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

 

[Tuvalu]

Tuesday, con’t

Woody and I parted ways with TEAML after Guardians. We didn’t feel like backtracking through World Showcase to take the Skyliner to AoA so we rode the monorail to MK and transferred to the bus.

We rested for about an hour. During that time I decided I did not want to make the trek back to MK to face the multitudes, despite having those 3 LLs (IASW, Pirates and HM) I’d worked to book earlier. Dinner at a QS was sure to be mobbed, and there would be huge Starlight and HEA crowds to contend with. Woody reminded me that we hadn’t “lost value” in purchasing LLMP because we did use 2 of our 3 prebooked, the important one being FEA. We were just giving up the extras. (Per Disney, the average guest with LLMP uses it for 3 attractions.)

Instead we took advantage of the convenience and proximity to DHS. I got to enjoy my favorite chicken sandwich at ABC Commissary in a quiet restaurant less than half full.

We got to be people-watching spies as we ate.

We did another night wander before boarding the Skyliner home. I was craving soft serve and learned we’d need to go to Everything POP because it wasn’t available at Landscape of Flavors.

The ice cream station suffered a computer crash when we were next in line so our wait was longer than expected. We both ordered chocolate caramel sundaes. Had we known how LARGE they would be, we would have shared one. Woody suspects our sundaes were generously sized because two CMs repeatedly apologized to us for the delay.

This hit the spot! (And I felt no guilt in throwing a good bit of it away.)

We capped off another great day by watching the winter Olympics.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

What happened to Elsa’s right arm??!!

View attachment 912565

She let it go.

 

[KMP]

We rested for about an hour. During that time I decided I did not want to make the trek back to MK to face the multitudes, despite having those 3 LLs (IASW, Pirates and HM) I’d worked to book earlier. Dinner at a QS was sure to be mobbed, and there would be huge Starlight and HEA crowds to contend with. Woody reminded me that we hadn’t “lost value” in purchasing LLMP because we did use 2 of our 3 prebooked, the important one being FEA. We were just giving up the extras. (Per Disney, the average guest with LLMP uses it for 3 attractions.)

On my January trip, we used a LL for Star Tours even though it was a walk on. I think it was our 5th or 6th LL of the day. A man walking through the standby queue tells his travel companion, loudly: "why would they waste that on this ride? You ONLY get three!" I chuckled with my friends and did not correct him.
All of that to say I believe Disney's math on the average guest!

 

[lindawdw]

I think you made the right move by going back to AOA and enjoying a quiet, relaxing dinner at DHS! The crowds at Disney can feel overwhelming at times and a quiet respite is sometimes needed! I love that you treated yourself to an ice cream sundae although the Regal Smokehouse Smores Pop would have been even better!