Solo and low crowds with a group

[keywis25]

Ok so I did my pre trip report and I put a link below to that now it is time to tell how the trip actually went. So a bit of background I went to Orlando from April 5th to April 13th. I spent time by myself from the 6th to the 8th and the afternoon of the 8th I was joined by my friend and her family. This was the first time I've ever done the parks by myself and I am normally a DL person but have been to DW a few times. DW was picked for this trip so it was easy for my friend and her family to travel down.

I tried to take lots of pics and I will share some but apparently I went a day and half with no pics so who knows what I was thinking.

I will start with April 5th which was my travel date. Well I took a red eye so my travel date was two days.

I live in a small rural Nv town that is conveniently located on Interstate 80 called Winnemucca. It is 2 hours from the nearest airport of Elko which has one flight a day to Salt Lake city, 2.5 hours from the Reno airport (this is the one I normally fly from) and I live 5 hours from the Salt Lake city airport and for this trip this is the airport I picked because I saved about $600 on my ticket.

So I got all packed Friday morning with my favorite luggage and my work bag in case they needed anything from me (which they did not) and my favorite Crocs(they are from my last DL trip in Dec of 2023). The big one is only half full as I needed room for souvenirs. But I was ready to go but my flight did not leave till 1120pm so I had some time to wait.

However, it was snowing at least in my immediate vicinity and the weather forecast over the road I had to drive looked mostly ok but was iffy in places and because I had to go over several summits I left a bit early. There is a hour difference between Nv and Ut so in good driving conditions I needed to leave at 3ishbut because of dicey conditions and my excitement I left at 2ish and it worked out well.


The arrival time is PST so it changed an hour once I crossed to MST. I got there about 8:30 local time.
conditions as I pulled on to the main road. Snow everywhere I couldn't wait to get to some heat.


Conditions improved as I got some miles out but the Orange Trees you see in the pic are the Nv state tree always growing alive and well on the roads


Then just rain and snow fluries the rest of my trip.

This was my proof of life and Starbucks run in Elko, I got a cold brew to help stay alert and a iced peach green tea lemonade to go with my grilled cheese sandwich. I only get Starbucks like once every couple months when I go to Elko or Reno.

If you have ever crossed the Salt Flats you know there is not tons to look at. There was a fair amount of water on parts of them not too unusual but something to break up all the white salt.

So I made it to the airport after a quick stop at Target as I forgot my foot powder. I used the Parking Spot for the first time and I really liked it. They told me where to park and the shuttle followed me to my spot and helped me with my bags. I was dropped off at the terminal and was able to quickly check in my bags and security took me less than 5 mins to get through, they were moving. The plane boarded on time and we pushed off from the gate on time but were delayed about 10 minutes deicing (the price you pay for safety). We did make it to Orlando about 15 mins early. I walked out to get my bags which if you have ever checked bags on an early flight you know that it is a curse to be early because they are never ready with crew to get the bags. So I waited there a bit and the fire alarm went off which no one really reacted to. I went outside because it was loud and stood where I could see the baggage carousel. Finally the alarm turned off and the bags started to come a couple minutes after that. I got my bags and ordered my uber and I was on my way.

Me at Salt Lake City Airport


Proof of life in the Orlando Airport.

The uber came and took me from MCO to the Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. In my next post I will tell you about walking into there for the first time and what I did since it would be hours before I had a room.

PRE Trip Report Link
https://www.disboards.com/threads/first-solo-trip-and-then-a-bunch-of-people.3942086/

 

[DLo]

hopping over from your PTR. Looking forward to reading more

 

[Mich123]

Looking forward to your report!

 

[indyshelley]

Ooooo…hopping on I’m only 2.5 weeks out from my trip and your travel day is making me so happy! I can’t wait to hear more!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

We might have crossed paths. I was there from April 7-14!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Following

 

[keywis25]

Hey everyone following, I have finally found some time to get through my first and day of the trip. So I left off on my way from the airport to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I had only seen this place in promotional videos and always thought to myself I would love to stay there but those prices always seemed out of reach. But I finally made it and for two nights I could totally swing it.

So I got dropped off out front of the Jambo House and as I walked through the doors I was like this place is AWESOME. I did not get a photo of the lobby when I got in there as I had all my bags and it was just getting light outside. It was just around 620ish and I needed to do somethings before I headed to epcot. Mainly put on some moleskin and change my shoes and of course get out my backpack. So I did all of that and I checked my bags with the bell services.

Then it was 7 and I got on my phone and opened my app. I got a 9:15 LL for Remy's and I bought an ILL for Guardian's. I did not try for the virtual queue because I had a 2pm Spa appointment and I wanted to control the time. I had decided to do early entry and go straight to the Frozen ride. Ok so my plan was set and I headed out to see where the buses were.

I did enjoy the animal drawings on the outside of the hotel. My favorite was the horse




I don't want to brag or anything but I uh got picked up for Epcot on my very own bus. You know what they say "You know you have made it when your own $400K vehicle pulls up with your own private driver"



So I was on that bus at about 7:20ish and the bus driver and I had a good talk about life.

I made it to Epcot and I was like the 15th person in the line waiting for security to open. So not bad but I am not a runner or a have to be there first person so I was not the 15th person through security lol.

Once through security we had to wait and have our tickets checked for early entry. Here is my view while I waited and waited. I have only done early entry once and that was at Disneyland and I rarely ever rope drop because my daughter likes to sleep till lunch but I am always up early. So traveling as a person of one was great because I could get there early. Of course this morning I never went to sleep.



So we finally, got through to our next waiting area, YAY. They basically divided people into 3 bunches based on what ride they were headed to first. I got in the Frozen bunch and waited.
Me waiting with all the people. I did have a nice conversation with the couple in front of me. Its strange for me to be so talkative with strangers but it just felt right.


Finally we were off and people really, really hustle to get there. I walked enjoyed the flowers on the way by them. and got in line for Frozen.


And while I waited outside my first Duck. My daughter, who is 21, and I love to see the ducks whereever we go but you know we really love the Disney Ducks. I took this pic to send to her but I will share my ducks with everyone here too.


Took me about 15 minutes to get to the front of the line. I enjoyed the queue details.

And I loved the ride. It was so cute. The family in the front of the boat kept letting their kid stand up so we did get like 3 announcements to please remain fully seated which took away from the ride a little bit. There is me in the back all by my lonesome and LOVING IT.


So that was fun then I saw a little bakery to the side and I was like yep I will get something, I am hungry. I got a bottle of water and a Mickey Cinnamon Roll. I always think the sweets in the park look soooo good. But and this may make me unpopular, they never taste that good. I ate one ear and threw the rest away. But here is my real secret even though I know I am probably not going to like it. I still buy it. I have a problem. But it is a problem and Disney so how bad could it be.



Anyway done my confessionals for now I headed to Remy. I am at my photo limit so I will post this and keep going.

 

[keywis25]

hopping over from your PTR. Looking forward to reading more

Glad to see you DLo hope you enjoy.

Looking forward to your report!

Welcome Mich123. I am having fun writing it I need to get it all out soon before I forget.

Ooooo…hopping on I’m only 2.5 weeks out from my trip and your travel day is making me so happy! I can’t wait to hear more!

Hello indyshelley, You will be there real soon. I hope you have such a blast.

We might have crossed paths. I was there from April 7-14!

Hi there Stacybaeasm, did you enjoy the good weather and low crowds, I thought it was a great time to be there.

Following

Hey Nicicnic.nic, I hope you have fun following along.