Magic in the Kingdom 2012! BIG 2/16/2014 FINAL UPDATE!

[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 9: More AoA

We were heading back to AK for another half day so we could come back and rest before the Christmas party that night. With no breakfast plans, we didn't have to be there until 9. Of course, I still woke up before 7, but was happy to use that as an opportunity to check out the rest of the resort and take some photos. I knew that later in the trip, my feet would not be nearly as interested in checking out those other sections.

This is my favorite time of day to shoot things around the resort. I love that gorgeous blue sky just as the sun comes up!



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See that decorated window back there? That's ours!



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[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 9: More AoA


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I couldn't resist an early morning walk through the lobby again since I had my wide angle lens along this time.


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[mesaboy2]

I know I've said it before, but your pictures are terrific. The colors are so vibrant and really make them pop.

 

[mom2rtk]

I know I've said it before, but your pictures are terrific. The colors are so vibrant and really make them pop.

Thanks! It's really hard to go wrong with all those big beautiful subjects to photograph at AoA!

 

[KCmike]

Nice series Janet. Love the decorated window and your new avatar (or whatever you call it) of your daughter and the beast.

 

[jenseib]

I am loving your morning shots. I like how it's still semi dark so they have a different glow to them.
I don't think I got any evening or early morning shots like this.....so I guess I need to go back!

 

[YodasMom]

Love the Resort photos, Janet!!! Great job!

 

[mom2rtk]

Nice series Janet. Love the decorated window and your new avatar (or whatever you call it) of your daughter and the beast.

Thanks Mike! Just looking for a change of scenery with the avatar! And I'll show a better photo of the window later.

So is your daughter settled on a school yet? We finally visited Rolla last week over Timmy's spring break. Man, that place is way out of the way. But I think he likes it and it's looking more like the likely choice. Still not 100% decided though, but he has to decide in the next 2 weeks whether to accept the scholarships and financial aid there and let the William Jewel one go. That's hard to do.

I am loving your morning shots. I like how it's still semi dark so they have a different glow to them.
I don't think I got any evening or early morning shots like this.....so I guess I need to go back!

Thanks Jen! I do enjoy my early morning photo shoots. I am an early riser, so it's a great chance for that. It's sort of my version of your early morning ship walks!

Some of the shots were easy as they were lit with spotlights. Some were far harder as it was just ambient light. Really hard to get a fast enough shutter speed at that hour.

And yes, if you missed the early morning shots, then I'd say a new trip is definitely in order!

Love the Resort photos, Janet!!! Great job!

Thanks so much. I do love those quiet morning walks around the resort. I'm curious to see just how many other resort photos I have around AoA. I know I did another daytime walkaround on my last day. There might have been some others too. I just couldn't help myself! It's such a visual place. And I wanted a full set of daytime and nighttime shots so I could decide which to use when I do a scrapbook page on the resort. Heck, I might end up doing a page on each section of the resort!

 

[YodasMom]

Thanks so much. I do love those quiet morning walks around the resort. I'm curious to see just how many other resort photos I have around AoA. I know I did another daytime walkaround on my last day. There might have been some others too. I just couldn't help myself! It's such a visual e And I wanted a full set of daytime and nighttime shots so I could decide which to use when I do a scrapbook page on the resort. Heck, I might end up doing a page on each section of the resort!

I love photographing the resorts early in the morning, too, or photographing anything if I'm out in nature early in the morning. It's so peaceful and pristine!!

Janet, I was going to say I'm looking forward to your scrapbook layouts. I would definitely do more than one (several) for this resort, or any resort.

Great job!

 

[mom2rtk]

I love photographing the resorts early in the morning, too, or photographing anything if I'm out in nature early in the morning. It's so peaceful and pristine!!

Janet, I was going to say I'm looking forward to your scrapbook layouts. I would definitely do more than one (several) for this resort, or any resort.

Great job!

Thanks Karen! I was glad to get so many shots around the resort. I really do think I'll end up with several layouts just from these shots. I'm sort of growing weary of doing the same stuff for my Disney scrapbooks, so will focus for this trip on the new things we experienced.

Any it doesn't seem to matter where we go..... I always seem to find some redeeming feature to my waking up early. When we go to Sanibel, I probably won't miss a sunrise on the beach. Then I'll escape the heat of the day later and take a nap. One of my favorite vacation memories is watching the sun rise over the North rim of the Grand Canyon. And what a great bonus that these early hours are some of the best for photography.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Awesome AoA pictures! I think I'm gonna have to hire you for photography lessons one day lol!

Love that you can see your decorated window in the background. I'm sure you have more pictures of it! Id love to see them.

 

[mom2rtk]

Awesome AoA pictures! I think I'm gonna have to hire you for photography lessons one day lol!

Love that you can see your decorated window in the background. I'm sure you have more pictures of it! Id love to see them.

Thanks Courtney! Have you considered hanging out over on the photography forum? I actually learned a great deal from the folks over there.

And I didn't even realize our window was in thot shot until I was editing it. I do have some shots of it somewhere later in the trip. Remind me to tell my funny window story though. I don't want to tell it until I show a closer up photo though.

 

[emmawho]

Love your safari and resort pictures! Especially the ones of the lions!

 

[mom2rtk]

Love your safari and resort pictures! Especially the ones of the lions!

Thanks Emma! More big cat photos coming up in just a moment. We really had great luck with the animals this trip!

 

[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 9: Animal Kingdom



My main goal for the day at AK was to meet the characters at Camp Minnie Mickey and to see Festival of the Lion King. I knew that CMM opened at 10 but that it was recommended to be there a little early since they usually came out around 9:50.

Katie really wanted to ride EE and I still wanted to walk the other animal trail. So we decided to split up and let her ride alone while we headed for the trail. As Drew and I walked toward Asia, Russel and Dug from Up walked right past us toward their meeting spot. Katie kept telling us she had no interest in meeting them because they had completely overdone that movie in grade school. She claims to have seen it around 5 times. I have never seen it, and right now it's not looking like I ever will. Since Katie had already run ahead of us toward EE, we thought it would be funny to get our own photo taken with Russel and Dug and have them sign Katie's book. I thought it was funny, but Katie didn't find it nearly as amusing as I did.


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It really was a strange feeling to let Katie just go off on her own. But she's 12 now and has a phone, and there was hardly anyone in the park yet. So we let her enjoy that little bit of independence. Dealing with the boys getting older and spreading their wings more, I've really come to realize how important it is to let them try out their independence earlier so they can build up some confidence.

As it turns out, walking the Maharaja Jungle Trek at park opening in December is not really that great a plan. I hadn't even considered that the bats might not be up yet. There wasn't a single one out when we went by. The tigers were cool, but not really a great rope drop thrill. When we were done, we walked back around to the front to check on the bats again. This time we found 1 or 2 of them just emerging. I enjoyed the commentary of the CM in the area. Each bat has a name, and apparently its own personality. I enjoyed hearing her tell us about each one. And I enjoyed watching the early birds stretch their wings and get moving for the day.


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I was really disappointed when we got to the bat room. Turns out they weren't even up yet! I hadn't even considered that they were nocturnal. DUH! But after we walked the trail, we went back to check on them again, and found one of them starting to stir.......


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[lvcourtneyy]

Thanks Courtney! Have you considered hanging out over on the photography forum? I actually learned a great deal from the folks over there.

And I didn't even realize our window was in thot shot until I was editing it. I do have some shots of it somewhere later in the trip. Remind me to tell my funny window story though. I don't want to tell it until I show a closer up photo though.

Hmm I've actually never been in the photography thread! I'm gonna make my way over there! Thanks

Can't wait to hear the story when you get to it!

 

[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 9: Camp Minnie Mickey


We caught up with Katie right after that and headed for Camp Minnie Mickey. Granted, we have only done this a couple times, but I was surprised to find the area roped off still at 9:50. I thought one of the best kept secrets at AK was to be there at 9:50 and catch the characters coming out. Nobody else was in the area, so we sat down on a bench right by the entrance. Soon after, a family walked up and started chatting with the CM. Almost immediately, the area started filling with people so we got up and stood by the rope. A moment later, Pocahontas appeared at the end of the walk and the CM took that family back to CMM. Note to self...... you snooze you lose. Next time don't sit on the bench. ;-) Not only did they not let everyone in a little early, but instead it was actually after 10 before the actually lowered the rope. And a bunch of young girls literally ran around us to get back ahead of us. Whatever.

I was disappointed to find Mickey and Minnie in separate meeting locations. It has gotten harder and harder again to meet Mickey and Minnie together. We met Mickey, Minnie, Chip & Dale, Baloo & King Louis and Donald.


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I don't recall if I shared much about Katie's autograph book this time. I actually put together a photobook from picaboo.com with all sorts of character photos through the years. It took a long time to hunt down all the photos, but I was really excited about how it turned out. Minnie insisted on holding her page up for the photo!


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I don't remember what was up between Chip and the character handler, but I did enjoy their interaction:


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[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 9: Festival of the Lion King

By then everyone had already gone into FOTLK and the show had started. Thankfully there really isn't a bad seat in the house, and we were able to enter and sit up higher toward the back. I probably would have skipped it this time, but there had been a rumor that the show would be gone for a while to make room for Avatarland. So I really didn't want to miss it.


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We had missed Pocahontas before the show, so stopped to meet her after the show before leaving the area.




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From there we headed to Dinoland to find Goofy Santa and Pluto. The line was long, but moved fairly quickly. The Photopass photographer was sort of snotty, but I refrained from filing a complaint on the way out. We had been looking the wrong direction on the last shot, so I just asked her to take one more. She didn't even get her camera all the way up before the flash went off and we were ushered away. Lovely. There was clearly a dose of attitude with that last shot. And it's not like I had taken up a ton of time. I am very effecient at character meets. Katie knows the drill so we don't waste much time, especially in meets like this where the characters can't talk.


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[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 9: So much for the rest..........

When we go to Disney everyone says we go go go far too much. So I try to build in some rest time, and what do you suppose happens?

We were going to MVMCP that night. So the plan was to be done at MK by noon, then head back and rest for a while, at least get off our feet for a while. But all morning Drew kept going on and on about wanting to do that Characters in Flight balloon he had seen the night before at Downtown Disney. He had only 2 more days left, and they were very full park days. So it was now or never. So when we left the park, we grabbed a cab from AK to DTD.


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I did enjoy the balloon ride. It was certainly something new. And certainly provided some very unique photographic opportunities. But man, my feet were tired already. I had heard that DTD bus transportation can be sort of unreliable. So when a Pop Century bus came fairly quickly, I suggested we jump on and walk back across the bridge to AoA.


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[mom2rtk]

Hmm I've actually never been in the photography thread! I'm gonna make my way over there! Thanks

Can't wait to hear the story when you get to it!

It's actually an entire forum. Here's the link:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=97