Mickey, Me & Our Big 4-0: Day 8 - Characters In Flight

[wickesy]

After our late night last night we were not up until 9:00 this morning and then we spent a while lazing around in the room. At around 10:30 we decided to go out to Showcase of Citrus to do their monster truck safari. We got there just as the only tour of the day got back so we put our names down for the 10:00 tour tomorrow but did snap this quick preview.

As we had nothing else planned for today we decided to make it a resort day and headed back to Pop Century for a look around as we have never been there before.

We parked up in the '90's parking area and walked through to the food court where Dad had a turkey ciabatta, I just had a chocolate chip cookie and we had a coke each. As we were sitting there I had a look through the photos I had taken yesterday then put my camera back in its case, which was clipped to the belt loop on my trousers.

Once we had finished we had a quick look around the gift shop and started to make our way outside. As we walked out I went to take my camera out so that I could take some photos on the walk back to the car but although the clip was still there the case was gone! We immediately went back to the booth that we had been sitting in but the case wasn't there either and as I was looking another guest told me that the camera had been handed in. We went over to the concierge desk and luckily enough he found my camera in the back office straight away. The case was clipped into one end of an s-biner and I think what had happened was that as I slid out of the booth the clip on the case end had got caught allowing the case to slip off. We decided that the best thing to do was to clip the camera strap that was sticking out of the case to the belt loop end of the s-biner so that even if the case came off it would still be attached by the camera strap. With that drama over we walked back to the car and I took some photos along the way.

Continued in next post

 

[wickesy]

As we were driving to Pop we had noticed that the Characters in Flight balloon was up so we drove over to DTD and finally got to go up.

As it was another hot & humid day we went back to the Boardwalk where we picked up our shopping from a couple of days ago and then went back to the room for a rest before going out for dinner.

We went back out at 5:45 and made our way up to City Walk at Universal. We parked up in Jurassic Park 506 and made our way round to Nascar Grille, which had been closed for a private party when we tried to eat there a couple of years ago. For starter I had the 'Boogity Shrimp' (shrimp in a spicy sauce) and Dad had the mozzarella ravioli, then I had the pulled pork platter and Dad had a burger. It was a nice meal but the fact that you have to pay for parking at City Walk puts me off going there again.

On our way back to the car we stopped off at Cinnabon where we picked up a combo pack of 2 classic and 2 pecan bon to take back to the room with us and have over the next couple of days.

We were back at BWV just after 8:00 and although we had intended to go over to EPCOT for the fireworks, the lightning had started again and it was very muggy so we decided just to watch from the balcony with a cold beer each.

Once again we were in bed around 10:00 with our monster truck adventure planned for tomorrow morning.

Day 9

 

[Chilly]

You'd think they'd make it free parking in the evening wouldn't you.

 

[wickesy]

You'd think they'd make it free parking in the evening wouldn't you.

You really would - I'm sure the restaurants would do so much more business. We would go to Cinnabon a lot more if we didn't have to pay parking charges.

 

[irongirlof12]

You photos from the balloon are amazing, i just wish i was brave enough to give it a go

 

[wickesy]

You photos from the balloon are amazing, i just wish i was brave enough to give it a go

I must admit I had a 'wobbly' moment when we were standing waiting for the balloon to come down and thought "What the heck am I doing, I don't like heights" but I was fine once we got up there. You would never catch me doing a hot air balloon flight though.

 

[DISWolves]

Nice photos from the balloon
I agreed about the parking cost for City Walk. We usually visit Hard Rock but the parking can make it expensive, if you are not visiting the park. Is the cost reduce for evening visits, if so, why time does it start?

 

[wickesy]

Nice photos from the balloon
I agreed about the parking cost for City Walk. We usually visit Hard Rock but the parking can make it expensive, if you are not visiting the park. Is the cost reduce for evening visits, if so, why time does it start?

It goes down to $3 after 6pm, which makes it a lot more affordable, but even so...

 

[SusanEllen]

Another terrific report--fascinating photos of Disney from the air. I believe these are the first I've seen taken from Characters in Flight. They've convinced me I should not let this go undone next trip.

 

[2Tiggies]

Wow, David your pics are stunning! I have to ask what camera you used

We also did Characters in Flight, first trip in the morning. Possibly not the best time as the glare from the sun was and I managed to ruin all my pictures because ..... erm, I had been taking night shots the evening before and hadn't reset the camera, or the white balance

Would you do the balloon ride again? My DD claims not to like heights but she didn't think it felt high (or at least not what she expected). We have very intention of going back for a night flight, but as always, time ran out!

Now that I have seen some of your pics I have to go and catch up on the rest of your TR.

 

[wickesy]

Wow, David your pics are stunning! I have to ask what camera you used

Thanks very much. The camera I use is a Fuji Finepix F300EXR and 90% of the time I use it on full auto mode. I'm really pleased with the results I get, particularly the sepia toned photos that you will see if you read some of my other days, and the panoramic mode. I'm still struggling to get consistent decent results at night though - especially fireworks and parade shots.

I'm not a big fan of heights myself, especially when they are 'open' like the balloon is so I probably wouldn't do it again during the day but I would like to do it at night to see everything lit up.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the TR.

 

[2Tiggies]

Thanks very much. The camera I use is a Fuji Finepix F300EXR and 90% of the time I use it on full auto mode. I'm really pleased with the results I get, particularly the sepia toned photos that you will see if you read some of my other days, and the panoramic mode. I'm still struggling to get consistent decent results at night though - especially fireworks and parade shots.

I'm not a big fan of heights myself, especially when they are 'open' like the balloon is so I probably wouldn't do it again during the day but I would like to do it at night to see everything lit up.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the TR.

I am so impressed with that camera. I had a Fuji bridge camera and without a doubt it was the best camera for clarity and vibrant colours (I LOVE colours). You are right, Fuji sepia effects are one of their strenghts in my opinion but you can't disregard the skill of a good photographer For example, I have a Nikon DSLR .... and managed to muck up all my shots from the flight. I was gutted .. until I realised I would just have to take another one.

Night shots are very difficult to master and I think a lot of it develops from just playing around. I tried to get some night shots with 'twinkle' lights and must have fiddled with the shutter speed about 15 times. Eventually I gave up, put it onto aperture priority, stopped it up to F22 which gave a shutter speed of close on 60 seconds and I was happy

I am looking forward to reading the rest. And of course, seeing more photos

 

[wickesy]

you can't disregard the skill of a good photographer

I've always been more of a 'happy snapper' up to now but I'm trying to put a bit more thought into my photos now, starting with composition. All the shutter speed, ISO speed and aperture stuff is still a bit beyond me for now. It was one of the reasons I wanted this camera though - it's still a compact but has a lot of the manual settings for when I'm ready.

 

[jockey]

Great day

 

[florida sun]

Great day David,love the pictures from the top of the Characters in Flight, I didnt know you could see so much from up there