Discovering A Whole New World of Disney-An October 2013 Photo Safari **Updated 2/20

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Thank you! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

 

[tammy]

Absolutely amazing photos!!!

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[khertz]

A little bit later the Main Street vehicles began making their way up and down the street including Barbara who has to be one of my favorites.


IMG_1592 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

We saw her several times throughout the trip, and I immediately fell in love with her the first time I saw her dancing her heart out down Main Street during Move It Shake It Celebrate It! You can tell she LOVES her job!!!

Just caught up on all the Boo To You photos, and darn it, you made me want to go to another Halloween Party RIGHT. NOW. It was so amazing!! It's crazy what a little lighting will do. That was definitely the perfect spot on Main Street for parade pictures!

 

[SAT887]

MNSSHP Pics - ahhh I want to go back now!!!!!! I love your spot on Main Street!!!! I also like your Goofy's Candy Company CM Pic We saved the lollipops for the plane ride on the next trip!

Awww... That stinks you couldn't find any sessions that interested you and you HAD to go to the Magic Kingdom.... That must have been a HUGE disappointment....

First off, I really enjoy the picture with the Fairy Godmother in it, so sweet, she looks like the perfect fairy godmother! The Main Street dancers are the best - we met a couple of super sweet ones when we were waiting to get the girls haircut. We were outside due to very little room inside. And the Fire Chief! Too awesome!

Now one of my favorite pictures is the black and white one (with a few hints of color) or the crowds, kids on shoulders heading off to adventure and fantasy in the Magic Kingdom... Beautiful

 

[IheartDDuck]

Love all of the pictures from the Boo to You parade. I haven't been during Halloween in years (with work, the timing isn't right), but I love seeing the parade through everyone's pictures.

I like your reasoning of wanting to spend a final day immersed in the magic of Disney. Can't argue that logic.

I've figured that we'll never be the Family of the Day for a few reasons. We don't always have Gavin and Joaquin with us, and they wouldn't wake up that early. And, if we didn't have Gavin and Joaquin, the remaining ones of us are a bunch of old farts with no kids. They'd never pick those.

I LOVE that picture you took of the crowd heading in. So perfectly captured with the color placement.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

My God it's just shameful, SHAMEFUL I SAY, that I have only seen the MK Welcome Show once... ever. Now that I've seen your pictures though, perhaps I can now call it twice? Either way, I plan to rectify this soon.

I swear I would pay extra just to watch the Tremaines. They are so darn perfect!

I really think if you can deal with not rushing to an attraction to do exactly what you did and just enjoy and observe the excitement of the early morning rush. I did that when I was already inside waiting for my tour to begin. It's just a unique experience.

That's such a sweet story with the 2 kids so excited to see the castle and these are the moments that are missed if you're also in the rushing throng. Beautiful!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Absolutely amazing photos!!!

Thank you and great to have you on board!

Great pics!

Thank you!!

We saw her several times throughout the trip, and I immediately fell in love with her the first time I saw her dancing her heart out down Main Street during Move It Shake It Celebrate It! You can tell she LOVES her job!!!

Just caught up on all the Boo To You photos, and darn it, you made me want to go to another Halloween Party RIGHT. NOW. It was so amazing!! It's crazy what a little lighting will do. That was definitely the perfect spot on Main Street for parade pictures!

I saw Barbara dance as well both in person and on youtube vacation videos and she is just a joy to watch.

I miss MNSSHP a lot too! I can't remember if I told you - I think I may have told your DH. I tried to get a ticket for the Tuesday night party on Tuesday morning because I started missing the party. Of course it had already been sold out by then.

MNSSHP Pics - ahhh I want to go back now!!!!!! I love your spot on Main Street!!!! I also like your Goofy's Candy Company CM Pic We saved the lollipops for the plane ride on the next trip!

Awww... That stinks you couldn't find any sessions that interested you and you HAD to go to the Magic Kingdom.... That must have been a HUGE disappointment....

First off, I really enjoy the picture with the Fairy Godmother in it, so sweet, she looks like the perfect fairy godmother! The Main Street dancers are the best - we met a couple of super sweet ones when we were waiting to get the girls haircut. We were outside due to very little room inside. And the Fire Chief! Too awesome!

Now one of my favorite pictures is the black and white one (with a few hints of color) or the crowds, kids on shoulders heading off to adventure and fantasy in the Magic Kingdom... Beautiful

Sarah, I forgot to tell you. You know the Goofy Candy Co. CM from Boo To You Parade that you took a picture of and posted on FB? I saw her too and she was actually standing next to the CM in my picture!

Yeah, I was pretty devastated about missing out on my conference sessions.

Stay tuned because I have an update coming up in the near future about the hour or so I spent on Main Street and meeting all of the different characters.

Love all of the pictures from the Boo to You parade. I haven't been during Halloween in years (with work, the timing isn't right), but I love seeing the parade through everyone's pictures.

I like your reasoning of wanting to spend a final day immersed in the magic of Disney. Can't argue that logic.

I've figured that we'll never be the Family of the Day for a few reasons. We don't always have Gavin and Joaquin with us, and they wouldn't wake up that early. And, if we didn't have Gavin and Joaquin, the remaining ones of us are a bunch of old farts with no kids. They'd never pick those.

I LOVE that picture you took of the crowd heading in. So perfectly captured with the color placement.

Trying to visit Disney during MNSSHP has also been a bit of a challenge for us as well between the kids' school schedules and my conference schedules which always occurs sometime in October. Just difficult to arrange both DW and my work/vacation schedules that month when so much is going on. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for next year but not sure if DW will be game for it. Yet.

I would totally pick your family as Family of the Day if I ever wielded such power! Even without the kids. You and your family are so enthusiastic, fun, and energetic and I think that's what's most needed for someone in charge of opening the Magic Kingdom!

My God it's just shameful, SHAMEFUL I SAY, that I have only seen the MK Welcome Show once... ever. Now that I've seen your pictures though, perhaps I can now call it twice? Either way, I plan to rectify this soon.

I swear I would pay extra just to watch the Tremaines. They are so darn perfect!

I really think if you can deal with not rushing to an attraction to do exactly what you did and just enjoy and observe the excitement of the early morning rush. I did that when I was already inside waiting for my tour to begin. It's just a unique experience.

That's such a sweet story with the 2 kids so excited to see the castle and these are the moments that are missed if you're also in the rushing throng. Beautiful!

I hear ya. It's not easy making it to the MK welcome show on time for us either. For some reason I'm always underestimating the travel time between our resort and the MK gates. Always seem to forget that once we arrive at the TTC parking lot it's ANOTHER 15-20 minutes before we arrive at bag check! Plus DW is not as smitten with the show as I am half of my group lacks the motivation. Hmmmm, probably explains why I have such a hard time convincing her about showing up super early to get picked for Family of the Day.

We love the Tramaines as well! And we have paid extra just to watch them - called 1900 Park Fare! Anastasia is my personal favorite.

 

[SAT887]

Sarah, I forgot to tell you. You know the Goofy Candy Co. CM from Boo To You Parade that you took a picture of and posted on FB? I saw her too and she was actually standing next to the CM in my picture! Yeah, I was pretty devastated about missing out on my conference sessions. Stay tuned because I have an update coming up in the near future about the hour or so I spent on Main Street and meeting all of the different characters.

Yay! I can't wait!!

 

[MEK]

Note to self: Stalk out a spot near the flag pole prior to the parade start. What an awesome back drop. That is the first time I've seen pictures from the angle. Wow! Love them.

Your opening show pics are also pretty great and, once again, you have captured some great facial expressions, even shooting up.

I can completely understand why you blew off the conference, especially when tonga toast was involved.

 

[teekathepony]

Wonderful shots! I love the opening show. It's chill-inducing alright! It's the sweetest way of starting the day.
Dangit everyone's out to get Peter! Poor Wendy.
Love the shot of the crowd filing into MK. you're right, it does really tell the whole story.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[khaleesi]

I've seen the welcome show once and can't wait to see it again!! Do they still hand out Mickey-shaped confetti to throw in the air?

I'm not a huge people watcher, but I love watching kids. Love the story of the little girls. So sweet.

 

[afwdwfan]

I absolutely love the opening show at MK. It is one of those things that to me, is definitely a must do each trip. It really does an excellent job setting the tone for the day and just getting you in a happy mood.

One of these days I need to find the time to just take a leisurely stroll down Main Street and take it in... But I'm still caught up on the fact that I only get there once every year or 2 so I always want to do as much as I can within the first 2 hours the park is open.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Yay! I can't wait!!

Note to self: Stalk out a spot near the flag pool prior to the parade start. What an awesome back drop. That is the first time I've seen pictures from the angle. Wow! Love them.

Your opening show pics are also pretty great and, once again, you have captured some great facial expressions, even shooting up.

I can completely understand why you blew off the conference, especially when tonga toast was involved.

I haven't tried watching one of the parades that start from Main Street from the flag pole location. Curious myself how MSEP or the afternoon parades look from there but I have to think it looks pretty good.

I had to get my Tonga Toast fix somehow during the trip!

Wonderful shots! I love the opening show. It's chill-inducing alright! It's the sweetest way of starting the day.
Dangit everyone's out to get Peter! Poor Wendy.
Love the shot of the crowd filing into MK. you're right, it does really tell the whole story.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

And every time I enter MK after watching the opening show I'm humming or singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah with the kids!

I've seen the welcome show once and can't wait to see it again!! Do they still hand out Mickey-shaped confetti to throw in the air?

I'm not a huge people watcher, but I love watching kids. Love the story of the little girls. So sweet.

I know the Mickey shaped confetti are thrown during the Move It Shake It Celebrate It Parade. I haven't seen them during the opening show but that may also be because I'm not as near to the train station during the show?

I absolutely love the opening show at MK. It is one of those things that to me, is definitely a must do each trip. It really does an excellent job setting the tone for the day and just getting you in a happy mood.

One of these days I need to find the time to just take a leisurely stroll down Main Street and take it in... But I'm still caught up on the fact that I only get there once every year or 2 so I always want to do as much as I can within the first 2 hours the park is open.

I'm in the same mind frame as you when it comes to rope drop. Those first two hours are the best. And when we have something like Enchanted Tales with Belle on our agenda it's an absolute must to try to make it there first thing at rope drop.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

That was a whirlwind of a weekend! Just like any Thanksgiving I guess. Hope everyone had a great weekend as well! In addition to the usual fun that comes with the weekend, this year's was filled with Disney goodness thanks to our family's trip to Disney coming up in late January and our 60 day mark happen to fall smack in the middle of the weekend! On top of that we're taking my brother, his wife, and my nephew with us so naturally as they were visiting us this weekend I had to make some Disney planning with them. So here's what I've been up to.

On the evening of Thanksgiving and stuffing myself with turkey I opened up My Disney Experience on my laptop with a glass of Pinot sitting at my side. To my pleasant surprise FastPass+ reservations were now open even though it was still 2 hours before the official 60 day mark! So for the next 30 minutes I worked on and making FP+ ressies. I had already mapped out our touring plans with FP+ attractions and times highlighted in Mickey green so all I had to do was look at my cheat sheet to figure out when and where I wanted the FP+s to go. It went well for the most part although I'm still finding it a bit clunky thanks to the lack of options and choices we have for the time windows. With the exception of a couple of attractions, I was able to get everything to fit into my laid out plans. I'm not too stressed out about FPs for this trip since we're going at one of the least crowded weeks of the year. We also have two boys in our traveling group that won't be tall enough for certain rides so we will also be taking advantage of Rider Swap passes.

On Saturday morning I took the kids and my nephew to see Frozen. The trailers for the movie had me worried a couple of weeks ago that this may not be as good as I had hoped but then the rave reviews from critics started rolling in last week and that had my hopes way up again. It didn't disappoint - it was great! I think Disney is hitting another golden age with its animation studios projects: Tangled, Wreck It Ralph, and now Frozen. I also don't think it's a coincidence that it's happening shortly after John Lasseter took over as chief for the studios.

The kids and I loved Frozen. I was really and pleasantly surprised by the musical aspect of the movie since they never promoted it in its marketing campaign. They had A-list Broadway alumni headlining the voices and singing. Anyway I enjoyed it thoroughly. I think I'm going to have to take the family back for a second viewing in 3D since our showing was 2D. After I got home I immediately had to make some room in our touring plans for Epcot for a meet and greet with Anna and Elsa!

Yesterday evening I sat down with my sister-in-law and my nephew so that they could pick out their Magic Band colors. My brother asked for black earlier so I got him the next closest thing. Boring old dark gray. We also paid off our MYW packages.

DSIL also asked if we could find some time to for me to take some portraits of our families while at Disney! So now I have another project to work on - figuring out photo shoot locations for our families. I think this past October solo trip will come in handy after all since pretty much all I did at Disney was looking for photo spots!

I'll post some details of our upcoming trip in the next few weeks. Less than 60 days left I'm starting to feel excited again!

 

[SAT887]

That was a whirlwind of a weekend! Just like any Thanksgiving I guess. Hope everyone had a great weekend as well! In addition to the usual fun that comes with the weekend, this year's was filled with Disney goodness thanks to our family's trip to Disney coming up in late January and our 60 day mark happen to fall smack in the middle of the weekend! On top of that we're taking my brother, his wife, and my nephew with us so naturally as they were visiting us this weekend I had to make some Disney planning with them. So here's what I've been up to. On the evening of Thanksgiving and stuffing myself with turkey I opened up My Disney Experience on my laptop with a glass of Pinot sitting at my side. To my pleasant surprise FastPass+ reservations were now open even though it was still 2 hours before the official 60 day mark! So for the next 30 minutes I worked on and making FP+ ressies. I had already mapped out our touring plans with FP+ attractions and times highlighted in Mickey green so all I had to do was look at my cheat sheet to figure out when and where I wanted the FP+s to go. It went well for the most part although I'm still finding it a bit clunky thanks to the lack of options and choices we have for the time windows. With the exception of a couple of attractions, I was able to get everything to fit into my laid out plans. I'm not too stressed out about FPs for this trip since we're going at one of the least crowded weeks of the year. We also have two boys in our traveling group that won't be tall enough for certain rides so we will also be taking advantage of Rider Swap passes. On Saturday morning I took the kids and my nephew to see Frozen. The trailers for the movie had me worried a couple of weeks ago that this may not be as good as I had hoped but then the rave reviews from critics started rolling in last week and that had my hopes way up again. It didn't disappoint - it was great! I think Disney is hitting another golden age with its animation studios projects: Tangled, Wreck It Ralph, and now Frozen. I also don't think it's a coincidence that it's happening shortly after John Lasseter took over as chief for the studios. The kids and I loved Frozen. I was really and pleasantly surprised by the musical aspect of the movie since they never promoted it in its marketing campaign. They had A-list Broadway alumni headlining the voices and singing. Anyway I enjoyed it thoroughly. I think I'm going to have to take the family back for a second viewing in 3D since our showing was 2D. After I got home I immediately had to make some room in our touring plans for Epcot for a meet and greet with Anna and Elsa! Yesterday evening I sat down with my sister-in-law and my nephew so that they could pick out their Magic Band colors. My brother asked for black earlier so I got him the next closest thing. Boring old dark gray. We also paid off our MYW packages. DSIL also asked if we could find some time to for me to take some portraits of our families while at Disney! So now I have another project to work on - figuring out photo shoot locations for our families. I think this past October solo trip will come in handy after all since pretty much all I did at Disney was looking for photo spots! I'll post some details of our upcoming trip in the next few weeks. Less than 60 days left I'm starting to feel excited again!

Hehe Zack wanted boring gray too... Hehe....

So about the portraits - Disney does them as well and I think the fine arts websites shows some of the back drops.... Just a thought for some inspiration!

 

[MEK]

yay for under 60 days! That's a wonderful feeling!

 

[khertz]

I miss MNSSHP a lot too! I can't remember if I told you - I think I may have told your DH. I tried to get a ticket for the Tuesday night party on Tuesday morning because I started missing the party. Of course it had already been sold out by then.

He did tell me. Too bad it had been sold out already! But we definitely picked a GREAT night for the party...not sure if it was just luck or if Sunday parties really are better. I can't even express how happy I was to arrive at the TTC and be greeted by a sign that there were still tickets available. In the initial planning I had been considering the party on Thursday the 24th since it was Paxton's actual birthday, but now I'm SO glad we didn't! We started just randomly discussing when we might want to visit in 2015 and I had been convinced I'd want to wait it out until December for a Christmas visit, but then we started talking about all the fun we had at the party, and now I think it might be Halloween for us again!

That's great that you were able to sit down and iron our your plans, and that you were mostly able to get what you wanted. The Theme Parks board has me a little freaked out right now as it seems like the FP+ rules are changing by the hour sometimes. I'm actually kind of glad our self-imposed break from WDW is happening now while everything is changing so much! Hopefully your trip will go smoothly since you are onsite. It's all the offsite worries that have been plaguing me! Hopefully it will all be smoothed over by the time we are able to go back.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Hehe Zack wanted boring gray too... Hehe....

So about the portraits - Disney does them as well and I think the fine arts websites shows some of the back drops.... Just a thought for some inspiration!

Sarah, thank you so much for the idea! I spent a good portion this afternoon during everyone's nap time to search online as well as Disney's portrait websites to start getting some ideas. And of course me being me, I began a list of locations that I think would make for some great portraits. Since my brother and SIL will be with us I may be able to get a few of all four of us in one picture! I'll take some shots with my brother's family first and then fix the camera settings at that point and ask him or her to just point and shoot

yay for under 60 days! That's a wonderful feeling!

It really is! Plus talking about the trip with DSIL has made it feel a lot closer as well. My brother on the other hand is not a Disney fan.

He did tell me. Too bad it had been sold out already! But we definitely picked a GREAT night for the party...not sure if it was just luck or if Sunday parties really are better. I can't even express how happy I was to arrive at the TTC and be greeted by a sign that there were still tickets available. In the initial planning I had been considering the party on Thursday the 24th since it was Paxton's actual birthday, but now I'm SO glad we didn't! We started just randomly discussing when we might want to visit in 2015 and I had been convinced I'd want to wait it out until December for a Christmas visit, but then we started talking about all the fun we had at the party, and now I think it might be Halloween for us again!

That's great that you were able to sit down and iron our your plans, and that you were mostly able to get what you wanted. The Theme Parks board has me a little freaked out right now as it seems like the FP+ rules are changing by the hour sometimes. I'm actually kind of glad our self-imposed break from WDW is happening now while everything is changing so much! Hopefully your trip will go smoothly since you are onsite. It's all the offsite worries that have been plaguing me! Hopefully it will all be smoothed over by the time we are able to go back.

You're so right and I kept saying to myself how lucky we were to be at a MNSSHP that close to Halloween and not sell out while the two parties before and after ours did! When I picked our Sunday for the party I went by the logic that most people starting their week long vacay at Disney would most likely be arriving Sunday and head to the party on Tuesday. Plus the locals would stay away from a Sunday night as oppose to a Friday night. Whatever the real reason was I was so happy it worked out and the crowds were definitely manageable!

You're also right about the FP+ situation for off site visitors because there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of info or hints on how this will go. So it may be a blessing that you won't have to deal with the whole thing during its infancy.

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Dave! I loved your photos from the welcome show. I agree, there seemed to be something going on with Peter and Alice. They should be more covert since people do tend to talk. The dancers and performers really start the day strong with their enthusiastic performances.

Barb!!! We adore her. She was our driver for the parade so we have also kept in touch with her through the years. She's worked for Disney for over 30 years and absolutely embodies the Disney enthusiasm.

I've heard so many good reports about Frozen. I look forward to seeing it. I would love to see it while in Disney this week.