Very First SOLO Trip... aka Official Vacation 7

[Soarin08]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going down in July on my first ever solo trip. The other trips my crazy family has been along for the ride. Or I've been on the CP working and that doesn't count!

21 July through 30 July, though I'm considering extending till 6 August. I've booked Pop Century and am looking forward to it! Fell in love with that resort when my best friend and I stayed there this spring when she visited me on my college program. Plus I'm a seasonal CM now and I get discounts... Pop was the cheapest. I DO still have to budget here, I am in uni after all!

I booked a couple new restaurants this time as well- Cape May Cafe and then Sanaa. CMs get 40% off at Sanaa for lunch so totally taking advantage of it. Then there are my favourites that I refuse to pass up... Rose and Crown and then Biergarten. I'd feel like a bad Disney lover if I skipped out on those two!

So yeah... 49 more days to go! I'm dying over here.

[Amy]

That is a great discount at Sanaa ~ do the discounts vary according to restaurants and meal times?
You'll probably have a blast by yourself, but don't be surprised if you end up missing your crazy family being with you

[mindflipper]

I dunno - sometimes going on a solo trip allows you to do things that aren't so easy to do with your family being around - like just being able to wander through the park, enjoying the sights, taking photos leisurely...

[Amy]

I dunno - sometimes going on a solo trip allows you to do things that aren't so easy to do with your family being around - like just being able to wander through the park, enjoying the sights, taking photos leisurely...

Oh, it is definitely nice going at your own pace, and doing just what you want to do, when you want to do it...but there are also times when you want to turn to someone and say "look at that!" but the person you turn toward looks at you like you are a crazy fool talking to yourself

[mindflipper]

Instead, you can take a picture with your smartphone and send it to someone and say "Look at what I'm seeing" so you can create some "e-jealousy" amongst friends.

[Soarin08]

That is a great discount at Sanaa ~ do the discounts vary according to restaurants and meal times?
You'll probably have a blast by yourself, but don't be surprised if you end up missing your crazy family being with you

CMs get 40% off breakfast/lunch at a select few establishments (all located in resorts)- Sanaa, Turf Club, Trail's End (ummm... no, I worked there enough, not going back!), The Wave, and a couple others. All other restaurants are 20% (full service only in the parks, QSR and full service in the resorts), but CMs have to dine at breakfast/lunch before 4pm or after 8pm to get the discount. Only problem is they take the 18% gratuity and automatically add it for us so we really don't save but a couple dollars.

Yeah can I just say my family has zero idea I'm even going? I mean I live on the West Coast now, they only see me at Christmas.

[MmeLeota]

I dunno - sometimes going on a solo trip allows you to do things that aren't so easy to do with your family being around - like just being able to wander through the park, enjoying the sights, taking photos leisurely...

Oh, it is definitely nice going at your own pace, and doing just what you want to do, when you want to do it...but there are also times when you want to turn to someone and say "look at that!" but the person you turn toward looks at you like you are a crazy fool talking to yourself

I completely agree with both of these statements!!! I had the chance to spend one day alone at DL/DCA while hubby was attending a work related event. I loved sitting at the front of the Mark Twain in the morning with the breeze blowing in my face and going wherever I felt the day took me without asking every two seconds "what do you want to do next?" (and getting "I don't care" as a response ) (love ya honey!!!! ). But there were also many moments where I turned to tell him something or point something out and end up face to face with a stranger!

Soarin, you're going to have a blast on your trip!!! Even though I felt badly that hubby wasn't with me on that one day, there is a feeling of "Disney peace" that I will always have even if I never go alone again. I hope you find many of those "peaceful" moments on your trip. You will have those amazing feelings the rest of your life!

[Soarin08]

It's safe to say I will NOT miss my family tagging along. My parents are ALWAYS arguing, my sister hates Disney anything with a passion, and the only one I have a really good time with is my 10yo brother. I find that being alone at Disney is quite possibly the best way to go. Or, I have to have a super close friend with me (aka, when hockeygirl was down).

I tend to go and wander around a lot and don't always have to ride every single ride, etc. I would rather go eat.

I'm going to work a couple shifts at SSR while I'm down (the Fort doesn't take seasonal employees- their loss) to keep my status current, but I'm mostly going to be visiting friends. My closest friend (potentially) leaves to return to the UK in September and then another goes back to the UK in January so I want to see them before they leave to go back across the pond. Then others who live in Florida, of course.

[mindflipper]

One of my best Disney trips was going solo to DLP in Paris. Even though I was alone, I ending up talking with lot of different europeans (Netherlands in the ticket queue, Germany for lunch, UK while waiting for MSEP)...

[Soarin08]

That's another thing I love about being there alone. I think my favourite thing is to wander World Showcase and talk to all the CMs back there. It's amazing how willing they all are to talk about virtually anything. In my experiences as a college program CM, I found the international kids got ignored quite a bit by the Americans so I always tried to befriend them. Ended up being close with my Brazilian coworker in '09 and am very close to a British CM who is at Epcot currently. When I have other people in tow, I generally don't get to spend as much time socialising with the CMs as I'd like.

[mindflipper]

For years, I went to Alfredo's with my family for dinner on my birthday. For about four years straight, we had the same waiter and he would remember us on each of subsequent visits (would even change with other waiters to get us). We used to talk a lot, and we knew alot about his personal life, what he was going to school for, and what his plans were for when he returned back to Italy.

[Soarin08]

It's memories and experiences like that that make Disney so special no matter which park you're at. No other vacation can compare.

[Amy]

For years, I went to Alfredo's with my family for dinner on my birthday. For about four years straight, we had the same waiter and he would remember us on each of subsequent visits (would even change with other waiters to get us). We used to talk a lot, and we knew alot about his personal life, what he was going to school for, and what his plans were for when he returned back to Italy.

That's impressive that he was there for that long. I thought a lot of the CM's in the World Showcase Pavilions were only at WDW for a year or so at the most. He must have enjoyed his time there...

[mindflipper]

For years, I went to Alfredo's with my family for dinner on my birthday. For about four years straight, we had the same waiter and he would remember us on each of subsequent visits (would even change with other waiters to get us). We used to talk a lot, and we knew alot about his personal life, what he was going to school for, and what his plans were for when he returned back to Italy.

That's impressive that he was there for that long. I thought a lot of the CM's in the World Showcase Pavilions were only at WDW for a year or so at the most. He must have enjoyed his time there...

He was in some program that he worked at EPCOT while going to college at UCF in Orlando. He presumably had left after he graduated.

[Soarin08]

For years, I went to Alfredo's with my family for dinner on my birthday. For about four years straight, we had the same waiter and he would remember us on each of subsequent visits (would even change with other waiters to get us). We used to talk a lot, and we knew alot about his personal life, what he was going to school for, and what his plans were for when he returned back to Italy.

That's impressive that he was there for that long. I thought a lot of the CM's in the World Showcase Pavilions were only at WDW for a year or so at the most. He must have enjoyed his time there...

Some are offered the option to extend another year on a management-level internship similar to the ones American students are offered. Usually two per pavilion, one in merchandise and one in foods. My friend in UK merchandise is being considered for that pavilion so my fingers are crossed. Otherwise, yes, they usually do leave after a year... unless they are my friend who works Tutto Italia who married an American and is now still here...