I did it! I finally did the solo trip, and oh my god, it was incredible.
For my 32nd birthday, I finally bit the bullet and booked my first solo trip, and what better place to do it than one of the magical places on earth.
I’ve talked to about this a few times, but for a girl who loves her birthday, I’ve had my fair share of bad luck around March 23rd. My thirtieth birthday was dampened when my long term relationship ended (while it was for the best, it was sucky timing). My 31st passed me by as a result of my own misery. So for my 32nd, I decided I needed to change how I celebrated, and rather than expecting too many from others, I decided to spend it alone and it was truly the best way.
My birthday fell on a weekend, so I decided to make it a long weekend, flying from Birmingham airport at 6am on the Saturday morning…and I was home by the Monday evening.
saturday:
The 6am flight meant I was on my way to the airport before 3am, but once I’d arrived at Charles-De-Gaulle, battled through passport control, found my temporarily lost luggage…I was on the 20 minute RER train from the airport to Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy, and from there a 15 minute walk (or I could’ve taken the shuttle)to my hotel, Newport Bay.
I checked in and dropped my bags off and sprinted to the parks.
As I only had 3 days in the park, I knew I needed to plan my weekend in the most effective way – but spoiler alert, I was so exhausted, I actually didn’t manage to do half the stuff I wanted to. I headed straight to the Studios Park, grabbed some snacks and found a seat at the TOGETHER: a Pixar Musical Adventure. In theory this was a great idea and the show was such fun, but I was half asleep through most of it.
I wondered through the Studios Park and rode as many rides as possible including; Ratatouille, Tower of Terror, RC Racers and Cars Road trip – before heading back to the hotel and checking in. As a solo traveller I’d requested a room near the reception desk and ended up the furthest away possible. I can confirm though, the room was cute, I had a choice of two double beds, all the amenities I needed and a stunning view outside my patio door.
Once I’d had some time to refresh, I was back out the door for my dining reservation at Walts – an American Restaurant – whilst I was looking forward to this meal, I was sadly disappointed, while my waiter was lovely and so kind to me throughout the evening, I was also left a little too long between courses and at the end of the meal too, I was waiting for a while…the food was fine too but nothing to write home about. I don’t know, it just didn’t fill me with joy like I was hoping for.
sunday:
The next morning was my 32nd birthday – I’d opened my cards, popped on my birthday badge and headed into the Disneyland Park to start the day in front of the castle.
I’d headed in for extra magic hours and was greeted by Minnie and Mickey Mouse, walked down Main Street and my first item on the agenda was to get photos in front of the castle. I’d made a friend that morning who had helped get said photos, we even had breakfast together, we spent majority of the morning together before going our separate ways.
I spent most of the morning in Fantasyland, on rides like Its a Small World and Mad Hatters Tea Cups, before hiding out from the continuous downpour and went to meet Mickey Mouse – which was super cute!
The day continued with fun moments when I managed to meet a few of my online besties in the park, riding more rides together and popping to Victoria’s for a hot chocolate and to hide out from the rain…again.
By this point I’d had enough of the rain, had ridden everything I wanted to and needed to slow down – so I headed back to my room, got ready and popped back to the Disneyland Park for the afternoon parade: Disneys Stars on Parade – I only managed to watch a little of this before racing to the Studio Park for my dining reservation at Chez Remy.
I’d been waiting for years for the opportunity to try our Chez Remy, and this was the perfect chance and boy it did not disappoint. I’d opted for the Steak and Frites, with a small taste of ratatouille, which I probably wouldn’t eat again but was happy to try it! The atmosphere in the place was such fun, the decor was so cool too – it was a fabulous meal!
I ended the evening meeting up with Daisy again to watch the evening fireworks show Disney Tales of Magic – again super fun! The fireworks always remind me how lucky I am and make me incredibly emotional.
monday:
The final day I still had a few things to tick off my list, one of them being the Avengers Campus in Studios Park. I checked out of my hotel, left my bags at their dedicated area and headed straight for the park.
I finally got to see what they’d done to the Avengers Campus and it was incredible, I really felt like I’d been dropped in the middle of a Marvel movie. I was so excited to finally try Spider-Man W.E.B Adventure, and to see what they’d done to adapt what was Rock N Roller Coaster to Flight Force, which reminded me of Cosmic Rewind at Walt Disney World.
My flight was in the evening, so I had a few hours to wonder through both parks, get on any last minute rides, find more snacks and just enjoy the Disney bubble I was in.
…and that was it, my first solo trip was over, and it was incredible.
Not only did I conquer a fear but I got to do everything my way and I’m fortunate enough to be heading back to Disneyland in 2026, the week before my birthday, this time with my sister-in-law and I can’t wait to show her all my favourite parts of the park but this time share the joy with someone else.
