Almost time for Groucho's traditional live trip report...

[Groucho]

Sorry for the lack of updates... y'know, been busy doing actual Disney stuff. Actually, I was totally zonked yesterday (meaning Friday) and was half-asleep in the afternoon. We hit the sack relatively early and I got 9 hours of sleep, which is a huge amount for me. The day itself was a pretty good day, and we saw Deevy See again (wearing the same tacky running outfit, this time at the Boardwalk tennis courts), and just before Illuminations, we walked past a marriage proposal (she said "yes" and I clapped )

Today I felt a little more alive but was dozing a little on It's a Small World - but that's normal for that ride, isn't it? We spent the day at Magic Kingdom where the crowd levels were certainly manageable, and there were only short mild bouts of rain.

Anyway, I'm still exhausted and am going to bed as soon as this memory card finished. More later! Looking forward to the Disboards Photo Summit tomorrow!

 

[ukcatfan]

Looking forward to the Disboards Photo Summit tomorrow!

I had a great time meeting up with you all. It is nice to see people in person that I talk to online so much. I can't wait for the gear shot to get posted on here! It looked like we had just ripped off a Best Buy or something!!!

 

[Groucho]

Well, the Disboards Photo Summit went off pretty smoothly and I think we all had a good time. Unfortunately I missed the first 30 minutes due to a "perfect storm" of slowdowns (was at Epcot longer than expected, the Epcot-TTC monorail did a safety reboot, the TTC-MK monorail had to wait for traffic for a few minutes, had a potty stop with the kid, and CHH was unusually busy)... but got there around the same time as Gdad. Ukcatfan and Code were there earlier.

Today's Disney character of the day is "Frozone" - it was cold out there and I left my jacket at the hotel. I had hoped to stick around a little later - EMH are tonight and the park just closed a minute or two ago - but we left closer to 8:30. Except for the cold, we had a good day.

I got some unprocessed pics online from a few days ago...

Is this a hidden Mickey?

Fisheye Fantasmic crowd. Still not the ideal shot of this type but closer than my last try...

This is the correct white balance and is not blown out. It really is that red!

This is Illuminations from our balcony.

More later! Only one more full day... Animal Kingdom then Downtown.

 

[Groucho]

I had a great time meeting up with you all. It is nice to see people in person that I talk to online so much. I can't wait for the gear shot to get posted on here! It looked like we had just ripped off a Best Buy or something!!!

I'll try to get it posted in the morning or maybe tomorrow night. Gotta get stuff off Jack's and my wife's camera...

I don't think Best Buy sells a single thing we had on that table!

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

First, your third shots going to give me nightmares LOL Second, whats on fire? Is that one of the rides? If so which one? Im terrified of fire. I havent been to WDW just disneyland.

 

[Groucho]

First, your third shots going to give me nightmares LOL Second, whats on fire? Is that one of the rides? If so which one? Im terrified of fire. I havent been to WDW just disneyland.

The third shot is a gremlin from Gremlins 2, in the Planet Hollywood store at Hollywood Studios. Good thing I didn't post the bloody Arnold from Terminator 2 photos.

The fire is from Lights Motors Action; there are a few fire scenes but this is the finale which features, as you can see, a pretty big fireball.

 

[Groucho]

Here's a couple shots from the Photo Summit. View at your own peril. Lookit all those R-Straps!

Forgive the image quality, we used my son's old 2mp Minolta X20.

 

[mom2rtk]

Here's a couple shots from the Photo Summit. View at your own peril. Lookit all those R-Straps!

Forgive the image quality, we used my son's old 2mp Minolta X20.

It's nice to "see" you all!

LOVE the gear shot! So be honest, was there a mad "free for all" grabbing of the lenses after that shot?????

 

[Gdad]

Very nice- there was a little bit of showing off going on.

Great seeing everyone!

 

[Groucho]

Very nice- there was a little bit of showing off going on.

Great seeing everyone!

Ditto!

And I forgot to mention that the pic is missing two more lenses that were in my belt lens pouch (fisheye and 50mm F1.2 I think.)

 

[WVDisGeek]

Groucho,

Love the trip report so far. I think it is great that so many of you got to meet up in person this trip!

I think this is probably the only time you will see a table full of gear where Pentax cameras outnumber the others 2 to 1!!!!

Hope the rest of your trip goes off without a hitch! Enjoy!!!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Look at the pretty Sony snuggled in there!

I notice that everyone is using the Blackrapid straps with the camera to the right side. Just found it interesting since I immediately settled on the left side and hadn't really thought about it.

Enjoying your pictures Groucho and it's getting me excited for my quick 2 days there Thursday and Friday. I'm in Tampa right now enjoying the cold and rain. Hopefully it goes away soon!

 

[Groucho]

Our last night at Disney... just packing everything up and getting ready to head out in the morning. Spent a very rainy day at Animal Kingdom today and will hopefully squeeze in a couple hours at MK in the morning before heading to the airport. Had a good time and everyone stayed healthy but I think we're all ready to head home; 11 days is a long time to corral the kids fulltime around somewhere like this and we're pretty exhausted. Will be nice to be back in our own bed too! And get back to a proper peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich for lunch.

Look at the pretty Sony snuggled in there!

I notice that everyone is using the Blackrapid straps with the camera to the right side. Just found it interesting since I immediately settled on the left side and hadn't really thought about it.

Enjoying your pictures Groucho and it's getting me excited for my quick 2 days there Thursday and Friday. I'm in Tampa right now enjoying the cold and rain. Hopefully it goes away soon!

I kind of assumed that it could only go to the right? It has kind of a built-in bend I thought. I am left-handed though like most, I have adapted to a right-handed world so it feels more natural over there, since I'm grabbing it by the grip which I'd hold with the right hand anyway.

 

[DznyFan]

Look at the pretty Sony snuggled in there!

Sad to see this coming to a close, it's been great keeping up with the adventures!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I kind of assumed that it could only go to the right? It has kind of a built-in bend I thought. I am left-handed though like most, I have adapted to a right-handed world so it feels more natural over there, since I'm grabbing it by the grip which I'd hold with the right hand anyway.

My strap appears to be straight to go either way (RS 4 I think). I guess I did have to switch the set up around once I realized I wanted to wear it that way but that was no problem. In giving it some thought I almost always pick up the camera with my left hand even though I'm right handed (always preferred to dribble a basketball with my left too and snowboard goofy foot ) so that is why it seemed to feel the most natural. I'm just being different I guess!

Thanks again for the report and hope you had an easy trip home.

 

[Quicklabs]

Groucho, you are doing some killer work with your fisheye and new Lensbaby. Really, really great stuff and I'm so enjoying seeing them.
I can't believe how much Jack has grown!
Enjoy your vacation and thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[Groucho]

Thanks everyone! We're home safe and sound now; the trip home was fine but Leila was a handful as usual. (I think she had too much cuddling from MIL in her early years and now she is a very fitful and reluctant sleeper, so when she's tired, she tends to get pretty cranky )... but we survived! Now I've got to clear out some room on my main PC for the RAW files - between my wife and I, there's maybe 75 gigs of stuff, not counting another 12 or so still on memory cards!

Kat - I looked again and my RS-7 definitely has a curve to it - maybe they changed that with the new evolution. I have to talk to them about replacing the carabiner (the screwlock is overly tight compared to the others), I have one or two other suggestions for improvements while I'm contacting them...

Our final morning was pretty good - we had a little over an hour at MK. First stop - Snow White (Jack loved it for whatever reason) - a walk on! We walked past Peter Pan and rode it because it was a walk on! Next, Haunted Mansion - a walk on! Over to Buzz Lightyear - a walk on, twice even! Unfortunately, I did horribly - after setting by far my highest score a couple nights earlier. Anyway, sensing a trend here? The place was empty, and this was 9:30-10:45 or so. It probably didn't help that it was raining cats and dogs, but still! A quick stop by the Main St Bakery for some food for the road and then back to our hotel, onto Magical Express, and back home.

I will probably do a "proper" trip report soon with more details and properly processed photos... I'll put a link here once I get that started (hopefully before too long but we'll see how "real life" catches up with me...)

And yes - we all stayed healthy!

 

[klmall]

75 gig - Wow! Cannot wait to see more! I've been following each update so far and enjoying the pics.

I went on my one and only solo trip your exact dates back in 2001 and it was a fantastic time to be there too! Walk-ons were the rule plus NO RAIN and only a bit chilly!

Glad everyone stayed well and I know home will feel good!

We're expecting another 4-6 inches of snow tonight with a bigger snowstorm this weekend!

 

[Groucho]

75 gig - Wow! Cannot wait to see more! I've been following each update so far and enjoying the pics.

I went on my one and only solo trip your exact dates back in 2001 and it was a fantastic time to be there too! Walk-ons were the rule plus NO RAIN and only a bit chilly!

Glad everyone stayed well and I know home will feel good!

We're expecting another 4-6 inches of snow tonight with a bigger snowstorm this weekend!

Heheh, yeah, this morning I was running around the Magic Kingdom and it was warm enough that I didn't mind the rain at all, and I just got back from the drudgery of buying bread & milk and putting gas in my wife's car in the snow. Sigh!

 

[spinetnglr]

Glad to hear you had an uneventful trip home with the exception of a cranky baby. Ever happier to hear you all stayed healthy this trip and had none of those issues to deal with. Certainly makes for a more pleasureable time.! I'll be watching for the link for the official trip report. I always enjoy your pictures and unique perspective and eye for what you shoot.