Understand also that the S5, while a really good point and shoot camera, still has a smaller sensor and not too hot ISO sensitivity. So, you are not going to get very good action shots in dark rides or super parade pictures. You can probably get decent shots of fireworks or other stationary items if you have a tripod and a remote shutter release and learn how to do shutter priority shots for long exposure..
I want to reiterate this part of the comment. I have the S5, got it when the sensor in my S1 failed. Canon was aware of the defects and had a policy to replace the older camera even though it was out of warranty. I was super excited to get the upgraded model because it had ISO up to 1600, and I thought I would finally be able to get decent night/dark photos.
Unfortunately, this turned out not to be the case. When you shoot at 800 or 1600 the photo comes out very grainy. So grainy at 1600, I don't usually set it there. 800 I will do if it will give me a proper exposure. Or there is no other way to get a good picture and I still want to keep the memory. Otherwise, I usually keep it at 400, even though the photo is a bit dark, and then try to lighten it up later. Most rides, I don't even try to get a picture with a non-flash. If the ride stops, then I can try for shots on like Buzz or IASW, because I can set the shutter speed slower. But I am satisfied with the daytime parade shots, and I can get some decent fireworks shots too.
The first "manual" settings, after ISO, that I played around with were shutter speeds. It's the Tv on the dial. If you are taking pictures of motion or lots of light, you want that number to be shorter so select, 1/2000, 1/1250, etc. If you are in a darker setting, you want that number to be longer so the 1/100, 1/80 etc. If you go longer than 1/50ish, that's when things start getting blurry, especially if you are moving and your subject is moving. So you need to use a tripod, or put it on a flat surface. In the 1/40-1/60 range, I try to hold my breath when taking the shot.
If you put it in the shooting modes, or use P, you may notice, on the screen, the time number and it may say like .3" or 1". Those are really long shutter speeds, and your photos will be blurry without a tripod. 1" means it takes 1 second to take the photo, and think about how much something can move in 1 second. But that's what the camera thinks it needs to get enough light for a proper exposure. Even the auto mode will often give you a 1/8" when there isn't enough light for a proper exposure. That is even too long of a shutter speed to get clear photos. I used to get so frustrated, and didn't understand why my photos were blurry, but that is why. Once I figured out shutter speed, I was a much happier photographer. I knew what situations I shouldn't even try, if I couldn't use a flash. And I was happier still, when I realized I could "lock" the shutter speed with the Tv, and then if it came out good, yay, if not, I needed to just live with it, or get better equipment.
Oh, and I love the 12x optical zoom. I dislike what digital zoomed pics look like, so I always set the "use digital zoom" to off. If it's not good enough then, again, I have to live with it.
I apologize to all the real photographers for my rudimentary explanations. As a newbie, all the terms were like reading a foreign language. I knew ISO from regular film, but it took me forever to figure out what the heck "f-stop" was and why it mattered. For the OP, if you ever have seen pictures where the subject was nice and sharp, but the background was out of focus. This is a function of the aperture settings. On the S5, you will see a decimal number 3.2, 4.0, etc. These are what the "f-stops" are and people will write them f/4, f/8, etc. The lower number means the "hole" is bigger and more light is coming in. A bigger number means the "hole" is smaller and less light is coming in. So in dark settings, you will notice the screen will say 2.7 or 3.2. The low numbers is also how you get that blurry effect. If you want to blur the background, keep the number low. If you want the background and subject to be clear, you want the number to be big.
Another thing to practice. Take your camera, and point it at the subject, and take the shot. Then, take the camera point it at the sky, half press the button, so the camera will "lock in", and then slowly move the camera down, so your subject is in the frame, and then take the shot. You will notice that when you focus on the subject, the sky will sometimes look white (over exposed), and when you focus on the sky, your subject will be too dark (under exposed). This is because depending on where you focus, the camera will select different shutter speeds and aperture settings. Sometimes, when you are in a hurry, you will notice that your subject is too dark. This may mean that the camera has focused on the sky and set the settings for it, and not the person or building you are trying to capture. So you need to get the camera to actually focus on a darker object (tilt the camera down more, get less sky in the photo, etc) This type of stuff, falls under the category of "metering." Take note of the numbers that show up when you take the pictures and see how they are different.
I have learned so much about photography from having this camera. This summer, I picked up a cheapy point&shoot so I could have a camera in queue lines at Universal, but could stick it in my pocket before riding Harry Potter or a coaster. It did it's job, but I would get frustrated that I couldn't set it manually. At that point, I decided maybe I am finally ready for a dSLR. So I plan on upgrading in a year or 2, once I figure out what I actually need in terms of lenses and such. Now, if I could just get better at composition.
