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
Thank you for all the Birthday wishes! It's always a little crazy this time of year for us. Now all I hear is how underprivileged Sterg and Toni were growing up because we would always have joint birthday parties (not entirely true)!
But there's nothing like a Batman + Cinderella birthday cake!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh I wish YaiYai had been aboard the M Falcon. It'd be epic!

Sometimes her driving reminds me of being on that ride.

Happy belated Birthday @fractal jr

Congratulations @fractal for raising 3 successful, wonderful children! I hope I am as lucky! Not that I think it all had to do with luck... go you!!

Thanks @littleroo ! That means a lot and believe me there have been bumps in the road. Wishing you all the best!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Waiting for the mission to begin.

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Spirits were high!

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We discover that Hondo was in charge of this operation.

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The CM directing traffic made a "no flash photography" announcement which I'm always in favor of in dark rides as flash can ruin the experience for others and it destroys the lighting that was designed for the ride.

Right after I took the shot of Hondo someone behind me used a flash and not a cell phone flash - a good sized flash. As I started to cringe the CM goes Darth Sidious on me! He ran across the room pointing at me and aggressively accusing me of using a flash.

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I can see why he would think that - it came from my side of the room and my LUME cube could easily be mistaken for a flash but man this guy was really pee'd off!

"You! You! right there! I said no flash! You! You!"

"It wasn't me."
I said calmly but loudly holding up my camera. "This is not a flash. It a constant light and I didn't use it."

Of course the unknown guilty party remained silent.

"No more flash sir!" He continued while pointing at me.

I just nodded.

"Jeez, I thought he was going to kill you." Marina remarked.

"Anger leads to the dark side." I replied to the amusement of the squadron.

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With that little drama behind us we continued with our mission.

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Making sure all our gear was successfully loaded.

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Space chess is a great way to pass the time while traversing through the Galaxy.

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I personally think this would look great in a "man-cave" or a "lady's cave".

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Hondo telling us it was time to board the cockpit.

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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My third time riding Smuggler's run and finally figuring how to play the game. Marina and Toni did a great job piloting, while Sterg and Courtney shot down plenty of TIE fighters and I actually harpooned a few coaxium trains. Overall we got 3 coaxium thing-a-ma-jigs.



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Until next time...

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Good job team! Time to meet up with the others and check on YiaYia.

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She was just fine!

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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Happy 21st Birthday to Toni!!!! :) (My goodness, how time flies! I recall TRs you did years ago, and she was just a kid, swimming in the pool at the Poly! :joyfull: )

The days go slow, the years go fast. Thanks @MinnieM123 - that was one of my favorite trips.

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As far as Smuggler's Run - you get quick basic instructions from Hondo but usually your first time is absolute chaos.

I found these helpful tips online...

 

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