First Solo Trip! Celebrating My Birthday May 2015

[princessmegan20]

Hello!!


This is my *first* trip report ever, so please bear with me!

My name is Megan. I love all things Disney! I usually take trips with my mom, dad, and brother, but this time I decided to go on a solo trip!

This is from my trip back in January 2015. You might notice some bling in this picture I ran the half marathon back in January during Marathon Weekend. This was my second half marathon. I would recommend runDisney events to anyone!

ANYWAYS... Back to this trip report! I have wanted to go to the 24-hour event in Magic Kingdom since I saw all of the amazing characters out to meet during the 2014 event. My parents come down to visit me at college after one of my lacrosse games and took me out to dinner where they surprised me with a SOLO BIRTHDAY TRIP TO DISNEY WORLD!

The best part, though? I would be there for the 24-hour event as well! Yay!

I'll finish this post up with some basic information about the trip and myself!

When? May 19-27
Resort? Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa (our DVC home resort!)
Why? My birthday and 24-hour PARTAYYY

About Me
Favorite Resort: Port Orleans Riverside
Favorite Park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Kilimanjaro Safari, Kali River Rapids, Splash Mountain, Under the Sea: Journey of The Little Mermaid, and sooo many more.
Favorite Quick Service: Flame Tree Barbecue, Pizza Planet, La Cantina de San Angel
Favorite Table Service: Tony's Town Square

I promise the next update will feature many more pictures! I hope you'll follow along!
​

 

[princessmegan20]

Table of Contents

Introduction

Day One, May 19

For the first time in forever, I'm completely free!
For the first time in forever, I'm completely free! Pt. 2
For the first time in forever, I'm completely free! Pt. 3

Day Two, May 20

Happy Birthday, from Mickey Mouse! ​

 

[princessmegan20]

Tuesday May 19 (Part One)
For the first time ever, I'm completely free!

My flight was scheduled to leave at 8:43am on May 19th. I did all of my packing the night before, as usual. I have a serious procrastination problem

My dad was driving me to the airport, so I packed everything into his truck and got ready to head out!



I cannot believe I did not take any pictures before the flight, although it was probably due to a little breakdown in the airport.

I was *JUST* about to go check in when I realized.... I DID NOT HAVE MY MAGICAL EXPRESS TAGS!!!

After a quick freak out and breakdown, my dad reassured me that everything I could need was on my MagicBand, all I had to do differently was pick up my luggage from baggage claim. All was well.

It was quite the uneventful flight, seeing as I remember nothing from it

I watched movies on the Disney Movies Anywhere app (it is wonderful!) and before I knew it, we touched ground in Orlando!!

As soon as my phone got service, I got the text that said my room was ready! The text had come through while I was on the plane at 10am ! Woohoo!

My favorite part of the whole trip was next, THE FAKE MONORAIL

I knew I had some time to burn so I went to Chick-Fil-A! We don't have any in Michigan so it's a great treat whenever I can get some!

I waited for my bag and boarded the Magical Express at 12:25.

I took a picture of the bus next to me, but no worries, my bus was a real Magical Express not a Cruise bus

I walked on the bus and did not see any seats open I had never been on the Magical Express with it so full like this. I walked all the way to the back before finding open seats. As we took the lovely drive to the most magical place on Earth, I texted my parents and admired the beauty of Florida. The houses in the Orlando area are GORGEOUS. I would love to live there one day, as long as the alligators stay away from me!

Why don't the Magical Express buses have wifi?! It would definitely come in handy. Just a random thought I had on the way to WDW.

Soon we were crossing under those very magical gates I can never get a good picture, so I did not even attempt this time around.

Before I knew it, the bus was pulling into Saratoga! I checked in and made my way to my room! I was on the first floor in the Springs, near the pond! Enough words, let's see some pictures!

This resort is so pretty, I love how everything is so green and lively!

I love these pillows so much! I wanted to take them home.

Ahh, I love this resort! It makes me so happy just looking at these pictures.

After taking more pictures than I could ever need, I unpacked and enjoyed the air conditioning for a little bit. Then I got ready to head out to the parks, but where would I go first?!? You'll find out soon

Part Two Here​

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[AndaMinnie]

Hi! Following along!

 

[SoarinSC]

Hiya! Following along as well!

 

[princessmegan20]

Hi! Following along!

Yay!! Thank you

Hiya! Following along as well!

So exciting! Thanks!!

 

[princessmegan20]

Day One
For the first time in forever, I'm completely free! Part Two

Well, OF COURSE, I went to Magic Kingdom for my first park of the trip!

After relaxing in the refreshing air conditioning for a little bit, it was time to head out. I walk to the bus stop, which was right next to my room, at about 2:30. There were no people and no buses in sight. That was a continuing theme throughout the whole trip. This lead to many selfies to occupy my time.

The bus pulled up after a little while and I was on my way!

What a beauty!

I had quite the perfect timing, I was able to get a spot right on the curb for Festival of Fantasy! I have an intense love for this parade. I listen to the soundtrack for it all the time. While I waited for the parade to come around, I talked to two lovely families. One family was from Ohio and even knew where my college was, small world! The other family was from Alabama, they were an older couple. They were just so sweet and kept a conversation with me the whole time. After the parade they told me how polite and kind I was. I love making connections like that in the parks. I'm not much of a social butterfly, but I sure was that day!

My favorite princess and her prince

Pascal is so cute!

I have a million photos of this parade (I see it every chance I get) so I am going to spare you and only pick a few from each batch!

I decided I should do something that I never really had done before; I headed off to explore Storybook Circus Fantasyland! Since they opened New Fantasyland, I had never ventured further than Ariel's Grotto, besides going to the Dumbo ride.

I only took one picture, I'm pretty disappointed.

I had thought about going to meet the characters in this area, but the wait times seemed to be a little too high for me.

I walked back over by the castle, to go shop in Castle Couture. This little store it adorable! I love that Aurora's dress changes from blue to pink, so precious.

Next I took a little trip over by the Tangled Restrooms, but my pictures did not turn out well. I did find some hidden Pascals though!

Finding these was so fun! They are in the little hub closer to the Haunted Mansion if I remember correctly.

I was getting a little hungry and it was awfully hot. So what snack would satisfy me??

Only the most delicious thing in the whole world!

A Dole Whip Float! It was so melty I was afraid it'd fall out of the cup taking this picture, but it was just the perfect snack for me! This picture's time stamp said it was taken around 4:20 so I had only been in the park for an hour or so.

As I enjoyed my snack I walked around through the Emporium and other stores, bought my boyfriend a shirt, and enjoyed the air conditioning. This heat was intense!

CONTINUED​

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[mdsouth]

Great trip report so far! Love all the photographs! Ithe new Tangled area in Fantasyland is a great addition. I didn't realize Pascal was in the area. Now I will have to look for him on my next trip. The trip is a great birthday present

 

[princessmegan20]

Great trip report so far! Love all the photographs! Ithe new Tangled area in Fantasyland is a great addition. I didn't realize Pascal was in the area. Now I will have to look for him on my next trip. The trip is a great birthday present

Thank you! I took over 200 on the first day, so picking favorites is hard! I guess there are a lot of hidden Pascals over there! I just happened to go over to that area and find these! I had heard about them, but never knew where to look and then I just looked up and saw the one by the flower pot, then kept looking! I want to find all of them during my DCP next year!

 

[princessmegan20]

Day One
For the first time in forever, I'm completely free! Part Three

I had left off with walking through stores and enjoying my Dole Whip Float and air conditioning.

I wanted to try something new, so I made my way over to Tomorrowland.

I thought this guy was pretty cute! I am so glad the construction walls came down so this could be revealed!

My new adventure was the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover! Out of all of the times I've gone to Disney World, I have never been on this ride! I was excited to see what it was all about and to be able to sit and relax.

Being able to relax and enjoy the scenery was great.

I found a little bench to sit down on and record things in my journal, then I decided why not try another first?!

The Carousel of Progress was my next stop, I really liked it! I cannot get that song out of my head now!

Apparently I was really trying to get in my exercise because I decided to go over to Splash Mountain, since I had a fastpass for it! But first, I needed to stop and take some castle pictures!!

As I walking through the Splash Mountain queue the CMs made an announcement that the ride may be shut down due to weather

Sure enough, a storm was rolling in. However, I made it through the ride without any problems! After I got off the ride I made my way over to see Tiana, but the storm had kept her held up at her restaurant. So sad.

I was getting hungry, so I made my way over to Pinocchio's Village Haus. I love flatbread pizza and gelato, so what better place to go?

So greasy!! I love this quick service because it's so cute, the theme is great. I did not enjoy all of the screaming children in there though.

After my dinner I went to Journey of The Little Mermaid! I love this ride and how precious the whole area is.

Sorry for the foggy picture, I think the humidity was getting to the camera. Of course, I got stuck on the ride, it's casual. I always get stuck on this ride. But I still love it!

My next destination is a classic.

You can see how the skies were darkening up, so I was just trying to do as much as I could before the storm hit.

I love the Dumbo ride, it's so sun for me. I like going all the way to the top and looking out over the Kingdom

I took pictures, but they did not turn out.

I had a fastpass for 7 Dwarves Mine Train soon, so I wasted some time by walking through the stores near the ride.

Sadly, I cannot find any ride pictures. But I remember looking at the one from SDMT and I looked really happy! I thought the ride this time was much better than when I rode it in July 2014. I got off of the ride and made my way back down Main Street, which was incredibly crowded. I had a headache, so I decided to head out and go back to Saratoga.

Once I was back, I went to The Artist's Palette and bought my mug. I filled it up, headed back to my room, showered and was in bed by 10pm.

I had an amazing first day of my trip and was very exciting for the rest of my trip. Doing Disney solo wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be!

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[princessmegan20]

Day Two, May 20
Happy Birthday, from Mickey Mouse!

Ahh, waking up in Disney is the best feeling ever. My alarm went off at 8:30 and I got out of bed at 8:45. I wrote that I had a hard time sleeping, probably just because it was the first night there.

I called my dad and talked to him for a little bit. Then the scariest thing ever happened!
SOMEONE KNOCKED ON MY DOOR
I was terrified. Who was knocking on my door??? I stayed on the phone with my dad while I opened the door. To my surprise, I found a CAST MEMBER! He had a special gift for me from Mickey Mouse! A signed birthday card, from the Boss Mouse himself!!

After that fright, I went back to getting ready. I took forever to get ready, but I finally left my room at 10am.

Apparently the bus and I were on the same page that day, because it took forever too. I was headed to Hollywood Studios for the morning! The sky was so blue. Ugh, gorgeous!

I made it to the park just in time for my 10:45 Star Tours Fast Pass! I love the Star Tours ride, even though I was not very knowledgeable about Star Wars (no worries, I watched all the movies as soon as I got home! Chewbacca will always be my fav ) This ride sequence was amazing! I think it was the best of them all and I didn't fully understand what was happening!

I did a lot of walking through stores on this trip, I wasn't looking for anything really, I just wanted to be in the air conditioning as much as I could. So I spent some time looking in the stores back by The Muppets, I had never been back there before! I found stores I didn't even knew existed! I love doing Disney solo.

Character meetings are one of my favorite things, but doing them by myself was kind of a pain. However, I could not miss out on this next one! I got to meet my two favorite boys!! Mater and Lightening McQueen!

I am slightly obsessed with this picture. I love them both so much!

While walking through Streets of America, I found Cinderella's Carriage. I still have not seen the movie to this day, but I really wanted my picture taken with it.

Sully was next on my list of characters for the day. The picture is a little blurry but my photopass pictures are MIA at the moment.

Rock n' Roller Coaster just happened to be my next fastpass, but I had some time to burn. So why not try another first? I was off to One Man's Dream. (I am so sad they closed it now, because I really loved it and wanted to show my boyfriend it while we did our college program. )

I love Dumbo, what a cutie.

Sunset Boulevard has some of the cutest stores so of course I had to walk through those. I didn't buy much from the parks at all even though I am pretty sure I went to every store.

This ride is one of my favorites, but I am a little sad that they changed the "traffic sign" at the beginning of the ride. It used to be electronic, but now it's just a regular sign. Its really not that big of a deal, I'm just picky.

My stomach was telling me it was time to eat! I really love that there are so many Quick Service options right next to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. I choose to eat at Rosie's All American Cafe. The CMs costumes there are just so cute and I can always go for a burger, so it was perfect.

I got the Onion Straw Cheddar Cheeseburger, yum!! I always struggle picking a dessert in this area however. I choose the chocolate custard thing. It was gross. I had ordered it before and hated it so why did I order it again?

Everything else was delicious! I love these French fries!

It was getting unbearably hot, so I decided it was time to head back to Saratoga to hit the pool! I have never really gone to the pool at our resorts so I was pretty excited to hop in!

Jumping in the pool was the perfect way to cool down during the middle of the day. It wasn't crowded at all, but there was a lot of people. Saratoga's pool area is pretty big. I spent about an hour at the pool just relaxing, I got back to my room around 2:30/2:45.

Of course I got a little sun burnt, even though I put on more than enough sunscreen. I showered off and put on some aloe vera to ease the burn. I got dressed and headed out to my next park for the day!

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[NPRinLA]

Following! I'm loving your photos! What kind of camera did you use?

 

[SoarinSC]

Fantastic photos! I've never really done Hollywood Studios, but now you've got me very interested! "There's a great big beautiful tomorrooooow...shining at the end of every daaaaay!"

 

[princessmegan20]

Following! I'm loving your photos! What kind of camera did you use?

Thank you! Its a Canon Powershot, I've had it for a few years. I don't remember the exact model.

Fantastic photos! I've never really done Hollywood Studios, but now you've got me very interested! "There's a great big beautiful tomorrooooow...shining at the end of every daaaaay!"

Thanks! I love Hollywood Studios, it's awfully cute. Sometimes wait times get really high though, so I'd recommend getting some fastpass+ when you plan on going!

 

[mdsouth]

I am enjoying your leisurely tours of the parks. That is the advantage of doing a solo trip. I like the idea that you get to wander around checking out all the cool stuff you never seem to have time for when you are touring with others.

I love the castle photo where you are just gazing up and it is looming up into the sky. That is a great angle. Your character photo with Sully turned out really cute!

 

[princessmegan20]

I am enjoying your leisurely tours of the parks. That is the advantage of doing a solo trip. I like the idea that you get to wander around checking out all the cool stuff you never seem to have time for when you are touring with others.

I love the castle photo where you are just gazing up and it is looming up into the sky. That is a great angle. Your character photo with Sully turned out really cute!

I honestly loved being on my own schedule! It was so nice to be able to explore everything without worrying about my family and what they want to do. I thought I'd hate being by myself, but I enjoyed it! I love taking pictures of the castle and always want to try out new angles so I'm glad you like it!


NEW UPDATE COMING SOON!

 

[mdsouth]

Just checking in to see if you have an update posted. I will be here when you do!

 

[DVC Nicole]

Looks like an amazing way to spend your Birthday
Amazing pictures!

~Nicole
#dvcrentals

 

[princessmegan20]

I apologize for it being so long since an update, I am in the middle of finals and preparing for my DCP, so that means I have to move all of my stuff back home. I am crazy busy, but am working on an update slowly! I should be back to posting by the end of the week! Thanks for your patience!