Quick Solo Trip Feb 18-19, 2020

Faldred

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
2019 was a busy and stressful year. I've been meaning to get away from EVERYTHING - work, family, you name it - for a few days of just total "me" time since September, but things kept popping up before I could make concrete plans.

Well, I finally bit the bullet and started making actual plans for the third week of February. As that's the worst of winter in these parts, my first instinct was "drive someplace warm, i.e., Florida". And then sometime after that, it dawned on me that as long as I'm already going to be in Florida... well, I have old non-expiring park hopper tickets on my account with two of those days not already set aside for a family or couples trip... soooooo...

Two days at WDW. Early in my little vacation so I can have true downtime afterwards. I wanted to stay on-site to get benefits such as EMH and the quick service dining plan but knowing I was only going to spend just long enough at the resort to get a few hours sleep, I decided to go the most economical route possible: a one-night tent site at Fort Wilderness. Ok, it's still February, even in Florida, so I need to make sure I pack for some warmth as temps can get as low as 45-50, but I am driving (a Corolla hatchback, but even so, plenty of room without passengers) so no worries about the gear.

I've already done online check-in and selected my MagicBand, so I should be able to bypass the resort on day 1 and go straight to the parks. Which parks? Read on...
 
DAY 1, Feb 18

Well, this all starts on Day 0 (Feb 17) with me arriving somewhere as-yet-to-be-determined in the Orlando area in the afternoon at the end of my drive. I'll be looking for a relatively cheap place to just relax for a few hours from the road (a hot tub is a definite plus) with a quiet, clean room so I can get to sleep early because it's going to be a LONG couple of days.

I've already done early check-in for the resort, so I'm going to head straight to the parks. My original plan was to do Animal Kingdom and hop to Epcot for evening EMH, but the FoP FP+ I get wasn't until 4:30pm, and there's not a lot I want to do at AK, so I think I can get by not showing up until lunch time.

So, I think I'm heading to the Magic Kingdom first, to get a few rides in to make my second day visit a little easier to manage. Rope drop to about 11 or 11:30, then back to my car to go to AK. Grab a quick lunch via mobile order (snack credit for the loaded fries at Flame Tree, I'm thinking), and head over to Pandora for a Navi'i River standby and mill about looking at the whole Pandora section until my FoP FP+ time.

After FoP, I'll try to do single rider on Expedition Everest (assuming I don't chicken out) before using my Rivers of Light FP+ (I normally wouldn't FP that, but I've never seen it and since my tier 1 FP was so late, I figured I was better off grouping them later. I also have a 3pm Safari FP that I may just let expire unused).

Timing will be tight but not too bad after that to get to Epcot and grab a CS dinner (Mexico, maybe?) before watching Epcot Forever and then hitting Frozen Ever After, Soarin, Spaceship Earth, and maybe Figment during EMH, along with whatever else I can squeeze in, if opportunity arises.

Then, drive over to the campground, pitch a tent by headlight, and collapse for a few hours sleep.
 
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DAY 2, Feb 19

As of today, Disney's website shows Hollywood Studios as opening at 9am. I have a hard time believing that won't get moved back to earlier, so I'll keep my eye on it. Maybe not 7am... my gut instinct is an 8am opening.

In any event, my alarm will be set for at least 2 hours prior to park opening so I have time for a quick shower, possibly a mug fill-up if I'm doing good on time, packing my gear, and heading off to the DHS parking lot.

I wasn't able to get a Slinky Dog FP+ (I got an 11am TSMM instead for my Tier 1), so unless I can find day-of as people do last minute changes, my priority other than getting my Rise of the Resistance boarding group will be to rope-drop Slinky Dog.

After that, I need to be flexible in planning because I can have no idea at this point what boarding group I'll get or when it will be called. As a solo rider it may be easier to get a lower number, but who knows? That said, solo rider plays into my plans a lot for the day. I'm not particularly interested in the alien saucers ride so looking at the true top-tier rides, my general plan to get them all in is: RotR (boarding group), MFSR (single rider), SDD (rope drop), TSMM (FP+), RnRC (single rider), ToT (standby), and not quite top-tier, Star Tours (FP+ 12:30). I don't really need to see any of the shows - I've seen them all on previous trips - so they'd only be included if I have any downtime. I have a Frozen sing-along FP for the 10:30 show that I probably won't use.

So, the rough plan right now, ready to be re-thought based on actual park opening and boarding group, is: rope-drop SDD then head over to do ToT while the lines should still be fairly short. As soon as my feet are steady under me again, do the RnRC single-rider line as I'll already be right there. Once done with that, work my way back over toward Pixar Place in time for my TSMM FP+ (if I have additional time at this point, I can pick up a show or Star Wars Launch Bay).

After TSMM, I should have enough time to do Muppets 3D before Star Tours. Then off to SWGE to (hopefully) do lunch (Docking Bay mobile order), RotR, and MFSR (single-rider), not necessarily in that order, taking whatever "downtime" I have in-between to explore the area.

All of this could additionally get further complicated in the extremely unlikely chance that MMRR will have a soft opening

So, depending on park opening time and boarding group call, I could conceivably have done all of this as early as 2-3pm... or possibly much, much later. If I've done everything else I care to and still have significant wait for my boarding group, I may slip over to Epcot to do some World Showcase pavilion exploring or check out Festival of the Arts... but I'm not expecting that.

At some point, I'll be done at DHS and making my way over to the Magic Kingdom. It's supposed to be a crowd level 10 day (really odd, that... everything else is a 5 or 6 that day), so outside of what I managed to snag via additional FP+ options, I don't plan on doing much until EMH. My priorities will be based in part by what I managed to do the previous morning, but my main targets will be: 7DMT, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pooh, and Peter Pan (if only because I almost never get to do it with its long lines/low capacity).

When I'm done or when they kick me out after 11pm, whichever comes first, I will drive to whatever nearby hotel I've booked for a late, late check-in and a good sleep-in until as close to check-out time as I am comfortable with. Then off for the "relaxation" part of my trip and a much less hectic schedule.
 
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Quick updates... with the new FP+ tiers at DHS starting the day of my visit and the extension of park hours to 8am that week, some minor improvements to my DHS day schedule.

I was able to drop my "throwaway" FP+ for the Frozen sing-along to get a 9am Tower of Terror instead. That slots in perfectly with my existing plans to rope-drop Slinky Dog and head over to ToT. As of now, I have no Tier 1 FP+ selections, so I'm keeping my eyes open for any that might come available.
 



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