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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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Happy 21st Birthday to Toni!!!🎂 Your Yia-Yia stories are a treasure to read! I laughed out loud when reading how she thought it was Sterg pushing her. 🤣🤣🤣 Your mom is a trooper being able to handle that heat and humidity at her age!

Thanks @lindawdw !
She really is a trooper and she's very funny and engaging. Her hearing is failing her and the worst thing about it is how it affects her ability to interact and socialize because she love doing that.

Happy 21st Toni 🎂 🎉 🥳

My baby girl turns 21 in January; they grow up too fast.

Indeed they do!


Happy birthday to Toni the.....Tiger...!!
Shake Shaking GIF by Nat Geo Wild


Lame joke...Sorry.

I watched the Clemson Men's soccer team game last night...

They're really good!

Happy birthday to Toni!! So fun you all got to spend time together for the occasion 🙌

Also to respond to your response to me...we're staying in the tower 😅

Great, I think you'll love it!

Hi 21!
Ariana Grande Hello GIF by The Voice

Happy Birthday Toni! So cool that you are celebrating together. Hope it was fun!

Lol! I actually have a "hi" coming up in a video.



Happy Birthday to two of your three!
As always, love all the photos!

Thanks @erstwo !
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sterg took over YiaYia wheelchair duties and I'm sure was serenaded with sweet songs of praise and adulations.

Our next Lighting Lane was for Rise of the Resistance. Bill and Aidan were impressed with it at rope drop and we eager to do it again. We had some time to discuss our vacation and WDW and they both were transforming from luke-warm fans to bona-fide fans of WDW. We also had some time to explore Batuu in all it's gritty glory.



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We wandered into the bad side of town just in time to see Kylo Ren out recruiting for the First Order.

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Around 16 seconds in this video you can hear one of Toni's classic "hi". The guy he recruited was way too eager to join the Dark Side.

 
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DznyRktekt

Well-Known Member
Sterg took over YiaYia wheelchair duties and I'm sure was serenaded with sweet praise and compliments.

Our next Lighting Lane was for Rise of the Resistance. Bill and Aidan were impressed with it at rope drop and we eager to do it again. We had some time to discuss our vacation and WDW and they both were transforming from luke-warm fans to bona-fide fans of WDW. We also had some time to explore Batuu in all it's gritty glory.
I have a feeling spending time in the bubble with Fractal and crew could transform anyone into a park fan.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Unbirthday wishes to Toni and @fractal jr and congrats to you @fractal for raising some amazing adults!

Thanks @PacNWTigger !


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Happy belated birthday @fractal jr !

He just bought his first car! A 2018 Kia Sportage.

September 9th they were 17.00 plus tax for Cosmic Rewind

I pretty sure we paid $11 or $12 in July. Disney inflation.

I have a feeling spending time in the bubble with Fractal and crew could transform anyone into a park fan.

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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our success at heisting coaxium thing-a-ma-gigs led us to be recruited into the Resistance. We entered their secret underground base.

Toni checking our coordinates. Sterg fixing his hair.

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I know this droid!

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Rey gives us the lowdown. They sound pretty desperate.

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Additional instructions...

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We boarded our ship for another space mission but before I could say "i got a bad feeling about this" we were locked in a First Order tractor beam.

and ended up here.

Yikes!

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We weren't blasted on sight but instead were escorted to the detention center.

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This Imperial Guard was all business. He didn't find my smart-alek comments funny. Not funny at all!

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So that's why they didn't kill us; they want us to give them the location of the secret base.

No way you First Order scum!

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OH NO! What are we going to do???

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Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Where did we leave off? Oh by the way, it's @fractal jr Birthday!



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Back to YiaYia and I traveling through the zany Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad...

She was entranced by it!

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The 14mm lens proved to be a good choice.

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Photos however do not capture the best part of this ride which is the animation on the walls coming to life to not only tell the story but also give you a sense of being part of it and moving through the story with our favorite mice.

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Underwater

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This is a passage between rooms - the waves on the wall are moving up and down and towards the next room as your car picks up speed as if you've been caught up in them. Very cool illusion!

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We both enjoyed our quick dance lesson as the car would perform the steps off Daisy's instructions.

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and we avoided being smashed!

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Another happy ending!

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UP NEXT - Our Day with YiaYia continues across the Galaxy!
Happy birthday, Sterg!! Hope it was a great day!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We're being saved! I didn't notice this effect last time.

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Let's roll!

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Wrong direction

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Spotted!

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We'll hide in here.

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"These are sick." Said Sterg.

"Hi sick." Toni replied

They really are "sick" though.

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Good thing Stormtroopers can't shoot.

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Eh hmm, excuse us, do either of you gentleman know where the exit is?

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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Kylo apparently didn't like me interrupting him.

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We somehow escaped to find ourselves in the middle of a space battle!

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Kylo not giving up. He wants us to give up the location of the base, then he'll destroy us and the Resistance. I don't see a lot of upside for me here. Not very good negotiating skills KR. At least throw us a bone or something.

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Luckily he didn't get a chance to counter...

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Off we go!

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Thank God for conveniently placed escape pods!

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Back on the ground and the location of the base stayed secret!

Always Remember - Loose lips sink ships!

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DisneyJeff

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
That was close. It's a good thing you didn't reveal the location of the secret base.

I would've cracked under pressure.

"Sure I can tell you where it is... First you have to take the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios, then make your way through the gates and keep going straight until you see a movie theater where you can actually become a cartoon. Hang a left at the theater then keep going until you see this quaint little draft beer garden. If you see some talking puppets, you know you've gone too far. I'd recommend stopping at the beer garden for a bit. The food and drinks are out of this world. Once you are finished there, hang a right and head for the tunnel. As soon as you come out the other side of the tunnel, make a sharp left into the woods, follow the path for a few hours and you should be able to find the secret base. If you get lost, there are plenty of people to help you find your way. Good luck and can I get a ride back down to Batuu? I have a dinner reservation that I really don't want to miss. Thanks."
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Happy birthday, Sterg!! Hope it was a great day!

Thanks @Songbird76 ! I'll pass it along. He's been a busy beaver lately.


That was close. It's a good thing you didn't reveal the location of the secret base.

I would've cracked under pressure.

"Sure I can tell you where it is... First you have to take the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios, then make your way through the gates and keep going straight until you see a movie theater where you can actually become a cartoon. Hang a left at the theater then keep going until you see this quaint little draft beer garden. If you see some talking puppets, you know you've gone too far. I'd recommend stopping at the beer garden for a bit. The food and drinks are out of this world. Once you are finished there, hang a right and head for the tunnel. As soon as you come out the other side of the tunnel, make a sharp left into the woods, follow the path for a few hours and you should be able to find the secret base. If you get lost, there are plenty of people to help you find your way. Good luck and can I get a ride back down to Batuu? I have a dinner reservation that I really don't want to miss. Thanks."

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One of the absolute best photos I've seen of this! It truly gave me chills!

Thank you @cgersic ! I stopped and squatted down to take this while Toni was yelling at me to keep moving. :)

We loved MMRR! I can see why it was her favorite :)

I miss the Great Movie Ride but really enjoy this ride.

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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our morning at DHS complete we went to exchange Yiayia's wheelchair for her scooter. Team Marina, this time with Mia went to EPCOT but Yiayia wanted to go back to the resort so my triumvirate stayed with her.

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At some point we discovered that Mia had Yiayia's scooter key and room/entrance card so Toni ran after her. I decided to take some photos of the gas pumps which are pretty cool.

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Toni was successful in her quest but by the time she got back a full on rain storm hit. Seconds later we were jammed packed under Oscar's with others seeking shelter.

Eventually it slowed down enough to make it to the buses.

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Toni sat with Yiayia.

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Then got a workout in while I took a nap.

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