Trip Report Yia-Yia, Yetis and Epcotonians. A sweltering Summer of '22 adventure!

It was the night before our Disney trip and I found myself scrambling. So much to do besides "Disney but "Disney" needed to get done. Where are my SD cards? Where are all my Star Wars shirts? Where is my camera bag? We had just moved after-all and things were not where they should be because well we were in a different house. Toni was scrambling too. She is spending the Summer waitressing in Bethany Beach Delaware and came home THAT DAY to get everything ready for Disney. Her Mom however also wanted her to help get her "crap" ready for college (leaving in a few weeks). Tensions were running high and the early morning flight out of Baltimore was like lighting a fuse to a stick of dynamite. Time was ticking away!

This was going to be a different trip for us. Just three of the five in the family as my wife Val decided to sit this one out and my daughter Alex couldn't get her schedule to work. So Val will be going to New Mexico to visit Alex in a month as the final three, the triumvirate headed to Walt Disney World to meet up with my sister Marina's family and my mom (Yia-Yia).

The Triumvirate -

Toni (center), Sterg and yours truly.

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As you may or may not know, one of the things I love about going to Disney is honing my photography skills. For this trip I decided to rent two fantastic (and expensive) lenses. The Sony GM 50mm f/ 1.2 and the Sony GM 14mm f/1.8 lenses to be exact. The cost to buy both of those lenses would be as much as the cost of the entire trip. Additionally I rented a lens adaptor to pair with my old Minolta 70-210 "beercan" lens that I wanted to try out on the Safari.

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I've been crazy after the 14mm lens due to it's wide angle nature. It's actually so wide it's referred to as an "ultra-wide angle" lens. Wide angle lenses have wonderful applications at WDW and I was going to see how this baby was going to work for me. The 50mm 1.2 is a lens with a great reputation. Very fast, very sharp and producing beautiful bokeh as your sharp subject stands in front of a background that literally melts into a dreamy blur of photographic delight.

By 11pm all that was packed, what was left of my Star Wars shirts was packed - "Chris, aren't we just getting a bit too old for Star Wars shirts?" Val quipped - and everything else on my list was packed.



Toni was also packed and had full-filled her "getting ready for college" obligations.

Val said her goodbyes and goodnights..
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and went to bed.


It was soon time for me to lay down for 3 hours of sleep. The hardest thing left for me to do was wake up with my alarm. I think I'll have a glass on wine (or two?). After-all, what could go wrong?
 
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Swissmiss

Premium Member
As for the lack of seating, this is an ongoing issue with all the QS places. It's beyond frustrating, and I've read multiple discussions on the forum about people "saving" tables, etc. I blame WDW for creating this problem, in the first place. :cautious:

This problem is not limited to WDW. We have this problem at a couple of different food courts where I live.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
By the time we reached Soarin' the wait time grew from 20 minutes to 70 minutes. We deferred and ended up here...

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Best horticultural and sustainable farming ride ever!

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My adult kids enjoy this ride more as they got older.

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2013 Sterg was not thrilled with LWTL

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Alex, my Biology major and now nurse enjoyed it much more.

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These displays were new to us...

I noticed there were no brands displayed for promotion. Everything was generic.

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While traveling the LWTL waterways I received good news from Bill. He opted out of Frozen Ever After and went to the wheelchair rental and low and behold they had YiaYia's glasses! There is an Orthodox Saint that YiaYia prays to when she loses something. Saint Phanourios...

St. Phanourios has become famous for assisting the faithful in revealing lost or hidden spiritual matters of the heart, objects, directing or revealing actions that should be taken, restoring health and similar situations. He is then honoured by the faithful through a symbolic cake, called the "Phanouropita" which can be brought to the church, at any time, for a blessing.

She always bakes a cake for him on his feast day which oddly enough was this past Saturday. She could tell you stories for an hour how many things she lost (including her wedding ring in New York City) then found after praying to the good Saint. Well she prayed to him the night she lost her glasses and once again, St. Phanourios came through for her!

After that good news we decided to leave The Land for our next adventure!

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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our Lightning Lane for Guardians was approaching but Toni wanted a Joffrey's iced coffee first so we literally left the Park to get one.

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But it put a smile on her face!

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We then made our way to Guardians.

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More smiles. 10 years ago getting this photo would have been near impossible and would have likely started a fight!

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With some time to spare I was milling around when I heard a familiar sound.

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The Jammitors were Jamming!

Here's the last one minute of their show...



They were great! After the show I asked for a photo and they happily obliged.

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Back at Guardians waiting for our time and Team Marina to arrive. I was getting excited to ride this and trying to formulate in my mind an idea of the ride's experience. A new adult thrill ride at WDW is not something you experience every day!

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UP NEXT - WOW! THAT WAS AMAZING! WHAT WAS THAT SONG?, COOL BREAK and YIAYIA NOT HAPPY DESPITE RECOVERED GLASSES!
 
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joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Our Lightning Lane for Guardians was approaching but Toni wanted a Joffrey's iced coffee first so we literally left the Park to get one.

DSC01406-X4.jpg


DSC01407-X4.jpg


But it put a smile on her face!

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We then made our way to Guardians.

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More smiles. 10 years ago getting this photo would have been near impossible and would have likely started a fight!

DSC01419-X3.jpg


With some time to spare I was milling around when I heard a familiar sound.

PXL_20220718_152356756~2-X3.jpg


The Jammitors were Jamming!



They were great! After the show I asked for a photo and they happily obliged.

DSC01426-X4.jpg


Back at Guardians waiting for our time and Team Marina to arrive. I was getting excited to ride this and trying to formulate in my mind an idea of the ride's experience. A new adult thrill ride at WDW is not something you experience every day!

DSC01429-X4.jpg


DSC01421-X4.jpg


UP NEXT - WOW! THAT WAS AMAZING! WHAT WAS THAT SONG?, COOL BREAK and YIAYIA NOT HAPPY DESPITE RECOVERED GLASSES!

awesome shot of SSE, Gaurdians and the monorail.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the pictures of Ratatouille. I decided to skip it while there earlier this month and from the pictures it looks like it doesn‘t differ from DLP (where I ride it frequently thanks to the single rider line 😉).

I think it's exactly the same.

First of all, the pastries looked absolutely delicious!! :hungry:

As for the lack of seating, this is an ongoing issue with all the QS places. It's beyond frustrating, and I've read multiple discussions on the forum about people "saving" tables, etc. I blame WDW for creating this problem, in the first place. :cautious:

No complaints from our group!

I Don't like rude people.

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Love the SSE photos. I may need to order one to replace the one on my "Home" wall. I had my own lost glasses story. They were never found but luckily I had brought an extra pair with me. Hope your story has a better ending.

Thanks @Dory71 ! Yes, the glasses were found and returned to YiaYia!

SSE Pictures

Stick Around Bob Ross GIF by Originals

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😅

I've been on Ratatouille once. After several beers on the walk over from the main entrance. With a 1-1/2 year old who was freaking out a little bit. Don't remember a thing about it, so thanks for bringing me on your trip/ride with your photos!!!
Waynes World Thumbs Up GIF

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This problem is not limited to WDW. We have this problem at a couple of different food courts where I live.

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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
awesome shot of SSE, Gaurdians and the monorail.

Thanks @joshsprincess921 ! I wanted to spend some more time finding different angle but was very happy with these!

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I was just about to post the same thing!!! Fractal, seeing your family in past photos to now is just so much fun. Nice to see Alex! And now I want to go back to Epcot just to follow the Jammitors around - I LOVE them!!

Love the Jammitors. Good music and great personalities!

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I am late! Was checking in to see if @LisaBelle had started her report and found this - now only 17 pages to catch up on! Can’t wait to follow this adventure.

Glad you're here!

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As a parent of a 22 year old son and soon to be 21 year old daughter, I can totally relate to the joy you must have had taking this photo.

Yes! no more - "he pushed me", "she pushed me first", "no he pushed me first!",

As others have said already, so true. But, after spending time with them last summer, you can tell they love being together. Still a great Disney moment for our family that night!

AMEN @coachwnh ! They may not be quite as dramatic but still a lot of fun!
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
I blame WDW for creating this problem, in the first place.
I blame WDW for EVERYTHING!!!😂
I've been on Ratatouille once. After several beers on the walk over from the main entrance. With a 1-1/2 year old who was freaking out a little bit. Don't remember a thing about it, so thanks for bringing me on your trip/ride with your photos!!!
Replace 1-1/2 year old with @wdisney9000 and samsies!!!😂
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Team Marina arrived and in we went.

SPOILER ALERT

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The queue line was impressive. It immediately started to transport you into a sense of being somewhere more "cosmic". The large scale props in a closed space lended well to the 14mm lens.


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A wide spiral ramp led you higher and closer to the "stars" projected top center.

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This led to another area which offered different displays of Xandar.

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We then met the GoTG through introductions and instructions. They were wise-cracking as ever.

"I am Groot"

"Hi Groot"

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As you can see - plenty of exit signs.

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Then we met Glen Close/Nova Prime.

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And Terry Crews/Tal Marik who greeted us and called us Epcotians, Epcotilians, Epcotonians, etc. and told us he was going to teleport us up to their ship as part of an interplanetary goodwill mission or some such thing.


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We were then led to another room with this teleportation machine over our heads...

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