- Joined
- Jan 16, 2006
- Messages
- 5,903
OK, I'm going to try to do a more "full" trip report this time to accompany my "live" trip report from the Photography section (where I usually hang out).
The players: My wife, Jack (almost 5 years old and a seasoned veteran), and Leila (8 months old and fulfilling the conventional wisdom about second children!)
The situation: we have been going annually for a few years now. My son and I are most into it and my wife loves it but I'm the one who does all the planning, keeps up with Disney park news, etc.
The place: Beach Club Villas studio. (I decided to save points instead of our usual half-one-bedroon, half-studio stay.) January 23rd through February 2nd.
The gear: One tired, Disney-worn stroller. Lots of diapers. Not quite enough baby formula. Outlandish piles of camera gear. (See the live TR for photos of the gear. Photo nuts might recognize some of the key words... fisheye... F1.2... Lensbaby... etc.)
On Saturday the 23rd, we said our goodbyes to the cold and frost...
...and headed to the airport. We were boarding our Airtran flight when I heard the person at the counter say, "oh, you'll have Captain Mad Dog today! Maybe he'll play his harmonica for you."
Ohhhhh kay.... We get onboard and sure enough, we hear harmonica music over the PA system, then Captain Mad Dog begins singing an airplane-themed parody of Bad to the Bone. 
We settled in, trying to keep Leila under control - she was flying as a lap baby, and of course, the person sitting in front just has to recline his seat as far as possible to make sure whoever is holding the baby has as little room as possible. Jack amuses himself with our PSP...
...and finally Leila falls asleep.
We touch down, Jack says "thank you Captain Mad Dog" as we leave, and we make our way through MCO to the Magical Express.
We're always had pretty good luck with ME, and after just a moment, we were sent onto a waiting bus. They've changed it slightly; you now no longer need to wait in the long line to see a counterperson before queueing up for the bus itself, as long as you have your ME booklet.
We stopped at a few other resorts, including Boardwalk...
...before arriving at Beach Club. Last time we stayed there, we were lucky enough to get a top-floor Epcot view, with a great view of Spaceship Earth. Not so lucky this time - Epcot view but only second floor, so just trees. One interesting thing was that we had a ridiculously huge L-shaped balcony; here's the long part.
It was getting late by now so after dropping our carry-on luggage, we headed for our tradition first & last trip - Magic Kingdom. It was almost 7pm when we arrived. Before going in, we headed to a counter to do something I've never done before... buy annual passes! With the DVC discount, it was cheaper to just buy them there rather than online and pay shipping.
We were hungry so we headed straight for one of my favorite CS locations on properly, the Columbia Harbour House. I usually get the tuna but I was craving clam chowder so I tried that. It was great! I also always get the mini apple pie for dessert - it was yummy as always.
First stop after that was the Haunted Mansion. This is my all-time favorite ride and Jack loves it also; he always demands to listen to the music in the car and loves looking at any HM-related pictures, video, or books that we have. Well - he's gone from being totally fearless in his younger days to being a bit of a scaredy-cat now! He was terrified and did not want to ride it in the dark, even knowing full well that it was pretend lightning. He said he'd ride it in the morning, so I didn't push him - I don't want to be one of those parents who is dragging a screaming, crying kid onto a ride.
We decide to move on and on Jack's insistence, Leila's first-ever Disney ride was It's a Small World.
Well, OK, I think we went one or two trips without riding it, so I guess we could survive.
As we got off, Wishes was about half-way done and we watched from Fantasyland. Afterwards, the area was pretty smokey for a couple minutes.
Next stop... Jack & I on Dumbo while my wife changed Leila's diaper.
I should have had a wider lens here, but oh well, maybe next time.
Continued...
The players: My wife, Jack (almost 5 years old and a seasoned veteran), and Leila (8 months old and fulfilling the conventional wisdom about second children!)
The situation: we have been going annually for a few years now. My son and I are most into it and my wife loves it but I'm the one who does all the planning, keeps up with Disney park news, etc.
The place: Beach Club Villas studio. (I decided to save points instead of our usual half-one-bedroon, half-studio stay.) January 23rd through February 2nd.
The gear: One tired, Disney-worn stroller. Lots of diapers. Not quite enough baby formula. Outlandish piles of camera gear. (See the live TR for photos of the gear. Photo nuts might recognize some of the key words... fisheye... F1.2... Lensbaby... etc.)
On Saturday the 23rd, we said our goodbyes to the cold and frost...
...and headed to the airport. We were boarding our Airtran flight when I heard the person at the counter say, "oh, you'll have Captain Mad Dog today! Maybe he'll play his harmonica for you."
Ohhhhh kay.... We get onboard and sure enough, we hear harmonica music over the PA system, then Captain Mad Dog begins singing an airplane-themed parody of Bad to the Bone. We settled in, trying to keep Leila under control - she was flying as a lap baby, and of course, the person sitting in front just has to recline his seat as far as possible to make sure whoever is holding the baby has as little room as possible. Jack amuses himself with our PSP...
...and finally Leila falls asleep.
We touch down, Jack says "thank you Captain Mad Dog" as we leave, and we make our way through MCO to the Magical Express.
We're always had pretty good luck with ME, and after just a moment, we were sent onto a waiting bus. They've changed it slightly; you now no longer need to wait in the long line to see a counterperson before queueing up for the bus itself, as long as you have your ME booklet.
We stopped at a few other resorts, including Boardwalk...
...before arriving at Beach Club. Last time we stayed there, we were lucky enough to get a top-floor Epcot view, with a great view of Spaceship Earth. Not so lucky this time - Epcot view but only second floor, so just trees. One interesting thing was that we had a ridiculously huge L-shaped balcony; here's the long part.
It was getting late by now so after dropping our carry-on luggage, we headed for our tradition first & last trip - Magic Kingdom. It was almost 7pm when we arrived. Before going in, we headed to a counter to do something I've never done before... buy annual passes! With the DVC discount, it was cheaper to just buy them there rather than online and pay shipping.
We were hungry so we headed straight for one of my favorite CS locations on properly, the Columbia Harbour House. I usually get the tuna but I was craving clam chowder so I tried that. It was great! I also always get the mini apple pie for dessert - it was yummy as always.
First stop after that was the Haunted Mansion. This is my all-time favorite ride and Jack loves it also; he always demands to listen to the music in the car and loves looking at any HM-related pictures, video, or books that we have. Well - he's gone from being totally fearless in his younger days to being a bit of a scaredy-cat now! He was terrified and did not want to ride it in the dark, even knowing full well that it was pretend lightning. He said he'd ride it in the morning, so I didn't push him - I don't want to be one of those parents who is dragging a screaming, crying kid onto a ride.
We decide to move on and on Jack's insistence, Leila's first-ever Disney ride was It's a Small World.
Well, OK, I think we went one or two trips without riding it, so I guess we could survive.
As we got off, Wishes was about half-way done and we watched from Fantasyland. Afterwards, the area was pretty smokey for a couple minutes.
Next stop... Jack & I on Dumbo while my wife changed Leila's diaper.
I should have had a wider lens here, but oh well, maybe next time.
Continued...
Can't wait to read about how your trip went and see some more shots you came up with, especially from the Lensbaby and fisheye. 
