Butt free photos in front of the castle! LOL!

[I459WDW]

When we go to WDW, we always book Crystal Palace for before the park opens. Not for the characters or any kind of great meal or anything (it is not), but so that we can get pics before park opens. We have 5 day passes and plan 3 of those days for DL. For the last day I booked the Plaza Inn - again, not for the food, I hear it's not good - but so we can get those butt free photos. Is this worth it at DL? Or are pics in front of the castle at DL at a better angle so that you don't get the back side of everyone walking into the park? My hesitation with this reservation is that you can't get in as early as you do at WDW. Reservation is just 20 minutes before the park opens - and I hate to lose that precious rope drop time.

 

[jammyjam25]

1) If your reservation is on an EMH day there will already be bodies in the park and walking around/through the castle during your reservation time.

2) Even if the castle area is empty, you will be roped off at the end of Main Street and not really allowed any further than the Plaza to get close to the castle at all. Here's my photo from that viewpoint. Plaza Inn is just forward a bit and to the right of this viewpoint. This is a photo I took waiting for Rope Drop at the end of Main Street in October 2015.



So you may be able to get some "empty" photos but not really at great angles or *right* in front of the castle.

 

[tlovesdis]

As the previous poster said, even with an early reservation, you can't get close to the castle, everything is roped off until regular opening. Your best bet for photos is on your MM day. You won't be done with breakfast in 20 minutes.

BTW - we love Plaza Inn food! I don't know whey it gets such a bad rap? I always enjoy my made to order omlette, fruit and bacon (I do low carb) and my niece loves the Mickey waffles and biscuits and gravy!

 

[figment_jii]

I also wouldn't make/keep the Plaza Inn reservation just so you have a chance of a photo of the castle (at a distance) with no people. As the PPs said, reservations either start about 20 minutes before the park opens on non-EMH/non-MM mornings or 10 minutes after EMH/MM starts on those mornings. So on an EMH/MM morning, there will already be guests walking through the castle (heading to FL) by the time you get into the park for your reservation. On non-EMH/non-MM days, they won't let you get up close to the castle...so you can get some nice distance shots, but that's about it.

 

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,

Sorry to butt in, but I have been able to get pixs of my children in front of the castle without anyone else in the pix at every visit to DLP. We enjoy EMH starting at 7 AM and are the first folks to reach the castle and Peter Pan. No problem. Most of the EMH heads to Tomorrowland. We hit Fantasyland first.

 

[jammyjam25]

Aloha,

Sorry to butt in, but I have been able to get pixs of my children in front of the castle without anyone else in the pix at every visit to DLP. We enjoy EMH starting at 7 AM and are the first folks to reach the castle and Peter Pan. No problem. Most of the EMH heads to Tomorrowland. We hit Fantasyland first.

You guys must be fast walkers! Even being the first people at the rope for a 7am EMH we managed to find a 10 minute line at PP by the time we (quickly) walked there. We had been overtaken by all the runners!

 

[figment_jii]

Wow, what time do you get in line to get into the park for EMH/MM? You must be one of the first guests into the park for EMH/MM. I've only done EMH/MM once, but by the time we got into the park (we were in line well before EMH/MM started), there was a steady stream of guests heading toward Fantasyland. There was no way we could have gotten a people-free photo of the castle.

 

[bumbershoot]

Even if the castle area is empty, you will be roped off at the end of Main Street and not really allowed any further than the Plaza to get close to the castle at all.

That's not always where RD is. In fact I've never been that far back. We were at RD the other day and the rope was at the castle side of the hub area, beyond the statue.

I don't know whey it gets such a bad rap?

Because not everyone has the same tastebuds, not everyone eats the same thing the same day, and not everyone likes their food. I was able to eat mini chocolate croissants our one time at Minnie's and that was the ONLY thing that tasted good. The rest was atrocious.

 

[ADLFAN]

Our quaint Sleeping Beauty Castle actually works pretty well for close up shots, where your photo subject takes up most of the lower frame and blocks most of the other people, and the upper part of the frame is filled by the lovely castle.

Also, I like either side, where you can make your photo subject fill most of the frame and the castle will fill up the rest. When you take pictures from the sides, you miss most of the traffic heading through the castle.

I have pictures on my phone from both locations, but I am having serious Photobucket issues...

The backside is also very pretty, and if you do pictures there, maybe fewer butts and more smiles?!

 

[mom2rtk]

We LOVE early breakfast for great photos at WDW! But we really have not found a way to replicate that at DLR. Photopass photographers are a lot more hit or miss and DLR as well. So even if you find a lower traffic time, there might not be a photographer there. The shots below were on my own camera. I just asked a CM in the area if they would take one for me.

My suggestion would just be to try many times over the course of your trip, and hope that one of them turns out less crowded.

One thing I like to do is shoot over to the right of the castle as you face it. The shots aren't people free, but you are more separated from the crowds:

Diamond Castle by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Disneyland Castle 2016 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[jammyjam25]

Great photos @mom2rtk!

 

[mom2rtk]

Great photos @mom2rtk!

Thanks!

 

[I459WDW]

Thanks sooooo much everyone! So glad I thought to ask. Just assumed it would be the same opportunity, just less time. It is NOT a MM, (Friday), but as you've all stated there is not an opportunity to be had anyway! Argh on a low supply of Photo Pass photographers!!!! We have 3 DL days, so hopefully we will find one at least one of those days! I'm not going to waste a morning on eating breakfast then. I have 3 mornings to run to an attraction. One has to be Peter Pan. And goodness @mom2rtk , GORGEOUS photos!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Thanks sooooo much everyone! So glad I thought to ask. Just assumed it would be the same opportunity, just less time. It is NOT a MM, (Friday), but as you've all stated there is not an opportunity to be had anyway! Argh on a low supply of Photo Pass photographers!!!! We have 3 DL days, so hopefully we will find one at least one of those days! I'm not going to waste a morning on eating breakfast then. I have 3 mornings to run to an attraction. One has to be Peter Pan. And goodness @mom2rtk , GORGEOUS photos!!!

Thanks! Those were taken around 5:15 in the afternoon. One of the problems we had earlier in the day (in addition to the crowds) was the sun shining right in our eyes.

We love Plaza Inn for the characters, and for eating in such a lovely place, but not for park access like we do the MK.

Good luck getting your photos. And have a great trip!

 

[BriannaRuth]

You might notice that FP photographers often hang out over on the right side of the castle. There's a reason for that -- fewer people in the pictures, as mom2rtk's photos show.

I also read somewhere that if you stand on one of the benches in front of the castle the perspective helps keep other people out of the shot, but I haven't tried it.

 

[guynhawaii]

Wow, what time do you get in line to get into the park for EMH/MM? You must be one of the first guests into the park for EMH/MM. I've only done EMH/MM once, but by the time we got into the park (we were in line well before EMH/MM started), there was a steady stream of guests heading toward Fantasyland. There was no way we could have gotten a people-free photo of the castle.

Aloha,

Our daily goal is to reach security at 6:30 AM and get in front of one of the gates for both DCA and DLP. From there my teenagers take off and I walk fast taking pixs of them. This past June we were first in line for PP three times, three times for Toy Story Mania, once for RSR (our only time we went straight to RSR) and once for the Matterhorn. Our DLP strategy is Fantasyland at 7 AM and work clockwise around the park staying ahead of the crowd through Critter Country. Enjoy lunch and relax the rest of the day. For DCA we go straight to TSM and ride it and Screamin three times each then head for Soarin and work our way clockwise. Get FPs as required. Works every time. Oh yes, enjoy our DCA lunch on the water at the Cover Bar.

 

[GeneralTso]

Here's our little secret (lol, that everybody does)......see those concrete benches behind mom2rtk's daughter that we are watching grow up in front of our eyes? If you and your stand on those, you get a people free shot. Not the whole castle shot, but a nice shot.

 

[mom2rtk]

Here's our little secret (lol, that everybody does)......see those concrete benches behind mom2rtk's daughter that we are watching grow up in front of our eyes? If you and your stand on those, you get a people free shot. Not the whole castle shot, but a nice shot.

My daughter is sitting on the upper part of that bench in this shot. It works out great, especially for smaller kids.

Sleeping Beauty at HER Castle! by mom2rtk, on Flickr