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

 

[Minnie1986]

Wednesday, con’t

My dear Woody also persuaded me to buy LLSP for TRON.

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“Isn’t it one of your favorites?”
Me: “Yeah, but…”
“Isn’t it your birthday celebration?”
Me: “Yeah…”
“Then why are we even having this conversation?”

Woody’s wisdom was much appreciated when we strolled past the very long standby line.

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Once inside, the wait after the merge can be 15-20 minutes (even longer for those of us who like the front.) TRON is slow to load and I am always anxious that there will be a breakdown, making that boring wait even longer. (I’ve been burned before!)

Happily no breakdown today.

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Although Woody said he was disappointed I didn’t ride hands-free.

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I said I had already shown off in Little Mermaid. I didn’t need to do so again!

“Isn’t it one of your favorites?”
Me: “Yeah, but…”
“Isn’t it your birthday celebration?”
Me: “Yeah…”
“Then why are we even having this conversation?”

 

[Tuvalu]

Wednesday, con’t

We browsed a few shops before our final LL.

When Woody and I first experienced this new offering in November our reaction was, what in the world did we just watch? Since then I did a little research, read some reviews and was ready to give the attraction another try.

The “ads” before the film were clever.

The target audience for this Flick (see what I did there? ) is anyone who enjoys watching (or more accurately scrolling) Tik Tok videos. It’s not necessarily generational.

Zootopia Better Zoogether! is a series of fast-paced short clips, sort of related, with lots of action. Once I understood it was not supposed to be a cohesive story, I was able to appreciate it for what it is, not what I expected it to be.

And I like Clawhauser.

Thus ends our unplanned AK afternoon.

But we weren’t returning to our resort. Yet.

 

[mysto]

And I like Clawhauser.

Well, he was modeled after Woody.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

That’s ok - we can still be friends!


IT IS!! Already counting the days until my next one. Spoiler alert: 8 days.


Thanks for the info. I was a years-long All Ears fan back in the day when Deb Wills owned it.

I was a big fan of All Ears when Deb owned it too. I actually wrote articles for them for Seniors at Disney. I really enjoyed working with them and writing those articles. I'm not a trained "writer", but just someone who loved Disney as a Senior and had fun writing those articles. Deb is sorely missed.

 

[Tuvalu]

I was a big fan of All Ears when Deb owned it too. I actually wrote articles for them for Seniors at Disney. I really enjoyed working with them and writing those articles. I'm not a trained "writer", but just someone who loved Disney as a Senior and had fun writing those articles. Deb is sorely missed.

Did you get to meet her? I've met her twice. Met Laura Gilbreath and Debra Martin Koma too. My absolute favorite meet was with Jack Spence, as I loved his writing style and the Disney history/backstories he shared.