Joy Between Moments

Day 1

1/31/26 We flew into Orlando airport from SLC on Delta. We paid extra for the comfort seats and they are so worth the extra cost! We got into Orlando about 5:30 pm and once we had our luggage we got a lyft to our hotel. Our lyft was $55.64 including tip and we got the Extra Comfort Ride. It fit the three of us and our 3 suitcases. We stayed at the Disney Wilderness Lodge. On the Disney app I was able to check so we could go straight to our room. It was so nice not to have to go wait in line and check in at the desk. We have the magic band plus so we were able to open our door with those and our room number was listed in the app. It was very convenient. We unpacked and then went down to the Roaring Fork and had dinner. They didn’t have a huge selection but it was easy and fast after a long day of travel. Then we went back to our room and slept.

Day 2

2/1/26 Today we ordered breakfast to go from Roaring Fork. G got Mickey Mouse Waffles and bacon and I had the oatmeal with raisins and sugar with a coffee. M went and got yogurt from the store near the Lobby. Then, we went to the bus stop and took the provided bus to Hollywood Studios. We had a Lighting Lane pass (which we were able to book 7 days in advance because we stayed at a Disney resort) and had Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog and Toy Story booked and we purchased Rise of the Resistance for $25 each. Once we were there and used our lightening lane passes we were able to get on Rock n’ Roller roller coaster, Smugglers Run, Minny and Mickey’s Runaway Train and we watched the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Tower of Terror wasnt as fun as the Disneyland one because it is still the Twilight Zone and we thought it was shorter and with less drops. Slinky Dog was alot of fun and not to scary of a ride for the younger kids. Toy Story, Smugglers Run and Minny and Mickeys train are all good for kids. We didn’t enjoy the stunt show, it was freezing and they said they had to change some stuff so maybe without the change it would be fun, but it was just slow and boring. We also were able to get into the Disney Villains show and it was incredible and totally worth going to! We did the Sci-Fi Dine In theater for lunch and we loved it! You sit in little cars and watch old black and white science fiction shows. The food was really good and we enjoyed being able to sit down and warm up inside. For dinner we did the 50’s Prime Time Cafe. It was good homey food and decorated just like grandmas house! We thought it was good and alot of fun! After dinner we got back on the bus and went to our room.

Day 3

2/2/26 We did the same thing for breakfast everyday! We would order it on the app and go grab it when it was done. We liked eating in our room. Today we went to Epcot and it was by far our favorite! I could have spent 2 days here. The art festival was going on so there were a bunch of booths with different art and a lot of different food options. It was so fun to try different foods. They are smaller plates so we could get a lot of different things. We had an empanada, sushi, grilled cheese and tomato soup and mini wellingtons. G got a turkey leg which is so embarrassingly good. The rides we booked ahead were Mission Space, Spaceship Earth and Test Track. We bought a pass to Guardians of the Galaxy, Cosmic Rewind for $22 each. We also got into Remy’s and Soarin around the World. The Guardians ride was so much fun that we had to ride it again and waited in a 2 hour line for it! So, if you see that have a low wait, definitely go do it! Mission Space has two different versions, we did the less spinny one. Its a cool ride but very claustrophobic! Remy’s is an amazing ride, Spaceship Earth was a slow not great ride. Living with the Land was also pretty slow. We had reservations for the dinner and fireworks show but we cancelled it because it was so cold.

Day 4

2/3/26: Today we went to Animal Kingdom! What a beautiful park! We had lightening lane for the Safari, Expedition Everest and the Na’vi River Journey. We bought the pass for Avatar Flight of Passage for $18 each. We did the new Zootopia 4d show once we used the safari pass. I love this park because its so pretty, very calm and a good easy day in between other park days. The rides are so much fun! We saw a ton of animals on the safari, Expedition Everest is a really fun roller coaster and all of the Avatar is amazing to see and the rides are alot of fun! We finally had nice weather so we finished pretty early and went back to the hotel and sat by the pool. That night we made reservations for the hotels restaurant, Story Book Dining at Artists Point with Snow White. I am not a fan of Snow White and character dining now that I don’t have little kids, but the menu sounded good so we did it. The food was so good! They give you 3 shared appetizers, you pick your own entree and then they end with 3 shared desserts. It was alot of fun in the end and the food was good but a little pricey.

Day 5

2/4/26: Today we did Magic Kingdom. This was my least favorite park and in the future Im not sure I would go unless I have little kids with me. We had Lightening Lane for Space Mountain, Monster’s Inc. and Haunted Mansion. We bought the pass for Tron and the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. We also rode Pirates. Tron and the Mine Train were a lot of fun but as I said before, I don’t feel like it was worth the cost of the day to come to Magic Kingdom. I think it was close to $800 for the 3 of us including Lightening Lane and buying the 2 rides. We were done pretty early. It was really fun to ride the boat back to the hotel, that was a nice perk but would have been nice if you could use it to go more places.

Day 6

2/5/26: Today we ventured to Universal Studios. We got a lyft that cost us $26 for extra comfort. We went to Universal Studios and Island of Adventure. Today was cold and windy but we had a great time! The rides are next level here and I feel like its more of an adult park. The rides are pretty intense for younger kids. We bought the express pass which was kinda worth it. Most of the rides hardly had a wait but we used it anyways. Where it did come in handy is with Hagrids, Escape from Gringott’s at Universal and the VelociCoaster. VelociCoaster is a scary ride but it was fun! I just hated that there wasn’t a shoulder restraint because I kind of lifted out of the seats durning all the inversions, hanging upside down and twists. Also, Escape from Gringott’s was hard to find! It is very hidden but incredible. We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks and had dinner at Bubba Gump’s.

Day 7

2/6/26: Today we tried Universals newest park, Epic. It was such an incredible and beautiful park! You start each section walking through a portal and it was so fun to walk through them into other worlds. We started in the Island of Berk from How to Train your Dragon. Wow! What a cool park! We loved Hiccups Wing Gliders and had a good lunch there. Then we went to the Harry Potter World and rode Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and loved that ride and the whole place was so well themed! Next was the Dark Universe which was so eery and cool! We rode the Curse of the Werewolf which was such a fun ride! Then we rode the Frankenstein Experiement that looked scarier than it was and turned out to be a fun ride! Probably would be scary for young or sensitive children. Next we went to the Mario World and talk about sensory overload! It was so neat but loud and crowded! We rode Bowsers challenge which was fun but Im always disappointed by it for some reason and then we rode minecart madness which was an interesting ride. It is a rollercoaster suspended on the side so it wasn’t the smoothest ride and would have liked it better if it was just a little bit smoother. We had a great day exploring this new park and we were happy we went!

Day 8

2/7/26 Today we flew back home and got ready for a superbowl party the next day! Things that were important and worth it to me this week was definitely buying our way on those busy rides at the DisneyWorld parks and having the express pass at Universal. Even though Universal didnt have alot of long lines, at one point we added up that we would be in lines for at least 8 hours to ride all that we wanted to and that alone made it worth it. I also really loved having the watches at Disney. It is so convenient to use them to charge to your room, get into your room. get into the parks and use lightening lanes.