Cafeen takes it slow in Sept (and not by choice) – 23 Sept 2010 – 01 Oct 2010

[Cafeen]

Your pics of CSR has me thinking I should check my dates and see what is available. Wonder how much $ I would save

When we stayed there Aug1-8 in 1997 opening day we were in Casitas bldg 1 , loved the location, not sure if the entire resort was open or if they opened in phases but those fountain pics really made me recall some good memories of CSR

I really love CSR. I almost stayed at POR for this year's trip, but changed it back to here. However, for 2012, if that big double trip goes off I hope to do CBR for the first part and WL for the 2nd.

Pretty much anyone with a good eye and knowledge about their camera can make any of the resorts look excellent . (Except maybe the values, I hate the way they look ).

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Before I move on, I'll take a look back. I recently (late last night) went through my 2010 Disney photos and reprocessed them all, adding some color tweaks, cropping, and further culling from the library. I even fixed the "leaning" situation of many photos that I did. (Though, I did add a couple on purpose).

I also redid the 2010 Disney Gallery on my site.

I originally took ~930 pictures, which were dropped to 900 when I made the first gallery. This dropped down to 775 when I created the current library. It's now sitting at 543. Still, 543 "decent" photos out of 930 or ~58% which isn't too bad a success rate.

Anyway, let's look back at some you've already seen, just reprocessed.

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[Cafeen]

I also have realized that I haven't shared any non-Disney photos on here for awhile now. Of course, I also haven't been shooting for awhile, but getting back into it now.

I also created a new gallery on my site for these (and all my 2011 General shots) 2011 General Gallery.

STI Building Exterior - This the is outside of my work building.


This next group was taken outside of my apartment building in the little strip of woods between the building and the road behind.






I really like the way this one turned out.


The next group is outside of the office again. (Well, the first one is inside the building )

I was playing with Depth of Field with my keyboard.


Another 2 that I REALLY like how they came out.




More from outside the apartment. We have a lot of squirrels that flitter about. I took these at around 6am before I had slept yet (I was up redoing the Disney post-processing until 4, then said I may as well stay up )






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[Cafeen]

Day 8 pt 1 - Last Full Day (Epcot) pt 1
(As a note, these are now my reprocessed photos that I worked on last night).

So... I woke up on Thursday 9/30 knowing it was my last full day. I believe I received my "eviction" papers (aka the ME details).

So, I walked around outside a bit before heading to my double Mexican plan at Epcot.

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I arrived in Epcot at 9:30ish AM.

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I'm not entirely sure what I did next... other than walking around until lunch. So, you're all going to walk with me. Assume that I hit up TT and maybe MS in here as well. I have no record of it, but we'll just assume that I did.

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At this point, Cantina was open and I took some photos of Hacienda.

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By the time I finished snapping pictures, it was just about time for lunch at San Angel Inn.

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And then I checked in for lunch. I was pretty excited about this place as I do have a liking of Mexican food.

Sopa Azteca - While I'm not a soup person normally (yes, despite several orders of soup throughout this trip) this was very tasty.


Ribeye Tacos - Also very very good. While looking at the picture, they appear to be a bit more rare than I like, but they were still very good.


Not sure what this was called but it was a very tasty white chocolate mousse with the berries. It was one of the best desserts that I had during the trip.
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Well, I'm at the picture cap here, so I'm going to leave with this. After lunch, I meandered around WS some more, and took more pictures.

 

[Cafeen]

Day 8 pt 2 - Last Full Day (Epcot) pt 2
I had just eaten a very yummy meal over at San Angel Inn. It was very tasty if I didn't mention this. The dessert was especially good.

After lunch, I started walking around World Showcase. I really didn't have anything to do until 6pm (ish) as I had an ADR at Marrakesh at that time. So, I started walking (slowly) over in that general direction.

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Looking at my pictures, I walked into China and took a few pictures. I also checked out the exhibit thingy that was there. I'm sure it would be a lot more respectful if I remembered the name, rather than calling it the exhibit thingy, but sorry, I don't.

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After the exhibit thingy, I headed off behind Norway for a break. I sat around for 10 or 15 minutes and chatting a little with some lady there. I also took a few pictures

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I then "smartly" went BACK to China. At this point I walked through the entire store and took lots of pictures of the jade statues and stuff in there. Of course, none of them came out decently enough to share, so you don't get to see them.

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I probably took another break on the way back past Norway and around the WS, but I don't remember so we're going to say that I didn't. It sounds better that way. I do know that I sat an awful lot this day, but that's beside the point. What else was I going to do anyway? I know I also rode Maelstrom at some point in this day... I think? I know I rode it on my first day (the perfume migraine could never be forgotten), I'm pretty sure I rode it again on this day.

Moving on, I passed through Germany. Again, I took a few pictures, but none came out good enough (I got pickier recently, so the old days of "share everything" are gone!) It was here that I decided to get a new camera, after several attempts to silhouette some of the statuary and failing due to the lack of spot metering.

So, now we're in Italy, and looking at these photos, I did pretty well here.

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These came out pretty good. I had a "hidden mickey" made by the shadows of the hanging plants, but, the picture is ugly so you don't get to see it (plus, I already selected enough photos to reach the 25 picture cap).

After Italy, I stopped by America to check out when the next show was. It was going to be awhile so I moved on. I walked into Morocco and hung out there for a bit. It was getting real hot and I wasn't feeling too well again. I took quite a few more pictures, but only one came out good enough.

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Now it was time for Japan. I walked all throughout the pavilion and checked out the anime exhibit that was showing. Interestingly enough I actually learned a bit from there. I'm not a big anime freak or anything, but it was interesting.

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Over on to France now, I caught the... um, whatever these guys were called. It was a good show.

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By now, it was pushing 5(ish), so I hustled on over to Mexico. Hacienda had just opened up about a week earlier and I was really excited to try it out. As you all know by now, I really like Mexican food, so was really hoping it was going to be good. However, remember that comment I made about Morocco... yeah, not feeling that well.

I walked up to Hacienda and was met by management! They were super excited to bring people in (remember, ADRs were not yet available) and it made me excited to be there. Now, you don't know, but I also happened to be wearing a nice WDW polo shirt. This may come into play in a moment.

I started off with an authentic (I think?) margarita. It was tasty. I also had the Queso Fundito, which was basically melted cheese and tortillas. This was also quite tasty. Unfortunately, my entree came only a few minutes after I started on it. The Arrachea was pretty good, but not everything I hoped for. For dessert, I had the Traditional Mexican Ice Cream. This had some VERY good flavors and was nice and light. The 3 flavors were Watermelon, yellow (I don't remember what the yellow was), and Tamarind. I had never had Tamarind before, it was excellent!

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Now, remember that polo shirt? Well not sure if the management thought I was someone I wasn't, but all throughout the meal they were stopping by asking how everything was, how the timing was, and all that. It was a little strange. On my way out, the manager asked if it was the best meal I'd had. Unfortunately, I had to disappoint as it was only the 3rd best. Jiko and Citrico's took the top 2 spots.

So, on to what now? Well, I still wasn't feeling that well, too much sun this day. So, I headed back to the resort for the night.

 

[KatMark]

Stunning Epcot pictures, Allan. I am blown away by how great they are!

 

[sjs314]

Loved the Epcot pictures, I can never get enough of WS. I have yet to eat in Mexico after all these years and this year will be no different since we nixed our ressie at San Angel. DH is not a fan of Mexican food, I like some but nothing too hot although I am finding as I grow older I enjoy a bit more heat and spice than I did when younger, of course my stomach does not always agree.
Both the Mexican desserts looked yummy

 

[mousegear]

I have to say Epcot is my fav park b/c of world showcase. I just love walking around and absorbing the details. The pictures are great!!! I can't wait 'till our La Hacienda ADR. I love Mexican food. It's funny... I think the people at La Hacienda thought you are someone who works at Disney!

 

[Cafeen]

Stunning Epcot pictures, Allan. I am blown away by how great they are!

Thanks. I really can't wait to attempt to redo some of them with the higher quality and more flexible camera too (and a tripod for some of those night shots, no more cropping out the tops of trash cans for me ).

Some of that was due to the post processing, which I spent about 8 hours on (9pm to 5am) last Friday night, but I am MUCH happier with them than I was.

Loved the Epcot pictures, I can never get enough of WS. I have yet to eat in Mexico after all these years and this year will be no different since we nixed our ressie at San Angel. DH is not a fan of Mexican food, I like some but nothing too hot although I am finding as I grow older I enjoy a bit more heat and spice than I did when younger, of course my stomach does not always agree.
Both the Mexican desserts looked yummy

By the end of that day, I pretty much had enough . Of course, it was the hottest day of the trip and I was dehydrated again and felt another migraine coming on (which I successfully stopped with additional water and a snack). The photographic potential is amazing there though. I had never even seen half the stuff I saw this last trip and it makes me very excited for the next one.

I have to say Epcot is my fav park b/c of world showcase. I just love walking around and absorbing the details. The pictures are great!!! I can't wait 'till our La Hacienda ADR. I love Mexican food. It's funny... I think the people at La Hacienda thought you are someone who works at Disney!

La Hacienda was very good, I wasn't in the mood to eat though which was a real shame. I can't wait to go back there this year. I'm also not going to overload on Mexican in one day, as I have Hacienda on Day 3 and San Angel Inn on day... um 9? 8? somewhere along there. (You know, for how much I've played with other people's ADRs for the new Sept thread, you'd think I'd actually remember my own ).

And yup, that's pretty much what I was thinking too. I mean, new restaurant, nice new WDW polo shirt and khaki shorts, and dining solo? I was either a hidden CM or a food critic (the taking photos of the food doesn't help things either) as that's not the normal WDW vacationer!

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Of course, through all this my feet were absolutely killing me too. I think that's part of why I wasn't feeling too well either.

And thanks all . I'm much happier with the way these came out after I ran them through post, and culled out much of the really bad ones (and then only showed the average or better of those remaining )

 

[Cafeen]

Day 9 pt 1 - Walkin' Right Down the Middle of Main St... for the last time this trip
It's the last day of the trip, and I woke up at some time in the morning. I really have no idea what time. It was at some point in the morning, and not too too late either.

I had ADRs at The Plaza for lunch and my bags were already at Bell Services, so I had plenty of time (my flight out was at ~7 I think, not entirely sure).

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From looking at the picture, it looks like I arrived just after one of the shows, or during, I don't really know. At any rate, I meandered down Main St USA.

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Basically, all I did at this point was wander around the castle taking pictures. There really isn't much else to say so let's just let the pictures do the talking...

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After my tour around the castle, I hopped over to Adventureland.

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And then it was almost time for lunch...

Now, you may notice if you bother to click on the images, that they link to a gallery now rather than the raw larger image. I wrote these over the past few nights to replace my other temporary ones. I also finally found a watermark thingy that I liked and would show up, not too big, but still clear .

One more update to go... then I'm out of pictures .

 

[mousegear]

Allan, love the pictures of the castle! It's always entertaining someone's great pics!!
Are you going to do another trip report for 2011 trip as well? I really want to see your pics.

 

[Cafeen]

Allan, love the pictures of the castle! It's always entertaining someone's great pics!!
Are you going to do another trip report for 2011 trip as well? I really want to see your pics.

Thanks .

I love looking at other people's pictures too, it helps so much to get more ideas on angles, composition, framing, etc. I'm a little intimidated to post on the photography board though, those guys down there are amazing.

I do plan to do another report, with my new camera this year (Canon T1i dSLR) I'm really looking to redo a lot of these from the P&S to see what I can get. I also will be bringing a full size tripod to my Epcot EMH night and one or two of the MNSSHP that I'm going to, really just to get some much better night shots than I got this year. (I'll have a mini tripod in my bag at all times too, just in case).

Of course, this all assumes that I actually get all the photos from it imported and then spend several nights in Lightroom "developing" them... that's going to be a lot of work (My photo count in 2010 was 930 or so... and with the new camera that's likely to be at least doubled).

 

[KatMark]

Allan, love the castle photos -- awesome.

You will have to PM me your "schedule" for September so we can check and see if we are at the same park at any time since I'm not staying at CSR as planned.

 

[Cafeen]

Allan, love the castle photos -- awesome.

You will have to PM me your "schedule" for September so we can check and see if we are at the same park at any time since I'm not staying at CSR as planned.

Thanks I like them too. In fact, I used a pre-post-processed (erm, is that really a word? heh) version of the Castle with the Moon in the far background as my Desktop for a very long time at work (home has a slideshow of all my 2010 "approved" pics)

I'll drop my schedule after the last TR post, so it'll be there .

 

[sjs314]

I just have to say I can not wait to see what you capture in September with your new cannon dslr. I am especially fond of your dusk/nighttime shots and the detailed closeups, I am expecting nothing but pure brilliance from your September trip.

I do so miss when I used an slr and would love to buy a new dslr but I know I just can not deal anymore with dragging one around all day, spoiled by the convience of a smaller compact p&s now I am afraid so my pictures suffer from my own laziness

 

[Cafeen]

Day 9 pt 2 - It's time to say goodbye
Well, it's been a long trip, and a longer trip report. At this point, as you can imagine, my feet were aching. Walking for 8 days with huge blisters made me limp, which also made my feet hurt more. Ugh, what a mess. But, it was in Disney, so it's not like I really was too bothered by it.

However, before we go forward, we're going to go back a little...

Day 1:
Arrival and check-in, Epcot (Cantina CS), Maya Grill Dinner

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Day 2:
MK, LTT Lunch, Artist Point Dinner

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Day 3
AK, Tusker House Breakfast, Boma Dinner

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Day 4
Epcot, Le Cellier Lunch, Via Napoli Dinner

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Day 5
DHS, Yachtsman Dinner

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Day 6
Maya Grill Breakfast, Epcot Afternoon, big Rainstorm, Citrico's Dinner, MNSSHP

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Day 7
Animal Kingdom (photo spree), Restaurantasaurus Lunch, Jiko Dinner, CSR fountain photography, Epcot PM EMH

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Day 8
Epcot, San Angel Inn Lunch, Hacienda de San Angel dinner

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And now, we're on Day 9...

So, at this point, it was almost lunch time so and I headed over to The Plaza. I made this last lunch reservation here as a tip of the hat over to Kathy, who has a tradition of doing just this.

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During this time, the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It Street Party was going on, so I got some pictures of it...

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I hung around outside of The Plaza until lunchtime.

The lunch was pretty good. Nothing excellent, but worked great as a last day meal. I had a simple Salad, Buger w/ Fries, and some ice cream sundae.

After lunch, I slowly walked out of the Magic Kingdom, and then back to CSR. I picked up my luggage and then hung around the ME stop until it was time to go.

Fast forward a little bit after a couple uneventful flights, and I was home.

 

[Cafeen]

And now for something completely different
So, with the TR now complete and having gone through several series of photos... it's time to get down to brass tacks on the next trip.

So, without further ado, here are my Sept 2011 Plans (and they're "finalized" too).

Thu Sept 22
Leave Mobile @ 6am, arrive at MCO @ 11:30ish
CSR by 1pm(ish)
Head to Epcot - Lunch @ Cantina
Back to room by roughly 5pm, Mom to arrive between 4:30 and 6
Dinner: Jiko @ 7:00 pm

Fri Sept 23
Magic Kingdom
Breakfast: Kona Cafe @ 8:00 am
Lunch: CS (maybe)
Dinner: The Plaza @ 5:10 pm
MNSSHP at night

Sat Sept 24
Hollywood Studios
Lunch: Mama Melrose @ 12:00 pm
Dinner: Kona Cafe @ 7:30 pm
Wishes from Poly Beach

Sun Sept 25
Epcot
Lunch: Coral Reef @ 11:35 pm
Dinner: Hacienda de San Angel @ 7:00 pm
Illuminations @ 9:00 pm

Mon Sept 26
Animal Kingdom/DHS PM EMH
Leave Tripod in Mom's car, bring for DHS EMH
Arrive @ AK ~9:30 am (we're skipping the EMH)
Breakfast: Tusker House @ 10:00 am
Dinner: Boma @ 5:20 PM
Mom leaves for home after dinner
DHS PM EMH

Tue Sept 27
Epcot/MNSSHP
Bring Tripod for Day
Lunch: San Angel Inn
Dinner: California Grill
MNSSHP

Wed Sept 28
Animal Kingdom/DHS/Epcot PM EMH
Bring Tripod for Epcot EMH
Lunch: Untamed Lunch at Sanaa @ 11:30 am
Head to DHS or CSR after lunch
Dinner: Flying Fish @ 5:30pm
Head to Epcot or CSR after dinner
Epcot PM EMH (Bring Tripod)

Thu Sept 29
MK AM EMH/Epcot
Lunch: Grand Floridian Cafe @ 12:00 pm
To Epcot after Lunch
Dinner: Le Cellier @ 7:05 pm

Fri Sept 30
Animal Kingdom/MNSSHP
Bring Tripod for Day
Lunch: Tusker House
Dinner: Citrico's
MNSSHP

Sat Oct 01
MK/Time to go home
Pack Tripod in checked bag
Breakfast: Crystal Palace @ 8:10 am
Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern @ 12:50 pm
Back to resort after lunch
ME Pickup @ ~4:30 pm

So, that's the plan. I'm a little concerned about the tripod days. My tripod did come with a nice carrying case, but it still may be a bit much. If I don't feel like carrying it around, I may just rent a locker (hopefully it'll fit ><).

Everything else is pretty much all set.

 

[mousegear]

We will also be in EPCOT 25th and MNSHHP on 27th. Hope to run into you to say hello. DS is getting really excited and he was dacing this morning and saying "only 42 days left to Disney." Who am I kidding? I'm getting excited!

 

[MEK]

Wonderful pictures Allan. I don't care how processed they are - they are great. What program do you use? Forgive me if I already asked you that months ago. But your pics are getting better and better.

 

[Cafeen]

We will also be in EPCOT 25th and MNSHHP on 27th. Hope to run into you to say hello. DS is getting really excited and he was dacing this morning and saying "only 42 days left to Disney." Who am I kidding? I'm getting excited!

I've been annoying the guys at work for the past 150 days or so (think I booked around 190-200 days out), so I'm sure they're getting sick of it . Of course, this IS the 3rd time in 3 years that I've done that, so they'll also likely taking it in stride.

I'll be sure to be around. Not sure if/how I can get anything identifying (though, I'd like a shirt or two with my little dragon guy... maybe I can make that happen...), but I'll be meandering around .

Wonderful pictures Allan. I don't care how processed they are - they are great. What program do you use? Forgive me if I already asked you that months ago. But your pics are getting better and better.

Thanks .

I used Lightroom 3 to reprocess them all. In tuning what I like in my pictures, and my "voice" if you will, I started using the presets, and then tweaked them a bit to get what I like. I basically only use two presets both with some clarity, vibrance, saturation, light sharpening, and light noise reduction on them, and then one that pops out the shadows and highlights a bit more and adds a count of extra contrast. Those two presets (well, one or the other) is pretty much what I do to all my pictures with very little exposure, WB, or other tweaking.

I'm pretty picky with how PP looks though, and I don't like to go too outlandish, hence just basic adjustments and no HDR or funky lens effects (though, I'd give my right kidney for a nice fisheye )

 

[KatMark]

Allan, the last set of pictures are spectacular. I've noted your "park schedule" and it looks as if we are in the same parks a couple of times (AK on Monday morning would probably be best for us to try to "find" you as then Andy (our oldest son) arrivces and things get crazy.