Solo at Disney and Loving it!

Monday morning I woke up to my 7:30 alarm, got myself (and my backpack) ready and then said my goodbyes to the Clingermans. I was sad to see them go. We had had such a good friends weekend with them. This makes three Februarys in a row that I had been on a vacation with Amanda. I'm not sure if I'm going anywhere fun next winter though (*crying*). Hopefully it won't be too long before we see them again.

After leaving the condo, I drove myself to Animal Kingdom. I realized as I was driving there that this was the first time I had ever driven myself to one of the parks on my own. Last year, I spent a day at MK by myself, but since I had stayed on property the night before, I used the Disney bus to get around. It was fun driving there! We were staying very close to Disney property-- a couple minutes from Disney Springs.

Of course, like the crazy Disney planner I am, I got there very early. I was a little bummed to realize it was an Extra Magic Morning at AK for on-site guests. It's not very fun just standing outside the gates waiting for it open while lots of people go in haha. Anyway, it wasn't too long before the park did open for everyone, and I did the first thing on my list: Safari!

haha my selfie was photobombed by the lady next to me. She was very nice. It seemed she was solo that day as well. And bonus that she had a fun New Zealand accent!

Well now is the part of the post with way too many animal pictures from the safari. Enjoy! haha

hippos in the water!

I always love the Africa painted dogs

The lions were a little harder to spot this time!

After the Safari, I started to make my way to my favorite ride in all of Disney: Expedition Everest!

But first, I decided to stop for some pictures. I noticed a photopass photographer taking pictures and he seemed like fun. Well, he was actually HILARIOUS! He was probably in his mid 50s and super flamboyant and was really encouraging me to bring out my inner model haha

This one is the funniest to me. I wish you could have heard him snapping orders, "Now fold your arms. OK, pivot, a little more. Good! Now give me a smile!" lol seriously it was crazy.

But his style must work for me, because I really like the pictures haha

And since I was by myself and could dawdle on my way places, I stopped for some characters!

They loved hearing about my two dogs at home. They asked if they could see a picture, but since my phone was in the bottom of my backpack I declined (not wanting to make the people in line after me wait any longer!).

And then I finally made it to Everest!

Woohoo! I love this ride. Not quite sure what I'm doing with my arms in this ride pic however

After Everest, I went through the Jungle trail to see some cool birds, tigers, and monkeys.

After the trail, I was kind of ready to eat. I had reserved a lunch for me at Tiffins, and even though it was 30 minutes until my reservation I decided to see if I could check-in early.

Well I couldn't because they weren't open yet haha, so I decided to do a bit of shopping and then stopped for a very awkward Tarzan meet. What's with all the awkward Disney characters in the park??

I was able to check-in as soon as the restaurant opened and was seated and given a menu. The staff was super friendly and I loved the atmosphere. With some nice African music softly playing, I enjoyed looking around at the decorations.

Since it was only me (no Erik to feed all of my leftovers to haha), I didn't order an appetizer, but was brought some delicious pomegranate focaccia bread with a pomegranate and molasses olive oil dip.

And I really enjoyed my main course of duck breast. I sorted and posted some pictures, and just relaxed for a bit. Though I wouldn't want to have too many solo meals in a restaurant, this one was wonderful! I would love to go back to Tiffins sometime with the family too.

I got a cute print as a thank you on my way out :)

After lunch, I knew exactly what I wanted to do next . . .

Finding Nemo: The Musical! I really love this show. Just thinking about it makes me tear up sometimes haha First of all Finding Nemo holds a super big place in my heart. It was the movie I brought to the hospital when I was induced with Jackson. I find the gorgeous animation and the pretty music so soothing. Not to mention that story can really pull on your heart strings! Well, the musical at Animal Kingdom is just as good! The music is written by Kirsten Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (the same people that wrote the music of Frozen, as well as some great Broadway shows!). Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this show as always.

And then I decided my time at AK was over. I was anxious to hop over to Epcot, so even though I didn't get to a lot of great things, I was happy that I did my favorites. Animal Kingdom is my second favorite park (behind Magic Kingdom). It's a beautiful theme park with a couple of really great rides, some beautiful shows, and cool animals!

My drive to Epcot was actually pretty amazing (well as amazing as a drive can be haha). The sun was out in full force, I was listening to my Janelle Monae playlist (which I was very into after seeing her in Hidden Figures), and I just felt completely stress-free and responsibility-free. It was great!

The first thing I did once I got to Epcot, was window shop in the Art of Disney and take some pics in front of Spaceship Earth

More pictures . . . because that's obviously mostly what I do at Disney haha

I stopped to watch the garbage can percussionists

And then on to Test Track!

I was next to some fun people in line at Epcot! In the Test Track line next to me was a father/college aged daughter from MA that had been going to WDW every winter since she was a baby. They were really interesting to talk to!

Next was Soarin'! I was really excited to see the new Soarin' Around the World film. It was GREAT! I loved the scents at different places around the world and that ride totally makes you feel like you're flying- so fun!

Also in the Soarin' line I met my favorite line buddies of the trip. They were this super cute older couple that had just moved to FL permanently after being "snow birds" in Indiana. I loved hearing about how they raised their three children and how much they love their adult children and grandchildren now. They asked me a lot about my kids and how we like Utah, etc. They were just super friendly and fun! Honestly, the friendliest fellow vacationers are at Disney!

Then I decided to just wander around the World Showcase. I turned to my right to go through Canada first. I kind of had a goal in mind to browse at least one shop/restaurant at each country in the WS.

Luckily, hunger hit me right as I was entering France so I bought myself an early dinner!

And after eating my ham croissant I found a pretty spot to eat my chocolate dessert. It was delicious!

I spy Aurora!

I enjoyed looking at the mini trains in Germany and stopping in the Christmas store.

(this pic was from earlier)

After touring the World Showcase, I stopped to buy the rest of the things on my list: a mug for me and candy for the kids and the Coles (Erin Coles watched the kids over the weekend until Janet and Robert got to Utah!).

I had a fast pass to see some characters which was fun. You really get in a frame of mind at Disney that totally makes taking pictures with cartoon characters absolutely normal haha

After some fun character interactions, I HIT A WALL. Like all of a sudden I was sooooo tired. I found a random room in Future World and just sat for like 40 minutes. It was really nice. Sadly, my fitbit had died that morning, but I know I was killing it in the step department!

After my rest, I went on the Finding Nemo ride which was nice because you sit in it haha

And then I did Test Track again!

One thing on my list of things to accomplish in Epcot was meet Anna and Elsa so I could video them wishing Anna a happy birthday (I must remember to put that on the TV on the 17th!). Luckily, the line wasn't very long and of course, there were fun people to chat with (this time two families vacationing together from New York-- one of the Dads was a publicist and he had fun stories of his job!)

The room where you meet Anna and Elsa was super cute with so many fun details.

Anna was lots of fun too!

Elsa always underwhelms me in the parks for some reason. She is nowhere near as fun as Anna, but she gave a Anna a great birthday video which I know Anna will love.

After Anna and Elsa, I got in line for the new ride Frozen Ever After. I REALLY wanted to check out this new boat ride (this replaced Maelstrom). However, the line was still 75 minutes. After waiting 8 minutes, I realized it was just not worth it and I left. I had also just talked to Erik who was on his way back to Orlando from Tampa and I wanted to see him!