Hong Kong no Phooey TR (Apr 2012)! The Yee's have it....TR finish #1101, 07/09

[eeyore7360nc]

Great fireworks and night shots! That is what I continue to struggle with.

[queenie82]

I love that last Castle shot

It was a full 60 mins even on my quiet day that they stayed open for shopping..and shop people did!!!

So that would certainly have assisted you in getting your 'chans' because the CM knew you'd still have time to blend into the crowd. But it was very kind of him and way beyond the COD for him to do it. So very happy for you

And yup...I know that feeling

[skier_pete]

Ugh, all those frickin' fruit-pads! There obnoxious to by-standards, and for taking video the quality is pretty much shiite. I have an non-HD video camera and much prefer what I get out of that.

Beautiful fireworks shots...I used to be into photography back when I had money to buy the equipment. Now I just POS (piece-of-s**t) it with my point-and-shoot.

[kmedina]

Wow. You got beautiful shots. I love all of them. It puts mine and DH's to shame. It gives me inspiration to finally use my camera the right way.

[franandaj]

Great photos all around! The fireworks shots are spectacular and the night shots too. I wouldn't have the whatever-it-takes to not leave when the CMs came around shooing you out. I would just follow orders and leave!

Now you've made me all nostalgic for leaving the parks! I usually don't get that way living so close, but it's been so long since we were there, especially canceling the other night.

[zanzibar138]

I love looking at your night shots! You sure got some great shots of the fireworks. I personally hated all the ipads - they're so big they really do ruin the enjoyment for other people. You got some good luck with that CM though!

And yeah, having watched the fireworks from Main Street Station on both occasions, I can safely say that I did kind of miss the montage on the castle - from where I stood it just looked like light effects (which I still enjoyed BTW).

[hjd0411]

Great fireworks shots!! And I also loved the night time fountain shots!
Looking forward to the rest.

[queenie82]

Originally Posted by zanzibar138

I love looking at your night shots! You sure got some great shots of the fireworks. I personally hated all the ipads - they're so big they really do ruin the enjoyment for other people. You got some good luck with that CM though!

And yeah, having watched the fireworks from Main Street Station on both occasions, I can safely say that I did kind of miss the montage on the castle - from where I stood it just looked like light effects (which I still enjoyed BTW).

I agree....VERY VERY VERY annoying

The first time I actually saw an ipad being used in that way was the at the London Zoo last Feb in the reptile section...
Cumbersome is the only word to use

I was at HKDL 15 months or so ago so pre ipad being used much beyond "normal" use...as in as a frikkin tablet computer

I was doing my best impersonation of a Koala braced against a light pole in the hub though so maybe they were around and I didn't notice.

[dgbg100106]

Nice... Very beautiful photos..

[franandaj]

Originally Posted by skier_pete

Ugh, all those frickin' fruit-pads! There obnoxious to by-standards, and for taking video the quality is pretty much shiite. I have an non-HD video camera and much prefer what I get out of that.

Beautiful fireworks shots...I used to be into photography back when I had money to buy the equipment. Now I just POS (piece-of-s**t) it with my point-and-shoot.

OH....that's what you meant by Fruit loops. I thought they kind of added to the ambience, and then if they had an image of a fruit loop in the picture and so on and so on....

[ACDSNY]

Awesome pics! I can't wait to see some more.

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by usnuzuloose

Those are awesome pics of the fireworks. It was so nice of the cm to take you around and let you take some extra pics. What is the wide angle lens you are using? Cant wait to see day 2.

I'm using the Canon EF-S 10 - 22 mm; f/3.5 - 4.5 lens. Its a nice one to have in the bag but $$$.

Originally Posted by eeyore7360nc

Great fireworks and night shots! That is what I continue to struggle with.

Thanks Eeyore. Coming from you, I really appreciate your comments.

Originally Posted by queenie82

I love that last Castle shot

It was a full 60 mins even on my quiet day that they stayed open for shopping..and shop people did!!!

So that would certainly have assisted you in getting your 'chans' because the CM knew you'd still have time to blend into the crowd. But it was very kind of him and way beyond the COD for him to do it. So very happy for you

And yup...I know that feeling

I was very happy with that CM that night.

Originally Posted by skier_pete

Ugh, all those frickin' fruit-pads! There obnoxious to by-standards, and for taking video the quality is pretty much shiite. I have an non-HD video camera and much prefer what I get out of that.

Beautiful fireworks shots...I used to be into photography back when I had money to buy the equipment. Now I just POS (piece-of-s**t) it with my point-and-shoot.

As you well know, I am available to take your Aussie holiday snaps. You just need to fly me up to Cairns....ANYTIME.

And yes....sadly, I think those fruit-pads are here to stay.

Originally Posted by kmedina

Wow. You got beautiful shots. I love all of them. It puts mine and DH's to shame. It gives me inspiration to finally use my camera the right way.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by franandaj

Great photos all around! The fireworks shots are spectacular and the night shots too. I wouldn't have the whatever-it-takes to not leave when the CMs came around shooing you out. I would just follow orders and leave!

Now you've made me all nostalgic for leaving the parks! I usually don't get that way living so close, but it's been so long since we were there, especially canceling the other night.

Interesting to see that you don't get to feel that way living so close. I know that living close and visiting often can change the feeling of nostalgia.

Originally Posted by zanzibar138

I love looking at your night shots! You sure got some great shots of the fireworks. I personally hated all the ipads - they're so big they really do ruin the enjoyment for other people. You got some good luck with that CM though!

And yeah, having watched the fireworks from Main Street Station on both occasions, I can safely say that I did kind of miss the montage on the castle - from where I stood it just looked like light effects (which I still enjoyed BTW).

I'd be interested to see what kind of shots you got from your position, if you took any. I might have to mosey on back to your TR to see if you already posted these up. I've been living in the land of the fog these last 2 weeks and really can't remember things the way I know I should.

Originally Posted by hjd0411

Great fireworks shots!! And I also loved the night time fountain shots!
Looking forward to the rest.

I love those night fountain shots as well. Sadly, I just missed the lighting effect on that night and didn't want to hang around for the next light-up. The lighting effect is very colourful but I actually quite like the simplicity of the plain white light.

Originally Posted by queenie82

I agree....VERY VERY VERY annoying

The first time I actually saw an ipad being used in that way was the at the London Zoo last Feb in the reptile section...
Cumbersome is the only word to use

I was at HKDL 15 months or so ago so pre ipad being used much beyond "normal" use...as in as a frikkin tablet computer

I was doing my best impersonation of a Koala braced against a light pole in the hub though so maybe they were around and I didn't notice.

I'm pretty sure there might have been some around when you went; maybe less in number than what is around now. I don't know why they do it as the iPads don't necessarily have good camera resolution.

Originally Posted by dgbg100106

Nice... Very beautiful photos..

Thank you.

Originally Posted by franandaj

OH....that's what you meant by Fruit loops. I thought they kind of added to the ambience, and then if they had an image of a fruit loop in the picture and so on and so on....

Originally Posted by ACDSNY

Awesome pics! I can't wait to see some more.

I should have some ready tomorrow.

[PrincessInOz]

The Yee’s Have It – Walt’s Café Again


I know we’re all anxious to get back to the Park for another full day today. But I really can’t let you start the day without breakfast.

The Yee’s have it! After yesterday’s great start at Walt’s, the family all voted to head back there again today.

We got pretty much the same as the day before; only we switched it up in who ordered what. You all got to see wider shots yesterday….I’ll concentrate on close-ups for this post.


Some of us got the Chinese breakfast this morning. These noodles were just delightful.






The congee provides you with the choice of protein to go with it. This one is with chicken.






The Kai Lan or chinese broccoli also arrives on the platter.






Without the knowledge of Dim Sum for lunch, one of us decided to try the Chinese Dim Sum breakfast option this morning. Everything was very good.
The Har Gow was cooked to perfection.






The turnip cake was not too dense, the Char Siew bao was light and fluffy and the spring rolls were delicious.







We also tested out the cooked to order Western breakfast. This is what the omelette looks like.






The Mickey pancakes, which DS loves.






And I really have to do this with the Mickey waffle. I held these ones over from the previous morning.












The waffles were cooked perfectly.


We have really enjoyed our breakfast at Walt’s Café. I highly recommend it. Food quality and quantity is great, ambience was nice and I really enjoyed looking at pictures like these on the wall.







I will say that like with most things Disney, go early if you are at HKDL during a busy period.
Walt's was great on the Sunday, when it was nice and quiet. But today....the place was packed by 8 am. It was a sign of things to come.




(Continued in Next Post)

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)



Making Rope Drop

The park hours for this day were 10 am – 8 pm. With those kinds of hours, I was always going to make rope drop. My parents decided that they would make it to the park in their own time, so that left just DH, DS and myself to head out a little earlier.


I think I must have been jumping out of my skin to make it to the park again.





I might not remember what time we specifically got to the gates, but this was our view. I'm pretty sure we got there before 9.30 am; but not too much before.





No, we weren’t the first ones there. There was already a score or more of people there before me. We just happened to be front of the queue in one of the lines.






Aside from the family of the day ceremony to open the gates, there isn’t anything else to welcome you to the park at the gates. No train, no characters, nothing. You just complete bag check and walk in through the turnstyles.

This is turning out to be one of my favourite pictures of this trip.






DH took this shot. Nothing says Disney like an oversized hand glove.






I know it was around 9.40 am at this stage because that's when the gates opened, still too early for the 10 am rope drop.






DH and DS went back down Main Street in search of Goofy. DS really loves Goofy at this point in time.





In fact, I’m pretty sure that the Fab 5 were all out….none of them dressed in anything special other than their normal work clothes. We weren't chasing characters right at this point in time.

I contemplated my last day at the Park in rather gloomy light.





Rope drop ceremony was rather underwhelming. We did get a princess and her prince come out…





…and a different family cutting the banner to the family of the day at the gates. I don't know why they had two different families.






No one asked me about the golden banner and sign at the entrance yesterday.






It’s about a Star Guest Recognition Program that is currently running until mid-May 2012. There is a pack that is distributed to guests on a first come first serve basis. Limited numbers of the pack are available on a daily basis. The key thing about the pack is that there is a golden button inside and when you put it on, CMs are supposed to provide additional benefits to you. I believe that they distribute stickers and character cards and also challenge the guest to games. The packs also contain two small tokens that you, the guest, are meant to provide to a CM that has provided you with an extra special experience at HKDL. I was to ask Vien, the lifeguard at the pool, later about what the CM gets. Turns out, they fill in the tokens with their details and it goes into a lucky draw hat. She didn’t know what they would win if they were lucky enough to be pulled out of the hat.


You collect the pack at the hub, between the Plaza Inn and the Adventureland gate.







I really should get round to taking a picture of the pack. We wore our badges all day…but didn’t experience any additional magic.




(Continued in Next Post)

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


Into Fantasyland – properly this time!


After collecting our Star Guest Packs, we headed into Fantasyland. We’d only seen a tiny corner of this land the day before and we were all keen to head in.

I still took time to shoot the castle …











We really enjoyed being to look at the castle details without having a ton of people around.
















This time round, we headed straight for Dumbo. It was really hard contending with all that queue barriers.






We each decided to ride separately and were given our boarding passes. They aren’t feathers!






The DL Railroad pulled in at this stage and the ride filled up fast.






And then it was our turn to go for an elephant ride. This was my Dumbo.






DH and I amused ourselves with taking some details of the attraction. I swiped the close-ups from his collection.

















And we’re up, up and away!





The view was pretty good from up high on Dumbo. See that path leading towards the Castle? We only stayed in that section yesterday in our brief stop in Fantasyland.






This is the Fantasyland Railway station, which is towards the back of Dumbo in the 6 o'clock direction from the Castle. We never did get a ride on the train.






Says it all, really!






I asked DS if he wanted to ride the carousel…






…and Mickey’s Philharmagic.






He ‘nixed both of those!


He headed towards the washing machine spin cycle instead. These spin dryers are located to the right side of Dumbo.






Hi! My name is PIO’s DH and I’ll be your Spiderman spinner for the day.






Note to self….NEVER EVER let DH and DS take control of the spinning wheel together. By the way, DH is wearing that gold button here.











EVER!

Between the two of them, I figured they pulled enough G-force on that teacup to rival Mission: Space. I think you would have realised that I was sitting there with camera in hand taking pictures as we were going around. It didn’t take me long to get dizzy, which I rarely do on the teacups; and whilst I didn't exactly scream like a girl…....



Actually…..I think I did scream like a girl.



I got off the ride and had to catch my breath for a minute. The whole world was spinning.


Just remind me to ride separately from the boys next time I head to a Disney Park…and to bring our wet bathers here for a quick spin-dry.



We did take a look at Fantasy Gardens between Dumbo and the Teacups.






But at the time of day it was, we didn’t see any characters in residence.


I did, however, get us some Fast Passes for Winnie the Pooh, which is located almost opposite the teacups, for later.


We did have a different destination in mind for right now.