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

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Yay! for a Halloween trip! We were there last year for Halloween, which happens to be DH's birthday. Next year we will be there for our anniversary which is earlier in the month. Sorry we'll be missing you, but I'm very excited your got your Halloween trip!

Fort Myer's is supposed to be lovely. I am sure you will enjoy that as well!

I'm sorry too that we'll miss each other in October. Very excited about attending MNSSHP on Halloween even though it will be a packed house - that's why I thought attending two parties with our kids will be a bit easier and give us more time to enjoy.

I'm starting to research a bit about the Fort Myers area for the kids. Although the idea of just lounging on the beach and enjoying some good food sounds perfectly fine to me!

Nice work getting your October trip!! That sounds like a nice Disney/non-Disney split. We go in Feb and then probably not again until 2016. My DH thinks there are other places to visit too. Blah, blah, blah.

Thanks! Your DH sounds a lot like my DW I'm all for other places as long as I can get sprinkles of Disney here and there.

 

[RachelleBeaney]

I have mixed feelings about the Finding Nemo Musical. On the one hand I love the colors and production design as well as the enthusiasm the performers bring to the stage. On the other hand Im not so hot on the musical numbers. I know they had to create all of the songs from scratch since the movie itself just had 4 bars of tune when Dori sings Just keep swimming. You have to admit, even thats an earworm. I guess expecting composition in the calibers of the Lion King or Beauty and the Beast would be unfair for a production at a theme park located in middle of a Dinosaur laden carnival. But considering how well the other parts of the production are done it just gives you that feeling of what could have been.

Continued in Next Post (I really wish DIS would let me post more than 25 pictures at a time!)

I completely agree! I swear there was one song that's lyrics were something along the lines of "I'm so sad because Dad's so mad!" I think that they needed to really bring in one of their composers who does Disney so well (aka Alan Menken) to do justice to creating a musical out of something that isn't...I'm glad to hear someone else agrees as I was a little let down by reviews of how brilliant this show is. Sure the puppetry and sets are great but music, to me at least, is the glue of a good show and Finding Nemo the Musical had no glue! And I think it's totally fair to expect Disney to put on a musical with good music given their continuing excellence at movie musical scores and songs.

I also wish DIS would allow me to post more than 25 photos in each post - perhaps we should petition them!

Great report by the way - your photos are awesome

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Also, those photos of Flights of Wonder at AK were amazing! I was so excited when we got one shot of the bald eagle with his wings outstretched



But your are WAAYY better! Getting the birds in flight is so hard - they move so fast!

Loving your photos by the way. I also realise I need a better camera!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I also wish DIS would allow me to post more than 25 photos in each post - perhaps we should petition them!

Great report by the way - your photos are awesome

Also, those photos of Flights of Wonder at AK were amazing! I was so excited when we got one shot of the bald eagle with his wings outstretched

Thank you! Love your photo of the Bald Eagle!!

 

[emilyindisney]

Thank you! Yes, we have a trip coming up in a couple of weeks!! It's just starting to feel real now so getting a lot more excited about it this week. I'll post an update on my plans for the upcoming trip later tonight since I'm not doing a PTR this time. Been too preoccupied with this trip report.

As for your comments about sharing the pictures with the performers and CMs, funny you should mention that. A week before Christmas I sent a USB drive to Disney World Guest Relations filled with pictures of the various cast members and performers from my entire October trip. Sent a cover a letter addressed to all of the CMs thanking them for making my October trip and all of our previous trips so memorable. As a gesture of thanks I asked if the pictures could be forwarded to the individual CMs in them. A couple of weeks later I received a letter from a Guest Relations CM thanking me for sending the pictures and that I could be "rest assured" that the pictures will be forwarded to their respective department leadership for distribution!

What a good idea- I'll bet those pictures really made someone's day! I imagine it would be exciting to be 'recognized' as an individual performer when they are so used to coming together to put on large, spectacular shows.

Woohoo! A halloween trip! I'm also planning an October trip this year- though not quite on the holiday as you are. As you said- sometimes between trips just becomes too long of a wait not to pop back down!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

What a good idea- I'll bet those pictures really made someone's day! I imagine it would be exciting to be 'recognized' as an individual performer when they are so used to coming together to put on large, spectacular shows.

Woohoo! A halloween trip! I'm also planning an October trip this year- though not quite on the holiday as you are. As you said- sometimes between trips just becomes too long of a wait not to pop back down!

Awesome that you're going in October too! Sorry to hear we'll miss each other. I think I saw you in the October 2014 FB group? I just joined today

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

As for your comments about sharing the pictures with the performers and CMs, funny you should mention that. A week before Christmas I sent a USB drive to Disney World Guest Relations filled with pictures of the various cast members and performers from my entire October trip. Sent a cover a letter addressed to all of the CMs thanking them for making my October trip and all of our previous trips so memorable. As a gesture of thanks I asked if the pictures could be forwarded to the individual CMs in them. A couple of weeks later I received a letter from a Guest Relations CM thanking me for sending the pictures and that I could be "rest assured" that the pictures will be forwarded to their respective department leadership for distribution!

Dave, I LOVE that you did that. So considerate and I bet the CM'S adored it. This is just awesome!!!

Moving along...

Aww Dave this is fantastic news about your extra trip. Super well done on the planning/scheming too. I particularly enjoyed the added "Spa time". NICE!!

Obviously you already know how amazing Halloween is in the World and TWO PARTIES sounds amazing. I'm hoping to do the same this year.

 

[teekathepony]

Wow! Before you even go to this trip you have two more planned? Nothing to sneeze at for sure!! Sounds like two great plans, and I love how you made October work. (Did you talk to my mother in law about those tactics???)

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Dave, I LOVE that you did that. So considerate and I bet the CM'S adored it. This is just awesome!!!

Moving along...

Aww Dave this is fantastic news about your extra trip. Super well done on the planning/scheming too. I particularly enjoyed the added "Spa time". NICE!!

Obviously you already know how amazing Halloween is in the World and TWO PARTIES sounds amazing. I'm hoping to do the same this year.

I thought about it and it just made sense for our kids to go for two parties. I'm absolutely sure that the kids will want to spend a considerable amount of time trick or treating on Halloween. Plus I'm pretty sure the party on Halloween which is also on a Friday will be PACKED! Going to two parties will take the pressure off of trying to get a lot of things done.

Wow! Before you even go to this trip you have two more planned? Nothing to sneeze at for sure!! Sounds like two great plans, and I love how you made October work. (Did you talk to my mother in law about those tactics???)

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

As I was putting together my plans, the story of your mother-in-law did cross my mind.

 

[mecllap]

As for your comments about sharing the pictures with the performers and CMs, funny you should mention that. A week before Christmas I sent a USB drive to Disney World Guest Relations filled with pictures of the various cast members and performers from my entire October trip. Sent a cover a letter addressed to all of the CMs thanking them for making my October trip and all of our previous trips so memorable. As a gesture of thanks I asked if the pictures could be forwarded to the individual CMs in them. A couple of weeks later I received a letter from a Guest Relations CM thanking me for sending the pictures and that I could be "rest assured" that the pictures will be forwarded to their respective department leadership for distribution!

Great idea! I had thought about saying that I bet a lot of those performers would love to have those shots for their portfolios, but hadn't thought of a way you could make that happen. Hope it actually works -- it will be wonderful for them to see them. You are amazing -- you seem too good to be true (now I can almost understand people falling in love on the Internet!).

Your upcoming trip plans are terrific!

 

[RachelleBeaney]

She was from New Zealand participating in the College Program for a whole year and was two months away from finishing her experience. She was getting a degree in neuroscience and was enjoying her experience in CP. I asked whether she goes out to the parks much when she’s off duty and she responded with a laugh that she usually is too tired after work to head out to the parks. We talked about her home country and I purposely did not bring up the subject of Lord of the Rings being filmed there since I wasn’t sure how New Zealanders feel about their beautiful country being defined by a Hollywood film filled with elves and dragons. Surprisingly, she brought up the subject on her own and how she found out about beautiful landscapes and locales that were just a drive away from her home that she never knew existed until the movies were released. Too funny. Maybe I should be paying closer attention to shows like House of Cards to look for hidden gems around our DC area although I probably would end up with a list of locations that are far more sinister than photogenic. Plus I hear most of the filming happens in Baltimore.

I think you'll find that New Zealanders, for the most part anyway, are extremely proud of the fact The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit was completely filmed in New Zealand. Of course this is from an Aussie's perspective but also an avid fan who follows news about the product of these films. The New Zealand tourism board has even gone so far to re-christen New Zealand 'Middle Earth' on many occasions to coincide with film premiers and the like and to attract tourists. As an Aussie (we Aussies kind of like to feel like New Zealand is our best friend and neighbour) I am super proud of what they've shown of such a beautiful country in those films and love that a small country near ours in this corner of the world has got so much interest because of it! Of course you'd probably get the odd Kiwi who is sick of hearing 'New Zealand, oh that's where LOTR's was filmed' but I think most are pretty proud At least all the ones I know are

 

[RachelleBeaney]

Does anyone else gets goosebumps when the redbird starts spinning the blue bird as he launches her in the air and the blue bird takes flight?

I find myself continually commenting but this trip report has me spellbound - the photography is so good and your descriptions and wonderful and I wanted to reiterate that yes, I know exactly how you feel during that moment - I always want to cry at the beauty of the wire work done by the blue bird!

 

[emmysmommy]

Great job reasoning with your wife for the need for an October Dis trip!! Sounds like a win-win situation. Congratulations on returning for the MNSSHP! Awesome!

Dave your photos of FotLK are stunning! I've never seen the show captured in such a beautiful way photographically.

Thanks for sharing that link of the final performance. You could definitely feel the excitement from the audience. I've never seen anything like that for the show. And completely unexpected, I shed a tear! (My hubby walked into the room and asked what's the matter. Em said, it' s just Disney! Perhaps an understatement but she gets me!)

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Great idea! I had thought about saying that I bet a lot of those performers would love to have those shots for their portfolios, but hadn't thought of a way you could make that happen. Hope it actually works -- it will be wonderful for them to see them.

Yes, I'm hoping that the pictures indeed get forwarded to the individual CMs. I had several friends both on and off of a DIS who after seeing some of the close ups of the CMs suggested sending them for the exact reasons you said - that a lot of the CMs will probably love to have a copy of these pictures for their portfolio.

I think you'll find that New Zealanders, for the most part anyway, are extremely proud of the fact The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit was completely filmed in New Zealand. Of course this is from an Aussie's perspective but also an avid fan who follows news about the product of these films. The New Zealand tourism board has even gone so far to re-christen New Zealand 'Middle Earth' on many occasions to coincide with film premiers and the like and to attract tourists. As an Aussie (we Aussies kind of like to feel like New Zealand is our best friend and neighbour) I am super proud of what they've shown of such a beautiful country in those films and love that a small country near ours in this corner of the world has got so much interest because of it! Of course you'd probably get the odd Kiwi who is sick of hearing 'New Zealand, oh that's where LOTR's was filmed' but I think most are pretty proud At least all the ones I know are

That is really good to know! I'll keep that in mind the next time I meet a New Zealander! From what I've seen not just in the movies, the country looks absolutely gorgeous!

I find myself continually commenting but this trip report has me spellbound - the photography is so good and your descriptions and wonderful and I wanted to reiterate that yes, I know exactly how you feel during that moment - I always want to cry at the beauty of the wire work done by the blue bird!

Comment away! Love when my DIS friends react to the photos and my trip report!

Great job reasoning with your wife for the need for an October Dis trip!! Sounds like a win-win situation. Congratulations on returning for the MNSSHP! Awesome!

Dave your photos of FotLK are stunning! I've never seen the show captured in such a beautiful way photographically.

Thanks for sharing that link of the final performance. You could definitely feel the excitement from the audience. I've never seen anything like that for the show. And completely unexpected, I shed a tear! (My hubby walked into the room and asked what's the matter. Em said, it' s just Disney! Perhaps an understatement but she gets me!)

Thanks Brenda! Very excited about getting to go to MNSSHP with the family and our first stay at Contemporary Resort! The past couple of days I've been so excited not just because of the upcoming trip and the two future ones to WDW but yesterday I happened to look at the 2015 schedule for the two conferences I usually attend every year and guess where they will both be at?? Well not quite Orlando. But SAN DIEGO!!! In May and October of 2015! You know what that means.....a quick trip up to Anaheim on the Pacific Surfliner for a two day visit to DLR!! Ok, need to calm myself down because I'm hyperventilating in excitement from the thought of a year with two visits to DLR and one to WDW!

About that video of the final performance of FotLK, yes I totally agree it was very emotional watching it and like you I had never seen a crowd react that way before. Confirming my suspicion that a lot of the people in the audience were CMs and management that are directly involved with the show, I was watching it again and noticed a very familiar face when Kiume picked out his "volunteer" from his Elephant Section to demonstrate the noise an elephant makes at the 4:16 mark in the video. I believe (with about 90% certainty since it's really hard to recognize CMs in character on the street without their costumes and make up) that gentleman with the dark blue shirt is this gentleman from from my October trip


IMG_8600 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

 

[emilyindisney]

Awesome that you're going in October too! Sorry to hear we'll miss each other. I think I saw you in the October 2014 FB group? I just joined today

You know- I wondered if that was you! Sometimes I think I recognize DISers on there but am never quite sure

About that video of the final performance of FotLK, yes I totally agree it was very emotional watching it and like you I had never seen a crowd react that way before. Confirming my suspicion that a lot of the people in the audience were CMs and management that are directly involved with the show, I was watching it again and noticed a very familiar face when Kiume picked out his "volunteer" from his Elephant Section to demonstrate the noise an elephant makes at the 4:16 mark in the video. I believe (with about 90% certainty since it's really hard to recognize CMs in character on the street without their costumes and make up) that gentleman with the dark blue shirt is this gentleman from from my October trip

I saw someone post on DIS (it wasn't a bus driver, I swear!) that many old cast members (and maybe ones from the alternate casts) did attend the last performance. Of course, now I'm going to rewatch the video and compare your picture to see if that's him!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

After doing a quick inventory of how many pictures I still have left for this trip report, it's becoming increasingly obvious that I'm not going to be able to finish this trip report before we head out to Disney in less than two weeks. We won't be too far off though. I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to finish this TR a couple of weeks after coming back home. Moving forward tieh another update!

I have a collection of night time shots of Magic Kingdom I wanted to share. For most of these, lots of unfolding and folding of my tripod were involved this particular evening but I really enjoyed the experience. It's something I would not even have attempted when traveling with my family.

Ok, so the first shot here is not a tripod shot for obvious reasons. This shot was on my safari list and I had fully intended on two rides on Space Mountain to get the shot right with the first attempt being a scouting mission to figure out how to optimize my settings. Well as you can see the second attempt never happened. The reason? I could barely squeeze my backpack and tripod in under my feet for the ride! I was half panicking once I sat down and realized things were going to be really tight trying to bring the safety bar down with such a bulky pack by my feet. I finally managed to bring the bar down but my tripod which was fastened and secured to the side of my back pack was sticking its head up and out at the level of my face! Thanks to this less than optimal configuration the whole ride was extremely uncomfortable. I was had one hand on the tripod because even though it was fastened to the backpack I had images in my head of it flying out mid-ride and decapitating someone behind me. So with one hand on the tripod I had to use my legs to really brace my body in place and keep it from banging around. I was so tempted to go back and retry the shot after taking a look at this one because I had lots of ideas on how to improve it (including avoiding an armpit angle of a shot ) but I was so sore from the ride I quickly scratched the idea off!


IMG_1295 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Ok, on to better things. The next crop of pictures were taken en route from my failed Space Mountain experiment to finding a spot for the second MSEP which you already saw the pictures from. The Castle projection show was in progress so I stopped at the front of the hub to watch it. I swear, this show just gets better and better with each year. The whole show feels so much more vibrant compared to when I first saw it two years ago!


IMG_1307 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_1309 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

My favorite Pixar film.

IMG_1316 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_1323 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

After watching MSEP from a great spot I sat down at Sleepy Hollow for a funnel cake. Once I finished I decided it was time to go around MK for some tripod shots before heading out of the park. I just didn't feel like going on any more rides or attractions. So I first headed to Fantasyland. The park was beginning to empty out a little at 11pm. I had eyed this angle while I was doing my practice run for my Wishes Whirlwind Tour This turned out to be one of my favorite shots from the evening.


IMG_1498 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

I went back to Be Our Guest, the scene of my semi-failed attempt of catching Wishes fireworks behind Beast's Castle earlier in the evening. This time I had all the time in the world to set up the tripod.


IMG_1501 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

I walked back through Cinderella Castle to the Hub and saw this look down Main Street.


IMG_1506-3 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

As part of the Halloween decorations they put up these statues in the outer perimeter of the Hub. At night they use great fall and Halloween colored lighting on them. One of my favorite parts of the Halloween decorations in MK!


IMG_1485 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_1490 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Pluto came out a bit more sinister than he actually was in the picture.

IMG_1493 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_1495 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

Before I left the Hub area I pointed my camera over Tomorrowland's bridge.


IMG_1508 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

And that about concludes the night time tripod tour of MK. On my way out I saw Daisy modeling my favorite CM costume.


IMG_1513 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr


IMG_1514 by DaveinFallsChurch, on Flickr

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

You know- I wondered if that was you! Sometimes I think I recognize DISers on there but am never quite sure

I saw someone post on DIS (it wasn't a bus driver, I swear!) that many old cast members (and maybe ones from the alternate casts) did attend the last performance. Of course, now I'm going to rewatch the video and compare your picture to see if that's him!

Awesome, so that was you!

Let me know after seeing the video if you think it's the same guy.

 

[emilyindisney]

Awesome, so that was you!

Let me know after seeing the video if you think it's the same guy.

I'm feeling pretty sure that it's the same guy. Like you said, it's hard to tell without the whole costume on but he looks very similar to your picture. Plus, he appears to be pretty friendly with the performer and has a good flair for raising his 'elephant' trunk!

On to your update!

I particularly like the castle show pictures with the Tangled scene and the Up scene. As you said, they're both so vibrant!

I love how at first glance many of your pictures appear to have no other people in them. When I looked closely, I can see from blurs (which I think are people) so I'm thinking this is a photography trick of the trade? Maybe a long exposure? (I've got very little photo knowledge so forgive my shot in the dark!)

 

[afwdwfan]

First of all, I have to say the aerial shots of the birds in the Lion King show look cool. Too bad you had a bit of an obstructed view for the fire dude or whatever it was that you call him. At least you got a decent one of him when he turned your way.

Congrats on the upcoming trips. A couple of nights of MNSSHP should go a long way towards curing your long layover between trips.

I love the night pictures around the MK. I always love ending a day in that park.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, despite the hardships to acquire it, there is absolutely no doubt what the subject is of your first photo. So I call that a WIN!

OK note to self... It is possible to get photos of Celebrate the Magic that aren't a blurry mess. Kudos!!!