How "just one trip" became three (babies)... update 6/29, huge triplets photo update

[Rootskate]

Awesome pictures! I can't wait to hear what you both think of Jiko. We are going for the first time next month and are really looking forward to trying it. Looks like you have beautiful weather, too!

 

[bettyann29]

I have finally made it thru the entire post and have to say your pictures are AMAZING!

Hope you and Lease are having a wonderful time! We came home from WDW on the 4th and were in awe of the low wait times on the rides.. Im thinking of trying to go back around this time next year and see how it is then..

Cant wait to hear and see more of your trip..

 

[Code]

Too tired for an update tonight, I will catch up tomorrow.

 

[Villainess]

Wonderful pictures! When you get home, could you post the exif on your Illuminations photos? Absolutely breathtaking!

 

[Disbug]

Another fan of your pictures and Trip Report Code and Lease! Popping in to ask (before I forget) why you swapped over to the Sony alpha, since you seemed pretty hepped up about the Olympus you were shooting? Plus your Olympus photos were great, as well.

Inquiring minds want to know... I shoot with a Sony H2 (pre-SLR) and am close to taking the next step up.

 

[jessily]

Great great great photos Enjoy the rest of your trip!!

 

[abbybeth]

You guys look great and sounds like you're having a blast. Lease - I love the new short hair! Code, the pics are wonderful - I certainly don't see any learning curve at all - they all give that heart-stopping-OMGwe'reinDisney-feeling .... I'm so glad you're having such a great time and getting so much done. Love that shot of th castle w/ the wishing well and I must have missed the Nessie plant sculpture in MK before - too cool!

Enjoy Raglan Road for us - that was HUGE hit with the 3 Bears Lovin' the live reports!

 

[Code]

Thanks once again to all who have left compliments, and thanks for reading along and commenting!

I guess I got over-excited but I saw a hidden Mickey in your picture post about that aligator thingy that had all of your glow paraphenalia lying all over it.

I think I'm over Dis-ed.

You know, I think you are right that we stacked them that way intentionally.

I am sure this is somewhere in this thread, but what kind of camera/lens are you using? You are also very talented with composition of the photos. I love them! Hope you are having fun. We leave on Friday for WDW and all my older daughter keeps saying is, I know we're not going to get there....I know there will be a hurricane....I should have bought trip insurance...She is driving me NUTS.
Just seeing your photos makes me want to be there NOW. I have been to WDW a hundred times, but I love to take pics...DH complains..."Don't you have enough pictures?" Hey with digital photos you can never have enough, right? Enjoy the rest of your trip

I'm using a Sony A700 and 6 lenses (new for this trip, previously I had an Olympus E-510). Check back on page 33 to see the list.

Looks so far like you should be free and clear of hurricanes! We had Hanna and Ike to worry about, and I did end up buying trip insurance just a few days before we left, but it all worked out!

As far as pics, I'm very fortunate to have an understanding wife. She even helps me just about every time I switch lenses (which is pretty often).

Read all the trip report to date and the pictures and storyline are FANTASTIC!!! If you can't go to WDW it is the next best thing to being there. Keep up the good work and look forward to being on this trip with you two as it unfolds.

Thanks for joining up

Since you are at POP again I was wondering if you could give me any tips on requesting a specific area of the resort to stay in? You have both stayed at POP for all of your visits, which area do you prefer?

Last time we were FARRRR from the parking lots and we rent a car every time and it was pretty inconvenient, so this time we requested ground level facing the parking lot and got just that, and it is MUCH better.

Good weather, good day, and another great batch of pictures. What was the food porn shot with the strawberries? Ummmm.

Garden Grill dessert. It was a creme filled turnover covered in strawberries.

Awesome pictures! I can't wait to hear what you both think of Jiko. We are going for the first time next month and are really looking forward to trying it. Looks like you have beautiful weather, too!

Jiko was out of this world. Better even than California Grill was for us last September. We had the best server we've ever had at any restaurant.

Hope you and Lease are having a wonderful time! We came home from WDW on the 4th and were in awe of the low wait times on the rides.. Im thinking of trying to go back around this time next year and see how it is then..

Yup, the low crowds are awesome!

Wonderful pictures! When you get home, could you post the exif on your Illuminations photos? Absolutely breathtaking!

EXIF should be on every photo, if you don't have EXIF software, then sure I'd be happy to post them when we get home.

Popping in to ask (before I forget) why you swapped over to the Sony alpha, since you seemed pretty hepped up about the Olympus you were shooting? Plus your Olympus photos were great, as well.

Inquiring minds want to know... I shoot with a Sony H2 (pre-SLR) and am close to taking the next step up.

Ask again after we get home

You guys look great and sounds like you're having a blast. Lease - I love the new short hair! Code, the pics are wonderful - I certainly don't see any learning curve at all - they all give that heart-stopping-OMGwe'reinDisney-feeling .... I'm so glad you're having such a great time and getting so much done. Love that shot of th castle w/ the wishing well and I must have missed the Nessie plant sculpture in MK before - too cool!

Enjoy Raglan Road for us - that was HUGE hit with the 3 Bears Lovin' the live reports!

Thanks Abby! Raglan Road was VERY good. The server was neither good nor really bad, but the food was delicious!

 

[Code]

We've had two more days of clear and somewhat hot weather. Yesterday we started in AK, we actually made the rope drop! We laugh that in 3 trips, it was the first rope drop that we've actually made it to. It ended up being a pretty hot day, the forecasted high was 93 and of course AK tacks on 5 degrees and cranks the humidity to max, so it felt AFRICA HOT.

We did the safari straight away, and I was excited for photos, but we sat in the back row of the vehicle and I have to say, it is a very very rough ride back there. Photos are challenging enough on the safari, but when your butt is leaving the seat with every hard bump, well.. it was nearly impossible to get many of the shots I wanted.

We did the bird show also, and I got selected once again to go on stage to get buzzed by an owl, and this time I got the shot! Woohoo!!!

Two rides on EE, one on Dinosaur, lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, and walking through both of the exploration trails and we were done by 2pm and very tired, so we headed back for a nap. Right before our last EE ride, we ran into a DISer, Glendamax, that we knew was going to be in the park. We were glad to spot her!

After the nap, it was time for Jiko, and it was SPECTACULAR. Best Disney meal we've had to date by far, with both the food and the service being absolutely top notch. Also, of all the crazy chances, we were seated next to another DISer that also contributes to the Picture of the Day thread, Circusgirl, and we had great conversation with her for the entire meal.

After dinner, we headed to MK for evening EMH, and it was actually pretty crowded. We arrived just in time to find a spot for Wishes, then did Jungle Cruise (better at night!), Haunted Mansion, TTA, and Buzz before deciding we were exhausted and it was time to head back to the room.

Here are 19 of the 390 pics I snapped...

 

[Code]

Today we got to sleep in just a bit as the plan was for Blizzard Beach. We arrived right as it opened, and I headed to Summit Plummet to make up for missing out on it last September. I rode it 3 times in a row without waiting at all, and it was just as awesome as I remember as a kid. After that, Lease and I did pretty much every slide in the park within the next 90 minutes, and decided that we had climbed enough stairs, so we headed out. It only took us 2 hours flat to cover the park, love the crowds I have a few photos on the point&shoot camera but haven't unloaded it yet so they will have to wait for the real TR.

Since we weren't at Blizzard as long as we expected and didn't really get completely worn out, we decided to skip the nap and headed straight for the Studios after showering back at the room. We grabbed a Fastpass for Toy Story Mania, then grabbed lunch at Backlot Express before waiting 50 minutes in the Toy Story standby line (longest line we've waited in so far by 45 minutes). IT IS A GREAT RIDE!!!!

Next we got a Fastpass for RnRC, rode ToT with little wait, rode RnRC with a bit of a wait, and got a Fastpass for RnRC. That meant that we had a trifecta of Fastpasses (Toy Story, ToT, RnRC) for when we got back from dinner. We headed to DTD for dinner at Raglan Road, and it was very tasty, and also very quick as the restaurant wasn't busy at all at 5pm.

Got back to the Studios at around 7 and used all 3 of our Fastpasses, and it was a really good thing we had them as all the waits had increased due to people arriving to spend the night at evening EMH. When our Fastpasses were gone, evening EMH had started and waits were even longer, so we did the Animation Academy, then the Great Movie Ride, and that was it for the night. It was a great night and our Fastpass strategy paid off, but I'm thinking we should avoid evening EMH from here on out.

Here are 22 of the 235 pics I snapped today...

(oh, and I beat Lease both times we rode Toy Story Mania )

 

[disneyholic family]

i can't believe it - you were at Blizzard Beach when DD was there!!
i think - on monday morning...right?

she said it was great....they did the whole park and then they went back to the pop century to lie by the hippy dippy pool and rest...

she was also at the MK for EMH night...she said the new no wristband policy was a major pain...she said having the CMs read each resort ID for validity dates really slowed down the lines..

she said she's not going to do any more EMH evenings while she's there..

oh...and of course - Your pictures are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that owl shot is unbelievable...but all your shots are gorgeous..
you really should sell them to WDW....best shots i've seen...

 

[jessily]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Jiko so much! We have ADRs there a week from Sunday and it's the meal we are most looking forward to during our trip.

 

[°O°Joe]

Wow Code! Some fantastic pictures... looks like that new camera is treating you just fine!

Looks like you'll have plenty of material for Flickr when you get back

--Joe

P.S. I especially like the Owl one from Flights of Wonder. Awesome shot!!

 

[Villainess]

Fabulous photos - I downloaded an exif viewer for Firefox so I was able to check out the Illuminations exif info - Thanks!

Uggghh! the new no wristband policy sounds awful!

 

[Becky521]

Wow. Your owl shot is amazing. When we went in 2006 I had decided I wanted to be the person to have the hawk(I think it was a hawk) take the dollar bill. I am normally a big chicken but wanted to do this so I had my dollar in my hand on the way there so I was ready. My kids said I had my "serious face" and they were laughing at me and no one took my picture!! Maybe next time.
I love your tiger picture. I don't think I have ever seen the tigers do anything but sleep.

 

[pl'smama]

Great update Code and wonderful photos as well. Your cinematography skills are just amazing! You deserved that little nap on the tram!!

Suz

 

[travelmel]

Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Great stuff!

I'm outta cool words to call you!

Melissa

 

[Code]

Once again I find myself with no energy for an update.. we were at MNSSHP until park closing, and it was GREAT! We were worried that the weather might intervene, but it didn't start raining until 5 minutes past park closing

I'll catch up again tomorrow.

Well OK just 1 photo

 

[Lynn5700]

OMG DUDE!!!! Your pictures rock!!! Gorgeous!!!! What camera do you have!!! You are sooo talented!!!

May I ask where is the picture you took of WallE at??

 

[Abby's Dad]

I am definitely loving this live update stuff - your enthusiasm and enjoyment really comes through, and, well, the pictures certainly speak for themselves. I really liked the first of the MK fireworks with the castle - REALLY NICE!

Can't wait to see the pictures from MNSSHP - I am willing to bet you have an awesome shot or two of the gravediggers in the parade (possibly my favorite part of the parade - but I don't know, I did enjoy the whole parade a lot).