My (first) solo trip report with pics!!!
I took my first solo Disney trip this past Thursday and found the experience extremely…….pleasant. Now, pleasant is not normally an adjective I would choose to describe a Disney trip. Exciting, yes, hectic, sometimes, fun, always…but pleasant???Pleasant sounds so mundane and yet, pleasant is hands down the best way to describe my experience.
I originally set out to do a tour of the coasters at all 4 parks. Because I always visit with my two year old and no other adults I haven’t been able to ride my favorite rides in a long time (I'm having seperation anxiety from Thunder Mountain) I started out at AK to conquer EE. For some reason unbeknownst to me AK was packed, especially for a Thursday morning in early may. I arrived at 9:30 am and the parking lot was already at least 70% full. There were also a number of school groups visiting which contributed to the chaos. I had planned to fast pass EE and ride primeval whirl and dinosaur while I waited but by the time I made it to the fp kiosk (9:45 am) the time to come back and ride was already 3pm…no thank you. I was very pleasantly surprised however, to find a single rider line and was able to ride 3x in a row with less than a minute wait each time. I had ridden EE once before when it first opened and must say it is quickly becoming one of my favorite rides. When you are flying backwards and can’t tell if you are falling or rising up….exhilarating. My only criticisms of EE are…it is way too short I think they should expand the track outdoors after the yeti. And the yetis eyes really bug me – he I such an elaborate prop and the glowing red lights for eyes just looks cheap.
I walked from EE over to Dinoland which was..completely packed, we are talking 30 min waits for primeval whirl. It was also getting uncomfortably hot so I decided to make my exit.
A storm of biblical proportions at MK
After a full day at Epcot and AK, I decided to call it quits...but as I was walking towards the exit an inexplicable force pulled me towards the monorail - it was as if some sirens song (or was it the mickey mouse club song) was calling me to MK...and who am I to argue with sirens?
I've always enjoyed the monorail ride from Epcot to MK...and after running the 2007 WDW marathon which follows part of the same course - I appreciate it more...what on earth possesed me to run 26.2 miles when I could have just flagged down the pink monorail? (oh yeah - I think it had something to do with a worthy cause :scratchin )
At some point between my boarding the monorail at Epcot and disembarking at the TTC a great and mighty storm had blown up. I am a native Floridian and no stranger to big storms but this was something truly unusual. As I entered MK I was nearly run down by tourist fleeing (I felt kinda like a firefighter - running towards the fire - only less heroic). The flag on Main Street was flapping so hard it sounded like lightening. I made it to Fantasy land before the storm broke - I don't mind getting wet but the lightening was way to close so I huddled in Sir Mickeys along with a couple dozen other brave souls - the wind was blowing so hard that gust of rain were blowing in.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ey/disney5.jpg
After the rain cleared I ran as fast as my little legs would carry me to BTMR - were I had to wait for 30 minutes before I could get the all clear to ride - the wait was more than made up for by the fact that I got to ride 3x back to back when it finally did open!! :yahoo:
Alas it was finally time to go home...
While this trip was not as exciting or high energy as previous trips I have taken, and while I did miss having a companion to experience certain things with – overall I found my first solo experience to be unusually serene, lovely, peaceful, and well, pleasant!
