I Can Spot Frozen Fireworks Anywhere! Aug. '14 TR Updated 7/12

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

The Villas are HUGE!!! Oh my goodness gracious, I cannot believe how much space is there! So beautiful, too.

I cannot wait for the Mine Train! My DH can't, either. Maddie is already tall enough, so I'm sure she'll want to get on. Even though she's four, she's already a thrill ride junkie like her parents.

 

[Joyciemc]

Seriously? Those studios are amazing!!
Is that a pocket door between the split bathroom?

Thanks for the tour of the room. I need to stay there!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

not surprising but amazing Mine Train photos. Funny the details you can see if photos you miss while riding. Despite riding it twice last trip didn't catch on to the sign that says "ECHO CAVERN ... cavern ... cavern"

That villa is huge! So much room to stretch-out and the bathroom is awesome - I mean, it's beautiful in general but great idea to have that split so more than one person can utilize the space at once (though, part of me thinks it would make sense for the sink to be in the same room as the toilet so if you use the toilet you have access to the sink, but whatever)

Oh, and how cool that you can see the monorail from your room

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

The Villa is amazing!! Plus I think it would be great to stay at a resort where there is a monorail

The pictures are AMAZING! Wow I rode the Mine Train and couldn't get all those details in.

 

[BridgetR3]

Your photos of Mine Train are amazing!!! We were a bit disappointed that you can't see into the cottage during the day.

That studio is LARGE!! I love all that bathroom room!! Maybe I need to look into staying there!

 

[Mom2m&k]

Love the villas so much! The bathroom set-up looks really great!

 

[CaptainCook]

Those Mine Train photos are just perfect! I never did trust myself to take photos on that ride, and I wish now that I did!

 

[katt789]

Yay! I made it! Loving the updates! Great fun had by all in the parks, that's for sure! Lunch at BOG is probably preferable to me just because you don't have to wait as long, bahah! And it doesn't take as long for everything to finish up!

UGH THE VILLAS....this is insane....I want to see them in person!!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Hi hon! I'm here and so excited! The pics....please! Beyond amazing! Can't wait to read all about this trip!

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

I'm here following. Going back to catch up now.

 

[maddiebee]

Franklin-Your photos are so so lovely! I have that same Sigma lens and I love it! Now I just need to be less lazy about carrying my camera around. I always kick myself for not shooting with it more while we are there. We were there the same time and it was just SO. HOT. that anything extra to carry just drove me nuts.
Do you shoot manually or do you use certain settings? Your lighting is always so nice!

The first few times we went on the mine train I was so confused about the cottage at the end because it was always around the same, very sunny part of the day and I couldn't tell if anything was inside! I can't believe that that wasn't something Disney considered!
Your Villa looks so lovely! It's so bright and sunny!!

 

[Missyrose]

The Villas are HUGE!!! Oh my goodness gracious, I cannot believe how much space is there! So beautiful, too.

I cannot wait for the Mine Train! My DH can't, either. Maddie is already tall enough, so I'm sure she'll want to get on. Even though she's four, she's already a thrill ride junkie like her parents.

The VGF studios (Square footage-wise) is middle of the pack in terms of size, but Disney did a fantastic job of using the space wisely. Here's the studio size list, if anyone was curious:

Animal Kingdom Villas* 316-366
Aulani 356
Bay Lake Tower 339
Beach Club Villas 365
BoardWalk Villas 359
Grand Californian 379
Grand Floridian 374
Hilton Head Island 455
Old Key West 390
Saratoga Springs 355
Vero Beach 360
Wilderness Lodge 356

We cannot wait to take our 3-year-old nephew on Mine Train. He's definitely going to be a thrill-ride junkie, now that he's finally tall enough!

Seriously? Those studios are amazing!!
Is that a pocket door between the split bathroom?

Thanks for the tour of the room. I need to stay there!

Yep, there's a lockable pocket door that separates the two "bathrooms." Total privacy in either one. You guys would love VGF!

not surprising but amazing Mine Train photos. Funny the details you can see if photos you miss while riding. Despite riding it twice last trip didn't catch on to the sign that says "ECHO CAVERN ... cavern ... cavern"

That villa is huge! So much room to stretch-out and the bathroom is awesome - I mean, it's beautiful in general but great idea to have that split so more than one person can utilize the space at once (though, part of me thinks it would make sense for the sink to be in the same room as the toilet so if you use the toilet you have access to the sink, but whatever)

Oh, and how cool that you can see the monorail from your room

I never noticed the cavern ... cavern ... cavern sign until you pointed it out! Gotta love those Disney details.

I love being able to see the monorail from different parts of the resort at all three monorail resorts. It was really cool to be sitting in the beach pool at GF and the monorail would go whizzing by.

The Villa is amazing!! Plus I think it would be great to stay at a resort where there is a monorail

The pictures are AMAZING! Wow I rode the Mine Train and couldn't get all those details in.

The Grand is such an amazing resort, and the way the villas turned out is the cherry on that sundae.

Your photos of Mine Train are amazing!!! We were a bit disappointed that you can't see into the cottage during the day.

That studio is LARGE!! I love all that bathroom room!! Maybe I need to look into staying there!

I'm a little baffled that with all the Imagineers that worked on Mine Train, no one figured out how useless the cottage scene is during the day.

The studio was fabulous. Even with the pullout couch pulled out the whole time for Chelsea, we still felt like we had plenty of room. And don't forget the Murphy bed under the TV! So handy for families!

Love the villas so much! The bathroom set-up looks really great!

We love those villas too! I can't wait until we get to stay there again... and again... and again.

Those Mine Train photos are just perfect! I never did trust myself to take photos on that ride, and I wish now that I did!

It's funny, the mine part seems very slow -- until you try to take photos and then you end up feeling like: "Wait, slow down, gah!"

Yay! I made it! Loving the updates! Great fun had by all in the parks, that's for sure! Lunch at BOG is probably preferable to me just because you don't have to wait as long, bahah! And it doesn't take as long for everything to finish up!

UGH THE VILLAS....this is insane....I want to see them in person!!

You're here! You're here! The next time we stay at VGF, you are totally welcome to crash one night in the villas, you soooooo need to stay there!

Hi hon! I'm here and so excited! The pics....please! Beyond amazing! Can't wait to read all about this trip!

Hi Jacquie! So glad to have you join us!

I'm here following. Going back to catch up now.

Yay! Welcome aboard this trip, too!

Franklin-Your photos are so so lovely! I have that same Sigma lens and I love it! Now I just need to be less lazy about carrying my camera around. I always kick myself for not shooting with it more while we are there. We were there the same time and it was just SO. HOT. that anything extra to carry just drove me nuts.
Do you shoot manually or do you use certain settings? Your lighting is always so nice!

The first few times we went on the mine train I was so confused about the cottage at the end because it was always around the same, very sunny part of the day and I couldn't tell if anything was inside! I can't believe that that wasn't something Disney considered!
Your Villa looks so lovely! It's so bright and sunny!!

Franklin will be along shortly to answer all of your photography questions (because I'm completely useless in that area). But I will say that renting a locker in the parks can make you feel less like you are schlepping every piece of camera equipment you own all day long.

The villas are very bright, very cheerful and very soothing. It was face-of-the-sun hot in August. It was so nice to come back a villa that is all very cool colors. It was just what you needed to decompress after the park.​

 

[Missyrose]

The Villas are HUGE!!! Oh my goodness gracious, I cannot believe how much space is there! So beautiful, too.

I cannot wait for the Mine Train! My DH can't, either. Maddie is already tall enough, so I'm sure she'll want to get on. Even though she's four, she's already a thrill ride junkie like her parents.

The VGF studios (Square footage-wise) is middle of the pack in terms of size, but Disney did a fantastic job of using the space wisely. Here's the studio size list, if anyone was curious:

Animal Kingdom Villas* 316-366
Aulani 356
Bay Lake Tower 339
Beach Club Villas 365
BoardWalk Villas 359
Grand Californian 379
Grand Floridian 374
Hilton Head Island 455
Old Key West 390
Saratoga Springs 355
Vero Beach 360
Wilderness Lodge 356

We cannot wait to take our 3-year-old nephew on Mine Train. He's definitely going to be a thrill-ride junkie, now that he's finally tall enough!

Seriously? Those studios are amazing!!
Is that a pocket door between the split bathroom?

Thanks for the tour of the room. I need to stay there!

Yep, there's a lockable pocket door that separates the two "bathrooms." Total privacy in either one. You guys would love VGF!

not surprising but amazing Mine Train photos. Funny the details you can see if photos you miss while riding. Despite riding it twice last trip didn't catch on to the sign that says "ECHO CAVERN ... cavern ... cavern"

That villa is huge! So much room to stretch-out and the bathroom is awesome - I mean, it's beautiful in general but great idea to have that split so more than one person can utilize the space at once (though, part of me thinks it would make sense for the sink to be in the same room as the toilet so if you use the toilet you have access to the sink, but whatever)

Oh, and how cool that you can see the monorail from your room

I never noticed the cavern ... cavern ... cavern sign until you pointed it out! Gotta love those Disney details.

I love being able to see the monorail from different parts of the resort at all three monorail resorts. It was really cool to be sitting in the beach pool at GF and the monorail would go whizzing by.

The Villa is amazing!! Plus I think it would be great to stay at a resort where there is a monorail

The pictures are AMAZING! Wow I rode the Mine Train and couldn't get all those details in.

The Grand is such an amazing resort, and the way the villas turned out is the cherry on that sundae.

Your photos of Mine Train are amazing!!! We were a bit disappointed that you can't see into the cottage during the day.

That studio is LARGE!! I love all that bathroom room!! Maybe I need to look into staying there!

I'm a little baffled that with all the Imagineers that worked on Mine Train, no one figured out how useless the cottage scene is during the day.

The studio was fabulous. Even with the pullout couch pulled out the whole time for Chelsea, we still felt like we had plenty of room. And don't forget the Murphy bed under the TV! So handy for families!

Love the villas so much! The bathroom set-up looks really great!

We love those villas too! I can't wait until we get to stay there again... and again... and again.

Those Mine Train photos are just perfect! I never did trust myself to take photos on that ride, and I wish now that I did!

It's funny, the mine part seems very slow -- until you try to take photos and then you end up feeling like: "Wait, slow down, gah!"

Yay! I made it! Loving the updates! Great fun had by all in the parks, that's for sure! Lunch at BOG is probably preferable to me just because you don't have to wait as long, bahah! And it doesn't take as long for everything to finish up!

UGH THE VILLAS....this is insane....I want to see them in person!!

You're here! You're here! The next time we stay at VGF, you are totally welcome to crash one night in the villas, you soooooo need to stay there!

Hi hon! I'm here and so excited! The pics....please! Beyond amazing! Can't wait to read all about this trip!

Hi Jacquie! So glad to have you join us!

I'm here following. Going back to catch up now.

Yay! Welcome aboard this trip, too!

Franklin-Your photos are so so lovely! I have that same Sigma lens and I love it! Now I just need to be less lazy about carrying my camera around. I always kick myself for not shooting with it more while we are there. We were there the same time and it was just SO. HOT. that anything extra to carry just drove me nuts.
Do you shoot manually or do you use certain settings? Your lighting is always so nice!

The first few times we went on the mine train I was so confused about the cottage at the end because it was always around the same, very sunny part of the day and I couldn't tell if anything was inside! I can't believe that that wasn't something Disney considered!
Your Villa looks so lovely! It's so bright and sunny!!

Franklin will be along shortly to answer all of your photography questions (because I'm completely useless in that area). But I will say that renting a locker in the parks can make you feel less like you are schlepping every piece of camera equipment you own all day long.

The villas are very bright, very cheerful and very soothing. It was face-of-the-sun hot in August. It was so nice to come back a villa that is all very cool colors. It was just what you needed to decompress after the park.​

 

[khertz]

Great start so far, Missy! I am totally loving all of the Mine Train and VGF photos. They both look so crisp & new! I really can't wait to finally get to ride the Mine Train...hopefully our plans work out to visit in October next year.

The VGF looks absolutely beautiful. I doubt seriously we will ever have opportunity to stay there, so I can live vicariously through your pics. It must have been so exciting to stay there for the first time knowing you're owners!

 

[Pixel Dust]

not surprising but amazing Mine Train photos. Funny the details you can see if photos you miss while riding. Despite riding it twice last trip didn't catch on to the sign that says "ECHO CAVERN ... cavern ... cavern"

Thanks! They shoved quite a bit a detail in that one part.​

The pictures are AMAZING! Wow I rode the Mine Train and couldn't get all those details in.

Thank you. It did seem like the slow parts were still going pretty fast to take it in for me.​

Your photos of Mine Train are amazing!!! We were a bit disappointed that you can't see into the cottage during the day.

It was definitely annoying. I hope they do something to fix it. ​

Those Mine Train photos are just perfect! I never did trust myself to take photos on that ride, and I wish now that I did!

Thanks! Dark rides are a fun challenge. And this one moves pretty quickly through that part. Keep shooting and practicing. It never hurts to try. There will be more keepers than you realize. ​

Franklin-Your photos are so so lovely! I have that same Sigma lens and I love it! Now I just need to be less lazy about carrying my camera around. I always kick myself for not shooting with it more while we are there. We were there the same time and it was just SO. HOT. that anything extra to carry just drove me nuts.
Do you shoot manually or do you use certain settings? Your lighting is always so nice!

The first few times we went on the mine train I was so confused about the cottage at the end because it was always around the same, very sunny part of the day and I couldn't tell if anything was inside! I can't believe that that wasn't something Disney considered!
Your Villa looks so lovely! It's so bright and sunny!!

Thank you so much! Yes, this Sigma is just amazing, especially for dark rides. And boy, it was beyond HOT.

Are you still using the neck strap for the camera? I definitely recommend a cross-body shoulder strap like a BlackRapid. You don't feel as fatigued after a long day.

I usually shoot in aperture priority mode. With the Sigma, I'll keep it at f/1.4 as much as possible. It's still so sharp wide open! I set the ISO based on the lighting, outdoors/indoors, but keep it as low as I can. And let the camera choose the shutter speed. If the shutter speed gets too low, just bump up the ISO.

I had to approach Mine Train differently. While it has a dark ride element, it is also an outdoor coaster. I manually set the shutter speed and aperture so the photos weren't going to be blurry from the motion. But used auto-ISO instead, to compensate for the wide range of lighting.


If you or anyone else has a question about how I shot a photo or the thought process behind it, please feel free to ask.

​

 

[Missyrose]

Great start so far, Missy! I am totally loving all of the Mine Train and VGF photos. They both look so crisp & new! I really can't wait to finally get to ride the Mine Train...hopefully our plans work out to visit in October next year.

The VGF looks absolutely beautiful. I doubt seriously we will ever have opportunity to stay there, so I can live vicariously through your pics. It must have been so exciting to stay there for the first time knowing you're owners!

Got dates yet for next October? I think we'll be there Oct. 17-25. We really loved VGF and cannot wait to stay there again. 50 years of trips there sounds alright to me.​

 

[Missyrose]

Welcome back, friends! We last left off with us getting into our Grand Floridian villa and it is pretty tough to leave a room that pretty, but we had to because we had some villainous fun in store.

Dad and Michelle had arrived a couple of hours earlier and had checked into their resort. They came to pick us up and take us to Hollywood Studios for Villains Unleashed! Let’s set the scene a bit. The storm clouds were definitely gathering -- Franklin joked it was just atmosphere that Disney had ordered up for the party.

Okay, let’s take a quick timeout to explain a bit about this event. In 2013, Disney held a villains event at DHS for its “Limited Time Magic” promotion. Somehow, Disney was caught completely unawares when it came to the popularity of the event. Traffic around DHS was snarled for hours, the DHS parking lot was so full, Disney had to make people park at Epcot and take a bus over. Inside the park was an even bigger mess. Huge lines snaked around the park for the dozen or so villains Disney had out for the meet and greets. In short, it was an unmitigated disaster.

So when Disney announced another villains party for 2014, it was met with apprehension. Could they really fix the crowd issues? Would they add extra villain M&Gs? Well, it seemed the answer was yes across the board (at least by appearances sake). It was now a hard-ticket party (which should, theoretically, keep the crowd levels manageable) and Disney promised a crowd of more than 50 villains in attendance. And with the party date falling on our planned arrival day, we felt like it was serendipity we couldn’t pass up.

I don’t want to make this pre-party explanation to be a complete spoiler, but I feel like the story will be a bit easier (and more fun to tell) if you know everything upfront. Our experience at the party was a bit of a mixed bag.

The good was the atmosphere in the park, the character interactions, the dance parties, the shows and the fireworks.

The bad was far fewer things, but far more important: Lines for the characters made meeting them almost impossible, they sold the special food and drink items at too few places and caused unneeded lines there, too. And finally, they were only selling the event merchandise in one, single, solitary location in the park. The line to get into the merchandise location was an hour long until 10:30 p.m., when they had sold out of all T-shirts and event pins.

As we sat and waited for the fireworks at the end of the night, I wrote an email to Disney to pass along feedback on how they could fix this event if they try it again in the future. I wasn’t angry in the email, I was strictly coming from a place of “I’m clearly invested in Disney and I would like to see you get an event like this right because it could be really cool.”

The next day, a cast member from Disney guest relations called and asked if had a moment to talk about our experience, which I did. We actually had a fantastic discussion. The CM admitted that one of the flaws in Disney’s thinking was basing their crowd estimates on MNSSHP. At MNSSHP, people base their night around the parade, fireworks and trick-or-treating. Some people focus on characters, while others ride the rides. With Villains Unleashed, Disney somehow didn’t account for the fact that every single person was there to meet villains and do almost nothing else. The CM was very apologetic. And he surprised me by saying he was issuing a full refund for all three tickets to Villains Unleashed.

As we head into this party tale, keep this in mind. We had good times that night and we had bad times that night, and hopefully, Disney has learned from both! On with the show -- er -- party.

We arrived at the park about 25 minutes before party guests would be allowed in. We were entering with regular park tickets since we had dinner to get to. Problem was, Disney had closed all but two tapstiles for the party and there general chaos around the gates where people were supposed to be. The wind had picked up and it was clear the skies were about to open, so we pushed our way into the park (through partygoers who were clogging the open tapstiles) and moved quickly toward Sci-Fi Dine-In.

There was already a group camped out in front of the stage, three hours before Hades’ welcome show was scheduled to start!

We made it to dinner in the nick of time. We turned around after checking in and were greeted with this sight.

Walls of water falling straight from the sky. But we were safe and dry inside and we had friends we were meeting for dinner!

Meet Steven and Katt, they were clearly the best-dressed duo of the night!

And since Katt and I had forgotten to take a photo any of the times we met up in May, we had a long-overdue photo to take.

Our buzzer went off, our table was ready! One more quick look outside to see what the weather’s like.

Yikes!

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, inside!

Franklin got his favorite, Cherry Coke with a billion cherries, I had a Diet Coke.

We split the burger with extra crispy fries.

Chelsea had the vegetarian shepherd’s pie.

And I know this will sound crazy and completely unlike us, but we skipped our usual ice cream sundae dessert. We wanted to try some of the even-specific treats (especially the Maleficent cupcake!)

We paid the bill and headed for the front of the park to pick up our event credentials!

And we took a group photo.

This photo became the start of a whole series of photos Steven had to take. He had a dozen different people come up to him and ask to take pictures with him. It was like being with a celebrity! I had one big to-do on my party list and that was Maleficent. It was just the second time the Angelina Jolie-version of the character had met guests in a park, so I really wanted to meet Jolieficent.

It was 7 p.m., 90 minutes before she would start to meet guests, and I was about 15 groups back in line. Franklin and Chelsea headed for the Welcome Show, while I waited in line. Katt and Steven were headed for Streets of America, where characters were scheduled to start roaming at 8 p.m.

It was, well, packed.

Luckily, the crowd had this little girl to entertain them. Franklin said she would wave and the whole crowd would wave back, then she’d giggle uncontrollably.

Soon, it was showtime!

​

 

[Missyrose]

The only villain who wasn’t unleashed on the stage was…

She was seen on screen.

And with Maleficent’s blessing, Hades officially kicked off the night’s festivities.

Meanwhile, back at Moors… Maleficent made her arrival at 8:30 on the dot. The line, however, didn’t move very quickly. But FINALLY, it was my turn with the mistress of evil.

As I approached, she said “My goodness, what a fantastic shirt you have and so are your horns!”

I held out my Maleficent-themed Magic Band for her to see.

She said, “Oh my, did you have to get that made in the Moors.” I told her that sadly, I had to make it myself. I told her that I had revisited her story and it seemed she was more misunderstood than evil and she laughed a very haughty laugh and replied, “Finally, someone is beginning to understand! Shall we take some photos for the fairies back home?”

Why yes, yes we should.

Disney did a fantastic job with the M&G area, the atmosphere and setting was just perfect!

This friend of Maleficent was flawless. She looked the part, she sounded the part and the banter was unbelievably great. I could also see why the line was moving so slowly, she was chatty! It was 9:15 before I was done with the M&G, so just more than two hours in line. The CMs at the entrance were telling people walking up to the line that the wait would be 3 ½ hours from that point.

I found Franklin hanging outside the Animation Courtyard. He said Chelsea had gone to get a drink, but had been gone a while. Franklin said he wanted to get a drink, so he’d go and find her while I chilled out on a bench (I’d been standing for a while in line!). I went to check how long the line was for merchandise (75 minutes?!?!?!) but headed back to meet Chelsea and Franklin instead of getting in line. I was worried I’d lost them both to the dark side, but it turns out that the line for drinks was almost an hour long. And, yes, those are glow poison apples in the drinks!

I had done my must-do, everyone had yummy drinks in their hands so that’s where we’ll leave off for now. But there is still plenty of party time ahead. But first, is there any Disney character you’d be willing to wait two hours for?
​

 

[Mom2m&k]

Nope not standing in line for two hours for really anything at Disney!! I do think characters are fun but having two boys who would rather ride rides we luckily don't have to worry about it to much! I love the term tapstiles! That is my one complaint with Magic Bands(and I really do love them). It takes so long to get into the park with the them and no one seems to understand there are two for each line and you can use both!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

sorry about the issues you had with the Villains party. From what I have read and heard you were definitely not alone - though you were probably one of the calmest in your notice of complaint

Glad that Disney seemed to acknowledge the issues and that they were very good with a lot of people and offering refunds (though their reasoning for the long lines doesn't explain why they ran out of special food or merchandise)

Hopefully they do it again - I'd actually like to see them offer it through-out the fall on the nights that they don't do MNSSHP so people can come and do both

****************

Wow - glad you made it to Sci-Fi before the heavens opened! And yeah for meeting up with Katt and Steven ... they did have pretty swanky costumes!

Sounds very cute with the giggling baby (can't imaging having a baby with me at that event though

And my goodness those crowds! I just feel like they oversold the event - I heard they were selling tickets like right up to before the event started. As if those selling the tickets didn't communicate with those that planned the event and things to do

The welcome show does look pretty fun - though still not sure if I would consider Meg a villain

While it seems like a long wait/line sounds like great interaction with "Jolieficent" (love that term). I am glad to see that despite any issues Disney has had recently with crowds and rushing people (both this as well as the Villains soiree during the MNSSHP) the character performers seem to be doing a great job and everyone is loving that aspect of it.

That is nuts that when you were done the wait was 3.5 hours! Who does she think she is? Anna and Elsa?

Those drinks seem pretty fun - but an hour for drinks and 75 minutes for merchandise (i.e., to give them money) seems a bit nuts

Only character I can think of waiting multiple hours for would be if the unfroze Walt Though I bet I would wait longer than what seems mentally stable for something my kids really wanted