Groucho? 11 days? Beach Club? 4-year & 8-month-old? Tons of pics? Yes! (finally done)

I'm always happy to contribute to the lack of productivity of the American workforce. ;)

If you want any details on any of the other photos, just ask!


If my truck is backed into a dock and I'm waiting to get loaded, technically I'm still working :thumbsup2

Thanks again for leaving the EXIF data for us all to see. Very cool stuff.
 
I actually like the blurry, ethereal feel to your Buzz Lightyear score! It's like a cross between Buzz and Haunted Mansion or something.

I haven't been on DIS for a while to comment or keep up with reports, but I figured that since it's finally Friday, I'd spend some time to catch up. Unfortunately, I'm also exhausted, so I'm clearly not thinking straight! As I was going through your pictures, I thought, "Wow, it's so nice that Groucho put the Splash Mountain ride music in the background to go along with the trip report." It took me a while to realize that I had turned it on myself ...
 
Thanks Bethany1023! I suspected that movie but wasn't sure.

If my truck is backed into a dock and I'm waiting to get loaded, technically I'm still working :thumbsup2

Thanks again for leaving the EXIF data for us all to see. Very cool stuff.
Good deal; nice to be able to have some free time like that at work. :)

I like having the exif data there - it's one of the big advantages of hosting my own photo gallery. I've considered putting some stuff on Flickr just for the criticism but haven't gotten around to that - of course, that also means putting descriptions up of the pics; the majority of photos on my site just have the filename for a description! I keep meaning to add more descriptions but never find the time...

RachelNinja said:
I actually like the blurry, ethereal feel to your Buzz Lightyear score! It's like a cross between Buzz and Haunted Mansion or something.

I haven't been on DIS for a while to comment or keep up with reports, but I figured that since it's finally Friday, I'd spend some time to catch up. Unfortunately, I'm also exhausted, so I'm clearly not thinking straight! As I was going through your pictures, I thought, "Wow, it's so nice that Groucho put the Splash Mountain ride music in the background to go along with the trip report." It took me a while to realize that I had turned it on myself ...
"RachelNinja's got a sleeping place, a sleeping place, to go-o-o... find a bed and give it a turn down and soon you'll find you're sno-o-oring..." :rotfl2:

In an vaguely related note, I have an update to the missing Mickey saga - well, he's still missing, but I found almost the same one on eBay and it arrived today. It looks identical (though less well-loved!) except that it doesn't have the castle seal on the bottom of the foot. Jack was pretty happy; he was a little sad about the missing seal but he probably wouldn't have noticed it if I didn't say it. (He might have though; he's pretty sharp.) He's sleeping with it in his arms right now. :thumbsup2
 
In an vaguely related note, I have an update to the missing Mickey saga - well, he's still missing, but I found almost the same one on eBay and it arrived today. It looks identical (though less well-loved!) except that it doesn't have the castle seal on the bottom of the foot. Jack was pretty happy; he was a little sad about the missing seal but he probably wouldn't have noticed it if I didn't say it. (He might have though; he's pretty sharp.) He's sleeping with it in his arms right now. :thumbsup2

I have a love/hate relationship with Ebay. This is one of the parts I love. That's great. :goodvibes
 

I just found this site as we are planning a trip for June. (So excited about the Star Wars Weekends!) I have to say, I've spent all day going over this thread! My favorite is the one of the Carpets of Aladdin ride. So appreciate the exif data, too! I've been debating whether or not to take my Sony DSLR or get a compact to take. I think I'll do both! I mean, the reason I GOT that camera was to take awesome photos with. :)
 
I've been debating whether or not to take my Sony DSLR or get a compact to take. I think I'll do both! I mean, the reason I GOT that camera was to take awesome photos with. :)

I think you'll fit in quite nicely here! :dance3:
 
I have a love/hate relationship with Ebay. This is one of the parts I love. That's great. :goodvibes
Yup, I'm pretty happy about that. Just to double-check, yesterday I finally got around to calling WDW Lost & Found a second time, and anything like a plush toy would be gone after 30 days so no hope of the original being returned. :( Maybe in the future I'll make a label to stick onto the tag that has our name/phone number in case anything falls out again...

I just found this site as we are planning a trip for June. (So excited about the Star Wars Weekends!) I have to say, I've spent all day going over this thread! My favorite is the one of the Carpets of Aladdin ride. So appreciate the exif data, too! I've been debating whether or not to take my Sony DSLR or get a compact to take. I think I'll do both! I mean, the reason I GOT that camera was to take awesome photos with. :)
Hi Lori! Welcome to Disboards. :) Stop by the Photography board, there are a number of Sony shooters there - and the question about "take my DSLR or leave it home" is often asked and I (and most others) say - take the DSLR! Where better to use it? :thumbsup2 I'm excited about SWW too - I'm especially excited that I happened to pick the weekend that easily has the best guests IMHO! Last week, we watched Empire and Return so my son Jack is up to speed on the "holy trilogy" even though he doesn't know that we're going back to WDW so soon!

Back to the trip report... we're up to our last full day! :sad1: I'm going to split up our day at AK and then I'll put the evening (at Downtown Disney) and the final morning together, then some shots from my wife's camera.

We had our last few treats from Main St Bakery for breakfast then headed for Animal Kingdom. It was still fairly chilly (at least we were dressed better for it) and it generally alternated between sprinkling and pouring all day. Our first stop was Safaris, and it was still after 11 when we got to it! Yes, we got a late start as we did on most days.

As our truck pulled up, I made a cast member giggle when I commented on how tiny our driver looked in the big truck - she was a small woman with the seat pulled almost all the way forward. We hopped into the front row and prepared for a rainy ride...

WDW2010-451.jpg


The animals didn't seem to mind the rain.

WDW2010-452.jpg


WDW2010-456.jpg


Fairly early on, we found ourselves just sitting there, along with a few other trucks that we could see...

WDW2010-460.jpg


Our driver was kind of the opposite of the driver we'd had a few days earlier... he was very talkative and drove very aggressively (which makes for a fun and wild ride); our driver drove pretty carefully and didn't talk a lot, which made it slightly dull as we waited for something to happen... don't get me wrong, she seemed very nice but we could have used a little more spiel.

WDW2010-461.jpg


WDW2010-464.jpg


Finally we got going again...

WDW2010-466.jpg


...and stopped again...

WDW2010-468.jpg


We moved on slowly - check out the amount of rain that was falling! It was a real downpour.

WDW2010-470.jpg


We saw some CMs out there working...

WDW2010-471.jpg


WDW2010-473.jpg


WDW2010-476.jpg


On this trip, we saw a lot of CM training going on. We eventually asked and I guess this was a time when a lot of new college students come on board, and it probably doesn't hurt that it's such a quiet time.

WDW2010-477.jpg


We decided to do the "Conservation Section" thing and rode the train over there... my wife was fine with skipping it but Jack wanted to go, and he was working on getting the stamps for his card from each place. (Unfortunately, we'd left the one from the first day at our room but they let us finish a new one without it!)

WDW2010-481.jpg


We wandered around there, did the usual potty breaks, then were getting hungry so we ended up eating at Tamu Tamu (it was either there or Flame Tree again); I had had a good tuna from there last trip. This trip, it was OK but not spectacular.

WDW2010-483.jpg


We wandered through a store or two, picking up a "baby Pooh" plush for Leila (who was fascinated by it), then made our way to Festival of the Lion King.

WDW2010-486.jpg


WDW2010-487.jpg


WDW2010-491.jpg


Next, because crowds were late, we zipped over to Dinosaur and Jack even agreed to ride it. I told him it was a little scary but not too much - I figured that he could hack it and I didn't want to scare him off it beforehand. He did great! I held his hand and it was more for my sake than his. He did say afterwards that it was really scary but fun. :) He loves scary books, movies, TV shows, etc - he will probably have his father's taste for horror when he gets older!

Continued...
 
Next was another Everest ride. Jack was not interested in riding this one! I still love it, though as I said, the strobe lights on the yeti are so disappointing.

WDW2010-493.jpg


I hemmed and hawed about buying this shirt... I love 8bit stuff and the shirt is just so darn weird and nonsensical... but I didn't really like just how mushroomy the Tree of Life looked, and the shirt was pretty expensive and the fabric was fairly thin. Skip the "organic cotton" Disney - I want "Beefy T" shirts or similar! I eventually decided to skip it and buy a Haunted Mansion t-shirt that I had my eyes on at MK in the morning... which I was not able to buy as the little outdoor gift shop wasn't open until 11am.

WDW2010-495.jpg


Next stop was Finding Nemo. Now here's a "problem" you don't usually have - we've always managed to sit fairly near the front, usually by getting there very early. This time, we were not very early and my wife wanted to sit back a little to see things a little different, but Jack wanted to sit close - I think we sat in the exact same place as last time we saw it! Which was right next to the stage. This shot was not long before the show started...

WDW2010-496.jpg


You get to be right up close...

WDW2010-498.jpg


WDW2010-499.jpg


By now, the park was closing so we packed up and headed for Downtown Disney... and I will pick up from there in the next update!
 
Just viewed your last bunch of pictures and they are absolutely gorgeous. I love the pictures from safari. Even the raindrops are so vibrant! If I could take pictures like that I would be a happy girl. :worship:
 
Thanks kafitty and MEK! Re: the safari pics - I'm pretty happy myself; I've rarely had much luck getting shots that I like on it, the rain seemed to help. :)

On to the last update! (Except for some shots from my wife's camera that I'll add soon, in a few days probably.)

We left Animal Kingdom and made our way (via another hotel) to Downtown Disney. We were getting pretty hungry and trying to decide between Wolfgang Puck Cafe and Earl of Sandwich. My first inclination was WPC but I would probably order something that I make at home fairly often anyway... plus we walked over the place as I somehow overlooked it. (I knew it was near the bus stop but then I started questioning myself...) long story short, by the time we found it, I talked myself into Earl of Sandwich. They have some really good stuff and it's relatively cheap, to boot. I ended up with an "All American" - "Roasted Turkey, Buttermilk Ranch, Cranberries, Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Lettuce & Tomato" according to their menu, mine was minus the tomato. It sounds a bit weird but it was very good!

By this time the rain had let up a little but it was still sprinkling a bit, but I left brave enough to mount my non-sealed 55mm macro on my camera, which I hadn't really used thus far on the trip. We stopped into a few stores, including the new "Tren-D". I'm not exactly the target audience but there are some interesting things to shoot in there. I'd have more shots but most of the time, I accidentally had the camera set to ISO 5000. Oops!

WDW2010-500.jpg


WDW2010-501.jpg


We spent some time at the Lego Store... Jack is at the age where he loves Legos so he likes coming here.

WDW2010-502.jpg


WDW2010-504.jpg


Even Leila was having a good time.

WDW2010fam-109.jpg


We spent some time at Goofy's Candy Company, which for some reason, we usually skip most trips. Some of the treats there look like they'll put you right into a coffin!

WDW2010-509.jpg


WDW2010-510.jpg


My wife decided to get one of the custom-designed Rice Krispy treats. I'm not a big fan of RC treats so I skipped it. I might mention that it was some overwhelmingly sweet by the time that it was done that it is still unfinished and the remainder will no doubt find itself in the trash pretty soon!

While all this was going on, the rest of us had fun wandering around and checking out the funhouse mirror. Hmm... Jay Leno or Bruce Campbell?

WDW2010fam-115.jpg


Using a manual focus lens means that sometimes the focus is a little off, but they still crack me up. :)

WDW2010fam-116.jpg


WDW2010fam-118.jpg


"They call me Heat Miser... whatever I touch..."

WDW2010fam-120.jpg


Next stop was Art of Disney as well as the neighboring stationary store to get some pencils for his daycare friends. Do you know how hard it is to find small, cheap souvenirs for ~15 small children? Your options are slim without going broke!

Anyway, I always like the Art of Disney stores and have fun shooting some of the art on display.

WDW2010-516.jpg


WDW2010-517.jpg


WDW2010-522.jpg


WDW2010-523.jpg


It was getting late, so he hopped on a bus back to Beach Club, wet and very sleepy! We did as much packing as we could before collapsing, and in the morning we finished packing and took our stuff down and left it with Bell Services. Either I'm missing a receipt or we had leftovers for breakfast, but anyway, we went to Magic Kingdom and had just a little over an hour available before we had to head back to catch the Magical Express bus. How much can you do in a little over an hour, you might ask? Well, does this give you any idea...

WDW2010-524.jpg


...or this?

WDW2010-525.jpg


Yes, it was practically empty! We rode Snow White, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, and Buzz Lightyear - twice! (Unfortunately, my scores were lousy compared to my high score from the other night.) We stopped by the Main St Bakery for one last cinnamon roll and some other goodies then got on the bus back to Beach Club... I think a little condensation from the humidity gave this shot a nice ethereal quality.

WDW2010fam-123.jpg


We got back to Beach Club with a few minutes to spare. The bad news is that we were just about out of anything to feed Leila and she was getting very cranky... it felt like a long ride back to the airport! Plus, turns out that they don't sell any baby formula in the airports at all... just applesauce. We did our best to keep Leila happy on the flight home but it was nonstop work! We were all happy to get her home and fed properly. The good news is that, just in almost two months since we were there, she tends to be much happier overall so hopefully she will take the next trip in stride. Plus she eats all sorts of stuff now, so it's much easier to keep her fed!

So, that was the trip! Overall, I'd have to say that it was a success... none of us got sick :cool1: which was a huge bonus after our previous trip. Really, the biggest headache was trying to keep Leila happy. It can be tough with an infant! We did just order a new stroller for our June trip which has room for both of them while still being small and easy to maneuver, so hopefully that will help. (A Joovy Caboose Ultralight for those who are into strollers!) The weather was pretty decent most of the time and crowd levels were low. We never got a chance to go swimming (a shame when staying at the Beach Club!) and I didn't really get any late nights at the parks (which I enjoy) and hence got very few tripod shots. My new R-Strap worked well, which has since been replaced to fix a dodgy screwlock issue and we have acquired a second R-Strap for my wife's camera.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the trip report! Let me know if you did. ;) I have started to go through the pictures from my wife's camera (which I used a couple times) so I'll be adding a few more "bonus" shots soon.
 
Great job Groucho! Some really nice shots in the report.

Glad to hear everyone stayed healthy this trip. We have been sick at Disney before and it is NOT fun.

Thanks again for the TR. Really enjoyed it! :thumbsup2
 
I love that you were able to capture the expressions of the Finding Nemo puppeteers.

The Art of Disney pics are wonderful! I think it's the best way to "bring" the expensive stuff home! I would never buy those sculptures and statues because I just can't afford it, but I'm a firm believer in "photo shopping sprees"!

I think you need to take another pic so I can see more amazing pics :thumbsup2
 
Groucho, thank you so much for sharing! Your pictures, as always, are amazing! We went to ASM back in January and will be going home to the Beach Club November 13th. Your report makes me wish it was a bit sooner but it gives us something to look forward to. My hat's off to you and I appreciate helping me understand some of the settings you used and why.

So....when's the next trip?
 
WVDisGeek said:
Great job Groucho! Some really nice shots in the report.

Glad to hear everyone stayed healthy this trip. We have been sick at Disney before and it is NOT fun.

Thanks again for the TR. Really enjoyed it!
Thanks! Yes, staying healthy is probably the biggest accomplishment of the trip, especially such a long trip as this time of year. Last year's trip around the same time was the sickest I've been in years... :sick:

I love that you were able to capture the expressions of the Finding Nemo puppeteers.

The Art of Disney pics are wonderful! I think it's the best way to "bring" the expensive stuff home! I would never buy those sculptures and statues because I just can't afford it, but I'm a firm believer in "photo shopping sprees"!

I think you need to take another pic so I can see more amazing pics :thumbsup2
Another pic or another trip? :)

I agree about the statues - I am much too cheap to buy that sort of thing (I have had a few trips where I have bought no souvenirs whatsoever) but I do like looking at them, and if I'm able to get a photo that doesn't look like a standard product photo, so much the better!

Groucho, thank you so much for sharing! Your pictures, as always, are amazing! We went to ASM back in January and will be going home to the Beach Club November 13th. Your report makes me wish it was a bit sooner but it gives us something to look forward to. My hat's off to you and I appreciate helping me understand some of the settings you used and why.

So....when's the next trip?
Have fun at the Beach Club! The location is terrific, even if you don't get much of a chance to enjoy the amenities (as we didn't.)

As for next trip... check my signature. :) I was thinking about doing a father & son trip for Star Wars Weekends since my wife thought that she had to work, but it turns out that it's early enough so she sort of "glommed on". :) Hey, it means that I'll be able to go out at night solo for some tripod shooting and general park enjoyment - we will be there for four nights, and on two of them, Magic Kingdom is open until 2am! :woohoo: Count on me being there until closing on at least one night, if not both! It ended up working out pretty well - plane tickets were all of $145 roundtrip for JetBlue nonstops, Billy Dee Williams and Ray Park will be there that weekend, plus we'll be there for the first running on Main Street Electrical Parade! :cool1: There'll be no Animal Kingdom and quite possibly no Epcot and a lot of crowds and hot temps, but I'm expecting to have a great time regardless. :thumbsup2

After that, there will probably be another "full length" trip at the beginning of 2011 - we have to get our money's worth out of our annual passes! Maybe another New Year's Eve trip, early enough to still see the Christmas decorations... I would go early in December but I just don't have that kind of vacation time available.
 
I was just watching the Star Wars parade on youtube today with the boys and they were LOVING IT! We've been there for a day during the Star Wars weekend and it was pretty packed. Unfortunately, the kids weren't into it at the time but now they want to go back for it:confused3

Is it just me or is Storm Along Bay not the best pool area? The Grill right next to the kids pool...and of course a Captin's Mai Tai! I have to admit, when we walk out back past the pool and you can see the whole Boardwalk on the other side of the lake, I get teary eyed every time. And every time it happens I always announce "We're finally home."
 
I love that you were able to capture the expressions of the Finding Nemo puppeteers.

The Art of Disney pics are wonderful! I think it's the best way to "bring" the expensive stuff home! I would never buy those sculptures and statues because I just can't afford it, but I'm a firm believer in "photo shopping sprees"!

I think you need to take another pic so I can see more amazing pics :thumbsup2

Photo shopping sprees! I love it!
We are spending all of Sunday over that Star Wars Weekend in DHS! I am so excited. :cool1: I hadn't even seen that MK was open that late some of the time! I think my teenagers will definitely be up for that.
 
Haha yes, another TRIP! Many more trips for many more pics!
 












Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE













DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top