Coming Up

January, 2026: Solo Trip #2

Another one week solo trip!

Updated Jan 1, 2026: After a pretty difficult year, the gist is to have a rest and do as little as possible. Vibes. I do also want to check out Animal Kingdom Lodge for the first time. I also want to go back to the GEO-82 and sample some of the other drinks. One goal I have for this trip is to do as much free stuff as possible - that is, just go around a see things and be in environments and just sit and people watch - and maybe lean more into the fireworks and parades and that side of things. When I originally wrote this, it was a long way out from the trip. Since then, the ADR has come and gone. I have a ticket to an After Hours event at MK (swapped out for the Very Merry Christmas Party ticket I had to miss when I changed my TG trip) plus reservations at:

• Skipper Canteen (have been before - but it was the only rez I could get later in the eve ahead of the after hours event)

• ‘Ohana

• Sanaa (right at 5pm when the animals are also having their dinner)

• Cake Bake Shop Restaurant (tip - I got the rez through Open Table rather than MDE)

• GEO-82 (there was a banana cocktail that looked good…)

• Tiffins

That’s it. It still seems like a lot, but it’s spread over 8 days and I will need to eat during that time!

I was in two minds about the after hours event, but I like to try things - and there is special merch…

As usual, the flights are jetBlue (miles + Mosaic 2 status to get extra legroom so the entire thing was $11) and I’m doing a “split stay”: 4 nights in a preferred view Studio at BLT (Bay Lake Tower), a night at Animal Kingdom Villas (Jambo House) , and then 2 nights at Grand Floridian (aka Grand Flo) in a studio with a view of the park so I can watch the fireworks (since Grand Flo is what WDW has in lieu of a Disneyland Hotel - I mean, you can’t be calling yourself a ‘World and then have a ‘Land hotel - once I stay there, I will have stayed at all of the The Disneyland Hotel hotels!).

For park tickets, I had priced out 5, 6, 7, and 8 day park hopper tickets and determined that once you get past 5 days the marginal cost of each additional day is so low - the difference between 7 and 8 days is $40 - it made sense to get an 8 day ticket to keep my options very open. I want to build in some resort time and, of course, plenty of quality time just a sittin’ on ye olde monorail… I will not be doing any lightning lane nonsense - not with an 8-day park hopper. That would be ridiculous! The after doing the math on all the various trips I had going on, it was cheaper to get the annual Incredi-Pass (at time of writing it came with a $100 GC as well). Not only did I save a little bit on the park tickets themselves, but I re-booked my hotel rooms at the Annual Passholer discount rate and saved even more (heh heh heh, “saved”). There are some additional discounts at shops and restaurants but they look to be the same as what I get with my Disney Visa and there’s no stacking. It was definitely worth it based on this year. Next year is going to be a light year in terms of trips. The pass expires September ‘26. [update - the annual pass discount is 20% in shops and 10% for restaurants. Not too shabby!]

Side note: I booked the January hotels by renting DVC points, which means I paid 54% rack rate but it’s non-refundable. This was well before I got the Annual Pass, so I’m going to check back nearer the time for any lower AP rates on those same rooms just to see what might have been. Having the flexibility to change, cancel, or spread out the payments make it something to consider in the future.

I am counting down the days. At time of writing, the days is… so many days.