Advice Needed

[MarkBarbieri]

I'll be making my first trip back to DW since 2011. It's just a quick weekend trip to spend some time with my parents. I'll be there Friday afternoon through Monday morning.

I have some questions.

1) How much difference will the crowds be for the fireworks shows at the MK between Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights? How much difference is there between the early and late showing crowds (Electric Parade at 9:00 and 11:00, Celebrate at 9:45 and 10:35)?

2) What is the difference between Celebrate and Wishes?

3) I'm staying off property, so I'm not able to take advantage of the extra magic hours. Epcot is open late for EMH on Friday night. Will that significantly increase the crowds that evening vs the other two evenings?

4) What has changed in the past 3.5 years, particularly in a photo worthy sense? I know they added a new section to Fantasyland and moved the FotLK show. Anything else I should know about? Any big changes to Illuminations or Fantasmic!?

5) Any advice for going to the park with elderly (dad will be 88 in a few weeks) parents instead of young kids? Obviously, we'll focus more on shows and less on rides.

6) Anything else you think I should know, especially from you old-timers here that may remember my quirky nature?

 

[boBQuincy]

Check easywdw for crowd predictions. Sunday nights may be the best as the locals probably won't stay late. From my experience the later parades and shows are much less crowded.

Celebrate uses Cinderella's castle as a projection screen, and a darn good one too! It is imaginative and worth seeing. Wishes is still the fireworks show and is still good, with some projection effects added if I recall correctly.

Again, check easywdw. I believe the EMH does not affect Epcot as much as MK.

New Fantasyland has some good photo opportunities, it is themed more than the other lands. Circus, Belle's village, and Eric's castle look good at night.

Quirky? You? I do miss you sharing your knowledge of photography on this board!

 

[mom2rtk]

I hope you have a great trip with your parents!

You might want to find an update on where construction walls are up for the hub construction before setting a plan for shooting Wishes. I've seen a lot of creative shots from behind the castle in the New Fantasyland area.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'll be making my first trip back to DW since 2011. It's just a quick weekend trip to spend some time with my parents. I'll be there Friday afternoon through Monday morning.

Congratulations! Enjoy the trip.

I have some questions.

1) How much difference will the crowds be for the fireworks shows at the MK between Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights? How much difference is there between the early and late showing crowds (Electric Parade at 9:00 and 11:00, Celebrate at 9:45 and 10:35)?

bobQuincy said it....check crowd predictions. Logically, I would be aiming for Friday night at MK. Saturday is usually more crowded and Sunday is traditionally the 1st day of most people's start of vacation and they would hit MK on the 1st day. Having said that, for this time of year, I would expect Sunday would be not so crowded at night.

I personally would aim for the later shows/parades so that you miss the families. Having said that, if you haven't seen Celebrate, you might want to see it both times for picture taking opportunities.

2) What is the difference between Celebrate and Wishes?

Celebrate is projection mappings on the castle. From memory, it usually runs about 15 minutes or so before Wishes. You will want to be in front of the Castle for Celebrate.

3) I'm staying off property, so I'm not able to take advantage of the extra magic hours. Epcot is open late for EMH on Friday night. Will that significantly increase the crowds that evening vs the other two evenings?

4) What has changed in the past 3.5 years, particularly in a photo worthy sense? I know they added a new section to Fantasyland and moved the FotLK show. Anything else I should know about? Any big changes to Illuminations or Fantasmic!?

If you decide to shoot Wishes from behind the castle, you'll need to work out which direction you want to aim your camera.

The big bursts will be fired off and appear towards the Beast's castle.


But you'll miss the sprays at the castle. I would recommend you try and get a spot where you can see the turrets of the new Fantasyland entrance and the carousel and castle in between.


I got there late and was setting up when the fireworks had started. This is a very bad shot but it was my first and only shot of this location and I didn't like the framing. But I'm sharing it so that you have an idea of what I'm talking about. I've seen loads of pictures since where the photographers got better framing angles for the fireworks.





Instead, I could hear the fireworks going on behind me and turned the tripod round. I definitely made the wrong decision that night because I missed out on the sprays that were going on behind me right at the castle! But there is some merit in thinking about whether it is worth trying to get more of the Beast's castle in the background. In addition, I think I've seen some great shots around Ariel's castle as well with the fireworks.

5) Any advice for going to the park with elderly (dad will be 88 in a few weeks) parents instead of young kids? Obviously, we'll focus more on shows and less on rides.

My dad was 78 when we last went to WDW with him. We took things a lot slower but we also did agree beforehand that we could separate and do our own thing. You may already have had the conversation with him. My dad doesn't do modern technology; so we had a pre-arranged meeting spot and pre-arranged meeting times to hook back up with him. FWIW, ours was to meet at the top of the hour at the castle drawbridge. Each party would wait 5 minutes and then move on. We would then aim to come back the next hour to try and catch up. This way, it meant that if Dad was in a show or an attraction he wanted to do, he didn't have to get out of line....and vice versa. Your dad may be happy to carry a mobile phone. In which case, you won't need to take the same measures we did.

6) Anything else you think I should know, especially from you old-timers here that may remember my quirky nature?

Have a great trip and I hope you'll post some of your quirky and lovely pictures on the forum when you return.

Enjoy the Magic Bands and FP+. I think with your parents, the FP+ system will work out for you.

And I'll echo Bob's sentiments. I used to lurk a bit on the boards when you were active. I miss your no-nonsense and practical knowledge sharing.