Solo trip #2 Nov 13-21

View from stairs in Canada was pretty good, not great, but might be a good place to try on a busy night.

Tuesday Nov 18- welcome to balmy, tropical Florida! Brrrrrr! Left for Studios about noon. Crowds were still with me, packed streets here. Rode Great Movie Ride with only 15 min wait. For the first time ever I got the western shootout scene! I have ridden this ride 10-12 times and it was the gangster every time, I thought the other scene was just a rumor. Walked down towards Tower and Rockin Coaster, then decided to get something to eat at Starring Rolls, not to be as it was 3:05 and they closed at 3:00- on a jam packed day with about a dozen people trying to get in- strange decision. Ah well, off to Toy Story for 3:15 FP+. Standby was 90 min, I was on ride in 15 min. Picked up burger at Backlot Express, basic food, good theming. From there to Indiana Jones Stunt Show, seen it at least six times, never gets old. Then Muppetvision- great as always. My only complaint is that I would like more time in the holding pen to check out the gags, the doors to the theatre always open too soon! Was planning on seeing Osborne lights tonight, but this place is way too crowded, I am out of here to check out EPCOT.

Walked up just as EPCOT boat was pulling out of Studios dock. Oh well, get to burn off some burger and cookie calories. The walk was beautiful, sky was very photogenic. I was at International gateway 23 minutes after leaving boat dock. Turned into World Showcase and start by seeing Impressions in France again, my fav movie in WDW. Crowd level here is way lower, partly I'm sure because of the arctic weather, but still way fewer than Studios. Hung around Morocco for a while, then circled around to China, inspected terra cotta warriors and saw Reflections. Window shopped in China, then reversed direction, wandered in Italy & Germany briefly. Sat on bench looking out towards Spaceship Earth, found myself starting to get cold & depressed- time to move! Went to Mitsukoshi Store and passed a pleasant half hour. Bought a nice shirt for my son, good luck cat for my ex mother in law. Walked out of store at 8:50 and there was no one along Lagoon in front of Japan.
By 9:00 there were people there with me, but pretty much everyone had a front row view of Illuminations. Took my time leaving, shopped in Mouse Gear, sat under Spaceship Earth for a while. Hoping to wait out bus throngs. My bus luck is definitely changed- I was that guy this time, you know, the guy that the bus driver waits for with a packed bus that is itching to go. Something to consider about Pop Century, the buses are ALWAYS crowded, even an hour after parks close. The bus stop is also ALWAYS the farthest away too, the price you pay for saving money on your hotel room. Back at Pop by 10:15.
Big challenge tomorrow, I actually have to drag myself out of bed for Undiscovered Future World tour, need to be at Epcot by 8:45!!!!

Postscript to Tuesday night at Epcot. Whoever pitched the idea for Spice Road Table clearly has some 'splainin to do. At 7pm I walked through and there were no- zip, nada- tables occupied. At 9pm the only tables used were the five along the water.

Wednesday Nov 19- it is friggin cold this morning! Left room at 7:40 and froze in EPCOT bus line til 8:05. Let me get my rant out of the way first, the Pop bus service stinks. Long waits, fully packed buses every time. My name was at the gate and I proceeded to a nice warm Customer Relations office to wait for Undiscovered Future World Tour. Tour was very worthwhile, spent time on every part of FW except Energy. Rode Soarin with no wait, went upstairs to old Image Works at Imagination and went backstage twice. It lasts 4 1/2 hrs and is a lot of walking. The costuming department is amazing. Our excellent guide shared a lot of insights and several rumors including an added theatre for Soarin when the new film arrives. He also told us that John Lassiter inspected the Imagination pavilion upstairs and down and "loves" it's potential. After tour hit Ellen's advent, had French Dip Burger at Electric Umbrella (yechh), Listen To The Land, Imagination and O Canada. If you haven't seen all of the films- I think they are all worthwhile, I think France is the best and it has seats, but the other two are very good. Left through Intl Gateway and boarded Friendship boat for Studios at about 5pm.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks for the reports - enjoyed reading them! :thumbsup: Glad all went well and that you made it home safe

Thanks Stephi

Great trip!!!

Thanks for sharing with us!!!!

Julie:mickey: