February 2026: Mom & Dad solo trip PTR!

[MamaMouse0920]

Hey Hi Hello and welcome to my latest PTR!

I'll give the who/what/when/where/why & then jump into what I have currently planned in my next post!

Who: I'm Bethany. The main trip planner/organizer/over-thinker, whatever you want to call it. I'm a 30 something mama of 2 who lives in a suburb of the Twin Cities, MN. Joining along is my sweet husband Matt, a 40 something (see how I have to point out how much older he is than me? ) dada of 2 also living in a suburb of the Twin Cities, MN We love coffee & football & hazy IPAs & documentaries & snuggling with our wild children. He hates the cold weather (I tolerate it better than his old bones and LOVE that we live in a beautiful state that gets to experience 4 very different seasons throughout the year) so he loves any excuse to escape winter, and we both are SUPER excited to sneak away for a kid-free, adults only trip. My mom agreed to watch our kids & help get them to/from school the 4 school days we'll be gone and we are eternally grateful!



What: 4 magical nights in the Land of Mouse courtesy of my work! There's a regular occurring conference that takes place every February in Coronado Springs that happens to tie in to what I do for work and I have been fortunate enough to attend twice, this go-around being my third. I'm a lucky gal! We didn't think this trip was even an option due to budgeting and if I'm being honest I still don't really understand how it got approved BUT I'm all booked so I'm not going to question it. We purchased the "Disney+ Subscriber 3-Day 3-Parks" tickets (excluding Magic Kingdom) which is a pretty good deal (about $108/day per person). Matt will head to the parks solo (waaaaaaaah! I will be jealous) while I attend the conference, and then once it ends for the day I'll join him.

When: February 22nd through 26th, 2026 - flying in on a Sunday & out on a Thursday. Short & sweet but we were trying to keep this as low-priced as possible since we had literally JUST booked 10 nights for the 4 of us in August 2026 only a couple days before we found out this trip was going to happen/be approved... and any extra nights outside of the conference (which is Monday Tuesday & Wednesday) would be on us to cover.

Where: The conference is held at Coronado Springs Resort, which is where we will also be staying. We LOOOVE this resort. It is so so beautiful and honestly we just love the whole vibe. I love the plentiful dining/bar options, I love the hammocks on the beach, I love the Gran Destino Tower, I love it all. Can't wait to go back!

Why: I'm not even going to answer such a dumb question

With the who/what/when/where squared away, I'll dive into the nitty gritty of what the tentative plans are in my next post!

 

[DLo]

Popping over from your last TR . Looking forward to reading more .

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I’m here and can’t wait to hear about your plans!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thanks for joining, all!!

I think for a multitude of reasons, even though the trip is right around the corner (37 days!) the excitement is there, but not as ramped up as it usually is. Possible reason #1, this is the most 'last minute' we've ever booked a trip and also the most lazy/unprepared I've been for a trip- ha! Perhaps because it's so short I'm not really putting too much thought/effort into it?? We have tentative plans for each day but they're pretty loose & I haven't packed AT ALL which is rare for me! Of course when I say "packed" I don't mean actual folded clothes in a suitcase packed, but we have a spare room downstairs that we've termed 'the Disney room' and as trips are on the horizon we put all of our stuff in that room until it gets actually packed. And as of this moment, it's only got the suitcase laid out and that's about it, ha! Which again, pretty rare for me. I suppose I'll find the motivation at some point... but possible reason #2 I think life is just too chaotic and sad and I'm in a bit of a funk (we live ~15 minutes away from Minneapolis and work in Minneapolis) that is proving difficult to pull myself out of. Sad times we're living through right now, for sure.

Anyway, I'll hop to each days plans in separate post

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Sunday 2/22/26 - Arrival Day

Matt and I were able to get booked on the same flight (huzzah!), landing at MCO around 1:30pm. We will be checking a bag so I'll factor in 20 mins or so to debark, collect our bag etc. and then will be calling an Uber to be whisked off into the Bubble. I'm guessing we'll arrive at Coronado Springs around 2:30? The plan from there is to check in obviously, unpack, relax a bit but ultimately start getting ready pretty quickly cause I'm hoping to order another Uber to take us to the Grand Floridian Resort around 4:30pm as we have an ADR for Narcoossee's (our first time!) at 5:20pm. I was hoping to snag an ADR for 8ish so we could request a table near the windows/water & watch Happily Ever After but no luck... and no *********** alerts thus far (been set up since we hit 60 days, boo!) either. Darn! Since all we could get was the earlybird special timeframe, we switched our plans up and are instead intending to eat dinner with the other seniors at 5:20 and then take the monorail over to the Poly (hoping to get a fireworks view there!) with the plan being to check out the new tower & grab a nightcap at the Wailulu Bar -- hopefully while watching HEA! I don't expect to stay out too late since my conference starts bright and early the next morning, so I'm hoping we'll be back at CSR and in bed by 10:30.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Monday 2/23/26: Conference Day 1 + Epcot

As I stated in the Who/What/When/Where section, we bought the 3 Day Disney+ tickets so we've got access to DHS, DAK, and Epcot for Monday Tuesday & Wednesday. While I'm attending the conference in the morning, Matt will be roaming the parks unattended (yikes! ) and then I'll join him afterward. 2/23 is the last day of FARTS so even though it will likely be a zoo, we're headed to Epcot this day! Not doing Lightning Lanes (except our beloved Guardians of the Galaxy - I will buy a LLSP for that one!), will just be wandering aimlessly and soaking it all in. We made a vow to check out more of the back-sides of the countries this trip, so that's the plan/goal!

I'm not sure if we'll stay for fireworks, I guess play it by ear on how we're feeling!

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Tuesday 2/24/26: Conference Day 2 + DAK

Matt is headed to DAK while I attend the conference! I think it will be a tad sad since like half the park is closed, ha! But still, this park is a whole vibe & I can't wait to just sit and soak it in. Again, no LLs and plan to just wander aimlessly and see things we haven't seen before. If Everest has a low wait time I'm sure we'll ride & Matt will of course want to do the Safari if it's manageable - I have a hunch this park will be relatively empty given it's already considered a "half day park" and with the closure of Dinosaur/Dinoland USA as a whole I wouldn't be surprised if people don't go at all (which in turn of course will just make the other 3 parks/Disney Springs busier).
We also tend to avoid the animal trails when we go as a family in August because it's 10 billion degrees, but in February perhaps we'll give it a chance in the cooler temps!


Since this park closes at 6pm, our plan for after DAK is to explore the BoardWalk since we've never been! Any suggestions? We don't have any ADRs & I have no clue what availability would look like since it's just around the corner, but still send me your suggestions! Otherwise we will just mosey around and see what has seating/strikes our fancy.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Wednesday 2/25/26: Conference Day 3 + DHS

The last day of the conference + our last park day! We're headed to the only remaining park our tickets allow entry for: Hollywood Studios. Ending the trip with a bang! If it gets too busy/we're "over" being there (since we can't park hop with these tickets) we may head to Disney Springs for the first/only time this trip but we'll see. Matt and I loveeeee Sunset Boulevard (well really, everywhere in this park) so I wouldn't mind just parking myself down with Matt and soaking in our surroundings on this last night. I'm toying with the idea of getting LLs since we plan to be in this park the longest (the last day is the shortest day of the conference so I'm hoping to be there mid-morning).

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Thursday 2/26/26: Departure

We weren't able to get on the same flight (my work booked my tickets), separate airlines but thankfully they leave within 30 minutes of each other (around 10am) so we'll share an Uber & hang out at the airport til Matt's flight leaves. We'll be waking up around 6:30/7:00 to pack & then hopping in an Uber around 8:00am. We have TSA Pre-Check but know that MCO can be a nightmare so sticking as close to the 2 hours early rule of thumb as possible to be safe. Matt will then wait the 30 minutes or whatever it ends up being til my flight lands and then my mom + the kids will pick us both up together. We land around 2/2:30pm so we'll need to figure out dinner for that night. I tend to crave lighter/healthier meals after returning from WDW but historically we end up eating either fast/casual food or make pizza at home so I surmise this trip will close out in more or less the same fashion

That's all we have planned for now (which is still very much go-go-go, I would say!) but I'll update the PTR as things change/as we get nearer to the trip!

 

[pwdebbie]

I think part of your lack of planning is because you aren't considering children for this trip. You and Matt can be more casual and don't have to know what you are doing next.

Matt may discover that he likes Disney solo. Uh oh!