02/2026 - Disney In a Day

Sam here! Somewhere along the way I decided 2026 is the year of Disney challenges for our family – up next is Disney in a Day! We’ve spent everyone’s birthday, but Brian’s, at the most magical place on Earth, and somehow, I got the stars to align. I truly wanted to do Disney in a singular day – fly down in the morning and fly home in the evening, but it was actually more cost effective to stay one night on property (and knock another resort off of our list) than fly down in back on one day. Brian’s birthday fell on a Thursday, and it worked out perfectly – we both had off work and Mitchell didn’t have any school. Our deciding factor? There was an open reservation for Garden Grill at EPCOT.

On Wednesday, we picked up Mitchell from school, had a duffle bag and my backpack in the back of the car, and headed to the Airport! We got through security two hours before our flight, and since Brian is a foodie we made our rounds: Mineos for a slice of pizza (a Pittsburgh treasure), swung by Chick-Fil-A for some chicky nuggs, and a milkshake from Shake Shack. The boys played at the play area or watched the planes from the food court, just killing time until.... 5:40! We're off to Orlando!

The plane landed around 8pm and had quite a delay getting to the landside terminal. The airport was down to one tram and it seems like everyone’s flight landed at the same time. There was an option to walk to the landside, but with the stroller it wasn’t easy to use the stairs to get to the walking path. Finally, we got on the tram and were greeted by our driver through Orlando Magical Rides (not sponsored). We chose this private car service as they provide car seats and the customer service is great! We’ve done Mears previously, but to us, the time we save with a private car is worth the extra spend. Since we were only staying one night, I chose the most cost-effective option – All Star Sports. We arrived at the lobby around 9:15pm and Brian and Mitchell took a lap around the gift shop while Ethan and I got Brian a “Happy Birthday” button to wear at the park. We stopped at the End Zone Food Court to get some snacks before heading to our room. Upon entering the television proudly displayed “Happy Birthday Brian” and we all settled in to catch some sleep before rope drop the next morning.

The next morning, for the first time in what has felt like forever, I was the one ushering the kids to get up and get moving instead of them waking me up! Once we opened the door to head out, we found a small mesh bag had another birthday button with Brian’s name already on it and a note from All Star Sports staff telling him to have a great birthday – how sweet! We’ve never had this at any other resort for any of our birthday trips, so this was really a special touch.

We headed to the bus depot and were the second group making our way to EPCOT. The extended family in front of us was flustered – they didn’t know about folding strollers on the bus or how to gather the group together. I remember one of them saying, “You guys are so calm,” as Brian and I laughed and told them this wasn’t our first trip. We arrived for early entry and got in line at 7:45, our breakfast reservation wasn’t until 8:35, so we were able to get a locker for our duffle bag and walk to the entrance of the World Showcase. Our photos of the Flower and Garden Festival topiaries felt so timeless as we were able to take in the calmness of the morning. We headed to The Land pavilion, checked in for our reservation on the app, and made a quick bathroom break, happily finding the touches of magic can be anywhere.

As I mentioned, the deciding factor for Disney in a day was an open reservation at Garden Grill. This is Brian’s favorite character breakfast in the Disney bubble mainly because the food is so good! This is an all-you-care-to-enjoy family style breakfast featuring Mickey, Chip, Dale and Pluto. Mitchell had his first taste of POG juice (pineapple, orange, guava) and he was hooked! Our server started us off with the specialty pull-apart cinnamon bread, which was enjoyed by everyone. Then we were greeted with a skillet which had scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, Mickey waffles, the Backyard Grilled Steak. Everyone found something to enjoy and we finished with birthday cupcake with a chocolate candle and everyone singing Happy Birthday. All three boys enjoyed seeing the characters as we slowly rotated overlooking the Living with the Land farmhouse.

After breakfast we headed to Living with the Land; this ride is a staple for Brian and I. Next, we headed to Nemo and Friends and explored the SeaBase Aquarium. Divers were in the tanks – a cast member told us they were looking for a new fishy friend that was playing hide and seek. Our family loves watching “The Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom,” on Disney+, which also features animals from EPCOT. Mitchell and I went looking for Tolstoy, the loggerhead sea turtle, and Alika, the blacktip reef shark, while Ethan and Brian practiced taking some steps on the first floor by the manatees.

After finding Pumpkin, the frogfish, it was decided to go towards the World Showcase. We stopped at the Refreshment Port and got Mitchell’s favorite: ice cream! While we sat outside on benches to look at the ducks and water, Brian got a suggested drink from Anthony – the Ottawa Apple. It turned out to be one of Brian’s favorites of the day.

The kids settled into the stroller and Ethan napped while we headed towards the new Play Zone between Creations Shop and Test Track; it was great for Mitchell to be able to move and play inside the park rather than be stuck in the stroller for a little while.

Next up was Test Track for Mitchell and Brian. The boys tapped into their lighting lane while I stayed with Ethan. We did have rider swap set up, but Mitchell came off the ride in tears. “I never want to ride that ever again!” he exclaimed and explained how a truck almost crashed into them. That being the case, I hopped in the single rider line (which was quicker than the lightening lane) and took a chance on it myself. Brian and I have rode the first and second iterations of the ride, and I was eager to see how the third version compared. Sadly Brian and I both felt that this was a flop – we love the original version more than anything!

This was a different Epcot day than we were used too. It was a good "vacation day," The day was slow – we weren’t rushed as we didn’t want to force ourselves to try and do everything. We chose things we wanted to enjoy like checking out the shops and looking at the displays for Flower and Garden.

Ethan enjoyed the Gran Fiesta Tour featuring The Three Caballeros and Mitchell stopped to play the drums in Africa. All the boys watched the trains in Germany because... trains and men. While there we had to try another Anthony/Ashley suggestion – the pretzel bread pudding. Ashley swears by it, but Brian and I said in the words of Mitchell “never ever again.” We continued through America and stopped to look at the art and then koi fish in Japan while Brian got ramen from Katsura Grill. Next was something Brian had always wanted – getting a pearl from the Japan gift shop. He and Mitchell did it together and got a beautiful 7mm white pearl to bring home with us.

Mitchell had been begging to ride the monorail all day, and we had some time to spare before riding Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure so we headed to the front of the park stopping by the Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana and took a round-trip ride on the monorail.

Tapping back into the park, it was time to head to Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie in France where Brian got his lobster bisque in a bread bowl while Mitchell and Ethan made friends with a little boy who had a bubble wand. We got in line at 6pm for Remy cutting it close as our car was scheduled to pick us up at 7pm for our ride back to the airport. The line stalled as soon as we got into it and then the dreaded announcement: Remy was closed until further notice. No worries though – we already knew we were coming back in a few months for our 4 Parks 1 Day. We stopped for a potty break in France and showed Mitchell our “new hotel” for the trip in May.

We headed to the front of EPCOT and picked up our duffle from the locker and stopped for a few minutes to look at the light show on the ball. “Goodnight EPCOT!” Mitchell yelled as we headed to the rideshare area. Orlando Magical Rides picked us up and as we arrived to the airport, I got a text that our flight was delayed, but only by about 20 minutes. I changed the boys into the pajamas and we headed to the gate. Our flight was mainly empty, and the flight attendants were amazing. I told them it was Brian’s birthday and they helped us celebrate with a drink on them. We took off at 10:15pm and the flight was uneventful – we landed around 12:30 and were home in bed by 1:30am.

It was a long day but we did it – Disney in 26 hours!