-38 degrees again?? Goodbye Alaska Hello Disney! January 2009 (Updated 4/17)

[kkyle60]

Your photos are great. I recently upgraded to a DSLR from an older version of the Fuji camera you have. While I love my new camera, a good photographer can take great photos with any camera, and you are a good photographer.

One recommendation I have is the Gorrillapod from joby.com. It is a small tripod with articulated legs that will turn anything into a camera support and it easily fits in a backpack. I used it to take great photos of Illuminations by attaching it to a guardrail.

Loved the trip report.

 

[blestmom]

Your photos are great. I recently upgraded to a DSLR from an older version of the Fuji camera you have. While I love my new camera, a good photographer can take great photos with any camera, and you are a good photographer.

Thank you! You made my day

If you don't mind my asking, what DSLR did you upgrade to? I hope to be able to upgrade myself soon.

One recommendation I have is the Gorrillapod from joby.com. It is a small tripod with articulated legs that will turn anything into a camera support and it easily fits in a backpack. I used it to take great photos of Illuminations by attaching it to a guardrail.

That is a great suggestion. It did get tiring to have to use garbage cans and railings all the time. Thanks.

 

[MagicShell]

Still enjoying your report. But, it makes me cold!

 

[kkyle60]

After an excessive amount of research, I decided to get the Nikon D40.

Some people might ridicule the D40 because it is the cheapest DSLR Nikon sells, but as you have proven here it is possible to take great pictures with any camera. The benefit of buying the less expensive D40 is that you can use the money you saved to buy another lens or a flash. This is what clinched it for me, with DSLRs the camera bodies have a shorter life span that the lenses(the bodies are obsolete in 3 years, but lenses can last 10-15 years). That means while I may only use my D40 for 3 years, I could possibly use the extra lens I got for 10 years.


The blog kenrockwell.com is where I got alot of my information and I would recomend it as a starting point in your DSLR search.

Good luck.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Really enjoying reading your report and looking at your pics. We are planning a trip for late January 2010. This has given me a good idea about weather and crowds.

Thanks for all the great pics

 

[blestmom]

Day 14 – “Perfection All Around”

Wow…I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted! This last month has been jam-packed with choir concerts, dance recitals, track meets, college finals…phew!

Anyway…back to the vacation…just a few days left.

This was such a fun day, and absolutely perfect.

We started out at Animal Kingdom. The kids got to meet lots of characters…

The kids were very kind, and let me go on the safari yet again…I’ve lost count now how many times we’ve been on it.

This is best I could do with the elusive cheetas...

I didn’t think I could ever get another great shot of the lions, but I did! I was pretty surprised.

I don’t remember how many times we rode Expedition: Everest. It was a lot! We got Dad some books on mountain climbing for a souvenir.

We also enjoyed the walking trails…it was such a gorgeous day. We got to see the gorillas up close.

After finishing at Animal Kingdom, we headed over the Disney Studios.

Andrew decided his ‘big’ souvenir from the trip would be a “Build-Your-Own” light saber. That was way cool! He loved it.

We also did the Animation Academy. I love that place! I wish we had done it more than just one time. We got to learn how to draw Tigger.

The kids met characters there, too.

And Sierra rode her favorite ride again “The Great Movie Ride.”

We ended the day with the Annual Pass Preview of "American Idol." That was fun!

Next day: “The Best Place in All of Disney”

 

[torsie24]

Great update!! Glad to have you back again!!

I love that Bolt hamster - he's hilarious!!!!!!!

 

[blestmom]

Great update!! Glad to have you back again!!

I love that Bolt hamster - he's hilarious!!!!!!!

He was so funny! I got a video clip of him getting my son to dance with him.

 

[blestmom]

Day 15: “The Best Place in All of Disney”

We started our day at Epcot. It was a wonderfully warm day. We rode Soarin’ and Test Track. It wasn’t until we got home that we discovered that we forgot to ride “Mission: Space.” Yes, we forgot. We kept saying, “Oh, we’ll go on it later.” Then, we just simply forgot. That’s crazy.

The kids met Jasmine and Aladdin.

Exploring World Showcase...

“Princess,” “Sweetness,” and I were looking forward to lunch from Mexico.

“Mr. Energy,” however, decided he wanted a big ol’ Turkey leg. He had never had one before, so today was the day. Boy was he excited!

He didn’t eat quite all of it, but most of it!

We watched the French movie, and enjoyed the shops there. So pretty.

I bought a lot of chocolate from the different countries, to take home with me and enjoy while looking through my pictures. Can you guess which one was my favorite?

After we finished at Epcot, we went back to the hotel, and then headed over to my very favorite place in all of Disney…the Fort Wilderness Campground.

It is so gorgeous over there. We just walked and walked for awhile.

The kids say they hate taking me over there, because I get sad we can’t actually go camping there (a little unrealistic coming from Alaska) and the cabins are just too pricey for our long trips. But I do love it there.

We also enjoyed the barn and horses. They are amazing.

We were excited to stay for the movie and campfire.

First they had a sing-a-long..

We saw a Donald Duck cartoon, and then we watched “The Jungle Book.”

We made s’mores and had a great time.

Next Day: “Last Day for this Trip…How should we end it??”

Oh...and my favorite chocolate from Epcot? Flake...from England. Yum!

 

[blestmom]

Day 16 - “Last Day for this Trip…How should we end it??”

Even though this trip has been quite long, I still don’t want to see it end. But since we can’t live at Disney (we can’t , can we??) we finally have come to the last day of our vacation. We decide to make it mostly a Magic Kingdom day, but first we run over to Animal Kingdom, just one more time. We really do love it there.

We got to meet a few more characters. We just love Meeko…

We rode Expedition: Everest again, and went on the Safari one last time.

Then we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We just did whatever the kids wanted to do again. “Princess” wanted to ride the Carousel one more time.

We got lunch at Sleepy Hollow, and while it doesn’t look too impressive, the wild rice soup was so good, and quite inexpensive. I’m remembering this for the next trip.

“Princess” wore her tiara today. She got it this trip. She felt she was too old for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, but she wanted a tiara. I told her only in Disney could she get away with wearing a tiara around all day and having no one look at you funny, so she did!

We enjoyed Mickey head ice cream bars, too.

Then…we went back to the hotel, and we were going to head back to the Magic Kingdom to watch SpectroMagic. But once they got back to the room, “Princess” and “Sweetness” decided they were too tired, and since we had to get up in the middle of the night to catch our flight, they decided to stay in the room and rest.

But…”Mr. Energy,” living up to his name, agreed to accompany me over to the Magic Kingdom to catch the parade. It was fabulous!

Someone on the DIS here said to watch for the floats to change from white, to color, to symbolize when Disney went from black-and-white to color. That was cool!

After that, we did a little last-minute shopping at the Emporium, and then we headed back to the hotel. We packed up, and slept for just a few hours (“Princess” stayed up all night) and we left for our flight at 4:30 a.m. (eek!)

This next picture is actually the next day, on the airplane. But I wanted to show a very special Disney blanket someone made for me… (You know who you are...thank you so very much!)

It has been a spectacular, wonderful, amazing trip! It was fun, relaxing, exciting…just perfect.

And yes, we already have another trip booked for January 2010.

Thanks for reading my trip report!

 

[torsie24]

Haha, I'm glad you like flakes If ever you're craving one let me know and I'll post it over! The best is a Snow-Flake which is a white chocolte flake dipped in milk chocolate!

Aero's are my favourite!!

 

[blestmom]

The best is a Snow-Flake which is a white chocolte flake dipped in milk chocolate!

Oh wow...that sounds heavenly!

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

I have loved reading your report. We are planning a trip for January 2010 also. Maybe we will see you there.

Thank you for all the wonderful pictures.

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

What an absolutely AMAZING trip to Disney! Wow. 16 days. That's, like, my ultimate dream. So far I've been a grand total of one week. Aw well....

I hope you write a TR for 2010. I'll definately be in on that one!

 

[MagicShell]

Thanks for sharing your trip. It sounded like you had a great time. We ended our last trip with SpectroMagic as well.