Discovering A Whole New World of Disney-An October 2013 Photo Safari **Updated 2/20

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I'm feeling pretty sure that it's the same guy. Like you said, it's hard to tell without the whole costume on but he looks very similar to your picture. Plus, he appears to be pretty friendly with the performer and has a good flair for raising his 'elephant' trunk!

On to your update!

I particularly like the castle show pictures with the Tangled scene and the Up scene. As you said, they're both so vibrant!

I love how at first glance many of your pictures appear to have no other people in them. When I looked closely, I can see from blurs (which I think are people) so I'm thinking this is a photography trick of the trade? Maybe a long exposure? (I've got very little photo knowledge so forgive my shot in the dark!)

I noticed the same things about the "volunteer" in FotLK. The way he was goofing around with Kiumbe is what initially got me taking a closer look at his face.

You're right about photos and the "ghosts" in them. These were long exposure shots anywhere from 15-30 seconds depending on the lighting so people who were moving in the frame appear as ghost like figures. Ideally would have like to have waited to closing time but I was so tired I didn't think I could make it that late. There's also a technique I just recently learned in Photoshop that if I took multiple pictures of the same scene spaced out in time I could merge and "average" them out to make the area free of people.

First of all, I have to say the aerial shots of the birds in the Lion King show look cool. Too bad you had a bit of an obstructed view for the fire dude or whatever it was that you call him. At least you got a decent one of him when he turned your way.

Congrats on the upcoming trips. A couple of nights of MNSSHP should go a long way towards curing your long layover between trips.

I love the night pictures around the MK. I always love ending a day in that park.

Thanks Andy! I love how MK looks at night especially near closing time. Hoping to stay late for this upcoming trip but we shall see.

Haha, despite the hardships to acquire it, there is absolutely no doubt what the subject is of your first photo. So I call that a WIN!

OK note to self... It is possible to get photos of Celebrate the Magic that aren't a blurry mess. Kudos!!!

Thanks Rob!

Why is that I can never remember the official name of the castle projection show?? Which is why I always call it......the castle projection show. Too many shows and parades that sound alike I think.

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[Valgoof]

Love the MK nighttime pics!! Definitely my favorite time and park. It is open until 1am twice on our trip. Excited to see how long we can make it.

 

[MEK]

Night time photography is my favorite and those pictures are stunning. But the whole tripod on space mountain thing does not sound fun at all. Yikes! I'm still not quite sure how you managed to hold on to everything.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Great update!

Thank you!

Love the MK nighttime pics!! Definitely my favorite time and park. It is open until 1am twice on our trip. Excited to see how long we can make it.

One downside of visiting Disney during one of the least crowded weeks of the year in a couple of weeks is that MK closes up early.

I'll still try to make the best of it for one night and try to get an hour or two in for some night time photography!

Night time photography is my favorite and those pictures are stunning. But the whole tripod on space mountain thing does not sound fun at all. Yikes! I'm still not quite sure how you managed to hold on to everything.

That whole ride on SM reminded me of the time I went on the Matterhorn last year at DL when I had to use my entire body to brace myself from getting concussion.

 

[chattadisser]

Wonderful pictures again! The colors are so vibrant!

I'm curious to see if they make any changes to FoTLK as well. I hope not, it's such a wonderful show as it is.

I continue to be jealous of your night shots. I know I need to get out and practice night shots but during "normal" life there doesn't seem to be as much to practice on. I mean, not much going on in my neighborhood after dark!

Good for you on the additional upcoming trips. I go back and forth between wanting more Disney trips and feeling the need to show my kids other parts of the world. I think after this year, we'll be at ages where trips further away are more of a possibility. I can't wait to hear about the planning for a large party next June!

Christine

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Wonderful pictures again! The colors are so vibrant!

I'm curious to see if they make any changes to FoTLK as well. I hope not, it's such a wonderful show as it is.

I continue to be jealous of your night shots. I know I need to get out and practice night shots but during "normal" life there doesn't seem to be as much to practice on. I mean, not much going on in my neighborhood after dark!

Good for you on the additional upcoming trips. I go back and forth between wanting more Disney trips and feeling the need to show my kids other parts of the world. I think after this year, we'll be at ages where trips further away are more of a possibility. I can't wait to hear about the planning for a large party next June!

Christine

Thanks Christine!

I hear ya about how hard it is to find time to practice photography! I haven't picked up my camera since coming back home on new years and chances are probably won't get a chance until we leave for our trip to Disney. Hopefully I'll be able to make a night outing in February if we have an evening of unseasonably warm temperatures to take some pictures of the memorials now that the scaffolding on the Washington Monument is down.

And I agree about trying to balance out our Disney trips with trips to other new places for the kids!

 

[khertz]

Okay, I finally finally finally had time to catch up on all your updates!! 800 photos at one performance of FOTLK is pretty impressive!! But, not really surprising, because that show is just amazing. The colors, the songs, the performers, it is really the best show in Disney World, hands down. The acrobat monkeys & the birds are my two favorite parts of the show! We missed it this past trip due to lack of time at AK, and looking at all your photos made me really sad that I didn't get to see it again!

The nighttime shots are just gorgeous. That one of the Castle and the carrousel is beautiful! Nighttime photography in MK is probably one of my most favorite things to see.

YAY for a weekend Halloween trip!!! I am so looking forward to taking Paxton back to one! It kind of made me laugh when you recounted your DW's initial reaction. I was worried I would get the same reaction from DH when I casually mentioned a weekend trip in the coming months, and all he said was, "Let's do some math." So we might be going for a weekend trip in May! Not as exciting as getting to go to the party again, but I'm definitely happy about the prospect since we didn't think we'd be in Disney World at all in 2014.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

YAY for a weekend Halloween trip!!! I am so looking forward to taking Paxton back to one! It kind of made me laugh when you recounted your DW's initial reaction. I was worried I would get the same reaction from DH when I casually mentioned a weekend trip in the coming months, and all he said was, "Let's do some math." So we might be going for a weekend trip in May! Not as exciting as getting to go to the party again, but I'm definitely happy about the prospect since we didn't think we'd be in Disney World at all in 2014.

So I saw on one of your FB status updates the math worksheet you had going for calculating the costs of your potential weekend visit. What was so funny about that was on that exact same day I had done the exact same thing on an excel spreadsheet as part of putting together my trip idea. Maybe we DISers have the same internal clock programmed into our brains.

 

[teekathepony]

Yeah, space mountain is hard enough to keep upright, never mind babysitting a ton of photography gear! I don't blame you for skipping g the second ride!
Ooh, I'm in love with your pics of the castle! I love the Tangled one with the lanterns. All of the night time shots are wonderful, my favourite is the carousel!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Yeah, space mountain is hard enough to keep upright, never mind babysitting a ton of photography gear! I don't blame you for skipping g the second ride!
Ooh, I'm in love with your pics of the castle! I love the Tangled one with the lanterns. All of the night time shots are wonderful, my favourite is the carousel!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Thanks Wendy!

Tangled lantern segment of Celebrate the Magic has been my favorite and I'm glad they kept it around this along. Which explains why I always seem to have a picture of that scene from each trip.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Today's update will be about all things Belle and the Beast. On a side note, how is it that we never find out what the Beast's actual name is in the movie?? I guess they were staying consistent with "The Prince." Well at least I hope Belle knows what his name is because that could get very awkward very fast when the guy goes "Really? You're still calling me Beast?It's been like three years since the spell broke!" Reminds me of a certain Seinfeld episode. Ok, I digressed. Moving forward!

On the evening of Monday, I had an ADR for Be Our Guest Dinner with khertz, DDuck4life, and their adorable son who had just turned three. A DIS meet and a dinner!! We were all very excited as it was the first time dining at BOG for all of us. I met them at the BOG bridge and we were there about 15 minutes early. When I checked in at the podium the CM tells me I'm too early. HUH? Seriously dude, 15 minutes is not THAT early. He said they were backed up and asked if I could check back in another at our ADR time. So we chatted on the bridge and I'm pretty sure khertz and I were checking the time pretty much every minute during that whole time because we were very eager to get seated. After 10 minutes I went back and told the CM with a smile "Yep I'm back early. 15 minutes was just too long for me". He laughed, gave in, and finally handed me a pager. So now we were headed to the waiting area right outside the doors.

DDuck4life and I began snapping away with our cameras. We share a similar level of enthusiasm for photography. I think our wives may use a different word for "enthusiasm"

This was what was greeting guests in the waiting area. A little intense, don't you think?

IMG_1055 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

On the way in. A lot of sad gargoyles in this place.

IMG_1056 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

We were seated in the Gallery Room. You know, the one with the Belle and Beast music box? The obligatory photo of the napkin folded in the shape of a rose.

IMG_1057 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

And this was the view from our table.

IMG_1061 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Paintings decorated the walls in this room.


IMG_1062 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_1063 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

I don't have any pictures of the meal. Actually if you have noticed, I don't really have any pictures of any of my meals from the whole trip because well I'm usually too busy shoveling the food in my mouth. This time was no different. And by the time I remember that I should be taking a picture the plate looks very unappealing. Ok, so that's fail number one. Fail number two was that I didn't write any notes so I can't remember at all what I had or what my fellow DISers ordered! I think I had the braised pork. All I remember was that the appetizer and dessert was good. The entree was about average. The company was great! Lots of shop talk about cameras and photography. Pretty sure the Saints made it into the discussion a few times. And their DS was a lot of fun to talk to. We was telling me about all the different things he did that day. I think he even invited me to come visit his house! I told him that I had a son his age and that he should definitely come to our house if they come up to DC! Very cute. I still can't believe that he sat through that lengthy meal - my kids still have a hard time sitting straight at restaurants. Lengthy because our server sort of disappeared on us after the entree. Oh but the dessert more than made up for it.

So after we paid off the check, our server told us that we should feel free to explore the rest of the restaurant on our way out. Yeah, he didn't have to tell us that twice after sitting in the Gallery for 90 minutes. And I don't know about you but out of the three rooms the Gallery was about.....ohhhh....number 3 on my wish list of where I wanted to be seated. So explore we did!

The music box is beautiful though.

IMG_1066 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The Ballroom

IMG_1068 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The West Wing. I'm reeeeeeally hoping to get seated here when I return with my family in two weeks.

IMG_1070 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The man with no name.

IMG_1072 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

And this was pretty cool.

IMG_1077 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The whispering armors.

IMG_1088 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_1091 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

And my favorite picture from the restaurant.

IMG_1093-2 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

This poor gargoyle appears to be holding up the building while the rest of us are having a party in the ballroom!

IMG_1094 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

After we exited the restaurants we said our goodbyes although I did end up seeing DDuck4life briefly at the Poly the following morning as they were waiting for their Ohana breakfast and I was headed for my Tonga Toast. Had a great time with them between the dinner and Hallowishes!

I moved on to explore the rest of New Fantasyland. I actually was stalling a bit to conjure up some courage before going on Ariel's ride solo which you can see on one of my previous postings.

Inside Gaston's Tavern.

IMG_1098 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

LOVE this popcorn stand!

IMG_1102 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

OK, skipping ahead to the following day. I had a FP+ ressie for Enchanted Tales with Belle. My family and I tried this for the first time last year and both of our kids loved it although they were too shy about taking in part in the storytelling. I almost didn't do this attraction for this trip......being solo and all but decided that if I survived a clamshell ride by myself then this should be a piece of cake.

The view of Maurice's cottage with all its surrounding just looks so authentic to the movie version, doesn't it?

IMG_2171 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

It turned out that the FP+ entrance is a back door that skips the entire queue inside the cottage and dumps you into his workshop. So, I missed out on a lot of the details that I had been hoping to photograph. We'll be doing this one in a couple of weeks at rope drop so I'm going to try to make up for it.

That being said there are a lot of details to look for inside Maurice's workshop. I know everyone's attention is focused on the magic mirror but before the show starts take a look around.

Clearly Maurice doesn't clean up after himself.

IMG_2174 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_2175 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Here's my favorite detail from the workshop. Does that sketch of Belle and Beast look familiar? It's the blueprint for the music box that was placed in the Gallery of BOG!

IMG_2176 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_2179 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

The mirror doing its thing. Finally, a magic mirror that is used for some good rather than evil.


IMG_2183 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

So once we got the holding area and everyone who wanted a part was delegated, I sort of stopped taking pictures because a) I didn't want to take pictures of other people's children so up close (might raise a few eyebrows) and b) I realized that this attraction was a lot more fun when I was there with my kids. Anyway, the only picture I got off was of Lumiere looking a bit.....ahem.....sleezy?


IMG_2187 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Well, here's to hoping that the kids will want to take part in the storytelling this time. I think they would enjoy the experience quite a bit.

 

[teekathepony]

The Beast's real name is Prince Adam I don't think it was ever said in the movie though.
Wonderful photos in BOG, and a great Dismeet too! Love it! The gallery/library was also #3 on my list, but it's nice that they tell you to go look around. That ballroom is fantastic!
I didn't do Enchanted Tales with Belle because I was to shy. I'm sad that I didn't though. It looks cute. I love Maurice's cabin!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Silly Dave, Beast's real name is Rumpelstiltskin if "Once Upon a Time" is to be believed. Or perhaps it's Mulva.

Ha, how bizarre that you were "too early". I guess for BOG, you have to nail the time exact or you're out of luck. It actually feels like waiting for a FP time.

Hmmm, I honestly thought the Gallery room was closed for dinner. And yeah, it's also my least favourite.

Interesting that you would find Enchanted Tales easier to do solo than Ariel's Ride. I'm the complete opposite. In fact there's very little I have issue doing solo apart from Enchanted Tales. What I really found weird about Enchanted Tales was the Photopass they give you contains EVERYTHING. I just could not make sense of that.

 

[Valgoof]

Oh I love that the blueprint to the music box is in Maurice's workshop. That is such a great Disney detail!!

We ate lunch in the ballroom last year and have dinner booked for this trip. I am hoping for West Wing too!!

 

[wiigirl]

Wonderful pics!

 

[MEK]

IMG_1070 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

I love this room. I think its so cool. I hope you do get seated there!

Clearly Maurice doesn't clean up after himself.

IMG_2174 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

This cracks me up. It's all in the details!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

The Beast's real name is Prince Adam I don't think it was ever said in the movie though.
Wonderful photos in BOG, and a great Dismeet too! Love it! The gallery/library was also #3 on my list, but it's nice that they tell you to go look around. That ballroom is fantastic!
I didn't do Enchanted Tales with Belle because I was to shy. I'm sad that I didn't though. It looks cute. I love Maurice's cabin!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Wow! I had no idea of that bit of trivia about Prince Adam! I just looked it up on wikipedia and it says that the Prince Adam reference comes from a Beauty and the Beast computer game!

Silly Dave, Beast's real name is Rumpelstiltskin if "Once Upon a Time" is to be believed. Or perhaps it's Mulva.

Ha, how bizarre that you were "too early". I guess for BOG, you have to nail the time exact or you're out of luck. It actually feels like waiting for a FP time.

Hmmm, I honestly thought the Gallery room was closed for dinner. And yeah, it's also my least favourite.

Interesting that you would find Enchanted Tales easier to do solo than Ariel's Ride. I'm the complete opposite. In fact there's very little I have issue doing solo apart from Enchanted Tales. What I really found weird about Enchanted Tales was the Photopass they give you contains EVERYTHING. I just could not make sense of that.

Yes, Mulva!! Good ol Seinfeld.

I also heard that too that the Gallery is open mostly during lunch time. There weren't that many people seated in the Gallery with us so I wonder if we were the overflow.

I did notice that they were handing out a photopass card that included everyone in the same showing. Logistically that's probably the easiest I'm guessing since the photog is trying to get pictures of the storytelling and won't have time to individually scan each child's photopass and keep track of them afterwards so that they go to the right child/parent.

Oh I love that the blueprint to the music box is in Maurice's workshop. That is such a great Disney detail!!

We ate lunch in the ballroom last year and have dinner booked for this trip. I am hoping for West Wing too!!

I think I would be happy with the Ballroom too so we can watch the snow coming down outside the window. If we get seated in the Gallery again.....pretty sure I'll be a grump about it.

Wonderful pics!

Thanks!

I love this room. I think its so cool. I hope you do get seated there!

This cracks me up. It's all in the details!

It'll be so much fun to sit in the West Wing. Fingers crossed!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Uh-Oh. Guess what day it is~~? Anybody? Ah, come on.....I know you can hear me. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike. What day is it, Mike?

Nope, it's not hump day.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have now reached the 10 day mark for our family trip to Disney! Excuse me for a second.......





Ok, I'm back. I've been pretty much doing that figuratively and literally all morning today with my kids.

Yes, in 10 days we are off to Disney. Having been preoccupied with this trip report I never did a PTR for this upcoming one so I thought I'd do a very mini-PTR here and share some of the highlights of the trip that I'm looking forward to!

1. Our first stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge!! Oh man, I've been lobbying this one for awhile now. Lobbying to DD that is. Last year she won out and we stayed at AoA. So excited to see the view from our Savanna View Room.

2. Jiko! Another first for us and after hearing so many good things about this restaurant my expectations are sky high!

3. Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage! Yep, another first for us. After having done Wishes Dessert Party the past two trips I'm changing things up a bit for a different perspective of our favorite fireworks show! And the kids get to meet Hook and Smee, and Peter Pan!!

4. The Pirates League and BBB! DS and my nephew are signed up for the Pirates League a few hours before our cruise. DD is signed up for BBB 30 minutes later. And I'll be the family photographer that's going to have to run between the two venues trying to grab some good pictures of all three of them.

5. Return to BOG for me but firsts for everyone else! DD has been asking for this one for quite some time and we are happy to be going this. I'll try something other than the pork this time. Maybe the chicken.

6. DD's first go on ToT and EE! Over the past year, I've been prepping DD with the idea of trying both Tower of Terror (my favorite attraction) and EE for this trip. So far, she's game. We'll see if she gets cold feet once we step in the queue but I have a feeling that she's just going to love it once she tries them!

7. DS' possible first go at Soarin, BTMRR, and TT? That's a question mark because DS' current height without shoes is 39.5 inches. I think he should be able to go these rides but we'll see. If the CMs say no then there will be no fuss from us. We've prepped him that it's all really up to Disney. But I really would like to have him experience Soarin and BTMRR because I know he's just going to love them both!

8. Finally, visiting with my brother's family. So this time we're taking my brother, his wife, and my 4 year old nephew. They've been to Disney once two years ago. After that trip my brother declared that they wouldn't return for another 5 years. So when we offered them to come with us and that I would do all of the planning they were more than happy to give it another try. One of my mission this trip is to convert my brother. To do so, I created two separate touring plans that fits more his style of vacationing which includes sleeping in a little more than the rest of us but without missing out on the major headlining items. We'll see how this goes.

9. Photographing the kids and CMs! Traveling with my family I usually put my photography in the backseat so I know there won't be as many scenic pictures of Disney this time. However, I'm hoping to grab a lot of good up close candid photos of the kids. If you've been following our adventures on DIS you won't be surprised to hear that I've been actually writing down photography location ideas for the kids. The idea is that I want to grab good candid portrait shots of them without making them stop and pose. I want to be stealth about my photo taking so I can capture them in a natural moment of joy. So I'm keeping a list to remind myself where to look for those moments. I also would like to capture some good interactions between the kids and all of the different CMs during the trip.

There's so much more to be excited about but I'll stop there because I could go on and on. I'll post some live update pictures on here during the trip!

 

[emilyindisney]

Woot woot! 10 days 'til Disney!!!

Even though that wasn't your top choice room to sit in, it was super neat to see pictures of it. That was closed when I ate dinner there so we didn't get a peak!

Lovin' your shots from Enchanted Tales! I've never done that one so it was neat to see all the details inside the cottage.