Missy’s solo Disney Mom-cation - PREP 381

Missy embarked on a whirlwind weekend solo trip to Disney World. Listen as she tells Shannon more about why 10 percent of her original plan actually happened. She includes what crowds were like on a Saturday afternoon in the fall at Epcot, her unintentional 4-park day, and why and how she pivoted. Missy’s trip embodied her statement to the young people she chatted with along the way: “You’re still a person when you are a mom.”

Post trip begins: 17 minutes

In this article

The Basics

Missy is a mom of four and took a weekend to herself at Walt Disney World. She traveled via Dulles Airport on October 13-16.

Missy is a Disney World veteran and has traveled with her husband and kids before. She stayed at Pop Century and loved the access to the skyliner.

Missy has some dietary restrictions that causes her to need to make specific food choices. She had the best trip that included 4 parks in one day!

Arrival (October 13)

She arrived at Dulles about 2 hours prior to her flight leaving. Everything too a lot less time alone!

Missy found a bar, got a beer, and watched some Love is Blind while she waited for the flight. Missy’s flight took off and landed in Atlanta without issue. However, she intended to have a 45 minute delay in Atlanta and that turned into a 3 hour delay.

She landed around 11 p.m. and by 11:50 p.m. she was in her room at Pop Century! She took Mears and was concerned about it being so late but it was very quick.

Missy was in Building 7 and could see her room from the main hall. It was the very first one on the outside corner. It was a great room.

4 Parks in One Day (October 14)

Missy was up at 6 a.m. to get ready. At 7 a.m. she chose her lightning lane selections. She got a Cosmic Rewind lightning lane for 2:30 p.m. and a TRON lightning lane for 8 p.m. She also got a Slinky Dog Dash for 12:30 p.m.

By 7:20 a.m. she was the first one in line for the skyliner. She was so confused because no one was there and early entry was 8 a.m. She was on the skyliner at Pop Century by 7:20 a.m.

By 7:33 a.m. Missy was in line for Tower of Terror! None of the skyliner stations were busy and it was very easy to get through the turnstiles.

Missy was one of the first few people in line for Tower of Terror. She was on and off the ride by 8:10 a.m. The group she was with was mostly first timers which was so fun.

When she got off Rock N Roller Coaster was down and Hollywood Scoops wasn’t open yet. So Missy left that area and went to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. She got off and went to Galaxy’s Edge.

Missy got overnight oats and cold brew at Ronto Roasters. It was just wonderful to sit and relax.

At 9:16 a.m. Missy went to Smuggler’s Run and rode via the single rider line. She was able to get on the ride by 9:18 a.m. Missy suggests going to the staircase to the left.

She had the best crew with her and had the most fun. After that she had some time before her 10:15 a.m. at Oga’s Cantina so she went for a walk!

She ended up at Sully without any wait! She hesitated to get in line for characters because she was alone, but she’s so thankful she did!

At 10:06 a.m. Missy went over to Oga’s Cantina and was able to get right in. There were some Storm Troopers that walked through at the same time. There were some great interactions.

Missy’s bartender was Natalie and was wonderful. She gave the suggestion to bring alcohol into the Frozen Singalong. Missy sat there chatting for about an hour and had her two favorite drinks: Jedi Mind Trick and Jet Juice.

By 11:15 a.m. she was leaving Oga’s Cantina and it was already a great day! She left Hollywood Studios and took the skyliner back to Pop Century.

After getting a kid’s meal for lunch and doing some shopping, Missy took some time in her room to relax. At 1:40 p.m. she was back on the skyliner headed to Epcot.

As she was about to get off the skyliner, she noticed that the line to get through security was to the bridge. She got through security with the plan to go through the World Showcase and try some food booths.

The Canada booth had both sides open but there were so many people in line that everything was so crowded! She did get some food from Flavors from Fire but looking around, Missy had never seen Epcot so crowded!

At 2:40 p.m. she went to Cosmic Rewind and noticed a huge crowd outside the entrance. It turns out the lightning lane entrance line was very long! It took Missy a frustratingly long time to get through the line – nearly an hour!

Missy had changed her Slinky Dog Dash lightning lane for Soarin’ so she went there next to use that. Unfortunately the line was very long, even for the lightning lane! Missy decided she didn’t want to wait for that.

Because Epcot was so busy, Missy decided to switch gears and go to Animal Kingdom. She hoped it would be less crowded.

She walked to the Beach Club and hopped on a bus to Animal Kingdom. By 3:45 p.m. she was starting over at Animal Kingdom. She was able to switch her lightning lane from Soarin’ to Expedition Everest.

She was right on Expedition Everest with her lightning lane and rode again via the single rider line. Missy decided it was time to stop for some food. There weren’t many options for Missy’s dietary needs, so she took a walk.

She saw Kevin and got a shaved ice. She just walked around and enjoyed seeing everything. She needed to get to Magic Kingdom so she got a 6:30 p.m. reservation for Diamond Horseshoe.

By 5:30 p.m. Missy was at the Magic Kingdom. She’d done 4 parts in one day but didn’t feel rushed because she was alone.

When she arrived, there was a special Cavalcade for Spanish Heritage Month. She loved this so much.

Missy was outside the Diamond Horseshoe waiting for her dinner reservation and she started to panic. She hadn’t been away from her family in a while and was starting to feel alone. She was feeling mom-guilt and the pressure associated with that.

Missy messaged her husband and he was very supportive. They were doing fine while she was away. She needs to be able to have that time to herself to be a full person.

After taking some time, she went to Country Bears. This was her first time at Country Bear Jamboree and she had so much fun.

Missy had a lovely meal at Diamond Horseshoe. There was a bit of a wait but it was well worth it.

When she got out of her dinner, fireworks were about to start at 8 p.m. She’d planned to go to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but there was a long line.

She opted to find a spot just outside Cosmic Ray’s because she wanted to see Tinker Bell fly. It was just the most perfect moment.

Missy got on the PeopleMover after the fireworks and had the most wonderful time. After the PeopleMover it was time for her TRON Lightning Lane. She waited about 5-10 minutes for TRON and didn’t have the pre-show.

Missy really loved TRON at night and that was the end of her night. She stopped at the Confectionery on the way out for an icee.

There were three buses all for Pop Century so there was a line but no wait at all.

Magic Kingdom (October 15)

Missy planned to get up and go to Magic Kingdom but she decided to sleep in. She scheduled a lightning lane for Space Mountain at 10 a.m. and a Cosmic Rewind Individual Lightning Lane for 6 p.m.

She’d planned to book a TRON Individual Lightning Lane but it was $22 so she didn’t. She went to Magic Kingdom and had a photo list. She got some great photos thanks to a wonderful new friend. After Missy to their photos, she returned the favor!

Missy's photoshoot in front of Cinderella Castle

Missy got a Nutella Waffle and ate them at the picnic tables across from Sleepy Hollow. She was able to see several characters as they walked through. Missy highly recommends finding a seat over there.

Missy stayed there for a while watching people and chatting with her mom on the phone. The Next next stop was her 10 a.m. lightning lane for Space Mountain. She did some window shopping after that.

Her next stop was Fantasyland. She had about an hour before her Haunted Mansion lightning lane. She decided to see some characters in the Big Top area. She had so much fun!

One of the attendants got her a button to celebrate her Mom-cation! After this great experience, Missy went to Haunted Mansion, her very favorite ride. She loved riding it this time especially.

She went to Memento Mori and did more window shopping. She noted that there were so many cute things!

Around 11:30 a.m. Missy got some spring rolls for lunch. The line was long but moved very quickly. Missy notes that the spring rolls seem smaller and are $9.50 – they don’t seem like the same ones from the past. This was not the best experience for Missy.

Missy made a lightning lane for Soarin’ for 2:30 p.m. She hoped to salvage the Epcot experience later in the day.

At this point, she wasn’t sure what else to do, so she decided to wander through the shops. She loved it! She made her way to the front of the park and saw the Dapper Dans at the front of the park.

Missy tried to see MIckey but the line was too long, so Missy decided to just leave the park. She went to Steakhouse 71 but it was too busy so she went to take a boat to Wilderness Lodge. However, the boats weren’t running at that time.

After pivoting a few times, she ended up on a boat to Wilderness Lodge. She went to Geyser Point and the wait was an hour. So she hopped on a bus to Hollywood Studios and took the Skyliner to Riviera to go to Bar Riva. She arrived at 1:30 p.m. after wandering for about an hour.

It didn’t bother Missy at all that she had to go the long way to Riviera. She had a delicious meal. She took the skyliner to Epcot and arrived at 2:30 p.m.

Thankfully there wasn’t a line at all getting into Epcot. It was night and day compared to the previous day. She went immediately to Canada and got food and drinks from the booths.

The weather was perfect and it was a wonderful afternoon. Missy’s next stop was for the mimosa flight at Shimmering Sips – the middle one tasted like cough syrup.

Missy went to the Brew-Wing Lab and thinks it lacked theming. She wasn’t that impressed but she did like the beer flight.

She was able to walk right on Test Track using the single rider line. From there, she went to La Cava in Mexico. Missy LOVES La Cava so much. She waited in line to get in and while waiting, an entire family came into the line and they took up the whole bar.

Thankfully, Missy was able to squeeze in and ended up chatting with the family that cut in line. She had a great experience.

By 4:20 p.m. Missy was just wandering around the World Showcase. She did some shopping and more snacking.

By 5:30 p.m. Missy was getting tired and full. She took the friendship boat back across the lagoon. She ended up at Bubbles and Brine. She loves champagne and planned to buy a glass of $70 glass of Dom Perignon but she opted for a less expensive glass.

She sat and chatted with some wonderful new friends while having some champagne. It was just lovely.

She went to Moana Journey of Water. This wasn’t on her list, but she loved it. At 6:15 p.m. Missy made more friends while in line for Cosmic Rewind.

At 7:15 p.m. Missy wanted to try one more food booths. She loves falafel and fig cocktail. They were delicious. She ate them in Morocco while watching a couple get engaged!

Missy had hoped to stay out later, but at 7:45 p.m. she was done. She got on the skyliner and made even more friends! She went to the food court and gift shop at Pop before heading back to the room and going to bed. She went to bed by 10 p.m.

Departure (October 16)

Missy got up early, caught her at 6:30 a.m. Mears pickup for the airport, and headed home! She was at her car to head for home by 11:45 a.m. – it was very smooth.

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