Don't Fear the Rain, We Have the "Ducky of Death!"-Jan '14 **Bonus TR DCA 9/1 x2

[Valgoof]

How cool that your kids were Chip and Mrs. Potts! Cute!

Love your WS pictures. That is an area always neglected by us too. I even had a Via Napoli ADR in Feb that we cancelled. I think in Nov I am going to plan WS for our arrival day. We should get there about 1:00, so we can tour clockwise, take our time and then ride Soarin on the way out with fp+.

 

[middlesista]

Sounds like you had the same server as we had at Via Napoli and if it wasn't him it was probably a relative or close friend since it sounds like they had a lot in common. ; )

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love the pictures of DC!! Beautiful as usual Dave!!

The update was great as well. It looks like your trip with your family was great. Question still remains, did you convert your Brother in law??

 

[afwdwfan]

Then it was time to cast Chip and Mrs. Potts and the CM asked everyone to hop. And to my ecstatic surprise, the first two kids to demonstrate some vigorous hopping were DD and DS and naturally they were picked!! The CM had no idea they were siblings because they weren’t standing next to each other and actually on the opposite ends of the front row! I’m pretty sure I did a little hopping of my own when I saw them being given the cardboards of Mrs. Potts and Chip!

And they certainly made a great tea set! I'm glad that they were up to the challenge of stepping up and being a character.

And of course getting to meet with Belle after the story telling was just icing on the cake for the kids.

I of course reminded him with a wink that very few people go back to the resort that early in the morning.

Rookies...

Neither of the kids ate very much but they liked the ambience and definitely liked the dessert cart when it rolled in at the end of our meal.

That is great! I'm glad that you got a chance to take your DD there, especially when she was dressed for the occasion!

Beautiful!

The meal itself was great and I would totally go back again. The service was a bit spotty.

So sorry to hear this. I've always had excellent service there. I hope this was just someone having an off day.

I think I'd have definitely mentioned the pizza though. You shouldn't have had to pay for both when it was their mistake.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I'm still not sold on sit down dining, but Via Napoli is going to have to be an exception one day.
I had to laugh (what else can you do at this point) when the waiter mixed up a Pizza with Spaghetti? Different type of pizza I'd understand... Spaghetti with a different pasta... maybe... but these are nothing alike. AND then to charge you for the extra Pizza that you DIDN'T ORDER!!! That said, I still want to eat here.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

How cool that your kids were Chip and Mrs. Potts! Cute!

Love your WS pictures. That is an area always neglected by us too. I even had a Via Napoli ADR in Feb that we cancelled. I think in Nov I am going to plan WS for our arrival day. We should get there about 1:00, so we can tour clockwise, take our time and then ride Soarin on the way out with fp+.

Capping off an Epcot day with Soarin' sounds like a perfect way to end the day! Hope you get a chance to really savor and enjoy the World Showcase in November.

Sounds like you had the same server as we had at Via Napoli and if it wasn't him it was probably a relative or close friend since it sounds like they had a lot in common. ; )

Even with all of the mistakes he was very polite and courtesy which I guess was his saving grace.

Love the pictures of DC!! Beautiful as usual Dave!!

The update was great as well. It looks like your trip with your family was great. Question still remains, did you convert your Brother in law??

I have some more updates coming up and will make sure to touch on how my brother did through out the trip. I've been adding a few hints here and there.

And they certainly made a great tea set! I'm glad that they were up to the challenge of stepping up and being a character.

That is great! I'm glad that you got a chance to take your DD there, especially when she was dressed for the occasion!

So sorry to hear this. I've always had excellent service there. I hope this was just someone having an off day.

I think I'd have definitely mentioned the pizza though. You shouldn't have had to pay for both when it was their mistake.

I'm willing to write the service issues off as just some bad luck and give Via Napoli another try just because I enjoyed the food a lot!

Now that our kids have gotten a taste of Enchanted Tales I wonder if they will be more active in auditioning for some of the other roles, especially the Beast.

I'm still not sold on sit down dining, but Via Napoli is going to have to be an exception one day.
I had to laugh (what else can you do at this point) when the waiter mixed up a Pizza with Spaghetti? Different type of pizza I'd understand... Spaghetti with a different pasta... maybe... but these are nothing alike. AND then to charge you for the extra Pizza that you DIDN'T ORDER!!! That said, I still want to eat here.

You're right, it's very difficult to mix up Pizza and Spaghetti isn't it? Makes you question whether he was truly Italian? I had to ask DW and DSIL whether I indeed told him the correct order for DD and both confirmed that they clearly heard spaghetti. Oh well.

 

[MEK]

Lovely!

So I'm not sure how I got behind by a couple updates. I thought I was keeping up. *sigh*

You got great pictures of Belle's Tales (that's my name for it). That picture of your daughter from the back is adorable.

And the West wing - I just think that room is so super cool!

I also love your Morocco pictures. I love the light fixtures there and I never thought to stand under one and take a picture up.

I have so enjoyed your pictures. I really learn a lot just by looking at the composition of each of them. Please post more!

I love Via and I'm glad you enjoyed the food. Sort of awkward that the server left the pizza and then charged you for it. You didn't order it.

I hate to see your TR come to an end. On my next trip I have a 7:30 pm flight home. I like that it gives me a good part of the day to go to the park, but I hate getting home that late by the time all the flying and driving is done.

Thanks again or posting such great pictures!

 

[momabbate]

Hi Dave, Your photos are great as always. Love seeing both the Disney and the DC ones. You really capture the beauty around you.
Sounds like, even with the rain, your brother and his family are having a great time. Can't wait to read and see more. I promise to try to get back sooner and comment more.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

You got great pictures of Belle's Tales (that's my name for it). That picture of your daughter from the back is adorable.

And the West wing - I just think that room is so super cool!

I also love your Morocco pictures. I love the light fixtures there and I never thought to stand under one and take a picture up.

I have so enjoyed your pictures. I really learn a lot just by looking at the composition of each of them. Please post more!

I hate to see your TR come to an end. On my next trip I have a 7:30 pm flight home. I like that it gives me a good part of the day to go to the park, but I hate getting home that late by the time all the flying and driving is done.

Thanks again or posting such great pictures!

Thank you! Love sharing my pictures on here!

Oh and not to worry - I still have quite a few more updates left before I finish this TR since I'm not going in chronological order and jumping around in time like Marty McFly.

Love the idea of calling it just Belle's Tales. So much easier and succinct!

Hi Dave, Your photos are great as always. Love seeing both the Disney and the DC ones. You really capture the beauty around you.
Sounds like, even with the rain, your brother and his family are having a great time. Can't wait to read and see more. I promise to try to get back sooner and comment more.

Thank you for following! I'll have a few more DC photos to share soon once the Cherry Blossoms begin blooming in another couple of weeks.

We did have a great time and my brother's family especially enjoyed the AKL!

 

[teekathepony]

We loved Via Napoli when we ate there, it's on the top of our "to do again" list! Yeah your service could probably have been better! I mean, if you work in an Italian restaurant and can't remember an order, chances are it's either pizza or spaghetti so maybe he just took a shot in the dark! still, no matter if you ate some of the pizza or not, the face that you didn't order it means you shouldn't have had to pay for it!
For an accelerated walk through ws, you still managed to grab some great shots! (Oh how I wish there were such a thing as a late flight home for me!)

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[amazingact21]

I'm sorry to hear about the issues at Via Napoli. It's actually my favorite WDW restaurants, so I don't like to hear that someone had a negative experience there.
I can't believe how disoriented that server was. Usually, there are bus boys or trainee servers or some other term that I don't know standing around handling the drinks. And I can't believe they charged you for a pizza you didn't order. Definitely a bad day at that restaurant.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

We loved Via Napoli when we ate there, it's on the top of our "to do again" list! Yeah your service could probably have been better! I mean, if you work in an Italian restaurant and can't remember an order, chances are it's either pizza or spaghetti so maybe he just took a shot in the dark! still, no matter if you ate some of the pizza or not, the face that you didn't order it means you shouldn't have had to pay for it!
For an accelerated walk through ws, you still managed to grab some great shots! (Oh how I wish there were such a thing as a late flight home for me!)

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

You're totally right! He had a 50/50 chance of guessing the right entree from the kids menu.

At one point at UK and France I may have been holding up the rest of the group as I tried to sneak in some shots.

I'm sorry to hear about the issues at Via Napoli. It's actually my favorite WDW restaurants, so I don't like to hear that someone had a negative experience there.
I can't believe how disoriented that server was. Usually, there are bus boys or trainee servers or some other term that I don't know standing around handling the drinks. And I can't believe they charged you for a pizza you didn't order. Definitely a bad day at that restaurant.

Yeah, the server was not on top of his game but I was happy enough with the food that I left with a very positive impression!

 

[khertz]

Bummer about the service at VN. At least the food was good! Definitely my favorite place to eat in WDW, in case I haven't mentioned that before. Hopefully it was just an off day, because we have always had great service there.

Beautiful pics from around WS. I feel like our time there is always short too because of having DS along.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Bummer about the service at VN. At least the food was good! Definitely my favorite place to eat in WDW, in case I haven't mentioned that before. Hopefully it was just an off day, because we have always had great service there.

Beautiful pics from around WS. I feel like our time there is always short too because of having DS along.

Thanks! I agree with you that trying to tour WS with young children can be challenging especially if it's later in the day. Our DS had a major meltdown once when he was 2 and a half years old. I still remember the exact location in Italy.

 

[Fracfam4]

Hi Dave! Following your TR and loving your photos! I read through the whole thing today! We're going back in November. You've given me some new ideas and I really appreciate your perspective on the rain. Looking forward to more posts.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Hi Dave! Following your TR and loving your photos! I read through the whole thing today! We're going back in November. You've given me some new ideas and I really appreciate your perspective on the rain. Looking forward to more posts.

Thank you very much for following! Great to have you on-board!
Hope you have a great time in November!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Before we start off on this update, here's another friendly and admittedly shameless attempt to ask for your votes on my picture for the DIS photo contest by following ***this link***. Thank you again for all of your help! Remember, you can vote for the same picture again each day.

Ok, moving forward with this update with the ominous sounding title. Or it could be the subtitle of the next Star Wars movie?

One of the most challenging, frustrating yet irritatingly satisfying things to try to photograph in Disney has been the indoor rides with the extremely low lightings, aka the dark rides. That many of these dark rides represent the essence of Disney magic and its history drives my endless attempts at trying to improve and perfect my photo captures. It has led me to rent lenses in the past trip that would do well in low lighting. This time I rented a 35mm f/2.0 with Image Stabilizer.

First, we'll head over to Peter Pan's Flight! We were able to go on this attraction three times during the trip. The first two times were at rope drop on our first MK day as the crowds were low enough that we went on it back to back. This has been our kids' favorite for a long time so they were happy to go on it twice in a row. The feeling of flight is still very awesome even after having been on the ride countless times.

I still have yet to have caught a glimpse of Peter's shadow in this scene.


I think nothing accentuates the illusion of flight more than this scene over London.


Entering Neverland.


My favorite shot from Peter Pan.


And of course, Peter saves the day!


The shot I keep trying to get and continue to miserably fail is the duel between Peter and Hook on the mast of the ship. And this time was no exception. I'll have to keep trying on future visits.

One interesting conversation I had with DB during our dinner at Jiko after our day at MK. DB asked me what it was about Peter Pan that I really enjoyed as an adult. Remember, he's looking at this from a non-Disney fan. He was puzzled as to why the ride was so popular with such long wait times when it appeared to be a very old fashioned attraction. I told him that it was part nostalgia on my part from my childhood as well as having watched how much our kids enjoy it. I also said it was because how the ship was attached to the track above giving it the sensation of flying in the air. He seemed to understand where I was coming from.

Ok, next up is It's a Small World. I only have three pictures from this probably because of my not-so-merry experience on it back in October. This apparently was my nephew's favorite experience during their last visit here so DB's family was eager to get on the boat as were our kids. This one is a little bit easier to take photos of because the ride moves along at a much slower pace. Sometimes, too slow if you ask me.

I don't think this hippo ever comes out looking good with that lazy eye. Always has that drunken look.


I think this is my favorite scene of the entire attraction.




I can never tell whether the kids are enjoying it during the ride because they watch in complete silence. But I think it's because they are so transfixed at all of the different scenes with so many things to look at that they don't have much time to even "oooo" and "ahhhh" at them. When we do finally disembark, they finally vocalize how much they liked it.

The last dark ride for today's update will be from Dinosaur. Our kids still have no interest in trying this one and I don't blame them. I think maybe in a year or two DD may finally be ready. The way we traditionally plan this attraction is to park the kids at the nearby Dinosaur Boneyard playground with one adult watching them and the other running over to Dinosaur. Then the adults swap places. I still enjoy this one but the surprise factor wore off long ago. It's also a nearly impossible ride to photograph. There's barely any light available and the vehicle is always in constant, fast, and rough motion. The only chance I have is to crank up the ISO even if it means the pictures being littered with a lot of grainy noise. Here's what I was able to capture.

From the queue. Seriously, there appears to be a lot of unknown science when it comes to time travel. Sort of like the flux capacitor.


Entering the time warp! The lighting is all downhill from here.


The friendlier dinosaurs are easier to photograph because they're not chasing after us.






My very poor attempt at the Iguanodon who was the whole purpose of this time travel adventure.


I'll stop there for tonight! The next set of dark rides I'll post will include the Haunted Mansion.

 

[Credit Man]

Dave, don't sell yourself short. You make the difficult look easy, and the impossible look good.

 

[saintstickets]

Dave, don't sell yourself short. You make the difficult look easy, and the impossible look good.

Ditto!!! I would love to have your skills!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Fun to read through your photographs (not really sure if "read" through is the right term) as it make me feel like I am reliving the rides - especially for Peter Pan and It's a Small World (less so for Dinosaur since I have never been on that ... I know, bad DISer right?)

Fully agree with you about the scene "flying" over London - especially with the forced perspective they use of the buildings getting smaller to make it feel like you are flying higher.

I actually like photographing It's a Small World because there are just so many bizarre scenes