share...



We started there, in Germany (the CM let me borrow the map from the counter, which I was using to show my friend where my husband and I want to go for our summer vacation), and continued in Italy. In Italy, we purchased additional drinks to go with our wine walk sampling...



The bubbly red stuff was really good, and in really pretty glasses. Yay for Disney marketing--we bought them because other people had them and they ‘looked cool’; while we sipped ours at a bistro table, others wandering by saw them and asked what they were, thus repeating the cycle.

All in all, it was a fun night. However, it was very difficult going from the ‘I can do whatever I want’ mindset to the ‘I’m trying to make sure my friend has a good time’ mindset--especially because her idea of a good time was getting absolutely plastered.

And my biggest regret of the evening? Not getting the School Bread in Norway! Grrr!

My other biggest regret? Missing dinner entirely! I had 9:45pm reservations at Blue Zoo, so the plan was to watch Illuminations and then walk to the Dolphin for dinner, catching a cab home. Well, after drinking her way around the world, my friend was in no condition for that. She’s half my size and drank twice as much, if not more. Though we did make it TO Blue Zoo, just not INTO Blue Zoo.

After Illuminations (with which she was not impressed) we took a boat to the Dolphin instead of walking, which likely was my major mistake--she sort of fell asleep on the boat (I’d call it ‘passing out’, but that sounds harsh). So when we arrived at the Dolphin, she was more interested in sleeping on the couches in the lobby than having dinner. So, instead, I found the valet and then waited a VERY (very very) long time for a cab back. While I would definitely stay at this hotel in the future (for a number of reasons), it is definitely not Disney-run.

When we (finally) arrived back in the room (around 10pm), my friend took three steps toward the bed, laid down with her shoes on, curled up in a ball, and promptly fell asleep for the rest of the night.

I put a glass of watered-down gatorade on the table next to her head. I contemplated putting the garbage can there, too, but decided against it.

For those of you wondering how much it costs to Drink Around the World, I can’t exactly tell you, as I didn’t drink at every country (or even every other country) and we took turns buying each other drinks. My total bill for that night was...doing math...$72.64. This included two margaritas, a glass of Reisling, two glasses of fizzy red Italian ‘champagne’, one glass of Moroccan wine, the Napoleon pastry pictured below, and one pint of cider. Please note, that was not all for me--three of the drinks were for my friend (so I suppose I’m not entirely free from blame for her drunken-ness!)

While I didn’t get to have dinner, I did make sure to stop at the one place I refused to miss--the Caramel Shop in Germany. While I didn’t get to leisurely browse the offerings, taking pictures and sampling, I did get to split a bag of caramel popcorn with my friend. Mmmm...fresh caramel corn...



Additionally, later that night when my friend decided she needed food (a good two hours after she clearly needed food), we happened to be in France. She settled on a ham and cheese baguette (of which she ate maybe two bites) and I ordered a Napoleon. This photo was taken to send to my husband at home...how mean am I?



Oh, and speaking of mean, here’s another mean pic for my husband--me in front of his favorite ‘pub’.



I’d be holding a cider, but I don’t drink cider (and that would be REALLY mean!) I’m taking this pic of myself, because at this point I don’t trust my friend to hold my iPhone (she had actually just shattered her own on the pavement in France--bummer!)

The plan for Day Three--take the friend to Animal Kingdom AND try to get some work done!

The question--will I be brave enough to ride Everest???

[CinderAbby]

Wow - a lot of updates to read today and I don't even know where to begin with my comments.

Imagination - go ahead, say it. The ride totally stinks (in more ways than one). Disney really screwed up IMO when they took out the old Imagination ride and put that one in.

Mission Space - I don't blame you for passing it by. We went on the tame version and I went on it thinking I would be fine and Lenny and/or Abby might have a problem. It didn't quite happen that way. They were fine and I'm the one who got sick .

As far as your friend, you're much nicer than I would have been. I wouldn't have even joined her in her quest of Around the World in the first place let alone stay long enough to make sure she was someplace safe for the night.

Other than that, I've enjoyed your updates and I'm looking forward to more.

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

I forgot to ask: what is the monopod for the iPhone called? I totally need one of those!

Sorry about the repeat of your last caring-for-a-drunk-around-the-world. Doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun. AND it made you miss your carefully planned ADR at Bluezoo. Just means you'll have to go back sometime!

[MelissaSue]

So sorry you're sick!!

And I can't believe you managed to spends 12 straight hours in a park!! I would need a break like whoa!!

Love your comments on Club Cool--I also hate how much it dispenses!! It's so frustrating, because you end up spilling a little or getting it on your fingers. Sticky!

Also sorry about your friend ... such a bummer to get stuck being a babysitter on your vacation.

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

Wow - a lot of updates to read today and I don't even know where to begin with my comments.

Imagination - go ahead, say it. The ride totally stinks (in more ways than one). Disney really screwed up IMO when they took out the old Imagination ride and put that one in.

Mission Space - I don't blame you for passing it by. We went on the tame version and I went on it thinking I would be fine and Lenny and/or Abby might have a problem. It didn't quite happen that way. They were fine and I'm the one who got sick .

As far as your friend, you're much nicer than I would have been. I wouldn't have even joined her in her quest of Around the World in the first place let alone stay long enough to make sure she was someplace safe for the night.

Other than that, I've enjoyed your updates and I'm looking forward to more.

i'm glad i never knew the old imagination ride--having had something (better) to compare it to would have made it worse!

thanks for the heads up on the tame version of mission space. i was seriously considering it, but i have some fairly serious issues with enclosed spaces, so it may be the one ride i never ride.

as for the taking care of my friend thing--i'm really not a good person! and i did have a good time--it was just a very different experience than i'd anticipated. i didn't even write the worst part yet!