Trip Report Disney (almost) on Ice!

Jambo my fellow Disney fans!

It’s been two years since our last adventure to Disney World. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/all-together-now-completed.982859/

Much has changed. Like many other trip reporters our children have graduated from college and we have to coordinate four adult schedules. Adding to this both our children live in different states down south so the logistics of this trip were pretty involved.

We’re still rather private so our children will continue to go by Chip and Dale and I’ll use the same PhotoPass photo Disney has been including since before Covid.

So when our schedules pointed to early February I was very happy to attend a major EPCOT festival (even if some of the foliage had to be covered due to the cold weather).

And why Animal Kingdom? It’s been on our bucket list and life is short.

Our adventures will be forthcoming! Glad to have the opportunity to write another trip report!

Next Up - Why am I, a Buffalo, NYer, buying a winter coat for a vacation in Orlando, Fl??

 

[Tiki Traveler]

We had dinner reservations for 6:45pm at San Angel Inn (new to us). Check in was chaotic and we were seated at 7pm. I had hoped to sit by the water but we were placed against the wall on the left side not too far from the water. My family made sure I sat against the wall so I could have a pyramid view.

My Blood Orange Margherita was just okay but the rest of our dinner was very good and the service was excellent. (And yes, I need to work on my inside dark shots. )

After that we took an after dinner ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour which was great fun because all the animatronics were working.

It was almost time for Luminous so we found a spot to sit between China and Norway. Chip and Dale ran to Norway and brought back some yummy desserts. DH and I needn’t have saved our spot because once the fireworks started we were the only ones in the area! The noise and/or the cold sent the crowds out of the park.

It was too cold to take off my gloves for photos so please enjoy the PhotoPass fireworks photo.

By this time the temperature was in the high 30s. We debated whether to leave or stay for deluxe hotels extended evening hours. The low crowds lured us on a few rides along with the other hearty park goers dressed for winter weather and bundled in blankets.

We walked over to Remy in France. The stated wait time was 30 minutes but the line moved most of the time.

From there we walked to the front of the park through England and Canada. The line for Test Track was 40 minutes but it kept moving and was much more pleasant than earlier in the day.

We all really liked the new version of Test Track!

It was about 10:45pm and we were satisfied with what we had accomplished on our arrival day. We hopped on a bus and returned happily to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

18,692 steps
7.92 miles

Next Up - A Boma Coma??

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Day 2 - Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026

Nothing beats a five minute walk indoors to your breakfast reservation past a crackling fire pit and a babbling brook. When our hostess found out it was our first time at Boma she laughed and said we were in for a Boma Coma.

Breakfast was very enjoyable and I would go so far as to say one of the best we’ve had on property. My favorite item was the African spiced mustard served with the sliced ham. I would have bought a jar if they sold it at the gift shop.

Did we all have Boma Comas? No, we had our second park of the trip to visit!

Look who we ran into!

I honestly did not remember a waterfall as part of the Tree of Life. Now I have it on record.

We did not purchase any type of fast pass for the day as I did not expect crowds at this time of year. After looking at the wait times Chip and Dale decided to wait the 50 minutes to ride Everest. DH decided to pass and at the last moment I stepped back too. It’s so high!!

We started our wait by enjoying the sights around us.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

DH and I then snuck into Finding Nemo (new to us) just as it started. The puppetry was very clever.

We decided to save the Tiger Trail for the whole family(spoiler - still waiting) and took this trail instead.

Is it just me or are there some Buffalo Bills/Sabres fans working at Animal Kingdom?

That’s not a gorilla! …or a buffalo!

I took this photo while in line for Kilimanjaro Safaris so I’d remember what it was.

The trail headliners!

Not a care in the world….

Chip and Dale met us at the end of the gorilla trail and we journeyed to the neverending (almost) 50 minute Kilimanjaro Safaris standby line. The line just kept winding and winding further into a forest. It was funny to watch people’s expressions as they realized this was a verrrryyyyy long line.

I know the Safari jeeps are large people eaters but there may still be tourists waiting far out in that forest. I hope they check every night!

Our safari ride was very nice and worth the wait. We’d kept an eye on the Avatar standby line and booked it over to Pandora when it dropped to 50 minutes. Again, for us it was an approximately 50 minute wait.

When we exited Avatar we realized the last show of The Lion King had started. We were all a little hungry but had dinner reservations at 7:45pm that evening. We wandered around and I grabbed stone seats by the Viva Gaia Street Band in Discovery Island while the family went “scavenging” (inserted some wild animal talk there) DH and the kids are pretty good hunters and gatherers because we snacked on cold brew coffees, soda, pulled pork mac and cheese and a ….

While taking our break we had a nice visit from this friend who was dancing to music w/a lot of little fans.

Next Up - How we met Miro, the night manager of Saratoga Springs

 

[Minnie1986]

Why am I, a Buffalo, NYer, buying a winter coat for a vacation in Orlando, Fl??

This reminds me of the first time I went to San Francisco in July, and ended up needing to run to Macy's to buy a jacket. It was in the 50s the whole time; after having just left a balmy 80 degree NYC.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

This reminds me of the first time I went to San Francisco in July, and ended up needing to run to Macy's to buy a jacket. It was in the 50s the whole time; after having just left a balmy 80 degree NYC.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Since it gets dark so early in the winter the plan was to finally see Pandora at night. However, after checking out some of the stores we were ready to head out around 4:30pm.

And now…..

Hi! My name is Tiki Traveler and I apparently don’t know my way around Disney World and got my family lost trying to get to Disney Springs (hangs head in shame).

In my defense Disney Springs was not listed on the bus board. Animal Kingdom was closing at 6pm so wouldn’t it be a good idea to transport visitors (and their $$) to Disney Springs?? We all looked at the board in case I missed it. Nothing.

I knew you could walk or boat to Disney Springs from Saratoga Springs so we hopped on a Saratoga Springs bus. As we were pulling in I remembered this was a large DVC property. We didn’t know where to get off and didn’t see any signs for checkin or a lobby. Also by this time someone in our party had to use the restroom.

Photo - DisneyWorld.com

The bus announced a stop at Grandstand and at the last minute we jumped off. Grandstand sounded like a major building and it was in the right direction to Disney Springs. We looked around but the area seemed short on signs.

Chip and Dale saw a pool behind us and decided to walk back to find a restroom. To save my tired legs DH and I got a head start on finding the walkway or the boat. We wandered around and ran into two Disney employees. One turned out to be Miro, the night manager of Saratoga Springs. I explained our plight and Miro drove us in his Walt Disney car to the pool area to look for Chip and Dale.

Once we found them Miro walked us all to the boat area. We thanked him profusely and entered a cast compliment. The boat ride was a little chilly but we checked another transportation mode off our Disney list. Thanks again Miro!

One of the first storefronts we encountered was the Disney PhotoPass Studio. I seem to be a sucker for these free photos. In 2022 they offered four backgrounds and let you pick a few. This time we were told they only offered two preselected backgrounds on a rotating basis. No Tiki Room background for us.

We actually ended up with four backgrounds when our photos appeared. Three shown.

Chip and Dale declined the physical background which was of Donald Duck’s nephews. I didn’t blame them. A young family was posing and looked really cute but it wasn’t for us.

We found the Columbia store to look for a winter coat for Dale (no luck) and I ran into Sephora for emergency makeup (is it always a mob scene on a Tuesday evening?). Somehow we ended up near the Orange Garage. Someone in our party asked if it was a store or a restaurant!

We made it to Raglan Road (new to us) for our 7:45pm reservation. It was very crowded and we were seated at 8pm in the library. There was a show going on so DH and I sat w/our back to it so Chip and Dale could watch. (The library was gorgeous anyway).

We ordered various Irish meals and enjoyed them all. Pictured is my Chicken Pie Do Try with The Pale Lass. I would order both again.

When planning this trip I thought we would wander back through Disney Springs and pick up a dessert we each liked. Perhaps a fruit tart from Amorette’s Patisserie or a cookie from Gideon’s, etc., etc. I forgot it would be a long walk back for these various desserts. Also, Chip and Dale aren’t college night owls anymore. One of them gets up at 4:30am for their job and was clearly tired though being a good sport.

We happily bussed back to Animal Kingdom Lodge where we all knew the way.

18,730 steps
7.94 miles

Next Up - Channeling my inner Hans Solo!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Day 3 - Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026

Today was a heat wave w/a high of 71 degrees. One person in our party wore shorts to celebrate!

A great song by Kool & The Gang

Another reason to celebrate was our Lightning Lane MultiPass purchase. Once I saw our time slots my decision was redeemed.

Hollywood Studios Lightning Lanes
Slinky Dog - 3 - 4pm
Tower of Terror - Late Morning
Toy Store Mania - Early Afternoon

Lastly we made it to early entry!! This has been challenging on other trips but we managed to find space on a crowded bus at 7:45am to arrive in time for the 8:30am resort guest rides.

Slinky Dog and Rise of the Resistance were down (or were they ) as has been reported before. We joined the line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run which was listed at 30 minutes but rose to 50 minutes when we finished.

Two single riders who did not know each other joined us. DH and I were assigned the roles of pilot. We offered to switch but everyone else declined because they were first time riders.

I channeled my inner Hans Solo and especially enjoyed jumping to HyperSpace. We were cheering and good naturedly teasing and got the standby riders into it too.

Once completed we continued our tour of Galaxy’s Edge.

We tried blue milk for breakfast!

 

[MickeyPretzelEnthusiast]

We were at HS the same day! Keeping an eye out for myself in the background of your photos!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

We were at HS the same day! Keeping an eye out for myself in the background of your photos!

Cool! I tried to look out for you in the parks too!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

We exited Galaxy’s Edge through Toy Store Land and walked over to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster.

The original Chip and Dale!

Fifty was our number this trip as the standby wait for the Rock ‘n Roller Coaster was 50 minutes also. I surprised myself and joined Chip and Dale on the ride.

DH decided he needed coffee. (This would be cute as a tumbler.)

No Aerosmith preshow but we still had fun. Our LLMP for Tower of Terror was next. I stepped away and snagged a LL for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. (The scariest part of TOT for me is when the doors open and you realize you’re very close to the outside of the park - six stories down.)

To avoid the crowds we had an early lunch at Backlot Express where we sat outside and enjoyed the sun.

We then caught the Indiana Jones show and used our Midway Mania LL. (Our scores are so bad I’m not posting them.)

There was very little available when trying to select another LL at either HS or MK. We ended up w/a later LL for Pirates. Even Gertie was unimpressed w/our ride options.

DH and I went to The Villians Show (new to us) while Chip and Dale got brownie sundaes. Maleficient was named the biggest? The best? Villian.

From now on I’m going to include balloons in every trip report!

 

[Tiki Traveler]

ROR was down to… you guessed it 50 minutes!

After that in rapid succession we used our LLs for Minnie and Mickey’s Runaway Railroad and Slinky Dog Dash. Everyone was happy with what we covered so we decided it was time to head over to Magic Kingdom.

Great to have live music at HS!

This bus trip went smoothly.

Next Up - Unplanned and Wonderful!