Mr. Catperson's Solo Trip Report, as told to me

Hubby just said the sandwich also has bacon, yum. And cheese, ewww.

Anyway, he called and said after EOS he did indeed wander DTD, did a little shop browsing looking for shirts (he likes things like polo shirts with a subdued little mickey on the chest) and visited the Ghirardelli shop. Looks like he might bring home a boatload of chocolate, yum!

Tomorrow he says he'll probably start at Epcot and then head over to Hollywood Studios to use his daily FastPass+ allotment. And we'll find out how well his Magic Band works.

Here's his last photo of the day, the view of DTD from Saratoga Springs near the building he's staying in. He doesn't have a view from his windows, unfortunately.

Hubby doesn't know when the Saratoga Spring/DTD walkway will open, but he says he will ask. If I'd known the walkway is closed I would've changed our request, also.

Day 2 - Epcot and DHS

Hubby started his day at the Epcot will-call window - even though he already had his wristband, he needed to pick up his ticket (and mine as well). Because we're now planning a spring trip to make up for my absence on this one, he upgraded to an annual pass, which will cost less money than his getting a second 7-day pass in the spring.

His first stop Soarin', where he got a regular FastPass. Now, since he had FastPass+ reservations later in the day at DHS, I thought he wouldn't be able to get any FastPasses at Epcot, but he said it was no problem at all. From there he went to Mission: Space. He didn't mention which intensity he chose - but he's a coaster buff so I'll bet he went extreme. Then it was on to Club Cool for his and my favorite, Beverly! No, I am not kidding, we both really like that stuff. Of course, he drank the Beverly first and then tried the new flavors - you do NOT want to try the Beverly after the sweet stuff. He said they're all very sweet and fruity, and his favorite was a raspberry cream ale, although there was an apricot flavor that he thought was pretty good. Having had his fill of free soda, he strolled over to England to try the fish and chips, which he declared quite good. He thinks they must use fresh fish and not the usual frozen crap you find at most fast-food places in the USA. He also said the chips were good, which is something because he usually doesn't care for thick chips. (Photos at the end of this post.) While in England, he snapped a photo of a Mary Poppins topiary that he didn't recall ever seeing before.

After lunch, hubby went back to The Land to wait out his Soarin' FastPass. Living with the Land and the Lion King movie did the trick, then he hit Club Cool again on his way to the World Showcase gate and the boat to DHS, where he had a FastPass+ for the last Lights! Motors! Action! show - don't know if this is the last ever or just the last prior to renovations, but from what I've heard about the changes coming to DHS, it might be the last ever.

While hubby was enjoying himself at WDW, I was making ADRs for our spring trip - actually, I made them for two separate weeks since we don't know when we'll be going yet. I'll just cancel the ones we won't need once we've got a reservation. Anyway, I happened to notice that the expiration date on his annual pass was 10/17/14, which was wrong since he just got the thing today. I mentioned, and he stopped at Guest Services at DHS and got that cleared up. Good thing I was doing Disney stuff because he hadn't noticed the expiration date was wrong.

Anyway, on to DHS. Hubby had FastPass+ reservations for the car show mentioned above, Toy Story Mania, and Fantasmic. After the first FastPass he got a sloppy Joe and fries at Studio Catering Co., which he thought was interesting because he's accustomed to sloppy Joes that are on the sweet side, and this one was more spicy than sweet - but he likes spicy, so it was all good. After Toy Story Mania he saw the finale at the American Idol Experience, even though he has a FastPass+ for an earlier show later in the week. Then he strolled through the Streets of America and the Osborne Festival of Lights, one of our favorite holiday attractions. Finally, it was time for Fantasmic, which he said was a great show as usual. I asked if the FastPass+ was worthwhile, and he said no - although he was able to sit closer than usual, he was in the splash zone, so he'd rather not do that again. After some butter pecan ice cream, he headed for his favorite thrill rides. He passed on Rock'n Roller Coaster because the single rider line was closed during EMH and he didn't want to wait, but he loves Tower of Terror and didn't mind waiting around for that ride.

Then it was a bus ride back to Saratoga Springs and a long soak in the jacuzzi. Tomorrow, back to DHS for more FastPass+ reservations. MK evening EMH was also on the original schedule, but we'll see if he goes - that's his least favorite park.

Pictures, in order: Fish and chips, the Christmas tree outside DHS, sloppy Joe and fries, the entrance to Toy Story Mania, and a couple of shots of the Osborne lights. Forgot to upload Mary Poppins, she'll be along in the next post.

Mary Poppins topiary:

Day 3 - Back to DHS

Hubby started the day with a bus ride from Saratoga Springs to Downtown Disney and then another bus to the Beach Club for a breakfast ADR at Cape May Cafe. (The other transportation option would've been bus to DHS and then boat to the Beach Club; he took the first of the two buses.) He arrived at the Beach Club a few minutes late, and then had to wait a good 15 minutes to be seated. But soon the photos started to arrive. The first two below depict his first trip to the buffet (bacon and sausage, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, cornbread sausage, breakfast potatoes, and eggs), then his second trip to the buffet (cottage cheese, berries, melon, salami and capicolla, quinoa with cranberries, and yogurt). He really wanted some Mickey waffles, but after all that food he didn't have room. I looked up counter-service menus online and discovered he can get Mickey waffles at the counter-service restaurant at Saratoga Springs, so he won't miss having them.

The next two photos show the characters visiting children at a neighboring table. Hubby said that the characters weren't coming to his table, probably assuming that a middle-aged man dining alone was only interested in the food. I know that if he'd made eye contact and called out to the characters they would've come over, but I imagine a middle-aged man dining alone might not feel comfortable doing that, maybe thinking folks would check his name against the predator lists or something. So I have to content myself with photos of the characters interacting with other people. He did mention that just as he was leaving, Donald Duck came over to his table, but no photo of that.

Once he was done with breakfast, he hopped the boat to DHS and started out with this day's Toy Story Mania FastPass+. (I hope he loves this ride as much as I do because he has a third FastPass+ for it later in the week.) After that he did Star Tours with a regular FastPass, one of the early rounds of American Idol Experience with a FastPass+, the Great Movie Ride (he got the cowboy storyline), Tower of Terror with his final FastPass+, and Rock'n Roller Coaster using the single rider line. Somewhere in the midst of his touring he discovered that today is Mickey Mouse's birthday, but he didn't notice any sort of special celebration at DHS. By then he was ready for a break and decided to head back to the resort to rest a little before going to MK for EEMH, which run till midnight.

Here are the photos of the Cape May Cafe breakfast. I'll report on MK EEMH later.

Day 3, continued - EEMH at MK

Hubby wore his brand new Grumpy Cat T-shirt Monday (I got one for each of us, but mine will have to wait till spring) and mentioned he got lots of comments and compliments on it. It's quite nice. I'll take a photo of mine in a bit so you all can see it.

Anyway, after his resort break he arrived at MK around 7:00 p.m. He commented that everyone says Saratoga Springs is sooooo far away from everything, but he made it from the resort to the MK gates in 17 minutes, which he did not think was bad at all. First thing on his agenda was dinner (after the huge Cape May breakfast he had skipped lunch), and he asked me to direct him to the place where the corn dog nuggets were sold. We'd never had them before, but we love the ones at HersheyPark and had already decided to try Disney's version. On his way down Main Street he snapped a photo of the castle in the distance, but the page won't let me attach it, I'll try in another post. I should mention that all hubby's photos are from his cell phone, and neither of us has smart phones, so I apologize for the inferiority of the images.

He took a photo of his dinner so I could try to enjoy it vicariously (well, they LOOK good...). He did report that they were tasty, and he appreciated their having sauerkraut on the condiment table - he loves sauerkraut with his dogs. Photo below.

Just past 8:00 he texted me a photo that I couldn't make out on the small screen. It was the electric parade taken from a distance - he didn't want to fight the crowds to get any closer. Now, that is my absolute favorite WDW parade and hubby knows it. After a bit he texted another attachment. I assumed it was another photo, but instead it was an audio file of the parade music! Brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face hearing it almost live. The sound quality was crap, but I could hear it well enough.

Once the parade was over, hubby headed for the Jungle Cruise. I'd mentioned that WDW had added a slight holiday theme, but he said it was mostly holiday jokes in the script. Fun, but nothing to go out of your way to experience. Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean (hubby was hitting a lot of my favorite attractions, again so I could enjoy them vicariously). He took a not-so-great photo, which I will include here just for the heck of it.

The fireworks started. No photos of that, but hubby managed to find a spot to watch. While watching, he overheard a guy tell his wife, "We have no cash." Welcome to Disney World!

The next text I received had another attached audio file - hubby had gone back to Pirates to make an audio file of the music, which made me smile again. Next was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, then Haunted Mansion. Next stop was It's a Small World. This is far from hubby's favorite ride - I'm sure he would've been happy to skip it altogether - but I'd made him promise he would ride it at least once for me. He sent a few photos (I'll include the two best, since most are rather fuzzy) and another audio file, and I was grinning again.

Hubby's next stop was Space Mountain, which he usually skips so I won't have to wait around for him (he saves that for favorite rides like Tower of Terror and Expedition Everest), and the Buzz Lightyear. He then made his way to the park entrance hoping to ride the train, but it wasn't running so he decided to call it a night and head back to the resort for a much-needed soak in the jacuzzi.

Today's schedule has him back at MK with FastPass+ reservations for Peter Pan's Flight and two of the New Fantasyland attractions, which he'll be experiencing for the first time. Then he'll show up for our dinner ADR at Ohana and hope they'll seat him alone.

A few photos:

Here's the castle from Main Street.

That just made me laugh out loud! What a sweetie to send you the music from your favourite rides, so you could enjoy them with him. It sounds like he's having a great trip, but I'm sure he wishes you were with him. How is Oreo?