40th B-Day/First Solo Trip 10/30-11/5

[CoachBeard]

edit: I don't know how to fix these photos or why some work and some don't.


Where to start…



Well, I’m mostly life long Southern Californian and spent much of my childhood birthdays bringing a friend with me to Disneyland. In my early 20’s most of my friends and I had annual passes to Disneyland and in my early/mid-30’s I went to DL several times with friends and others.



With a fresh annual bonus burning a hole in my pocket February of 2022 I decided to book a trip to WDW. I first went in 1994 with my family and loved it, especially the newly opened Tower of Terror. I went again in 2008 the honeymoon to a now defunct marriage and spoiled we ourselves by spending way too much to stay at Wilderness Lodge in a 1 bedroom villa. We went again in 2011 staying at Pop Century which I will never do again, but that’s just me. I was scheduled to visit again in late 2012 for my 30th birthday but… bronchitis and divorce got in the way. So here I was in early 2022 knowing I was going to turn 40 and a do-over for the failed 30th was in order. At this point in life I am a single fellow and totally cool with it. I opened the invitation for several friends to join me but money is tight right now for many, including me. This trip was to be my first solo jaunt to WDW.



I spent a ton of time watching videos, planning, spread sheets, budgeting, etc… I was excited to learn I’d be there during food and wine for my first time. I also booked a reservation at Shula’s for a fancy nice dinner on my birthday (more on that later). I ended up adding a day to the end of my trip and again about 3 weeks before the trip I was able to switch my flight and add a say onto the front of my trip which was a really good decision. I was there from 10/30-11/5.

Total miles walked 10/30-11/3 - 54.15 miles

10/30 – Flew into MCO via a sweet and cheap upgrade to United first class (really more like premium economy but whatever). My first time flying that class. The meal and free whiskey was very nice. I took a Lyft over to the Dolphin where I was staying for one night. Despite completing mobile checking with the Bonvoy app they needed me to go to the front desk to show my ID or some nonsense. I was tired, kind of hungover, ready to drop my bags and go explore the boardwalk as well as find some food before it got too late. It was already around 8:00pm. Well, there are two lines at the reception desk, one for checking in and one for mobile check in. I head to the mobile line with one person in front of me and later one behind me. Reception kept serving the regular check in line which consisted of people who arrived to the line after all of us. Finally, I signaled to the guy asking if anyone was working out line. He acknowledged yet ignored me. We started to filter into the regular check in line and when it was my turn I asked him if anyone was working that line. He said no, he didn’t think so so I replied that perhaps they should close the queue or put up a sign so we aren’t waiting forever and negating the practice of mobile check in even further. Quite frustrating after a very long travel day.

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I dumped my bags and headed over to the Boardwalk scoring a last minute reservation to Flying Fish which was very tasty before heading to bed at a reasonable east coast hour.



10/31 I tried to wake up early to use the extra hours but couldn’t do it. This became the norm on my trip, and I have no regrets. I got my bags to bell services and transferred over to my next hotel, Boardwalk Villas. I took the boat over to Epcot for my first park reservation. Holy cow! The humidity and heat were so bad! I watched the temps creep higher and higher on the weather app each day closer to my trip. I didn’t even consider that when I booked since I want to be there for my 40th. Next time I’m doing the 2008 dates of early December. Much better for me. Especially when the L.A. temps are just starting to wind down and cool down. We’ve even got rain today and tomorrow! It finally feels like fall!
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I had rough plans as far as rides I wanted to hit on the trip and obviously reserved first parks. I spent the first several hours walking around EPCOT and utilized genie + and single rider to get a lot accomplished very quickly. Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Guardians, Living with the land, some food and wine stuff, Remy.
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I took the skyliner over to HS for the afternoon and hit some of the E-tickets and late lunch at the brown derby lounge before going to BWV to relax in the hot tub for a bit. I went back to EPCOT sort of late and was able to get a crab cake slider at one of the booths before they all closed at 9 and the show on the lake came on. I was tired by that point and decided to have a couple drinks back at Abracadabar which was great.

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11/1 was my HS reservation. I got there around 10:30 which was just fine for me. I did a few rides and went to a lunch time reservation at Oga’s. I ended up having a nice conversation with the lady next to me who ended up being an off-duty cast member. I really enjoyed our chat. I did a few more rides and went to Animal Kingdom on a whim. I rode the Avatar stuff and got some lunch at Satu’li canteen. Delicious. After a few hours there and lots of walking I did my usual afternoon/evening pool time and a steam then over to Polite Pig for dinner. I’m a huge BBQ fan especially after spending a few years in Texas. Now that I’m the age I am and most of my friends are older, we dabble in the smoked meat arts ourselves. Oddly enough I opted for the smoked turkey sandwich. I hate turkey but for some reason it sounded good. It exceeded all expectations. A couple pours of good bourbon later, I explored springs a bit and went back “home” to bed.

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11/2 back at EPCOT. Did some of the same, some of the things I hadn’t done the previous days. I got some food and beer at the Belgium booth and invited some tired and overheated fellas to join my shaded table instead of sitting on the ground. We ended up chatting for quite a while before I had to run over to a Remy LL. Great guys from Louisiana and the type of interaction I’ve grown to enjoy at the parks. We just connect and chat on a common ground and even if it’s just for an hour or so, we’ve become friends. I caught some AC in Mexico for a bit which was nice and it just so happened to the Dia de los Muertos (I think? Is it the 1st or 2nd?).

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I hopped on the monorail over to the contemporary when my room at BLT was ready around 4pm. I just needed rest, AC, and a shower. I scored a last minute 5:30 reservation at CA Grill and had the best meal of my trip. Walter, my server was in a class all his own. A true pro and great service. During the time I was there a strong rain came through and that made me happy. I quicky went to my room to grab some rain gear and my park supplies and took the monorail to MK since it was open until 12 for extra hours. I took my rain coat off halfway there because it was still too hot and it didn’t breathe. The rain was on and off at that point but it was very foggy and hard to see. I hadn’t been to the park for over a decade and didn’t know my way around so it was rough but fun. I got most of the major rides I wanted done that evening. I stayed later than planned even though I had to be back there at 7:45am for my KTTK tour. Well worth it.

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11/3 my bday and my 8am KTTK tour. The tour was good but no one was really chatting with each other. I was the only party of 1 which made it more difficult. At lunch everyone was assigned a seat and I was placed by myself which didn’t feel great. Again, no one conversing, at least not with me, I tried. I also figured out later in the day that on the underside of the name plate at lunch there was a keys to the kingdom pin but I was not made aware of it and apparently I left it there  I wish the communication about that had been more clear. I actually just realized it while watching a video and reading a review of the tour at home just now. Maybe I can call them?



Our tour guide was good but I feel like too much time was spent in uninteresting areas backstage. Really it was like one area we spent an hour In behind splash and pirates. The utilidoors were cool but I felt we were in the way the whole time and I thought we’d go on more than just 2 rides. It’s fine and I’m glad I finally did the tour but I likely won’t do it again.



I went on some more rides before resort hopping a bit. I first took the boat to Wilderness Lodge for old time’s sake and unfortunately, the bar I like inside wasn’t open until 4. I had a quick snack at Geyser Point, went back to MK and got the boat to Poly where I met a couple nice ladies from Erie, PA. they invited me join them for a drink and we had a nice time chatting and enjoying. Drink while waiting for Trader Sam’s. I wasn’t able to stay for Sam’s as I had to get ready and head to Shula’s for my bday dinner.

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Shula’s… I had such high hopes for it. I budgeted and saved a long time to make sure I could splurge on a nice steak dinner and some good drinks there. Unfortunately, the service was so bad I took most of my food home and was kind of down. The other tables in my section were larger parties and it was clear my server’s attention was focused on them due to the larger tips to be received. I was kind of heartbroken but it is what it is. I won’t be going back there solo, that is for sure.



Alright, I will have to finish this later, I’m tried of typing! I'm going to post the rest of the photos below here in no particular order

 

[HolRae]

Thanks for sharing. I couldn’t see most of the pics but the ones I did see were gorgeous. That’s a bummer about Shulas but you got some great last minute reservations. I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

 

[CoachBeard]

Thanks for sharing. I couldn’t see most of the pics but the ones I did see were gorgeous. That’s a bummer about Shulas but you got some great last minute reservations. I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

Thanks. I’ll see if I can figure out how to fix them.

I had so many reservations I ended up canceling because I knew inwoukdnt be hungry or I didn’t want to have to work my day around them. I like just going where the wind takes me and got lucky with the last minutes.

 

[CoachBeard]

BTW if you were the lady on the bus from Jambo House to Springs around 10:30am Saturday 11/5, and unfortunately again that afternoon around 3:00, you are the worst. No one wants to hear your phone conversation for 30 minutes. Kohls cash? Really? You HAD to take that call on the way to Disney Springs where there is no Kohls? And then somehow I got stuck with you on the return trip where you managed to be on the phone even longer and louder yapping about nothing that couldn't wait. NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOU! Especially when it's hot and humid and I'm on vacation not thinking about these day to day things. Screw you!

 

[David G Farr]

I too turned 40 this year. I tried to get my wife to go to WDW for my birthday, but she flat out refused because my birthday is at the end of June and shes never going to WDW in the summer heat, plus we had just gone in March with the kids.