DON'T Read This TRIP REPORT If You're a Princess Hater!

[kwitcherkicken99]

P.S. - Love the update!

I've been sharing all your handiwork with my colleague and she's just crazy for your costumes!

 

[mom2rtk]

ok, I am having trouble keeping up so pardon the late response.

First of all, on your lens I hear that the 17-55 IS is fantastic! Based on the results I see from you I will have to agree. One thing I struggle a bit with is locking in autofocus on the dark rides. I hear that the focusing on the 17-55 is excellent though. I am also envious of the Tonika 11-16. You have a great set of lenses in the short to mid focal length ranges. I also love the high ISO settings as well when you need them. When you add that to the large apertures you have a whole new world opened up for low light.

The higher ISOs do help for low light, but in the particularly dark scenes, the AF still may not have enough light to focus. I have a Nikon d300s and did okay with Spaceship Earth and a couple others, but I still have a difficult time with POTC and Peter Pan. Granted I was using my 24-85mm zoom with a variable f/stop, but still!

I really do feel like a whole world has opened up to me with the low light situations and am LOVING it! I have learned a lot over on the Photography forum.

I do think I got a few decent dark ride shots this trip and look forward to posting them. The title on your first trip report really hooked me. I knew exactly what you were talking about with that title. That really is the hardest ride to capture. But it's one of my favorites, so I have to keep trying! I did get one decent shot in Peter Pan, which will be in my next update, but not the shot I want........ I want the one of the clock tower. And yes, the problem is the AF. It's almost impossible to get it to lock onto anything in such low light. I guess I need to go manual, but I just haven't had a chance to practice that, and hate to risk my one or 2 trips through a ride in a given year practicing!

I also dreamed about being a family of the day just once but I can't even get my family up early enough to make the opening. I just know that if I ever got them there early enough to have a chance that there would be that one other family in front as you experienced and then my family would run me into the Seven Seas Lagoon. Kudos to you to be smart enough to have a back up plan.

I love the empty park pictures from the morning. Hmm...some day perhaps I can convince my family for an early CP breakfast and mislead them on how early we need to be there and work a plan similar to yours. Well, except for the confused taxi driver part.

Great pictures of the characters. So many wonderful pictures of Katie with them. I also love "the look" picture. My daughter can sport that same look.

Looking forward for more. I am guessing you'll have some great princess pictures from lunch.

Well, there's a reason our attempt to open the park came on a trip without the entire family along. I know our limits too! The time we got to open DHS, that was just Katie and me too. Getting the whole family there early enough would have been just too stressful.

I do love starting the day with early park entry though. We usually get great pictures on our way into the park early, but this time it was so close it really limited what we could do.

Great pictures and fabulous costumes once again! I love how you have a personal relationship with the Fairy Godmother. So awesome! How did Rapunzel and Tiana react to the costumes? Especially Tiana because I would guess she doesn't see that costume very often. I can't wait to see what costume Katie wears to the castle.

Many thanks! It was VERY fun to walk up to the Fairy Godmother and have her greet us by name!

It's always a lot of fun to see the reaction of the characters to the various costumes. They see the same costumes over and over in the course of a day, so they like seeing something different. Tiana and Naveen were probably the only people in the park to "get" the blue Tiana gown. We had at least one person ask if Katie was Cinderella , probably because it was blue.

Be careful there... you may have a revolt on your hands! Our last 2 trips, I've made DH get up before the hour of decency for early breakfast (O'hana at 7:50a and CP at 8:05a - which in Disney time, isn't that early). BUT he made me pinky-swear that for our next trip (in 5 years ) that I would NOT book any breakfasts...

On NO! Maybe you can leave him in the room, have breakfast without him, then meet up later? If we're not doing breakfast, we still like to be at rope drop just to get in that magical first hour with low wait times!

We still need to do O'Hana. We did it once back in 02 I think...... but that's a long time ago........We tend to do all our favorites, some of them more than once....so it doesn't leave opportunities for others. The biggest problem though is that once in the park, we like to stay til we drop. So we're far more likely to eat at the park restaurants than the resort restaurants (unless it's dinner AFTER leaving the park for the day).

P.S. - Love the update!

I've been sharing all your handiwork with my colleague and she's just crazy for your costumes!

Many thanks! tell your colleague hi for me!

 

[mom2rtk]

So maybe you didn't have to think hard to guess that we'd have lunch in the castle. Of course we love the princesses. And of course we love eating IN the castle. But I also love having a relaxing meal in the heart of Fantasyland. So it's a win/win/win! I really can't wait for the new Be Our Guest restaurant to open up for another alternative in Fantasyland!

That morning Katie picked what she'd like to wear to lunch at the castle. She chose to bring Sleeping Beauty. Aurora has always been her favorite princess, so I wasn't surprised. The Cinderella in the library looked very familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her. She was very striking, one of the prettiest I’ve seen. Later I remembered she was the Cinderella in the parade we saw last fall.

We had a table for two by the windows and got to look out over Fantasyland while we ate. It was magical as always. We sat near a larger group with 2 tiny girls dressed as princesses. When the mom took pictures of the girls with the princesses, Katie got up and made bunny ears over the mom to get the girls to smile. Always willing to help someone get good princess photos!

It was nice to sit and enjoy a lovely lunch in the warm surroundings. It was SO easy to forget just how cold it still was outside!

It was early afternoon, and we still had not made our traditional spin around Fantasyland on Dumbo. But the last thing either of us wanted to do was go up in the cold air and spin around. I let Katie choose our next stop, and it wasn't much warmer, but what the heck! One of her favorite rides is the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, so we headed that way. The park seemed pretty crowded, and we when we got to Tomorrowland, we found there was a line for the TTA! Now granted, we don't do Disney in the busy season, but I don't think we've ever seen a line there. Fortunately it moved quickly, but it was evidence of the crowds that day. I used to think this ride was pretty lame, but even I have a newfound love for the ride. There’s nothing better than sitting back and taking in the views of the park as you weave in and out of the buildings (and warmth!) of Tomorrowland.

We then returned to Fantasyland to do Peter Pan with fastpasses we picked up earlier. This is absolutely one of my favorite rides in the Magic Kingdom. It captures the magic so well.

Like always, I tried to get some pictures. This is sort of the holy grail in my book for dark ride photography. I didn't get the shot of the clock tower I want, but I got a nice one of Wendy walking the plank. I'm going to have to work harder on my manual focus skills.........

Clearskies.......... I SO get the title of your first trip report!

Katie also wanted to ride the carousel again, so what the heck………. Sure you can ride a carousel any day at the mall. But can you ride a carousel with a view of Cinderella’s Castle???

Next....... we head for an attraction we've never done at Disney!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

On NO! Maybe you can leave him in the room, have breakfast without him, then meet up later? If we're not doing breakfast, we still like to be at rope drop just to get in that magical first hour with low wait times!

We still need to do O'Hana. We did it once back in 02 I think...... but that's a long time ago........We tend to do all our favorites, some of them more than once....so it doesn't leave opportunities for others. The biggest problem though is that once in the park, we like to stay til we drop. So we're far more likely to eat at the park restaurants than the resort restaurants (unless it's dinner AFTER leaving the park for the day).

I don't know about leaving him behind! We tried that once and he didn't like it! He took DD back to the room to nap (him too, but don't ask - he doesn't take naps... ) I whined about Mickey waffles and he told me that I should just settle for the Mickey pancakes I make a home! They taste MUCH better at WDW!

I liked Ohana! The food was good and the fresh juice was lovely! Stitch and Pluto came back to our table twice, and Mickey was wonderful. The Lilo glossed over our table though, and that kinda stunk, but the others DEFINITELY made up for it!

Many thanks! tell your colleague hi for me!

Will do!

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't know about leaving him behind! We tried that once and he didn't like it! He took DD back to the room to nap (him too, but don't ask - he doesn't take naps... ) I whined about Mickey waffles and he told me that I should just settle for the Mickey pancakes I make a home! They taste MUCH better at WDW!

I liked Ohana! The food was good and the fresh juice was lovely! Stitch and Pluto came back to our table twice, and Mickey was wonderful. The Lilo glossed over our table though, and that kinda stunk, but the others DEFINITELY made up for it!



Will do!

It took a long time for us to get to a point where some of us could do one thing while traveling, and some of us can do another. I hope you can talk him into at least ONE breakfast. And in my book ANYTHING tastes better than something I have to make myself at home and clean up after!

I think part of our deal with Ohana is just the we can take or leave Lilo & Stitch. We're not huge Pooh fans either, but we still love the Crystal Palace, so I think we ought to try Ohana again.

Of course, Ohana doesn't offer us the chance to be a good backup plan like Crystal Palace does. Nor does it get us pre-park opening photos.......

 

[vamassey1]

I think you should give it a try! But if it works for you, do me a favor and don't tell me, OK???? Yeah....... like I wouldn't see the scrapbook page on it later! Nah... just kidding. I'd be thrilled for you!

But you must ditch anyone who is not an early riser. That's a MUST!

I knew going into it that being an early riser was not a guarantee of it working. But NOT being an early riser was a definite guarantee of it NOT working!

When are you guys going back again? It's been almost a year, hasn't it?

I've talked to Danielle and explained what y'all did and she's all for giving it a try. We have to ditch some dead weight, namely some other family members. And if it worked I would have to document it, but that might now happen for a few years. I'm still working on New Years 2006.

I don't know when we're going back. We played around with the idea of going back between Christmas and New Years this year but I haven't gotten Dennis to commit yet.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've talked to Danielle and explained what y'all did and she's all for giving it a try. We have to ditch some dead weight, namely some other family members. And if it worked I would have to document it, but that might now happen for a few years. I'm still working on New Years 2006.

I don't know when we're going back. We played around with the idea of going back between Christmas and New Years this year but I haven't gotten Dennis to commit yet.

LOL! Vanessa, you kill me! This is ABSOLUTELY a plan that won't work with dead weight!

And you know if it worked, I really WOULD want to hear about it. It would give me renewed hope to try again!

Now everybody just has to promise not to try this the week we'll be back and trying it again, OK????? I've had the scheme working in my brain for some time. I just need to refine some points and get one more shot....... Oh, and they need to bring back the massive character meeting too........

And if any of you have a scheme for being chose Grand Marshalls at the afternoon parade...... you HAVE to share!

We were at dinner at CRT once during the Year of a Million Dreams. The family staying in the Dream Suite was just a few tables over and they introduced them. It took every ounce of my self-control not to go over and offer to make an entire princess wardrobe for their daughter if they'd just adopt us for the night!

 

[Disney Is My Drug]

You sound like a nice person but I find your actions in this regard misguided. I know I'll get slammed for saying this but my feeling is that you've had your turn being Family of the Day and opening a park. You should give others who have yet to have that wonderful opportunity a chance. For you to scheme and plot so much to be "chosen" again seems to go against the randomness, once-in-a-lifetime spirit and magic that Disney tries so hard to extend to the millions of other guests who have yet to partake in such a great event. JMHO. Let the flaming begin......

 

[mom2rtk]

You sound like a nice person but I find your actions in this regard misguided. I know I'll get slammed for saying this but my feeling is that you've had your turn being Family of the Day and opening a park. You should give others who have yet to have that wonderful opportunity a chance. For you to scheme and plot so much to be "chosen" again seems to go against the randomness, once-in-a-lifetime spirit and magic that Disney tries so hard to extend to the millions of other guests who have yet to partake in such a great event. JMHO. Let the flaming begin......

I'm sorry you feel that way.

Since it didn't work, I'm not sure what your issue is.

 

[Snow_Princess]

Wow! you update so quickly!

I love the strapless Tiana gown! Your daughter looked so beautiful, she is such a lucky girl.

The TTA is one of my favorite rides, there is just something about looking at the castle from the high view and just sitting back and enjoy, good choice from Katie

It is fun to guess which costume Katie will wear next hehe I wonder how many bags you take to pack all of those costumes, it seems like you have an endless supply and it's only the 2nd day!

 

[Caretames1]

You sound like a nice person but I find your actions in this regard misguided. I know I'll get slammed for saying this but my feeling is that you've had your turn being Family of the Day and opening a park. You should give others who have yet to have that wonderful opportunity a chance. For you to scheme and plot so much to be "chosen" again seems to go against the randomness, once-in-a-lifetime spirit and magic that Disney tries so hard to extend to the millions of other guests who have yet to partake in such a great event. JMHO. Let the flaming begin......

Sometimes you have to make your owm luck, or magic. I love being a "random" spirit and I find the the author of this trip report has that spirit as well. OH, and the "once in a life time memories" that come from being ready and willing to experiance life are the BEST! Disney picks people to "dust" with magic everywhere, at everytime.

Scheming is only half the fun. Disney wouldn't exist if people didn't go looking for magic. I hope someday you''ll feel the magic too!

 

[mom2rtk]

Wow! you update so quickly!

I love the strapless Tiana gown! Your daughter looked so beautiful, she is such a lucky girl.

The TTA is one of my favorite rides, there is just something about looking at the castle from the high view and just sitting back and enjoy, good choice from Katie

It is fun to guess which costume Katie will wear next hehe I wonder how many bags you take to pack all of those costumes, it seems like you have an endless supply and it's only the 2nd day!

Many thanks!

For the longest time we never even tried TTA. It didn't look that interesting. Then Katie wanted to try it and I'm so glad we did. I realized it's not about the ride itself. It's about the view FROM the ride. Sort of like Dumbo. It's not about the ride.... you can ride a Dumbo sort of ride any day at a carnival. But the veiw FROM Dumbo....... is priceless. It's why we like it so much.

As for the bags..... let's just say we fly Southwest so there are no baggage fees!

 

[mom2rtk]

Sometimes you have to make your owm luck, or magic. I love being a "random" spirit and I find the the author of this trip report has that spirit as well. OH, and the "once in a life time memories" that come from being ready and willing to experiance life are the BEST! Disney picks people to "dust" with magic everywhere, at everytime.

Scheming is only half the fun. Disney wouldn't exist if people didn't go looking for magic. I hope someday you''ll feel the magic too!

Many thanks for the vote of support. We got a year of fun out of that attempt ..... and it didn't even work. But I still laugh about it with Katie and we really enjoyed trying.

It's sort of like the Year of a Million Dreams promotion. I LOVED that promotion and still wish they'd bring it back. We were never chosen for anything. But I loved joking with my family about how we should keep our stuff organized ....... because we'd need to move to the castle that night! We didn't get any dream fastpasses, no special YOMD ears...... but we had TONS of fun walking around Disney looking for the Dream Squad!

 

[Caretames1]

Many thanks for the vote of support. We got a year of fun out of that attempt ..... and it didn't even work. But I still laugh about it with Katie and we really enjoyed trying.

It's sort of like the Year of a Million Dreams promotion. I LOVED that promotion and still wish they'd bring it back. We were never chosen for anything. But I loved joking with my family about how we should keep our stuff organized ....... because we'd need to move to the castle that night! We didn't get any dream fastpasses, no special YOMD ears...... but we had TONS of fun walking around Disney looking for the Dream Squad!

Welcome On our Jan 09 trip we did get picked to open the Lion King show in AK. We were just walking and I was poping wheelies with my DD's stroller and a CM asked us if we were having fun and how we were enjoying our first visit ( we had our 1st visit pins on) I replies we were having a blast and loved being at WDW. She as us to follow her and the rest is " A Year of a Million Dreams" history. We opened the show, got VIP seating and a certificate.

 

[mom2rtk]

Welcome On our Jan 09 trip we did get picked to open the Lion King show in AK. We were just walking and I was poping wheelies with my DD's stroller and a CM asked us if we were having fun and how we were enjoying our first visit ( we had our 1st visit pins on) I replies we were having a blast and loved being at WDW. She as us to follow her and the rest is " A Year of a Million Dreams" history. We opened the show, got VIP seating and a certificate.

Very cool! Congrats! What a great show to open too. We just saw it for our second time this trip..... Great....... Now I'm gonna be singing those songs all night! My family thanks you!

I really do think that the CM's at Disney work there because they are very enthusiastic about Disney. They love to encounter guests with the same level of enthusiasm.

 

[Scraps-of-heaven]

You sound like a nice person but I find your actions in this regard misguided. I know I'll get slammed for saying this but my feeling is that you've had your turn being Family of the Day and opening a park. You should give others who have yet to have that wonderful opportunity a chance. For you to scheme and plot so much to be "chosen" again seems to go against the randomness, once-in-a-lifetime spirit and magic that Disney tries so hard to extend to the millions of other guests who have yet to partake in such a great event. JMHO. Let the flaming begin......

So you think the other family that was there THAT EARLY was going for randomness? I think not. If it was truly random they wouldn't pick the first family in line! But honestly, why say anything if you can't say anything nice? Not "slamming" you, but just curious as to why you felt the need to say anything when you already knew it would make others unhappy. Doesn't sound very "disney magic like" to me. JMHO

 

[francis6306]

That day we actually had Breakfast at the Grand Floridian at 1900 Park Fare! We probably were there around the same time that you were trying to get on the monorail. It was BITTER cold and we decided... wait! I can't tell you now! I've not gotten there on my own report!

LOVE the dresses! The blue one is really gorgeous! Maybe you could get your daughter in pageants just to keep making beautiful dresses!

 

[MissJanice]

I love your TR because I always have an update to read! Great updates and beautiful costumes, a usual!

 

[mom2rtk]

That day we actually had Breakfast at the Grand Floridian at 1900 Park Fare! We probably were there around the same time that you were trying to get on the monorail. It was BITTER cold and we decided... wait! I can't tell you now! I've not gotten there on my own report!

LOVE the dresses! The blue one is really gorgeous! Maybe you could get your daughter in pageants just to keep making beautiful dresses!

I think that was the worst morning of all. We did OK though. It felt SO good to sit down in the Crystal Palace and look out at the castle from our WARM spots inside! We didn't get as much done that day as we would have liked since we kept ducking indoors. But we did OK, and knew we had several more days left in the Magic Kingdom.

Thanks for the comment on the blue gown. If I was to make it again, I'd make the skirt fuller, but I tend to tweak each dress each time I do it again. Katie loved it though and gives me the evil eye any time I make a comment about maybe selling it to start a fund for another trip.

I'd probably have fun with pageant gowns, but doubt I could afford all the other stuff!

So you think the other family that was there THAT EARLY was going for randomness? I think not. If it was truly random they wouldn't pick the first family in line! But honestly, why say anything if you can't say anything nice? Not "slamming" you, but just curious as to why you felt the need to say anything when you already knew it would make others unhappy. Doesn't sound very "disney magic like" to me. JMHO

Well, they don't always choose the very first. But most of the stories I've read indicate that is often the case.

And I appreciate the support!

I love your TR because I always have an update to read! Great updates and beautiful costumes, a usual!

Thanks so much!

I really appreciate everyone's nice comments. It's so much fun to dig through the photos and relive the trip again. Thanks to everyone for coming along for the ride!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

So you think the other family that was there THAT EARLY was going for randomness? I think not. If it was truly random they wouldn't pick the first family in line! But honestly, why say anything if you can't say anything nice? Not "slamming" you, but just curious as to why you felt the need to say anything when you already knew it would make others unhappy. Doesn't sound very "disney magic like" to me. JMHO

ITA! I'd bet my next paycheck that 92% + of the people who show up 2 hours early are all there for the same reason...

WDW is a very magical place, but it doesn't get like that on its own. A lot of the times, you've got to give it a little extra push.

I hope you can get a few more posts under your belt [not you scraps... senor grumpy pants] before you come in and hijack a perfectly civil, well written, and entertaining TR.