Excellent trip report! I am glad I came along!
This is what I learned:
1. Do a solo trip, it will be fun!
2. Try to engage with both guests and cast members, some may not work, but some will and it will be great.
3. Be flexible; things happen that is out of your control, you can work it out, you are at Walt Disney World!
4. Attitude IS EVERTHING, if you have a positive attitude, you will have a great time!
It's funny--I know that I have a tendency to fall into negative attitude cycles, allowing bad experiences or service to affect me far longer than necessary. It's easy to do when you're in a routine or surrounded by others with the same tendencies--you get into a feedback loop and it just spirals down from there.
I think there were several things I did differently on this trip to stop that from happening:
One was by going alone. It meant I wasn't always accompanied by the same people the entire time and thus tempted to constantly rehash something and blow it out of proportion because it's easy conversation. When I did had a negative experience (and there were admittedly few, which is why I picked Disney and pre-planned in the first place), I was more prone to just let it go because I was immediately moving on to the next experience and new people.
I'm self-aware enough to recognize that I'm too independent and stubborn, that I like to do things my way (what seems the most logical and efficient to me), and that I can easily lose patience when my friends/family don't agree with me. It's a personal flaw, and knowing this does help to some extent, but I'm not perfect. It's part of why I decided to make this a solo trip--because I didn't want to allow that sort of frustration to cloud my vacation. Someday I'll be happy to go with friends and be more accommodating to their own whims and choices, but this trip was too important to me to take that risk--this was for me alone.
Another was that I kept reminding myself to live in the moment, not dwell on the past or the future so much. I avoided getting on social media during the day because it did pull me out of the moment. I can surf or chat with friends anytime, but I'm only at Disney for a short while--I didn't want anything to distract me. I broke the rule sometimes (posting a live feed or surfing while eating if there was nobody to talk with), but for the most part I only took my phone out to take photos and then back it would go into my pocket. This included while waiting in line! If I'm busy on my phone, I'm not opening myself up to the people around me, and I'm certainly not paying attention to what's going on around me. You can't spot magic if you aren't looking up.
Finally, I literally DECIDED to have a positive attitude. I told myself "I'm going to have fun, despite any obstacles." But I was realistic about that goal, too. It's not the same as saying "I'm going to have fun and my world will end if I don't." I saw folks do that--they blew up when things didn't go their way or their plans were disrupted. I just assumed things wouldn't always go according to plan, and instead did as much pre-planning and homework as possible beforehand so that I'd be PREPARED to change plans without notice. Rather than fret about what to do because I had to cancel a reservation, I rolled with it and looked for other opportunities because I already knew what was out there. Going to the Sci-Fi Dine-In instead of Flying Fish is a perfect example--yes, I was a little disappointed, but I got to do something else even more unique instead, so it was all good.
It wasn't always easy for me to stay upbeat the entire time, and I'd occasionally find myself slipping--particularly as I got more exhausted--but I really worked at it. I sat down when I felt my attitude slipping. I searched for things to cheer myself up, like watching little kids being awed by the magic around them, or a nice frozen drink, or something deliberately silly like a character meet even if it took time. While time was precious, so were my memories and I wanted them all to be happy.
Ultimately, I didn't want to come away from this vacation just complaining about the crowds or the heat or the prices like I heard so many coworkers and friends do--I knew there was more to find there or else people wouldn't keep going back. I like to think that I found whatever that magic is, but I did have to LOOK for it.