Solo WDW Spring Break - March 18 - 23

Sorry, prepare for a lot of rambling...

March 18 - arrival
Flew in from California to arrive on a Sunday night. Flights were fine, the Express was pleasant, and I'm all set up through my app, so my room is ready and assigned when I arrive, so no lobby check in for me, it's straight on to the room. I stayed in Port Orleans - Riverside. I've never been to the resort at all, so I'm unprepared for the hike from the lobby to my room out in Alligator Bayou. Walking, reading signs, walking, more walking... I finally see it! Where do I get in this thing? There's a pool right there, and a laundry room. Thank goodness I eventually find out from fellow resort residents that there is a bus depot closer to my room than the one at the lobby.

Drop my bags, take some photos of my room, and decide to head fro Disney Springs for dinner.
Disney Springs is BUSY, lots of places I can't get into for at least 30-45 minutes (no reservation, because, who knew if I'd be able to make it in time?), so I opt for quick service. This is my first experience with the dining plan and paying with the MagicBand. Not too bad, I just wind up using a meal and a snack, so I can try a dessert. Find out later this isn't how this was supposed to work, but I don't care. Food had, I wander a little more, and head back to the hotel.

March 19 - Epcot
Head out to start the day at Epcot. I'm there for park opening, which sounds cool, but I can't actually see where the drumming is coming from. I have a lunch reservation, but nothing planned for breakfast, so I start hunting options... or intend to, but get distracted looking at things and riding rides. Finally eat breakfast at a quick service buffet that is trying to close out breakfast, so limited choices. It's ok, it's still edible food. Wander and talk to people, get my "First Visit" button courtesy of a nice guy working the DVC kiosk on the way into World Showcase. Shopping. Lots of it. My sister has been texting me things she wants, so I'm looking. They do not have the Flower and Garden D&B wallet in yet, check later in the week. Good thing I've planned to come back later! Try to go see Figment - ride is down. Lots of just wandering, then lunch at the Biergarten. I wind up winging it for dinner and eat at 9 Dragons. SO happy I did. Met a nice man from Beijing, who was pleased I knew something about real Chinese food, and ate with chopsticks. Watched the light and fireworks show, then headed back to the hotel. There was a little rain during the day, but not anything to worry about.

March 20 - Magic Kingdom
This is all a learning experience. I'm once more hunting breakfast at park opening, and wind up doing character dining at Crystal Palace. Everyone is fabulous and kind to the solo kid from California. They wind up bringing me coffee in a to go cup, because it's taking a while to get me seated past when they said it would. Breakfast is good, characters are nice, but I'm struck by the fact that they don't have PhotoPass photographers. This is different (California almost always has them at character dining). Food done, I head for my first FastPass of the day - Seven Dwarves Mine Train - it's down. Oh well, off to relive childhood memories by riding the PeopleMover. Yes, I nearly cried riding an attraction California hasn't had since 1995, and I hadn't ridden since 1990. I also took video for my sister. Go back to SDMT - it's open! Run to the bathroom and get in the FastPass line. Worth the wait, but I still feel like it's too short, and I swear it's missing a scene it thought it had in Shanghai. I'll have to look online later.
Ride more rides, then head to lunch at Be Our Guest. I booked it as a quick service, so I've already ordered ahead, and they just have to seat me and bring it out. AWESOME. The different rooms are really cool, and the food is good for quick service. The grey stuff IS delicious.
Lunch over, more rides! I head over to Liberty Square for the Hall of Presidents. They've just said to silence your phone when I hear a sound... the sound of multiple phones making that emergency alert noise. My phone isn't doing that. It's a TORNADO WARNING. Um, no one from the cast is even batting an eye, so on with the show. The warning covers so many counties, it is kind of useless. Everyone sits through the show, the heads out. I walk over to the Haunted Mansion and get in line. Then the rain starts. It's ok, I'm ready for it, and we're under awnings most of the way. Get in, ride the ride, head for the exit. As we get to the exit, it is clear it is now POURING outside, and cast members say we can just scoot through this door over here and ride the ride again. WOOT! So, I do. Best idea, EVER. While I'm on the ride, it rains hard, then HAILS. By the time I'm through it, all of that is done, and it's not even raining much.
More wandering and looking at things, riding rides. Decide I need a snack, and run into a photographer from California. We chat and watch people try to dodge the cloud bursts from the safety of a nice overhang. We're bad people, joking about the unprepared folks getting soaked. But, if I can plan for rain...
Finally decide that I'm too tired to hang out for fireworks, and head back to hotel to catch a late dinner. Meh. Food is ok, I finally pick up my drink mug that I haven't gotten for two days because I'm not sure where to find it, and use that for water. Yeah, some people may save a bunch of money on drinks with the thing, but I don't, and I find it SUPER weird that you can't use it everywhere, and it seems mostly aimed at the quick service stuff in the hotels, rather than saving cups in the parks.

March 21 - Animal Kingdom
Another day, another "find the breakfast." This is the day I should have eaten breakfast in the hotel. No sit down anywhere in less than an hour, and the only quick service stuff is pretty much snacks. I'm missing my California Disney stuff, where there is ALWAYS food to be had and a place to sit for breakfast. I'm not sure why this is different in quite this way, but I'll probably never make another WDW trip without booking breakfasts somewhere... Fed, but a wee bit disgruntled, I head out to wander around. A person could be lost in this park forever. Paths that don't really go anywhere, signs that point all sorts of ways... and it's beginning to get more crowded. GAH! FastPass for Avatar is a godsend - I'd likely have skipped it for taking too much time out of the day. I never did ride the Navi boats because the line went on forever. Rode on the safari, which was nice, but, having done similar things in CA, I wasn't too impressed. Weather is just cooler, and enough so that my various long sleeved things I brought weren't keeping me warm enough. Sweatshirt will be bought this day! Hunted around, saw one I liked, but couldn't find it in my size, so bought a different one, only to find another shop with the one I'd originally wanted. *sigh* Better warm than not. Lots of wandering, looking at things, taking pictures, riding rides. Dinosaurs - I just laughed and laughed. Everything reminded me of Cars Land, only with dinosaur theme. The ride - Indiana Jones ride vehicles, crazy Jurassic Park dude trying to get us to bring him a dino. More laughing.
Dinner in Dinoland, talking with a bunch of the college program cast members. The cast in FL is averaging SO MUCH YOUNGER than the folks I see in CA. At least most of them seem happy.
Go to see Rivers of Light show - WOW. I wish we had a lake like that in CA, with the moving set pieces. World of Color is AWESOME (full disclosure - I was in the WOC Winter Dreams Honor Choir, so I have serious bias), but this has its own beauty, and flexibility to reprogram sections. Head back for bed...

March 22 - Hollywood Studios
This is the park everyone warned me about. It's small, it's hot, there's not a lot to do, etc. I still managed to spend an entire day there! Breakfast with the Disney Jr. characters, then wandering, riding rides, etc. Rockin' Roller Coaster is what the original Superstar Limo ride (DCA - replaced by Monsters, Inc.) wanted to be when it grew up. AWESOME! Ride it twice, because I have a fast pass and the single rider line is short. Could have gone on again, but decided I'd see more things. See Beauty and the Beast - great short form show, and the nod to the various "bowl" theaters is great. Catch Stormtroopers marching up and down the main street. Lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby. So worth it. Amazing food, great drink (fruity rum drink for grown ups!), fabulous dessert. I go for the upsell to at Fantasmic package, and get a seat ticket for that. TOTALLY worth it. I haven't sat through Fantasmic in CA in a long while, due to refurbs, lack of seating, etc. This is the way to go. Sad there was no dragon, but I can see why.
Ate dinner at the Commissary, because pizza on that side of the park closes at 4 pm. This makes no sense, and walking clear to the other side just for pizza makes no sense, either. Wander back to the hotel after Fantasmic. See fireworks from Epcot as I'm leaving. Get back to find info for trip home. BUMMER! This had to end? Try to pick up packages at hotel, to discover they got sent to the wrong one. Wait until almost 11 to get them. Eeep! I need to pack stuff before I drop luggage in the morning.

March 23 - Epcot and flying home
Up and at 'em! Pack, and drag all the things to the lobby, so I can drop off my bag to check all the way home. I didn't check a bag coming in, came all carry on, but I don't want to drag my luggage with me on the way back. I'll have clothes at home if the bag doesn't make it. Takes a bit, since I paid for my bag (stupid airlines), but they couldn't see that on their end without a bit of digging. Finally, bag checked, I head in with my backpack. SHOPPING! The D&B wallet has come in, so get that for sis, along with various other things for her and other people. Backpack is filling up. More fun rides at Epcot - I'd left some things to do, because I don't leave until the evening, and knew I wanted to finish up shopping there. INSANELY good breakfast at Garden Grill. It's not fancy, it's just really tasty stuff. Ate so late, I barely had room for my lunch reservation at Rose and Crown. Best waiter on earth offered to pack up most of my lunch, but I knew it would all be nasty by the time I got on the plane and got hungry. Said goodbye to nice man who gave me my First Visit button before I left to head for home.
Finally, time to say goodbye to the parks, and went back to Port Orleans to grab the bus to the airport. There, the magic of Disney ends. Airport security - what a zoo. Once through that, it was out to the terminal to wait, and make the flights home. Flying home is always hard, and this was no exception. Smaller plane that originally assigned, less room to move, a guy behind me who kept kicking my feet through the space under my seat (yes, that means he was sticking his feet clear under and through past the bar under there), but we got to LAX in time for me to make the less than one hour layover home. Hubby came to get me, and I was home by early Saturday morning.

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit, learned a lot about how things differ, saw things I haven't seen in ages, or never did, because it wasn't in the parks here when I was a kid, and would be more than willing to do it all again! Super happy that I booked the deluxe dining plan, and could just MagicBand all my meals. I still wound up paying cash a couple places, just to make life easier, but wound up using the last of my snacks to buy food and drink for the trip home. A body could eat themselves insensible at these parks. I thought we had dining choices in CA... And I never went to another hotel aside from mine.

 

Yeah, I did the deluxe dining, which, honestly, was too much food. I felt like I was just wandering between meals. Some of them were totally worth the pig out, some, less so. The feeling that everyone is disappointed in you for only making one trip through the buffet, and not getting a dessert was just weird, and it happened more than once. Super glad I could eat everything at the Brown Derby - I'd always wanted to go when I was kid, and then the real thing closed before I was old enough to make the trip.

On a normal trip to DLR, we eat snacks a lot, and fewer sit down meals. That was actually harder to do with the meal plan, and servers kept telling me what else I could add on to maximize my use of the plan, to the point I felt bad. I'll just have to book things differently next time, since the way I normally do things doesn't work for WDW.

As for kids and chopsticks - our kid uses them, since she's been raised eating Chinese and Japanese with her Nor. Cal family. Hubby's friend in grade school was Chinese, and he learned so well, he can eat faster with chopsticks than a lot of people can with forks and spoons. It's actually a little scary. When we went to China, our friends were very happy we weren't trying to ask for forks. *LOL* She'll be all set when we head to Japan in 2020.

 

Yep! The taco style pork bao at 9 Dragons, while totally Chinese, threw me a little, because I'm so used to the dim sum style ones here. I felt weird finger fooding it, but its how you handle them - they're street food, after all!
Rice with chopsticks is fine, until its the wrong consistency in the wrong vessel - chasing rice around a paper plate.