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
My Mom wasn't up to hitting the Parks for the evening so we had dinner at Coronado Springs. With Three Bridges Bar & Grill being walk-up we ventured there.

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The bridges connected the different sides of CSR to a suspended "hub" in the middle of the small lake. I believe there were two other eating options on the hub; Maya Grill and El Mercado de Coronado.

Toni was taking care of YiaYia...

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But she wanted to sit next to me.

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We enjoyed our light meal which suited the very warm weather.

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Thumbs up for my mini-tacos...

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YiaYia liked her shrimp but ended up giving me a couple.

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We had a good time and some funny conversation at Three Bridges Bar & Grill in a relaxed not rushed setting. The appeal of Coronado Springs was growing on me.

With YiaYia back in her room we all decided to hop on over to Magic Kingdom for the evening...

Dessert was our first stop. Toni seemed determined to continue with the fish lips although at the time of the photo I was too concentrated at looking into the correct part of the cell phone so I wouldn't look like a crazy person (didn't work) to notice. The ice-cream hit the spot!

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The suspended sunset mist made Rivers of America look dreamlike.

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Actually it was my fogged up lens (I forgot to follow my own hair-dryer advice) that created the effect.

What it really looked like - still beautiful!

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BrerWayne

Well-Known Member
My Mom wasn't up to hitting the Parks for the evening so we had dinner at Coronado Springs. With Three Bridges Bar & Grill being walk up we ventured there.

PXL_20220719_211236512-X3.jpg


The bridges connected the different sides of CSR to a suspended "hub" in the middle of the small lake. I believe there were two other eating options on the hub; Maya Grill and El Mercado de Coronado.

Toni was taking care of YiaYia...

783B7AF9-04AC-4328-AD35-BCA956B98246-X2.jpg


But she wanted to sit next to me.

4E88F637-398F-4D1C-99CA-6515560E6D46-X3.jpg


We enjoyed our light meal which suited the very warm weather.

F136D04C-FD3A-4ACC-A9C7-39B60CB81B3B-X2.jpg


Thumbs up for my mini-tacos...

7DE5D6B5-B128-46A7-AE8B-E81C0C46FDA5-X3.jpg


YiaYia liked her shrimp but ended up giving me a couple.

PXL_20220719_214058075.PORTRAIT-X3.jpg


We had a good time and some funny conversation at Three Bridges Bar & Grill in a relaxed not rushed setting. The appeal of Coronado Springs was growing on me.

With YiaYia back in her room we all decided to hop on over to Magic Kingdom for the evening...

Dessert was our first stop. Toni seemed determined to continue with the fish lips although at the time of the photo I was too concentrated at looking into the correct part of the cell phone so I wouldn't look like a crazy person (didn't work) to notice. The ice-cream hit the spot!

10F40F3D-36CD-45B9-BE64-53F872F78582-X3.jpg


The suspended sunset mist made Rivers of America look dreamlike.

DSC01860-X4.jpg


Actually it was my fogged up lens (I forgot to follow my own hair-dryer advice) that created the effect.

What it really looked like - still beautiful!

DSC01861-X4.jpg
The fogged up picture looks like how I imagine heaven is like.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Some more shots by the river with the 14mm lens ...

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Blue hour...

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The 2/3rds patience finally grew thin.

"C'mon Pops, we want to ride Big Thunder...at nighhhht."

"OK, I'm done. Let do it!"


A start contrast to Summer of 2020. People now jammed in.

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Notice I was lugging around my camera bag - with tripod attached. They would come in handy later that evening.

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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
50 minute wait for Splash Mountain on a hot, muggy night? Didn't sound appealing at first but after a little back and forth among our triumvirate we decided to get in line.

Standing in a line with a long wait with young children can be challenging to say the least. I remember the days of their impatience, whining, complaining, running into people, having to go to the bathroom several times, getting in fights with each other, he started it, she started it, I was first, no I was first and on and on. Add hot weather on top of it and no amount of pixie dust is going to make that torturous wait magical. Expressions like this would be common.

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Things change when they become teenagers. Your precious little angles become way too cool to be seen with you much less talking to you. This is the age of the one-word answers. Taking pictures of your now humans in adults bodies and underdeveloped brains is nearly impossible or is made to make you feel as if they are doing you the biggest favor in the world but mostly they shun your camera like a vampire would shun a cross dipped in garlic sauce.

This changes in adulthood as their brains become fully developed and they can actually carry on a lengthy conversation with you and even a conversation that's not about them. I started to recognize this during our 2020 trip and more so in 2022. Our wait in line was all of 50 minutes but the time seem to go by quickly and looking back, it was time well spent as we had a lot of catch up conversation, talking about their future plans and dreams and some fun interaction with another group we would continue to line up with in line.

I of course also had to take a few photos.

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Right around here the fireworks started.

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I was at about as good of a vantage point in the line for this shot.

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getting closer...

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Time to go!

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amjt660

Well-Known Member
Our wait in line was all of 50 minutes but the time seem to go by quickly and looked back, it was time well spent as we had a lot of catch up conversation, talking about their future plans and dreams and some fun interaction with another group we would continue to line up with in line.

this is something that every parent should hope happens between them and their children

I really appreciated this perspective inside your trip report of amazing pictures

Thank you Chris for sharing


Max
 

coachwnh

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Standing in a line with a long wait with young children can be challenging to say the least. I remember the days of their impatience, whining, complaining, running into people, having to go to the bathroom several times, getting in fights with each other, he started it, she started it, I was first, no I was first and on and on. Add hot weather on top of it and no amount of pixie dust is going to make that torturous wait magical. Expressions like this would be common.
This is just so funny and so true.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Your pictures are great, but the memories and descriptions of your time spent with the kids/now adults are the gold in this trip report.

Thanks @RememberWhen ! Some of it was tongue in cheeks but the sentiments are all true.

Tell Sterg to hunker down and be safe!

Thanks @Dory71 He's doing well!

this is something that every parent should hope happens between them and their children

I really appreciated this perspective inside your trip report of amazing pictures

Thank you Chris for sharing


Max

Thanks Max!

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This is just so funny and so true.

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Toni doing the fish and Sterg looks like he smells fish...(or maybe the sweat water).

Lol! I think it was definitely the water that night!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yes, I’m not sure what part of FL Sterg is in but I hope he’s: safe, warm and dry. I hope he doesn’t have too much damage to deal with.

He's in Tampa but went to his cousin's place in DelRay. He was scheduled to move into a new apartment on Saturday but not so sure now. My in-laws are staying in a hotel in Melbourne. Luckily for them the storm hit south of the Tampa area.

Our Friend Beth, who appeared in my 2017 report...

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Our friend from High School moved down to Florida about 15 years ago and married a great guy. They live 2 hours from Sue and Al and made the drive to visit and have dinner with us. Now that's a good friend!

Val & Beth (or Bethie as we call her).



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She lives in Cape Coral which has the highest winds recorded yesterday (140mph). Her and her husband are safe and ready to access the damage today.


We hope all is well with Sterg today and he is safe. Also we hope all Floridians have managed to get through this hurricane safely.

Thanks @Wicked Sisters ! He's doing well. 👍
 

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