Solo Disney World Trip...

I'd love to brag about my fantastic solo Disney trip and how magical it was, but unfortunately, I can't. Disney World itself was as perfect as usual and, for the first time ever, I didn't have the one token rude CM (there is always at least one)...it was the other guests that caused daily, almost constant torture. I have never in all my life encountered the amount of snobbery, entitlement, and just downright hateful rudeness for no reason whatsoever! Granted, it mostly centered around my resort of choice, but I have stayed in much nicer locations than the Yacht Club and never had those type of issues. The parks were overly crowded for this time of year (although it has been steadily getting worse for the past few years, so I wasn't completely surprised) and seemingly hotter than normal as well, but those other guests that I used to brag about being able to ignore? They definitely made their presence known this trip!

The most notable slight I received was from a very stuck-up lady on a bus back to the Yacht Club after a rather miserable morning at Downtown Disney. She literally looked me up and down and said in front of god and everybody, "You do know this bus goes to the Yacht Club, don't you?"...like I wasn't good enough to be on it. When I very nicely (although very shocked) responded that I did know the bus was going to the Yacht Club because that was where I was staying, she just leans over to what I assumed was her husband, covers her mouth and begins to whisper to him! Seriously? You rude bitch! I saw her a couple more times during my trip and avoided her like the plague.

I was pushed out of the way like a rag doll, stepped on, knocked into, rammed by strollers, etc. I was told a few times, "sorry, didn't see you there" (and I'm a pretty good-sized woman, both in width and height, so I'm not sure how that is possible). I was passed by kids in line which meant the parents also felt compelled to pass me. I was asked, just as I sat down at a table to enjoy my Casey's hot dog, if I was done because they had little kids and needed somewhere to rest (not to eat, mind you, but rest). I offered them the remainder of my table and chairs (which they didn't accept and rather huffily stormed off), and just continued to eat my hot dog (by this time, I was well past my tolerance limit and couldn't give a rats ass if the kids legs were rotting off).

I watched almost every single parental couple sit in places, enjoying their food and their conversation, completely oblivious to the fact that their children were running around like they were on crack. Then other kids would get stirred up, join the crack-induced rampage, and more parents go deaf, dumb, and blind. Granted, I am quite a bit more sensitive to noise and movement than most people, but I do take such things into consideration and there was absolutely no way the parents could NOT know that their kids were swinging off of lamp posts and hitting strangers (thank god one didn't hit me...cops would have been called and I would now be reporting to you from a prison cell). And, also granted that I didn't have a normal childhood, but I can't even remotely imagine behaving that way, especially with my parents RIGHT THERE (and there would be NO WAY my parents would have allowed such behavior in the first place. You're in an eating establishment, you sit at the table and eat, you don't channel Satan or his minions and you don't run around like you're in a rat's maze!

Also, for the first time ever, I was sensitive to the fact that there were a LOT of couples around as well...childless (at least for the purposes of their trip) and middle-aged. I rarely ever get "nostalgic" for coupledom (especially with my freak of an ex-husband), but it made me feel even more alone than ever (and the whole purpose was to go and be alone).

As a lovely side effect, despite being in the best shape for any Disney trip (although not being at my ideal weight), I had massive foot problems after day one. They were so swollen, I basically had legs with toes. The dripping-sweat heat produced numerous blisters as well (a very rare occurrence with flip flops). This slowed me down even more causing more instances of being pushed aside.

To top it all off, NO MICKEY'S NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY FRAMED PIN SET!!! MY MAIN REASON FOR GOING!! Just this stupid boxed pin set. Not cool Disney, definitely NOT cool!

There was one notable exception I feel I should mention...I limped onto a bus (after being shoved aside by a group of teens and families), which was, of course, full by the time I made it on. A very very old man sitting next to his very very old wife (who was evil-eyeing me), asked me, "Ma'am, would you like to have my seat? I can stand.". There was absolutely no way I was going to make an old man get up for me, no matter how bad off I was, so I politely declined (but I still wish I would have taken a picture of the teens-sitting across from the old man's-faces just to show the complete look of smarminess on their faces over the fact that they definitely weren't gonna give up their seat and thought he was stupid for doing so). I was practically in tears after that ride because I hurt so much, but my pride was intact and old man got to sit, so I was still happy.

Will I go to Disney World again? Of course! I actually can't wait for December now 'cause surely even Christmas decorations and 24/7 of my Mother has GOT to be better than this trip was! Will I make the journey down there again by myself? Probably, just definitely not anytime soon!

I still have pictures to sort through (and my new camera was BLOODY AMAZING!), and maybe a bit of time and distance might diminish the negative feelings for this trip. It definitely still doesn't take the top "worst" trip (I'll still reserve that for '81 and '04), but it is now #3!

Comments

tiffstitch said…
I'm glad you went, but all I can say is I'm really sorry you got exposed to so much of the worst of people. That one stellar incident aside, I hope your next trip will be better. And wouldn't you liked to have said "I know this bus is going to the Yacht Club, why are you on it?" If only we could think of these things at the time. Take care of you and those cute dogs!
kate n said…
Ahhhhhhh! The couples thing always happens when you are totally alone. And the woman on the bus would have got a piece of my mind. There is only so much rudeness I can tolerate before I am rude back. You did totally the right thing by not moving for that family, they shouldnt ahve been so precious and should have just joined you - you have every right to sit down if you want to - let them carry their kids around the park if they have no social skills. UGh!
Im glad you survived! Roll on next time....and then the next!! :D