Magic in the Kingdom 2012! BIG 2/16/2014 FINAL UPDATE!

[scrapbookersdis]

So looking foward to hearing about your whole trip!

Beautiful shot with Belle -- and great post-processing. I know that a RAW shooter will consider this heresy -- but I've found that I can adjust the levels (and reduce the noise) of a large JPEG file nearly indistinguishably as well as I can a RAW file (despite the point often made about the huge amount of data in a RAW file). Maybe I've just experimented with the wrong kind of shot (though I've chosen low light pics {such as on Haunted Mansion} and post-processed with both RAW and JPEG versions {with the camera set to shoot both simultaneously}). You have probably experimented the same way and have had different results from mine?

Can't wait for more of your photos.

Sharla

 

[mom2rtk]

So looking foward to hearing about your whole trip!

Beautiful shot with Belle -- and great post-processing. I know that a RAW shooter will consider this heresy -- but I've found that I can adjust the levels (and reduce the noise) of a large JPEG file nearly indistinguishably as well as I can a RAW file (despite the point often made about the huge amount of data in a RAW file). Maybe I've just experimented with the wrong kind of shot (though I've chosen low light pics {such as on Haunted Mansion} and post-processed with both RAW and JPEG versions {with the camera set to shoot both simultaneously}). You have probably experimented the same way and have had different results from mine?

Can't wait for more of your photos.

Sharla

from a fellow scrapper!

Thanks for the kind words.

It's never heresy to me. Heck, it's all just one big learning process to me. I really know just enough to be dangerous. I just feel like the few times I've tried to run a Jpeg through Lightroom 3, I felt completely underwhelmed by what I was able to do compared to what I have been able to do with the RAW files. But then I'm not very skilled at photo editing either.

 

[Missyrose]

I'm here Janet! I'm only a little bit late. Once again I'm totally blown away by the dresses, Katie looks gorgeous (and so grown up!). Can't wait to hear more!

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm here Janet! I'm only a little bit late. Once again I'm totally blown away by the dresses, Katie looks gorgeous (and so grown up!). Can't wait to hear more!

Hey Missy! Glad you're here!

You haven't missed much. I just got started.

We're going to have a ~fabulous!~ time!

 

[mom2rtk]

You guys and your naked shooting, so disrespectful!

You just had to go there, didn't you?

Just don't get me started on my commando touring when I'm shooting RAW!

 

[KCmike]

Will be interested in seeing how much you enjoyed the new fantasyland. I don't want to get flamed here but I am not energized about what they have done so far. We got a 40% off pin code for WDW and they are trying to lure me back. It all hinges on your report! Just kidding.

What is up with all those phones????

 

[mom2rtk]

Will be interested in seeing how much you enjoyed the new fantasyland. I don't want to get flamed here but I am not energized about what they have done so far. We got a 40% off pin code for WDW and they are trying to lure me back. It all hinges on your report! Just kidding.

What is up with all those phones????

Oh NO! The PRESSURE!

Your PIN code sounds awesome. Don't let it expire without giving it some serious thought. I wouldn't know a PIN code if it walked right up to me on the street. I have tired everything known to mankind to trigger one, but it just can't happen. I think I just need to play hard to get. And I'm not sure going to Disneyland will do that! But then maybe now that I want to go to DL, they'll finally send me one for WDW!

I better get moving on this is you want my feedback on this before the Mine Coaster opens in 2014! Most of our New Fantasyland time is deeper into the trip.

Oh, and on the phones......the others were right. That was my setup the morning they opened ADRs for Be Our Guest!

 

[jenseib]

You just had to go there, didn't you?

Just don't get me started on my commando touring when I'm shooting RAW!

 

[rachel09985]

I am here and excited! Your daughter looks so grown up!!

 

[rndmr2]

Wow! I just found this and it's already page 4! Joining in! Going back to finish reading.

 

[Caretames1]

You KILL me Carey!

I always know I can count on you when I need a laugh!
:

I try

You guys and your naked shooting, so disrespectful!
!

I know! You think you know someone and then WOW!

I shoot RAW (no Carey, I don't shoot NAKED.... let's just get that out of the way now )

WHAT! I didn't say nothing!


Jen did!

 

[mom2rtk]

I am here and excited! Your daughter looks so grown up!!

Yeah, isn't it amazing what a year can do......

Wow! I just found this and it's already page 4! Joining in! Going back to finish reading.

Well, not to worry. You haven't missed much yet. Welcome aboard!

WHAT! I didn't say nothing!

You didn't have to....... we read minds here you know.......

 

[mom2rtk]

More Planning:

So when last we all met.......... we had just been to Disney with our friends. Katie still has fun with the costumes, but she really has more fun when her friend McKenna is along. For our 2011 trip, I made Katie a new Belle gown, and let McKenna wear the one from our 2010 trip. I looked forward to seeing the girls dressed as Belle, all dolled up from a trip to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. It didn't turn out *exactly* as planned........ but we had a ton of fun regardless:


IMG_8230 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

I love this photo, and we had a ball laughing about the hair. Still, when I found out our friends would be going back to Disney at the same time..... I immediately started dreaming about another shot at this photo. This time withOUT the spikey hair!

One problem of course is that the girls would be a year older. And as many of you have noted, girls this age can grow a lot in the course of a year. Mostly UP! That's a problelm with a full-length gown. So I reworked the gowns and added another layer of skirting so they could wear them again.

Now the next issue. With 2 girls all dressed up, where to go..... where to go........ I HAD heard something about a new restaurant opening in Fantasyland .......... So eating at Be Our Guest became really the focus of the trip for us.

Over the course of the summer, I watched the progress of BOG through online reports. It really drove me nuts though to see it all coming together without knowing for certain if we would get in.

I really hoped that being a loyal DISer would pay off in this regard. I hoped that I would just long in one day and find they had opened reservations. I would be one of the first to know because I am never far from my computer and could act quickly once it was announced. HAH! I guess we all know how THAT plan went.

Disney had other plans. They actually posted notice ahead of time that they would open reservations on August 20th. Initially they said it would be at noon, but that was revised to be 7 AM. So 6 AM Central. I knew it was going to be a feeding frenzy. All of my Disney loving friends knew it would be a feedng frenzy. I just can't figure out why Disney didn't know it would be a feeding frenzy........

It was all good though. I had a plan. I knew they could make dining reservations through the BBB line, so I planned to call there. I had Katie calling the dining line on the cell phone, and I was calling both the dining line and the BBB on my land line and cell phone. I knew what prompts to follow. I was READY. (No, we didn't really use all those phones from the picture. But I did have them all close by and fully charged in the event we needed reinforcements!)

Once 6 AM hit, we started dialing. And dialing. And dialing. Between the 2 of us, we didn't even get the phone to RING, let alone be put on hold. We dialed and dialed some more.

This is where my friend Jen (have I mentioned how much I adore her?????) comes in. She is a travel agent and had offered to help me after taking her daughter to school. I had honestly expected to have things wrapped up by then, so hadn't taken her up on it. Well, by around 6:45, I was getting really nervous that this just wasn't going to end well. So I put down the phone (that was REALLY a hard thing to do.....) and sent out a distress email. Jen answered right away and was on the job.

It was only when I put my phone down to emial Jen that I saw the text message from my friend Kim. SHE had gotten through. It appears she ALSO had a plan. She's a big fan of the Pirate's League and had thought to try their line. I had no idea they could also make ADRs.

Then Jen emailed back and had gotten through and gotten us in. Before we were done, we had all the ADRs we wanted. What a crazy morning! When it was all over, I hopped in my car and drove across town to pick up a pair of these beauties in celebration:


beast by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[Glennie5]

Wow Janet - that picture of Katie and Belle is stunning! Can't wait to hear about your BOG experience and the little Beast's you picked up are adorable.

 

[mom2rtk]

Wow Janet - that picture of Katie and Belle is stunning! Can't wait to hear about your BOG experience and the little Beast's you picked up are adorable.

Thanks Glennie!

Just imagine how frustrated I was to find out over the course of the summer:

1) Belle would no longer be out at Town Square Theater for meet & greets
2) Enchanted Tales With Belle was not a traditional meet & greet
3) Enchanted Tales With Belle had no FP
4) They were going to test FP+ during our trip but we weren't part of it. (inflating the standby line there)

SO frustrating. It really did seem Disney was conspiring against me trying to get a new photo with Belle!

 

[Glennie5]

Thanks Glennie!

Just imagine how frustrated I was to find out over the course of the summer:

1) Belle would no longer be out at Town Square Theater for meet & greets
2) Enchanted Tales With Belle was not a traditional meet & greet
3) Enchanted Tales With Belle had no FP
4) They were going to test FP+ during our trip but we weren't part of it. (inflating the standby line there)

SO frustrating. It really did seem Disney was conspiring against me trying to get a new photo with Belle!

It does sound like a conspiracy. Lucky that you were able to get a picture of Katie and Belle together. Did she have participate in the Enchanted tales with Belle in order for you to get the picture? Julia thinks Katie looks prettier then Belle. Did she go to BBB to get her hair done? I know you were upset that Belle would not be out in her Christmas dress, did you have any luck at all finding her in it?

 

[katt789]

That is QUITE the experience with booking the ADRs! I wish I had planned my Feb trip more in advance so we could have gotten Be Our Guest, but we've got some other fun places and will just do lunch to satisfy us!

I'm excited to hear all about it!

 

[jenseib]

I forgot you had gotten the Beast. He is so cute

 

[lvcourtneyy]

So excited to read the new trip report! I don't think I ever commented on the other one but I read it! Katie and her dresses are gorgeous!

Also, we just got back from Disney and it seems the only place to get the beast stuffed animal anymore is the store in Belle's village. Our Disney store used to carry it but when I finally went to get it at Christmastime, they didn't have any and said they would no longer carry it.

I went to all the stores at DTD, and found every stuffed animal except beast! No where in MK either except that one store in Belle's village. But now $40 later, I am a proud beast owner.

 

[mom2rtk]

It does sound like a conspiracy. Lucky that you were able to get a picture of Katie and Belle together. Did she have participate in the Enchanted tales with Belle in order for you to get the picture? Julia thinks Katie looks prettier then Belle. Did she go to BBB to get her hair done? I know you were upset that Belle would not be out in her Christmas dress, did you have any luck at all finding her in it?

Well, anyone who saw me posting on those Belle threads probably thought I had gone off my rocker, but things like this are what I love about Disney. Scrapbooking and photography are my hobbies and I love to plan these photo ops. I was so excited to think we could break out that Belle gown again, only to then think we might not even get a photo with Belle.

I left off the part about losing Belle in her red from MVMCP from my list. I actually emailed Disney when that leaked out. They called but were so full of crap......... I mean nonsense.......... They said they were listening to people about Belle and were going to try and have her out in Epcot in her red earlier in December. Maybe even add Beast back there or add Beast to the party. I should keep my eyes out for them. Yeah. Yadda yadda yadda. I didln't believe any of it at the time, and it indeed was not true. Any of it. So no, we never saw Belle in her red. (Well never met her. She is in the MVMCP parade in her red). I read since then that she wore red at Akershus during Christmas week, which is exactly what they have done every other year.

Katie wasn't real excited when I told her at first she needed to participate to get a photo, but then when we watched the video online, she saw it wasn't like participating in the old Belle's Storytime, and even adults were participating, so she didn't mind. She was a set of silverware one time, a feather duster the other.

Tell Julie thank you for the kind words. I'll pass them along to Katie. Yes, we did go to BBB that morning. I wasn't fond of the hairstyle with the Cindy gown she wore at the time, but loved it with the Belle.

That is QUITE the experience with booking the ADRs! I wish I had planned my Feb trip more in advance so we could have gotten Be Our Guest, but we've got some other fun places and will just do lunch to satisfy us!

I'm excited to hear all about it!

It was all part of the adventure of this trip! So many people came away disappointed though. What a horrible day for them. I have a friend who I knew was going to Disney at the same time. She had seen the announcement about the 8/20 date, but never saw the revised start time. So when she logged on at noon, everything was gone. I kept watching for a cancellation for them, but every time one came up, it never seemed to show back up in the system.

I forgot you had gotten the Beast. He is so cute

He sure is a cutie, isn't he?

So excited to read the new trip report! I don't think I ever commented on the other one but I read it! Katie and her dresses are gorgeous!

Also, we just got back from Disney and it seems the only place to get the beast stuffed animal anymore is the store in Belle's village. Our Disney store used to carry it but when I finally went to get it at Christmastime, they didn't have any and said they would no longer carry it.

I went to all the stores at DTD, and found every stuffed animal except beast! No where in MK either except that one store in Belle's village. But now $40 later, I am a proud beast owner.

Well, if it helps any, I don't think he was a lot less when I bought him at the Disney store. I don't remember, but he was at least $30. I should have bought him a few weeks earlier when they were all on sale. I thought about it. But then I figured he would just make me mad if I didn't get ADRs and had to look at him every day! That kind of taunting I could do without!

He really is nice though. I'm glad I got him. Glad you did too! And I'm glad you're reading along!