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

[jojosam]

I always love another WDW update, but I was especially excited to read about Sanibel. My parents have talked about their trip there for over 40 years, and now that they have a winter place a mere 200 miles away, I think I can start planning a trip to take the kids. The Carolina coast just doesn't have the shells!!
Love the fireworks pics! I am still learning the ins and outs of my camera, but without a tripod, I think my future shots will be lacking. All of your photos have inspired me to get a little more creative during our September trip!

 

[RachelNinja]

I read your photography tips to my husband, and he added you on Flickr! Or friended you. Haha, I don't know the Flickr terminology. He's howeirdd.

 

[Caretames1]

The fireworks pictures are stunning! I sat in that spot back in Sept 2011, and it was nice to have some space and have no one in front of us. I didn't get a proposal show though.

Dumbo had a great time, I think Kadence got some ideas!

We had such a good time meeting the characters inside the circus tent, we had only a handful of people around us.

June 9th continued:



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Ok, now you are just showing off! Beautiful, awesome! Disney really should be paying you for making them look so good!

 

[mom2rtk]

I always love another WDW update, but I was especially excited to read about Sanibel. My parents have talked about their trip there for over 40 years, and now that they have a winter place a mere 200 miles away, I think I can start planning a trip to take the kids. The Carolina coast just doesn't have the shells!!
Love the fireworks pics! I am still learning the ins and outs of my camera, but without a tripod, I think my future shots will be lacking. All of your photos have inspired me to get a little more creative during our September trip!

It felt good to start posting Disney stuff again!

I honestly am completely ruined for visiting the beach anywhere else. But we love to collect things. So shelling just fits our style. I hope you can get there sometime soon.

If you have any questions on fireworks photography before your trip, ask away. I love chatting photography.

I read your photography tips to my husband, and he added you on Flickr! Or friended you. Haha, I don't know the Flickr terminology. He's howeirdd.

I'm not certain, but I think it's adding someone as a contact. What kind of camera do you guys have?

The fireworks pictures are stunning! I sat in that spot back in Sept 2011, and it was nice to have some space and have no one in front of us. I didn't get a proposal show though.

Dumbo had a great time, I think Kadence got some ideas!

We had such a good time meeting the characters inside the circus tent, we had only a handful of people around us.





Ok, now you are just showing off! Beautiful, awesome! Disney really should be paying you for making them look so good!

So you're seeing a Dumbo popcorn bucket in your future too? Many days around here now I can't believe she is the same girl that threw caution to the wind and played around with Dumbo so willingly in the MK. But that's sort of the point of going to Disney, isn't it? Sigh.......

We have enjoyed the characters back in Pete's Silly Sideshow. Even when the park was busy in December it didn't take all that long. But walking in and finding the tent nearly empty..........

And thanks for the kind words. Can you imagine how fun it would be to be a photographer for Disney? And I don't mean photopass. That sounds like a lot of work out in the heat. But a publicity photographer with access to the parks in off hours.......... Not sure which would be better....... that or Director of costuming or some such thing. Heck, I'd probably want to do both!

 

[Caretames1]

And thanks for the kind words. Can you imagine how fun it would be to be a photographer for Disney? And I don't mean photopass. That sounds like a lot of work out in the heat. But a publicity photographer with access to the parks in off hours.......... Not sure which would be better....... that or Director of costuming or some such thing. Heck, I'd probably want to do both!

I bet they'd hire you in a second!

I wouldn't want to be a PP either, yikes with standing in the hot sun!

 

[mom2rtk]

I bet they'd hire you in a second!

I wouldn't want to be a PP either, yikes with standing in the hot sun!

Yeah, we all know I'd never make it as a PP photographer. Heck, I don't even want to go PLAY in the parks in the summer heat. No chance I'd want to go work in that heat.........

 

[mom2rtk]

OK, who's ready to finish up this mini trip so we can get back to December????

Monday June 10th:

In spite of our late night in the Magic Kingdom, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep in. I just never can. But I wanted Katie to get some rest, so I killed some time waiting for her to get up. We left the room around 10:45 and headed for the Art of Animation. I told Katie we could walk over across the bridge, but was secretly hoping she'd want to drive. Thankfully, she was smart enough to realize it would be cooler to drive. We parked nice and close to Animation Hall, which was such a welcome change of pace from our long walk from the LM rooms last December!

Drew had wanted one of the "Mine Mine Mine" t-shirts when we were there in December so I had offered to go pick one up for him. First we stopped in the food court. Somehow I had missed trying one of the Surf and Surf burgers and planned on taking care of that first thing.


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Katie decided to just go for a side of mac & cheese:


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Then we stopped in the gift shop to check things out. Katie's love of Disney really started way back when with the Aristocats, so she had to check out Marie:


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They had a magnetic board set up by the register and Katie decided to continue our Dumbo theme. Really, it did turn out to look like an elephant.


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On the way into the resort, Katie had mentioned how nice a photo would look from the middle of the road........ so I had to give it a try before we left:


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From there we headed the only place any 2 self-respecting girls with time to kill at Disney would head (if they weren't going to the parks)........ Downtown Disney! Most trips we don't even make it to DTD. I'd really just rather spend my time in the parks. So this was a great time to give DTD its due. First stop? World of Disney of course!


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Believe it or not, I actually had a hard time finding much to buy at World of Disney. I found an adorable Snow White t-shirt, but of course they were out of my size. But I sure loved looking at our leisure with nobody telling us to hurry up. Katie managed to talk me out of a Dumbo pillow pet though. Which only seems fitting after all of our Dumbo fun the night before.


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I had hoped to keep our next destination a surprise, but made the mistake of asking Katie to get my sunglasses out of my backpack one day on the trip..... where she found the pearl cage I had brought along. I didn't even realize there was a Pearl Factory at DTD, but thought it would be a fun stop on our extra Disney day.


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It wasn't as exciting as the location in Epcot, but the clerk was still animated and did her own little version of a Pearl ceremony.


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She opened Katie's oyster to reveal a gorgeous silver blue pearl. I've tried to talk Katie out of it since we got home but she's having no part of it. I thought it would look awesome in a Cinderella carriage for me. But you know how those deals go........


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[mom2rtk]

Monday June 10th Cont'd:

Next we headed for our other primary reason for visiting Downtown Disney: Earl of Sandwich. Katie fell in love with it in December and talked about going back ever since. We didn't finish our food at AoA knowing we were heading for EoS for an afternoon "snack".

As we headed for the door, Katie raced on inside but I stopped short when I saw this under one of the tables outside:


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Seriously.... just how many kinds of cute is that?

I called Katie out and we went all paparazzi on those ducks. And it turned out this was one of her favorite moments of the trip.

Eventually we had to leave all that cuteness behind and head on in. Even for being the middle of the afternoon, the place was packed. We decided to share a sandwich, some soup and a dessert.


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Next we were on to another favorite spot:


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And now the one that got away. Still not sure why I didn't buy this.


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I wanted to buy one of these but couldn't remember if I had one at home already or not:


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I loved the colors on these and did bring one of them home with me. Thankfully Katie remembered that we have a green one that is similar, but not this one:


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Then Katie and I had a little fun with the shoe collection:


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No stop at DTD is complete without a stop at Goofy's Candy Company. I was really looking forward to this. I LOVE their dark chocolate dipped pretzel rods. Katie opted for the $4 chocolate covered strawberry. She says it was worth every penny, even if they were MY pennies......


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I think that strawberry went straight to her ankles........


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[KCmike]

Awesome chapter here. We did the Pearl stand at Downtown Disney in Disneyland for my daughter. Good times.

Your daughter was right about the AoA shot from the middle of the street. Kudos.

 

[mom2rtk]

Monday June 10th Continued:

More photos along the way at DTD:


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We really did have a nice unrushed afternoon at DTD. Next up was dinner at 1900 Park Fare. We usually don't get a car on our Disney trips, so it was a nice treat to have one along this time and just head there directly. I did decide to splurge on valet parking to really live the good life that evening!

Katie snapped this as we drove up to the Magic Kingdom gates on our way to the Grand Floridian:


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I imagine this will probably be our last time for costume fun at 1900 Park Fare. This was the costume I had done for our December trip, so consider this a little sneak peek at what's to come from that main trip report!


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Anastasia was an absolute HOOT and had Katie giggling a lot. Which is what I love about that place.


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Hey Anastasia! You might want to check that lipstick!


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Does anyone else think Charming looks like a young Ray Romano???


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Cinderella's gown has really been growing on me. I asked her permission to check out some of the fabric more closely. She seemed to enjoy sharing her enthusiasm for the gown, and pointed out that the silver design in the blue fabric actually has a repeating slipper in it.


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So have we met before?


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Anyone who can get my daughter to cut up like this is A-OK in my book!


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Time for a visit from mom!


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WOW! Don't cross HER!


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[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Loved the photos

 

[mom2rtk]

Monday June 10th Continued:

A few more photos before changing out of Drizella:


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Don't you just love the color matched flip-flops? She didn't plan it though. It was more of a "happy accident".


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This Disney stop was really about picking up some of the things we always MEAN to do, but never quite get to because we spend so much time in the parks.

I can't even tell you how many times in a row I've planned to go watch Wishes from the Poly Beach. But in the end, I'm always just too tired to follow through. I purposely timed our dinner to leave us time to get over to the Polynesian and finally give it a try.

I'm glad I left extra time in the schedule, because as we left 1900 Park Fare, we started hearing people complain about the monorail being down. So we hung out, did more shopping and waited for the situation to resolve itself. So why not take even more photos of the Grand Floridian?

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Soon enough we started seeing folks line back up for the monorail and we were on our way.


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I wanted one more shot at photographing the MK entrance, so we rode around again. It's harder to do than it looks, especially in low light. But I love the perspective.


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It was dark when we got to the Polynesian and we didn't have a lot of time to spare. We haven't watched from this spot before so I wasn't sure what the best spot was. We found the beach. Then we found that raised sidewalk on the other side of the beach. I thought that extra height would be good so set up there. I got the tripod out and everything out and set it up. Then I looked to the right..... and saw the other beach. KATIE!!!! We have to move! So we packet it up and moved to the other section of beach. That was the best perspective to get the fireworks head on. And Katie loved our new location so she could watch from her very own hammock.

There were only a few other people on that beach. And we both loved watching from there. We'll definitely be doing it again one day.


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[jenseib]

What a fun day!!!!
And awesome pictures. those shoes are so cute!

 

[jenseib]

Ah you put another one in there. Love the fireworks shots!

 

[Finally08]

Have I missed the photos from the days we saw you, or are you not that far along yet?

 

[mom2rtk]

Loved the photos

Thank you!

Awesome chapter here. We did the Pearl stand at Downtown Disney in Disneyland for my daughter. Good times.

Your daughter was right about the AoA shot from the middle of the street. Kudos.

Thanks Mike! I'm so glad you mentioned that. I wasn't sure if there was one at DLR. We'll have to continue our tradition and do one there too. Time to look for another pearl cage!

And thanks, I thought her idea for that AoA shot was spot on! She really did take more of an interest in the photography this time. I think when I get a new camera I'll have to give her my old one. I'm not ready for that yet, because she's at the age where she'd want to bring it everywhere then change her mind and make me carry it!

What a fun day!!!!
And awesome pictures. those shoes are so cute!

Ah you put another one in there. Love the fireworks shots!

Thanks Jen! It really was a fun day. So different from our regular trips since we weren't going back to the parks. Katie is completely SOLD on watching Wishes from a hammock now. Shocking, huh?

Have I missed the photos from the days we saw you, or are you not that far along yet?

Hey Kimberly! You're not crazy, I just didn't get that far yet. Life got really bogged down in the spring with Timmy graduating and making college plans. The stuff I just posted was from our trip to Florida in June. I'm almost done with that then I'll get going back on the December trip. I've only gotten through 3 days of the 10 day trip so far.

I hope you guys are doing ok. How's my favorite little Flynn fan? Tell her Katie and Janet say Hi!

 

[PrincessEM&Me]

Hi! I haven't posted since your last pre trip report when we were hoping to get to WDW ourselves. That didn't work out but we are trying to go again soon
And I have to add Katie sure has changed! (Katie, what a pretty young lady you are!) My DD is also 12 and wants to trade in her glasses for contacts too eek!
Your side trip to Sanibel was special for me, we went there for our honeymoon (nearly 20 years ago!) it brought back a lot of sweet memories
Enjoyed your leisurely girls day trip too!
...anyway, I'm so glad I caught up with you! I so enjoy your pics and details of WDW

 

[Caretames1]

I really want to start buying some of those ordamnants, the colors are just beautiful.

I love seeing AoA again, how is it that my memory is foggy from the long end of day walks but longing to go back to see it all again? Is it like childbirth, the memory of the pain fades until you do it again?

Janet, those firework pictures are breathtaking! Kadence wants to go and see them where you sat to see them like that! I told that would require a visit to you.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

That magnetic board is a cool idea!

Katie was right about the picture from the middle of the road- it turned out nice!

Where is the Pearl Factory at DTD? Katie's pearl is gorgeous! I don't blame her for not taking you up on the idea .

Omg aw those ducks are just too cute!

Katie looks too perfect in the Drizella dress! All the pictures from 1900 Park Fare are great. I'm glad Katie enjoyed herself. We're looking forward to having dinner there in September!

The MK entrance photos came out gorgeous! Wow!

Watching Wishes from the Poly beach is definitely on my to-do list too! The pictures are so pretty and watching Wishes in a hammock does sound like paradise!

 

[meggiebeth]

Another great TR! I'm going to have to go back and catch up some more.

I am in need of advice- you are a camera expert! I was going to post on the photography board but figured I'd ask here first. How do you take such good photos in low-light and the dark? Scenarios like-

-the Wilderness Lodge lobby
-the sleigh ride
-the fireworks
-out in the parks in the dark
-a meal somewhere like Garden Grill (we are eating here and I'm worried about the photo-taking!)
-the Christmas parade

And also whenever it's dark and I use the flash it looks dreadful, but when I take the flash off it comes out blurry. It doesn't seem like it needs the flash though, so I'm confused!

We have a Nikon DSLR but don't know too much about how to use it yet- although we've had it for over a year we've just not gotten round to it. Our last photos of WDW were mostly terrible with a little digital camera, so now we have a DSLR we really want to know how to get the good shots throughout our trip.

It's the darker shots that really I struggle with mainly.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards