Matt's September, 2015 Solo Trip after the Safari Cruise...

[whoever]

Matt's September, 2015 Solo Trip after the Safari Cruise...

OK, this is a continuation of my September, 2015 Trip Report which started with my Sunrise Safari breakfast experience on the World Famous Jungle Cruise!! You can find that first part here:


http://www.disboards.com/threads/matts-sunrise-safari-report-breakfast-on-the-jungle-cruise.3450721/



2015.09.25

Mid-day, I had decided I was going to try to go back to DLR that night. I knew that Disneyland closed at 23:00 and the drive up in rush hour was going to take in excess of two hours. I weighed the pros and cons of time spent in park vs. the time it would take to get there, when I would be expected to get back to San Diego, and how tired I was going to be the next day. When my 4-5PM meeting got rescheduled for the following Monday, I knew it was a sign. I threw my stuff in my backpack and ran to the hotel to drop off laptop/Jungle Cruise treasure, and boogie up to Anaheim. By 16:49, I was pulling out of the hotel and hit the road. The 163 was pretty empty, the 805 practically deserted, but when I hit the 5, it was gridlock. Ugh… nothing more frustrating than trying to get to DLR and sitting in traffic. It took until Carlsbad to finally open up, and I made great time until 11 miles from my exit at which point I was again sitting in gridlock going nowhere fast. Oh well… just cranked up some Disney tunes via YouTube and texted with Amy and Lindsey.

18:50… I was on Harbor, turning onto Ball and into the gas station on the corner to grab a few Gatorades. Five minutes later, I was pulling into Mickey and Friends Parking structure… I made my way up to level 3 and grabbed a spot at the VERY wrong side of the structure (West end)… a good quarter mile walk to the escalator… Oh well.. I didn’t care, I was back at Disneyland!!!!

AT 19:14 I was on the tram… seven minutes to get to DTD, and six minutes later and I was inside Disneyland walking under the East railroad underpass… I had a few pics I wanted to try to grab, so I wound my way on the East side of the hub, by Pixie Hollow and over towards the subs.. I tried for a few pics of the subs, but with only f/2.8 glass and some pretty inky blackness, I didn’t really pull off what I was hoping for. Oh well…. I made my way around the N. side of the Matterhorn, tried for some equally dismal pics of Alice, and then waited quite a while for the Casey Jr. train to come around. …so-so at best results on that one.

I rounded Big Thunder Trail at 19:47, and seven minutes later I had made my way into the Haunted Mansion Queue…

 

[whoever]

The gingerbread smellerator was in full swing on the ballroom scene… so good…

The Attic scene had minor variations..

And this was my first time seeing the Hatbox Ghost in person… ASTOUNDING!!!

 

[jani3]

I just got hooked on reading your TRs. It was your pics that drew me in; they're all great and adds so much more to your awesome TR. Which lens are you using? And do you only take that one lens with you? I'm trying to find a good "all around" lens because I hate carrying so much gear.

 

[whoever]

I just got hooked on reading your TRs. It was your pics that drew me in; they're all great and adds so much more to your awesome TR. Which lens are you using? And do you only take that one lens with you? I'm trying to find a good "all around" lens because I hate carrying so much gear.

The safari cruise and after trip report were shot with a Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8 I took my 24-70 f/2.8 as well, but never mounted it. They both cover probably 95% of what I would want to shoot. Sometimes I rock my 24 f/1.4, sometimes my 85 f/1.4, and to a lesser extent, my 70-200 f/2.8 Between these five lenses, there's pretty much nothing you can't shoot well.

On night trips where I'm going hand-held, I really need to stick with my f/1.4 glass. Four times the amount of light over my 2.8 glass really makes for some crystal clear images. I have to crank the ISO too high with the 2.8 glass in really low light and introduce way too much noise. Take a look at those hat box ghost and ballroom pics... WAYYY noisy compared to my usual clarity. Graveyard scene will be even more prevalent.

As for a good all-around lens (there's compromises), you will be extremely hard-pressed to beat the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 It is my usual work-horse. The more specialty lenses like the 1.4 primes, the ultra-wide, or the telephoto come into use when I want specific results, but the 24-70 is just about the best lens ever made IMHO. If they made it in an f/1.4 or f/1.8 aperture, it would be the bees knees.

 

[MommyJKM]

I hope you took a nap inbetween! Also, have you ever taken the Amtrak from SD to Anaheim? I love it.

 

[whoever]

I hope you took a nap inbetween! Also, have you ever taken the Amtrak from SD to Anaheim? I love it.

Let me tell you getting up and packing Friday morning was ROUGH. I don't think I made it into the office until 8:30 which is crazy late for me. I'm getting too old to run like I did even a few years prior.

I have never taken the train but I did look into it once.

 

[taniahappy]

Those pics are somthing else! I wish I understood 1/2 of the things you say regarding your cameras/lenses so I can do something about it

 

[whoever]

As we descended down into the graveyard, old familiar Jack came into view. I’ve always struggled with getting a good shot of him due to the lighting, and this trip would be no exception.

The graveyard seemed to have the lights up a little bit more than normal… shooting f/2.8, it was still a bit dark and I got some real sensor grain, but I did get to see more of the graveyard than I have in the past. Those of you who know me well know I am a traditionalist, and REALLY prefer the original HM vs. the ANBC overlay, but the graveyard is extremely well done IMHO. I don’t care for the attic, but the graveyard is simply something else altogether.

The Oogie Boogie and hitch-hiking presents/snakes… yeah… I miss the hitch-hiking ghosts…Sally instead of the Black Widow Bride… yeah… not so much. The moon projection is pretty neat though for being ANBC

 

[whoever]

After leaving HM at 20:20 with no agenda to satisfy, I decided to wander North and up to Winnie the Pooh. Now I do kind of feel weird going on this one solo, but nobody seemed to mind. I had one thing in mind, seeking some Disney artifacts from the past…That being said, the ideal seating position is in the front of one of the hive ride vehicles… I was in the middle row… one more challenge to the shot which was going to be hard enough with an f/2.8. Even with f/1.4… it’s a near impossible shot. I think I may need to break my cardinal rule of no flash photography on dark rides, toss my SB600 Speedlight on the hot shoe, and crank out some decent pics of Max, Buff, and Melvin…

Once done with Pooh ten minutes after leaving HM, I ventured back south and decided to go check out Fowler’s Inn. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that during the MHP season they close it off because they house the treat trail signage/ropes there. Oh well… back towards NOS. As I was after some pictures of the DLRR, I stopped by the NOS station. I had inquired at Main Street, but the trains were having technical issues and weren’t running at the time. I waited… and waited… and waited… Finally I saw the light coming… The pics… well… let’s just say f/2.8 wasn’t cutting it on a moving object…even stills weren’t doing great balancing it on a railing..

Once the train had passed, I wandered my way to Indy via the back streets of NOS. I found myself entering the queue at 20:58. It had a 20-minute posted wait, but as my experience on the previous three attractions had shown, the wait times were spot on. It would only take me 24 minutes total from when I entered the queue to when I was walking out.

 

[whoever]

At 21:25, I entered the Jungle Cruise queue with a 15-minute posted wait time… it turned out to be walk-on. This would be my third time around the jungle this day, and my skipper was AWESOME. I think I was the only one laughing at his jokes though. Delivered with PERFECT dry humor. Guy did great.

A mere 12 minutes after entering the queue and I was walking off. Love that attraction… the CM makes the experience unlike any other attraction in DLR. While I was still on the West side of the park, I decided to hit BTMRR at 21:42. It had a 20-minute wait… again… pretty much spot-on as I exited the attraction at 22:05.

Once I had successfully navigated the “Wildest Ride in the Wilderness”, I was getting hungry… having eaten pretty much nothing since breakfast but a small Thai noodle lunch, it was time for some much needed sustenance. I landed on a Turkey Leg at the Hub. While I normally can decimate a Turkey leg, this one was MASSIVE. It took me quite a while to eat my fill, trying to rend all of the delicious meat from the bone and ligament. I finally finished, tossed the now pile of napkins and turkey parts in the trash, and washed up in the Rancho De Zocalo washrooms. I had expended a fair amount of time in doing so, and made my way expediently towards Matterhorn before the Parade crowd got TOO terribly crazy. I walked onto the single rider queue on the Fantasy-land side of the Matterhorn at 22:39.

This was to be my first time experiencing all the new effects. Let me say.. they are GREAT!!! On top of that, the ride FELT smoother and faster. I can’t say if it actually was, but that’s the way it felt. Enjoy a few grainy, blurry pics… I obviously chose the wrong camera lens/applicable settings for this attraction as they just didn’t work.

 

[whoever]

Single rider wasn’t loading very quickly due to the configuration of guests. It did work pretty well though because seventeen minutes after I entered the line, I had made my way into a bobsled, experienced the attraction, (which had the interior lights on at one point (so I caught a glimpse of the half court I swear), survived the abdominal snowman’s attacks, and made my way safely to the exit. I wandered around by Alice briefly just soaking things up, and decided that the area by the Alice bathrooms looked sufficiently unpacked to claim my space by one of the tree planters and wait for the parade. I kind of wished I had a place to sit, but leaning against the planter railing worked well enough after I shrugged off my backpack. A few camera setting tweaks and I was ready to go for the parade.

First up were the fairies and Peter.

Next came Genie and Lumiere..

Followed by Sully with Mike bringing up the rear..

Next up was Lightening McQueen, Mac, and their support crew..

 

[whoever]

Those pics are somthing else! I wish I understood 1/2 of the things you say regarding your cameras/lenses so I can do something about it

I just wish I was a bit better at it all and could afford some better equipment. I know... a poor craftsman blames his tools, but I could really do a lot better.

 

[whoever]

Once we had finished with the Radiator Springs Race Crew, we were slated for a trip Under the Sea…

We emerged from the waves to find some friends… who’ve been waiting for us…

Which led into a tale as old as time…

And some other adventures….

 

[whoever]

It suddenly started to get cold… the un-explainable urge to sing along was gripping me, but without my daughters to urge me along, I held my resolve…

And now it warmed up a bit with unique inventions piloted by Mickey’s crew.

And finally Mickey made his appearance commanding the elements…

 

[whoever]

It suddenly started to get cold… the un-explainable urge to sing along was gripping me, but without my daughters to urge me along, I held my resolve…

And now it warmed up a bit with unique inventions piloted by Mickey’s crew.

And finally Mickey made his appearance commanding the elements…

By 23:21 Paint the Night had passed me on their way towards It’s a Small World. I looked around, debated wandering the parks snapping pics of it empty, but then the fact that I had been up for about 19 hours straight kicked in and the fact that I had a 1-2 hour drive back to San Diego once I hit my vehicle sunk home and I started heading for Main Street USA.

I stopped at the train station’s upper viewing platform so I could get some perspective of where I’d be viewing parades and fireworks from in a few weeks and snapped a few pics… I might end up doing a tripod for the fireworks… we’ll see. Nonetheless, beautiful vista towards Aurora’s castle.

At 23:34 I passed through the hallowed gates on my way towards the trams. Sixteen minutes later I was on the escalator up to Level 3… a quarter mile or more walk to the vehicle, a quick circle around the entire perimeter of the parking garage which was at least a mile, and I finally hit the exit ramp. Thankfully, Disney had the Ball Rd. overpass open, so it was a straight shot to the 5. This time of the night I made decent time despite fighting exhaustion and pulled into my hotel in San Diego at 01:12 the next day… It was going to be a rough Friday…

This concludes the Disneyland part of this Trip Report. I still have a TON of pics which I shot in brackets to play with some HDR shots which will find their way here if they turn out as well as some pics of my GCH swag I got. Stay tuned for that…

 

[soniam]

Again great shots and great report! That Paint the Night Parade is fabulous. I miss doing photography. I kind of got out of it when we switched to digital, having used film, particularly B&W, most of my life. Plus, I tend to spend a long time trying to get a shot right, ie lighting, positioning, and that doesn't work well with a family commandoing through the park. Now that we have been some, I think it's time to start slowing down and taking some really good pics.

 

[whoever]

Again great shots and great report! That Paint the Night Parade is fabulous. I miss doing photography. I kind of got out of it when we switched to digital, having used film, particularly B&W, most of my life. Plus, I tend to spend a long time trying to get a shot right, ie lighting, positioning, and that doesn't work well with a family commandoing through the park. Now that we have been some, I think it's time to start slowing down and taking some really good pics.

There's still a Hasselblad medium format in my closet and 120 film in my fridge. I really LOVE digital though. 6 FPS and ability to trash what doesn't work is key with 3 young kids darting around never looking the same way at the same time.

 

[soniam]

There's still a Hasselblad medium format in my closet and 120 film in my fridge. I really LOVE digital though. 6 FPS and ability to trash what doesn't work is key with 3 young kids darting around never looking the same way at the same time.

I finally chunked the film when we remodeled the kitchen last year. I had to remove everything from the fridge, so I figured it was time for it to go. Our wedding was shot on Hasselblad medium format, before everyone converted to digital.

I actually think your night shots aren't that bad, but I could see that the lens couldn't keep up with the fast movement of the parade participants. The Main Street shots look excellent though. Can't wait to see the photos from your next trip.

 

[whoever]

I finally chunked the film when we remodeled the kitchen last year. I had to remove everything from the fridge, so I figured it was time for it to go. Our wedding was shot on Hasselblad medium format, before everyone converted to digital.

I actually think your night shots aren't that bad, but I could see that the lens couldn't keep up with the fast movement of the parade participants. The Main Street shots look excellent though. Can't wait to see the photos from your next trip.

Yep, I should have taken a f/1.4 with me, but I didn't know I'd be shooting at night. I thought I was only doing the Sunrise Safari. Had I known I'd be back after dark, the 85mm/1.4 would have come with me.

 

[whoever]

And a few pics from the trip leftover in no particular order...