Solo 2: The Sequel (November 2018) - Updated 11/6

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I started planning my first vacation shortly after my mom died. I went in January and I had a really great time. Leading up to it I also lost 88 pounds.

I’m now up to 108 pounds lost and it’s been a year since my mom passed, so I’m planning my next one for November. I’m hoping to get to whatever my ideal weight is by November, although there have been plenty of coworkers, family and friends who think I should stop.
(I was 290, I’m now 182 and 6’2”)

Last time I went for 12 days, which I thought was a little much. This time I’m going for 9 days.

I’m doing the Deluxe Dining Plan and I will be staying at All-Star Music (now All-Star Movies: Preferred).

Rough Outline:

• Saturday: Travel Day. Get to one of the parks around 3, do my three Fast Passes, go to the 8:30pm Christmas Version of Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue
• Sunday: Maybe Animal Kingdom? Maybe take a tour of a DVC? I’m not really sure yet since the schedule isn’t out. This will probably be a busier day at the tail end of Jersey Week.
• Monday or Tuesday: Magic Kingdom Superday. Get there at Rope Drop, have dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table and do the Christmas Party.
• Do a full Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios Day sometime during the week.
• Thursday: Maybe do another Christmas party. I’m thinking about deciding on that after my first.
• Saturday: Avoid the Dapper Day crowds at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.
• Sunday: Avoid the Dapper Day crowds at Epcot. Take the last flight home at 9:55pm. I have work on Monday, but I may take an extra day or two if my schedule allows for it. I’m thinking about starting at Magic Kingdom and ending at Animal Kingdom.

Disney Bound Ideas:

• Gaston: I’m pretty slim now, so it may be fun since I still have 6+ months. I was thinking a red athletic shirt, jeans and yellow Magic Band.
• Ariel: I went as Ariel last time. I’d like to do it again. Last time was green running shorts, green shoes, purple polo, red jacket, yellow backpack and red Magic Band. This time I’m thinking about trying to find green jean and finding a better shirt. My shoes are glorious.
• Mickey Mouse: I’m planning on doing this at my open to close Christmas Party day at the Magic Kingdom. I’m thinking red jeans or slacks, black short sleeved dress shirt, yellow bow tie, yellow backpack, yellow Magic Band and black leather walking shoes.
• Aurora: I always liked her, but I’m not really sure how that would work as a male. Maybe the Briar Rose color scheme would work better?
• Woody: I was thinking about doing this at DHS to celebrate Toy Story Land.

New Places I Want to Eat:

• 1900 Park Fare
• Liberty Tree Tavern
• Ohana

Definite Return Meals:

• Cinderella’s Royal Table
• Prime Time Cafe
• Tiffins
• Garden Grill

Stuff I Want to Buy:

• Another Character Sketch
• Ariel art
• Custom Mouse Ears Hat
• Custom Magic Band
• Custom iPhone Case
• More Mickey Nike Polos
• More Ariel figures

Snacks:

• Dole Whip
• Citrus Swirl
• Goofy Candy
• Night Blossom (Pandora)
• Kitchen Sink

 

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November 9 - November 18

Pre-Trip Report: Table of Contents

May 4: Preliminary Plans
May 13: ADRs Open Tomorrow / Ariel Shoes
May 14: ADRs
May 16: Disney Bound Update / Mickey Mouse Shoes
May 18: Ariel Shirt
June 1: Flights Booked
June 16: Kingdom Hearts Backpack
June 21: Princess Backpack
June 21: Tentative Schedule
June 26: Disney Bound Update / Briar Rose Shirt
August 2: 100 Days!
August 7: Disney Bound Update / Briar Rose Cufflinks
August 15: Pre-Flight Hotel /Parking Package
August 17: Disney Bound Update / Mickey Mouse Complete
August 19: 83 Days Update
August 20: Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland Booked / 120 Pounds Lost
August 20: Updated Itinerary
August 22: 80 Days Update / Christmas Party Tickets Purchased
August 29: Quick Update: Flying Fish & Jessica Rabbit Magic Band
September 10: Tomorrow is Fast Pass Day!
September 11: New Itinerary (Now with Fast Pass)
September 11: Jessica Rabbit Magic Band
September 16: Paid off!
September 26: 45 Days!
October 1: Detour! (Six Flags)
October 8: The Week Before Plans / The Day Before Plans
October 9: Arrival Day Plans
October 9: Hopper Day Plans and Water Rides
October 10: Epcot Day Plans
October 11: Christmas Party 1 Plan
October 12: Animal Kingdom 1 Plan
October 12: Luggage Tags!
October 14: Magic Bands Shipped
October 14: Packing Update
October 15: Epcot / Magic Kingdom / Christmas Party 2 Plans
October 15: Disney World Hours Update
October 16: Animal Kingdom 2 Plans
October 17: Disney Hollywood Studios Plans
October 18: 23 Days until Disney!
October 18: Last Day Plans
October 23: Magic Band
October 29: 12 Days and Itinerary Recap

Trip Report: Table of Contents

November 9: The Day Before
November 10: Travel Day
November 11: Water Rides
November 12: Epcot
November 13: Magic Kingdom / Christmas Party 1
November 14: Animal Kingdom 1
November 15: Epcot / Magic Kingdom / Christmas Party 2
November 16: Animal Kingdom 2
November 17: Disney Hollywood Studios
November 18: Early Morning Magic / The Last Day

 

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My Advanced Dining Reservations open up on May 14th! It's coming up quick, so here is where I am at in my planning.


Dinner Theatre:

• Christmas Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue (8:30 pm)

I really enjoyed the standard Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue, so I'm interested to see how the show changes for Christmas. I'm guessing it's mostly the same show with one or two different songs. I guess we'll see.


Magic Kingdom:

• Cinderella's Royal Table (First MK Day, Last Day Lunch)
  
• 1900 Park Fare Breakfast (Grand Floridian)
  
• Skipper Canteen
  
• Be Our Guest (Breakfast)
  
• Ohana Breakfast (Polynesian)
  
• Crystal Palace

I'll have two plus days at Magic Kingdom. I love Cinderella's Royal Table and I loved Skipper Canteen. I'd like to try a meal at the Grand Floridian or Polynesian. I'm thinking breakfast since I don't want to take too much time outside the parks. I enjoyed the character interactions at Chef Mickey's last time (not so much the food), so I'd like to try something else.


Epcot:

• Akershaus Breakfast
  
• Garden Grill Lunch or Dinner
  
• Chefs de France
  
• Tokyo Dining
  
• Monsieur Paul
  
• Rose & Crown

Epcot is a little hard because I'm only planning for one full day. I loved almost every restaurant that I went to the last time (Akershaus, Garden Grill, Chefs de France, Coral Reef), but I had two full days there instead of one. I was thinking about possibly hopping over to Epcot for lunch on one of my Party days. I just worry that it may take way too long.


Hollywood Studios:

• Trattoria al Forno Breakfast (Boardwalk)
  
• 50's Prime Time Café
  
• Sci-Fi Drive-In Theater Restaurant
  
• Mama Melrose's Ristorante

Trattoria al Frono for breakfast and 50's Prime Time Café are both locks for me. I'm torn between Sci-Fi and Mama Melrose. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Sci-Fi and I've never been to Mama Melrose. The spare ribs at Sci-Fi were disappointing, but I really liked the desert so maybe I just picked the wrong entrée. I've heard mixed reports about Mama Melrose. I liked the Brown Hat Derby, but not enough for 2 credits. I'd rather do three meals that day instead of two.

I'm only allotting one full day there and a "pre-view" type day on my travel day. I'm going to try to get a Fast Pass to Slinkey Dog Dash on the day I arrive along with one for my full day. We'll see if it works out for me. I'm having dinner that night at the Christmas Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue.


Animal Kingdom:

• Tiffins
  
• Yak & Yeti
  
• Tusker House (Maybe)
  
• Sanaa (Animal Kingdom Lodge)

Animal Kingdom seems to be lacking in the sit-down restaurant department, but I enjoyed all of the ones I went to. I'm planning two plus days there. AKL is great too, but it just seems to take a lot of time to get there and back.


Disney Springs:

• Homecomin'
  
• Paradiso 37

I don't know if I'm even going to get to Disney Springs. I gave myself a full "rest day" last time outside the parks. I'm not doing that this time.

 

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My ADRs open tomorrow! So exciting!

Also, my shoes for my Mickey Mouse Disneybound have shipped! I normally wouldn’t buy clothes 6 months out, but they’re shoes and I got a pretty good deal ($35 for yellow Nikes). I’m a little worried about sizing since they’re imported, so I guess we’ll see.

Here is a picture of my Ariel shoes from last time that I’ll be reusing for this trip.

 

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ADRs opened today! The website was slow, but I was able to get some of what I wanted. I also decided to skip the Hoop this time around. I like the show, but it takes a really long time to get there and I just saw it in January.

I'm sure ADRs will get better as we get closer, but here's where I'm at right now:

11/10 - Travel Day / HS
50's Prime Time Cafe - 4:35 pm

11/11 - AK / Hopper
Sanaa - 1:15 pm

11/12 - Epcot
Garden Grill - 12:30 pm
Le Cellier Steakhouse - 5:30 pm

11/13 - MK + Party
1900 Park Fare - 8:10 am
Cinderella's Royal Table - 2:45 pm (I may cancel and go to the on 11/15)

11/14 - AK
Tusker House - 8:15 am (I may cancel. The day before is going to be long.)
Tiffins (Rivers of Light Package) - 11:50 am
Yak & Yeti - 4:30 pm

11/15 - MK + Party
Cinderella's Royal Table - 11:45 am (I may cancel and go to the one on 11/13)
Skipper Canteen - 4:30 pm

11/16 - AK
Undecided

11/17 - HS
Trattoria al Forno Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast - 7:30 am
50's Prime Time Cafe - 11:55 am
Sci-Fi - 5:15 pm

11/18 - MK + Hopper
Be Our Guest - 8 am
Cinderella's Royal Table - 11:50 am

 

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Disney Bound and Resort Update



Mickey Mouse shoes! I’m really excited about these. They’re not exactly what I was expecting, but they are very comfortable and cool. I’m still 6 months out, so there’s plenty of time to find the rest of the outfit. I also falsely assumed that they were Nikes because of the similar looking logo. I didn't realize that Panam is an independent brand in Mexico.

Also with all the talk of renovations at All-Star Movies, I decided to change my reservations. I’m now in a preferred room at Movies instead of a normal room at Music. Hopefully I’ll get that new room!

 

[reyasmommy]

Congrats on all of your weight loss! That's an amazing accomplishment !

 

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New Ariel Shirt?



I’m not quite ready to wear a compression shirt to Disney, but if nothing else it’s a nice work out shirt and a great motivator. I still have close to six months, so who knows.

It looks great with my green shorts and green shoes.

 

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I finally booked my flights with Southwest! The times weren't exactly what I was expecting, but it was close enough. I decided to go with the first flight into Orlando and the last flight out of Orlando.

My departing flight is currently scheduled for 7:40 am, so I need to leave the house by 4:40 am. The return flight is for 9:10 pm, so I suspect I'll need to meet the Magical Express Bus by 6:10 pm or so.

On the weight loss front, I broke the 110 pound lost mark, but it's getting harder and harder to lose anything. I'll have to re-evaluate what I'm eating and try to do better with adding exercise to my routine. I still have 162 days left to lose that belly fat. Hopefully I'm able to get to where I want to be by then.

 

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I love backpacks. I seem to collect them.

I think I may have just found my flight pack. (Kingdom Hearts)

 

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My new Disney Princess Backpack came in and it’s incredible!



I was planning on bringing other backpacks, but I think I love this one so much that I may just bring the Princess pack as my day pack and the Kingdom Hearts one as my flight bag.

 

[SoarinSupergirl]

***subscribe***Can`t wait to read about your trip

 

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I have a new tentative schedule. It's pretty complete and subject to change, but I have accounted for all of my ADRs. I think I may change one or two of my CRT reservations. I don't think I really need to go more than once, but I'm not sure where else to go for my Magic Kingdom days while using all of my deluxe dining credits. I'm also torn between keeping my breakfast at Be Our Guest on my last day or if I want to try to get in Early Morning Magic.

Disney Bounds: Ariel, Briar Rose, Mickey Mouse, Possibly Gaston

Arrival Day - 11/10

• I may do a "Park-Sleep-Fly" Package for the night before
• Red Bull & Protein Drink for Breakfast
• 7:40 am flight
• 10:55 am arrival at MCO
• QS Lunch at All-Star Movies - Secret Menu Burger (Out of Pocket)
• Head to Hollywood Studios
• Dinner @ Prime-Time Cafe
• Fantasmic
• Flex - Go to Epcot, Magic Kingdom for EMH or go to bed

Hopper Day / Water Rides - 11/11

• Red Bull & Protein Drink for Breakfast
• Rope Drop at Animal Kingdom
• Lunch at Sanaa
• Flex - DVC Tour, check Epcot or go straight to Magic Kingdom
• Dinner at Be Our Guest (Out of Pocket)
• Fireworks

Epcot Day - 11/12

• Uber to Boardwalk
• Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast
• Rope Drop Epcot
• Meet all the Princesses who are at Epcot.
• Lunch at Garden Grill
• Dinner at Le Cellier
• Reflections of Earth

Magic Kingdom / Christmas Party 1 - 11/13

• 1900 Park Fare Breakfast
• Rope Drop MK - If Possible
• Protein bars for Snacks to get me to a late lunch / early dinner
• 3 pm Lunch at CRT
• Maybe eat something else at Quick Service or rely on protein bars
• Christmas Party

Animal Kingdom - 11/14

• Tusker House Breakfast
• Rope Drop AK
• Lunch at Tiffins
• Dinner at Yak and Yeti
• Rivers of Light

Epcot / Magic Kingdom / Christmas Party 2 - 11/15

• Red Bull / Protein Drink Breakfast
• EMH Morning at Epcot. Pictures with Anna/Elsa, Frozen Ever After, Pictures with Mickey at 9 am
• Hop to Magic Kingdom
• Lunch at CRT
• Dinner at Skipper's Canteen
• Party 2

Animal Kingdom 2 - 11/16

• Red Bull / Protein Drink Breakfast
• Rope drop at AK (Or sleep in)
• Lunch at Yak and Yeti
• Dinner at Tiffins
• Close out the park
• Begin packing, watch a Disney Movie

Disney Hollywood Studios Day - 11/17

• Maybe Flynn Rider or Elsa Disney Bound?
• Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast
• Rope Drop at DHS
• Lunch at 50's Prime TIme
• Dinner at Sci-Fi
• Maybe go to Epcot?
• Final Packing

Last Day - 11/18

• Check bags with Airline, check carry-on with Bell Services
• 8 am Breakfast at Be Our Guest (OOP, may switch to Extra Morning Magic)
• Lunch at CRT
• Flex - Do whatever, maybe hop or spend the rest of the day at Animal Kingdom
• Meet Disney's Magical Express
• Grab dinner at the airport
• 9:40 pm flight out
• Back home around midnight / 1 am

Back to Work - 11/19

 

[Nakkira]

Onboard!

 

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Some of my Disney Bound stuff came in today!

First up is my Briar Rose shirt. I really like the shirt and I’m sure I’ll be wearing it outside of Disney World. I’m going to pair it with a black vest and dark grey pants. I’ll probably wear black tennis shoes. I’ve also been looking at a pair of Spinning Wheel cufflinks and purple tires.



Next up is my yellow bow tie for my Mickey Mouse Disney Bound. I’m going to pair it with the yellow shoes that I posted previously, a black short sleeved dress shirt and red pants that I’ve yet to buy. I’m thinking about getting a pair of Red Levi’s.

 

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100 Days!

I imagine it's going to go by quick. I have 14 weeks to get to a flat tummy. I'm not sure if it's going to happen, but it's fun to try. I'm down 117.8 pounds and I think I've reached the limit on how small my clothes can go. I have tons of stuff that I need to just donate to Goodwill and just be done with it. XXXLs-L's. It's all medium from here on out!

I've also been second guessing on if I should keep the Deluxe Dining Plan. It's a lot of food and I really don't eat a whole lot anymore. I did it in January as a way to take breaks since I was a lot heavier when I first started thinking about that trip. I also don't snack, drink soda or drink alcohol.

 

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The cufflinks for my Briar Rose Disneybound came in today from the UK. They’re perfect!

 

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Well, I booked my pre-flight hotel and parking package. I'll be staying at the Airport Marriot the night before the trip. I decided to book a room since I really don't want to drive an hour plus before my 7:40 am flight.

So I'll get off work, get dinner, and go to bed really early at my hotel.

It's happening!

11/9: Pre-Flight Stay
11/10-11/18: Disney World

I'm also down 119 pounds. My goal is to hit 125 before Disney World, so I have a little over 12 weeks to make it happen!

 

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My Mickey Mouse Disneybound is ready!



It's not the greatest picture (it's a little dark in the room), but I'm really excited about my Red Levi's. They look great, they feel great, and I can't wait until November!

 

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I'm 83 Days out until I go to Disney World, but is that too early to start packing?

I tried on my complete Mickey Mouse Disney Bound and I absolutely love it! It's perfect! The shoes aren't the greatest, but they'll do. I started packing a few things that I don't really need until the trip, like my shoes and Mickey Mouse outfit.

I still need to decide if I want to do an Early Morning Magic on the last day to Be Our Guest for Breakfast on my last day. I'm leaning towards the Early Morning Magic since I think the lunch may be better and it's not like there will be a big difference on when I'd need to wake up. I also need to order my tickets to the Christmas Parties.