Solo Florida Trip - Your tips & Opinions?

[Steighvo]

Hi all - long time 'lurker' first time poster (or at least since I made a new account a few years ago!)

As an avid life long coaster fan I have never been lucky enough to make it over to Florida to experience Disney/Busch/Universal which has been a 'bucket list' goal of mine since I was around 10, roughly 25 years ago (I'm really that old). After several failed attempts at plans in the past myself and my partner finally planned a Florida trip for November 2023 however, 2 months before we was due to head out to the US we had to postpone our trip as our house move was set to fall at the exact same time! When it was time to re-book my significant other admitted they actually no longer wanted to go and had only ever really wanted to go for my sake but with the extortionate costs (including the 2 week dog sitter!) building, we agreed for financial (and relationship lasting) reasons, they would no longer be coming with me.

I've given up trying to find any of my friends who could:
a) Fund their ticket/travel
b) keep up with my relentless theme park pace
c) actually want to go...

So I have decided to do it alone! Which gets me to the long winded point of this post, please feel free to offer any advice on any of the following:

- Firstly, opinion on actually doing the trip alone (roughly 2 weeks with Disney, Universal and Busch being a must...) am I crazy?
- Best time of year to go to avoid crowds, kids and major events (I'm also not fussy about waiting for Epic Universe to open and if anything, plan to make the most of people waiting for its summer 2025 opening by going beforehand)
- Does anyone know of any enthusiast groups that may facilitate this kind of trip that would be worth me considering as a solo traveller?
- Any other thoughts or opinions?

Apologies for the long winded post!

 

[Maelstrom]

I have been solo before and there are loads of people that do, one of the big uk Orlando planning boards thedibb you will find loads of threads from people that go Solo. Orlando is perfect place if travelling solo as so much to do.

No one bats and eye lid when your there, everyone is engrossed in their own holiday to bothered/notice what someone else is doing. Everyone also super friendly and loads of conversations with people in queues, rides, staff etc.

Food wise, after doing a number of solo trips to different places I am fine In table service but Orlando is perfect for eating as so many excellent quick serve options across the theme parks and off site if don’t want to do table service.

I have done offsite previously, now prefer to stay on site and use Uber for when do go offsite. Over three weeks when last went spent about £180 on Uber. If had a car was about £800, plus parking at the hotel and if used for parks parking there as well, plus don’t have the worry/hassle of driving. It is ahout $35 from the airport to universal/disney area. Universal to seaworld about $9 each way. Splitting time at universal hotel and then a Disney hotel. Downsides you obviously pay the same for a room as a family of 4 sharing that room would. But all other costs like flights, tickets and food is just what you would spend. Plus you can do what you want, when you want not having to please the rest of the group.

 

[Danny]

I did something similar last year after IAAPA in November for a week, so not sure how two weeks would fare! But it was an eye-opening experience and gave me the confidence to do the same thing in California in January. There's pros and cons to it really, mostly upheld by how much you need to socialise or enjoy your own company.

The biggest pro to this I found is being able to do what you want, when you want. You can run on your own schedule, and are able to know your own limits. Yes, you still have to wake up at silly o clock to lock your Disney experiences in, but it's well worth it.

I got exactly what I wanted to do done on my own terms. I had my phone to message friends back home which cured the lack of physical interaction for the most part, and then enjoyed my own company into the evening as the time zones dictated.

The cons are obviously the cost. There are cheap hotels dotted everywhere in Orlando to keep the costs down, but not being able to split car sharing can add up. My Uber bill was somewhat eye-watering towards the end of the trip, but again, I could time the surge fares and such based on my needs. This said, it did work out cheaper than hiring a car and paying the parking fees.

You'll tend to bump into other individuals as well when you least expect it, whether that be walking around the park, in queues or jumping on the rides. I made friends with a couple of Disney cast members (albeit in a slightly unorthodox method) that helped with ticketing and company on two occasions. The nice pockets of conversation with other geeks was nice as well.

It's absolutely worth doing at least once if you are limited by not having anyone to go with. Just factor in the costs and how much socialising you require, then enjoy it!