Favorite Disney World Locations/ Photo Ops

[Sharli]

First time trip!!! We are going to Disney World (MK, AK, HS, Epcot, Downtown) & Sea World with me, my parents, my sister & BIL, & my 3 nieces (8, 10, 13yrs). 7 out of 8 of us like to take pictures & we will all have a camera with us. I was wondering what your favorite place is to take a picture at Disney World? What are Some of the Best Photo Opportunities we are likely come across or create? Any ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[goopysolelady]

Character meals are great photo opps! You'll find that most of DW is great photo opp territory! Where to begin..........Magic Kingdom~of course, the Castle; I like the Train Station (top) with DGD's at the rail and Main Street/Castle in background~either of the side paths to "the Hub", with the castle in the background, I like the Swiss Family Treehouse area in Adventureland~ Splash Mountain/Thunder Mountain Railroad area in Frontierland..especially the wooden walkway area to Liberty Square...Liberty Tree & the Riverboat in LS~ the back of the castle and walkway to back in Fantasyland (especially the walkway toward Tomorrowland...some beautiful spots on that side)~and in Tomorrowland...the main hub leading to that land. You'll also want to do a (hopefully) group picture outside the entrance. Don't hesitate to ask someone to take the photo for you; fellow guests love doing that. Line up for photo, be ready to smile and grab someone!
EPCOT~the entrance (before you go "under" the ball)~the Seas area~either side of The Land~Imagination...in front of the fountain area~the Tip Board area around the fountain and on the other side of the fountain toward WS...looking back toward the ball~World Showcase...I LOVE the Canada & England areas. In Canada...the gardens (beautiful) and go up the steps to the "mountain/waterfall" area; in England...the garden area in the back. The International Gateway area gives you opportunities for photos with France in the background. All the other countries have really pretty spots...visit them all and have the cameras ready.
Hollywood Studios~my absolute favorite area here is Streets of America and Commissary Lane...LOVE the tall trees. Of course you'll want to do photos in front of the hat and down Sunset Boulevard with the Tower of Terror in the background and in front of The Great Movie Ride area.
Animal Kingdom...anywhere around Discovery Island, around Expedition Everest and any of the quiet trails back toward the entrance.
Downtown Disney~favorite there is in front of the Lego shop and the World of Disney store and I love taking photos on the walk past Fulton's Crab House toward Characters in Flight. For a super photo opp...ride Characters in Flight...you can see "forever" ...downtown Orlando, the EPCOT ball even the Contemporary Resort from the top!
Also, take advantage of the Disney photographers. You can pre-purchase a photo DVD for around $100+ (don't remember the exact price, my daughter usually takes care of that!) which will give you ALL the photos taken. Last trip we had 250+ pictures. With a group as large as yours this would be perfect...divide the cost among you and you can all get photocards and combine your individual pictures. Disneyphotopass.com will give you the details.
Can you tell I LOVE taking pictures? Hopefully this will give you some ideas. AND...if you're staying at a Disney Resort, there will be many areas at your resort for photos too. Have fun!

 

[zackiedawg]

The best ideas you can probably gather would be to browse through some Disney photo galleries of other users here. Most of us on the photography forums have our galleries linked in our signatures - we are so addicted to photography that most of us have thousands of photos from almost everywhere - it's hard to pick out some specific spots, especially for someone else - what you may hate, another may love...also, there's some difference between photo spots good for family portraits and such, and spots where you just get an awesome landscape or detail shot without people.

If you've never been to Disney - then don't worry - the very best spots where you can stick the family and get a really nice shot with a beautiful or symbolic background are actually LABELED! Disney was kind enough to put up 'picture spot' signs letting you know that this is a good angle and spot to get a nice scenic view - with or without the family in front. So follow those for the easy stuff, then browse some galleries and see if anyone's shots make you go 'WOW! I gotta get that shot!'. Simple ask that person here where they took that shot, and I'm sure they'd be happy to answer.