Trouble Shifting Gears to Solo

_Cy_

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 15, 2017
This September. Eighth time at WDW, but first time solo. As I'm planning, I keep telling myself to relax and slow down. "Leave room for Magic to happen. It will still be there NEXT year if you don't get to cross that one thing off of your list".

Easier said than done.

As Chief-Planner-in-Charge when I went three times with my family of five, I always felt like I was moving the Fifth Army...to Mars. So "there MUST be something incredibly wrong with an overly simplistic plan" says that part of my brain that wants my touring plan to look like the blueprints for a German-engineered sports car.

Would it really be so bad if I put 'attractions' on the back burner and spent half an hour wandering around The Chapeau Hat shop instead?

Will Walt's ghost haunt me if I say out loud, "I kinda wanna eat all week more than I wanna ride all week".

Is my temptation to blow an entire day (and yeah prolly the following morning too) bar-crawling through the resort hotels the stuff of madness?

Can anyone else relate?

Thanks,

_Cy_
 
This September. Eighth time at WDW, but first time solo. As I'm planning, I keep telling myself to relax and slow down. "Leave room for Magic to happen. It will still be there NEXT year if you don't get to cross that one thing off of your list".

Easier said than done.

As Chief-Planner-in-Charge when I went three times with my family of five, I always felt like I was moving the Fifth Army...to Mars. So "there MUST be something incredibly wrong with an overly simplistic plan" says that part of my brain that wants my touring plan to look like the blueprints for a German-engineered sports car.

Would it really be so bad if I put 'attractions' on the back burner and spent half an hour wandering around The Chapeau Hat shop instead?

Will Walt's ghost haunt me if I say out loud, "I kinda wanna eat all week more than I wanna ride all week".

Is my temptation to blow an entire day (and yeah prolly the following morning too) bar-crawling through the resort hotels the stuff of madness?

Can anyone else relate?

Thanks,

_Cy_

I kinda relate in reverse. From where I am so used to traveling solo, I have trouble remembering others are in my group when I travel with friends. The real key is to remember that when you are solo, it is your vacation, but when you travel with others, you have to make compromises. Go at it commando if you want, or take it slow if you want. I personally like to do a handful of attractions I prefer, but also take breaks and try to include a nice, long table service meal each day(especially in Epcot). I go for a balanced approach normally, but there are a couple of attractions that kind of throw a wrench into my plans as well, so be prepared to be flexible.
 
I found that I was waking up at the same time I usually wake up for work on my solo trip. When I travel with family no one else is ever up that early but alone I realized I could just get up and go. So I found myself rope dropping several mornings and then settling in for a relaxing cup of coffee and breakfast after hitting a headliner or two. I found myself having a cocktail at Dawn Bar at 10:30 am because why not? I ate Mickey Pretzels for lunch and then sometimes took a nap back at the resort. I rode a full loop on the Skyliner. Twice. I sat on a bench in World Showcase with a margarita and just watched people for an hour. I ate whenever I wanted - sometimes early, sometimes late. I ate beignets at French Quarter as an almost midnight snack.

I planned almost nothing and it was one of my favorite trips I have ever taken. Enjoy the freedom to experience the World whatever way suits you best!
 
Oh Yes! I finally realized that I have to plan almost 2 trips. The first 2-3 days, I go-go-go until I'm exhausted. Then I'm able to go slower and relax the last half the trip. Or go-go-go- some more, if I have enough energy. We internalize a lot of unwritten rules about how we are supposed to be, and those rules can be supported by a subconscious fear that we will be thrown out of the tribe if we break them. It's hard to realize the rules and the tribe can be quite different in a big place like WDW.
 


This September. Eighth time at WDW, but first time solo. As I'm planning, I keep telling myself to relax and slow down. "Leave room for Magic to happen. It will still be there NEXT year if you don't get to cross that one thing off of your list".

Easier said than done.

As Chief-Planner-in-Charge when I went three times with my family of five, I always felt like I was moving the Fifth Army...to Mars. So "there MUST be something incredibly wrong with an overly simplistic plan" says that part of my brain that wants my touring plan to look like the blueprints for a German-engineered sports car.

Would it really be so bad if I put 'attractions' on the back burner and spent half an hour wandering around The Chapeau Hat shop instead?

Will Walt's ghost haunt me if I say out loud, "I kinda wanna eat all week more than I wanna ride all week".

Is my temptation to blow an entire day (and yeah prolly the following morning too) bar-crawling through the resort hotels the stuff of madness?

Can anyone else relate?

Thanks,

_Cy_

I was like this until I got an AP. I swear to god it was like a switch flipped in my head. The knowledge that I could literally come and go as I please and could always return whenever I had a 3 day weekend and cheap flights just immediately alleviated all that pressure to gogogo. That's not to say I didn't rope drop but on my solo weekend trip I managed to hit all 4 parks and still spent like 3 hours in the hot tub at SAB on a Sunday.
 
I’ve been going solo for over ten years now. Before that I planned trips for my family, none of whom enjoyed the same things. I had a thrill seeking DS, a no-thrills character hound DD and a DH who just wanted a beer. I literally had to plan to do ALL THE THINGS.

When the kiddos grew up DH dropped out of my Disney trips and I began my solo career. I could do exactly what I wanted (and none of the things I didn’t), when I wanted! Guess what? I still planned to do ALL THE THINGS!

It took me a while to realize that because I could ride something didn’t mean I had to ride it. It was around the time I also discovered the joys of the Disney lounges. 🍷
 
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It took me a while to realize that because I could ride something didn’t mean I had to ride it.

Right?? I've been on Space Mountain dozens of times (Once with all the light turned on!) but I've never gotten my hair cut on Main Street! Or grabbed a nap in the afternoon or chartered a bass boat or...
 


I remember my aha moment very well. I was standing in the Visa character meet line at Epcot when I realized I didn’t really want to take a picture with Mickey. I don’t really care about the characters and HATE having my photo taken. I was just doing things the way I’d always done back when the kids were with me.
 
Just got back from my 7th solo trip and it was my least "planned" one ever. I had a few must-do FPs, one ADR for my favorite Wave breakfast, and an intensely studied Top Priority plan for getting a BG for RotR. I didn't even set foot in MK. One day when I was really craving a relaxing TS lunch, I got on the app and found a last-minute ADR for Beaches & Cream, which really hit the spot.

That to me is the best thing about going solo - just doing what you feel like. Enjoy the things you choose to do, and don't stress over what you don't do.
 
I totally get it! I have a very hard time not planning everything for my solo trips. Right now I’m agonizing over FP+ choices because my 60 day window opens next week. I think I’ve decided that yes, having some FP booked is a great idea, if only to have a few guaranteed things I won’t have to wait long for. But I think I’m going to give myself permission to blow them off or change plans on the fly too. I don’t want to feel tied down or trapped by plans, and since I’m solo, I don’t have to be!
 
Solo trips are the best, dare I say I almost enjoy them more than when I go with family. The thing is it's your trip to do what you want. If you want to continue to plan, then plan. If you want to not plan a darn thing and just wing it, do it. I don't plan anything on solo trips, at least nothing in advance. I book ADRs day of (which we do when I go with my son too), if I book a FP it's usually while standing in line for something. My solo trips tend to be less about rides and more about watching shows (which my son hates). I do get to ride the rides he can't because he has nerve damage in his spine. So, I ride Space Mountain and BTMRR and EE cause by george I can. Solo rider lines are your friends. Like others, I tend to still get up early when at WDW and my son can sleep until noon if I don't make him get up. So I get up early and have my coffee on the balcony without worrying about waking him. Or if I'm up, I'll do rope drop, not because there is some ride I particularly want to ride but I'm up so why not.
 
...I just want to eat my way through the World, hand out a few balloons to crying children, and people watch. That's really really all!

_Cy
 
I have treated solo trips like other trips...some of that had to do with my first solo trip with dining plan discovering I could not walk up for reservations (2008- so things were a bit different). But my last solo, I realized I was overplanned. I stopped. I moved fast passes thanks to the ap...and I slept in! My favorite thing about solo is you can change and no one is there to complain!
 

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