February 29th at WDW

[Marlton Mom]

So.... the scuttle butt is that Disney will be keeping park(s), a park, all parks (???) open 24 hours on leap day. The big announcement is supposed to be on the ABC television network during New Years Eve.

Hmm..... this has really got me thinking about what a prime photographic opportunity this ~Might~ be. I mean the first shot on my list would be sunrise over the castle or Space mountain, but then the weather might be a crap shoot so who knows if it would be worth a trip down just for that. And as far as the crowds are concerned how crowded would it be at say 4 o'clock in the morning when you are trying to get that people free shot of Tomorrowland? Riding the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority all night would be really fun though.

On the other hand you wouldn't have Disney Security helping you gently leave the park at closing....

Sunrise is at 6:30am and sunset at 5:47pm and it would only be a first quarter moon. A full moon would be better but there's always photoshop

And if all the parks are open could you park hop at 3 am? Can you imagine what Animal Kingdom would be like at sunrise, with the gorilla's still in their pajamas and the lions with curlers in their hair!

Humph..... I can't wait to hear what this involves.

~Marlton Mom

 

[mom2rtk]

And if all the parks are open could you park hop at 3 am?

OK, I can answer that. NO. I can't hop at 3 AM. But then I can't stand upright at 3 AM either!

But I love your idea of riding the TTA around for a while to get the sunrise over the castle shot.

I've been following the threads wondering if this is the announcement. The whole idea seemed pretty lame to me until you suggested the castle sunrise shot. Hmmm....... I better stay tuned.........

 

[WDWFigment]

This is what first crossed my mind when hearing about this (sunrise photos). I'm trying to convince Sarah to move our February trip to be there for this.

I'm betting it will just be Magic Kingdom and Disneyland that are open 24 hours.

mom2rtk - unless I'm mistaken about angles, I don't think you could get a sunrise shot of the Castle while riding the TTA. But how fun would it be to ride the TTA around sunrise?!

I think Astro Orbiter at sunrise would be a lot of fun, too!

 

[mom2rtk]

This is what first crossed my mind when hearing about this (sunrise photos). I'm trying to convince Sarah to move our February trip to be there for this.

I'm betting it will just be Magic Kingdom and Disneyland that are open 24 hours.

mom2rtk - unless I'm mistaken about angles, I don't think you could get a sunrise shot of the Castle while riding the TTA. But how fun would it be to ride the TTA around sunrise?!

I think Astro Orbiter at sunrise would be a lot of fun, too!

No, I was going to take my nap on the TTA, then get up in time to photograph the castle at sunrise. I don't do well without my beauty sleep you know.........

 

[boBQuincy]

Sunrise for 29 February appears to be at 98 degrees, almost directly East. The best photo spots may be the upper deck of Liberty Square riverboat, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, or Splash Mountain. It's an intriguing idea!

 

[Marlton Mom]

So now we know for sure that it will be both the Disneyland Park and the Magic Kingdom Park that will be open for 24 hours starting February 29 at 6:00 a.m.

I was kind of hoping that the announcement wouldn't be this because there is no way that my family or myself on a solo photo trip could afford this. This is going to absolutely torture me.

On the one hand it's a super rare opportunity to get a really cool sunrise shot of the Magic Kingdom. On the other hand, the weather could be a total crap shoot negating that opportunity. Then there's the little problem of how you would frame that shot. There are so many locations that I can think of, but you can only be in one spot at a time and the sun actually rises pretty fast, so moving around to get from hither to yon is almost out of the question.

I think the only workable solution for me is to run away from home and get a job as a photographer at Disney where I would have all hours access to the parks. At night I'd be up on top of Casey's shooting the fireworks and I'd be like "SpiderMom" going where no photographer has gone before, to get unique perspective shots. No more of this Mom stuff for me!

Who's with me?

~Marlton (runaway) Mom

 

[mom2rtk]

I think someone said sunrise is at 6:51 which means you would need to get your shot right after entering the park at 6 AM opening time, along with a fair number of your closest friends. Not sure how good the photographic opportunities would be.

I'm just too cranky when I don't get my sleep, so I'll have to pass.

I hope some of you locals go on our behalf and get a couple creative shots for us though!

 

[Marlton Mom]

I think someone said sunrise is at 6:51 which means you would need to get your shot right after entering the park at 6 AM opening time, along with a fair number of your closest friends. Not sure how good the photographic opportunities would be.

I'm just too cranky when I don't get my sleep, so I'll have to pass.

I hope some of you locals go on our behalf and get a couple creative shots for us though!

With all the teenagers and a 'teenager to be' hanging around your house I thought for sure you'd be on the first seat of the "Running away from home" bus!

~MM

 

[mom2rtk]

With all the teenagers and a 'teenager to be' hanging around your house I thought for sure you'd be on the first seat of the "Running away from home" bus!

~MM

LOL! Do you have me on video surveillance or something???????

And while I'm all in favor of catching the "running away from home" bus (are you SURE about that video surveillance thing???????) my shot at that was the trip in December. I think there's some fine print in my contract about "once returning to the home after said attempt at running away, one must wait at least 10 months before running away again.".

DAMN that fine print!

 

[photo_chick]

We've never even managed to make a rope drop. No way we'd be up in time to get the sunrise. LOL

 

[C&B Young]

We've never even managed to make a rope drop. No way we'd be up in time to get the sunrise. LOL

Same here. And the last time we stayed at the Magic Kingdom until 2am we were wrecked for the next day!

 

[pointandshoot]

Just saw this announced. Neat opportunity. Thinking a power nap in afternoon at hall of presidents would be part of the plan.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm thinking the shots of people sleeping IN the park that day would be great for next year's "Disney Going to Sleep" photo contest! I wonder if they have a rule about that...... How early do you think the prime sleep spots would fill up?

TTA?

CoP?

HoP certainly sounds like a winner too!

 

[lobmcf]

And if all the parks are open could you park hop at 3 am? Can you imagine what Animal Kingdom would be like at sunrise, with the gorilla's still in their pajamas and the lions with curlers in their hair!

 

[Marlton Mom]

I'm thinking the shots of people sleeping IN the park that day would be great for next year's "Disney Going to Sleep" photo contest! I wonder if they have a rule about that...... How early do you think the prime sleep spots would fill up?

TTA?

CoP?

HoP certainly sounds like a winner too!

....and Haunted mansion.... not so much!

I have to tell you I am close to booking a solo trip. I'm checking out Disney offers and I have to call my airline to find out how to use my miles for free airfare. Running away from home requires a lot of thought and cost comparisons.....

~MM

 

[mom2rtk]

....and Haunted mansion.... not so much!

I have to tell you I am close to booking a solo trip. I'm checking out Disney offers and I have to call my airline to find out how to use my miles for free airfare. Running away from home requires a lot of thought and cost comparisons.....

~MM

DO IT! I need to live this one vicariously........ so you're my ticket! ............ I mean..........uh...... errr....... I'm sure you're due for a break...... and your family will support you on this...... and it will be good for your mental health............ you only live once....... life is short............ you deserve a break............ take care of youself so you can take care of your family............ it's not the things you do in life that you regret, it's the things you don't do.........(does that about cover it??? )



So is your sunrise shot gonna be at the castle????

 

[Marlton Mom]

DO IT! I need to live this one vicariously........ so you're my ticket! ............ I mean..........uh...... errr....... I'm sure you're due for a break...... and your family will support you on this...... and it will be good for your mental health............ you only live once....... life is short............ you deserve a break............ take care of youself so you can take care of your family............ it's not the things you do in life that you regret, it's the things you don't do.........(does that about cover it??? )



So is your sunrise shot gonna be at the castle????

Well..... this is an indication of how far under my skin this opportunity has gotten... I was looking at "Google Earth" and ......I'm still figuring it out! Since the sun will be rising just about due east of the castle I have to figure out what perspective I want. Do I want to stand west and silhouette the castle while getting the sun when it's finally over the trees or..... do I want to stand front and center and capture those morning colors. I also have other options and ideas that I am mulling over for my plan.

Of course the weather could be absolute crap and the sun not seen for days so all this could be for naught..... BUT... I have been wanting to take a solo photography trip with out dragging or being drug around by the family AND since Disney is giving away one night free with a 3 night stay AND it's February with no heat and lower crowds it's looking like this might be the time to do this trip.~

Marlton Mom

 

[My2Girls66]

Wow! Glad you posted this info. We were thinking of taking DD for her 18th bday during that exact week.

 

[mom2rtk]

Well..... this is an indication of how far under my skin this opportunity has gotten... I was looking at "Google Earth" and ......I'm still figuring it out! Since the sun will be rising just about due east of the castle I have to figure out what perspective I want. Do I want to stand west and silhouette the castle while getting the sun when it's finally over the trees or..... do I want to stand front and center and capture those morning colors. I also have other options and ideas that I am mulling over for my plan.

Of course the weather could be absolute crap and the sun not seen for days so all this could be for naught..... BUT... I have been wanting to take a solo photography trip with out dragging or being drug around by the family AND since Disney is giving away one night free with a 3 night stay AND it's February with no heat and lower crowds it's looking like this might be the time to do this trip.~

Marlton Mom

I hope you can work it out. Sounds like a great time to take a solo trip. Well, sort of solo. You WILL be there with your camera.

I would be very torn. The opportunity to be there at sunrise would be very tempting. But I'd also be concerned about the possibility that my late night shots would be in a park that would be busier than on a typical day in late February. I'm guessing you could get cleaner (i.e. people-free) shots on a really late average EMH night.

On the plus side would definitely be the shots of the sleeping people in the park. I'd take the time to shoot the clocks around the park a lot. Beyond that, nobody knows if anything during those hours would look or feel any different than an average late EMH night.

And of course, you already touched on the weather issue. It's been a warm winter so far, so hopefully that will continue. But if it's cloudy, maybe nothing spectacular at sunrise. Or mabye just the most brilliant shades of magenta, purple and blue unlike anything you've ever seen photographed over the castle.

I guess I'd make my decision based on how much remorse I'd have when I see others post pictures after the fact, if I had the chance and passed.

So when do you leave??????

If it doesn't work out, maybe you can shoot the castle at sunSET on your next trip and just flip the image??????

 

[wbeem]

Well..... this is an indication of how far under my skin this opportunity has gotten... I was looking at "Google Earth" and ......I'm still figuring it out! Since the sun will be rising just about due east of the castle I have to figure out what perspective I want. Do I want to stand west and silhouette the castle while getting the sun when it's finally over the trees or..... do I want to stand front and center and capture those morning colors. I also have other options and ideas that I am mulling over for my plan.

Of course the weather could be absolute crap and the sun not seen for days so all this could be for naught..... BUT... I have been wanting to take a solo photography trip with out dragging or being drug around by the family AND since Disney is giving away one night free with a 3 night stay AND it's February with no heat and lower crowds it's looking like this might be the time to do this trip.~

Marlton Mom

I'm doing the same thing. At first, I didn't feel anything special about the 24 hour day at the park. However, the idea of getting some sunrise shots appeals to me. I checked with some of my friends who like doing photo walks at Disney and they're in for this one, too.

The big thing I'm debating is whether I want to do a few selected scenes for still shots, or if I want to do a time-lapse over one scene. Such decisions.