**Smiley Kylie Goes Solo Nov 2017- Final Thoughts**

[xxSmileyKyliexx]

>>> INDEX HERE

Sunday 2nd September 2018

So my dibb friends there you have it a full complete trip report from myself, finally! There have been times that I wanted to give up on this report as it has been so time consuming, partly my own fault as I love to be insanely detailed and include absolutely everything! It would have been completed quicker but life has been busy with work, a hospital admission, a holiday, a wedding and just other bits and bobs but I’m so happy I actually did it, go me! I was going to end my report with the standard highs and lows, however I saw something different from MinnieMrsA’s trip report which I love and am going to steal and hope that she doesn’t mind An overview of my trip through the emotions of Inside Out...

• My solo trip was made to feel not so solo because of the kind strangers I came across. Even just having a chat with people in the lift, on the buses or in the queues really eased my anxieties if I was feeling lonely. Cast members and random park guests wishing me a happy birthday made me feel really special. Judy from the parade and Cliff who rode the mine train with me will never realise how much I really appreciated their acts of kindness. I met different people from all over the world, wether it be by chatting to them or exchanging smiles, it made me realise that I never really was ‘solo’ and that there are a lot of lovely kind people all around us

• I really enjoyed flying with Virgin Atlantic again in particularly being seated in the bubble. The service was fabulous as always and I felt as though I had more attention from cabin crew than I would have had downstairs. I loved that I could connect to WiFi (even if it stopped working towards the end of the flight) so I could stay in contact with people.

• Pop century was such a lovely hotel to stay in. It’s basic being a value resort, but it had everything you needed and I was lucky enough to be given a brand new room which I was mega chuffed with

• Opting out of housekeeping and receiving a $100 gift card instead was a big bonus this trip for me.

• I really loved the new hub area in Magic Kingdom and the happily ever fireworks. I never thought wishes could be beaten but I was proved wrong. The space in front of the castle was appreciated and the grassed areas in the hub too. I enjoyed ‘Castle chill time’ on a couple of occasions this trip, just relaxing on the grass and taking a moment to myself.

• My birthday balloon! I know it’s just a balloon but it gave me so much joy buying it! The photo of me in front of the castle with it is my favourite, I love that I left it behind with a note on in hope that someone else would pick it up and find joy in it too

• I was so appreciative of the fastpasses, I avoided some long queue times because of this including a 170 minute one for Avatar’s flight of passage! Some of the fastpass queues were longer than others, but on most occasions I was on the ride within 5 minutes.

• The monorail bar crawl was one of my highlights from this trip. I loved meeting the others, having a chin wag and a giggle and exploring the different bars in the Magic Kingdom Resort areas. That O’Hana bread pudding though It was so delicious!

• I was blown away by the Avatar Flight Of Passage ride. It’s deffo a new favourite of mine, that ride got me to all kinds of excitement levels! Pandora in general was very pretty to look at too, Disney have exceeded themselves with it.

• I was glad to have scheduled some pool time in my itinerary this time too, those days relaxing with Stacey by the pool were much needed!

• Teppan Edo, Columbia Harbour House, Sanaa and d-luxe burger, were all new restaurants I tried this trip. I loved having a variety of different foods and exploring a bit more with my tastes! These restaurants were all lovely and I highly recommend them.

• Being on the quick service dining plan was great! It gave me the flexibility to eat at a lot of different places. I would deffo choose to do this plan again, I was happy to have changed some of my credits into snack credits too & using them to bring home Ghirardelli goodies.

• Speaking of snacks I had some yummy ones this trip, my favourites included the: Pongu Pongu drink, Cheshire Cat tail, Cronut, avocado margarita, cinnamon roll, peanut butter and jelly milkshake, the blueberry cream cheese mousse, Canadian cheddar cheese soup, ice cream macaron sandwich, the American dream drink, Krispy Mickey treats and of course the infamous dole whip

• I really enjoyed experiencing the food and wine festival too. Both days were fabulous, spending time with my new friends and trying different foods which I wouldn’t usually eat. Sometimes the crowds were bad and it did get very hot on one of the days but overall I had such a great time doing this. I also loved the food and wine passport which is a great keepsake (although saying that, I don’t know where it is )

• I was made up to have been given a room in the Toy Story section at the All Star Movies Resort, made that difference being a few minutes away from the buses, and I loved the gigantic Buzz and Woody too.

• One of my favourite days of the holiday was our 4 Parks in 1 day challenge. It was so much fun being with Julie-Anne and Stacey and getting to experience the parks with them both. It was such a tiring day but I will never forget it. If you guys ever get the chance give it a go, set yourself a challenge!

• Memory maker was as always fantastic! I got some great photos and I loved being able to add borders to them with date stamps etc. Overall most of the photographers were fab and fun, Lee who took mine and Stacey’s photos in Animal Kingdom particularly stands out! I was disappointed that some of my ride photos never showed on my memory maker though.

• I was really pleased with my shopping haul this time round. Some of my favourite purchases included: my Eeyore pillow pet (which I recently took to the cinema with me to watch Christopher Robin ), Mickey Mouse back scratcher (that thing is a godsend!), Sephora goodies, MAC make up, bath & body works soaps candles and hand sanitizers, the Victoria secret sprays and phone case, both of my new Minnie ears, Ghirardelli chocolate and of course my beautiful pandora necklace.

• One of my favourite moments was stopping to watch the Main Street Philharmonic Band, I honestly love watching these men, so talented!

• Uber! I can’t praise Uber enough, the service was fantastic, I felt safe most of the time and the drivers were usually friendly and full of chat. It was so easy being able to book and track my Uber’s on the app, you definitely can’t go wrong with the prices either! 100% recommend using them.

• My absolute favourite moment of the holiday was staying in Magic Kingdom until 2am and being able to see the goodnight kiss. I rode so many rides, got some great photos, experienced a quiet Main Street and ending it all with the goodnight kiss was just so magical and perfect.

• I had some great character meets this trip too, my favourites included: Joy & Sadness, Ariel in her grotto, Goofy & Donald in Animal Kingdom, Merida, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, Goofy at the character spot, Rafiki and Olaf. I was pleased that I met a few characters who I hadn’t before! The most awkward must have been meeting the ugly stepsisters

• Seeing my dad when I arrived back at Gatwick! Literally cried with joy!

• And finally being able to spend my trip with my new friends Julie-Anne, Stacey and Vicki. These ladies literally made my holiday. We all got on so well and had lots of laughs, I will always be grateful that they allowed me to share their holiday and join in with their plans. Such lovely genuine ladies, we got some fab photos together and made some amazing memories which I will always cherish.

• Leading on from my last point and it feels awkward to write it out, but I feel like I’ve shared absolutely everything with you guys including the good, the bad and the ugly so I may as well continue. For reasons unbeknown to me, Stacey made the decision to unfriend me on social media This makes me feel so so sad and a tad angry as I have no idea why. I only realised when I went to message her about Disneyland California a few months back and to check out her planning page for it. It came as a shock and obviously I messaged her directly to find out if she’d done it by accident or if I’d upset her in anyway and to try and resolve anything. However, unfortunately she decided to ignore any attempts of me contacting her and to not reply which actually pees me right off. The only thing I can possibly think of that’s annoyed her is when I wrote about what a shame it was we didn’t get to say goodbye on her last day (maybe I should have worded it a different way I don’t know), otherwise I’m clueless and if that is the reason then I think it’s a bit hasty that she felt the need to delete me and not confront or talk to me first. I have messaged the others too to see if Stacey is ok but understandably they don’t want to get involved, this hasn’t affected my friendship with JA and Vicki at all for your information It’s such a shame as I felt like where me and Stacey were the same age we got on really well and had a lot in common. Some of my favourite days and memories are with her and we had some cracking photos together. I sent her a lovely Disney Christmas card with a photo of us on and a lovely message inside and I still have photos of us in frames at home. I don’t want to cause a debate about it or receive any negative comments about me, Stacey or the situation. But what I would like to say is that Stace if you are reading this, I apologise if I have upset you in any way and would really like to be friends again, also I need help with California planning And I’d really love it if we could all get together again at some point! Maybe have a drink or 5 for Vicki

• I actually felt really sad this trip being without my cousin Carley. Especially on mine and her birthdays, she is pretty much my sister and everything I did reminded me of her and the fun times we’d shared on previous Disney trips. Going solo was a great experience but I won’t be going without her again!

• I wrote in my report about having mixed feelings on my birthday, initially I felt sad being away from home and when reading my loved ones birthday messages, however this sadness didn’t last long as I went on to have the most perfect birthday!

• I know that Julie-Anne would agree with me on this one… Splash Mountain being closed! I was so gutted when I realised it wouldn’t be opening until just after I left, how annoying! It is my fave ride in Magic Kingdom, I have so many memories with my family on it and I felt sad that I couldn’t make new memories with Julie-Anne, Vicki and Stacey.

• The one day of this trip where I felt the saddest was my 2nd day when I went to Hollywood studios. I felt like a lonely lost puppy and ended up leaving early because of it. It wasn’t the best riding Toy Story Mania alone either and not having anyone to compete with, I hated that feeling!

• It was sad to see how crowded Disney World had become at this time of year. I remember this time always being quiet with low crowds however I think everyone got wind of this and over the years more people have come to celebrate the Halloween and holiday seasons.

• I was disappointed with the Rivers Of Light show and the new Christmas stuff at Hollywood Studios. It was sad not having the Osbourne Christmas Lights to enjoy, I miss them!

• Saying goodbye to Julie-Anne and Vicki, I’m surprised I didn’t actually cry as usually I’m terrible at goodbyes, I did feel that god awful lump develop in my throat though!

• Meeting king Louis without Baloo! I was looking forward to meeting them both so was gutted to see that Baloo wasn’t there.

• Missing the Beauty And The Beast show! I’m so annoyed at myself for this, it’s one of my favourites and I just didn’t make enough time to see it. I’ve heard rumours that it’s not going to be around for much longer too so this just makes it worse.

• Leaving magic kingdom on the bus made me feel upset to the point that I cried. It’s a bittersweet feeling when you leave. I had the most amazing time which in that moment was tinged with the sadness of leaving and getting back to reality.

• My train being cancelled up to Gatwick! I was worried about getting a different train where I had to make a change and be at a station I’d never heard of. I felt so anxious at that time replaying in my head how to hold my luggage, how to get on and off the train, when to stand up etc. I needn’t have worried as it was a smooth process and I managed just fine!

• Going through the security at Gatwick. My god I hated this especially being on my own. My ticket wouldn’t scan either which had me worried. I always feel like I’m in the wrong when going through security and worry that they will whisk me off to a side room like when I went to Ibiza!

• Flying solo was a massive fear for me, I was so appreciative of my pep talk from Lewis. I get scared when I’m with someone else flying so flying alone was a massive accomplishment for me.

• I will always feel that knot in my stomach nervous feeling when riding the tower of terror. I know that I love the ride but it doesn’t stop me from pooing my pants when on it!

• Darius the Uber driver. The only driver to make me and Stacey feel in fear of our lives We were so glad to get out of that cab!

• When I met Kylo-Ren with Julie-Anne. After my last encounter with him where me and Carley ran for the exit, I was on edge meeting him this time. I don’t know what it is about him that scares the crap out of me.

• Speaking of Star Wars, March of the first order when me, JA and Stace had stormtroopers inches away from our faces. I was a sweaty mess having heart palpitations and everything during that show!

• The one ride I will never ever again do in my entire life is mission space. Not a chance in hell. I was terrified before getting on, still terrified whilst on it and then felt traumatised afterwards. Horrible horrible ride.

• One of the times I felt genuinely unsafe and uncomfortable this trip was when I was waiting outside Walmart. That hill billy guy trying to make me get his taxi freaked me right out and then when a car which looked like it had been shot at in the hood pulled up as well, I just wanted to get the hell out of there!

• The dog in k9 training at the airport. Literally nearly sharted in my knickers.

• Having the armed police waiting at the plane doors when back home was an experience, it was actually quite scary as I had no idea why the man was wanted. I’ll never know either!

• Julie-Anne finding the used sanitary towel in the Grand Floridian toilets. What is wrong with people! Some of the toilets I came across were in a terrible state, not because the cast members hadn’t done a good job but because of scabby dirty people, peeing on the seat or leaving their floater in the toilet. Seriously doesn’t take a lot to wee properly and flush the chain. Dirty mingers.

• The ≈≈≈≈ in the pool must have been disgusting, I mean me and Stace did not see this ≈≈≈≈, but a ≈≈≈≈ floating around in a public swimming pool is never good. The lifeguards did a fab job of getting everyone out of the pool though and removing said ≈≈≈≈.

• I feel like the weather this trip felt so much more humid compared to previous years. It made me feel gross and disgusting 99% of the time. Wether it was my sweaty crack, sweaty tash, massive hair or chafing legs, I looked hideous most of the time.

• The smell of club cool in Epcot. Honestly I hate it, smells like the sewers in there and I have no idea why. I have always had a thing about smells though, my mum jokes that I have the nose of a bloodhound. So maybe other people don’t smell it

• The British girls smelly foo. No need to explain this one.

• The smell and look of anyone scoffing on a turkey leg. This will never be ok, the thought of it makes me want to gag.

• Trying Julie-Anne’s marinated chicken with peanut sauce at the food and wine festival was not to my taste at all, same as the cinnamon bread which was put on my breakfast at sunshine season. Yuck.

• Being bitten to death this trip by mozzies made my legs look disgusting. Red swollen seeping legs are not a good look! I reckon I must have been scratching for at least 80% of the time, surprised I have skin left!

• I’ll finish this section off with the look of disgust I’m giving to the ugly step sister

Cracks me up every time.

• I literally have a list of people that made me feel angry during this trip. These include: the seat recliner in front of me on the plane and the chair basher behind me, Caroline blasting the air con out at me and her and her hubby not standing up quick enough to exit the plane for immigration, the Spanish family not listening to instructions in the stretchy room thing on haunted mansion and then them stealing MY doom buggy, the outspoken rude man at the parade trying to stand his kid on the bin and then complaining about Disney’s rules, the many many people who would put their kids on shoulders causing obstructions, the ejit woman recording the fireworks with her torch on, the many many people ignoring basic instructions and taking flash photos on rides and attractions, people not moving to the end of the bloody row!, the big Chinese group who spent an age with the photopass photographer doing different poses, the lady in front of me at aloha isle in her mobility scooter fannying around taking forever, the rude woman when we were leaving fantasmic telling us to ‘back up’ (this still makes my blood boil even thinking about it!), oblivious people walking in front of the camera when photos were being taken, the family of 20 that turnt up and pushed in line to meet Goofy and Pluto at Animal Kingdom and lastly the absolutely selfish humans that blatantly ignored and showed no care at all when leaving Carosel of Progress. Honestly some people are just so stupid.

• Another thing that made me annoyed this trip was the amount of people on mobility scooters! It wasn’t the fact that they were on them so much, it was that they would cause big queues for the buses and some of them would even stand up once on the bus! And the time when the family of about 6 walked on too. Don’t get me wrong I’ve worked with disabled patients before and I understand that people have different physical health needs, mobility issues and problems that can’t be seen, but I really did feel that some of the people were genuinely just lazy!

• I hated that Disney chose to do the Christmas taping at this time too. It made the crowds ridiculous on some days! It all felt so fake as well and it got annoying when paying guests were being re-routed different ways or having the castle or tree of life being obscured by the big cameras in the way.

• The traffic and crowds in Disney Springs on that Saturday night really angered me. Ok it was my fault for thinking Saturday night at Disney Springs would be a good idea, but I felt so angry with myself that I had made this decision and then ended up wasting a whole evening!

• Being solo, it was easy for me to just use the buses to get around however given the chance again I wouldn’t bother. I hated the queues for them, the waiting around at the end of a long day, the fact that you could be stood there for ages but if a family comes along who have someone in a mobility scooter, they get to get on before you. If you are happy to wait and queue for buses then that’s great but if you are impatient and angered easily like me then I wouldn’t advise it!

• The constant smudging of the camera lens on my phone was so annoying! It caused some of my photos to come out crap, especially ones taken at night. I didn’t think the quality of my photos were great either and after seeing Stacey’s fabulous photos on her Samsung I decided to upgrade to the new Samsung s9 +. The camera is significantly better!


I guess it’s safe to say from that overview that being at Disney World makes you feel all kinds of emotions! Yes it’s a magical happy place but we are all human and it’s ok to feel angry, sad or disgusted by things, doesn’t mean to say I didn’t have the best time. The positives of my trip outweigh the negatives by a mile and this has always been the case on all my holidays which is why I will never stop going back. People ask me all the time ‘why do you keep going back to the same place?’ Or ‘don’t you get fed up of seeing the same things?’. My answer is no I don’t get fed up at all. Disney world is forever changing and evolving, new attractions are added all the time and I love seeing how it has changed over time and being a part of that change. Walt Disney said himself that “Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Everyone knows I am a big kid at heart and being in Disney allows me to be that kid without people judging, without people thinking I should grow up or change my silly personality. As I’ve said before Walt Disney World holds a special place in my heart, I have so many happy memories of being there with the ones I love and I will continue to make more memories there throughout my life. As Walt Disney once said ‘adults are only kids grown up anyway’ and I truly believe this. We all have that inner child, that inner silliness, wether we choose to show it or not is up to us.

Would I go solo again? Absolutely not, is my honest answer. Not because I didn’t enjoy myself but because I’ve been there and done it now. I just prefer having my family with me or Carley there to share the memories and laughter with. This doesn’t mean to say I wouldn’t advise others not to go solo. If you have the opportunity and are thinking about it then do it! We are all different and do things in different ways, what went wrong for me might be right for you. And in all honesty you never really feel ‘solo’ anyway. Going alone is a different kind of trip but the magic is still the same. It still amazes me that I went on my own, one of the main bonuses of this is that you call the shots, you pick and choose where you want to go and do what you want to do, where to eat, when to go back to the hotel etc, there’s nobody else to consider and that is a wonderful thing.

I’d like to thank each and every one of you that has taken the time to read, like and comment on my report, wether it be on here or on social media. Like I said before I did nearly give up at one point as it was taking so much time and effort, but reading all of your lovely words spurred me on to complete it, knowing that you guys are even interested in my adventures makes me feel fab. And knowing that you all stuck with me through the good, bad and ugly is even better. I’ve always said that the way I write is literally how I speak. So I knew I was taking a risk as sometimes I have no filter and have to reign it in I love that I’ve been able to be honest with you all and that just by being myself I seemed to have made a lot of you laugh which makes me feel great. I’m glad you get my humour as I do understand that some things I write are not for the easily offended, I’m outspoken, say things how they are and some people could get offended by this or question some of my opinions. Disney World isn’t always a bed of roses and I hope I’ve shown a true representation of that through my writing. So thank you, thank you and thank you again for reading along, it means the world!

My final thank yous are to the fabulous ladies that made this trip a great one. Julie-Anne, Stacey and Vicki, you lot made me feel so welcome and when I was feeling so alone on that second day you all perked me right up on our monorail crawl and from that moment I was perfectly fine for the rest of my trip. These ladies were pretty much strangers but our friendship clicked straight away and it just worked. I would like to think that I’ll be friends with all of them forever now, even though we all live miles apart, it’s nice to reminisce about our trip and see each other’s plans for future trips. You ladies will never know how much I really appreciated being able to spend my time with you, thank you for the reassurance, support and for giving me those magical memories.

Well there’s not much else to say really, you’re probably all wondering if I have any plans made to go back anytime soon. The answer to that is not just yet! I’ve been every year since 2013 so now I feel like I need to wait it out for the 50th anniversary before I plan another trip. Plus I’m poor and trying to save for a house! I’ve seen all the new plans for Walt Disney World and am so excited for them, particularly the Ratatouille ride at Epcot, Tron in Magic Kingdom and Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway in Hollywood Studios. I’m interested to see how the Disney cable cars will turn out too and seeing the new or updated hotels, I’m not a Star Wars fan but even that hotel looks like it will be immense! So no, I won’t be back in Disney World until at least 2021 which seems like an age away!

However... I do have a surprise for you all, some of you might have gathered already from my countdown and if you follow me on social media that I do have a trip planned... to Disneyland California! 60 days from today to be exact! My amazing cousin surprised me with it for my 30th birthday and I literally cannot wait I won’t say any more on it but rest assured that there will be a pre-trippie on our plans coming very soon and I intend to write another trip report for it too (what am I thinking ) So there you have it another one to look forward to, I’m calling it “Kylie & Carley’s California Adventure”, it really is going to be an adventure too eeeak! Thanks again everyone for reading along, it has been a pleasure sharing my journey with you all, I will leave you with some snippets/words I’ve taken out of my report which I think will make you laugh.

Until next time …..

See ya real soon!

[clochette]

I haven't always commented but I have enjoyed reading your report and we'll done for sticking with it - I know how hard it can be!

I'm glad you had a good time, even if you wouldn't go solo again and I love the way you've summed things up.

Enjoy your California adventure and I'm looking forward to reading all about it!

[MrsSilverStar]

That Mickey head at the end

Well done for finishing the report, I really enjoyed reading along - you certainly have a distinct style!

Your California trip sounds fab, looking forward to that report already!

[MinnieMrsA]

Ahhhhhhhh of course I don't mind you stealing my idea - going to steal yours and use the character pictures next time too! Really loved your report, I love your straight talking writing style. Looking forward to reading all about California too. Thank you so much for writing xxxx ❤❤❤❤

[jools1302]

Great report thanks for takkng the time to finish! My daughter and I stayed in Magic Kingdom till 2am and also watched the kiss good night - one of our most memorable nights too! Have a wonderful time in California 😀

[anniebee65]

Loved this report! You made solo sound fab! Hope you and Stacey can reconnect. Life’s short and all that 💕

[emilou]

Thank you for writing this I LOVED it! Such a laugh I cannot wait for your Cali trippie xx

[emmabanana]

Great trip report Kylie, loved your style of writing and your honesty 😂
Have a fab trip to California x

[clubhouse]

Hi Kylie

Thanks for posting your report - I loved reading along. I know it’s a big effort especially with all the detail you added.

I loved your style and it sounded like you had a fab time. Enjoy your planning for California - I’ll be reading along!

[EJSakaAnna]

I've really enjoyed your report Kylie! Thanks for sharing your trip with us and being so honest . I love your style of writing. It's so hard to keep going with them when life is so busy but worth it to be able to look back.

Have the best time in California! xx