"Are you done with that?!" A photo heavy, gluttonous, Jan 2012 Trip Report! NEW PG32

[Oliquig]

That was a completely crazy day. The crowds were all over, but with fastpass we really didn't wait for anything. The cool thing was they ended uo staying open until 10, and the crowds died after the fireworks.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

We visited in October 2010 and I found that to be the perfect time. I didn't even realise Food and Wine was going on until I noticed a flyer for it in my hotel room (we stayed off-site), in hindsight even World Showcase wasn't as busy as you'd expect.

We were there for 2 weeks and I didn't rain once so weather wise I was over the moon, it wasn't crazy hot either so my boyfriend was okay.

Ideally I'd go back in October, but unfortunately the schools here in Scotland have a 2 week break then and of course the flight prices reflect this (£200 more than in Jan/Feb)!

On the flip-side, the first two weeks in October there's so many Scottish people around that you forget you're even in America My boyfriend's little sister even ran into two different school friends.

That's too bad that you can't go b/c of scheduling and prices! I'm running into some issues as well with my work. This past October was REALLY busy for me, and I don't want to go out of town when my clients need me, so I have to work around it as well.

Haha reminds me of June perfectly! Except probably better weather earlier in the year! Want to ask an off-Disney topic: What exactly do you do to petsit? Do you have an ad in the paper and people call you? Sorry if it's a dumb question but I've always wondered.

I have a pretty large client-base that I've gathered in the last 7 years since I started my business. I initially went to the vets with my cards and put an ad in the yellowpages, but I don't even need to run that anymore, the vets suggest me and I get lots of word of mouth. Many of my clients travel multiple times a year, so I don't just randomly advertise in the paper or anything, these are repeat customers. I make visits to their house per day, depending on how many they need, and I get paid per visit. I LOVE my job, it's almost always fun...except when I have to clean up poop!

That was a completely crazy day. The crowds were all over, but with fastpass we really didn't wait for anything. The cool thing was they ended uo staying open until 10, and the crowds died after the fireworks.

Shhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! You are getting ahead in my reporting! Don't tell them!

Yep, it was the biggest plus to the crowds! I got an extra hour added to my last day!!!

 

[Jonesloonybin]

I'm glad you are enjoying!!! Thanks for reading!

We went at the beginning of May (5/1 - 5/10) and it was great. There were a couple of days that were pretty hot. Also a few days that seemed crowded, but what is crowded to us, may not be to others. We are not fans of huge crowds. To me, Animal Kingdom seemed the hottest and most crowded, but the paths are narrow.

This year we are going the same time, but adding a day!
4/29 - 5/10. We are also taking one Non-park day.

Homeschooling is great, but it has spoiled us. We get to go places when it is not crowded.

We also loved Epcot (World Showcase specifically).

I also love your tie-dye shirts. We are hoping to do some up for our trip.

 

[danimaroo]

HOLY. CROWDS! That is insane. What the HECK was going on that day?! It should not have been that insane! I don't get it. Ugh. I hope January/February isn't now becoming a new "popular" time for people to visit. I just don't understand!

We had a few days where Main Street was a hot mess but never experience terrible lines aside from that one Obama Friday. We definitely made use of FPs a lot more this trip, but that made it ten times more enjoyable.

Can't wait for your next update! I want to know what you guys went on.

 

[supersuperwendy]

Your photos are amazing!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

We went at the beginning of May (5/1 - 5/10) and it was great. There were a couple of days that were pretty hot. Also a few days that seemed crowded, but what is crowded to us, may not be to others. We are not fans of huge crowds. To me, Animal Kingdom seemed the hottest and most crowded, but the paths are narrow.

This year we are going the same time, but adding a day!
4/29 - 5/10. We are also taking one Non-park day.

Homeschooling is great, but it has spoiled us. We get to go places when it is not crowded.

I am totally spoiled by it, in the summer we complain when we go places, that the kids are all out of school and everything is busier!

We also loved Epcot (World Showcase specifically).

I also love your tie-dye shirts. We are hoping to do some up for our trip.

I hope you do them! Of course, I will need to see pictures!

HOLY. CROWDS! That is insane. What the HECK was going on that day?! It should not have been that insane! I don't get it. Ugh. I hope January/February isn't now becoming a new "popular" time for people to visit. I just don't understand!

I really don't know, I was pretty shocked. There's another crowd shot in this upcoming update too!

We had a few days where Main Street was a hot mess but never experience terrible lines aside from that one Obama Friday. We definitely made use of FPs a lot more this trip, but that made it ten times more enjoyable.

Can't wait for your next update! I want to know what you guys went on.

coming up!

Your photos are amazing!!!

Thank you so much!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Last Day- Magic Kingdom Friday Feb. 3rd (continued)

I am so seriously reluctant to do any updates at all! I had to make myself do this one!

Before heading to our first ride, I had to do something I always do...take balloon shots! I don't know why I have this obsession with balloons on Mainstreet, but there could be worse things. I actually do it anywhere in Disney I see balloons, but Mainstreet usually has the most! I'm only sharing a couple, but you should see how many I shot!

After my balloon shots, which were difficult with those people, but I just aimed high...we headed to something we hadn't done on Sunday and I was pleasantly surprised to see a 10 minute wait with such crowds!!

As we were walking up I told Rey to "go to the left! go to the left" but when we arrived, a CM stepped in the left area and was telling everyone to go to the right. It seems that the farther into the trip we got, the less my DIS knowledge helped me at all. I think the boys had decided that the DIS was just a group of people trying to play a bunch of practical jokes on people like me!

I was hoping to get some more low light pics, no flash photography remember! I got a few that I was pretty happy with them for how dark it is in there!

This one I REALLY wanted, I laugh every time we pass this drunken sailor calling the kitties to have a drink! I know, I'm easily amused! LOL

After our ride, we headed around and saw Savannah's favorite, Splash. We had been so excited about it being open in January but she said she just didn't think she was feeling well enough to do it. She has some ongoing ear/sinus issues and they were really acting up on the trip, so we turn back towards Frontierland and my JAW DROPPED TO THE GROUND:

Can someone please explain to me HOW THIS is "low crowd season"?!?!? I might have been shocked, but I wasn't about to admit that I couldn't handle these crowds! I steered the family right onto the wooden walkway and beamed at them, waiting to be given my prize for knowing how to avoid the crowds! We meandered along the walkway and headed towards Fantasyland.

What's that you say? Don't head to Fantasyland when there are crowd issues? WHERE WERE YOU when I needed this advice? Huh?

At this point I have no pictures. Do you know why? Because had I lifted my camera off my chest in Fantasyland to take a picture, it would have gotten SHOVED into my face b/c there was not even room to lift your arms! I seriously cannot understand what would entice people to go to MK/Fantasyland in these sorts of crowds. I am kicking myself for not getting a picture, but I've seen summer shots of Fantasyland, and that's what it was like. A SEA of people.

Rey laughed when we passed Peter Pan and he heard someone exclaim that the wait had just dropped from 55 minutes to 35 minutes and they should jump in line. I did remind everyone that THIS was why we do rope drop!

We crawled our way over to Pooh, we thought we would get FPs. Again, where were my DIS friends? We got over there and I couldn't find any FP machines?!? As I was looking for a CM, Rey grabbed me and pointed to the FP return line, which was ALL the way out to the end of the Que!

I found a CM who promptly told me that the FP machines were back at Philharmagic! WHAT?!?!?!? I never got that memo. LOL. I promised Rey we would get out of this area as soon as we got those FPs, so back through the crowd we went. We got to the machine and when it gave us our Pooh FPs, it spit out special FP's for Philharmagic? No matter, it was only a 5 minute wait at this point anyway. Rey did not realize that Philharmagic was what we had seen the first day, so I was confused when he suggested we go in. When we got in I realized he must have forgotten, but we were in line, no biggie!... Until they packed us in there like sardines and it was way MORE than 5 minutes! Rey was really annoyed, some guy kept pushing him with his backpack and it was crowded, hot, and uncomfortable. BUT...all horrible things must end and they opened the doors and we all headed in! Once sitting, everything was fine.

As we were sitting there, they made the announcement that the park would be staying open later tonight, until 10pm! WOOT! I guess there is always a silver lining to crowds! An extra hour to my last night was totally worth it (and what an amazing hour it was!)

When we came out of PH, we started to head towards Mainstreet. I had promised Savannah we would see the 3pm parade and with these crowds, we really wouldn't have time for anything else. I really did keep exclaiming that I was so pleased we had done so much our first day or I would have been disappointed. I tried to take some shots I had wanted of the back of the castle, but there were just too many people to squat down and do the things I would normally do.

We headed down Mainstreet and found a nice spot near the ice cream parlor and sat down. I was ready for a snack but no one else was, so I walked over the bakery to get myself this beauty!

It's seriously got to be the biggest and best value for a snack credit! OhMYGosh, not only does this picture not show how large it is, but the smell and tastiness of it! I went back to Rey & the girls and devoured the thing well before the parade started! We enjoyed sitting and I'm glad we were there early enough to get a seat! The parade finally started! The parades are all having to go straight down mainstreet and turn around in the hub and come back because of the work being done in Frontierland. It was fun to see both sides, and it was kind of like watching two parades in a row.

Oh no! Not enough room in this post, I'll have to continue in the next...

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

continued with the parade pics...

We enjoyed the parade and when we were finished, the girls were hungry and we were running out of time. They knew they wanted those Cinammon rolls as well, so we headed back to the bakery! We decided to just sit down and let them have their snack. When they were finished, we realized we wouldn't have time to go back and ride anything before meeting the boys. So, more balloon pics naturally!

I'm sure if I put my mind to it, I can come up with some more unique balloon shots for my next trip! HEY, BTW, yesterday was the ONE YEAR mark for my BFF trip to run the Princess 1/2! A year sounds like a long time, but I know it will be here before I know it!

We decided to head up to the train station area, I wanted to get a shot of mainstreet and the castle, which I did

but I also got my favorite shot of the trip! Wanna see?!?! The girls didn't want to pose for me, they were tired, so Rey did! This one is going up on the livingroom wall, I just love it.

After I took my pictures, Rey called the boys and they were at the bus stop. We decided to head out of the park and wait for them. The girls were so tired, I had to snap this picture b/c I thought it was so funny. I'm sure people thought I was nuts to let my kid lay on the ground, but we weren't in a busy area and if you are going to lay on the ground, Disney has some of the cleanest! I think Leslee fell asleep on that bench!

Up next: Dinner at The Wave and our last night in Magic Kingdom!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

[/COLOR][/B]

LOVE this pic!!! Gorgeous!

Your picture of Rey looking out over the MK is wonderful too!

I can't believe the crowds you had during your trip! It was definitely crowded during our trip, but I was always able to have room to take a picture!

 

[BigEeyore]

I have spent the last 2 days reading your TR - love it! Your photos are breathtaking - love the black and whites of the castle.
I am leaving this afternoon to drive down to Disney for the princess half! My first - I hope you can work out your PF issues so you can get back to running again soon! Thank you so much for a beautiful TR!

 

[-Hope-]

Great shots at MK! The selective color on and the B&W of the castle have an ominous look to them that makes them really unique.

for 1 year!

Those crowd shots are INSANE!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

LOVE this pic!!! Gorgeous!

Your picture of Rey looking out over the MK is wonderful too!

I can't believe the crowds you had during your trip! It was definitely crowded during our trip, but I was always able to have room to take a picture!

Thanks! I really wish I had taken a picture b/c I have never seen it like that and would love to see if my memory is just being overdramatic! I think I was just in shock and also a little fearful that we would lose each other, so didn't think to take a picture!

I have spent the last 2 days reading your TR - love it! Your photos are breathtaking - love the black and whites of the castle.
I am leaving this afternoon to drive down to Disney for the princess half! My first - I hope you can work out your PF issues so you can get back to running again soon! Thank you so much for a beautiful TR!

thank you so much! Have a wonderful 1/2!!!!!! I hope you come back and report about your trip, I LOVE hearing about the race!

Great shots at MK! The selective color on and the B&W of the castle have an ominous look to them that makes them really unique.

for 1 year!

Those crowd shots are INSANE!

I hope our crowds in a year aren't that bad, but if they are, at least I know that you can have a great trip and enjoy even with crowds! Liz is taking crowd pics for me, so hopefully she'll post them on the PTR!

 

[exwdwcm]

Ouch on the crowds. We've had several shots like that on some of our slow times too. Crazy, right? Love the balloon shots and that one of Rey on the train station platform is awesome too. YOu are so talented. Can't wait to hear how the Wave is!

 

[lisaviolet]

but you should see how many I shot!

SO beautiful. I jumped back in awe.

And I guess you've never seen my TRs - Karen I LIVE for balloon shots.

They makes jokes about me - balloons, lighting fixtures, sculptures/statues and furry little wild things.

 

[lisaviolet]

OMG KAREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're killing me. So flippin' gorgeous.

 

[Jonesloonybin]

I absolutely LOVE your pictures!!
What lens do you use for most of your shots? Do you have a filter on?

We are determined to catch a parade this time, since we did not see any of them last time.

Terri

 

[lisaviolet]

I have spent the last 2 days reading your TR - love it! Your photos are breathtaking - love the black and whites of the castle.
I am leaving this afternoon to drive down to Disney for the princess half! My first - I hope you can work out your PF issues so you can get back to running again soon! Thank you so much for a beautiful TR!

I KNEW that and was going to post to you but thought hmmm did I make that up?

Good for you BigEeyore. You're probably gone. Have fun and rock the race.

 

[lisaviolet]

Karen - I'm taking three of your pictures over to my come see Karen post. If you have an issue with that - just tell me and I'll take them down pronto. I'm SO excited by these shots. Sorry for not asking first.

 

[KatMark]

Sorry I didn't respond yesterday (we had a bit of excitement at home...our youngest son bought an engagement ring and is proposing to his girlfriend two weeks from today).

WOW! We must have left just in the nick of time by leaving on the 31st! Those crowds remind me of the one and only time we went over 4th of July.

Even September has gotten more crowded which is our favorite time to go.

I love the balloon shots--I think they are great.

But my favorite photo in these two updates is the one of Rey at the rail of the Train Station looking out at the castle.

 

[okw19]

HOLY MOLY THOSE CROWDS!! Ugh, I do not want Jan/Feb to start being crowded.

Those shots you got of the balloons are awesome! That picture of Rey with Main St. in the background is jaw-dropping gorgeous! You MUST frame that!