Trip Report I'll stop the World and Melt with you.

It's been two years since my family and I visited WDW. Two long years. Thankfully, my son Sterg and I got a three day Disney fix last summer at Disneyland.

Curiously, this trip report is being written at a time when a lot of negative Disney vibe is emanating from other regions of WDWMagic - as it was two years ago. The Doom & Gloom is running free and wild. I'm just thankful I stayed clear of most of it before our trip because I may have cancelled what turned out to be an amazing time. It is also fortunate that we got this trip in because from the sound of things there may not be a WDW to go to in a few years.

To be truthful, some things that Disney has done has me scratching my head; but this is neither the time nor place to discuss it. Putting that aside - let's get on with the trip report!

We left on Sunday July 21st. Maybe the longest day of my life. The night before, my oldest daughter Alex went to see Taylor Swift in Philadelphia ( about 50 miles away ) and due to a long rain delay she didn't make it home until 2 am. This meant that she would not go to sleep since we were being picked up at 3 am for the drive to Philly airport for our 6 am flight. At least we were supposed to be picked up at 3am.

Here is my Mom ( Yia-Yia )and my youngest daughter Antonia ( Toni ) up and ready at 3 in the morning waiting for our ride. Yia-Yia ( grandmother in Greek ) is 77 years old and joining us for the first time on a Disney adventure. Toni is now almost 12 and the little Yorki-poo in the front is Prince. Prince is short for Prince Charming ( named by Toni ).

When the driver didn't show up by 3:15 I started to worry. I called the limo company at the same time he called me to tell me he was lost. I reeled him in and we were on our way by 3:30. The drive down was nerve wracking as I kept watching the clock and praying for no delays. That is until our driver eased my tension by telling us his son works for Disney and he goes down to the World 4 or 5 times a year. The resulting Disney conversation lasted until we hit the airport around 4:30.

More tension as we went through security. My carry on was stopped in the machine and I was pulled aside. I had put a container of Vitamin C powder in my bag that garnered some attention. Of course, my Mom came over as I was being held and my bag inspected.

"Why didn't you put that in your suitcase, Christo?" she said to me in her Greek accented voice.

"Mom, please go wait over there" I responded.

"No, I want to see what they are doing" Then she followed with this one for the TSA officer.

"It's not drugs, my son doesn't do cocaine!"

OK, I thought. I'm definitely going to be held in some prison cell for the next week.

After the chemical test proved my Mother correct, I was allowed to go on my way. We had time to grab coffee and some food and make it on the Southwest plane to Orlando. A plane full of smiling happy faces! Including these;

This is my wife Val ( not the biggest of Disney fans ), with Yia-Yia in the middle and Alex by the window.

On the other side was yours truly sporting a Hawaiian shirt ( since we were staying at the Poly ), Toni and Sterg.

Before we knew it we were up in the clouds...

 

[pumpkin7]

Another down side of taking photos is you can see the backstage parts where there should not be any! Surely someone just left the lights on when they should have been turned off? You can see that Brer Bear is really only half the bear he should be!

Also, where is this??

Fab trip report by the way. Really enjoying it.

 

[fractal]

Another down side of taking photos is you can see the backstage parts where there should not be any! Surely someone just left the lights on when they should have been turned off? You can see that Brer Bear is really only half the bear he should be!

Also, where is this??



Fab trip report by the way. Really enjoying it.

thanks and that is in front of the gift shop for POTC ( after you exit the ride ).

 

[disneyfan1995]

Your ride photos are fantastic!

 

[thrupaytonseyes]

Amazing trip report! Looks like you had a fabulous time! Your kids are gorgeous! Love that you aren't afraid to add the good and bad for all to read. I can only imagine how my 3 will be when they are teenagers with the way they tease us and push each others buttons already.

 

[donaldtoo]

OK, all caught up, again! Echoing the fantastiosity of it all!!!
Love it all, but gotta' chime in on WL and WCC...
We first visited both in July of '12. For us (I especially, because I used to do A LOT of backpacking, camping, etc., in the Rockies back in the day) WL was love at first site! AMAZING resort!!! Have yet to stay there, but soon hopefully!
As far as WCC goes, Like you said, the food is good, not great. And yes, the ribs are always the biggest disappointment. If we didn't have so many places around these parts to get awesome ribs, I'd definitely find some way to get Flame Tree ribs shipped to us...! But, the food is good enough and, the place is just so darn fun to eat at!!!

Our first time there we had a party of 11 and it was a blast! Even I was gettin' in trouble for checkin' in on my phone...! We did the whole ketchup thing and our server was a hoot...
I'm kinda' a joker myself, so her and I just kept goin' back and forth...my DW just kept rollin' her eyes, but laughed a lot at us, too!
One of the sons of the couple we were with got in enough phone trouble to be put in "jail".
When our server went to put him in jail, the base of the wooden thing they put in front of you on the table to make it look like you're lookin' through jail cell bars accidentally (as far as we know, anyway ) caught the end of his straw and dumped an entire icy Coke right into his lap...! It just got more fun from there...!

On our trip this past June we had my MIL and niece with us. It was quite the hoot again, and they LOVED the place as much as we did! The whole water thing with Sterg is so darn funny, 'cause it's almost the exact same experience I had on this last trip...
For some reason, I was just so thirsty that day that all I ordered was water. As I kept askin' for refills, finally she brought out the big gun...yep, the ginormous mason jar. It's so darn big I decided to connect 3 of the 20 or so straws she threw at me when she brought it out...! Also got the bathroom pass, and at one point she pointed at me and told the whole place to look out for "this guy" if I started headin' towards the mens room...! Again, more fun with ketchup, niece participated in the horse race, and then our server invited our youngest DD, that had just graduated from HS, up to the front of the restaurant for a whole "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" routine where, not only her, but everyone in the place had to alternately sit and stand when they heard a "B" being sung in the song by the server. It was a hoot, and at the end DD cheered 'cause she was in the right position when it was all over...!
I could, obviously , go on about WCC and WL, but I've, obviously , gone on WAY long enough...!
Just such great memories!
Thanks, fractal!!!!!

 

[ml123_9]

We went to MK for the day on August 7, and I agree, Splash looked great. I didn't notice anything broken either. It almost looked brand new. Although I didn't get to enjoy the ride much either, I wasn't taking pictures though, I was busy keeping our DS7 calm on his first "big ride" at Disney. He was pretty scared throughout the ride because he knew of the drop. After the drop though, he was laughing hysterically. So that made it worth while. Once again, your pictures are amazing.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Seeing your WL pics make me excited to be staying there next week after the cruise! Can't wait to read the rest after I get back!

 

[BrittanyRose428]

Wilderness Lodge looks so nice in all of your pictures! I would love to stay there someday, but if we stay in that area it always gets overruled by a monorail resort.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Thanks dxer! ( but let's not get carried away ).

Just giving props to one of the better members, and one of my favorite posters, here... Take it... I don't dish that out often LOL...

and seeing your pictures from Whispering Canyon, I can see you really did have a good time there... As I said once before, I felt it was the worst meal I ever had at Disney... I can't explain why... Wasn't the atmosphere... But regardless, this was your trip, you had a blast that's what counts!

 

[Captain Chaos]

Wilderness Lodge looks so nice in all of your pictures! I would love to stay there someday, but if we stay in that area it always gets overruled by a monorail resort.

I stayed at Wilderness Lodge before... If you get the chance to, then stay there... it really is a beautiful resort...

 

[1023]

fractal...

Your photography is wonderful. I hope you enjoyed your trip as much as we enjoyed your pictures. You have a keen eye and obviously a good piece of equipment.

You have me fired up for my upcoming trip....!

*1023*

P.S. Thanks for sharing your family with us...!

 

[mamamouse]

Holy cow okay i have alot of comments cause i'm late to the party but here i finally finished my TR last night meaning I can now go back n catch up on everyone elses's.
First off let me say Tucanes Chris!
Omg I would be mortified at your whole powder situation.
Haha sterg,the baby seal thing is too much lol.
oh the gates of heaven!
I love the bradybunchness of the poly,yup that's a word now.
I love kona so much I booked it for 2 meals on my upcoming trip.......Tonga toast = homer drool!!!
What was toni drinking at kona? that looks delish whatever it is.
All that by noon? look at you being all productive and stuff eh?
I love 80's music especially that song.
Hailey and i are huge big thunder fans ,but I don't think i'll ever get riley to agree to it.
Your pics are fabulous !
I don't understand all the camera term but whatever it is is working.
I haven't made it to TL yet only blizzard beach but hopefully soon.
Also haven't done the drawing class yet but planning to do that with riley on the next one.
Best splash pics i've ever seen.
AS always great report so far can't wait to see what's next and omg Toni is growing up too fast!!!

 

[MouseDreaming]

Love the night pictures at Magic Kingdom. Incredible!

 

[PUSH]

I must have missed an update for this TR. But all caught up now! Still loving it, and Toni seems to be quite the photographer herself!

 

[fractal]

On Wednesday of that week, Toni and I got fastpasses to RRRC during our morning visit. I never used mine and gave it to Sterg when he and Alex met with us later in the day. While I with Val and Yia-Yia at Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Alex and Sterg were trying to convince Toni to give up her fastpass so that they could ride together ( since Toni rode RRRC 3 times that day ). Toni refused and none of them got on - in fact she tore up her ticket. I told Toni that it was "bad Karma" what she did and explained to her that good things happen to people that do good things.

Well after we exited Splash that evening at MK, Val was given 2 fastpasses for BTMRR by a nice lady. She decided to give them to Alex and Sterg, leaving Toni in the cold (bad karma). We did have Yia-yia get a fastpass for Splash (should have had her use our cards and get 6 Fps) that she gave Toni but it wasn't good for another hour. Alex and Sterg went on Big Thunder, while Val and Yia-yia headed back to the Poly. Toni was deciding what to do with her fastpass. She really didn't want to go on Splash alone so she gave her FP to a young boy. He was psyched! ( Good karma ). Toni and I decided to see what the standby was like for BTMRR. It was 60 minutes. I looked at the CM and said "60 minutes? That's too long."

She replied " Well, you could back later, it probably won't be as long."

"No" I said. "This would have been our last ride of the night"

She looked at me, then at Toni then said "here you go, have a magical night!"

With that she gave us Fastpasses! Man, I could not have planned it better. I looked at Toni and said "Now that's good Karma for giving that boy your fastpass!".

We actually thought we could catch up with Alex and Sterg, but didn't. It was a great ride, though and a perfect way to end the night! Here are some pics by Sterg on his Iphone as we left the park...

nice face...

 

[lbrad]

Love the "good karma" story!!!
I believe in karma !!!

 

[fractal]

The next morning (Thursday) we woke up to rain. I had rented a cabana for the day by the pool, so this was not the weather we were hoping for. On that morning, all the kids were up and they wanted to brave the weather and head to EPCOT. We grabbed ponchos and after having to deal with the monorail at TTC being shut down we arrived at EPCOT via bus. The good news was the rain stopped. I love Epcot, but we ended up not spending much time there this trip. Our last two trips, while staying at BC it was so easy to just walk into World Showcase and Epcot was the park we spent the most time in. One thing for sure, the park feels much bigger when you enter from the front! Our first stop was the Land for Soarin' FPs.

On our way and dry!

We got our FPs then went on Living with the Land; one of Alex's favorite rides ( and mine ).

Sturgeon for Sterg...

Not everybody enjoyed it as much as Alex and I...

some hidden Mickey's;

Teenager smiling in the morning!

Love the Land!

 

[fractal]

Next up was Mission Space.

Luckily for us, the tour group was leaving MS.

Sterg and Toni rode Orange while I rode Green.

while Alex waited outside. She's not a fan.

I ended up on a flight with a Mother and her son. Neither spoke English and I think they were trying to figure out why I was following them.

Not a good picture, but I was getting the "three's a crowd" feeling from Mom. In the end, we performed our mission to a "T" and had a good time.

We exited to find Alex had barely moved. Which I thought was somewhere between hilarious and ridiculous.

We considered Universe of Energy...

but I decided to lead the crew to a new experience for all of us!

 

[ISTCPilot1989]

but I decided to lead the crew to a new experience for all of us!

Loving this TR!! Also, Figment is the best!!!

 

[fractal]

Still a marvelous report Love the fisheye pics!!

Thanks Flagg!

As if I need to say it again.... great photos Chris! Thank you for that little tidbit of information about JPEg vs RAW. I shot in half JPEG, half RAW on our trip in May. I don't have an app to edit the RAW photos yet but my friend is getting me a copy of photoshop soon. So hopefully I can start working on editing those!

Isn't WL stunning? We stayed there for the first time in November 2011. We had wanted to swing for the Poly, but the AP discount wasn't available the dates we were there so it was a toss up between WL and AKL. We decided on WL because we're weren't going to AK on that trip and also because my Mom is big into camping and fishing and outdoorsy stuff. We knew she would like it. And all 3 of us ended up LOVING it. It just the right size, not too big (although it appears to be huge) and not too small. I really like how everything is in one building and not seperate sections. You would never know it's there, all peaceful and quiet, just seconds away from the MK and all the hustle and bustle there. Also, we hardly ever waited for a bus, even after the parks closed. Any time we did wait, which was only about 5 minutes at most, we always got a seat. There was never more then 10 people in line while all the other bus stops had massive amounts of people! Definitely give it a go on a future trip

Thanks Darolyn! Loved WL - good to know about the buses.

Hope you are having a great time on the cruise!

Still reading along. A couple o' three comments (cuz that's how I roll).

You getting pummeled in the TL wave pool!!! Wow. I'm always amazed this does not happen more often, and not just
with 'bigger' people. It's just the sheer force of those waves and the amount of people huddled together, not to mention the rough a$$ bottom of the pool, I'm surprised there are not major injuries every day there.
Please don't misunderstand me, I love TL and I love the wave pool I'm just pointing out it's nuts.

Second is the PO'd pick that Sterg got. LOVE IT!! It's not bad enough he was getting you all worked up but then he got the picture of it!! LOL! Sorry man, but like I said before misery loves company and you're great company.
That beer is waiting for you when you're ready and it looks like (just like me) you'll need it for more reason than one! Ahhh teenagers!

Lastly - we're finally heading back to Whispering Canyon after about a 4 years hiatus. I was second guessing our return there as the kids are much older and wasn't exactly sure if they'd still enjoy themselves..............until I saw your pics and all the fun you guys had. Now I can't wait to go back.

Yeah, I thought I was playing tackle football in the water! You do have to be careful in that wave pool.

I knew you could relate to that photo!

Have a great time at WL. Looking forward to the pictures!

Your last installments are so dang funny. Sterg getting the picture of you about ready to smack him upside the head is priceless! The picture of the little girl bring over the ketchup is funny too because Val has her mouth open like she's ready to say "What the H is going on here?" The close up of Sterg could caption this "Dad...I know I can't take you down, but I'm sure gonna try"! Toni is absolutely adorable!! Keep it coming!

Thanks Dennis!

This is our favorite photopass spot

it's a great spot!

Loving your report! Loved yiayia's comment on JC that Volta means trip in Greek. It reminds me of the dad in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and how he would translate all words into the Greek root word!

She is guilty of that. From time to time.

I have read all your trip reports and loved them all! Your family is so cute and Sterg cracks me up! The addition of Yia-Yia has been great as well! Can't wait until your next update!

Thanks Bam Bam!

I have finally read through your whole TR -- it only took me 3 days on and off once I discovered it! I kept coming back to it with that same anticipation I get for a new episode of my favorite TV show! I absolutely love everything about it. You've got drama, comedy, intrigue, and even some heartfelt moments!! You also have a great-looking family and entertaining cast of characters, and it looks like you all had a fantastic time.
We just got back last week from an 11-day trip there and I can empathize with you over kids not cooperating for a photo -- all I wanted was a Grade A brochure-worthy kid shot of them enjoying the Happiest Place on Earth and hence something to put on my desk at work as I pine away for the next trip, and I instead got mostly smirks, exasperated faces, squinty eyes, or Stan Laurel grins. Ugh. And my kids are not even teenagers yet! At least your youngest cooperated with you! She was quite the trooper and very photogenic ...
Art of Animation at HS was awesome wasn't it? My DH loved it so much he said he could have spent a whole day doing it. We ended up doing that at least 5 times!
Can't wait to read more about the Many Adventure of Yia-Yia and Sterg! Not to mention the rest of your gang.

Thanks DisSplash! I appreciate the comments. Yeah, wait till their teens! Loved the drawing class!

I feel like I am just echoing what everyone else has already told you but seriously what a great trip report and what amazing photos!!

Your family stories remind me of all the trips I took with my parents and my little brother years ago!! After watching my boyfriend and I plan our 3rd trip together, my family is finally talking about planning a huge trip with all of us next year!! I have a feeling, even though I'm 26 now and my brother is 17, we will still act your like your children on that trip and I cannot wait!!

Thanks Lexi! and thanks for reading along. You're never too old! I hope that trip come true.

Your pictures are beautiful! (Toni's too) I would love to get into photography, but as a freshman in college I have neither the time or money to do that

thank you wishes! when I was a freshman I sold my books to pay for beer.