R5Jedi
Carrying the Banner
- Joined
- May 10, 2013
Hi everyone! I just got back from my very first solo trip to Walt Disney World! I had the time of my life and I can't wait to tell everyone about it.
A little bit about me: My name is Addison, and I am 23 years old. I live in the suburbs of Chicago with my wonderful boyfriend, Joey, and I spent my childhood going to WDW every couple years. I am a waitress at an awesome dine in movie theater that I love, and I love that my job both allows me to make people happy and make a decent amount of money, enough to save a bit, and go on vacations for someone with my age and inexperience.
This is me!
I worked so hard to save up for this trip, doing 60 hour weeks and 12 hour days, and it was so so so worth it! I feel so lucky and blessed for everything that allowed me to take this trip. Without further ado, here is my trip report!!!!
The trip actually starts the day before. I found a flight to MCO for $168 round trip, but the catch was it took off at 6:30am, and I had a shift at 5pm the night before, so that meant no sleep that night. It was a Basic Economy ticket, which meant no overhead bin space. I managed to pack everything I would need for my trip into a backpack, and headed to work Saturday night.
I'm a trainer at my job so it's important for me to be a good example of work ethic to my coworkers, but I was just too excited to focus! After the third time I told my coworkers to "stop lollygagging, I have a plane to catch!" They told me to just go home and promised they would finish cleaning on their own. Normally I would never leave my shift before everything was finished but it was 12:30 and I was getting nervous because my flight left in 6 hours!
I got home, showered, and finished the last of my packing. I was already a little sleepy and that was making me nervous. I had a full day planned in the parks and wasn't sure if a 2 hour nap on the plane would tide me over, but hey, what are your 20s for if not being a little crazy.
My boyfriend Joey drove me to the airport, and we left our apartment around 2am. O'Hare is only about a 30 minute drive for us, so I got there before Security even opened. I had already checked in using the United app, and I wasn't checking any bags, so I just put my overstuffed backpack on the ground and chilled, playing some games on my phone until security opened.
I know I probably got there way too early, but I get so nervous about missing flights I'd rather be at the airport hours in advance, and I would rather accidentally fall asleep at the gate than on my couch at home. I was at my gate at around 4:30 am, and had a sausage egg and cheese biscuit from McDonald's that really hit the spot, considering the last time I ate had been at work hours earlier. I generally try to watch what I eat, but I decided there would be none of that on my trip, so the McDonalds was my first fun snack of the trip.
I almost nodded off a couple times at the gate, but I was not gonna be comfortable falling asleep until I was on the plane.
Up until now, I had been flying southwest, and looking around at the gate, I kept wondering where all the other people were. Turns out, the flight was less than half full! I don't know if that's a United thing, but all the Southwest flights I've ever taken had been so crowded. I'm sure the 6:30 am flight also made it less crowded.
6am rolled around, which was 7am Eastern time, which meant it was time for genie+ selections!!! From what I had heard, it would be a bloodbath. I scheduled my ILL for Flight of passage for around 12:45, and then went to Navi River Journey, and no matter how many times I refreshed, it was still for right after park opening.
This is when I began to think "Did I pick the best week ever for my Disney trip?"
I decided to hold off on booking any Genie+ selections.
Eventually it was time to board and I had a whole row to myself!!! I had this super convenient little inflatable travel pillow that could shrink down to nothing when I was done, so I pulled that out, blew it up and was ready to take a little nap.
Watching the sun rise from my plane window is a great way to start a trip!!
So, that nap didn't happen. You know that commercial? It came out when I was a kid, the "I'm too excited to sleep!" one? That's what was happening. Oh well. Even with the most soothing of TSwift tunes on, I was awake.
Then we began to descend into Orlando, and I was SOOO awake!!!! The moment we landed, I was opening the Disney app to mobile order my Flame Tree Barbeque half chicken. I was so hungry, but I figured it would be a while until I was in the park, so I scheduled my mobile order for 11:45.
The plane landed at 10:10, a little early and I was off pretty quick, and got my Magic Band + on! I wasn't sure if buying the + would be worth it, but oh my goodness, if you're only paying for yourself, the extras are so fun! I felt so immersed with all the vibrations and lights. I'm totally on the Magic band plus team.
My family always put our magic bands on in the terminal after riding the tram from the gates while I was a teenager, and it really feels like your vacation has started. Strapping it on is the best feeling ever.
I was out of the airport waiting for my Uber probably around 10:20? I will say Ubering wasn't my first choice, being solo, it's so not economical, but I could not get the Sunshine Flyer website to work for me, and I wanted to go straight to the park, so Uber it was. My Uber driver was named Robert and he was very talkative, I know his whole life story now, but it was nice to have someone to talk to on the way there.
I had budgeted myself 2 hours between the flight landing and getting to DAK, because I had never
gone directly from the airport to the parks, and I didn't exactly know what to expect.
I was outside the gates of animal kingdom at 10:50!!!
Hours since I had slept at this point: 24 hours. How did I survive this. I might be crazy
Thanks for reading the beginning of my trip report!!! Writing this made me feel the joy of being there all over again.
A little bit about me: My name is Addison, and I am 23 years old. I live in the suburbs of Chicago with my wonderful boyfriend, Joey, and I spent my childhood going to WDW every couple years. I am a waitress at an awesome dine in movie theater that I love, and I love that my job both allows me to make people happy and make a decent amount of money, enough to save a bit, and go on vacations for someone with my age and inexperience.
This is me!
I worked so hard to save up for this trip, doing 60 hour weeks and 12 hour days, and it was so so so worth it! I feel so lucky and blessed for everything that allowed me to take this trip. Without further ado, here is my trip report!!!!
The trip actually starts the day before. I found a flight to MCO for $168 round trip, but the catch was it took off at 6:30am, and I had a shift at 5pm the night before, so that meant no sleep that night. It was a Basic Economy ticket, which meant no overhead bin space. I managed to pack everything I would need for my trip into a backpack, and headed to work Saturday night.
I'm a trainer at my job so it's important for me to be a good example of work ethic to my coworkers, but I was just too excited to focus! After the third time I told my coworkers to "stop lollygagging, I have a plane to catch!" They told me to just go home and promised they would finish cleaning on their own. Normally I would never leave my shift before everything was finished but it was 12:30 and I was getting nervous because my flight left in 6 hours!
I got home, showered, and finished the last of my packing. I was already a little sleepy and that was making me nervous. I had a full day planned in the parks and wasn't sure if a 2 hour nap on the plane would tide me over, but hey, what are your 20s for if not being a little crazy.
My boyfriend Joey drove me to the airport, and we left our apartment around 2am. O'Hare is only about a 30 minute drive for us, so I got there before Security even opened. I had already checked in using the United app, and I wasn't checking any bags, so I just put my overstuffed backpack on the ground and chilled, playing some games on my phone until security opened.
I know I probably got there way too early, but I get so nervous about missing flights I'd rather be at the airport hours in advance, and I would rather accidentally fall asleep at the gate than on my couch at home. I was at my gate at around 4:30 am, and had a sausage egg and cheese biscuit from McDonald's that really hit the spot, considering the last time I ate had been at work hours earlier. I generally try to watch what I eat, but I decided there would be none of that on my trip, so the McDonalds was my first fun snack of the trip.
I almost nodded off a couple times at the gate, but I was not gonna be comfortable falling asleep until I was on the plane.
Up until now, I had been flying southwest, and looking around at the gate, I kept wondering where all the other people were. Turns out, the flight was less than half full! I don't know if that's a United thing, but all the Southwest flights I've ever taken had been so crowded. I'm sure the 6:30 am flight also made it less crowded.
6am rolled around, which was 7am Eastern time, which meant it was time for genie+ selections!!! From what I had heard, it would be a bloodbath. I scheduled my ILL for Flight of passage for around 12:45, and then went to Navi River Journey, and no matter how many times I refreshed, it was still for right after park opening.
This is when I began to think "Did I pick the best week ever for my Disney trip?"
I decided to hold off on booking any Genie+ selections.
Eventually it was time to board and I had a whole row to myself!!! I had this super convenient little inflatable travel pillow that could shrink down to nothing when I was done, so I pulled that out, blew it up and was ready to take a little nap.
Watching the sun rise from my plane window is a great way to start a trip!!
So, that nap didn't happen. You know that commercial? It came out when I was a kid, the "I'm too excited to sleep!" one? That's what was happening. Oh well. Even with the most soothing of TSwift tunes on, I was awake.
Then we began to descend into Orlando, and I was SOOO awake!!!! The moment we landed, I was opening the Disney app to mobile order my Flame Tree Barbeque half chicken. I was so hungry, but I figured it would be a while until I was in the park, so I scheduled my mobile order for 11:45.
The plane landed at 10:10, a little early and I was off pretty quick, and got my Magic Band + on! I wasn't sure if buying the + would be worth it, but oh my goodness, if you're only paying for yourself, the extras are so fun! I felt so immersed with all the vibrations and lights. I'm totally on the Magic band plus team.
My family always put our magic bands on in the terminal after riding the tram from the gates while I was a teenager, and it really feels like your vacation has started. Strapping it on is the best feeling ever.
I was out of the airport waiting for my Uber probably around 10:20? I will say Ubering wasn't my first choice, being solo, it's so not economical, but I could not get the Sunshine Flyer website to work for me, and I wanted to go straight to the park, so Uber it was. My Uber driver was named Robert and he was very talkative, I know his whole life story now, but it was nice to have someone to talk to on the way there.
I had budgeted myself 2 hours between the flight landing and getting to DAK, because I had never
gone directly from the airport to the parks, and I didn't exactly know what to expect.
I was outside the gates of animal kingdom at 10:50!!!
Hours since I had slept at this point: 24 hours. How did I survive this. I might be crazy
Thanks for reading the beginning of my trip report!!! Writing this made me feel the joy of being there all over again.
