Trip Report When can we do this again? A Fractal family Odyssey. *COMPLETED*

Definition of odyssey:

• : a long journey full of adventures
  
  
• : a series of experiences that give knowledge or understanding to someone

Not too long ago I had a lot of doubt this trip would ever happen. The financial cost of higher education, the fact my wife Val wanted to go anywhere BUT Disney, the crazy and conflicting schedules of the kids, made the odds of keeping our 2-year WDW trip tradition a large long-shot. But maybe things do happen for a reason...

A great deal came our way and before we knew it we were on our way back to the World. Not without a major sacrifice however as my eldest daughter Alexandra had to miss the trip due to her schooling ( she graduates this Friday as an Registered Nurse!). She is a bit of a kindred spirit to me with a personality closer to mine than the other two, so I knew I would miss her dearly on the trip.

Here she is at Christmas with my Mom (Yia-Yia).

Speaking of Yia-yia; she will join us again at WDW! We had a great time with her on our 2013 trip at the Poly. We would meet up with her, my Sister Marina (here with me)...

and my two nieces; Courtney...

and Mia...

at the Yacht Club on the second leg of our journey. The first part of our trip took us to my in-law's (Al & Sue) who moved to Florida (Tampa - St. Pete area) last year. They would also join us at WDW!

Here they are from a 50th anniversary party we had for them last Winter...

It was early evening Thursday July 20th when we began our Odyssey. My good friend Wally picked us up to take us to the Baltimore (BWI) airport.

Excitement was building for our trip but the real Disney excitement would come later.

Sterg and Toni occupied the back seat. They were almost late for the pickup as they decided a last second Starbucks run was in order. Sterg ended up paying for that about an hour later as his bladder protested strongly.

Val was next to me and could barely contain her enthusiasm.

Not only was she not fully in favor of another Disney trip, she was (rightfully) concerned with the potential problems, complications, and stress of merging these 3 parts of the family together in the already chaotic environment of managing reservations, room assignments, getting to the parks, fastpasses and dinner plans. I had much of the same worries, which were also amplified by the fact Yia-Yia and Al would be using electric scooters during our time at the World. But hey, it's Disney, what could go wrong?

 

[myhappyplace]

Jaw is on the floor.

Those are AMAZING photos of my favorite show!! I just can't get over them. Stunning!!

Part of the reason I love FotLK is for much the same reason you enjoyed watching it with YiaYia. Seeing it through my 86 year old grandmother's eyes, and then my Mom's eyes made it even more enjoyable for me.

 

[disneypearl]

Such wonderful photos of FotLK! I especially love the ones of the Fire Hyena. I'm thinking those had to be extra challenging!

 

[fractal]

DH and I love spending time in the Harambe market taking pictures...it is so colorful and eclectic!!

Agree!

I enjoyed Flights of Wonder, but I haven't seen it for a few years now. If the "timing" is right for a show and I'm in the area, I definitely go. I'd definitely recommend it for anyone to see, at least once.

I'm trying to recall the "tour guide" comedy part of the show, and for some reason, I don't recall seeing him before. Either that, or I was so unimpressed, that perhaps it just completely slipped my mind?

I'm guessing "unimpressed".

In all my Disney trips, I have still not seen Flights of Wonder. I even tried on my last trip, only to discover that I had missed the last show. *sigh* Maybe my fall trip, lol

Definitely worth seeing once.

Guano Joe!

View attachment 230860

Looks like they got a new Guano Joe.

I love all the details you have captured at AK so many little things I have never noticed

So many details, which is one of the reasons I enjoy AK so much.

these photos!!

Thanks!

I love the way you care so much about how your mom is having fun and enjoying the parks

You are such a good boy!!

Note : my in laws are Greek so I have been called a good boy for about 28 years now!

And the girls call my MIL yaiyai and my FIL is papoulli

Max

Being a "good boy" trumps everything for Greek Moms! If she calls you that you must be doing something right.

I hope someday to be called "papou". Tell them Yasou from me!

Jaw is on the floor.

Those are AMAZING photos of my favorite show!! I just can't get over them. Stunning!!

Part of the reason I love FotLK is for much the same reason you enjoyed watching it with YiaYia. Seeing it through my 86 year old grandmother's eyes, and then my Mom's eyes made it even more enjoyable for me.

thanks @myhappyplace !

Such wonderful photos of FotLK! I especially love the ones of the Fire Hyena. I'm thinking those had to be extra challenging!

Thank you @disneypearl ! You need the right lens to get these photos - has to be "fast" to let enough light in to allow you to shoot at a pretty fast shutter speed. Having photographed my kids playing indoor sports and dance I had a lot of experience shooting movement in low light, but I did enjoy the challenge!

 

[Tuvalu]

Guano Joe has had several incarnations.

 

[fractal]

Starting to get a wee bit better with the video editing. Still way behind @fractal jr . In fact the only thing I really did here is add the text at the beginning, but this time that didn't take me 2 hours to figure out.
I filmed this with a 135mm focal length so it's very up close and tight. Sometimes it looks great, other times not so great. Fun to watch though!

Festival of the Lion King - Entrance and Opening Act (just can't wait to be King) on The Fractal Channel!

 

[MinnieM123]

Starting to get a wee bit better with the video editing. Still way behind @fractal jr . In fact the only thing I really did here is add the text at the beginning, but this time that didn't take me 2 hours to figure out.
I filmed this with a 135mm focal length so it's very up close and tight. Sometimes it looks great, other times not so great. Fun to watch though!

Festival of the Lion King - Entrance and Opening Act (just can't wait to be King) on The Fractal Channel!

This is my favorite show anywhere on Disney park property. Love it!! Nice video, too!

 

[fractal]

A family update.

On Sunday Toni turned 16. We had a Sweet Sixteen party for her.

Her first Disney trip cira 2007. Same pose.

Today Sterg turns 21.

with his Mama. I'll be driving to Penn State this weekend to watch him swim and make sure he doesn't have too much fun.

His first Disney trip circa 2000 with Alex (and Goofy).

Wishing them both many more Disney trips in their future!

 

[rshell68]

Happy birthday Toni and Sterg!!

 

[mousefreak]

Happy Birthday!

 

[sheriffwoody]

A family update.

On Sunday Toni turned 16. We had a Sweet Sixteen party for her.

Her first Disney trip cira 2007. Same pose.

Today Sterg turns 21.

with his Mama. I'll be driving to Penn State this weekend to watch him swim and make sure he doesn't have too much fun.

His first Disney trip circa 2000 with Alex (and Goofy).

Wishing them both many more Disney trips in their future!

Happy birthday to the both of them! So crazy to have two milestone birthdays in the family so close together. Also, I love @fractal jr's tie in that picture with his mom. Very dapper!

 

[MeeskaMooska0714]

Happy birthday Toni and Sterg! Two milestone birthdays for your kiddos! Crazy how fast they grow up!

 

[King Racoon 77]

Happy Birthday to Toni and @fractal jr

 

[Matt and Kelly]

A family update.

On Sunday Toni turned 16. We had a Sweet Sixteen party for her.

Her first Disney trip cira 2007. Same pose.

Today Sterg turns 21.

with his Mama. I'll be driving to Penn State this weekend to watch him swim and make sure he doesn't have too much fun.

His first Disney trip circa 2000 with Alex (and Goofy).

Wishing them both many more Disney trips in their future!

Awesome...Happy Birthday to them both!

 

[fractal]

Our walk to Everest from FotLK didn't get far before we faced another torrential downpour. This trip was by far the most rain we've had vs. any other visit. Not only in duration and episodes but also in severity. The rain that hit Yia-Yia and I was immediate and intense. Luckily for us, Yia'Yia ECV basket was loaded with ponchos. I covered her ECV while she took cover in the nearby restroom building. I then found a somewhat dry spot under a vendor kiosk to wait our the storm. As lucky as we were, Marina, Sterg, Toni, Courtney and Mia were not - their ponchos rode out the rain at the bottom of the Yia-Yia's basket leaving Marina once again heading up a crew braving bad weather.

Sterg said EE was fun in the rain but somewhat painful.

Marina's "storm" troopers!

After the rain we all met up.

The pelting of rain drops at 35mph didn't help with Mia's Yeti-phobia.

Mia joined Yia-Yia and I for a Safari Ride while Marina took the "older kids" to Dinosaur and I think back to Everest.

Some photos from my third and last Kilimanjaro Safari of this trip. I switch my camera to APS-C cropped mode from it's normal full frame to get a 127mm (more telephoto) viewpoint. Normally this hampers the quality of the photo because you face a stiff drop in resolution; the A7r2 however starts out at 42mega pixels and in "cropped" mode still sports a good 18 mega pixels. These are the results.

If it wasn't for Yia-Yia I likely would not have made a 3rd trip on KS, but it did give me a chance to experiment with the camera. I was thrilled with the results. The ability to shoot in cropped mode and maintain very good image quality basically gives me 2 lenses for the price of 1. My 85mm 1.8 can be changed to an equivalent 127mm lens.

Our time in Animal Kingdom was over. Next up was dinner at one of my favorite restaurant in WDW. But would it keep that standing?

 

[djpoore94]

Your photos are so amazing! I especially love the giraffes (my ultimate favorite animal). Would you mind if I print one to hang in my office? I can add your signature to it if you would like to send it to me in a PM.

 

[fractal]

Your photos are so amazing! I especially love the giraffes (my ultimate favorite animal). Would you mind if I print one to hang in my office? I can add your signature to it if you would like to send it to me in a PM.

@djpoore94 - yes you can print one. May I suggest however that you order a print from my smugmug account;

https://dikosphotography.smugmug.com/Disney-Photography/

You can get a 8X10 at full resolution print done professionally. Plus I'll get a little credit to help offset the cost of maintaining the site.

If you "right click" copy off of this site it will not be a full resolution file.

Either way, thanks for following and your comments!

 

[MinnieM123]

Happy Birthday to both Toni (Sweet Sixteen!) and Sterg (an adult at 21 ). Best wishes to both of them!!

 

[Figaro Family]

A family update.

On Sunday Toni turned 16. We had a Sweet Sixteen party for her.

Her first Disney trip cira 2007. Same pose.

Today Sterg turns 21.

with his Mama. I'll be driving to Penn State this weekend to watch him swim and make sure he doesn't have too much fun.

His first Disney trip circa 2000 with Alex (and Goofy).

Wishing them both many more Disney trips in their future!

Happy Birthday to Toni and Sterg. Your kids are so beautiful/handsome!

 

[fractal]

Guano Joe has had several incarnations.

fitting name!

This is my favorite show anywhere on Disney park property. Love it!! Nice video, too!

Mine as well. Thanks!

Happy birthday Toni and Sterg!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to the both of them! So crazy to have two milestone birthdays in the family so close together. Also, I love @fractal jr's tie in that picture with his mom. Very dapper!

Happy Birthday to Toni and @fractal jr

Awesome...Happy Birthday to them both!

Happy Birthday to both Toni (Sweet Sixteen!) and Sterg (an adult at 21 ). Best wishes to both of them!!

Happy Birthday to Toni and Sterg. Your kids are so beautiful/handsome!

Thanks all for the Birthday wishes! Toni got her driver's permit today.

 

[Zipadeelady]

@fractal I'm catching back up on reading your trip report and I have to tell you those pictures of the "fire guy" in FOTLK are AMAZING, SPECTACULAR! He moves so fast that I can barely see what he's doing but you were able to catch everything so clear. When I grow up, I want to be like you.