What A Short, Strange Trip It...Will Be: Solo PTR About This Page:

[elbodans]

Greetings all! I so enjoyed writing my trip report for my last-slash-first Disney trip, I thought I’d write pre-trip and post-trip reports for my next two (actually, I will probably be writing ‘during trip’ reports, too!) Trip number two is the trip I’ll have the most to share about, as that’s a much longer trip (and obsessively planned) but trip number one is, obviously, first...so away I go...

The basic information:

Cast of Characters--Me! Due to the nature of this ‘strange trip’, I’m going solo!
Setting--Coronado Springs Resort

The back story: I’m going to try to do this as briefly as possible, but it starts so long ago...ahem....

A little over two years ago (told you!), after dealing with crippling pain for years, I was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. In order to fix said crippling pain and preserve my fertility (supposedly), I had the ‘three’ fibroids they thought I had removed. The three turned out to be twelve (!), and I was so happy to have them gone. My whole life was improved--no more pain! We waited another year to begin ‘trying’ for a baby--until my body healed, the birth control I had been on for fourteen years was out of my system, and we had saved up enough money for me to take some time (read--a while) off of work. Long story short--a year later, this past Thanksgiving, it was officially determined that there’s pretty darn near a 0% chance that I’ll ever get--and stay--pregnant.

So--I needed a new life plan. I needed a new life plan really, really badly. So I thought about what I wanted to do most (fortunately I’m really good at life planning) and decided to (try to) do the thing I never thought I could do but always wanted to do--write a book. Because really, why not? I’d been saving up money to take off from work to have a baby--instead, I decided, I’d have a book.

I swear this idea isn’t as crazy as it sounds (but I fully realize how crazy it does sound!) I’ve been writing for years--I’m an obsessive blogger, I’ve started countless short stories and one memoir, have attended many writing courses and workshops and conferences, and I write local theater reviews for the local paper. But I never had ‘The Idea’--the one that I just couldn’t put away. That is, not until I went to Disney World in November.

So a book idea was ‘born’--so to speak--and while I won’t get into what it is (this is getting too long already!) I’ll explain that it is a series of nonfiction books, the first one is based in Disney World, and it involves the one other thing I love aside from travel and writing--teaching. Because I’m a really big fan of doing things ‘the right way’, I started drafting a book proposal, as that’s what you have to do to sell a nonfiction book--yes, even before it is entirely written. Several days into writing this book proposal, I realized something--to write the perfect proposal for a book based on Disney World, well, I had to go back to Disney World.

Stay tuned for the next post--The Leap of Faith, or 'With a Little Help from...my Credit Card!'

[bkwrm]

You have a wonderfully positive attitude toward a very sad situation; I'm impressed. Keep writing; you have me hooked!
Sharon

[Colexis Mom]

Great start!

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by bkwrm

You have a wonderfully positive attitude toward a very sad situation; I'm impressed. Keep writing; you have me hooked!
Sharon

thanks! i've decided that i'm not going to be sad about it. clearly, my life was meant to take a different path, and i can only be excited about seeing where that path leads!

[elbodans]

So I had the motivation, the idea, the skills (I hope!), the enthusiasm, drive, determination...all of the things I needed to write this book. But I needed time and money. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed with a very (VERY) understanding husband, who had no problem with my little speech that started with ‘honey--I need to go to Disney World for a few days’.

He was fine with it, which meant that I could be fine with it. I decided to look at it as ‘an investment in myself’, and I booked the flight. I don’t know why, but I always feel like booking a flight is The Step that begins a trip. I planned our summer trip for months last year--I researched things we wanted to do, I even rented an apartment (cheaper than a hotel), but I didn’t feel like it was real until I had purchased the plane tickets. So the purchasing of the tickets to Orlando was a huge step. I was very (VERY) excited!!!!

The obvious next step was to book the hotel. I decided when I booked the flight that I would make this trip as inexpensive as possible. After all, the point of an investment is to get out more than you put in, right? So I booked Pop Century after MUCH deliberation (and advice on these forums). The reason? I wanted:

Extra Magic Hours (I’d need as much time in the parks as I could get)
Free transportation from the airport (a cab round trip is around $120)
The ‘disney experience’--after all, that’s what I’m writing about (sort of).
Somewhere safe--after all, I’m traveling alone.

I felt that POP met all of those requirements. But then I did some math...

You see, trip #2 is in May--I’m going with my mother for mother’s day. We will be there for four/five days. I’ll be there for three/four days in March. After doing some quick math, I determined that an AP was $20 more than the two sets of tickets I would need for both trip--and I’m planning on going back for WEEKS in the summer (or fall--more on this later), so really, I should have an AP. Right?

And then a coworker friend of mine told me about discount room rates for AP holders.

[Principessa_di_Fata]

Looking forward to reading this! You have a great attitude in the face of such news. I look forward to reading your TR, and reading about the progress of your book (as much as you are able to share, anyway, even in the vaguest terms). And of course I'm excited to read about your trip itself!

[Cam22]

How exciting about the book! I'm ready to read it! Great start to your PTR!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update!

[Lillybug]

Wow! As others have said, your positive attitude shows in everything that you are writing! If your book turns out to be half this good, I'll buy it!!

Tara

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by Lillybug

Wow! As others have said, your positive attitude shows in everything that you are writing! If your book turns out to be half this good, I'll buy it!!

Tara

thanks! the book, however, is a long way off! right now i'm trying to stay positive about it--the power of positive thinking, you know?

[disney_duke]

Your story is most intriguing!! Safety as a solo traveler was one of my top priorities too when I went alone. Good thinkin'! I'm hooked, can't wait to hear more!

[lauriep]

This is gonna be good! Once you have that AP, there'll be no stopping you!

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by lauriep

This is gonna be good! Once you have that AP, there'll be no stopping you!

i'm quite literally AFRAID you are correct!

[elbodans]

After learning about the AP discounts, I did what any adult only-child would do--I asked my mother for an annual pass for my birthday. And she agreed! Yay! Having an AP makes so much sense, especially if (WHEN) I return for an extended research trip this summer (I’m a teacher, thus the need to place an extended research trip in the hot, crowded summer months).

But then I thought some more--and I really wasn’t pleased with my choice of hotel--I’d heard lots of good things about POP, but there were several concerns I had. 1. The lack of table service dining. I likely wouldn’t use it, but it would be nice to have the option. I am not a food court kind of person. 2. The lack of breakfast room service. After years of traveling and, well, being me, I know myself. And I need some sort of breakfast before I start the day, and I’ve found room service to be the best and quickest way to feed myself early in the morning. My solo morning at AK was almost ruined last trip because I didn’t eat breakfast, and by the time the stands opened for lunch I was so starving and shaking and, mainly, cranky, that I couldn’t find anything I wanted to eat (I get REALLY cranky when I’m hungry!) 3. The lack of really anywhere to sit inside of the room. Yes, I’ll mainly be in the parks all day, but I’ll also be typing up notes all night in the room (I don’t plan to get very much sleep on this trip--when I have more time in the summer, I’ll go at a more human pace) and, finally, 4. The lack of bar/lounge on property. I like a glass of wine at the end of the day, and I’d rather not enjoy said glass of wine whilst sitting on a tiny chair at a bed side table at POP--that’s just sad! In fact, when traveling alone, I prefer to do my writing in a bar. It makes me feel less lonely, even when I am alone. All signs pointed to ‘stay in a moderate’.

So I polled the wonderful people on these boards, considered my options, and selected either Port Orleans resort (I didn’t care which one) to be the best option for an upgrade. I chose it based on its proximity to Downtown Disney (and all of the bars and restaurants there, and the fact that it is open later in the evening) I suppose I shouldn’t have kicked the idea around for so long (really only a matter of days) because when I called to book POR with an AP rate, there was zero availability. Ooops!

After calling back multiple times and conferring with my husband (sweetie, how would you feel if it cost a teeny tiny bit more?), I upgraded to a room at Coronado Springs for $200 more total (not bad) because, well, that’s what was available. I wasn’t super excited about it, as our last trip was a convention trip, and the convention was at CSR--so I feel like ‘I’ve been there’. But not really, as the farthest I ventured into the resort from the convention center was the Pepper Market, and I didn’t even eat there. And it did look nice outside (just not as nice as where we stayed--the Beach Club...I will stay there again some day!) Since the initial non-excitement, I’ve looked into it a bit more, and now I’m thrilled! If only I’d have time to hang out in one of those hammocks on the beach...alas, not on this trip!

There was one other reason why I decided to upgrade to a moderate that I forgot to mention--as it turns out, this trip won’t be entirely a solo trip. Somewhere in all of that planning and consideration, I email/text conversed with a friend of mine from high school who lives in the Tampa area. She drove to Orlando during our last trip to have dinner with us, and it seemed she managed to arrange a sitter and a day off from work to come down for an entire afternoon, evening, and following morning. This was perfect, as it broke up my solo trip with someone to talk to! I was very excited, and wanted her to have a good first Disney experience (despite living 90 minutes away, she’s never actually visited the parks). I thought CSR would be a nicer first-time experience than POP, so that alone made it worth making the change.

Once my flight was booked and my hotel reserved, next on my list (along with ‘continue working on the book proposal’, which is a full time job in and of itself!) was ‘figure out where I want to eat. Now this is the fun part!

[lazanya]

Great start! Sorry you weren't able to get Port Orleans, but CSR is nice!