Another TR :) my solo trip: parks, friends, and lots of Give Kids The World

[Rach78]

I am loving following along and reading about what you are doing at GKTW. I volunteered there with my daughter this past April when we were on holiday and it really was a highlight. We were in the Ice Cream Palace. I couldn't go to Orlando now and not go back. I think everyone should do it too!! My daughter was 14 at the time and I think it as a great experience for her as well. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[karentan]

I am loving following along and reading about what you are doing at GKTW. I volunteered there with my daughter this past April when we were on holiday and it really was a highlight. We were in the Ice Cream Palace. I couldn't go to Orlando now and not go back. I think everyone should do it too!! My daughter was 14 at the time and I think it as a great experience for her as well. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

That's why I'm trying to write about it in so much detail, as when I was googling about the different shifts you could do I couldn't find too much info on them, so writing this in the hope that it helps someone else out

Forgot to add a few details about a couple of the earlier shifts:

Halloween
The assignments we could choose from included trick or treating, wand making (kids could make their wizard wands out of sticks and coloured pipe cleaners), or pumpkin patch (kids could make worms and mud dessert out of chocolate pudding, gummy worms and crushed Oreos).
They also had some costumes available for the volunteers who didn't come already dressed.

Village idol:
Assignments were: rockstar makeovers (giving kids temporary tattoos, nail polish and coloured hair spray), backstage passes (kids could wither colour in pictures, or make their own backstage pass out of some of the craft stuff available), superstar handprints (like they do in Hollywood, but with paint and they printed them onto their certificates), photo booth (a gazebo was set up so kids could get their photos taken with the characters and they had loads of dress up props they could use), and then there were assignments for the actual show itself, such as judge wrangler, people to ensure the audience cheered along, and green room host (getting the kids backstage and onto the stage at the right time)

 

[karentan]

Decided to have a bit of a lie in this morning so didn't set the alarm, but I still woke up at 8.15 ish anyway didn't really have a plan for today, but decided to go to universal and go back on a few rides (mainly so I could get a bit more value for my money lol, as I'd only used by 14 day pass once so far!)
Got there about 9.15 and realised quite how busy it was going to be. It's night of joy at the MK this weekend, and universal also have their own version on this weekend. It was so busy even at that time. Seemed to be lots of huge church groups there, they were all heading towards IoA so I headed to universal.
Rode despicable me; twister, the mummy, terminator, RRR, then had another look round Diagon alley and got the train over to IoA. It was about 12.30 at this point, it had gotten crazy hot, and really busy. I had hoped to get on some rides at IoA but they all had 30-40 minute waits so decided to call it a day at that point.

Left the park and went to Walmart on the way home to pick up something for dinner then headed back to the hotel. About 4pm it started raining, which then turned into what can only be described as an hour long monsoon.... I stayed in the room for over an hour, then decided I was going to go buy a poncho and brave the rain and make the most of the evening. Sod's law, as soon as I bought it it stopped raining, but the parks have cleared out a lot because of it, so Epcot is pretty quiet tonight
Been on the land and living seas, seen turtle talk, and went on spaceship earth. Watched illuminations then walked towards the boardwalk, now sat on the beach club beach watching Robin Hood while the frozen fireworks are going off in the distance. Bliss

 

[Claire L]

Wow sounds like a very busy and hot time you are having, but also a lot of fun

 

[stephensmum]

Your description of the mine ride was the same as my sons, the most disappointing ride, I felt so sorry for those in the queue.

 

[karentan]

Wow sounds like a very busy and hot time you are having, but also a lot of fun

Yeah it's been a fun trip, but no way I'd do this time of year again, it's just way too hot for my liking.... It rained briefly this morning and it made it so humid that it felt like a sauna

 

[karentan]

Another long and tiring day but it's been fun. A few friends from Disney cruises I've taken in the past are all in town at the mo so we'd decided to meet at Hollywood studios this evening to watch fantasmic. One of them wanted to do a park day with me, so we arranged that she'd pick me up this morning, we'd do parks all day then meet the rest of the guys tonight.
Pat picked me up at the hotel about 9.30, and after a quick stop at Walgreens for a poncho, we headed for AK. We rode the safari, one of these days i might actually get to see of the lions awake (they weren't even there at all today), then we headed for kali. Given my prior luck with this ride (I always end up going down the hill backwards) I decided to cheat and wear the poncho. Pat didn't and she ended up soaking. We decided to go again as the queue was short and she was already wet, she ended up so bad that she had to buy flip flops because her trainers were that wet.... Rode dinosaur, then had lunch at restaurantosaurus while a short rain shower passed over.
We decided to head to MK at this point, so decided to park at the contemporary and walk over as the clouds looked really grey. It started absolutely chucking it down as soon as we got in there, so we had a look round the shops and tried on every single hat we could find, to pass a bit of time. Unfortunately at some point we realised that she'd lost her prescription sunglasses, so ended up backtracking to everywhere we went but couldn't find them
The rain turned into what seemed like a monsoon at that point, and we were due at HS for fastpasses in an hour and a half so we decided to skip MK and head to the studios.
One of our friends was heading there at the same time as we were, so me and pat went to 50s prime time bar and had a drink while we were waiting, then everyone else met us there. After a chat and a catch up Mary and pat headed over to the frozen singalong. We'd managed to get last minute FPs for this, none of us counted this as a must see but we all were curious about it so went to see it. It was still absolutely throwing it down at this point so it was a good way to pass half an hour. It's a cute show, and the kids really seem to enjoy it. It seems like they've made some effort into turning an empty soundstage into a valid attraction, and I thought the show itself wasn't too bad.
Unfortunately the rain ended up staying, and it rained solidly for five hours in the end. Was downright torrential at some points, so the rest of the day was spent trying to decide what to do without getting too wet.
We headed for tower of terror as we all wanted to ride and decided to all strike a vogue pose on the ride photo, the group behind us all posed differently too, so the ride photo was funny, and all we ended up buying it.
Headed over to the frozen store after that and managed to get into toy story with one minute to spare before they closed it. I managed to score 174,000 and got the highest score of the day!
The other guys left after that and me and pat headed for fantasmic, only to get all the way to the theatre, caught 15 seconds of fireworks before they announced that it was cancelled
We decided to call it a day after that and went to UNOs at crossroads for dinner

 

[karentan]

I had a nice lie in this morning, and got to MK about 10.30. I decided today was the day to try and ride stuff I haven't got round to yet, so I started with a FP for monsters laugh floor, then rode stitch, haunted mansion, tiki room, country bear jamboree, then finished at splash mountain.
For some reason the park seemed a whole lot busier today than it has been the whole time I've been here, touring plans only has it as 3/10 but a lot of things were showing 30-40 mins, and even the least popular rides had huge queues.
The real feel temp is currently 37 degrees, so I called it a day about 2pm, then headed to dtd. Figured Disney quest would be a good way to waste a bit of time, so I spent an hour or so in there, then headed back to the hotel.
Currently led on the hotel bed with the air con on full blast and trying to cool down, failing miserably though it's just that hot and humid at the mo.

Off back to GKTW tonight, picked up a last minute shift at the Halloween party tonight

 

[scoobydooby]

I do admire how positively you are tackling this solo trip. Enjoying reading along. It sounds hot, hot, hot. Sorry about the rain. We had that for five solid days one August. It can be draining.

 

[karentan]

I do admire how positively you are tackling this solo trip. Enjoying reading along. It sounds hot, hot, hot. Sorry about the rain. We had that for five solid days one August. It can be draining.

We just poncho'd up and kept going! The only thing that was affected was that fantasmic was cancelled which is annoying because I've not got any more nights left to watch it. Was hoping to squeeze it in tonight but missed by 10 minutes

I think at this rate I'll be going home for a rest!

 

[karentan]

An extremely hectic but fun evening tonight....

Headed to GKTW for the Halloween party. Even though they're supposed to have less families this week than they had last week there seemed to be more people there today. Made for a busy party!
This week I volunteered for face painting (I wanted the wand making but someone beat me to it), so three of us were tasked with face painting and temporary tattoos.
The threat of rain earlier meant that the party was being held in the castle, so that's probably why it seemed busier.
Now I haven't done face painting since 2008, so was a bit worried about being rubbish at it. But it's the effort that counts and we managed to do some passable efforts I ended up doing a few flowers, Spider-Man, batman and a Dracula, and although it started off quiet, eventually everyone seemed to come out and it was pretty much standing room only and we had a constant queue of people. I did miss the chance to do the party dances though which sucked because I like a bit of cheesy dancing.
We got out at 9, and my original plan was to make a mad dash to HS to try and catch the second fantasmic, but I got to the parking lot five minutes before the park was due to close to non EMH guests, and I thought there's no way they'd let me in
So I then made another mad dash to MK and got there with 15 minutes to spare, so at least I get to see wishes one last time.
Now typing this as I walk back to the car, and off back to the hotel

 

[BigMommaMouse]

I have really enjoyed reading all about your trip. Thank you for sharing.

 

[darthtatty]

only just spotted your live trip report, sounds like youre having a fab time.

I'd love to do a solo trip. I was hoping to do one, in January next year as I was going to Florida for a wedding but they've changed their plans.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.x

 

[karentan]

I was hoping to do one, in January next year as I was going to Florida for a wedding but they've changed their plans.

Well that's not on, tell them to change their plans back!

 

[karentan]

Today's been a bit of a chilled one, even though I had all the best intentions to go hit the parks again. I'd booked some FPs for Epcot for mid morning and was going to go to HS first, but I just wasn't feeling in the mood to hit the parks this morning. So instead I headed to dtd west side, and went on characters in flight. I've never done this before but wanted to see what the fuss was about and I'd heard that if you get there first thing it's discounted.
Got there about 9.30 and it was only $10 it's not something I'd probably have paid $18 for, but i thought it was ok for ten dollars, and it's another thing I've ticked off the list of Disney stuff I haven't done yet.
Was going to go mini golfing after that, and even made it to fantasia gardens parking lot but decided it was too hot, even at 10.15am, so decided to go for a drive instead. Ended up in winter garden which was a cute little place, had a wander round the downtown area, then stopped at the big shopping centre area just outside the town centre.
I got a facebook message from a friend saying that the results for the CRP were being sent out. I'd applied for the Epcot cultural exchange programme a few weeks ago, it's something that I'd never got around to applying for when I was younger, but since the divorce i thought why not, I've got nothing to lose. So I bit the bullet and applied, not really expecting to get through, but at least I could say that I'd tried.
I hadn't received any emails when josh messaged me, so I had a quick look on the CRP page on Facebook and seemed like loads of people were getting no's. I got out of target and my phone binged, and there was an email saying I'd gotten through to the group interviews!!!!
According to a couple of people who have done this before, there's about 100 people at the groups, and about half of them get onto the programme so my odds have gone from 1 in 2000 or so to maybe 1 in 2 with any luck!
So on that bit of good news, I drove back towards Disney, and headed for dtd marketplace. Had another wander around the shops and even managed to find the last pin I was looking for to complete the set that's on PWP at the mo, so got all of them and saved myself $20 stopped off at publix on the way home for some drinks and somehow a two pack of cheesecake slices ended up in my trolley not sure how that happened
Now back at the hotel, and off out to HS later for fantasmic, then going to haul *** to get to the poly so I can watch hallowishes Tomorrow is my last full day here, I'm sad it's come round but I'm kinda looking forward to getting home and not being insanely hot all the time!

 

[BigMommaMouse]

Sounds like there is a lot of silver lining on your divorce. So pleased to read you had more good news. Enjoy your last day tomorrow and safe trip back to the UK.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

I've been reading along Karen and really enjoying your report and hearing about your voluntary work at GKTW. Great news on the exchange program

 

[alibeau]

Great TR

Safe trip home

Ali.

 

[Button]

Oh I don't want you to cone home, I'm enjoying reading your report. When you get into the program you'll have to keep us updated daily.

 

[karentan]

Oh I don't want you to cone home, I'm enjoying reading your report. When you get into the program you'll have to keep us updated daily.

I'll keep you all updated of course but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, I hate disappointment so I'm always convinced I won't get stuff, then it's a nice surprise of it does happen