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?

 

[Bob]

sterg and i front row expedition everest

A <like> for you here and also on YouTube!

 

[LSV]

Expedition Everest is my favorite ride, front row or back row is best! On one visit a few years ago with my three teenagers AK closed at 7. They were ready to leave at 6:30 but I encouraged them to detour to EE and we rode 4 or 5 times before closing. So much fun!

 

[Figaro Family]

I started out with a 5 second exposure of the Boardwalk area. I also used shutter delay to keep my heavy fingers from causing any unwanted vibrations. The Friendship boat crossing the lake was moving at a perfect speed.

Can't have too many shots of the lighthouse.

My memory is a bit fuzzy but I must have dragged my tripod with me that night, only because I know I didn't drag a trash can into the middle of this walkway.

The Yacht Club.

A wider view of the boardwalk taken from the pier (on the other side of the lighthouse). This was a 15 second exposure and you can tell by looking at the Friendship boat on the right side which is just streaks of color.

Back on the pathway. The smoke coming from the direction of the Swan is from the Star Wars fireworks at DHS.

Tighter shot. I was now up to 20 seconds.

A closed Storm-along-Bay. There was a lifeguard still stationed there (which you can see in the photo). I wonder if they keep one on duty all night light.

This was my attempt of this shot in 2011 when I first started to get back into photography.

One more before I packed it in.

It was overall a really great day! Thrills at DHS, some good pool time, great dinner and company and I got a number of shots crossed off my pre-trip list. I went to bed a happy man.

UP Next - A morning alone at MK which was good and bad. Happily Ever After.

We spent the final four nights of our trip at the Beach Club and I was taking peeks at WDW Magic reports during downtime there when I saw your amazing photos of the Boardwalk/Yacht Club area. I knew right then that any pictures I tried to take of the property with my iphone would be pathetic by comparison, so I'll just refer back to yours when I want to remember how great it was.

 

[MinnieM123]

Love Sterg's video of EE!! I felt like I was there riding in the front row with the two of you. EE is one of my favorite rides in all of WDW. Think it's one of the most exciting coasters around Thanks Fractal, Jr. -- that was fun!

 

[fractal]

As we set off for our safari you felt like you could almost cut the air as the humidity was brutal. We had a great driver however who never wavered despite some unusual events.

Rhino on the move.

While the Pelican was chillin' -

The big fellow (or is it a gal?) was finding some shade.

Do not disturb.

@Tuvalu favorite animal.

I thought they were rather cool.

These guys were also cool but were always off in the distance.

The giraffes however were not shy! I don't remember ever getting this close.

also got very close to the steers.

we started to hear thunder rumbling, then some rain drops.

The male elephant. We were told they like to have a lot of "alone time".

A few minutes later the dark clouds reached us and released a deluge of water. The Florida summer afternoon thunderstorm made its appearance on "Boy's Day".

This was the first time I had been on KS during a real storm. There really wasn't anything I guess they could do but continue on our trip, which is exactly what our driver did. We did get a bit wet as the rain blew into the truck.

It was pouring!

 

[fractal]

Sterg and his roommate are sporting Disney ponchos at the Penn State game...

 

[myhappyplace]

Love it!! 2 of my favorites...Disney and PSU!!!

 

[spacemt354]

Sterg and his roommate are sporting Disney ponchos at the Penn State game...

Close game... 52-0 -- off to a good start!

 

[coachwnh]

As we set off for our safari you felt like you could almost cut the air as the humidity was brutal. We had a great driver however who never wavered despite some unusual events.

Rhino on the move.

While the Pelican was chillin' -

The big fellow (or is it a gal?) was finding some shade.

Do not disturb.

@Tuvalu favorite animal.

I thought they were rather cool.

These guys were also cool but were always off in the distance.

The giraffes however were not shy! I don't remember ever getting this close.

also got very close to the steers.

we started to hear thunder rumbling, then some rain drops.

The male elephant. We were told they like to have a lot of "alone time".

A few minutes later the dark clouds reached us and released a deluge of water. The Florida summer afternoon thunderstorm made its appearance on "Boy's Day".

This was the first time I had been on KS during a real storm. There really wasn't anything I guess they could do but continue on our trip, which is exactly what our driver did. We did get a bit wet as the rain blew into the truck.

It was pouring!

love the safari in the rain!

 

[fractal]

There we were on Kilimanjaro Safari in a complete downpour. I was about to put my camera away for protection when the driver told us a great photo opportunity was coming up. The elephants, including the baby were in the water and playing in the rain. It seems they were very happy the blanket of heat and humidity was being washed away.

Instead of taking photos however, I decided to video this.

After viewing the video later I was thrilled with that decision, it's really fun to watch!



I then decided to put away the camera. I was getting pretty soaked as was the cloth I laid on top of my Sony. We finished the safari and we were left off but the rain was now coming down even harder so everyone decided to wait under the cover of the "unloading area" - until the CM's firmly told us that we needed to move out as another truck was coming with more people to unload. We had no ponchos or umbrellas as we stepped out into the torrential rain. I quickly discovered that my Animal Kingdom flip flops were not nearly as good in the rain as the torn Crocs they replaced. My feet continued to slip out of the side of them making travel very slow. Sterg ran quickly ahead of me and darted under the covered queue line.

By the time I made it to him, he was being kicked out by another unsympathetic CM. We just need to get out of there and find shelter in one of the buildings in Africa. It was further than I thought and very slow going. I came close to taking off my flip flops and just running barefoot in the rain but decided against that. A few minutes later i saw Sterg waving me into the big gift shop right outside of the KS entrance. He was drenched, I was soaked through. Luckily both of the cameras were fine. My A7rii was protected in the camera bag but Sterg did not have a one for the NEX-7. It got soaked and I thought it was going to be a goner. Water and electronics usually don't mix very well. To my happy surprise the camera showed no sign of damage! That camera has been beat up pretty good - on the beach, getting wet, dropped and banged. I've taken almost 200,000 photos on it and although it's a bit slower here and there she's still going strong.

My extreme annoyance of being in wet clothing spurred a search for new t shirts. It reminded both of us of the time we went looking for sweatshirts in Disney's California Adventure as we were not prepared for a chilly night. With the new t-shirts in hand and no dressing room I was trying to figure out where to change, until I saw Sterg in the corner calmly taking off his shirt and putting on the new one.

"OK, stand in front of me while I change." I said to him as I approached.

"Sure I will." He said smiling and holding up the camera.

"Sterg, if you film or photo any of this, you will die." I said as seriously and firmly as I could muster. The last thing we needed on Youtube was a video of me wrestling off a wet shirt in a Disney gift shop. Thankfully he complied.


I also bought a couple of Disney ponchos to go along with the one I purchased during our evening in Pandora. At least Sterg made use of them today at college.

With the rain slowing down to just "steady" we started to head towards Pandora and the new restaurant, Satu'li Canteen. Upon entering we were greeted warmly by each of the 4 CM's we encountered along the way to the ordering line. I got the Chicken Bowl and Sterg the Beef bowl. I don't know if it was because we were really hungry but we thought each was surprisingly delicious and filling.

Sterg was raving about his beef bowl.

Two big thumbs up for Satu'li!

We spent some time there laughing about our adventure in the rain, making fun of some of the strange people we encountered in the very crowded gift shop; included a man that was pouring candy from the dispensers in his hand and eating them. I guess he thought it was free.

The decor inside Satu'li (which I still don't know how to pronounce).

The time had finally come for our second trip on a Banshee.

The rain fed waterfalls were roaring.

UP NEXT - "Boy's Day" continues as we leave Animal Kingdom for Magic Kingdom and my attempt to photography Happily Ever After.

 

[Zipadeelady]

"Sure I will." He said smiling and holding up the camera.

.

 

[LieutLaww]

Satu'li Canteen is def on my list of places to eat !

 

[MinnieM123]

Your safari photos were amazing--it's very difficult to get decent pictures while in the safari buggy, let alone you never know when an animal will appear, or disappear. Great job.

One of my pet peeves is when rain is coming down in buckets, and you get (some) CMs who start yelling at people to move away from an overhang, etc. Sorry, but a downpour is not where you want to stand.

 

[cgersic]

I sat down an hour ago thinking I would read a few pages. Your photos, and that I have read your prior trip reports, now have me at page 26 with no break. Thank you!! I needed this today!

 

[fractal]

A <like> for you here and also on YouTube!

Thank you sir!

Expedition Everest is my favorite ride, front row or back row is best! On one visit a few years ago with my three teenagers AK closed at 7. They were ready to leave at 6:30 but I encouraged them to detour to EE and we rode 4 or 5 times before closing. So much fun!

Still a great ride. we rode it countless times this trip. Thanks for following!

We spent the final four nights of our trip at the Beach Club and I was taking peeks at WDW Magic reports during downtime there when I saw your amazing photos of the Boardwalk/Yacht Club area. I knew right then that any pictures I tried to take of the property with my iphone would be pathetic by comparison, so I'll just refer back to yours when I want to remember how great it was.

Lol! I hope you enjoyed the resort as much as I did. Happy to see you started your report!

Love Sterg's video of EE!! I felt like I was there riding in the front row with the two of you. EE is one of my favorite rides in all of WDW. Think it's one of the most exciting coasters around Thanks Fractal, Jr. -- that was fun!

Thanks @MinnieM123 but truth be told, with Sterg back at school the video responsibilities fell back to me. After a crash course in Photoshop video editing I managed to put together and upload a couple of videos. Not as creative as Sterg, but give me time.

Love it!! 2 of my favorites...Disney and PSU!!!

Yes!

Close game... 52-0 -- off to a good start!

Could be an exciting year!

love the safari in the rain!

Us too, as long as we were covered!

Satu'li Canteen is def on my list of places to eat !

I heard mixed reviews on the "pods", but the bowls were very good!

Your safari photos were amazing--it's very difficult to get decent pictures while in the safari buggy, let alone you never know when an animal will appear, or disappear. Great job.

One of my pet peeves is when rain is coming down in buckets, and you get (some) CMs who start yelling at people to move away from an overhang, etc. Sorry, but a downpour is not where you want to stand.

Thanks @MinnieM123 ! It is a challenge for sure with all the movement. Our driver did a great job of slowing and stopped when we had a great view of animals.

I was a bit upset with being told to move out into a full fledged thunderstorm.

I sat down an hour ago thinking I would read a few pages. Your photos, and that I have read your prior trip reports, now have me at page 26 with no break. Thank you!! I needed this today!

Thanks @cgersic ! I appreciate you following along!

 

[fractal]

A few more photos from Discover Cove.

Val said she really enjoyed herself. The unlimited wine and drinks didn't hurt.

Toni flat out loved it. As I said before she always wanted to do this so she was thrilled and lucky to have such a nice Aunt!

This was the second time for Marina and Courtney and Mia's first. They also had a blast. Yia-yia enjoyed herself but not without some drama. Her hearing is not the best as she suffers from Otosclerosis which effects the little bones in your ear (Unfortunately I suffer from the same thing). There is a surgery to help with this (which she had about 25 years ago and I had recently) but is still a progressive condition. You can see her hearing aids in this photo.

I'm not at the point of needing hearing aids but I can tell my hearing is not what it used to be. The many years of blasting music in my car and headphones probably doesn't help.

This dolphin took a liking to Yia-Yia (which ended up being a very good thing).

When taking the group shot, everyone was told not to touch the dolphins dorsal fin. Yia-Yia didn't hear that, even though it was repeated to her by Marina and Val.

She was "scolded" a bit by the trainer. They were however, surprised the dolphin remained so calm. Maybe it really did like her.

The whole experience looked and sounded great, but as I said before it comes at a cost. There was an even higher level you could purchase that included more "top-shelf" liquor. I'm not quite sure an all you can drink booze fest goes too well with a dolphin interaction but nevertheless it was a great time by all!

The Discovery Cove ticket also got you into Seaworld which at this point I have no photos of as none of the photo takers from the day have responded to my repeated request for pictures.

The general consensus was that it was fun and the coasters were "cool" however the phrase "but it's just not Disney" was uttered many times.

 

[Bob]

There we were on Kilimanjaro Safari in a complete downpour. I was about to put my camera away for protection when the driver told us a great photo opportunity was coming up. The elephants, including the baby were in the water and playing in the rain. It seems they were very happy the blanket of heat and humidity was being washed away.

Instead of taking photos however, I decided to video this.

After viewing the video later I was thrilled with that decision, it's really fun to watch!

Few years back we got to the see the elephant family group swimming and playing in their pool. CM even was able to keep the truck sitting there for quite a while so we could watch it. Seeing that literally brought my wife to tears.

 

[wdisney9000]

rain drops.

Drop top....


Sorry, I couldnt help myself. For anybody who has no idea what that is, here ya go

 

[fractal]

It surprised me that "potable water" was needed to make Flight of Passage go. Maybe for the banshee?

Link chamber? Listening to this guy was like the torture chamber.

Another great FoP ride! I enjoyed it even more the second time because you don't spend the first minute in utter disbelief.

A few more photos of Pandora.

We quickly went on Dinosaur before we left AK. In fact this photo of us wearing our new shirts and ponchos proves it.

No photos from my camera this time, which made it more fun.

Top left not impressed. Bottom left overwhelmed!

Next stop was Yacht Club. As we walked in I checked with Bell Service - YES! My Crocs Val ordered on day 1 had arrived!

We took the elevator to our floor and as we started down the hall to our room I told Sterg to take off his shoes. We both enjoyed the YC plush carpet massaging our tired feet!

After quickly changing, we walked out of YC to see 2 MinnieVans parked and waiting for customers. I was shocked that nobody was utilizing this service, although there was no signs and the only way I knew about it was from reading WDWMagic. Sterg and I shrugged our shoulders and jumped into another MinnieVan for a quick and easy ride to Magic Kingdom. ( This was the time we met the driver from my old neighborhood).

Of all the times I've been to Magic Kingdom, this was the first time during sunset. Usually around that time of day we are either scrambling to get ready for dinner or at dinner. The freedom of just being two of us and with no dinner plans was refreshing and walking into the park that evening was amazing.

A photo of the sun dropping below City Hall to go with my photo from that morning of the sun rising over the Town Square Theater.

It was still hot, but you could feel the edge being taken off. Main Street circle was glowing.

 

[fractal]

Sterg making another video.

We were quite the pair as we merrily walked towards the castle.

Everything was right in the world. For those moments around the castle that evening I really did leave all my worries behind. I remember looking at Sterg as he walked around with a big smile on his face. I felt relief that I didn't have the burden of everyone else's enjoyment and the pressure to get to the next "thing to do". I was in a true state of Hakuna Matata.

A problem free, philosophy - at least for that small slice of time.

We left the hub (but would be back!).

Magical sunset.

With no dinner plans we were free to make them on the fly.

Which we did!

Cheapest meal I've ever had at Disney.

Come to Papa! Dole whip #2 for the Day!

As I explained to Sterg the story and history behind Dole Whips in the Tiki Room (and MK now allowing it!) we made our way to another Walt classic.