Highs and Lows. Better late than never.

[2Tiggies]

Thank you, once again to all of you for your lovely comments and kind wishes.

I will try make sure I reply to all questions so I need to start at page 1 and will go through them all.

 

[2Tiggies]

Lee I look forward to your detailed post about FP+ or as Craig on the Podcast calls it FP-.

Reid, we hated it. It works for some, and not for others. I found it made our park day very rigid. Also, the app does not update fast enough when a ride is down (it happened a lot!) so you still have to walk across the park to get there before you find out that you can't ride/have to come back. There was an evening when we went to Epcot and had Maelstrom, TT and Spaceship Earth. Well SE was walk on so a waste of a FP but there was nothing to switch to as everything was gone, but for Figment. We went to TT and it was down. Went to Maelstrom - also down. So now we are in WS at 8 pm ready to get a spot for Illuminations and just had to forfeit our FP. It didn't ruin our trip, but we had much more fun in the last week when we just stopped bothering with them. The kiosks had long lines, although they moved relatively quickly, but the screens were clunky and slow and it was just a frustrating process. I didn't like being glued to my phone and having to plug into a power pack because of battery drain. The wifi is pretty good but there were times when it just refused to connect at all.

Would be interested to hear your views on FP+ as we are getting ready to start planning that.

I also have to add (as per other comments) that image of the fireworks is stunning.

Thank you, Zoe. I think I have given my FP overview above in my reply to Reid, but let me know if there's something I missed.

Wow your photos are just amazing. I wish I could get pics half as good as those. Glad you had a great time. Sorry to hear FP+ didn't work out well for you. I'm already thinking that I will be writing down times and carrying the bit of paper around with me, I really don't wanna be on my phone in the parks ...do enough of that at home, I will just have to use the kiosks if I wanna make changes. Thanks for sharing

The phone is better than the kiosks. But the piece of paper or a screen shot of your times saves a lot of hassle. It took us a while to get wise to the fact. Slow learners

We go in three weeks and I'm now wondering if I need to change some FPs. Normally rides like Spaceship Earth and Nemo haven't been difficult to get on so we haven't FP them, should we? We've mainly stuck to the headliners and shows like Nemo & Lion King?
BTW seems like your trip is going to be hard to beat;-)

Lion King show gets preferred seating with FP so not a bad choice. Aside from EE and KRR, there is nothing else that demands the use of a FP. We found AK was the easiest park with FP because you didn't really need it. Even EE never peaked above 40 minutes on the busiest day we were there. We rode it 8 times one day, before mid afternoon so it's doable.

Epcot was the worst park with FP+ and we used to spend a lot of time there, but did a handful of short visits this trip and it was enough.

Yes, be mindful of rides like SE and MS at Epcot. Those usually have little to no wait later in the day so if you want to ride them earlier on, they are still worth a FP, but if you plan on getting there after mid afternoon, there are better ways to 'spend your 3'.

Fabulous photos - The Hippo made me chuckle
After seeing the quality, I will never,ever be able to post mine now

What a great trip you had by the sounds of it. I empathise with you re BA - we flew to LA with them the day the baggage system went down and ended up without our luggage for 5 days - who knows when/if we will get our money back for our 'essentials' ($850 and that was minimising things).

Congratulations on your engagement and good luck moving there!

Irene, thank you. I just want to point out that I don't post photos that I don't want people to see. I cull around 60% of what I take. I take rubbish photos too and I also take photos with my phone I'd be sad if I thought posting photos stopped other people sharing. I used to be intimidated when people posted nice photos and it took me years to be confident enough to share mine. You share your experience.That's what people want to see. It's a trip planning forum, not a gallery.

I actually think your photos are much, much better than the professional ones I've seen!

Pam

Definitely not a professional, but I appreciate your kind words.

 

[2Tiggies]

Your photos are fantastic! Can I be nosy and ask what sort of camera you use? And is there some kind of fish eye lens? It's really effective!

And you have me worried about BA we are going with them in December.....

Mikki, thank you. I use a Nikon D7000. Lenses were:

Nikkor 10.5 mm fis2.8heye (yes, you were right)
Nikkor 24-70 mm F2.8 (most of my general photos)
Nikkor 50 mm AF-D F1.8 (a couple of photos of DD, not posted)
Nikkor 70 - 300 mm F4.5 (the Wild Africa Trek)

Count me in as another who adores your photos

You should put together a 2015 DIS Boards Calendar - bet you would get loads of takers!!

Thanks Linda.

Your photos are incredible!!! I'm a photographer and have earmarked two days for just going around taking photos. Are there any times of day or things you would recommend getting shots of or are more difficult to picture?

It depends what you want and whether you have the freedom to sit and wait for the right light/right time etc. I find the midday sun very harsh, but I still take photos of my daughter at any time of the day as I'd rather preserve the memories than have a masterpiece without capturing the moment. Early morning/evening and late at night are ideal times if you want less traffic and better light. If you are using a tripod, finding a secure spot to set up early is probably the best advice I could give. I ended up in 2 altercations about tripods where guests became difficult. Both involved Security. Or one did, and we suspect the other one did, as the person who was causing the problems and her entire party vanished as if by magic

Sounds like you had an awesome time, Lee! So happy for you!!! Beautiful pictures. I'll message you about the BA thing (Sorry if I stoke up your anger again!)

Jay, thank you. I've replied to you

Oh my, that photo is easily one of the best I've seen of the fireworks. Simply, stunning.

When I have more time I'll definitely be taking a peruse through your flickr album!

PS - CONGRATULATIONS!

Thanks Loodles