Everyone Else Is Doing It... a solo trip report that we all know won't get finished

[Nikkipoooo]

The time has come for my holiday weekend 4p1d attempt (jump to that day)!

Initially I went into this with the mindset of “This will just be a low budget 3 day weekend… cheap flights, Priceline room, already have tickets/pass”. I got my room 5/24-5/27 at ASSports for $430ish, and UOR had a value resort AP rate for around $115. The roundtrip flight (7:30pm flight on Friday, 7:30am flight on Tuesday) was less than $220, and I figured I could fit a long weekend’s stuff into a personal item. I have a Universal AP, and 3 days left on a 2024 military hopper pass. I also have $118 in Disney Visa rewards and a smaller remaining balance on a gift card left from my January trip to use for park food & stuff.

Then they decided way early at work that we’re not working on 5/24, so I could fly Thursday night and save $70 on the flight, but that meant another hotel night… I waffled between lots of options, but eventually Priceline had ASSports for $84+ tax, so that’s a win. Universal also threw out a <$350 AP rate at Hard Rock for Monday night, and UXP on a holiday sounded like a good idea.

Great… but now it occurs to me I will need 5 days worth of clothes, plus probably a swim suit. That meant a choice of “do laundry and have no bag fee vs. pay $100 to have a bag each way vs. switch my flight to Delta for $160 and A. arrive 3 hours earlier, B. free bags because I have their card, and C. maybe get an upgrade” I just chose option C, because I like getting there earlier, and Comfort+ with free drinks would be a great way to start the trip! Also, I could travel like the I am with a full set of luggage. I won’t though… I’ve actually come to really appreciate having less to fart around with, and I will just check my carryon. This also saves a little bit on having to buy sunblock and breakfast foods when I get there, since I have plenty of space to pack extras. Might as well pack my diffuser and hair products too, and maybe have better than Hagrid hair.

So here’s what the plan is looking like now:
5/23 - Flight lands at 6:43pm. I’m hoping they’ll tell me I can stay in the same room for the whole 4 days, even though there are 2 separate reservations.
5/24 - Liner meet for brunch… waffling on what to do for the rest of the day.
5/25 - 4P1D, starting with 7:30am EE at AK and finishing with 11pm close at MK
5/26 - Epcot, Liner meets & maybe Liner ride on GotG, F&G and Luminous
5/27 - Early check out, check in at HRH and both UOR parks using UXP
5/28 - 7:30am flight home, land at 10:30 and go to work

[motherofdaughtersthree]

Yay! Sounds so fun!

[OBNurseNH]

Love the title!

You’re going to have a great time!

[OBNurseNH]

@Nikkipoooo

brunch… waffling

Hehe

[ParkRanger]

Have fun! I’m really getting into the idea of doing a 4P1D!

[jab300]

You should! It’s more fun (and doable) than I thought it would be.

[Nikkipoooo]

@jab300

It’s more fun (and doable) than I thought it would be.

The more I look at my 4 TPs (which I made basically to get timing for LLs, and also to see if my ideas were even doable) the more excited I get for the day!

My plan is ambitious, but I like a challenge. Here’s what I’m hoping the day looks like…

Get the very earliest KS LL possible (should open at 8, based on this week) at 7am, then book 11am GotG $LL. Ride Everest a few times in EE, and take a leisurely stroll into Africa around 8:15… if I can’t get the KS LL time before 8:30 then I’ll go for SDD, only ride Everest once and then go to KS. If I do get the early LL, try for SDD as soon as I tap in… on Memorial weekend last year they didn’t go super fast, so I might get lucky.

After KS head back to Asia to grab some breakfast at Yak & Yeti QS, and do MJT (which has been opening at 9 this week) and maybe Dinosaur (I know it’s supposed to be closing, but I’m not a huge fan and if I don’t ever ride it again I won’t feel despair) on the way out, depending on the time.

Head over to Epcot to use the GotG $LL, see Moana (which we didn’t do in January, due to the cold), then Soarin with LL. After that back to France for lunch at Les Halles and maybe BatB. Be on my way to HS via Skyliner by 2:00, 2:30.

At HS have a drink at Baseline, do ToT with LL, Indiana Jones @ 4:30, TSMM with LL, SDD if I was able to get a LL time before 6:00.

Then off to MK until 11pm closing… HM with LL, then get dinner at club Columbia Harbor House and take it to the lawn to eat while I wait for HEA. After HEA do BTMRR, and then maybe Pirates on the way out, depending on how tired I am.

[Nikkipoooo]

Carryon is packed, and plane backpack is except for meds, toiletries, and things that are charging.

I had a momentary panic when I couldn’t find my MB+… I don’t know why, I’ve got like 2 other old MBs very handy. Then I found it, right in my bag where it always is.

Now I can relax and wind down. Early morning so I can wash my hair, take out the garbage, etc. My new contacts came in, but I didn’t get the message until it was too late to pick them up, and I might be too busy tomorrow to duck out. They don’t open until 10:30 and I’m leaving for the airport straight from work, and the place is definitely not on the way. Oh well… I’ve promised to take fabulous sunglasses couture photos, anyway.

Y’all… One. More. Sleep!

[Flavita]

@OBNurseNH

Love the title!

I think she will finish it this time.

[motherofdaughtersthree]

@Flavita

I think she will finish it this time.

Rooting for you @Nikkipoooo !

[Nikkipoooo]

FB memories from 10 years ago, for older niece’s 7th birthday… a TR within a TR, if you will.

That was the time I moved back from NYC on the 18th, went to work on the 20th and jokingly told my sister I should kidnap her daughter for the weekend, because MK would be open for 25 hours on the 23rd/24th. My dad overheard and thought it was a fine idea, ad when the boss hand you his Amex to book a trip, you book a trip!

I booked 1 night (the 23rd) at CR, and one night at CBR because there was no resort that had both nights available. I booked a flight out of Columbus, OH. Why Columbus? Because Ella already knew we were going to Cedar Point (amusement park in OH) for her birthday trip. On the 22nd I met them my sister, Ella, and Mia (who was still a baby, not even 1 yet) and we spent the day riding rollercoasters. Ella was tall enough for everything (the tallest one is 54", and she was a tall 7)… halfway through the day I said “We’re running away for the weekend, just you and me… we’ll tell your mom you’re riding home with me in my car, and then we’ll just get on a plane and go somewhere.”

She was amenable to that, and so we kept having whispered conversations about our “secret”. We said goodbye and I drove us to a hotel in Columbus. She was actually really good about not knowing where we were going, and just rolling with it. In the morning we got on our first plane, a tiny Embraer, and stopped in Chicago.

She’d never had a flight connection at that point, so it all threw her off even more. She figured out that we were headed to FL when we boarded the plane to MCO, but for whatever reason, she assumed we were going to the beach. She didn’t realize we were going to WDW until we walked past the rental counters and down to the Magical Express counter ( ) to pick up our Magic Bands.

We arrived at CR around 4:00, dropped our backpacks and headed to Chef Mickey’s for birthday dinner.

We finished there at around 5:30, and that’s when I told her we were headed into MK, and we weren’t coming back until we were too tired to keep going, because they weren’t going to close. She was always a plane sleeper, so even though we’d gotten plenty of sleep and didn’t have an early morning, she slept all the way from Chicago and wasn’t sleepy at all. We managed to keep going until close to 4am, when we sat down at Monsters, Inc and she hit the wall. I was not great at remembering to take pictures back then, so I actually have none of that night.

Now, I hadn’t bought tickets for the next day yet, because I figured after a late night we’d sleep in until they kicked us out, and then probably just go to CBR and have a pool day. Nope. Miss Ella was wide away and ready to go at 7:00am, so I bought tickets at the desk and back to MK we went. We left at midday to check in at CBR, and then went back to the park for the evening. Our DME pickup was at like 3:30am, so we bailed as soon as fireworks were over, went back and slept a few hours. The flight back to Columbus was nonstop, so we both had nap before the drive home.

[motherofdaughtersthree]

@Nikkipoooo

because MK would be open for 25 hours on the 23rd/24th.

Oh wow! What a fantastic trip!

[Nikkipoooo]

@motherofdaughtersthree

Oh wow! What a fantastic trip!

It was a fun night… they kept FPP going, and it was the weirdest thing having a FPP to meet Mickey set for 2:45am!

They did the same event at DLR, and we talked to a handful of people who were doing the day at MK, getting on a plane to CA and doing the rest of the time there!

[Nikkipoooo]

Well… I’m on my way. Standing here at the airport I just got my room assignment, Hoops bldg 2, floor 1. It’s a far from what I requested (Touchdown, bldg 10, floor 2-3) as possible. This is the 4th trip in a row that I’ve gotten the very edge of the resort, and 3 out of 4 that have been ground floor (last trip was an OLW grand villa, which are all 2nd/3rd floor). This is the first time since before covid that I actually got a room assignment without going to the desk, though… I guess that’s progress?

[Hunny_Bear]

@Nikkipoooo

running away for the weekend, just you and me

That’s awesome!

[StinsyLinson]

I’ve given up on getting my room requests. I don’t even check the app, I always just go right to the desk.

[Nikkipoooo]

Hello from the middle seat! But it’s Comfort+, and there’s no seat in front of the aisle seat, so it’s not too bad. Nobody in the window yet, but the flight is way oversold. They were asking for 6 volunteers, and 25 people to gate check their carryon.

[Nikkipoooo]

Forgot my oblig plane photo

[Nikkipoooo]

What should I eat? I hadn’t even thought about it, because until 3pm yesterday I wasn’t landing until almost 10pm. Now I’m landing… now, and I’ll need dinner. I’m not super hungry yet, so timing isn’t really an issue.

• ASS food court is fine
• Noodles at Poly are good enough to deal with transportation
• Split the difference and go to DS
• Something totally different

[OBNurseNH]

Do not settle for ASSy food!