Anyone Game? 2 Castles and a Road Trip TR! Last Day and TR Wrap Up! #2796; 10/01

[PrincessInOz]

Why oh why is there a Harvest Hoedown float? I like that they're including old characters and I get that Fall corresponds to Halloween but I really don't understand cowboys dancing..... Maybe it fits while you're there and in the middle of it.

Love the PP pics! All of them

It sure doesn't make sense to me!!! But hey....I'm not the Parade Manager; so I'll just go with the flow.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Oh the gravediggers and the dog. I can never get those pictures so love that you have them. Yes I would totally do MNSSHP differently with all of you next time..and as I always say, there will be a next time. Appears when everyone was " Zigging " I was " Zagging " and vice versus

The raggy looking costumes on the dead couple, it looks so much better when they are caught dancing/twirling. I'll have to locate one to post.

I wasn't far behind Alison and Fran going out the door. At the end of the second parade I was in the area to be second or third on the Jack & Sally line. Perfect planning, but if I remember correctly I had worked the night before and was still up since the previous evening. I was spent.

In hindsight I would have stayed, for some reason it didn't dawn on me we all wouldn't see each other again this time.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oh the gravediggers and the dog. I can never get those pictures so love that you have them. Yes I would totally do MNSSHP differently with all of you next time..and as I always say, there will be a next time. Appears when everyone was " Zigging " I was " Zagging " and vice versus

The raggy looking costumes on the dead couple, it looks so much better when they are caught dancing/twirling. I'll have to locate one to post.

I wasn't far behind Alison and Fran going out the door. At the end of the second parade I was in the area to be second or third on the Jack & Sally line. Perfect planning, but if I remember correctly I had worked the night before and was still up since the previous evening. I was spent.

In hindsight I would have stayed, for some reason it didn't dawn on me we all wouldn't see each other again this time.

Wait until you see what Ed and I got up to before you say that.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Wait until you see what Ed and I got up to before you say that.

uh oh....did you go to Mickey Jail by staying longer than you were allowed ? Were you caught hiding in the castle for better pictures ? Do tell

 

[PrincessInOz]

uh oh....did you got to Mickey Jail by staying longer than you were allowed ? Were you caught hiding in the castle for better pictures ? Do tell

Patience, grasshopper. Tell-all should be in the next 30 minutes or so.

 

[PrincessInOz]

My Choice of Ride



SunDial and I first met on the photography subforum on the Dis. I even think it might have been on one of the Game threads on that subforum. A DisGamer is a gamer irrespective of what part of the board they play games on, right?
So....whilst everyone else left the park, with two photo-nuts left to their respective devices (a Canon and a Nikon) in the park, what else would we be wanting to get up to in the closing hours of day??

We compared notes and settled on heading towards Fantasyland. My pick first.


I had a re-do in mind. And it had taken me all week to get up the courage to re-enter the Den.






I was actually surprised that I managed to get Ed on board with me. Afterall, the last time I'd entered this ride, I had MADE him sing that song-that-must-not-be-named. But somehow for me, it doesn't feel like a proper Disney holiday if I don't come home with close-ups in the Valley of the Dolls. And given that I had the wide angle lens on in the first pass, I had to hit this attraction in order to achieve that feeling.

The European section.












































The Asian section.





































Africa.



















Latin America.

























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[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


South Seas.






These Platypus are NOT Perry! (And they aren't Playtpus either!!!)



















In fact, it's just not Aussie animals in this section. The proportions are just a little off.













Hmmm. Wonder why I missed out on North America?


Finale Room.








































































The song is permanently seared into my memory banks and there are times that I wish I didn't have this insane desire to shoot every single doll on display. Still....With the Up Close and Personals completed and stored as 1's and 0's on my memory device, I mentally ticked off this Disney trip as properly closed. But there was still time to enjoy MK.....




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[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


SunDial's Choice of Ride



SunDial had a very specific ride he wanted to capture and we headed for it next. I was actually surprised that Ed managed to get me on board. Between Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, I'd actually been happy with the set of pictures in my bag for this ride. I also knew that the 50 mm lens (which was the one I was using) was a little tight for this ride. Still....there was always room for improvement. Besides, he'd gotten on IaSW for me.

































































































The 50 mm is a little tight for me in this ride. But it does take decent enough pictures.


(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)

In Search of an Empty Park



By this stage, it was bang on park closing hours. Ed and I had already determined that we were going to be the last ones out of the park today. We were definitely in search of an empty park. I hope Ed will share his pictures of our time together when he catches up on his reading. So let's see how we spent the time, shall we?



Photobabble time.

Both Ed and I had tripods with us. He can confirm his camera settings; but I set my ISO anywhere between 100 and 400, depending on how much ambient light I thought was around the area we were shooting in. My aperture settings were anywhere from f/11 - f/16. At this setting, the entire picture should be in focus with no 'fuzzy or blurry' areas. That's what I was looking for rather than having a picture with soft focus/blur. My exposure time ran from 4 - 20 seconds for this night. You will need a tripod for this.
For those that don't shoot in manual, I would recommend that you pick Aperture setting on your camera. Set the ISO to 100. Select an Aperture of 11. Take the shot and let your camera work out what the appropriate time it needs to achieve the proper exposure.
If you want the lights to "twinkle", select an aperture of 16.


We set up our respective tripods and just wandered around. As we were right outside the Little Mermaid Castle, that turned out to be our first shot for the night.







I couldn't decide between this....







....and the light. So you get to see both.







This was my first time in this section.







I wished I had come earlier in the week to explore more.







Ed and I had hoped to catch a ride on the new Dumbo. But we got here too late. It was shut.







Spot the colour difference.







There are all sorts of techniques such as High Dynamic Range (HDR) and post-processing effects you could do to the picture after you unpack it on to the computer. A lot of it enhances pictures and elevates it to a higher viewing pleasure. Nothing wrong with any of it at all. In my viewpoint, photography is an artform and it really comes down to what the photographer wants to convey and focus on in the picture. For me, personally, I do like keep the image I capture as true to what my eye sees as possible. Of the pictures I took here, this is the one that I thought came closest to what I remember seeing at the new Fantasyland.







We took the backway into Tomorrowland. We just missed the last rotation of the Astro Orbiter.







Taking a long walk down this way.....







.....it seems that I stopped every 10 paces or so.







The view back was better.







If you look hard enough, you might spot where Ed was.








We were both loving the empty park.







I was having a great time shooting in here.







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[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)

Last Gamers out of MK



It was about here that the party came to an end.







Security stopped by for a visit at this point in time. Evidently, we hadn't appeared on any of the security cameras until we started walking down this way. At least that's what the guards told me when they caught up with me.







SunDial can tell you how many he had around him. You can see him and his entourage in this picture. I had at least 2 or 3 of them around me.







By this stage, it was closer to 12.30 am than anything else on a night that the park closed at 11 pm. They were very polite and friendly but firm. We weren't doing anything wrong and we weren't in trouble. We weren't being chased out but they did make sure that SunDial and I took the left turn out of the park; rather than heading in another direction.

The ones that I spoke to were rather interested in the photography. Which was just as well.






I asked if I could get closer to the Partner's Statue for a shot. I think I might have been pushing the edge of tolerance with the request but they did let me do what I wanted.







Hey! Don't judge me. I asked. They didn't say no, I wasn't frog-marched off property. And I ended up with the shots I was after.







By this time, Ed had set his tripod down looking this way. All I was doing was joining in his footsteps.







Can you see the group of security guards waiting to escort us out down Main Street? Including the ones escorting me and the ones escorting Ed, I think that group took the security guards number up to 8 or 9.







We were heading in the direction they wanted us to head in. But Main Street Halloween lights were still going. The tripod re-positioned itself and I stayed for a sequence.....







....all the while chatting ever so friendly with our escorts. I must say they did ask the right questions about exposure settings, so one of them did know a little about photography. And he was interested to see the pictures I was taking as well.






Afterall, where else was I going to have this kinda opportunity in an empty park?



















There was another group of security guards waiting at the entry hub. In the end, we got up to at least a dozen of them following us out.

A couple of them walked out with us. But we got here and Ed and I just looked at each other and at them. We asked and they didn't say no. So, we ended up with these final pictures of Magic Kingdom. Check out the time by this stage of night....er....morning.







With the Halloween sequence still going at Magic Kingdom, both Ed and I took another 5 minutes.







It had been a wonderful night. We were definitely the LAST Gamers out of the park at 1 am.







And for those of you that have less than stellar experiences about Disney transport. I can truly vouch for the fact that the buses do run to make sure all guests make it safely back to their resort. Ed and I were treated royally. There were at least 3 or 4 buses waiting at the MK bus stop. We had no wait.....and the bus took both of us together. Ed got back to his resort and I was dropped off safely at mine. I think I got into bed at about 1.30 am. It had been a long day.....but the experience at Magic Kingdom had been so worth it!


It was my final moments on a Disney park and I could only reflect on what a great time it had been at WDW. For my family, this was probably one of the more relaxing trips to WDW. Usually we run around in complete commando-style but this trip had included lots of time at the resort and experiences away from the parks. It may be a long time before we return to WDW but at least we have fantastic happy memories to cherish and share with each other.


Tomorrow.....we head towards the Dark Side and then towards home. I still have 3 or 4 more days to share on this TR!!!!! Don't worry.....we really are nearly at the end. I do have significantly less pictures on the last 4 days of this trip.

 

[mvf-m11c]

All of your pictures from the MK that night were great. That was neat that you and Ed were to stay at the park late that night and were able to take a lot of great pictures. I don't think I can stay up that late but I will have to try it one day when I am at the parks and to be able to set up my tripod for the long exposure shots with no people in the picture. We might be able to do that in October if I can stay up that late.

 

[franandaj]

Great shots! I was expecting something a little different, but I definitely enjoyed these!

So for the long exposure shots, you want f11 or f16? That must be where I am going wrong. I haven't tried it with a tripod, but I was looking over some shots that I took at Epcot as we were leaving from dinner (next update in the works) and many of my shots were overexposed, even though I was shooting at night. Makes sense now.

I might try to some night time shots out at the DL Hotel when we're having dinner there in a couple of weeks. I don't have many plans for DL other than when you are coming in October. I'm sure we'll get out there, but not like we were last month. We need to focus on the tasks at hand.

I love the fact that you were "gently" escorted out of the park, and that the security guards were interested in your pictures. That's cool. Once we get a little more settled in the new house, I'm going to go out there and do a photo session, maybe just on my own. You're inspiring me!

 

[dolphingirl47]

The photos are amazing and how nice that you got to take photos in a completely empty park.

Corinna

 

[tiggrbaby]

Wow! Those pics are amazing! Thank goodness security was so accommodating!

 

[Luvchefmic]

A very different experience having the park to yourselves isn't it ? I wish I had stayed.

 

[Pinkocto]

I kept chuckling as the number of security guards grew and grew but sounds like they were very nice and professional, definitely could have gone differently. LOVE the shots in Tomorrowland. All of them are beautiful but I love the way the buildings are and the colors of the lights.

I do not ever need to ride IASW again. If I ever feel the need I'll just pull up these pictures and be good to go

And that is very cool there were still buses, I was wondering how you would get back.

 

[jedijill]

Those pictures were worth the escort out of MK! You guys got some fantastic shots!

Jill in CO

 

[zanzibar138]

I love that you got escorted out of the park, and managed to get in a full couple of hours after it officially closed! Well done you

 

[SunDial]

Wait until you see what Ed and I got up to before you say that.

uh oh....did you go to Mickey Jail by staying longer than you were allowed ? Were you caught hiding in the castle for better pictures ? Do tell

(Continued from Previous Post)

In Search of an Empty Park



By this stage, it was bang on park closing hours. Ed and I had already determined that we were going to be the last ones out of the park today. We were definitely in search of an empty park. I hope Ed will share his pictures of our time together when he catches up on his reading. So let's see how we spent the time, shall we?



Photobabble time.

Both Ed and I had tripods with us. He can confirm his camera settings; but I set my ISO anywhere between 100 and 400, depending on how much ambient light I thought was around the area we were shooting in. My aperture settings were anywhere from f/11 - f/16. At this setting, the entire picture should be in focus with no 'fuzzy or blurry' areas. That's what I was looking for rather than having a picture with soft focus/blur. My exposure time ran from 4 - 20 seconds for this night. You will need a tripod for this.
For those that don't shoot in manual, I would recommend that you pick Aperture setting on your camera. Set the ISO to 100. Select an Aperture of 11. Take the shot and let your camera work out what the appropriate time it needs to achieve the proper exposure.
If you want the lights to "twinkle", select an aperture of 16.


We set up our respective tripods and just wandered around. As we were right outside the Little Mermaid Castle, that turned out to be our first shot for the night.

There are all sorts of techniques such as High Dynamic Range (HDR) and post-processing effects you could do to the picture after you unpack it on to the computer. A lot of it enhances pictures and elevates it to a higher viewing pleasure. Nothing wrong with any of it at all. In my viewpoint, photography is an artform and it really comes down to what the photographer wants to convey and focus on in the picture. For me, personally, I do like keep the image I capture as true to what my eye sees as possible. Of the pictures I took here, this is the one that I thought came closest to what I remember seeing at the new Fantasyland.

Greats pic PIO.

Some how I un subscribed to this thread.

I agree with everything you said about shooting these types of photos. Tripod is an absolute must. I always shoot in manual mode and most of the time it
will be in RAW. The settings will be according on what the long exposure I am shooting is and how I want it to look.

I also have seen some very amazing photos on here and other sites, then you find out how much time and what is done in post processing to make them look that way. I do not have the time for post processing so I set up to get it right in the camera in the first place.

Tonight I set the ISO to 400 and aperture to 7.1 for all of these pictures. The only difference was the length of the shutter opening. Yes we did have some company and they were very nice. Yes there was also no problem with Disney Transportation. We had the bus all to our selves

Every trip up there I try to get different pics of the empty parks.


I have to put this one in here. This from the second parade while I was with Alison and Fran.



Now back to the empty park pics.

 

[SunDial]

After we shot from the above location They did ask us to move back towards the hub so they could clean. The pole in the lower right comes in to play in the 4th picture. This is when they put the rope up indicating that we could not go back into Tomorrowland. Of course the security guard that was off to our left would have made sure of that.