Here we are again. I know you’ve heard my stories of going to Disney by myself but those times involved a training class so I really couldn’t take my family. This one’s a bit different. I wanted to be at Walt Disney World on the Opening Day of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. I was able to score some great deals on hotel and tickets and had points for my flight. So for a solo trip it was super cheap. Once I started pricing adding the boys in, the price skyrocketed (most of my travel agent perks can’t be used for family).
So I made them a promise to take them back in a year or so once the newness of Galaxy’s Edge wore off a bit. Back when I booked this, the talk was pretty much that the lines would be so ridiculous that I may not get on the attraction or even into the land. Knowing that waiting in a line for an entire day would be torture to all but me, I decided to book my trip alone.
I know I could have just gone for that one day, but really, who are we kidding? If I’m going all the way to Florida, I’m making it worth my while. I got there 3 days prior to the opening and spent every possible moment in the parks. I did shows and rides that we typically don’t do as a family. In fact, I probably spent over a third of my time doing things that the boys wouldn’t have been interested in. That helped ease the guilt a bit!
Although I truly did miss them all, I’m thankful to have had the time to explore on my own. I learned even more about my favorite place on Earth and made the most of my trip. There are a few downsides to traveling alone - mainly having no one to ride with and visit with! But there are a lot of upsides to it also. Today I’ll list those for you!
I know a normal person probably won’t schedule a solo vacation to Disney World, but you never know when you may have a conference or a reason to be there alone. Do me a favor and if that happens, call me to talk about how to have a great trip by yourself! Check out my pics of the fun I had alone and then keep reading below those for the reasons you’ll want to do just that…
Your Schedule
When you go with family or friends, you can’t do whatever you want whenever you want to. Unless you’re a bit of a bully. Everyone should have input on what to do. And if you’re the type like me to want to go from open to close (and beyond), going alone makes that easy. I got 3 hours sleep one night, up for 23.5 hours the next day and then 4 hours sleep the next night. I can handle that at least for a few days at Disney. My kids would have melted down along the way.
Price
Obviously one person is cheaper than a family when you’re talking hotel, flight and tickets. But the food costs are much less also. And I skipped a few meals and had snacks instead. Much easier on your own. Since I was alone, I also decided to do an After Hours Party. At $125 a ticket per person, that adds up to A LOT for a family. While it’s still a lot for just me, I felt like it was totally worth it. I’ll devote an entire blog post to this miracle of a party coming up!
Work
If you have a job that requires you to check-in while you’re gone or do some remote work, you have the freedom to do that without worrying others are waiting for you. I had some sweet clients that were in the midst of dealing with the incoming hurricane and I was able to sit on a curb in Toy Story Land and work on that for them. I would have felt awful if my boys were waiting on that curb the whole time with me.
Less “Stuff”
By less stuff, I mean there is less to carry around. But also, less to buy (I can sometimes stop myself from wanting souvenirs). When a rainstorm hit, I only had to worry about one poncho. And security was a breeze due to the little amount I carried with me.
No One to Make Fun of Me
Ok, so to balance out the “lonely” times where I wished I had a buddy to sit next to me on a ride, or talk about something amazing I just saw, there were times when the boys would have made fun of me for sure. I love to pose for ALL of the Magic Shots and Character Meetings (they don’t). And I always get teary-eyed and sometimes flat out cry during the fireworks. (That’s some sort of weird trick Disney does because fireworks most definitely don’t normally make me cry).
Less Stress
I’m that weird Mom that is convinced I’m going to lose a kid every time we’re in a large crowd. Yes, they are too old to get lost and all have cell phones but it’s a phobia I can’t shake. No worries about that when you’re by yourself!
No Mousekeeping
Probably the most surprising thing as I normally don’t even consider it, is that I used the option of refusing Mousekeeping (hotel room housekeeping) and instead they gave me a $30 gift card. With 3 boys, we’d be in a filthy pit after a few days. By myself I was able to keep the room clean on my own (as I was rarely there) and brought home a sweet sweatshirt instead.
Please call me when you’re thinking of a trip - solo or with 50 of your closest friends. I truly love helping everyone have a Magical time and I don’t charge a penny for it!!!