Just back from WDW - July '08 (2nd day pics finally up!!!)

[ukcatfan]

Well, I am back from a week in Orlando. It was two nights with a CM friend and five nights at POR. We had a good time, but we are exhausted (don't ask why I am awake at 3AM). Even as someone that travels north to get to WDW, I have to say it was HOT!!! That, along with the large crowds, was completely expected though. What I forgot was that July is Brazilian tour group season! We tried to avoid them as much as possible, but were subjected to their obnoxious chanting a few times and one in an ECV nearly plowed me over. Don't think I am picking on handicapped people b/c I happened to be pushing my DW in a wheelchair when it happened.

Anyway, there will be some pics and a little reporting in the days to come. For now, goodnight.

Kevin

 

[handicap18]

KEWL! Can't wait to see the pics!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Looking forward to seeing your pictures.

Chanting, huh?

 

[DVC Jen]

Sorry to hear about your less than pleasant experiences - BUT can't wait to see those pics!

You don't NEED sleep right? You can hurry and post them for us - right??

 

[ukcatfan]

All in all, it was a pretty good trip. I went in with certain expectations to make sure I was not disappointed. We knew it was going to be hot and crowded so I was not disappointed that we did not get on everything we wanted. Also, my DW hurt her ankle about a month and a half ago and was going to need a wheelchair in the parks, so I knew I was not going to get as much photo time. The teenage DD did help pushing, but much of the time I had to travel around with the camera in the backpack to prevent clocking the DW in the back of the head with the camera! I am short, so it lined up just right.

I will start with day one and two b/c there were no pictures. I did an auto processing, on medium JPG, for all of my shots, but have not started my real RAW processing. Day one (Saturday) was cutting the grass to make sure we did not come home to a jungle. We got to our CM friend's house about dinner time and basically just took it easy. Day two started with our friend taking me to play golf on the Magnolia. Now I am not a regular golfer, so I was not expecting to play great, but I used to play all the time so I did not expect to be too bad. Well, the Mag ate me alive! I played the worst round of golf I have played in probably ten years! It really was not the course b/c I could not hit the ball right. I have gained some muscle size and strength since I last played, so maybe that was my problem. Anyway, at least I was playing on the CM rate! After golf we had to pick up the step DDs from two weeks with their father. We again did not do too much that night t get ready for the parks on Monday.

I will probably not get to processing until later today, but hopefully can get the first parks day pictures up tonight.

 

[ukcatfan]

Now that I am in the processing stage, I realize that this was one of my least photographed trips since film! The first parks day was one of my smallest ever with only 55 worth keeping. It is second only to the third day when it rained almost all day and I only took 46 shots before deleting the junk! So anyway here goes it.

Our first day at the parks was Monday the 21st, which also happened to be the oldest DD's 15th B-day! (She can get a driving permit now!!! ) We started out slow b/c we had to take the dog to the kennel , check in to POR, and eat lunch before heading to the park. It was sort of a free day up until dinner so we decided to just go to Epcot b/c it is the closest to the resort.

We purchased our length of stay wheelchair for the DW and our trip started off with a bang. There was one line going and two cashiers when I got there. As I make my way up to be the next in line, some rude lady decided to bypass the five or six people already in line and create her own second line. In typical fashion, the CM avoided all conflict. Without being derogatory, I made sure everyone became aware of her actions and I hope the other upset people and I at least embarrassed her into not cutting again . I believe the event flustered the CM and she accidentally charged me for two extra days. I didn't realize for a few days, but was able to get a refund. It was all sort of typical though for July in the parks. The heat and crowds seem to bring out the best in everyone.

While there we rode Spaceship Earth, stopped by Ice Station Cool, and rode Imagination before heading back for a quick rest before dinner. I was able to get a few decent shots in while I was there. It didn't turn out the greatest, but I got a shot of my DW and two of the DDs faces (including funny faces) on the globe at the exit of SE.

Here are a few from the ride.

This is not the greatest shot, but the best of this scene I have been able to get in multiple attempts.

Here I am kicking back a few in the future!

and a few more from Epcot.

Our room assignment was pretty good. It was not as close to the restaurants as I had wanted, but was only two buildings farther in the AB section. It was a very short walk to the car and on the first floor, which helped the DW. We cleaned up some, let the afternoon storm pass, and set off to dinner at Boma. While the food was excellent, the service and our table location left something to be desired. I think we all ate way too much and the DD was given a surprise birthday cake . We had the last table in the curve by where the carving station line starts. Because it was a fairly early seating, the line there was always long. I have never overheard more conversations and had so many people check out my food while I was trying to eat in my life. Some of it was a little amusing, but a few people were actually pointing to things on our plates and planning out their meals like we were animals in a cage that could not see or hear them. It didn't ruin our meal, but it was definitely something I had never experienced before.

It was EMH night for AK, so we went there after dinner. We were able to get on Dinosaur, Primeval Hurl, Triceratops Spin, and Kali a few times. I wish I had a waterproof bag for the DLSR, b/c I could have had some really nice shots from Kali at night. It was just too dark for the p&s to handle. If you ever get a chance to do it in the dusk/dark, I highly recommend it. We also got some of the souvenir shopping out of the way that night, so it was pretty productive. We did not get Everest b/c when we left at about 10:30 it still had a 60 min wait. There was one thing very strange for a July trip. We were actually cold while leaving b/c of being so wet!

The rest are at http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/kmhobs/WDW%20-%20JUL-2008/7-21/

 

[DVC Jen]

Patiently waiting for more.

 

[ukcatfan]

Sorry for the delay. I did not get to my home pc until almost 11 last night and tonight is not looking any better.

Kevin

 

[wen-tom]

 

[ukcatfan]

Well, it took a horrendously long time to get more processed, but I am at least now complete with day two in the parks! It has been a busy couple weeks since I got back both personally and at work. Nothing bad, just busy. So anyway, here goes.

Our second day in the parks started off early so that we could be at the MK before it opened for EMH. We got four rides in over about an hour and a half, before heading over to the O'hana breakfast. On the way out of the park, my middle DD had her day made by seeing the ever elusive Daisy. I don't know why she is so hard to find, but she is. Here are some shots from the morning and breakfast.

After spending a little time back at the room resting, we went back to Epcot. We rode SE again, along with some new funny faces. We mainly did the touring of WS, but also hit a few rides during the evening EMH.

These next few were shot at ISO 3200 and pushed to 6400 in RAW conversion.

That is basically it for the second day. If you want to see any more, they are at http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/kmhobs/WDW%20-%20JUL-2008/7-22/ Hopefully I can get a few more days completed this weekend. I really need to cut the grass and clean the garage, but it is supposed to rain all weekend here, so those might not be happening.

 

[steery1]

Very nice Kevin. Like the teacups ones.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Nice photos! Thanks for posting!

 

[Groucho]

Looks good! Glad you were able to have a good time despite the heat/crowds.

The cupcake pic is especially good... but the shot of your wife with her eyes pulled back might give me nightmares!