Trip Report Whose Trip Is It Anyway?

It's mine. But it wasn't supposed to be.

The vacation to celebrate my <number redacted> birthday with my beloved Woody was supposed to happen at the end of January and included time with @lindawdw, @ajrwdwgirl and a few other forum friends. But a predicted ice storm and a couple other extenuating circumstances caused us to cancel our plans two days prior to departure.

This trip was supposed to be a belated birthday celebration for my mother during winter break for my brother's family. I was going to accompany her and assist with her mobility challenges. The day after we canceled my birthday trip, Mom announced she no longer wanted to go to WDW and insisted Woody take her place since the resort was already paid in full. (She did have several local celebrations on and around her actual birthday.)

Our airline tickets were refunded and since Woody prefers driving from Atlanta we added a couple nights to our trip. No spoilers yet, just a math problem.

Winter break + Presidents' Day + Mardi Gras + Lunar New Year + Snowbirds = A crowd collision of massive proportions

When: February 14-19, 2026
Where: Disney's Art of Animation Resort
Who: Tuvalu and Woody, with family introductions to come

 

[radiorae]

Monday, con’t

Which park was our destination?

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TEAML had about 15 minute head start over us and headed first to Slinky Dog. Since Woody and I are not line cutters we opted for another attraction during early entry.

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The wait wasn’t too bad. The CM assigned us to gate 2, where a family of four was waiting to board the next “lokey motive.” The dad (dressed in athletic gear) turned to me and announced, “I’m gonna stretch cuz everything hurts.”

He then proceeded to do so, using the gate bars for support, as he reached up, down and squatted in the thirty second period before the train arrived.

Was he invading my space? Absolutely. Did he care? Absolutely not.

I was thankful we did not have to share the seat with him.

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The Strangers Exercising Atrociously While Enjoying Everyday Disney (SEAWEED) club strikes again! They also tend to be card carrying members of the adjacent Strangers Without Any Boundaries (SWAB) club, so this story checks out. Ew. I, too, am glad your personal space was quickly restored.