Like a number of others, I decided to go solo in 2015 after the end of my relationship with my now ex husband. I LOVE Disney, and couldn't bear the thought of not going again. Plus, I wanted to go on holiday and Disney felt like a very safe option for a woman travelling on her own; I could even go out for dinner in an evening if I wanted and come back to my hotel in the dark and still feel way safer than in many cities.
What made it extra daunting for me is that I'm from the UK, so it was quite a major trip and I was really anxious that everyone would think I was a complete weirdo for wanting to go solo. I didn't tell that many people, only my ex (we're still friends) and my parents and they all got it; I'm quite an independent person, so a solo holiday wasn't a huge surprise and they also all know how much I love Disney.
Quick summary of my experience:
Bad points of my solo trip
Despite feeling a bit anxious I was really excited on the flight over but then I got to immigration and, okay, I know it's a bit strange for a 30 something year old English woman to be travelling to WDW on her own, but I really felt like a freak by time the guy had grilled me on 'did I really not have anyone to go with??!!??'. Don't get me wrong, he had his job to do, and I would probably have been pretty suspicious in his shoes, but it really deflated me for a while. I was pretty delicate anyway because you know, end of relationship, on holiday on my own and all that...but I walked away feeling like a total loser and a sad, batty woman. I even felt a bit tearful on the DME
However, I decided to snap myself out of it because I wasn't going to mope around and let it ruin my holiday.
EVERYTHING ELSE was GREAT
I felt just as happy an excited as ever when I walked in to the Magic Kingdom on my first day
I loved the freedom of doing what I wanted when I wanted and sitting in the sun people watching for as long as I wanted
I rode all the rides I wanted to (and didn't have to go on Jungle Cruise
)
I met some lovely people - usually just chatting on line or at adjacent tables
No-one, not one single person there made me feel weird (although occasionally I would fib and tell people that my family were still at the hotel or I was just going to meet them or something)
I was treated like a princess when I ate at Coral Reef - the server gave me an amazing table and was so helpful and attentive, but without being over-bearing
In fact, I really enjoyed my experience at all the places I ate, counter and table service. Table service - I also ate at Liberty Tree Tavern, twice (Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake
), Yak & Yeti, Restaurant Marrakesh, Mama Melrose's, Sanaa and San Angel Inn
I really felt that I got to spend some quality time on my own recovering from the pretty emotional few months I had been through, and I got to do that in a beautiful, fun, magical place.
Reading though similar accounts from others, I think that a solo WDW trip could be the perfect antidote to rubbish life events!
I still have such fond memories of that trip, and would love to do it again, but I have also been incredibly lucky in that I have a new partner now who I introduced to Disney World in 2017. He wasn’t 100% sold on it at the time, but some months afterwards, out of the blue he asked if we could go again. So here we are counting the days until we get back in December of this year!!!!
Long story short – if you’re the kind of person who is okay travelling alone, then a solo Disney trip can be amazing and good for you too...so it would be wrong not to go really!!!