Taking on Disney Solo
As an introvert, doing anything by myself gives me TONS of anxiety. So as you can imagine, deciding to take a trip to Walt Disney World by myself is not something that would be anywhere remotely near the top of my to-do list. Yet, somehow I found myself in that exact situation just under a year ago for my birthday. It didn’t start out as a solo trip, I had actually wanted to initially go with my family, but they just couldn’t make it work with their schedules. I had already had the trip booked prior to asking them, because I’m a planner and wanted to make sure I could get off of work. So when my family backed out, and I couldn’t find anyone to go with me, I had 2 choices. Stay in Wisconsin for my birthday, where the weather is SUPER unpredictable that time of year, or keep my trip and push myself out of my comfort zone. I chose the latter, and I had the BEST time.
Very quickly on in my trip, I decided that I wanted to try something I had never experienced. There is SO much to do at Disney, and when I go with my family we tend to just focus on the rollercoasters. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but the rollercoasters really just scratch the surface of all the wonderful things Disney has to offer.
Day 2: Animal Kingdom
Drew Dumbo at the Animation Experience
Experimented with lunch over at Satuli Canteen
Transformed into an Honorary Bug at It’s Tough to be a Bug
Day 4: Hollywood Studios
Got evacuated off Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Watched Mickey and Minnie Shorts
Visited the infamous Potatoland
Watched the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Enjoyed dinner at 50’s Prime Time Cafe
Experienced Fantasmic front row
Day 6: EPCOT
Rode Guardian’s of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind
Experienced Turtle Talk with Crush
Played with butterflies in the Butterfly landing
Completed the Flower and Garden Festival Passport
Joined the Beauty and the Beast Sing-a-Long
Walked through Journey of Water
Ate around the World
Watched Luminous, the Symphony of Us
Day 1: Magic Kingdom
First person to Magic Kingdom
Only person on the bus to the park in the morning
Rode TRON
Experienced the Enchanted Tiki Room
Day 3: Rest Day
Resort Hopped
Walked from Epcot to Hollywood Studios
Checked out the Boardwalk
Had lunch at Beaches and Cream
Tried (and loved) the Beignets over at Port Orleans French Quarter
Day 5: Rest Day
Went on a Starlight Safari at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
Day 7: Magic Kingdom
Learned about the history of Walt Disney World in the Key’s to the Kingdom Tour
Didn’t ride a single ride the whole day
Hiked Tom Sawyers Adventure Island
Stood front row for Happily Ever After
As you can see, I had a pretty busy trip. Each day I only challenged myself to one new thing, but most days I was able to easily surpass that, and each of these things are things that I never would’ve gotten to do if my family had joined me as originally planned. So if you have a list of things on your Disney to-do list, that your friends or family aren’t interested in, I definitely recommend taking the leap and doing a solo trip. You get to do whatever you want, on your time table, and it pulls you out of your comfort zone in ways you can’t even imagine.
