Last year I headed to Disney World with a couple of friends, one of the main things I wanted to check out was the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, a Halloween party that runs across several dates during the Halloween period in The Magic Kingdom park (Read my guide if you want to learn more). However, the evening of fun turned actually scary when I ended up abandoned in Disney World.
Our original planned night of attending was cancelled because of a huge storm so when we rearranged it I ended up attending on a different night to my friends. Now I’m no stranger to solo travel so I didn’t mind exploring on my own. I had a great night at the park and headed out at the end happy with my evening.
When I got to the queue for the bus to head back to our resort I had just missed a bus, but Disney Transport is notoriously reliable and I knew there’d be one in 15 minutes, I wasn’t worried. It was around half midnight so I pulled out my book (I was dressed as Belle after all) and relaxed. Over half an hour later I started to wonder what was going on, busses are coming for other resorts but I’m the only one in the queue for Old Key West and it had now passed 1 am. A cast member comes along, sees me looking lost and tells me not to worry, that a bus should be around soon and leaves. Another half-hour passes at 1.30 am I start to feel really nervous, I know it’s Disney but I was a woman on my own in a different country with no one around, I was tired and increasingly uncomfortable. A cast member came by again, told me they recognised my panicked look and again, told me not to worry.
Another half-hour passes and there is defiantly no one in the bus depot but me, a cast member eventually comes by and tells me that there is nothing they can do, that the person who decides which busses are going to which resort is stationed out of reach. By now I am almost in tears, even at the happiest place on earth I am tired, scared, and have no idea if I’ll be able to get back to my room at all. The monorail and boats that took you to the parking lot finished long ago.
In the end, I was saved by a janitor, who’d seen me get more and more upset. The next time a bus pulled in for another resort he called out ‘come this way princess’ and asked me to take his arm as he guided me over. He explained the situation to the bus driver and asked her if she would make a special trip to drop me off after the resort she was scheduled to go to. Thankfully she agreed and after she’d done all her stops, dropped me off at the bus stop nearest my room, a move she certainly wasn’t officially permitted to do as they are all strictly monitored and times so I greatly appreciated it. By now it was a while past 3am and all wanted was to safely get into bed. I can’t thank the janitor and bus driver enough for making sure I got home ok, I was very close to having sobbing having been stood there for hours! I’ve travelled all over on my own and never thought Disney would end up being one of the places I felt unsafe.
So that’s how I ended up abandoned in Disney World. Do you have any bad experiences from the happiest place on earth?
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