Trip Report Making Lemonade out of Lemons Fractal Family Trip Report - Completed

I think we can all agree that so far 2020 has been one big sour lemon.

For those that did not read my Pre-Trip report; my entire family (Val-wife, Alex - oldest daughter, Sterg - son, Toni - youngest daughter) has recovered from the Covid-19 virus. Myself, Val, Sterg and Toni got it in March and Alex in April while working as a nurse. Val had it worse with a fever for a couple days and flu like symptoms for about a week. The rest of us were either asymptomatic or had minor symptoms.

Add to that the mental stress of living in a society dealing with this pandemic, Toni missing out on a big chunk of her High School Senior Year and her last dance recital (where she was going to take on a major role as Jasmine), work reductions for Sterg and high stress work conditions for Alex on the front line. Yes, 2020 has sure been one big sourpuss.

But, as the saying goes; "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!"

It just so happened that last year I made a reservation to attend the annual AHEPA convention in Walt Disney World, just as I did in 2017. We were going to stay at the Grand Destino Towers but that seemed very much in jeopardy when AHEPA (which is a charitable organization I'm involved with. Like a Greek version of the Knights of Columbus or Lions Club.) cancelled their convention. Soon after however, I received an email that Disney would honor our reservation in July. This was pretty tempting since we had convention rates and discounts on tickets. Long story short, we decided to go. We felt that having already had the virus gave us an extra level of protection and we knew that Disney would handle the health risks properly. In addition, we later found out that our rooms were moved from Grand Destino to the Contemporary in order to accommodate the LA Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks. Sterg's and my dream of playing Marco Polo with the Greek Freak and LeBron James in the pool were quickly dashed. But who could say no to staying at The Contemporary for $175 a night?

We were a go! It was frustrating however because although we had a resort reservation we did not have park tickets. We also didn't have a "park pass" which was needed during this reopening of WDW. We had to wait for all that to open and I had serious doubts it would by the time our first day at the resort (July 20th) rolled around. I decided to book flights without tickets or park passes. Southwest had roundtrip flights from Philly to Orlando for $90 plus if you had to cancel you got that credit for a future flight. No brainer. This was turning out to be the cheapest Disney trip we have taken as a family! Soon after I was open to buy tickets and book Park Passes. We had started to squeeze that lemon and add it's juice to our pitcher of cold water.

Now for the Cast of our adventure.

Myself - Chris/Fractal. A lover of Disney Parks for the many memories it has given me over the years with my family, the way it helps me completely unwind from my job, and how it taps into my creative side and challenges my skills as a photographer.

Here I am with my crazy kids at Christmas.

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Val - my beautiful wife. Not the biggest fan of Disney but in the end she was on board. I think secretly she likes it more than she lets on. I will make it up to her with a trip more to her liking.

Here she is with Alex.

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Alex - our oldest. Now a traveling nurse. Alex is like me in many ways but as she's getting older and more responsible I'm starting to see her take on a number of Val's traits. She's a good mix and always a delight to be with.

From a trip to Colorado we took last year;

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Sterg, aka Fractal Jr. One word to describe Sterg - catalyst - he just makes things happen. He creates reactions both good and bad. He graduated last year from Penn State. He was a captain on the Swim Team but not without drama. He had to miss his promising senior year of swimming when a series of concussions (all outside the water) forced him to medically retire. PSU handled it very well as he helped the team from the sidelines. He now works as a digital marketing consultant as well as helping his cousin get his music career off the ground. Never a dull moment when Sterg is around!

with our dog Prince (Charming).

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Toni - For long time readers of my reports you know that Toni and I have a special Disney connection. Many times she would be the only one up early with me to tackle the parks at opening. We have had many great adventures together in the Disney bubble. She's now technically an adult (how did that happen?) so I was going to find out this trip if the magic was still there. She's going to attend Clemson University starting next month and I couldn't be prouder.

Toni in front of the Theater her Recital was supposed to perform at.

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So Covid-19 made our family suffer in many ways, but we took that lemon, squeezed it's juice out into our water pitcher, now we just needed a little Disney sugar to make our Lemonade complete.

Coming up - Our trip begins with a WDW meet-up before our flight even leaves the ground!
 

senor_jorge

Barbara Eden+? Bring it!!
https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/n-MDGKb/WDW-July-2020/i-ShWFbBW/0/70c3be54/X3/20200720
Fisheyes can be a lot of fun but as you can see they create big distortions and curve things that should be straight. I had sold my fisheye a few years ago but missed it and bought another one just for this trip. I'm glad I did!

Then I swapped it out for the 24mm lens which is just a brilliant piece of glass.

[IMG]https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/n-MDGKb/WDW-July-2020/i-FLpcP73/0/d78b4aee/X3/20200720-DSC07878-X3.jpg

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Which ones do you like better?

Sitting back down, I was now ready to order. The lobster bisque, scallops and "trio sampler" (the only dessert option) please. Val and Sterg ordered the French Onion soup, Filet and Trio while Toni ordered the cheese & meat tray, Filet (after we convinced here to cancel her vegan option) and trio. If I was going to pay $62 for Toni to eat lunch she was getting the Filet! She thanked us later for insisting on making that change. As we waited I was explaining the differences between the two lenses - mostly to Toni as Val wasn't too interested and Sterg was kinda off in his own world. I put the fisheye back on and Toni took a snap of Val and I. Portraits with a lens like this are not really a great idea because of the massive distortions. You have to make sure your subject is in the middle of the frame to minimize that and Toni pretty much nailed it.

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In some ways this is my wife’s dilemma right now. She’s on the fence choosing her next purchase. Fisheye or a fast prime.

I may need to hide your trip report so the process doesn’t become more agonizing;). Great report so far, as usual! Any video content coming from @fractal jr ?
 

Tiggertoo56

Well-Known Member
Yes! Just LOVE this photo! (Except don't get the crew lined up on the left)? Was trying to figure out what they would be watching from there. 🤷‍♀️
I was bummed when your live report was over, so excited to start all over again!
I think its one of the places they place you yo take a photo from the station on MS USA? @Tuvalu will be able to answer as she has had photos taken from there.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
I think its one of the places they place you yo take a photo from the station on MS USA? @Tuvalu will be able to answer as she has had photos taken from there.
While I've had the zoom-out "Where's Waldo" photo taken (in the Plaza Garden at MK and Galaxy's Edge at DHS) I don't think there is one for Town Square hub. The Photopass CM usually stands in the same spot as @fractal was when he took his picture (the resulting Photopass pics are the guests with Roy and Minnie).
My guess is that the family is either
a) watching @fractal
b) watching characters on top of the train station (they appear intermittently)
or
c) oddly hanging out 🤣
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Love the rose with the Fish Eye best! Good choice to purchase another lens.

Thanks @Zipitidoda ! How's your photography going?

Yeah, the decided to ban Gaitors, bandana's and masks with valve's during your trip, so you couldn't have known ahead of time. I wondering what people did who didn't have another option? They could at least offer the paper masks.




This entire exchanged cracked me up!

I agree - they could have offered us a disposable mask, even have some for sale.

I like your fish eye lens photos better than without. It gave the table and rose a cooler appearance.

Thanks for the input. It is a fun little lens.

Super late to the party, but I'm ready so...
View attachment 488053

Welcome aboard!

I'm late too, but so excited for your report! 3 more sleeps until we leave for our trip!

No 2 sleeps! Have a great trip!

In some ways this is my wife’s dilemma right now. She’s on the fence choosing her next purchase. Fisheye or a fast prime.

I may need to hide your trip report so the process doesn’t become more agonizing;). Great report so far, as usual! Any video content coming from @fractal jr ?

My opinion - fast lens is essential. fish-eye has limited use and is more of a "trick lens." She can always get both. :D


I think its one of the places they place you yo take a photo from the station on MS USA? @Tuvalu will be able to answer as she has had photos taken from there.

Yes, Very odd spot to be posing.

How did I miss this!!!??!!! Wonderful start to the report!!

Welcome aboard @Billy6 !


While I've had the zoom-out "Where's Waldo" photo taken (in the Plaza Garden at MK and Galaxy's Edge at DHS) I don't think there is one for Town Square hub. The Photopass CM usually stands in the same spot as @fractal was when he took his picture (the resulting Photopass pics are the guests with Roy and Minnie).
My guess is that the family is either
a) watching @fractal
b) watching characters on top of the train station (they appear intermittently)
or
c) oddly hanging out 🤣

Remains a mystery! :D

I prefer the artistic result of your fisheye lens, but to really “see” the rose, I‘m glad you also chose to take it with your 24 mm lens.

thanks! The fisheye really worked well there because it was a small space and you can fill the whole frame in it. A 24mm is a wide lens but wasn't wide enough to get everything in.

Loving the report so far and can’t wait to see many more of your beautiful pictures.

Thanks! I have a special surprise for you later in the report.

Fashionably late, but here! Your kids grew up, about the same time mine did, so I always love following your reports. :) Love seeing all of you together at the World. (Not to even mention, your photos!)

Thanks so much. Hope yours are doing well!

And Yia Yia!

Yes, Yia-Yia was with us last night. After graduation we all went to dinner with Toni's friend and her family. Tonight we head down to my sister's to celebrate Courtney's graduation and tomorrow we are having a little party for Toni!
 
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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Be Our Guest is certainly a cool place to eat, but I don't think I'll be back there anytime soon unless they offer menu options that I can take my family there for less than a new car payment.

After eating I spent some time taking some more photos.

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I wouldn't be able to fit the entire mosaic in the frame with the 24mm. In fact, even with my 12mm fisheye my back was up against the wall.

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One last shot of BoG.

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We then decided to go on Haunted Mansion. Took this along the way with the fisheye. It's a shot I probably would have been better off using the 24mm as I really had to crop the original to make the image more interesting. You can see the 6 foot space markers on the ground. And where are the 500 baby strollers surrounding the carousel?

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Now it was time for one of my favorites.
 
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senor_jorge

Barbara Eden+? Bring it!!
Be Our Guest is certainly a cool place to eat, but I don't think I'll be back there anytime soon unless they offer menu options that I can take my family there for less than a new car payment.

After eating I spent some time taking some more photos.

20200720-DSC07904-X3.jpg


20200720-DSC07906-X3.jpg


20200720-DSC07908-X3.jpg


20200720-DSC07907-X3.jpg


I wouldn't be able to fit the entire mosaic in the frame with the 24mm. In fact, even with my 12mm fisheye my back was up against the wall.

20200720-DSC07909-X2.jpg



20200720-DSC07910-X3.jpg


One last shot of BoG.

20200720-DSC07911-X3.jpg


We then decided to go on Haunted Mansion. Took this along the way with the fisheye. It's a shot I probably would have been better off using the 24mm as I really had to crop the original to make the image more interesting. You can see the 6 foot space markers on the ground.

20200720-DSC07914-X3.jpg


Now it was time for one of my favorites.

We’ve enjoyed it, and I liked the French onion soup. My filet was quite good, but I had much better later in that trip at Narcoossee’s. With no pandemic our table for two was surrounded by other tables in close proximity and the atmosphere was lost to a large extent. I’m glad we did it but it’s not at the top of our list to return, and that was prior to the limited menu. My wife got her picture of me looking uncomfortable with Beast so she’s satisfied!
 
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k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Be Our Guest is certainly a cool place to eat, but I don't think I'll be back there anytime soon unless they offer menu options that I can take my family there for less than a new car payment.
Beautiful pics of BOG! They used to have a much more affordable lunch menu, but when the parks reopened, they switched over to the crazy expensive prix fixe menu for both lunch and dinner. Hopefully it’s just a temporary change.
 

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