Second All in One Disneyland TR Thread - Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout Review 5/30-6/2

[mvf-m11c]

Amazing pic's Brent... I am trying to catch up!!!

Have a FUN and safe trip!

--Lori

Thank you Lori.

We are having a great time and just got back from the DLR tonight. It was a fun night and it was kind of ruined at the end. But i will get to that on the updates.

Great updates Bret! I hope you are enjoying the parks now.

I'm glad to hear that the RSR FPs are now last in almost until noon. I have never rode at night but I'm looking forward to it someday. I like to long exposure shots. Its good to have a tripod or even a trash can for those shots o the headlight trails.

Your BTMRR shots were great also. I need to go on that ride again. We'll be back at the parks at least a couple times in July and one of our friends who has an AP wants us to go with him soon so that will be fun!

Thank you Alison. We had fun these last two days and I will be looking forward to update from this trip. A lot of pictures are coming in the future updates.

With RSR FP now connected to the other FP at DCA, it will be easier to get a FP later during the day where the earlier days is that it will be gone around 10am. We were lucky to get the nighttime FP's for RSR. It is amazing to ride RSR at night. The long exposure shots are getting better and better. It is good to have a tripod or use the trash can. Another is to have a remote control so you won't budge the camera when taking long exposure shots.

It was so nice to be able to ride BTMRR after it's long refurbishment. That is nice to hear that you will be going back in July to have fun with your friends. Hope you have a great time in July.

Glad you're safely there. Sounds like you are having a great time getting on the rides. Looking forward to seeing the pics.

Hope you like FI.

Thank you PiO. We had fun these last two days and I can't believe the trip is almost over tomorrow or later this morning. I have uploaded some pictures from the trip and you can see them on my flickr signature below.

F! is one of my favorite nighttime shows and it was nice to be able to watch it last night.

Brett, the Monday surprise was all 7 of the Dwarfs we're out, at the Snow White Wishing Well.... doing a Meet and Greet!

Happy you made it safe! Looking forward to reading your latest update!
How do you like the FFI? I have stayed there a few times... did you get a Resort view?
Love the Plaza Inn fried Chicken, nothing better than sitting there people watching, and listening to the sounds of DLR, while eating the Yummy chicken!

Have a Blast!

--Lori

Thank you for the information Lori. We weren't able to see them around the Snow White Fishing Well yesterday.

Thank you. It was nice to be at the parks these first two days and I can't believe it is almost over. FFI is a nice hotel and the room is very Disney theme. We see some pictures of Disney parks and Toy Story decorations. There are so many people at FFI and it does take a while to get on the elevator since we are staying on the 6th floor. We did get a resort view and I didn't book a resort view. It was nice to get the resort view which is nice. It is a nice hotel but i would rather stay at BWPPI, BWAI or my usual hotels since there aren't a lot of people.

It has been a while since I ate at the Plaza Inn during lunch and we were glad to eat there yesterday. The chicken was nice and it filled me up that night.

Thank you


We had another fun day at the DLR and was able to do a lot of rides and shows. Here is a quick update from today or yesterday. We got to ride the DLRR, Monorail, & IASW. We got to watch Mickey's Soundsational Parade and to see the new Frozen pre-parade float which is nice. We got to watch Mickey and the Magical Map. At DCA, we got to ride RSR at night and watch WoC. We did get to eat at the Blue Bayou this afternoon around 11:30am and we were able to get a waterside view of the bayou and see the PotC boats go by.

Here are some pictures of the new Frozen pre-parade.








Very interesting fact about the float is that it is actually the Ice Rink float during "A Christmas Fantasy" parade. It was odd that the DLR used an old float and convert it to a Frozen float instead of spending money on a new float.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice!

Did you enjoy playing with the new lens?

 

[knewton64]

JUST FAB!!!
Like the pics of BTMR
(u take great action shots)


Tho I did notice I am 'lacking' in one area per yer tr.......
PSSTTT!!!!



I HAVE YET TO SEE THE MOVIE, 'FROZEN'!!
hhmmm......just 'may' have to put that on my things to do list......



SUBBIN' to yer tr -







T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret!
I thought I recognized that float. It is probably very popular as Frozen is a very popular movie. It's one of my new favs.

Are you at DL now? What fun!! We'll be there in less than 2 weeks.

Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!
TK

 

[Sherry E]

Bret --

The 7 Dwarfs by the Wishing Well in DL were only one part of the #GetHappier Monday Summer Surprise.

The next surprise on Monday was in DCA, and the CMs were giving away free Glow with the Show Ears and VIP viewing passes for WOC to some people (but someone else mentioned only getting a button because she didn't approach the right CM). There was an alert about it on the Disneyland Today page.

We talked a lot about it in the Halloween Time Supertread as it was happening on Monday, and I was cheering on you and Jamie (DisneyJamieCA, who was also at DLR) to run, run, run and get whatever the surprise was going to be in DCA. I am going to assume that she didn't get it either.

And then, let's not even get into the fiasco from yesterday morning -- which involved the Parks Blog posting about a July 17th Sneak Peek for the 60th Anniversary event and choosing a limited number of winners on a "first come, first served" basis, rather than leaving it open all day for a random draw or for a lottery. The spots for the 60th Sneak Peek filled up in under 3 minutes. I hadn't even seen the Blog when it first went up. I caught it right after it had just filled up, and Mary Jo didn't see it until after it had filled up either.

A lot of people probably hastily entered to win the Sneak Peek before even thinking about whether or not they would actually be able to attend, and they will end up being no-shows (I saw one guy somewhere online mention that he won a slot -- and he was in Texas)....whereas people who could actually attend it on July 17th didn't even see the Blog announcement until they got home from work, and they never had a chance to enter!

 

[kylie71]

Awesome pics Brett!! I hope you are having an Amazing last day!

Yeah, I have never been thrilled with the FFI. I would rather stay at the CCI.. Love the Boutique style, and the flowers!

Looking forward to more pics and update, when you can. Have FUN!!

Lori

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice!

Did you enjoy playing with the new lens?

Thanks PiO.

It was nice to use the Nikon 70-300mm lens. But it did lack the low light shots at night and dark areas. Next time when I rent another telephoto lens, it might be the 70-200mm f/4 lens that I wanted to use but it was a good idea to start off with the 70-300mm first. The next time I will rent something even better.

JUST FAB!!!
Like the pics of BTMR
(u take great action shots)


Tho I did notice I am 'lacking' in one area per yer tr.......
PSSTTT!!!!



I HAVE YET TO SEE THE MOVIE, 'FROZEN'!!
hhmmm......just 'may' have to put that on my things to do list......



SUBBIN' to yer tr -







T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

Hi knewton64.

Glad that you are enjoying my trip report.

You got to see the movie Frozen.

Thank you for following along.

Hi Bret!
I thought I recognized that float. It is probably very popular as Frozen is a very popular movie. It's one of my new favs.

Are you at DL now? What fun!! We'll be there in less than 2 weeks.

Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!
TK

Hi TK,

It was kind of surprise to see the DLR use one of the "A Christmas" Fantasy" parade floats for the new Frozen pre-parade float. I can understand to use the float when it is not being used until the holiday season. But it would have been better if they made a new float instead of using the ice rink float during the holiday season. I am also curious if DL is going to leave the Frozen float as is when we get to the holiday season or will it be converted back to the ice rink. Those are questions that I want to know.

I got back yesterday night. We only spent 3 hours in the park yesterday to go on some rides that we didn't go on the first two days like HM, PotC & Winnie the Pooh ride. I am getting excited for you and your family since you are only a few weeks away till your trip. I hope you have a great time and try to stay cool down there.

Thank you and have a great time again.

Bret --

The 7 Dwarfs by the Wishing Well in DL were only one part of the #GetHappier Monday Summer Surprise.

The next surprise on Monday was in DCA, and the CMs were giving away free Glow with the Show Ears and VIP viewing passes for WOC to some people (but someone else mentioned only getting a button because she didn't approach the right CM). There was an alert about it on the Disneyland Today page.

We talked a lot about it in the Halloween Time Supertread as it was happening on Monday, and I was cheering on you and Jamie (DisneyJamieCA, who was also at DLR) to run, run, run and get whatever the surprise was going to be in DCA. I am going to assume that she didn't get it either.

And then, let's not even get into the fiasco from yesterday morning -- which involved the Parks Blog posting about a July 17th Sneak Peek for the 60th Anniversary event and choosing a limited number of winners on a "first come, first served" basis, rather than leaving it open all day for a random draw or for a lottery. The spots for the 60th Sneak Peek filled up in under 3 minutes. I hadn't even seen the Blog when it first went up. I caught it right after it had just filled up, and Mary Jo didn't see it until after it had filled up either.

A lot of people probably hastily entered to win the Sneak Peek before even thinking about whether or not they would actually be able to attend, and they will end up being no-shows (I saw one guy somewhere online mention that he won a slot -- and he was in Texas)....whereas people who could actually attend it on July 17th didn't even see the Blog announcement until they got home from work, and they never had a chance to enter!

I did read on the Halloween Time Superthread that Monday night about the 7 Dwarfs at the DL Snow White Wishing Well. It was a shame that I didn't see them on Monday but it was going to be tough to find the Summer Monday Surprise.

That was nice of the DLR to give away GwtS ears to the guests.

We didn't get into the parks until 4pm Monday since we had some issues with the ECV that my DAF was using.

I read the blog on the Disney Parks blog and it will be very interesting to see what kind of sneak peek will happen during Disneyland 59th Anniversary.

Awesome pics Brett!! I hope you are having an Amazing last day!

Yeah, I have never been thrilled with the FFI. I would rather stay at the CCI.. Love the Boutique style, and the flowers!

Looking forward to more pics and update, when you can. Have FUN!!

Lori

Thank you Lori. We only spent 3 hours in the parks yesterday and we had a great time where we got to do everything on our must do list.

FFI is nice but I would not stay there again. One is that there are a lot of rooms and a lot of people where parking can be terrible and per day of $13 a night which is high as well. The location is not that bad (shorter than BW Stovall's where I stay a lot). The price was really high at $149 without tax which is kind of high. There are people on the boards like the hotel but this is not for me in my opinion. I have never stayed at CCI and I have read from other people that is is a nice place to stay.

I will start on the trip report update until I finish the April trip first which I should post later tonight after the 2014 NBA Draft is over.

 

[petals]

joining in. Luvin all your pics

 

[mvf-m11c]

joining in. Luvin all your pics

Thank you petals.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

[post=51694576]Last Installment of the Trip Report[/post]

Day 3 –April 27th, 2014 – Part 4

The World is a Carousel of Color​

Just when we finished our fun time at Cars Land and to be able to ride Radiator Springs Racers at night, it was time to head on over to Paradise Pier and get our spot for the 9:45pm World of Color show. It was so unusual to come this late at night to watch WoC where it would be the second show that night. But on the schedule, it was only being played just once that night. I wonder if the DLR is only playing it only once just during our vacation in April and the show will show two showings during the summertime.

During my trip just a few days ago in June when DAW and I went and watch WoC on Tuesday, there was only one show. It was kind of a surprise that WoC isn’t playing twice during the summertime.

We didn’t get to the viewing area until 9:00pm and our usual spot was available. But the only problem with it that we didn’t stay to watch that spot is that the hedge on the left hand side right next to the fire hydrant has grown a lot where it was tough to watch the show. We could have easily stayed and watch that spot but we tried another spot.


I was not happy with the spot to watch WoC from a different angle instead of my usual spot at the green fire hydrant.


While we were waiting, I played with the long exposure shots with the DSLR on the tripod and luckily Mickey’s Fun Wheel was still moving that night.


Also the Golden Zephyr


Here are pictures from the 9:45pm World of Color show. The show has never got old to me or DAF since the show debut in 2010. I must have watched WoC over 20 times since the show debut and still hasn’t got old one bit.






























As always, WoC is one of our favorite nighttime shows at the Disney parks. It was nice to see the original version of WoC after watching World of Color: Winter Dreams during the holiday season back in November/December. Winter Dreams was nice but it doesn’t tell the story like the original WoC show.

After the show was over, I packed all my equipment and we started to head on out of the park. I could have gone on over to DL that night but I needed some rest since we will be leaving on Monday morning. So I just went back to the hotel with my aunt.

When we were about to leave DCA, we decided to stop at the Elias & Company store to see some merchandise. I didn’t buy any merchandise that trip which was unusual for me but I have seen all the same merchandise at the DLR.

There was one item that was intriguing to buy. Since the movie “Maleficent” was coming out shortly, there was a hat with Maleficent horns. DAF like the hat but she didn’t buy it. Later on when I checked the stores this past trip to see if the horns were still there and they told me that they were sold out in April. I was shocked that the Maleficent horns were sold out at the DLR.


We left DCA and on our way back to BWAI to call it for the night. This was a fun day at the parks where we were able to do a lot of rides and shows that day.


Since the last day is Monday but we actually didn’t go in the park that Monday morning. Here is the story of why we didn’t go in the park on Monday during the April trip. Since the parks opened at 10am since it is during the off season, we would go in the parks for a little bit until we head on home to Sacramento. But when we were about to enter the DLR around 9:45am, there was a huge line at the security check point. We were completely surprised to see a huge line to get through the security check area. DAF didn’t want to wait that long to get in the park just for about an hour or two. So we decided just to go back to the hotel and start to head on back home to Sacramento. We didn’t know why the line was that long to get in the parks. This is one reason why I don’t like going on days when the parks are open at 10am since all the guests will be able to have breakfast and be up. Than they will all be in the parks around that time.

It was a little disappointing that we weren’t able to go in the parks for about an hour but the line was just too long to wait and it will take a while to go through the security check area.

All of our bags were packed in the car since we planned on going in the parks for an hour or two but it was changed with the crowds. So we left around 11am on our way back to Sacramento. But before we head on back to Sacramento, we stopped in Los Angeles to Little Tokyo. DAF and I stop at Little Tokyo on the way back home to Sacramento since she likes to stop in and get some treats and food that we don’t get in Sacramento. The place that DAF likes to stop is the Woori Market which was a grocery store that had a lot of interesting imported food from Asian and Japan.

It was about an hour drive with traffic from Anaheim to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.

When we got to Little Tokyo, we parked at the parking lot right next to the Woori Market on Alameda Street. Before we went in the Woori Market, we had to get something to eat so we at a restaurant called “The Pho Shop” which is right next to the entrance of Woori Market. It is like a Vietnamese type restaurant that serves very interesting food. We have ate here before during the August and November trip.

After we finished eating, we head on over to Woori Market to do our grocery shopping. We always buys something at the market for my grandmother who lives in Livingston when we head back to Sacramento.

Just when we were finished shopping, we left Little Tokyo and a 5 and a half hour drive to Livingston to see my grandmother. It is so nice to stop somewhere on the way back home so we won’t have to drive straight to Sacramento.

It was around 6pm when we got to Livingston and we had dinner with my grandmother. Later that day, we head on home and got back in Sacramento around 10pm that night which we were in Livingston for quite some time. This concludes our trip report from the DLR in April.


This was another fun trip where we were able to do some first times like eating at the Napa Rose during the Chef’s Counter with Alison and Fran. It was nice to be able to eat at the NR with them. We were able to go to the Walt Disney Imagineering headquarters in Glendale during the D23 shopping experience. Even though I didn’t have a great shopping experience, DAF had a great time.

This concludes the April trip report and stay tune for the June trip report which I just got back a few days ago. It was nice to be back home and it was also sad that it was over.

 

[rentayenta]

I want to see the WoC so badly. We missed it last trip but we want this next one. Your pics, as usual, are amazing! Care if I borrow one?

 

[mvf-m11c]

I want to see the WoC so badly. We missed it last trip but we want this next one. Your pics, as usual, are amazing! Care if I borrow one?

I hope you are able to see WoC during your trip and get a good spot for the whole family. I am still curious if the DLR is going to play Winter Dreams during the holiday season or go back with the original WoC. it is likely that it will be Winter Dreams during the holiday season. It would be nice if they changed Winter Dreams a little bit to make it a story telling show like the original WoC show. Thank you Jenny. You can borrow my pictures.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 –June 23rd, 2014 – Part 1

Arrived Safely & Going Under the Sea​

It’s time for the first day of the trip in June with DAW (my dad’s sister). I was just there a couple of months ago with DAF (my mom’s sister) and this will be the second trip this year and it will be DAW first trip this year. Since DAW Annual Pass is about to expire in late June since she went with me last year in 2013 and upgraded her park hopper ticket to the Deluxe Annual Pass and later upgrade it to the Premium Annual Pass in December, it made sense for her to get one more trip to pay for the Premium Annual Pass since they are $699 today and she paid $629. For me it is always fun to go to the parks with my family members or friends.

For this trip, it was all about relaxation. DAW has been so busy with work and traveling to Texas, she wants to have a break and what better place is to go to the happiest place on earth. For me, I really needed a break with all the basketball tournaments that I have been working since January and my big one when I went during Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas. It was nice to go again even if it is during the summertime when most of the days at the parks will be crowded. But we just go by my instincts of what we want to do and go on the rides or see the shows.

Also during the trip, I have used some new toys. The most recognizable photography equipment that I used during the trip was the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G telephoto lens. Mostly when you go to the Disney Parks, you don’t use telephoto lens a lot unless you are on the Animal Kingdom Safari ride. But it was a good opportunity to try a new lens and use it at the parks where it would be perfect for the shows like Fantasmic!, Mickey and the Magical Map (unless you are way back instead of being up close), parades, etc. During the trip, I must have took over 1,000 pictures with the telephoto lens alone during the shows. It was tough to use it on the rides since I used the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens where I did buy it from my friend last month and I am still happy that I bought the Tokina lens. I rented the Nikon lens from borrowlenses.com that was recommended on the Photography threads. Also, I bought new microphones for my video camera and the GoPro. I noticed that the GoPro doesn’t have good sound quality so I decided to try and use a microphone with the GoPro to improve the sound quality and it made a big difference when I taped one of the night shows.

Now let’s get to the trip report.

It was around 7am in the morning where DAW picked me up instead of me picking her up at her house. This is like my usual time when I leave Sacramento and over to SoCal so we can get there in the afternoon. Since we weren’t in a rush to get to SoCal, we took our time. We didn’t leave until 7:45am which was a little late that morning but we still had plenty of time to get to SoCal and make it in the afternoon.

When we packed all of our stuff in the car, we stared our journey down to SoCal. During the drive, I mostly go on Highway 99 to visit my grandmother in Livingston but DAW told me to go on Highway 5 since it is faster so we went in that direction instead. I have driven down on I-5 before and it is okay in my opinion but I will still prefer I-99 since I am so use to going on that highway all the time.

Very interesting, the traffic was not that bad when going down until you hit SoCal and we got to Anaheim around 2pm which was really fast.

We head straight on over to our hotel which was Fairfield Inn Marriott. This was my first time staying at FFI out of all the trips that I have gone to the DLR. As for my regular followers, I always stay at the Best Western hotels but they weren’t available during our visit and this one was available that was on Harbor Blvd. I have heard good reviews about FFI and wanted to try this hotel for quite some time unless the BW hotels on Harbor are not available and this was the case.

We pulled up to FFI and there was barely any parking spaces so we had to valet our car which makes sense since there aren’t enough spaces around the hotel and we weren’t leaving during the trip.

We checked-in at FFI and the service was nice. We were on the sixth floor and we got the Disney park view. I was a little surprised that we got the Disney Park view where we ordered the regular standard view. That was nice of FFI service to give us a nice park view.

When we were also at the front desk, we asked if the ECV was available. DAW was using an ECV during the trip in which she can’t stand and walk for hours at the parks so she rented an ECV from Deckertt’s that we have used in the past. There was a problem where the ECV was not delivered and she called them and told her that they didn’t placed the ordered. She told them that she ordered the ECV last month and they apologized for the mix up. So we had to wait a while until we head on in the parks until the ECV arrived.

We were planning on going to the parks so we can watch the 4pm Mickey’s Soundsational parade to see the new Frozen pre-parade float that was only shown before the 4pm parade. It will be available only during the 1st parade and not the 2nd.

The ECV finally arrived around 3:40pm which was way late. So we had to change our plans that day since we couldn’t watch the parade at 4pm since there won’t be any good spots to watch the parade.

We head on out of the room and we were now back at the DLR. The first thing we did was to head on over to DCA since DL Main Street will be very busy around 4pm since the parade is coming from Fantasyland to Main Street.

When we got to the park, it was not that bad that afternoon.


I asked her what she wanted to do first and she wanted to see the Little Mermaid ride since it was updated a couple of months ago. So we head on over to Paradise Pier to ride the Little Mermaid ride.

Luckily, the ride wait time was only 5 minutes and it didn’t took too long to get on the ride.


Here are pictures from the Little Mermaid ride with the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens.


























DAW was impressed with the Little Mermaid ride being updated in the “Under the Sea” room where it is darker. It does feel more of a dark ride now as is.

After getting off the ride, she got back on her ECV and we started to head on over to our next attraction that day.

[post=51756270]Continue to the Next Updated Post[/post]​

 

[mvf-m11c]

[post=51756250]Last Installment on the Trip Report[/post]

Day 1 –June 23rd, 2014 – Part 2

Short Wait Time on our Favorite Ride at DCA​

After riding the Little Mermaid ride, we head on over to our next attraction that night. It was off to a nice start with riding the Little Mermaid ride where it was updated and it does feel more of a dark ride.

DCA didn’t feel that busy that afternoon or the first part of our day at DCA. Since it was during the summertime, I thought that the parks would be a little busy especially on a Monday for the locals to be in the parks until they are blocked out during the summertime. It was nice that it wasn’t that busy that day and we would enjoy some rides. I looked on my iPhone App and saw that the wait times at DL were high while DCA was not that high.

DAW wanted to ride Radiator Springs Racers but I told her that the wait times for RSR are in the hour plus or even it could be in the 2 hour range during that time of the day. The wait time had it at 90 minutes which is usual during that part of the day during the busy season. But it wouldn’t hurt to look at the wait time while passing by Radiator Springs Racers.

While walking down in Cars Land, it was not that bad walking down where Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree at 15 minute wait time and Luigi’s Flying Tires at 25 minutes.


When we got on over to Courthouse right next to the RSR, there was a huge group of people around that area. My guess that RSR must have broken down for a while and all the guests are waiting to go on the ride from the standby and FP queues. It has been awhile since I see RSR closed and a lot of guests waiting to go on the ride that afternoon. This is why I don’t like to go through the queue during the afternoon without a FP since you can be in the queue for a while until the ride restarts.


DAW wanted to go on the ride even though the CM’s told everyone that it will be a 75 minute wait time in the standby queue while they are letting the FP guests to go on the ride with the single riders. I had no problem with it and maybe I could be wrong and we can go through the standby queue faster than the projected 75 minute wait time.


We were on the side of the standby queue waiting like all the other guests in order to ride RSR that afternoon. Luckily the queue was moving a few people at a time where they are letting the guests through the regular queue.


While we were in the standby queue, I pulled out the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G telephoto lens and got some up close shots of Cars Land while we were waiting in the queue to get on the ride.

The backside of the RSR sign


Ornament Valley


A look at Radiator Falls Waterfall




Interesting that we only had to wait 10 minutes through the queue and we were all of a sudden walking through the standard queue on RSR. There wasn’t any one in the standby queue and we were stopped right at the Service Center building.


After waiting for 5 minutes, we were now allowed in the main queue. But we didn’t have to go through the regular queue since DAW was using an ECV, we went through the handicapped side.


We were lucky to get a front row section on the ride and it was nice to be up front. Since there weren’t any single riders, we were able to have the center part of the car free while DAW was on one side while I was on the other.

I switched back to the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens since it would be very difficult to get nice shots with the telephoto lens at that time. I also had the GoPro on my head with the headstrap.

I was surprised that we only had to wait less than 30 minutes to ride RSR that afternoon. I was never happy that the ride was broken down and able to ride RSR in less than 30 minutes from the standby queue.

Here are pictures during our cruise on RSR.


















Here is our picture on RSR that afternoon.


After the ride, DAW had to use the restroom so we head on over to the backside of Flo’s V8 Café. And on the way, I had to get some pictures while we were walking on over to the restroom.

The V8 Café logo on the railings




After we used the restroom, we started to head on over to A Bug’s Land.

A look at the Tower of Terror from Cars Land.


More shots with the telephoto lens that I used that afternoon.


One of the ABL light fixtures.


We walked on over towards the backside of Hollywood Land and we decided to go in that direction to see something that I haven’t seen for a while. I will get to that on the next post update.

[post=51795774]Continue to the Next Updated Post[/post]​

 

[tksbaskets]

The picture of your DAW on RSR makes me smile. The joy on her face is wonderful The GoPro really isn't as obtrusive as I thought it would be.

I'm very glad the line moved quickly for you. Your new lenses take some wonderful pictures. I especially like the light fixture in A Bug's Life!

Thanks for sharing

 

[tksbaskets]

Bret,
What App do you use to track wait times?

Thanks!
TK

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up.


Great shots, Bret. I like your edits in using the various filters.

That tokina lens is a great pick-up. Glad you got it. You're doing great things with the lens and your pictures are really wonderful.
The telezoom pictures are lovely as well. I think you'll appreciate getting a f/4...but if you're renting, why not consider the f/2.8?

 

[franandaj]

Nice start to your most recent trip. I find the telephoto lens to be very helpful during parades as well. You're getting some very nice pictures with that new lens.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The picture of your DAW on RSR makes me smile. The joy on her face is wonderful The GoPro really isn't as obtrusive as I thought it would be.

I'm very glad the line moved quickly for you. Your new lenses take some wonderful pictures. I especially like the light fixture in A Bug's Life!

Thanks for sharing

Thank you TK. It was very nice to be able to ride RSR with short waiting time. I thought that we were going to be in that queue for 75 minutes and it was less than half of the time which was very nice. She loves to ride RSR and this is her favorite ride. I know that your favorite ride is TSMM while mine is the Monorail. We all do have our favorite rides and they are different. The GoPro wasn't as obstructive as I have thought after these last two trips. Some people did look at me with a weird face with the GoPro as expected.

It was nice that the wait time for RSR was short and not that long for which it was a good thing or we would have not done other activities that day.


Thank you TK for following along.

Bret,
What App do you use to track wait times?

Thanks!
TK

I use the Mousewait App. I have used other apps like Touring Plans which is nice. But they are always never correct with the wait times. I still use them to make sure what it would be like at that time. After being in the parks for all these years and know when are the busy times, it is easy to know what the crowd levels for the rides are like.

Catching up.


Great shots, Bret. I like your edits in using the various filters.

That tokina lens is a great pick-up. Glad you got it. You're doing great things with the lens and your pictures are really wonderful.
The telezoom pictures are lovely as well. I think you'll appreciate getting a f/4...but if you're renting, why not consider the f/2.8?

Thank you PiO. I'm always trying new techniques with the filters and also Lightroom program.

The Tokina lens was a great addition along with the Tamron lens. I can easily use the Tokina way more at the Disney parks since I can get wider angle shots and get more in the picture.

The Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G telephoto lens is nice and it was expected that the lens would not be good at night when I took pictures of F! during the trip. The f/4 lens is the one that I am looking at so I can use it for another body. I can see myself buying a Full Frame Body in the future. I wanted to try a standard telephoto lens for this trip to see if I do rent the f/4 or f/2.8 telephoto lens in the future that I might need the teleconverter to go with them. There were times when I zoomed it all the way 300mm on the 70-300 lens. If the lens is on rental sale, I will definitely consider renting one of those two along with a teleconverter.

Nice start to your most recent trip. I find the telephoto lens to be very helpful during parades as well. You're getting some very nice pictures with that new lens.

Thank you Alison. The telephoto lens does makes a big difference in the up close shots like the parade, F!, & MatMM. The telephoto lens was a rental for the trip since I have a 55-200mm lens which is not powerful enough like the lens that I used during the trip. I will be renting more different kind of lenses during the future trips.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

[post=51756270]Last Installment on the Trip Report[/post]

Day 1 –June 23rd, 2014 – Part 3

Pixar Play Parade Part 1​

Just after we walked on out of A Bug’s Land, we were now at the backside of Hollywood Land right by the Tower of Terror. Very interesting is that when we were in the area right next to the ToT, there were people lining up for the 5:15pm Pixar Play Parade.

It was about 10 minutes to go until the parade started right next to the ToT all the way over to Paradise Pier, DAW said since we were in the area for the Pixar Play parade, it made sense to watch it and there weren’t too many people in front of us. So we decided to watch the Pixar Parade that afternoon.

It must have been years since I have stake out a spot for the Pixar Play Parade. I have seen it over and over time and time again while walking in DCA. This was a nice way to watch the parade with little wait time.

So the two of us waited until it was time for the parade. I used the telephoto lens for the parade to get those up close pictures.

Some pictures of the Hyperion Theater while we were waiting.




Now it was 5:15pm and the Pixar Parade was now happening.

Monsters University Units


Baton-twirling bandleader Roz


Sulley in the drum float


Monsters University Logo


The end and you can see Mike


The Incredibles Units


Mr. Incredible


Mrs. Incredible


Frozone





Jack-Jack on Syndrome’s Omnidroid float




Finding Nemo Units


Squirt


Dora


Crush float




Water Squirting Baby turtles.




That’s it for this post and it will be continued on the next one.

[post=51795780]Continue to the Next Updated Post[/post]​