We Got No Troubles; Life Is The Bubbles! 04/18 - Complete!

[teekathepony]

Yikes! It's been far too long since I got to spend any time on here. I woke up early this morning and only have a minute but I thought I'd at least try to catch up on replies on my own TR, and then I promise to catch up on all of yours!

It's almost Christmas and I can't wait. Just 5 more sleeps!! My wee camera store has been completely swamped lately and when I'm home I never run out of things that have to get done. I did have time for a couple of Christmas photo shoots with my little fur babies though. I know you must be very close to sick of these guys but I just have to share a few more!

Holly:

Oscar:

Sheeka:

All three!

And with our tree.

So now on to the replies!

A couple of fanastic updates!

But first a few comments about your adorable pets!!! Thanks for sharing the photos of the dogs and Harry. How are they getting along with Oscar?
They are all getting along so fantastic, I'm so happy with them! Oscar loves to cuddle up with the dogs and lick their faces, they tolerate him, the two cats play together, it's great!

Oscar totally breaks the cuteness meter! Whenever you post pictures I call my 11 year old son over to look and he is in love with him (and his "brother and sisters")
Aww! Hehehe well get your son, I posted more today! I can't help it, they are awfully cute!

OK- back to Hollywood Studios-

Your comment about all of the details is so true. That was one of features of the program we took on the class trip in June- the students had to walk along Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards and pick out the period details.
That's really cool, I think I would like to do an info tour around DHS to learn more about everything. I mean, it's Disney -- you know not a single detail was overlooked!

Love Johnny's shirt. I purchased one at HS in June.

I agree with Mary Ellen- you must go through the ToT line again with your SLR!

Too funny about your chance encounter with the pretzel! I haven't tried one yet, but one of my friends lusts over the Jalapeno Cheese one at AK, so I want to try that sometime.
I'm too wimpy for Jalapeno, I can barely handle pepper!

We had the Cowboy scene once on GMR. It is awesome!!! Definitely ask next time.

Looks like a good morning at DHS, for a moment I was all "we were there the same day!!" but then did the math, and nope, we were there on the 17th!

I do the same with hitting up only 2 of the main rides, but mine don't include RnR, just have yet to brave it, haha!! One of these days! I do love ToT though. I haven't done GMR since my first trip, I guess it's just something I don't usually think of!

I've ran into that "we want lunch" problem too! Back in April we went into Pizzafari a bit early for some lunch (and kinda joked half seriously talked about grabbing a beer with lunch) and they were still serving breakfast Lol.

Glad you discovered your pretzel though!!

Oh I was terrified my first ride on RnR, I didn't think I would enjoy it but I wanted to "scratch it off my list" so to speak. Ended up being my favourite ride in all of Disney!

Your pictures are awesome!

Thanks!

Hi Wendy!

I'm just marking my spot and will come back and catch up as soon as possible.

I love your intro photo, it is great!

Also yay on looking forward to Christmas, not long to go at all!!!

Expect a long catchup post in a few days!
Tanz

Hey you!! Good to see you!! Can't wait to catch up with you!

Well,I was away for a while but I'm back n got caught up on ur tr YAYYY.That kitten is too cute for words aweeeeeeeeeeeeee

Welcome back!!
Oscar kitty is pretty darn adorable, I like showing him off!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Hi Wendy, I'm all caught up thanks to your handy chapter links!

Oh no on the downpour as you were leaving but am glad you both made it to WDW safe and soundly.

Eek at nearly missing your stop! Love, love, love the pics of AoA and the wall art is awesome!

Your room is adorable and I didn't know about value resorts having fridges now. You've sold it to me!

Yay on the pixie dust at MK on your first night! Also love that you rode SM twice whilst it was raining!

Love your AK safari pics and yay on the lion being active. It was interesting to read about the mosquito fish as well. Great Mickey manicure by the way!

I'm glad you enjoyed Yak n Yeti as well as the dessert party, you took some great shots of Wishes!

Sounds like you had fun at DHS as well. I remember you enjoying your early morning walks at Pop Century so I'm glad you got to enjoy the same experience at AoA resort.

Congrats on getting your job back at the camera store and 5 days to Christmas!!!!

 

[natebenma]

Are you freakin' kidding me??? Your Christmas pictures are awesome! Ben has already left for school, but I'll have a nice treat for him when he gets back this afternoon.

I'm so glad your pets are all getting along. You never know what will happen when you introduce a new pet into a household. My two rescue cats were littermates, and they get along wonderfully.

That's really cool, I think I would like to do an info tour around DHS to learn more about everything. I mean, it's Disney -- you know not a single detail was overlooked!

We had an awesome Y.E.S class at HS- we toured the streets absorbing the details, rode Tower of Terror (arguably the best themed attraction at Disney), we met Imagineer Alex Wright and then rode Rock N Roller Coaster. Not a bad morning!

.

 

[Linda67]

I've just taken advantage of a slow day at work to read your whole TR so far

Loved every second of it, your photos are wonderful and I particularly like the ones of your lovely kitty

I can tell that you both had a great trip - huge smiles in those PP pics

Anyway, just though I'd say 'hi' and 'great job'

 

[danielle79]

all caught up and love the pics of all the animals! We have a new puppy this Christmas, we have had her about a month and she is awesome! If you don't mind i may pm you with a problem I'm having with my Canon Rebel XTi Dslr? sorry to hear that you don't like the Nikon p&s because that it what i bought my oldest daughter for Christmas.

 

[teekathepony]

Oh dear! I've been away for a while haven't I? Well back to it now, Christmas is over and I should have a little more time to myself!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and/or holidays! We had a very nice Christmas this year, we cut out a lot since last year and had a MUCH more relaxing and enjoyable time.

So! Onto replies, then perhaps an update if I have time (I have to go back to work today) and then I'm going to work on catching up on everyone's reports!

Hi Wendy, I'm all caught up thanks to your handy chapter links!
Yay! I'm glad!

Oh no on the downpour as you were leaving but am glad you both made it to WDW safe and soundly.

Eek at nearly missing your stop! Love, love, love the pics of AoA and the wall art is awesome!

Your room is adorable and I didn't know about value resorts having fridges now. You've sold it to me!

Yay on the pixie dust at MK on your first night! Also love that you rode SM twice whilst it was raining!

Love your AK safari pics and yay on the lion being active. It was interesting to read about the mosquito fish as well. Great Mickey manicure by the way!

I'm glad you enjoyed Yak n Yeti as well as the dessert party, you took some great shots of Wishes!

Sounds like you had fun at DHS as well. I remember you enjoying your early morning walks at Pop Century so I'm glad you got to enjoy the same experience at AoA resort.

Congrats on getting your job back at the camera store and 5 days to Christmas!!!!

Thanks Tanz, we had a great trip so far!!

Are you freakin' kidding me??? Your Christmas pictures are awesome! Ben has already left for school, but I'll have a nice treat for him when he gets back this afternoon.

I'm so glad your pets are all getting along. You never know what will happen when you introduce a new pet into a household. My two rescue cats were littermates, and they get along wonderfully.
Oh I'm so happy they're all getting along ok. I thought my older cat would give me a hard time but he was great!



We had an awesome Y.E.S class at HS- we toured the streets absorbing the details, rode Tower of Terror (arguably the best themed attraction at Disney), we met Imagineer Alex Wright and then rode Rock N Roller Coaster. Not a bad morning!
That sounds like fun!
.

I've just taken advantage of a slow day at work to read your whole TR so far

Loved every second of it, your photos are wonderful and I particularly like the ones of your lovely kitty

I can tell that you both had a great trip - huge smiles in those PP pics

Anyway, just though I'd say 'hi' and 'great job'

Wow, to you! And thank you!

all caught up and love the pics of all the animals! We have a new puppy this Christmas, we have had her about a month and she is awesome! If you don't mind i may pm you with a problem I'm having with my Canon Rebel XTi Dslr? sorry to hear that you don't like the Nikon p&s because that it what i bought my oldest daughter for Christmas.

I wouldn't worry about the Nikon p&s, lots of people have them and like them. In fact others in my store like them, I just don't like them myself. A lot is personal preference these days, they make all the cameras so good that it hardly matters!

 

[teekathepony]

Update Time!

"The Calm Before the Storm"

We left off having just ridden Star Tours. We were in no hurry to get anywhere or do anything, so we wandered on down to my favourite part of town and hopped in line with Kermit and friends.

Picked up our glasses...

I say hopped in line, but really there was no line at all. The preview room was half full and the pre-show was almost over.

I took some pictures at the back of the room while everyone cleared into the theatre...

And wished (not for the last time this day) for my SLR.

We debated waiting in the preview room until the next show so I could see everything better. We decided against it and headed on into the theatre and all the way to the end of the row.

The theatre was mostly empty!

My favourite hecklers!

We enjoyed the show, perhaps more than usual since we have watched all the old Muppet Show DVDs and all their movies since we last saw it. I think we understood the silly humour a lot more. I've always liked the Muppets, but in the last year I think I've become a bit of a fanatic.

We stopped in the gift shop where Johnny did not buy this:

But I got myself a t-shirt and a mug (which you will see at the end, in the souvie post!)

We came out of the shop feeling a little hungry, after all we hadn't had lunch yet. We decided to find something quick and easy and stopped at (I think) the Backlot Express.

Bye bye Muppets! And check out that dark sky!

As we walked into the restaurant we felt the rain start to sprinkle. By the time we got in the door, it was a full fledged downpour. Luckily we ducked in just ahead of the crowd and were able to order. Unfortunately, those who ducked in out of the rain had occupied all the tables. We walked around the entire place before finding a table for six being used by two people who were very glad to share. We slid in and chowed down on chicken nuggets.

As the rain poured on and on we took our time over our meals, chatted with a few fellow soggy guests and waited it out. It didn't show any signs of stopping, so we grabbed our cameras, stashed our trash and made a run for it, poncho-less and laughing loudly in the sheets of rain.

We ran all the way across the park to TSM where there was a huge line of people in the standby line, waiting to get in out of the rain. We had fastpasses from earlier so we hopped in that line which wasn't too bad. We skipped through that line pretty fast, so fast I only appear to have taken one picture:

Uh... ok then!

We rode, had a blast, and came out looking like this:

Johnny beat me again!

It was still raining when we exited. I looked at Johnny and said, "I don't ever remember it raining for this long in September!" He agreed, but what can you do?

You can head on over to a never-crowded-take-your-time-indoor-attraction, that's what.

We spent a lot of time in there and even watched the whole film, but still when we came out it was raining. We headed over to the one thing I'd never done and always wanted to:

We drew Repunzel and unfortunately I don't have a picture of my picture! Suffice it to say, it was incredibly terrible. And I can draw! I'm actually not bad! I just can't draw in the whole circles and lines way. Anyway my Repunzel looked like a lemur and Johnny's looked a little like a convict. It was a lot of fun and I definitely want to do it again.

When we finished there it was nearing time for dinner. It was still a little wet out so we went through the shops and browsed.

On our way through we found my family who we would be meeting for dinner! So we stayed together and got some Photopass pictures taken:

The lovely PP photog told us to do ta-daa Hollywood pose and when we did this she said "OH! I wasn't ready for such commitment!" and scrambled with her camera.

Then she told Amy (eeyore04) to pretend she had all of our park tickets and was going to fly away with them and we had to hold her back. We literally dove for her and again the photog was surprised by our eagerness to play!

I must leave you there since it's time for me to get ready for work, but hopefully I can jump back on at work if it's not busy and get some catching up done!

 

[Nermel9]

Woo hoo an update!

I love the Muppet 3D show! I sometimes wish they would update the movie a little, but then I feel like they would make it too modern and it would take out all of the great classic Muppet-ness that it has. If that makes any sense!

Ugh more rain? AT least there is a lot of stuff at DHS indoors that you can do to escape for a while! I love One Man's Dream!

Your family PP pics are so great! I want to take that magic balloon pic so bad, and I never get a PP photographer that does it!

 

[MEK]

We stopped in the gift shop where Johnny did not buy this:

Why??????? I love this! It works perfectly!

Great update! And yeah for an update and for being able to see all your pictures!

That is a long rain shower for September. Usually its 10 minutes tops.

I love all your PP pics. You guys did good. In deed, you were VERY comitted!

Now - on to the animal pictures - which I totally missed. Firt, they are gorgeous! Just super awesome! Second, how did you get the lights on the Christmas tree to blur like that. Please tell me, I have to try that.

Hope you had an awesome Christma!

 

[MEK]

Oops. Double post!

 

[teekathepony]

Woo hoo an update!

I love the Muppet 3D show! I sometimes wish they would update the movie a little, but then I feel like they would make it too modern and it would take out all of the great classic Muppet-ness that it has. If that makes any sense!

Ugh more rain? AT least there is a lot of stuff at DHS indoors that you can do to escape for a while! I love One Man's Dream!

Your family PP pics are so great! I want to take that magic balloon pic so bad, and I never get a PP photographer that does it!

It made perfect sense and I know exactly what you mean about the Muppets! It's perfect because it's classic. I agree completely!

Yeah I never noticed how many things there are to do inside before that day!

You should ask the PP Photogs to do the balloon pic! I'm sure someone must be able to!

Why??????? I love this! It works perfectly!

Great update! And yeah for an update and for being able to see all your pictures!

That is a long rain shower for September. Usually its 10 minutes tops.

I love all your PP pics. You guys did good. In deed, you were VERY comitted!

Now - on to the animal pictures - which I totally missed. Firt, they are gorgeous! Just super awesome! Second, how did you get the lights on the Christmas tree to blur like that. Please tell me, I have to try that.

Hope you had an awesome Christma!

We had a fantastic Christmas, nice and quiet. I hope you guys had a great one too!

So. The blurry Christmas lights is called "Bokeh" -- it basically means the areas (usually light) that blur to create that spotty look. You get that by two things, first you need to open your aperture wide up as much as your lens will go. I did these pictures with my 50mm which has a 1.8 aperture, but if your lens will only go to 3.5 (which it might if I'm thinking of your lenses right, and even then only when you're zoomed all the way out) that should do it. Second -- move your subject far from your tree/lights. The farther from your lights the better your blur, or "Bokeh" will be. (Well, within reason of course!) My critters were probably about 8-10 feet from the tree.
Now for lighting. You need a nice mix between light to light up your subject and darkness to make the lights on the tree stand out. I took these at night and with all my house lights on, used my external flash and bounced the light off the ceiling instead of using it directly. It makes the light look more natural and doesn't darken the background the way direct flash would. I had to put my camera on Manual exposure to do all this, otherwise the camera on auto functions would blow out the subject or darken the background too much. It was kind of trial and error to get the right mix of light and whatnot. My ISO was, I think, 400? Enough to absorb the ambient light and the Christmas lights.

The short version of all that -- A large aperture will do it!

Oops. Double post!

Why would you do such a thing!?

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

I love all of your fur baby Christmas photo shoots... but I do have to say that I think that Oscar's being black and white give him an unfair photographic advantage... there are a lot of arty things you can do with those colors/contrast...

Hmmm... aren't you glad your TSM golden ticket fast passes... I really like that ride but can't imagine some of those lines it gets...

I think the muppets are really cute and underrated which is sad because they are quite cute and funny... I think perhaps because it's a bit since they've been on TV... but I know they've done some recent movies... Have you ever seen the Muppets Christmas Carol? Really cute... & I love those Muppet fountains...

Hmmm... ? from earlier post... about the Wishes dessert party... I'm just thinking about it because we're going in July and I'm deciding on whether to book it... I saw you had a picture of a dessert plate but do you remember some of the things they actually had...?

 

[MEK]

So. The blurry Christmas lights is called "Bokeh" -- it basically means the areas (usually light) that blur to create that spotty look. You get that by two things, first you need to open your aperture wide up as much as your lens will go. I did these pictures with my 50mm which has a 1.8 aperture, but if your lens will only go to 3.5 (which it might if I'm thinking of your lenses right, and even then only when you're zoomed all the way out) that should do it. Second -- move your subject far from your tree/lights. The farther from your lights the better your blur, or "Bokeh" will be. (Well, within reason of course!) My critters were probably about 8-10 feet from the tree.
Now for lighting. You need a nice mix between light to light up your subject and darkness to make the lights on the tree stand out. I took these at night and with all my house lights on, used my external flash and bounced the light off the ceiling instead of using it directly. It makes the light look more natural and doesn't darken the background the way direct flash would. I had to put my camera on Manual exposure to do all this, otherwise the camera on auto functions would blow out the subject or darken the background too much. It was kind of trial and error to get the right mix of light and whatnot. My ISO was, I think, 400? Enough to absorb the ambient light and the Christmas lights.

The short version of all that -- A large aperture will do it! [/FONT][/SIZE]

I' totally trying this. I guess I should do it tonight. Except I have white lights on the tree. Doesn't matter. I'm trying anyway. Thanks for the great explanation (as always).

Why would you do such a thing!?

It's call stupid work computer. Need I say more!

 

[cheekypoppins]

okay ur shirt"my home and native land" Super awesome sauce!!!! where'd you get it?

 

[teekathepony]

I love all of your fur baby Christmas photo shoots... but I do have to say that I think that Oscar's being black and white give him an unfair photographic advantage... there are a lot of arty things you can do with those colors/contrast...
He's pretty cute, but as far as exposing for his black face it can be a little tricky. His white keeps him a little more balanced at least!

Hmmm... aren't you glad your TSM golden ticket fast passes... I really like that ride but can't imagine some of those lines it gets...

I think the muppets are really cute and underrated which is sad because they are quite cute and funny... I think perhaps because it's a bit since they've been on TV... but I know they've done some recent movies... Have you ever seen the Muppets Christmas Carol? Really cute... & I love those Muppet fountains...
I love Muppet Christmas Carol! But A Muppet Family Christmas is my favourite. "Careful on the icy patch!"

Hmmm... ? from earlier post... about the Wishes dessert party... I'm just thinking about it because we're going in July and I'm deciding on whether to book it... I saw you had a picture of a dessert plate but do you remember some of the things they actually had...?

Oh gosh no, I don't remember much of it now. Lots of chocolate and cheesecakey things. I think they probably have a menu type thing online somewhere, Allears maybe?

I' totally trying this. I guess I should do it tonight. Except I have white lights on the tree. Doesn't matter. I'm trying anyway. Thanks for the great explanation (as always).

It's call stupid work computer. Need I say more!

White lights look really pretty when done like that! If you try it I'd love to see!

okay ur shirt"my home and native land" Super awesome sauce!!!! where'd you get it?

Old Navy! It was really cheap too, like $4 at the end of the summer!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

We stopped in the gift shop where Johnny did not buy this:

Awww why not?? I plan on wearing mine later when I have to clear the snow off my car!!

Love your PP pics! Those are great!!

 

[natebenma]

Wow, it stinks that it rained for so long! But it sounds like you had lots of indoor fun!

Muppets rock! At the risk of dating myself, I watched The Muppet Show when it originally aired. And it pleases me that my sons actually enjoy them too (well, as much as a tween and teen boy enjoy anything like that)

That's awesome that you had TSM FP! The only thing worse than an unbearably long wait is a unbearably long wait IN THE RAIN!

A little ashamed to admit it, but I haven't been to One Man's Dream or the Animation Academy. I would really like to try them someday, but my boys are so not interested in either of those things.

Love the photopass pictures!

 

[natebenma]

Oscar:

Now, does that say Merry and Bright or Meowy and Bright?

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Howdy Neighbour! (I'm from PEI!)

I just found your TR and spent the last hour plus reading it! I am having so much fun just reading about your trip! I love how excited you all are doing the photopass pictures. So fun! It makes a trip so much better when the people you are with get into the Disney spirit!

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to read more!

 

[teekathepony]

Awww why not?? I plan on wearing mine later when I have to clear the snow off my car!!

Love your PP pics! Those are great!!

I regret not getting the Kermit hat for myself almost every day!

Wow, it stinks that it rained for so long! But it sounds like you had lots of indoor fun!
We definitely made the best of it! We were in a great mood!

Muppets rock! At the risk of dating myself, I watched The Muppet Show when it originally aired. And it pleases me that my sons actually enjoy them too (well, as much as a tween and teen boy enjoy anything like that)
I have to admit that I never watched the show before, just saw the Muppets on Sesame St. and in some movies. But last year for Christmas Johnny got me the seasons 1-3 on DVD and I got caught up on all the movies I had missed. I'm in love with all things Muppets now and feel like I know the Disney attraction better!

That's awesome that you had TSM FP! The only thing worse than an unbearably long wait is a unbearably long wait IN THE RAIN!

A little ashamed to admit it, but I haven't been to One Man's Dream or the Animation Academy. I would really like to try them someday, but my boys are so not interested in either of those things.
I love OMD, I feel like I get to honour the guy who started it all by learning about how he did it.

Love the photopass pictures!

Now, does that say Merry and Bright or Meowy and Bright?

Awwww I should go back and change it to Meowy!

Howdy Neighbour! (I'm from PEI!)

I just found your TR and spent the last hour plus reading it! I am having so much fun just reading about your trip! I love how excited you all are doing the photopass pictures. So fun! It makes a trip so much better when the people you are with get into the Disney spirit!

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to read more!

fellow Atlantic Canadian!! I hope you didn't blow away in the storm today. We didn't get much, a few cms of snow and then lots of rain, no wind. Borrrring!
Being with people who are into the spirit makes all the difference in the world!