A Walk Around The World With Ridge: Solo Trip Advice

I love traveling alone, especially to Walt Disney World. In the last few years I have traveled to WDW 7 or 8 times. Now my situation is different from some.  I have plenty of friends I can hit up once I get there but I don’t have to do so if I want some time to myself.


Here are just a few of my ideas for a fun solo trip to the world.

I like a mix of half structure and half free-to-go-where-the-wind-takes-me. So depending on your personality your experience may vary.

out of the window from Feb 2012

Travel:  Not everyone likes to fly.  Me, I love it and have a license from our government that says I met the basic proficiencies of the FAA to call myself a private pilot.  So I will hop on a plane in a second and bingo, an hour and a half later I am waking up at Orlando International Airport. Southwest is my carrier of choice because they seem to have a friendly staff and cheap fares.  However if driving is your thing, I have done that more than my fair share too. From Birmingham, Alabama, it’s a solid 10 hours in the car. Before I had a bad back that doesn’t like sitting still for very long (my apologies to anyone that sits next to me at the movies, movement is a necessity or pain sets in), I would drive, getting up before the sun even thought about it and heading out so I would get as much daylight as possible. If you want steady driving, I75 south from ATL will take you all the way there. If you want something a little more scenic from Birmingham, try highway 280 south, till it becomes 82/520 in GA then when you get to Tifton, Georgia, you get on 75 South again and move right on in. Amazingly these two paths from Birmingham are almost the same time wise. I love to fly!

Planning: If you are going to plan out a day, then please take advantage of the resources available to you. A wealth of knowledge is out there. My favorite two sites for planning info are Allears.net and touringplans.com. Both are packed with information and touring plans.com has a book called The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and I got to be a fact checker/research person in the 2011 guide. Check page 11 for my nameJ. 

When planning out my day for my first solo trip I wanted to have some projects to fill up my day with photography. I was doing it for several reasons. 1) I wanted a catalogue of pictures to use for the site 2) I needed to practice with my camera 3) I made sure that I documented the things I was doing because no one would remember them for me 4) it made me look at things like I hadn’t before.  I think Disney is one of the best places for people wanting to practice photography because you’ll never see most of those people ever again and you can get away with being as silly and artsy as you want to be. I’ve lain down on the ground to get an angle I wanted since what did I care what they thought? 

fun pic I took in Africa of Tamu Tamu Refreshments

Also on a first solo trip you need to decide what is it you want to accomplish: time in the parks, exploring resorts?  What is it that you want to do that you have never done because someone was with you and didn’t want to do it? I highly suggest the Keys to the Kingdom tour. Tours are wonderful ways to have fun while still technically alone, you are in a group and everyone cuts up and has a good time. The tour guides are wonderful and usually very funny and will keep you on your toes. A tour I am saving up for is the Wild Africa Trek at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  It is pretty pricey in the peak seasons and you have to try and do it early or else the animals are all napping.  Check out my trip recap with the Keys tour.


A nice perk for the attractions are the single rider lines. If one is available, use it and cut that wait time down.

End of Keys to the Kingdom Tour

Dining: We have to eat right? Well, when I am alone I sometimes forget then have low blood sugar hit me while standing in a queue that isn’t moving. So decide early if there are any ADR’s you want to make. Never be afraid to have a meal anywhere by yourself.  The cast members see it all the time and you deserve you enjoy yourself as much as possible. I recommend Via Napoli as a great spot to dine alone. If you want some interaction, Oktoberfest in Germany is family seating so you will not be alone and if you’re like me then it is a great time to chat up families from all over the globe. I met a family from Leeds, England, and the father and I talked about Football (soccer) and the differences in our countries. It was brilliant. However if you aren’t wanting to take lots of time out of your day of adventure, try some quick service or a snack you have never had before. Sit on a bench and people watch, catch your breath and just listen to the park in action. It’s a weird cacophony of sounds.    

Transportation: Late night leaving the parks… ok this one works best at Epcot and Hollywood Studios. When you are waiting on that bus to take a million tired cranky families back to the resort, I keep a few bucks just for a taxi. They take credit cards too; I just like dealing with money sometimes. Nothing is really much more than 10-15 dollars and the high end is going back to the resorts that are the farthest away like AKL. I have used cabs on several occasions where I might have been an extra hour just waiting to get on a bus. Now at Magic Kingdom the taxis are found over at the Contemporary and I do not actually know where they are at AK, since that park closes early I have never been on a packed bus. Check out The Great Escape.

Team Post: Off The Beaten Path

Today the Growing Up Disney family discusses our favorite "off the beaten path" parts of Walt Disney World.

DisneyDad:  Amy once posted a picture here of Tink smelling a flower at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa with a caption reminding us to “Stop and Smell the Roses”. It is a reminder to appreciate the little things. At WDW there are lots of places to stop and smell the roses. From Old Key West, Saratoga Springs and Port Orleans resorts, you can rent a boat to explore the waterways that are out of view. If you don’t want to rent a boat there are water taxis available to travel to Downtown Disney. These are wonderful ways to enjoy the one of the waterways that are out of the normal places people visit.

In the parks there are many nooks and crannies that most people miss. In the Magic Kingdom, for instance, there are a couple of places where there are white rocking chairs up next to a building that most people RUN past. The rocking chairs make a great place to rest and people watch (one of my wife’s favorite pastimes.) At EPCOT there are several places that are good places to rest. At the UK pavilion there is a nice garden behind the Twinings Tea shop. The garden where the British Invasion plays is a nice place to rest when the music is not playing. If they are performing, just get up and dance and sing along with the music!

If you have a young child along on your trip, like we have had on our last 2 trips, a nice place to rest becomes even more important. At EPCOT we let Tink nap and then fed her lunch inside the Liberty Inn. Not real quiet, but it is air-conditioned and that makes it real nice on a hot day. At the Magic Kingdom we found one place that was under the former Skyway in Tomorrowland near Space Mountain. It was quiet, allowed Tink to nap and had benches we could sit on. It was quiet, that is, until a rainstorm brought in lots of people trying to stay out of the rain.

Slow down and keep your eyes open when you visit a park. There are lots of out of the way places you can sit, rest, or like Tink, take a nap.

Ridge: If you have been to Disney only once, five times or 50 times there are little things you can do to make your Disney experience a little more magical and exciting. One thing that found to be a great off the beaten path activity are the tours that Disney offers. In February I took the Keys to the Kingdom Tour at the Magic Kingdom. It was really a great way to learn some of the behind the scenes info and history of the Walt Disney Company and of the man himself. The guides are all extremely knowledgeable and mine was very funny and I think that really helps to make everything more memorable. There are lots of other tours available and one of the newest and most talked about is at the new jungle trek at Animal Kingdom.

Hidden Mickeys are another fun way to search for other things that aren’t necessarily main stream yet. There are books and websites on the matter. If for some reason you are reading this and not sure what a hidden mickey is, they are little ways in which the imagineers can sign their work since they can’t actually write their names on the attractions. So make a game out of finding them. Get a copy of Steve Barrett’s book Hidden Mickeys Guide that are now even sold at WDW and start hunting. It can add a whole extra layer of fun to a trip.

There are lots of things that are edible that are often also overlooked. One of the little gems I found a while back and wrote about was the Carrot Cake cookie at Writers Stop in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. If you’re wondering though Epcot, there are always little things to try in each country and one of my favorite places to try something new is Japan. Mitsukoshi Department Store is the place to go to find everything that should and shouldn’t be tried by the squeamish. They have snack sized crabs that I am guessing are lightly killed and flavored, cooked and packaged for your enjoyment. If that isn’t your style, there are large varieties of candies, gums and sodas. All of the pavilions have little hidden gems of goodness just waiting for you to find them. Take a picture; tell your friends.

Amy:  One of my favorite things I've discovered off the beaten path in the last couple of years is the carrot cake cookie.  I hear they are now found in other spots as well, but they are the claim to fame of the Writers' Stop at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  I have to admit I used to walk right past this little shop, but now I find it a great place to grab a delectable snack and rest a bit.  

Sadly, I never made it there, but Storytime with Belle was an off the beaten path attraction I have wanted to see for a while.  (It's now a greet and play with Tangled characters.)  There is a very small theatre tucked into the landscaping of the castle as you cross into Tomorrowland.  It wasn't really an age appropriate activity for me before Tink but I like to see everything at least once, so I am sorry I didn't slow down here.  With one daughter and another baby girl on the way, I am sure we'll be visiting here in the future.

Please don't yell at me, but I still haven't made it to Beaches and Cream.  It's just been off the beaten path for me.  As much as I want to try a No Way Jose (a peanut butter and hot fudge sundae,) I haven't made it there.  

One place I rarely miss but is off the beaten path for most guests is Garden View Lounge at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.  Afternoon tea here is a real treat and as much as I love the theme parks, I adore this time of quiet and refinement, most usually shared with my mom.  

Another off the beaten path afternoon treat is the Tune In Lounge at 50's Prime Time Cafe at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Chris and I have stopped here for a cool beverage and appetizers on a couple of trips.  I don't see it on the current menu, but they used to have some tasty fried Boursin cheese with jam.  On one visit, and my husband was with us for this experience, one of the Streetmosphere Cast Members wandered in and joined us.  He hung out with us long enough to break character a few times but it was quite a hoot cutting up with him and the other guests.  It's never been a crowded spot, so I wonder if people know you can eat at the bar.

For an off the beaten path activity, I recommend mini-golf at Winter Summerland.  It's got a really cute theme and is another nice break from crowds, especially during a long visit or a busy time of year.

Not that I've made it out the last few trips, but a morning jog at Walt Disney World is usually rather fun.  It's interesting to watch the World wake up.  I especially like it when my path takes me over to Downtown Disney.  It's oddly still in the morning and it's fun to see the little princesses coming out of Bibidi Bobidi Boutique.  

One of my favorite off the beaten path restaurants is Olivia's at Old Key West, our DVC home resort.  It's not too big and has a very relaxing atmosphere.  The service is usually good and not as rushed as some larger, more popular locations.  One of my favorite things here is the mozzarella and tomato salad.  They use good ingredients and it's a nice light meal when you've overdone it on park food.  

What are your favorite attractions, restaurants, shops, or other activities that other people seem to walk right past?

A Walk Around The World With Ridge--t minus 15 days 23 hours till take off

So as you can tell its not long till I take my trip to our happy place. I have equal amounts of plan and no plan that I think I should be able to have a direction to go in yet not have any clear destination. I take that little bit of information from my trusty Unofficial guide *ding*. For this trip will be a little different than all the others that I have taken in the fact it is my first solo trip. With this being solo I have been concerned with what will I do. Normally I have someone to pal around with. On the other side of that coin I have no one to ask what do you want to do? I get to do as I please. The amount of freedom this comes with is a tad overwhelming. But do I go without a plan? I say no. But Chris, you have been so many times do you need a plan...oh yes, Moderate plans are in order.

I am only heading down for four days (really only 3 full days of park or any other activity time) staying at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort. Photography and a mini vacation are my main goals. In preparation for the trip I have been compiling information from the usual places, www.allears.net, www.touringplans.com, Disney parks blog, www.disneydrivenlife.com, www.studioscentral.com...ok the list goes on and on. There are the endless podcasts too. Wow all that information and I still have things to research. Part of my plan is to take the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. I am super excited about this since the last tour I took was back in the day when Discovery Island was still a thing. I remember getting to walk into the utilidoors and coming out from a stairwell on the backside of the castle. then getting to go up in the castle to where Tinker Bell gets ready to take flight. Then a short boat ride over to Discovery Island where I saw Galapagos turtles and lots of birds. The Keys to the Kingdom tour promises to be an adventure lasting 4.5-5 hours and covering some (hopefully) unique Disney information. At 74.00 plus tax not at all a bad deal. With a DVC member discount of 15% it was only 66.99. I hope to have nothing but good things to say afterwards.

My other plans include only one ADR for this trip, Via Napoli. I am planning on just eating where ever I happen to be the rest of the time. I may even see if walk ups are welcome at Le Cellier. I don't hold high hopes but it would be awesome if there were, since it would be just a whim that I would stop by. I do want to find at least one of these new gourmet burgers I have read about. I haven't had a Casey's hotdog in years and a walk up for Tonga Toast my be in the cards. And let us never forget the mighty Dole Whip combined with people watching to make the time slip away.

So with 15 days to go, I have my touring plans crowd calendar, my lines app ready, the historical weather from NOAA.gov handy, an open excel sheet and plans to make but only just enough to keep me out of any trouble. With this one all but in the bag, I am slowly turning my attention to May and Star Wars weekends. I want to do this one off the DVC dime so my parents and I can still have time left for the International Food & Wine Festival that goes on right after my birthday. Things I am taking away from this planning session are, a little planning will go along way. Announcing when I will be at MK or any of the parks will be key to seeing some Disney friends... And to make sure and take a minute and just relax. I mean you're away from the office. Unwind.