How Many Sleeps Until Disney Mommy?! August 2009 PTR **WE'RE BACK!!!**

[jenjolt]

I just adore your parade photos they are so much fun!!!!!! I am a huge spectro fan so I loved how clear your pictures came out...how did you do it??

Well only a few more sleeps LOL!!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I can't believe that there are so many here that are going to be there the same time....me too! We are also staying at POP and arriving on the 24th. I have requested the 50's though.

Hellllllo fellow Ontarian! Are you going to DHS on the 24th too?? Maybe we'll see you there!

Loved all the parade pix!! Your Spectro ones turned out great... they're always so hard to get just right!

I'm definitely going to see the Jammin' Jungle Parade this year, we keep missing it. Block Party Bash is new and I wouldn't think of missing Spectro, so thats three parades I have to plan!!

So glad you're enjoying those maps!! It's so fun to really see and touch a little part of Disney!


Kathy

I just love parades. On our first trip, on our first day, we watched our first parade at the Magic Kingdom. Oh my! I was teary eyed and smiling and pointing out every single character to my kids.

I just adore your parade photos they are so much fun!!!!!! I am a huge spectro fan so I loved how clear your pictures came out...how did you do it??

Well only a few more sleeps LOL!!

I LOVE my camera. We've had it for years now and its always given me excellent shots on just its normal, turn it on, point and shoot setting - Fuji FinePix A330. I think the Spectro ones came out because we were sitting with lots of room around us and I could hold the camera a little bit steadier than if I was standing and being jostled.

Alex loves photography and has been stealing it a lot more lately, so this past Christmas I asked Santa for a new Fuji so he could keep the A330 permanently. I now have a new FinePix S1000fd and I'm still learning all the different things it can do! I just found the night time and fireworks settings and I'm trying to find the right setting to give me a blurry Dumbo shot!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Does your camera have a manual setting? I put mine on manual setting and then set the exposure so the shutter will stay open longer. You have to keep the camera super still which is why a tripod is good. So the dumbo's will blur but the buildings and such will not blur.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

It does have a manual setting and I was fussing with it but I don't yet have a suitable testing subject. The cars outside my house just aren't co-operating. I'm going to borrow my son's photography books and his tripod and find something to test it on.

 

[Lady Lallie]

It does have a manual setting and I was fussing with it but I don't yet have a suitable testing subject. The cars outside my house just aren't co-operating. I'm going to borrow my son's photography books and his tripod and find something to test it on.

I've tested mine on my tv before, not perfect but you get the idea.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Our pool was finally ready to use today! We had to build a proper fence and then replace a ripped liner and fix a faulty pump... ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching But today was the day we could finally start swimming!

How is this Disney related you ask? Well I was testing out my camera settings to get ready for our trip of course!

The first three shots are not camera setting related.... I just wanted to share. The panoramic one turned out odd because of the sunlight difference but I'm really looking forward to trying more of these kind of shots on our trip. Night shots at the parks, at the resort... oh the possibilities!

Hmmmm, I really have to trim Ariana's hair again. It looked so cute at Easter time - my first attempt at a layered do for her and it turned out fabulous, such compliments she got!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm going to do a posting of our last day's plans and update on some changes I made today.

 

[ZeroToHero]

That looks like a HUGE pool!!! Or is it just the panoramic setting?

 

[Lady Lallie]

Love the panoramic shot! I tried to do one around WS last September but I was too impatient and having trouble lining it up. I should try again!

 

[cjackearl]

I love the pool pictures. Gotta love summer time! The panoramic shot is too cool.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

In a moment I'll detail our plans for Day 9, our last day. But first, I've made a few small changes to a few of our other days. It had to happen at some point and these changes were easily taken care of.

I plan on putting together a picture itinerary for Ariana again this year, and I looked up the times of the parades and fireworks in each park on the days we were there. Turns out Spectro Magic wasn't going to be running on the first night we were at MK, nor was Fantasmic going to be shown on our DHS day so we wouldn't see it at all! No way Jose! Those are must do's so now I've scheduled them in on a few of the days when we were going to wing it.

So now our Day 6 has had EMH at MK scheduled for sure, so we'll have to make sure to give ourselves plenty of time without rushing to get from Blizzard Beach to MK for Spectro Magic at 9pm.

And our Day 8 at the resort has now had a vist to DHS added onto the evening to go to the Fantasmic show at 8:30pm. We figured we may as well add a dinner on, so I'm going to try and make an ADR at Hollywood & Vine.

That's it! Now onto......

Day 9!!!!

Our last full day The only park left we haven't been to on this trip... Hollywood Studios! My DS13 adores this park. He loves everything to do with filming and directing and his dream job (after a storm chaser! ) is a movie director. He writes, directs and films his own movies with his friends and posts them on youtube. One of his good friend's dad owns a studio and they love to make movies and edit them with his professional equipment. Some of the things they come up with..... Anyways, last time we were here I grabbed him a director's board (and.... action!) and he uses it when he's filiming.

There is so much to do at DHS I'm almost glad in hindsight that Fantasmic isn't going to be on because we won't have to end things early to sit and wait for the show. Its EMH too so I'm hoping to have a last leisure filled day to end our trip on a fabulous note.

Must do's on this day in no particular order:
Beauty & the Beast Live on Stage - always a fabulous show!
Honey I Shrunk the Kids - haven't done this since our first trip and I can only vaguely remember how it was
Muppet Vision 3-D - for whatever reason we have always skipped this one, but not this time!
Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show - last trip this was cancelled because of pouring rain so we're hoping to make it this time, Demetri hasn't seen it and he will sooooo love it
Playhouse Disney Live on Stage - Demetri was a little under the weather last time we went so I'm looking forward to him enjoying it a little more this year
Aerosmith Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - behind Soarin this is Ariana's favorite ride!
Star Tours - she loves this ride too but it usually makes me a bit motion sick
Tower of Terror - this ride freaks me out and my stomach always jumps in my throat, but we love it
Voyage of the Little Mermaid - we love this one too!
Toy Story Mania - we ride this over and over
The Great Movie Ride - we rode this one for the first time last year, must do again
American Idol - love the show and must pretend I am going to Hollywood!
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular - this is the only one I don't mind if we don't get to
Studio Backlot Tour - OK, I don't mind if we don't get to this one either, we've done it on each of our other trips.

Didn't I say there was a lot to do? Two new things for us this year food wise - we're going to Pizza Planet for lunch in honour of two of Demetri's new favorite movies Toy Story and Toy Story 2, and we're going to Sci-Fi Dine In for dinner. Can't wait to sit in the cars and watch corny movies.

Of course the shops are always fun to go thru and we love meeting the CARS characters too. Whew! A full day to be sure!

Let's see what hints and tips I can find for DHS that I'll be checking out:

The singing in the rain umbrella attached to one of the streetlights. Grab the umbrella and step on the black square embedded in the cement underneath it for a surprise.
On the RNR coaster in the recording studio, if you look to your right on the floor, the sound cables are coiled in the shape of a hidden Mickey.


The next morning we'll be Magically Expressing back to Orlando Airport and flying home.

Next up.... I'll be counting down the rest of our days with a Name that Disney Tune game just for fun. I'll list a set of lyrics and you have to guess the name of the song, who sang it and what movie it was in.

For example:

We dig up diamonds by the score
A thousand rubies, sometimes more
But we don't know what we dig 'em for!

Can you Name that Disney Tune?

 

[Mickey_Mom]

That looks like a HUGE pool!!! Or is it just the panoramic setting?

It's a 27 foot round pool. It's quite big but I think the panoramic setting may be a little deceiving too.

Love the panoramic shot! I tried to do one around WS last September but I was too impatient and having trouble lining it up. I should try again!

I'm going to keep practising the lining up, its still a bit off I'm already better than some of my first attempts!

I love the pool pictures. Gotta love summer time! The panoramic shot is too cool.

I wasn't brave enough to get in myself today, just my two water babies. The temperature was just a little too frigid for me but we put our solar blanket on today so here's hoping it gets hot!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Next up.... I'll be counting down the rest of our days with a Name that Disney Tune game just for fun. I'll list a set of lyrics and you have to guess the name of the song, who sang it and what movie it was in.

For example:

We dig up diamonds by the score
A thousand rubies, sometimes more
But we don't know what we dig 'em for!

Can you Name that Disney Tune?

Mmmmm, no one wants to play? Ok, time for bed.

 

[ZeroToHero]

Mmmmm, no one wants to play? Ok, time for bed.

Hey-o!

Or, rather, do I mean "Heigh-Ho"?

Your plans for the last day sound great! (Besides leaving, of course)

I would have played earlier but I wasn't feeling well, so I took a nap. Which then turned into a LONGGG nap.

So now I'm checking the DIS and then going to bed again!

Good night!

 

[Angies1274]

Love the pool shots!! I agree...your pool does look huge!!! It was so cold here yesterday--definitely not swimming weather. I keep wondering when our summer is going to start.

Day 9 plans look really good. I can't believe we are going to be at the same park on the same day. I must admit though....I'm getting a little nervous about arriving at the parks so late in the day because we usually arrive first thing in the morning, and do fastpass to avoid the crowds and long lines. We've never been in August before though, always during Spring Break, hopefully that will make a difference...

Your DHS tips are great!! I will definitely be checking them out.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm not sure the title of the song...but I think it's "Dig Dig Dig" ???

I do know that the dwarves sing that in Snow White.

I think this is a great game!

 

[jenjolt]

OOOH what a fun game and I'm bound to know a couple of them LOL...However I know where that song comes from and I can sing it in my head but I'm not quite sure what the actual song title is...something like The Working Song but that doesn't sound right so I'm just going to watch all the guesses come in!!!

 

[MinnieNurse]

Now I want to buy a pool. We had a pool just like that growing up and it lasted forever. I think my parents had it for like 15 years.

Anyway, your plans sound great. I have to admit I didnt even check the Fantasmic and parade times this trip. I know its going to be hot and this trip is about relaxation for me. I know thats crazy but that is how I am this trip. We will see how it goes.

Not so hot at trivia but I will see what I can do.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Hey-o!

Or, rather, do I mean "Heigh-Ho"?

Your plans for the last day sound great! (Besides leaving, of course)

I would have played earlier but I wasn't feeling well, so I took a nap. Which then turned into a LONGGG nap.

So now I'm checking the DIS and then going to bed again!

Good night!

Hope your feeling better! Naps are sooo good.

Love the pool shots!! I agree...your pool does look huge!!! It was so cold here yesterday--definitely not swimming weather. I keep wondering when our summer is going to start.

Day 9 plans look really good. I can't believe we are going to be at the same park on the same day. I must admit though....I'm getting a little nervous about arriving at the parks so late in the day because we usually arrive first thing in the morning, and do fastpass to avoid the crowds and long lines. We've never been in August before though, always during Spring Break, hopefully that will make a difference...

Your DHS tips are great!! I will definitely be checking them out.

On our August trips the lines have always looked verrry long. I don't know how fast they go though because we have Ariana's GAC which is essentially a fast pass all the time on every ride. I would think they'd be better than Spring Break since all the kiddies are back in school when we're going.

I'm not sure the title of the song...but I think it's "Dig Dig Dig" ???

I do know that the dwarves sing that in Snow White.

I think this is a great game!

Thanks! I hope to have fun with it I'll do the answer and the next one later tonite.

OOOH what a fun game and I'm bound to know a couple of them LOL...However I know where that song comes from and I can sing it in my head but I'm not quite sure what the actual song title is...something like The Working Song but that doesn't sound right so I'm just going to watch all the guesses come in!!!

It's funny, this song did have a lot of possible names and I had to look up the official one on the soundtrack to make sure I got it right!

Now I want to buy a pool. We had a pool just like that growing up and it lasted forever. I think my parents had it for like 15 years.

Anyway, your plans sound great. I have to admit I didnt even check the Fantasmic and parade times this trip. I know its going to be hot and this trip is about relaxation for me. I know thats crazy but that is how I am this trip. We will see how it goes.

Not so hot at trivia but I will see what I can do.

If I hadn't done the itinerary I would never have known Fantasmic wouldn't be on. We love the parades and fireworks and everything else we're doing is so willy-nilly and unplanned that it would have been a big bummer to have missed it. It could have been a disappointing ending, but crisis averted!

Good luck with the game, I promise it won't be hard.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

I missed the song trivia, I know it's Snow White, and I'm thinking Hi-Ho...

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I missed the song trivia, I know it's Snow White, and I'm thinking Hi-Ho...

This was a pretty easy one, wasn't it ? You guys are much too smart.