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The Mature Mouse™ returns to Walt Disney World
Magical News: The Mature Mouse™ returns to Walt Disney World this April. This will be another solo trip that will feature my first experience at the Epcot® International Flower & Garden Festival. I have heard that this springtime event has incredible Disney themed flower and garden displays, along with live concerts and unique food offerings. Although the displays contain Disney characters, it appears to be geared toward the older Disney guests.
As much as I would enjoy sharing my trips to WDW with family and friends, that cannot happen as often as I wish to visit. A solo trip offers an inexpensive way for me to return to WDW more often. There are numerous articles about the pros and cons of taking a solo trip to Walt Disney World on the net, like this one by Zach Basler on the WDW Prep School website. I do not want to focus my blog on the reasons why you might want to consider a solo trip.
I will share my steps in planning for this solo trip over the next few months. Hopefully, my steps in preparing for my visit will help you prepare for your next trip, regardless of what type of Disney vacation you will be taking. Of course, I will be posting reports while at WDW, and I will be gathering information, photos, and videos to share after my visit. Although I cannot promise, I might try Periscope while in the parks.
Normally, one would begin their planning by deciding when to visit Walt Disney World. However, as a high school teacher, my choices are confined to school vacations. I have now traveled to WDW twice in June. As I have researched WDW for this blog, I have considered a visit in April to enjoy the cooler weather, the Epcot® International Flower & Garden Festival, and, hopefully, “lower” crowd levels. April vacation can be a very hectic week at WDW, especially if it falls in the calendar around Easter. This year, Easter is early, so the crowd levels during the third week of April are lower, normal (if there is such a thing at WDW). An additional incentive for traveling to WDW this April is that Disney is offering a spring discount.
Not having to decide when to visit, my first step in planning for this trip to WDW began with setting a budget. This decision would guide the decisions for my length of stay, type of a resort, possible meal plan, and flight options. My goal was to put a package together that would fit my budget of $1500. Yes, it is possible to make a trip to WDW for so little. A low vacation cost is a major perk to a solo trip. Of course, to assist me in this endeavor, I made a call to my travel agent, Jennie Nowers. Given her knowledge and experience with Walt Disney World, Jennie knows the best way to create a vacation package to meet each guest’s unique requirements.
My original goal was a 5-night/6-day trip, but this was not possible with my budget. To keep costs low, I realized that I would need to stay at a value resort, but which one was the question. So, after some research and many email discussions with Jennie, I settled on a 4-night/5-day trip, and booked my stay at Disney’s All Star Music Resort. I considered returning to Pop Century, but it cost almost $10 more a night than the All Star resorts. When dealing with a tight budget, it all adds up. I was in a position to include the quick-service meal plan, which worked well for me during my last solo trip. I also included park-hopper tickets to afford me flexibility in developing touring plans. So the final package, before adding the cost of round trip flights, was just under $1000.
Fortunately, after a lot of online research, I was able to purchase round trip airfare for just under $600. Here is a tip: Google Flights. All things considered, even though I broke my budget of $1500, it is still a very inexpensive trip. Searching for, and booking flights first can be helpful. Being able to adjust your trip dates affords you the opportunity to find the best price on flights. However, as in my case, I have a fixed window of travel days.
In my next post, I will discuss my next steps in the planning process. This involves consulting Touring Plans, and other crowd calendars, to determine which park to visit on each day of my stay at WDW. There will be a lot of time planned for Epcot and World Showcase to experience the Flower and Garden Festival. And, of course, I will plan as much time as possible in Magic Kingdom, just because. I will find time to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios, before the park, as we know it, completely disappears. However, I am considering not taking the time to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Please use this link to visit The Mature Mouse™ store for logo merchandise. Many of the items would make great gifts for the Disney fan in your life.
And, make sure you consult Jennie Nowers about your next Disney vacation. Tell her that The Mature Mouse™ sent you and receive a special gift from Jennie with your next booking.
Disney’s Pop Century Resort
The Mature Mouse™ hopes to convince more middle-aged travelers to see the enjoyment and value of a Walt Disney World vacation. One of the key ingredients in any type of vacation is your home base, the resort you decide to call home during your trip. I recommend staying on Disney property at one of their numerous resorts, priced to fit any budget, and themed to fit your style and comfort. A resort should be more than just a place to sleep, and your time at Walt Disney World should not be spent roaming the parks from open to close. I must confess that The Mature Mouse™ did not follow his own advice during my last trip. I choose a resort based on budget and simply as a place to crash after each exhausting day. However, I did make sure that I chose a resort that offered certain perks and amenities that I would enjoy.
It has been a little over a month since The Mature Mouse™ returned from my trip to Walt Disney World. I have briefly mentioned Disney’s Pop Century Resort in past posts. I have included links to those pages below. However, I realized that I have not dedicated an entire post to a review of this value resort.
Previous references to Disney’s Pop Century Resort:
As I stated earlier, I chose the Pop Century for this trip for two specific reasons. As a value resort, this Disney motel fit into my budget for this trip. And, the theme of this resort reflects the first 50 years of my life.
Did you notice that I referred to this Disney Resort as a motel? Although extremely large in area and capacity, Pop Century is built like motel; you enter your room from the outside of the building, not from interior corridors. Except for Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, all the other value resorts are constructed this way.
The balconies are decorated with images representing the pop culture of a specific decade. These images are of the two buildings in the section representing the 1960s. At the center of these two buildings is the Hippy Dippy Pool.
My travel agent booked me a preferred room, meaning it was closer to registration, central pool, food court, and park busses. This convenience cost a few more dollars a night. 
My room could use some updating. The beds were comfortable, but not exceptional, tiles and grout are worn, as are the rugs.
However, rugs and wallpaper feature hidden Mickeys.
Disney’s Pop Century features an exceptional food court, one of the best on property. There are hot and cold dishes, most made to order, as well as assorted snack choices. There is plenty of room to dine in the food court area, and you can always bring your meals outside to the pool areas, or back to the room. There is also a gift shop on site, offering many of the items one would find in the parks.
This would also be the place to pick up items bought in the parks and shipped back to your room.
Disney transportation busses are dedicated to Pop Century, meaning that they will not stop at multiple resorts traveling to and from the parks. However, Pop Century busses traveling to and from Animal Kingdom will also stop at Disney’s Blizzard Beach. As with all the other Disney resorts, there are well-marked waiting areas for the busses. However, the lines are not covered, which can be brutal on those hot and humid Florida days, or during one of the daily downpours.
Guests staying at Pop Century can cross Hourglass Lake, via Generation Gap Bridge, to visit Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. Although it is in the value category, the cost per night at this resort is higher than the other value resorts. You are allowed to eat at the AoA food court, which is also exceptional, as well as use the pools. Knowing that Pop and Art are sister resorts affords you some flexibility in transportation. One could take a park bus to the Art of Animation and walk across the bridge to POP very easily. Although, if you are like me, you will usually return from the parks exhausted and not want a longer walk to your room.
Overall, The Mature Mouse™ recommends Disney’s Pop Century in the value resort category. Although adults can appreciate the theming of the resort, it is geared more toward families with kids. I can only speak from my experience; the rooms could use some updating. However, the resort worked for me as a place to crash after a long day in the parks. I am in the process of planning a student trip to Walt Disney World for next April and this is the resort I have chosen for our stay.
Follow this link to the unofficial fan site of Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
A travel agent who specializes in booking Disney Vacations is a valuable free resource when planning your next trip, and will assist you in choosing the right resort for your stay at Walt Disney World. I started planning my recent trip by calling Jennie Nowers. When Cool Summer Savings was released, Jennie was up early applying these savings to my trip, which saved me 15% on the price of my resort stay. I did not have to do a thing. Tell Jennie that The Mature Mouse™ sent you and receive a special gift with your next booking
Please visit The Mature Mouse™ store for merchandise. Many of the items would make outstanding additions to your vacation gear and attire. This baseball hat is just one of the featured items available through the store. If you are a mature fan of Disney, consider getting an item. I am a Mature Mouse™, are you?
Planning My Solo Trip to Disney World
Now that I have returned from my solo trip to Walt Disney World, we should review the planning for this trip. This will allow us to discuss in my future posts whether these plans worked and if any rescheduling was needed during my time in the parks. The planning steps i mention here will work for any type of Disney World vacation.
As with any trip to Disney World, planning for The Mature Mouse™ always begins with a call Jennie Nowers. I had a fixed budget and a short span of time for traveling, so Jennie helped me figure out my choices of resort, park tickets, dining plan, and plane flights.
Pop Century is the resort I chose for this trip. This is a value resort with rates ranging from $95 to $186 per night, varying according to the season in which you stay. The resort is themed after the pop culture of the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. These last two decades are reflected in the same unit within the resort. As a middle-aged vacationer, The Mature Mouse™ can certainly relate to the theme of this resort. Pop Century is just one of the few resorts to feature dedicated buses that travel directly to and from the various parks, without any additional stops at other resorts. Here is a link to a previous post about Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
The next step in my planning process involves researching expected crowd levels in the 4 theme parks during my stay. I rely on TouringPlans.com 
for this information. The site is simple to use, and it offers subscribers the ability to create personal touring plans for each day of their trip. You pick a park and attractions you wish to experience, then add the start and end times for your time in the park, along with lunch and rest breaks, and the site creates an optimized plan to avoid long lines. As you can see from this example, the plan even includes a map of the park. They have an excellent track record.
Supported by suggestions from Touring Plans, I made the choice to include the Park Hopper onto my ticket purchase. By adding the Park Hopper option I would have the possibility to visit any or all of the four major Walt Disney World theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom) during each day of my trip. Here is more information on the value of the Park Hopper option. The various prices listed on this site may have changed since it was last update; please see Disney’s website on ticket pricing.
My final decision in planning was to determine whether to include a dining plan. I enjoy having an all-inclusive trip so as not to worry about added expenses. Of dining plans offered at Disney World, the Quick Service plan appeared to make the most sense. This would allow me two Quick Service meals and one snack. There are numerous QS restaurants throughout the parks, offering me numerous choices. Breakfast on the QS plan includes 1 entrée or a combo meal and a beverage. A QS lunch includes 1 entrée, 1 desert, and 1 non-alcoholic beverage. This dining plan would allow me to focus on touring the parks, not spending time sitting at a Table Service restaurant. Please do not misunderstand, Walt Disney World offers incredible fine-dining experiences. Please see my various posts about adult dining at WDW.
Chapter 7: Disney Magic and Romance at the California Grill
Top 10 Places to Dine Without Kids at Walt Disney World
My final step in planning was to book my FastPass+ choices 60 days prior to my trip, which was made based on the plans I created through the Touring Plans website. Making these reservations early insured I would have FP+ selections during my vacation, knowing that I would have the flexibility to alter these choices before and during my trip.
There was a period of time when a visit to Walt Disney World could be done on a whim, with little or no planning. However, times have changed. Planning is important and allows for flexibility. The process of planning your trip serves another purpose, educating you about the ins and outs of the resort. Think of it this way: Would you plan to travel to a city you have never been to before? The entire Walt Disney World Resort covers 40 Square miles, which is the equivalent in size of San Francisco. Would you research and plan your first trip to San Francisco?
Please visit The Mature Mouse™ store for merchandise. Many of the items would make outstanding additions to your vacation gear and attire. This baseball hat is just one of the featured items available through the store. If you are a mature fan of Disney, consider getting an item. I am a Mature Mouse™, are you?
I Am No Longer At Disney
A satirical look at the post-trip crash all Disney vacationers experience.
Guests feel an intense level of excitement as they begin their Walt Disney World vacation. The disheartening feeling is just as intense as your vacation ends. There comes a time when you begin to realize you are no longer at Disney.
I was still riding in Disney transportation as I left Pop Century. My luggage had already been checked at the resort, so Disney would insure that it would accompany me in my flight home.
You will find numerous busses outside the terminal at Logan in Boston. One of these would take me back to Maine. I thought of the line of Disney busses standing by to take you to the parks. Maybe I was only tired. Or, the Disney bubble of euphoria still engulfed me.
I finally began to realize my recent Disney experience was over when I had to pay for parking at the Portland bus station. I ceased to be one of Disney’s guests. No one was insuring my luggage would reach my destination. No one was driving me ‘home’. There were no plans to be made for a trip to the parks the next day.
I made my own breakfast the next morning. Gone was the food court with all its choices. I was not on Disney’s dining plan anymore. I visited the local mall later in the morning and I had a Disney flashback as I walked through the food court. I thought about having a snack, but I realized all my snack credits were gone. I would have to pay out-of-pocket instead of using my MagicBand.
There is a Disney promotional commercial that suggests that the power of the MagicBand. would make life so much easier. I always thought this was just a gimmick, a marketing ploy to make you believe that the magic of a Disney experience extends beyond the parks. The Mature Mouse™ is well aware that Disney magic does exist, even when your vacation is over. This is why fans read and write blogs, listen to podcasts, and follow fan sites.
A travel agent who specializes in booking Disney Vacations is a valuable free resource when planning your next trip. I started planning my recent Disney World Vacation by calling Jennie Nowers. When the Cool Summer Savings were released, Jennie was up early applying these savings to my trip, which saved me 15% on the price of my resort stay. I did not need to do a thing. Tell her that The Mature Mouse™ sent you and receive a special gift from Jennie with your next booking.
Please visit The Mature Mouse™ store for merchandise. Many of the items would make outstanding additions to your vacation gear and attire. Below are images of just a few of the featured items available through the store. If you are a mature fan of Disney, consider getting an item to let others know. I am a Mature Mouse™, are you?
Farewell Disney World, For Now
The end has arrived. The Mature Mouse™ is leaving Walt Disney World tomorrow. I will return again, someday. Until then, I will share my insights and the information I gained from this trip. And, as I have done in previous posts, I will share material from all the blogs, websites, and podcasts I follow.
I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to my family for their continued support of this blog, and this research trip.
My travel agent, Jennie Nowers, who specializes in booking Disney Vacations was a valuable and free resource in planning this trip. When the Cool Summer Savings were released, Jennie was up early applying these savings to my trip, which saved me 15% on the price of my resort stay. I did not need to do a thing. Tell her that The Mature Mouse™ sent you and receive a special gift from Jennie with your next booking.
Please visit The Mature Mouse™ store for merchandise. Many of the items would make outstanding additions to your vacation gear and attire. Below are images of just a few of the featured items available through the store. If you are a mature fan of Disney, consider getting an item to let others know. I am a Mature Mouse™, are you?
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
The Mature Mouse™ spent the morning and early afternoon visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It was hot, humid, and crowded. However, the park looks great, even with all the construction walls. My only regret was missing an opportunity to eat some of the animal poop now featured at the Harambe Sweet Shop. They had run out! Who knew animal poop would be so popular? I’ll write more on my visit to the park in my post-trip posts. I’ll be over World Showcase to enjoy a quick-service meal, explore the pavilions, and eperience Illuminations. 
Recap: Day 1 at Walt Disney World
The travel portion of the day went well, thankfully no glitches on the way. Although I was afforded the option of online check-in, I chose to check-in personally. This yielded me a little magic from the cast member who allowed me to switch rooms from the first floor to a much quieter area on the fourth floor.
I checked in at Pop Century with plenty of time to make it Hollywood Studios, as planned. However, a severe thunderstorm hit just as I arrived at the studios, and I forgot to back one of the disposable ponchos in my backpack. I really would not have wanted to walk in the heart of this storm; lightning strikes were happening all around the area. Luckily, there was a covered area to await out the worse of the storm.
I eventually made by FastPass reservation at Star Tours, ate at Backlot Express, and enjoyed One Man’s Dream. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the first Fantasmic! show was canceled. At least Disney has compensated me for the wasted FastPass.
Today, The Mature Mouse™ heads over to Magic Kingdom to use the morning extra magic hour. Whether I’ll use my extra FP there, or wait until I return to the studios this evening is uncertain, but I’ll let you know.
The Mature Mouse™ is in Disney’s House
Here are some initial shots from Pop Century. Now I’m off to Hollywood Studios for dinner at the Backlot Express. This evenings plans include Star Tours, Muppet*Vision 3D, One Man’s Dream, and Fantasmic as an end to a long, but exciting day.
Bound for Disney World
It is the night before my next trip and I realize I never posted my pre-trip planing overview. The school year just took longer to end than planned, and there’s even more paperwork to do post-trip. I will post that overview once I’m back, but look for daily trip posts over the next few days. The Mature Mouse™ will be in the parks beginning tomorrow evening with a sojourn to Hollywood Studios. If you’re in the parks between now and June 30, look for a guy wearing a baseball cap and carrying a backpack with The Mature Mouse™ logo. Please take a minute and say hello.
The Mature Mouse™ 