Clearskies photographic Journey to the World and Beyond - 8 theme parks & much more

[mickeystoontown]

I was about to post on your Believe pictures but then saw that you had posted another installment. The pictures of the whales were amazing but I think my favorite one was the one of the whale coming out of the water and you could see the water slooshing down it's body. Amazing!

Okay now to the latest update. Too bad it started raining and you were wet by the time you made it in the AKL. What the heck was up with the chef? He took his own sweet time making it over to you and then left you hanging on whether or not they had any soup you could eat.

We've never made it over to the AKL before but, after looking at your pictures, I may need to take a trip over there on one of our down days to have a look around.

 

[TanzUnited99]

That was bad of Goofy - pulling the wool over your eyes and not telling you the information he had. Hope you had a stern word with him later!

Am glad you enjoyed the food at Boma as we will be eating there as well...it's a shame about the chef not being on the ball but am looking forward to hearing about the chef who you were impressed with, as we will also have dietary requirements on our trip.

 

[clearskies]

I was about to post on your Believe pictures but then saw that you had posted another installment. The pictures of the whales were amazing but I think my favorite one was the one of the whale coming out of the water and you could see the water slooshing down it's body. Amazing!

Okay now to the latest update. Too bad it started raining and you were wet by the time you made it in the AKL. What the heck was up with the chef? He took his own sweet time making it over to you and then left you hanging on whether or not they had any soup you could eat.

We've never made it over to the AKL before but, after looking at your pictures, I may need to take a trip over there on one of our down days to have a look around.

Thank you for the comments on the Sea World pictures Lisa. I like that picture the most as well from the believe show.

We were traveling in a rainy season but fortunately these first few days was the worst we experienced and even at that it was not too bad since we got a lot in during the day before the rain rolled in.

The Chef was a disappointment but I'll chalk it up to having a bad day. It did not leave too much of a bad taste in my mouth since the rest of the food was good

I highly recommend visiting AKL. It is an impressive lodge and worth the time to explore. You should go on a nice day though and take a stroll out back to see the animals as well.

That was bad of Goofy - pulling the wool over your eyes and not telling you the information he had. Hope you had a stern word with him later!

Am glad you enjoyed the food at Boma as we will be eating there as well...it's a shame about the chef not being on the ball but am looking forward to hearing about the chef who you were impressed with, as we will also have dietary requirements on our trip.

That Goofy! I think he was too wrapped up in his hockey game. Though come to think of it I am not sure who the heck he was playing with. I forgave him though. We had a couple of character meals with him coming up and I didn't want it to be uncomfortable

Oh, in case I don't get to it my the time you make your reservations remind me to tell you more about this amazing chef. He is at the Grand Floridian and he truly went above and beyond to accommodate my needs .

 

[IheartDDuck]

That's such a shame about the Chef at Boma. It's especially irritating when you have restrictions that hinder your ability to eat certain things.

I remember one instance at the Cape May Cafe buffet at the Beach Club. I was a vegetarian for about 15 years, and when I was there, I wasn't eating the pasta. The chef was behind the buffet setting some things up, and he said he recommended the pasta. I told him that I wouldn't be able to eat it because I was a vegetarian. As a vegetarian, because it's a choice of mine, not a restriction, I never expected too much. Well, much to my surprise, when I was sitting at the table, the chef comes to my table with a bowl of pasta that he made specially for me without the meat in it. I was so surprised and happy that he did that, when he didn't need to.

Anyway, the point of my rant is that when you're restricted for different reasons like allergies, they should definitely take the time that they did with me, whose restrictions were self imposed.

 

[norybell]

Love your AKL pics! It's such a gorgeous resort.

Also...not to hijack here, but I gotta tell you....I'm currently investigating DSLRs for my birthday. And it's all your fault!

 

[mom2rtk]

I am glad that I have someone that does not think I am touched in the head for carrying around so much I agree that it is so hard to leave those fast lenses behind once you know and love them. There are sometimes when I go off at night after a full day of carrying around my bag in the parks though where I will lighten the load a bit but that is about the only time I pare down.

Well, the weight of the 300mm is about 2.6 lbs. It's a bit heavy but not too much more than my 24-70 weighing in at a little over 2 lbs which I am most used to hanging around my neck.

Pshaw, you don't need me photographing your son's graduation. You have great skills yourself. If you can get the ceremony moved to New Jersey I would gladly lend you my lens for the day. My 300mm is a bit fearful of flying and it needs me by its side on flights so it wouldn't take a journey out to your area on its own

It really did take a while for me to get on board with carting around several lenses. But once you see the results you can get with them, it just becomes unacceptable to be such visual surroundings and NOT have them. Every time someone posts a thread on whether they should even bring their DSLR to Disney my reply is "if not now.....WHEN?" Heck, I have had nightmares about being at Disney having forgotten my camera!

And thanks for your vote of confidence on me photographing my son's high school graduation. The pressure's on now........

Too bad about your 300mm having the fear of flying and all....... There's still time for it to get some therapy or something..... I wouldn't need it til May!

We're big Sea World fans here, so loving those shots. I love the one of just the stadium. I love the blues and the clouds in the background.

And while I'm not a big bird person either........ I've enjoyed your shots a lot.

That last penguin shot must have been off a bit though........... Maybe it's the stellar detail your lens offers.......... l had no idea they were ......so..... furry!

 

[clearskies]

Hi, sorry I have been a bit delinquent in posting. It is a bad week at work plus I ended up making a spur of the moment booking a late August trip again. So, I had to quickly put some plans together and make dining reservations. We are staying at PORFQ this time. I was able to use a 35% off pin that I figured I would use before it expired.
I am still hoping for free dining to come out though.

ok, first I owe some responses before I start my next installment.

That's such a shame about the Chef at Boma. It's especially irritating when you have restrictions that hinder your ability to eat certain things.

I remember one instance at the Cape May Cafe buffet at the Beach Club. I was a vegetarian for about 15 years, and when I was there, I wasn't eating the pasta. The chef was behind the buffet setting some things up, and he said he recommended the pasta. I told him that I wouldn't be able to eat it because I was a vegetarian. As a vegetarian, because it's a choice of mine, not a restriction, I never expected too much. Well, much to my surprise, when I was sitting at the table, the chef comes to my table with a bowl of pasta that he made specially for me without the meat in it. I was so surprised and happy that he did that, when he didn't need to.

Anyway, the point of my rant is that when you're restricted for different reasons like allergies, they should definitely take the time that they did with me, whose restrictions were self imposed.

Hi Danielle. I would say that for the most part Disney is excellent about accommodating dietary needs. Sometimes they even go a step further as with your experience at Cape May Buffet and it really makes you appreciate their service even more. This particular Chef at Boma was a dud but that is definitely the exception from what I have experienced. I am glad you got to experience one of those that go the extra mile.

Love your AKL pics! It's such a gorgeous resort.

Also...not to hijack here, but I gotta tell you....I'm currently investigating DSLRs for my birthday. And it's all your fault!

Oh no you don't Nory. You can't put that blame on me I have seen you on this path from your first trip report so it's all on you. That sounds like a fantastic birthday present. It truly a gift that keeps on giving. (Um, perhaps it also keeps on taking away from my bank account since I seem to have a disease where I think I need more equipment but I'm sure you can be stronger than me). There is no such thing BTW about hijacking my thread if you want to talk about photography. Let me know if you want any info.

It really did take a while for me to get on board with carting around several lenses. But once you see the results you can get with them, it just becomes unacceptable to be such visual surroundings and NOT have them. Every time someone posts a thread on whether they should even bring their DSLR to Disney my reply is "if not now.....WHEN?" Heck, I have had nightmares about being at Disney having forgotten my camera!

That is exactly how I feel Janet. I don't get to use my camera as much as I would like when I am at home so I'll be darned sure I am going to use my equipment to it's fullest when I am getting away from it all and have some quality time to enjoy with it.

And thanks for your vote of confidence on me photographing my son's high school graduation. The pressure's on now........

Too bad about your 300mm having the fear of flying and all....... There's still time for it to get some therapy or something..... I wouldn't need it til May!

We sat down and had a talk tonight and he is just not ready. He refuses to go to therapy as well. They can be very stubborn you know. He did say that there are places to rent lenses and you may be able to find one of his cousins in your area.

We're big Sea World fans here, so loving those shots. I love the one of just the stadium. I love the blues and the clouds in the background.

And while I'm not a big bird person either........ I've enjoyed your shots a lot.

That last penguin shot must have been off a bit though........... Maybe it's the stellar detail your lens offers.......... l had no idea they were ......so..... furry!

thank you. I love watching most animals so throw me into a park with animals and chances are I am coming away happy. Thank you for the positive feedback. Now those penguins, yes, that was a very special breed that they have there in that last shot. They are amazingly easy to tend to and they are not as animated at the other breeds. In that respect they are easier for us photographers since they will sit still.

 

[clearskies]

We are heading on the highway today and pointing our rental car south west to visit Tampa so that we can visit the other animal themed amusement park in the area, Busch Gardens. The way I see it, there are 2 main reasons to compel someone to take a diversion from Orlando in order to see this park. The first would be if you love roller coasters and the second is if you love animals. You can put me in category #2. So, be prepared for some animals coming your way.

The drive is not too bad clocking in at about 1 hour and 15 min between BGT and the Disney resport area. Well, that is, when you are not speeding like a madman because you are late for an ADR but I am getting ahead of ourselves. On the way there we enjoyed this Not So Hidden Mickey on I-4 West.

We visited this park once before in 2007 and we really enjoyed the animal experience. It turned out though that we got pounded with rain later in the afternoon that day and we did not see everything that we wanted to experience.

I took a couple of pics on the way into the park. I can't recall if this park actually has a signature icon like the other parks we visited but if it did have one it obviously did not make an impression on me.

The first attraction on our agenda was a ride called Rhino Rally.

This was our favorite attracion in 2007. It started out as a safari jeep ride past animals for the first half of the ride. Then during the ride the Jeep stops on a bridge near a waterfall and they surprise you. The water becomes becomes too powerful and it break ups the bridge and you go floating down the river and you are on a water ride for a while. You eventually reach a pathway that the vehicle can drive onto so that get back on dry land and you drive back to the station. It was a unique experience that we had a blast with in 2007. So we got on.....

Psst, you in the jeep with that freakish lens...are you in for a surprise.

yeah, yeah, I know, we went on this ride on 2007

Oh, you'll be surprised alright

well, not really but we'll still enjoy the water part of the ride thanks.

I honestly don't care if you are surprised or not. You humans bore me.

ha, you just don't get it but you'll find out soon.


Huh, we soon pulled back into the station and the ride was over. What's up with that. Where is the water part of the ride? We asked the driver and he informed us that they permanently closed the water portion of the ride due to construction of another project. So now it was just a safari ride with corny jokes. Had we never been on it before it would have been ok but for us this was a disappointment. I don't understand why they took away something that was so unique and fun. Strike one against Busch Gardens.


So after this bit of a letdown, we walked out and saw some elephants nearby so we took a gander at them for a bit.

We wandered towards the train station so that we could take the safari train but it was not coming for a while so we decided to do more exploring and ride the train later.

This giraffe was looking a bit "green". Perhaps it was something it ate

excuse me, you have a bit of your food stuck over...er...can't really reach over there can you...ok..never mind it looks fine.

we started on some animal paths but soon got a bit confused on direction.

we passed a lion but he wanted no part in helping us with directions.

We eventually happed upon a guide who pointed us in the direction of the Egypt secion of the park. My wife wanted to ride the rollercoaster in that area called Montu. This is a steel inverted roller coaster. Before we headed off though the guide told us she was on her way to feed the hippo. We are easily entertained so feeding a humongous animal sounded interesting to watch so we followed her first. Let me tell you this really was fascinating to watch. We were watching from behind a plate of glass.

this thing was huuuuuge!

I love this last shot.

I really enjoyed watching this, so the park got some redemption after disappointing me with Rhino Rally

continued in the next post....

 

[clearskies]

After our hippo entertainment we strolled along the nature paths an made our way to Egypt.

When we got to the Egypt section my kides did not want to ride the coaster so my wife went solo while we stayed in the area. There were no other attractions except for this King Tut Tomb walkthrough. Who needs to go see the National Geographic exhibit when they have it all here in a theme park! Oh except perhaps you may want to see something real in which case this exhibit falls pretty flat. It was the only thing to do while waiting though so you also get to experience these wonders as well.

We did get to see the first Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model from 1320 BC!!

I'm thinking of sporting one of those beards myself.


My wife was farily quick on the ride and she soon met up with us while we were still going through the "Tut Tut you actually spent time walking through this exhibit". She said the coaster was a bit too rough and did her back in so she was unfortunately done with coasters for the day.

There was no other attractions in this area so after we finished our your of Egypt we travelled on. I am going to break here and will pick up from this point on my next installment.

 

[MNTwinsMom]

I love it when great photographers do trip reports!

Thanks so much for sharing your memories with us - your photos are incredible.

I enjoyed your remarks about WWoHP and am looking forward to hearing more about it. My 8-year-old twin boys have recently become enthralled with the HP books, which we are reading aloud together. DH and I are trying to decide if we should venture to Universal on our next Disney trip. WWoHP plus another chance at Spiderman (even I, the Disney loyalist in our family, have to admit it is AMAZING) might convince me to venture away from Disney for a day. I like your idea of ending the non-Disney days with a meal at a Disney resort.

Congrats on booking you next trip! Always nice to have something to look forward too

Thanks again for the great report . . . looking forward to more!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Whaaaaaat? No water portion of Rhino Rally? I can understand why you were disappointed.

I agree with you that the last picture of the hippo was my favorite (of the hippo pictures that is). I can see why that would make up for the no water portion of RR.

As always, your pictures are phenomenal.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Firstly on booking another trip to Disney World!! I hope you managed to get all your ADRs and am looking forward to seeing your photos of PORFQ.

I would be disappointed too if the part that I enjoyed most about a safari changed. The hippo entertainment looks like fun. I look forward to seeing the photo of your new egyptian beard!

 

[clearskies]

I love it when great photographers do trip reports!

Thanks so much for sharing your memories with us - your photos are incredible.

Thank you very much and
Thank you for joining in on the journey.

I enjoyed your remarks about WWoHP and am looking forward to hearing more about it. My 8-year-old twin boys have recently become enthralled with the HP books, which we are reading aloud together. DH and I are trying to decide if we should venture to Universal on our next Disney trip. WWoHP plus another chance at Spiderman (even I, the Disney loyalist in our family, have to admit it is AMAZING) might convince me to venture away from Disney for a day. I like your idea of ending the non-Disney days with a meal at a Disney resort.

That is exactly what I did with my son. He was not one that was excited about reading in general. We started reading the Harry Potter books together and we would read aloud and alternate pages. It was the first time he became excited to read a book. We read through all 7 books together. Thank goodness for such great material to spark an interest in him.

Regarding visiting WWoHP and IOA you know how I feel. Definitely it is worth a day from your Disney trip to see this addition to the park. I have more to show in Day 7 of this TR. They really did an incredible job building this world. And yes, if you stay on Disney property you can end the days with a dose of Disney as well

Congrats on booking you next trip! Always nice to have something to look forward too

Thanks again for the great report . . . looking forward to more!

Thank you. I am looking forward to experiencing a new resort to explore. I plan to also explore a lot of Riverside as well as FQ.

Whaaaaaat? No water portion of Rhino Rally? I can understand why you were disappointed.

I agree with you that the last picture of the hippo was my favorite (of the hippo pictures that is). I can see why that would make up for the no water portion of RR.

As always, your pictures are phenomenal.

Incomprehensible isn't it Lisa. I don't know what they were thinking. I think they are building another roller coaster but don't they have enough of them. Why take out something unique

Thank you for the comment on the hippo picture. Looks like he needs to do a better job brushing his teeth though doesn't it

Firstly on booking another trip to Disney World!! I hope you managed to get all your ADRs and am looking forward to seeing your photos of PORFQ.

I would be disappointed too if the part that I enjoyed most about a safari changed. The hippo entertainment looks like fun. I look forward to seeing the photo of your new egyptian beard!

Thank you Tanz! Well, it was not as easy getting ADRs this time but I managed to get most of what I wanted. The tough part is that I made reservations for only my family but my sister expressed a possible interest of coming down with her family. If they do I will have to re-plan all the meals and I fear we will have to eat at some off hours or less popular places. I would still love to spend the time with them though so we'll handle it.

Well, I think my wife will veto the whole beard thing. I don't think I can pull off the look anyway

 

[norybell]

Oh no you don't Nory. You can't put that blame on me I have seen you on this path from your first trip report so it's all on you. That sounds like a fantastic birthday present. It truly a gift that keeps on giving. (Um, perhaps it also keeps on taking away from my bank account since I seem to have a disease where I think I need more equipment but I'm sure you can be stronger than me). There is no such thing BTW about hijacking my thread if you want to talk about photography. Let me know if you want any info.

OK, fine, I guess I won't blame you. As of yesterday, I am the proud owner of a Canon Rebel T21 -- and I'll admit that it's no one's fault but my own. Now I just need to figure out how to use it!

That sucks that the half-water ride is now a no-water ride! It sounds like it was a really neat concept, originally.

I really love these two photos:

Aw, cute!

Eek, terrifying! (but also cool)

 

[clearskies]

OK, fine, I guess I won't blame you. As of yesterday, I am the proud owner of a Canon Rebel T21 -- and I'll admit that it's no one's fault but my own. Now I just need to figure out how to use it!

That sucks that the half-water ride is now a no-water ride! It sounds like it was a really neat concept, originally.

I really love these two photos:

Aw, cute!


Eek, terrifying! (but also cool)

Congratulations on your purchase Nory!!! That is a great camera!! Of course I am partial to Canon. I'll have to teach you the secret handshake for the club

Oh, you'll figure out how to use it and once you read the manual, get out there an use it. The best way to learn is using it and adjusting the settings and seeing the differences in the results. I know you will enjoy it. Oh, and I imagine a Happy Birthday is in order?

That first picture of the hippo reminds me of a cartoon character the way the its mouth is curved but I can't think of it for the life of me. Oh, well the big lug does look kinda cute there.

Yes, the other picture is somewhat terrifying. I would like to say that they are no danger to humans since they are vegetarians but they are responsible for many human deaths and injuries. Good thing we were protected behind a plate of glass.

 

[aprilisis]

Awesome photos as usual!! My favorite is the tortoise with the food stuck on his or her lip- too cute!

 

[norybell]

Congratulations on your purchase Nory!!! That is a great camera!! Of course I am partial to Canon. I'll have to teach you the secret handshake for the club

Oh, you'll figure out how to use it and once you read the manual, get out there an use it. The best way to learn is using it and adjusting the settings and seeing the differences in the results. I know you will enjoy it. Oh, and I imagine a Happy Birthday is in order?

Thanks! Though my birthday's not actually until April...my justification in getting it early is so I have time to learn it before our April WDW trip. That's a perfect excuse, right?

And ooooh, secret handshake! I knew there was a good reason why I chose the Canon over the Nikon in the end...

 

[mom2rtk]

We've never been to Busch Gardens. Tampa has just always been a pit stop between Orlando and Sanibel for us. But man....... you really have me tempted now!

The Hippo shots are amazing. That last close up is awesome! And Rhino Rally sounds very cool. Who would have thought anything non-Disney could look so appealing!

Congrats on booking the new trip! Can't wait to see more!

 

[clearskies]

Awesome photos as usual!! My favorite is the tortoise with the food stuck on his or her lip- too cute!

Thank you aprilisis

I just wanted to reach inside with a napkin and help that tortoise out but I don't think it minded

Thanks! Though my birthday's not actually until April...my justification in getting it early is so I have time to learn it before our April WDW trip. That's a perfect excuse, right?

And ooooh, secret handshake! I knew there was a good reason why I chose the Canon over the Nikon in the end...

I am with you 100% on the justification. You definitely need to spend some quality time with your new friend before you take it on a vacation. That's not an excuse it is a necessity Of course now I will expect fantastic results when you post a TR from your April trip. No pressure though.

LOL. We need to be careful with that secret handshake. Don't want it to get in the wrong hands (literally and figuratively).

We've never been to Busch Gardens. Tampa has just always been a pit stop between Orlando and Sanibel for us. But man....... you really have me tempted now!

The Hippo shots are amazing. That last close up is awesome! And Rhino Rally sounds very cool. Who would have thought anything non-Disney could look so appealing!

Congrats on booking the new trip! Can't wait to see more!

Thank you Janet. I would stand by my previous statement that BGT is a great park if you either love animals or love roller coasters. We are not a big coster family ourselves but we enjoy the animal experience.

Unfortunately Rhino rally was better in the past. It is still a good attraction but it was so much better before they shut down the water part.

 

[clearskies]

I have been to a lot of different amusement parks. Let's see, I can think of 26 different amusement parks that we have visited and that does not include water parks. One thing that I have found is that no other park I have experienced has been able to put in front of me a live entertainment musical show that is on par with Disney. Actually none of them has even come close and in many cases the shows are just downright painful to me. In 2007, when we visited Busch Gardens there was some musical revue type show playing on stage in the Desert Grill counter service area where we were eating. Ugh, I am sorry to say but it just was not very good to me and I was happy to finish up lunch and get out of dodge. So, when we were passing by a theater as we were walking on a path back near the front of the park and my daughter said she wanted to see the show I internally groaned. Oh, no, not another sub-par show to sit through. This trip is for them as much as it is for me though so I did not fight it and we made our way into the theater. The show we were seeing was called Katonga.

Let me tell you something. This show was great! It was entertaining and well produced. The performers could all sing well and the lead singer, my gosh she has really had some pipes on her. She was an amazing singer. The show is about four storytellers that are trying to master their craft and each one of them takes a turn and weaves their own tale for a master storyteller. Each story is played out with impressive sets, a cast of dancers and acrobats with fantastic costumes, colorful puppets and some terrific music. I have quite a few pictures to share, here is a bit of what we saw:

whoa, ok, that one's a bit scary. I'm not quite sure what this was.

oh no, flashbacks of flying monkeys from wizard of Oz creeping me out.

This lady brought down the house. Amazing vocals

So, I finally found a theme park show that could actually compare to Disney's live entertainment shows. Color me pleasantly surprised and happy for the experience. Now for some bad news. I am sad to say that I just read this weekend that they closed this show down and the last showing was on Labor Day shortly after we visited. So, just when I found a good show outside of Disney, it is no more. Go figure. Well, at least we had the opportunity to see it once. Hopefully the show they replaced it with is as at least just as good. We'll find out later this year.

continued in the next post....