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The 4F Trip Report
Dramatis Personae
Background
Granny and Granda happened on WDW some years ago, and instantly knew that they wanted to take the kids there when they were old enough. So three years ago, they took all of us for our summer holiday. We stayed at the Buena Vista Palace, and had a great time.
Since then, I had read up and knew that I wanted to go back and do a few things differently. I wanted to stay on-site and to use the Disney Dining Plan. I wanted to do some rides that I missed last time, like Tower of Terror and Expedition Everest.
I also knew that I wanted a direct flight from Glasgow. Last time we went via Gatwick and the whole affair was a shambles. Now the Virgin flight from GLA-MCO only runs for around six weeks each year, and it sells out really quickly. That was why I booked the holiday as soon as the brochures were out, back in April 2008.
A few weeks after that, Granny rang and asked it would be okay if the three of them came along. We said that of course it was okay, and they placed their booking. By that time, the only outbound seats left were in Premium Economy class, so they paid rather more than we plebes did.
It took a long time for the fourteen months to pass, but eventually we got to the last day of the spring term and had our last sleep before the holiday. It was time for the 4F to start (an no, I'm not going to explain that name just yet).
Photography
There are going to be a lot of photographs in this trip report.
Most of them will be geotagged - that is, they will have information stored within them to tell you where they were taken. If you have an Exif viewer like IExif or Kuso, then you can use that to place the photographs on a map. Alternatively, clicking on the photograph will take you to the photograph's web page on flickr.com, which will show you where the photograph was taken.
The geographical information comes from one of two sources. The more accurate source is a little device called a GPS logger, which every five seconds records where you are using GPW data. Specialised software gathers that data and matches it up with the time that the photograph was taken, then stores that location data in the photograph.
The less accurate approach comes from those times when I didn't have the GPS logger with me, or the battery was flat. In that case, I've added an approximate tag - it'll give you an idea of where the picture was taken, but not an exact location.
The cameras I used were:
Okay... as I said, school's finished, we've had a good sleep, the car is packed with all five of our cases and it's time to go...
The 4F Trip Report
Dramatis Personae
- Alan - your humble narrator. By day a software engineer, but with hobbies of photography and performing in amateur (community) theatre. Mostly a singer, occasionally tries to dance
- Marie - his long-suffering wife
- Jenni - their DD9. Originally Jennifer, but pretentiousness starts young these days!
- Cameron - DS7
- Granda - your narrator's father-in-law.
- Granny - your narrator's mother-in-law.
- Uncle John - your narrator's brother-in-law.
Background
Granny and Granda happened on WDW some years ago, and instantly knew that they wanted to take the kids there when they were old enough. So three years ago, they took all of us for our summer holiday. We stayed at the Buena Vista Palace, and had a great time.
Since then, I had read up and knew that I wanted to go back and do a few things differently. I wanted to stay on-site and to use the Disney Dining Plan. I wanted to do some rides that I missed last time, like Tower of Terror and Expedition Everest.
I also knew that I wanted a direct flight from Glasgow. Last time we went via Gatwick and the whole affair was a shambles. Now the Virgin flight from GLA-MCO only runs for around six weeks each year, and it sells out really quickly. That was why I booked the holiday as soon as the brochures were out, back in April 2008.
A few weeks after that, Granny rang and asked it would be okay if the three of them came along. We said that of course it was okay, and they placed their booking. By that time, the only outbound seats left were in Premium Economy class, so they paid rather more than we plebes did.
It took a long time for the fourteen months to pass, but eventually we got to the last day of the spring term and had our last sleep before the holiday. It was time for the 4F to start (an no, I'm not going to explain that name just yet).
Photography
There are going to be a lot of photographs in this trip report.
Most of them will be geotagged - that is, they will have information stored within them to tell you where they were taken. If you have an Exif viewer like IExif or Kuso, then you can use that to place the photographs on a map. Alternatively, clicking on the photograph will take you to the photograph's web page on flickr.com, which will show you where the photograph was taken.
The geographical information comes from one of two sources. The more accurate source is a little device called a GPS logger, which every five seconds records where you are using GPW data. Specialised software gathers that data and matches it up with the time that the photograph was taken, then stores that location data in the photograph.
The less accurate approach comes from those times when I didn't have the GPS logger with me, or the battery was flat. In that case, I've added an approximate tag - it'll give you an idea of where the picture was taken, but not an exact location.
The cameras I used were:
- Canon EOS350D - my best camera, a (slightly ageing) digital SLR. I'll have been using one of two lenses; either the Canon 24-105mm f/4.0 [font color="red"]L[/font] or the Sigma 18-200mm.
- Canon G10 - a point-and-shoot camera to replace my beloved Powershot Pro1 that failed after being caught in some particularly heavy rain. Learning to love this camera, but this holiday helped a lot!
- Vivitar 5399 - a £40 waterproof camera from Asda. Cheap-as-chips, yet on its second summer holiday with us. It's survived dropping, multiple total immersions, and being thrown into the water and from canoe to canoe.
Okay... as I said, school's finished, we've had a good sleep, the car is packed with all five of our cases and it's time to go...
. great info about the tags and camera's - always nice to know
