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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Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Chris, I hope some of the performers in Lion King are WDWmagic forum members and see your photos. Your shots capture so much emotion for a performance portfolio.
Agreed!! And just as a memory, it's fantastic. My daughter used to be involved in musical theater, and every year they did a production, and every year they told us we weren't allowed to take pictures, but that we didn't need to because they had a photographer who was taking pictures throughout and they'd post them on social media. And every year, there would be no picture of my daughter. They'd have multiple closeups of several kids and you could see my daughter's right cheek and arm in the background, or just a bit of her face in profile next to another kid who was the focus of the picture, but none of my daughter. Even when she had the solo, they didn't take any pictures of her singing it. Pictures like these are the kind I would have LOVED to have of my kid, and that I'm sure she would have loved to have someday to remember that time.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Agreed!! And just as a memory, it's fantastic. My daughter used to be involved in musical theater, and every year they did a production, and every year they told us we weren't allowed to take pictures, but that we didn't need to because they had a photographer who was taking pictures throughout and they'd post them on social media. And every year, there would be no picture of my daughter. They'd have multiple closeups of several kids and you could see my daughter's right cheek and arm in the background, or just a bit of her face in profile next to another kid who was the focus of the picture, but none of my daughter. Even when she had the solo, they didn't take any pictures of her singing it. Pictures like these are the kind I would have LOVED to have of my kid, and that I'm sure she would have loved to have someday to remember that time.

That's terrible. I was not only allowed to take photos of Toni's recital, I also took photos of the dress rehearsal. Over the two days literally thousands of photos making sure as best as possible that I got every dancer.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Toni wanted to do Dinosaur one more time before we grabbed lunch.

We bumped into Kevin along the way!





As we reached Dinosaur I made it clear to my Mom that she was to stay put and not bull-rush the Lightning Lane line.

The last thing I needed was asking a CM to stop the ride and look for her dentures.

"Mom, you stay here. This ride may actually kill you."

Thankfully she listened. Things I never thought I would have to worry about in WDW!

I mostly kept the camera down but managed this shot which I really like and am glad I made the effort as I had to turn and shoot over my shoulder.

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After the ride I checked my phone and it had "blown up" during my trip to the Jurassic Period. Lots of work issue to still deal with. 😠 So much so I had to escort the crew to Flame Tree BBQ while I needed to head back to the resort and it's business center so I could sign and fax a document.

Toni took a photo of the lunch I wish I had.

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They did a great job of getting YiaYia back to the resort without any more drama. We met up and after giving me grief about the t-shirt I was wearing under my button down shirt...

"Dad, what is up with the gray t-shirt?" Sterg asked.

"What's wrong with it?"

"First of all it doesn't match and second it's like 100 degrees outside."


...I was convinced to go to Disney Springs and to do so without the gray t-shirt.
 
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fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney Springs was uneventful. So much so that I don't have a single photo from there. From there we hopped to EPCOT to get one final ride on GotG and for a special meetup.

We parked and I entered EPCOT without my camera. With the exception of water parks, I can't remember the last time that happened. There was a sense of liberation that I enjoyed.

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We entered the park in a steady rain so we decided to sit under cover. I still had my Pixel 6!

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After the rain stopped we made a quick dash to Guardians and enjoyed another blast through space saving the planet. As we exited we had some more excitement as @Tuvalu and @TrolleyFollower91 were waiting for us! I had been texting Tuvalu and wasn't sure if we would meet up due to our tight schedule but she made it happen! Our conversation revolved around Toni trying to convince Tuvalu to ride GotG . :)

Big smiles and a great way to end our trip!

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This is now the third trip in a row we've had the pleasure! Hopefully the next trip will afford us more time to at least sit and have a drink or two.

After our magical magician meetup we hustled back to the resort to pick up an impatient YiaYia and then Sterg drove us to the airport. Our 10:30 flight was delayed and we didn't land in Baltimore until 1:30am. Our baggage was slow appearing which was more typical of Philly airport than BWI. YiaYia, Toni and I jumped on a surprisingly packed bus to parking lot A. In our haste driving to the airport on Day 1 we didn't take note that we parked in lot B. I started to realize this after the dozen stops in the wrong lot. Back to the airport we went. We waiting another 1/2 hour for LOT B bus to show up, this time it was only ourselves and a friendly gentleman back from a golf trip. The drive home was smooth but we didn't walk into the front door until 5:30am!

But that's sometimes the price you pay to get an extra long last-day at WDW.

Thanks to all that followed and commented! Once again it's been a delight sharing our story and my photos! Let's do it again in 2024 (or sooner?).
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
That's terrible. I was not only allowed to take photos of Toni's recital, I also took photos of the dress rehearsal. Over the two days literally thousands of photos making sure as best as possible that I got every dancer.
And I bet they appreciated that! What lucky people having you to take amazing pictures...I bet there were fantastic ones!!

I get that they didn't want 50 parents taking hundreds of flash photos, blinding the kids while they were trying to perform, but if you are going to tell parents that they can't take pictures, then you'd better make sure that there's a good alternative. At least I was somewhat smart. I cheated....I took a video (secretly) of her solo. So at least I have that.
 

Wicked Sisters

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Thank you so much for sharing your fabulous family adventures with us, especially Yia Yia‘s hilarious moments.
Absolutely love your photos and I wish you were going to be there September next year as it would have been awesome to meet you and your family. Thanks again.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
As we exited we had some more excitement as @Tuvalu and @TrolleyFollower91 were waiting for us! I had been texting Tuvalu and wasn't sure if we would meet up due to our tight schedule but she made it happen! Our conversation revolved around Toni trying to convince Tuvalu to ride GotG . :)

Big smiles and a great way to end our trip!

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This is now the third trip in a row we've had the pleasure! Hopefully the next trip will afford us more time to at least sit and have a drink or two.
And as you know now, Toni was successful at convincing me to ride Guardians!

We’ll definitely make time for drinks the next time our dates overlap. Or….even better….we could attend Hoop Dee Doo for old times sake. 😉 (Wouldn’t that be a hoot?!!)
 

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