**Smiley Kylie Goes Solo Nov 2017- Introduction and pre-travel day**

[xxSmileyKyliexx]

Introduction

Well hellooo dibbers! It’s been a while, and here I am 4 yrs later with my solo trippie! I have a shocking record for my trippie attempts, I managed to day 10 of my 2013 report and have 2 failed attempts of pre-trippies since then! What is wrong with me man, I do apologise! I’m making no promises with this one but I will try and am determined to complete this trip report. For 3 main reasons: 1 being I went solo and really struggled finding solo reports to read beforehand to get an idea of what it would be like going solo, so I’m hoping that in completing this, anyone else thinking of doing it alone could find my trippie helpful, if not then you’ll probably have a good laugh at it. 2… I had the best time and met other lovely dibbers who made this holiday special so I’d quite like to share that with the dibb community if that’s ok And 3… I wrote up pages and pages of notes whilst there each night some whilst falling asleep and I intend to use these notes! I’m a big lurker on the dibb and have read, enjoyed and almost wet myself at some of your trippies over the years, Wizzo, Happyhaunt, Stewboy, Libby, Aimee & Lauren, Bambikate, Lisa lollipop, Redrach, abiknox & Mkingdon being some of my faves. I’m hoping mine will not bore everyone to death, I’ll try (not to bore you to death that is)

So the cast of this trip is me, myself and I! You’ve probably gathered by now that I’m Kylie. I’ve been to Disney World a fair few times and Disney Land Paris once. I used to be (or maybe it was a phase) a girly girl, however now I’m just a bloke (more so as I’ve gotten older, I’m 29 now) I’ve learnt not to give a tiny rats ass what others think so just fart and burp to my hearts content (not saying that all men fart and burp of course), love watching the footie, probably swear too much (but never in Disney obvs) let my fat go where it wants (I can always just breathe in for pics right?), wear trainers over heels and I don’t even bother with this make up or hair extensions business these days (just some mascara will do), too much effort (my boyfriend is a lucky lad). This is me:

I look so tanned here!

I should probably introduce the dibbers who I met too, as they appear in quite a lot of my days making it feel like a not so solo trip which suited me nicely! We have Stacey (stace&tink) who I have to thank that I didn’t spend the whole holiday alone, I noticed her countdown was the same as mine a few months before we were going and we got messaging through the dibb. Stacey had planned to go solo too and would be meeting others whilst there so she kindly welcomed me to join them anytime I liked, which was so decent of her, a complete stranger who she’s never met and she’s allowing me to share plans with her, so lovely Some of you will know that tink of stace&tink is Stacey’s little dog who she absolutely loves and adores, and she loves tinker bell too if you hadn’t already guessed. Me and Stace are the same age and share some things in common (moron ex bf’s being one of them ) We stayed in the same hotel too which made life a lot easier when meeting up etc. Moving on we have Julie-Anne (disneydaft70) who Stacey has known and chatted to for a while and become good friends with. Julie-Anne would be visiting with her friend Vicki at pretty much the same time (but much longer the lucky sods!) Julie-Anne (not Julie) JA for short as it’s quicker to type and Vicki are the most loveliest fun people to be around, I knew we’d all get along well from the conversations we had on our group chat. We’d even sent recordings of our voices to ensure we could all understand each other’s accents, Vicki’s from Scotland and I was starting to worry that she’d have a strong accent where we’d have to communicate through sign language but the voice note confirmed that she sounded a bit like Moira from emmerdale and I could understand her easy peasy. Between us all we have a lot of years experience visiting Disney World, each sharing one major thing in common, the food! Nom! For months beforehand we’d share lists with each other and send pics of what snacks/drinks we wanted to try. But then we’d all be trying to lose weight in the run up to the holiday too, which was not really successful, and in the end we just gave up. So whenever we had group pics we’d be sucking ourselves in or cropping bits out ha! We all equally share a love for Disney, well Vicki not so much, she wouldn’t be bothered if she ever set foot in a Disney park again (her words), however she loves shopping (lots of it), the Florida weather and a bevvy or 10, so she was more than happy to come along for food and wine and other bits and bobs. Here we are all together, as you read along you’ll hear about our monorail bar crawl, food and wine festival and 4 parks in one day (did we do it?) These ladies are a fabulous bunch!

Julie-Anne-Stacey-Vicki-Me

So like most people, I love to plan my trips, get stuck in months beforehand, booking adr’s, doing fp’s etc, however this trips itinerary was only completed a week before as I was busy on another holiday (getting wasted in Spain) and working lots (I work in a psychiatric hospital for anyone interested). Anyway, ‘why are you going on your own?!’ so many people asked me horrified at the prospect that I could maintain any sort of independence and possibly make it alive to and from America on my own. Well Doris, I booked this trip fairly last minute so nobody else could afford it or wanted to go so I figured stuff it (I didn’t use the word ‘stuff’) I’ll go by myself, is that ok? Seriously though, I couldn’t handle a year of not getting my Disney fix, I have no kids or anything keeping me here so just went for it and booked alone. I even extended the trip by 2 nights as 10 just wasn’t going to cut it. I was spending the first 10 nights at Disney’s Pop Century and the last 2 at Disney’s All Star Movies Resort (they had no more space at Pop for me those final nights which was a complete ball ache). I paid to have quick service dining throughout my trip, it eased my anxieties that my food was covered because knowing me I’d have blown all my money on the first day and be starved for the rest of the holiday. I flew from Gatwick with Virgin Atlantic on the 1/11/2017 and stayed in the premier inn the night before. In total having 3 whole weeks off of work, 3 whole weeks of not being abused by patients, 3 whole weeks of not having to restrain anyone, 3 whole weeks of not wishing I worked in Aldi. I joke, I love my job.

Anyway this was the longest introduction ever (which is probably why I never finish a report, because I just don’t know when to stop typing!) Let’s just move onto pre-travel day.


Tuesday 31st October 2017

Oh my god the day had finally arrived when It was time to go to Gatwick, I was up all night and could barely contain the excitement. Except this is a big lie! I’d had the worst nights sleep, I’d all of a sudden developed the lurgy and come on my period (too much info I know) in one night. The night before I go, typical! I woke up at around 7:30am fuming at Mother Nature and blaming anyone I could for giving me the lurgy! You know when you can’t breathe where your nose is so blocked and you have razor blades in your throat? Well this was me and I was thinking of all them times my nose wasn’t blocked and how I took it for granted (there’s a meme for this somewhere). I lay half dead in darkness not wanting to even move, then my dad and 2 brothers bombard into my room with birthday cards (it would be my birthday in 2 days ) hugs and have a great time wishes before they set off for work. This was actually really cute of them, 1 I thought they’d forgotten my birthday and 2 I’d have been so upset if they hadn’t have said goodbye! I stayed in bed watching Krispy s’mores travel day on YouTube which got me a tad excited for my own travel day tomorrow! Eventually I dragged my sorry ass out of bed to have some Frosties and a cuppa tea (Yorkshire teabags milk first fyi) I barely ate the Frosties, I felt a bit anxious about going away alone and wanted to just get myself ready and packed up. The build up to a holiday is the worst for me, even more so going on my own, remembering to pack everything, the weight of the case etc. I showered and got ready whilst watching last nights Corrie and emmerdale. I put the bill on at one point, I still love this show and find myself watching repeats on watch most days, good old Reg. After referring to my 2016 packing list, I was confident I had absolutely everything packed. Apart from the mad rush of looking for my earphones which were found down the side of my bed, I was ready to go. I had pre-booked the taxi for 10:30am and it was waiting outside. I nearly killed myself getting my suitcase down the stairs, it weighed a ton and there was no space at all for any purchases I’d be making in Florida, I decided to worry about that later. Taxi matey helped with the luggage, whilst putting his back out and we were soon en route to Southampton Central Train station.

It did feel really weird just leaving the house alone and taking a photo of myself. Usually I’d be on at the family for a pre-travel day selfie or taking a selfie of me and my cousin (Carley). This is something I’d have to get used to doing I thought to myself, although I do love a selfie. Taxi man thought I was mad going to America on my own, he bid me farewell and to stay safe, much like one of my patients at work who was worrying herself sick that I was going to be attacked by Isis and made me promise not to go off with strangers.

Anyway so I’m at the train station, picked my tickets up, so far so good I thought, managing my luggage well, arrived alive to the station (which is literally 10 mins away from my house ha!) I’ve got this solo malarkey in the bag, easy peasy. Until I looked and saw that the train I was booked to get on had been cancelled Brilliant I thought. I had specifically booked this train because it went direct to Gatwick with no changes and I really could not be dealing with hoofing my luggage on and off trains. After a chat with train matey he advised that I get the Brighton train to Gatwick where I’d have to change at Barnham. Where the hell is Barnham I thought?! I could have waited around for the next direct one but there was a risk that could be cancelled too due to the current broken down train on the track. So there I sat on platform 2b in the freezing cold coughing a lung up waiting for my indirect train.

It arrived early, I kept my beedy eye out as the train slowed down for the carriage with luggage space and made sure to get onto that carriage, I needn’t have worried it was a Tuesday morning and there were not many people around luckily. I found a seat where I could see my luggage and settled down, I was finally on my way to Gatwick, well Barnham!

Bye home! St.Denys is where I live.

I was coughing/sneezing most of the way and wiping surfaces with anti bac wipes, paranoid that I was going to become more ill. I had my anti bac gel out every 5 mins too, pretty sure the old lady opposite thought I had ocd, she kept staring at me, look away Ethel look away. I used the train bog, is it me or does anyone else sit on the loo terrified that the door is just going to slide open to reveal you sat there with ya cacks down doing your business? I was forcing wee out at great speed to illuminate any embarrassing door openings. I successfully made it back to my seat, dignity intact and got myself ready to get off at Barnham. I didn’t have to wait here long (it was bloody freezing though!) and was soon on the next train to Gatwick. 40mins later and I arrived.

It was around 2pm now so I got onto the shuttle whilst knocking my suitcase into a few people, the wheels on that thing are unpredictable, going off in all directions! Manoeuvring it was quite a task. When I arrived at the north terminal and got my first glimpse of the premier inn, it was like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I was dying for a poo (the rushing along butt clenching kind), wanted to not manage my luggage anymore, wanted to get my bra off and just lay in bed warming up with a cuppa.

Check in was easy enough, although the kiosk machines were out of order so I had to actually talk and have conversation with a human. She didn’t hang about luckily, or I may have soiled myself. I paid the £95.99 which included my room, dinner, drink and brekkie for my stay which I didn’t think was bad at all. Room was allocated on the 5th floor with a fab view as you can see.

I wasn’t bothered really, I’m a bit of a hermit in hotel rooms, close the curtains make it all cosy etc, I was just happy to see a toilet and be able to poo in privacy. The room was clean, spacious enough for me and my luggage and had everything you would need for a nights stay. I couldn’t wait to sleep later, who else loves a premier inn bed? I looked into buying one, but damn they’re expensive!

I was soon changed into my granny nighty, with the kettle on and hairdryer on to warm up the bed ha! Anyone else do this? I dosed myself up as this illness needed to do one asap. Then I relaxed and gave myself a pat on the back, I’d made it to Gatwick on my own with no big dramas. This was actually quite an accomplishment for me, I’m quite a home girl and don’t venture too far from Southampton alone, the furthest I’d ever been away from home on my own was like Bournemouth or to Essex to see my ex, so to get to Gatwick and be travelling to America solo was a big deal. I watched last nights Corrie again, because once wasn’t enough right?

I had booked a table for 1 (and so it begins) for 6:30pm at the premier inn’s Thyme restaurant so I just chilled, had a shower, sorted through luggage and watched some Jeremy Kyle (oh the joys, I’d rather have the train loo door open than ever be seen on that show), until I was ready to head over to the main terminal for twilight check in. I checked and double checked that I wasn’t checking in anything I’d be needing and made sure I didn’t have any liquids over 100ml left with me. Got chatting to a couple in the hotel lift who were going to Cyprus tomorrow, I’m not the shy type (as you’ve probably gathered) so striking up conversation with strangers wasn’t an issue, they asked where my family were and were impressed that I was going to Disney World alone, we wished each other a good holiday and I headed to the airport, it’s literally a 2 min walk across the road and up the escalator, so handy!

I arrived at the Virgin Atlantic desks around 5:15pm where there was already a developing queue, it was a tad confusing who went in what queue but we were told that peasant and premium economy shared a queue and upper class had there own.

Loved that Gatwick were getting into Halloween.

The queue went quickly anyway, my case weighed just under 23kg (I’d deffo need to buy a hand luggage case for anything I bought to bring back). The virgin lady saw that I was travelling alone and from my passport that it was my birthday in 2 days and acknowledged this, didn’t give me an upgrade to upper class though did she, selfish. I waved goodbye to my case hoping to be reunited with it and it’s dodgy wheels in Orlando, made sure to keep my passport and boarding ticket safe and then got onto the shuttle to the south terminal. A quick stop at boots was needed for period supplies and flu medicine. I then fancied buying a cake of some sort from m&s as it was the bake off final tonight so I wanted to scoff my face whilst watching it. After I paid the £50 for my m&s raspberry yum yums I headed back to the premier inn for dinner. I was starved by this point!

I arrived at around 6pm handed over my meal voucher and was shown to my table for 1. Except I hated this table, it was in the middle near the entrance and I much prefer being a hermit in the corner of a restaurant where I can just sit and people watch, so the lady let me choose my own table, I chose the darkest corner I could find ha! It was actually opposite the one me and my cousin had sat at the year before (where I had also asked to be moved) such a fussy mare! This was my first meal of the holiday alone and it felt weird. So I drew my boyfriend (Stanly) in to make me feel better.

The girls in the group chat had been messaging and reassuring me all day that I would be ok on my own, that I’d get used to it and shared their own solo experiences which was a real comfort to me and throughout the day I’d gradually got used to the idea and felt braver (well it was too late now anyway!) They’d all been chilling in the pool enjoying the sun today, it had been cold when they first arrived in Orlando so feeling the warmth must have been like heaven for them! Photos were sent of feet in pools and it made me feel excited knowing I’d be there soon with my feet in the pool! Not my whole body though because I would drown, can’t swim you see. We all had a chuckle at this photo:

I’d already looked at the dinner menu in my room and had decided on what I wanted hours ago. So it was highly frustrating when the server took an absolute age to take my order. I was starving marving ready to scoff some other strangers grub off their table. 5 hours later I finally ordered the crab mac n cheese with bread, carbs galore! I figured I’d stay away from burger or pizza as I’d probably be eating my weight in these once in Florida. I ordered myself a glass of wine too.

I kept bursting into coughing fits, it didn’t help that it was 100 degrees in this bloody gaff! Was thinking the couple next to me would have to perform cpr on me at one point. I apologised to them for the constant coughing and snotting. They were a nice couple actually, they were off to Vietnam tomorrow, I had no idea where that was or if it’s a good holiday destination, all I knew was something about war back in whatever year. What’s the weather even like there? I chatted on and off to them both throughout my first solo dining experience which made me feel not so alone. My nephew Oliver (he’s 6) rang me at one point so I could say goodbye, he told me about his footie match and school etc, it amuses me that whenever you ask a kid what they did at school they always say ‘nothing’, I remember saying the exact thing. The food arrived much quicker than how long it took to order, I made sure to eat that side salad as well as no salad would be touching my lips all holiday.

The Mac n cheese was good with plenty of crab but the bread was dry with no butter or owt. I still ate it though. For dessert I had a chocolate fudge sundae which was alright, it’s no sprinkles though.

I was a nice full at the end, not the sick kinda full where you struggle to breath or walk which is always good. I bid farewell to Vietnam couple, left imaginary Stanly behind and took my wine back to the room with me. If you’re staying at the premier inn before your hols I’d deffo recommend paying the extra to have your meals included, it’s nice to know it’s covered and the restaurant is a nice cosy feel a good way to relax for some evening grub, well apart from the heat and slow service. If you don’t mind paying more, then I’d recommend staying club level at the Sofitel where you get to eat nibbles and drink as much as you want in the club lounge and the mini bar in your room is included. Nice treat that is! Anyway once I got back into the room it was time to start my night of pampering. I’d bought myself a Halloween bath bomb from lush, which for me is a treat as I never have baths, I get bored in a bath would rather have a shower get in scrub the muff and get out I’d also got myself a soap and glory face mask which set me back £4! I do love soap and glory products though, my skin is like new skin since I started using them. The mask made my skin feel lush.

I picked up them cucumber eye things from Poundland which were rubbish (what did I expect for a quid!), here’s a pic for your amusement.

So gorgeous

With my bath ran, face mask on, ≈≈≈≈ey cucumber things on, wine in hand and sex and the city on the iPad, I felt really relaxed and more prepared for my solo trip. I’d woken up this morning feeling anxious and worrying myself that I couldn’t go on my own, but I’d had the reassurance from the others and was beginning to think I’d be ok and felt excited to be going tomorrow. I had nearly 2 weeks ahead of me of fun filled, not having a care in the world disney time, it was a great feeling knowing I could switch off from reality and get back to my happy place.

Ah lovely jubbly!

I was in this bath for ages, watched one of my favourite episodes of sex and the city (the one where Samantha ends up naked at the fire station) and the bake off final, I was a wrinkly prune by the time I got out! I was not happy with the bake off winner either, I didn’t like that Sophie woman, bit cocky and smarmy looking I thought. I didn’t eat the £50 raspberry yum yums as planned, was full from dinner, but they made for a good snack on the plane, I was not gonna be wasting them! I got myself into the granny nightie and made myself all cosy in the amazing premier inn bed, as it was Halloween I put hocus pocus on, an evening of Sarah Jessica Parker for me tonight. I couldn’t watch the whole thing as I was shattered, so switched it off, set my alarm, dosed myself up some more and was asleep by 10ish

>>Travel Day

[disneyme]

LOVED reading this-so funny and honest!

Looking forward to the next day xx

[stace&tink]

OMG This made me LOL more than once. I miss you! Was a fabulous holiday! CANNOT WAIT TO READ MORE! xxx

[tnkrbell]

Great first day Kylie! That Stanley fella is a handsome looking devil Looking forward to reading more

[juless77]

Great read cant wait for more ! thanks for sharing

[Jannyjan]

Fabulous start, looking forward to the rest.

[disneydaft70]

I think I said “eeeee Kylie! ” a few times there... that’s my girl! 😂

Fab start...and you will finish it as i’ll nag you to death!

JA (not Julie 😂 ) xx

[Pussycat Doll]

Great start, looking forward to more. Love your honesty!

[Flimsey]

This made me laugh so much.
Nice to know I am not the only one who loves the £50 raspberry Yum tins from M&S.

[stace&tink]

Originally Posted by disneydaft70

I think I said “eeeee Kylie! ” a few times there... that’s my girl! 😂

Fab start...and you will finish it as i’ll nag you to death!

JA (not Julie 😂 ) xx

See more...

YES! I'll be nagging too! haha.
I started writing a trippy but its no where near as entertaining as this!
Hurry up with the next instalment Kylie. xx