Our 3rd Annual Holiday Trip to DL in November - November 22nd - 25th, 2013 Post #3416

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – August 14, 2012– Part 3​

We last left off while I was in DCA getting FP’s for RSR which took an hour of my time that day, but we got good times to return to RSR and get on it that day. Plus I got Show passes for WoC at 9pm in the blue section where I wanted. So everything was great that morning except for RSR being down that morning. So now back to the TR.

We left off at PP where my DB, V and I are about to go on some rides at PP. When we walked down towards PP and passing California Screamin, we saw the wait time about 15 minutes which is kind of long that morning, but when we looked up ahead at Toy Story Midway Mania the line wasn’t as long as I have thought. Mostly in the past when I go to DCA in the morning, most of the people are waiting for the park to be open at 10am and they sprint on over to TSMM. Now it’s the opposite with Cars Land as the main focus to the guests when they enter DCA. With most of the people paying attention to CL this summer, TSMM wait time is the shortest I have seen close to an hour since the park opened.

So this was an easy choice for us to head on over to TSMM as our next ride. My DB and V asked me if this is the shortest I have seen TSMM in the morning. I did say yes after an hour which the original park times for DCA is at 10am and most of the guests head straight on over there before CL opened this summer. I told them that this will be the shortest time to ride TSMM that day while it will pick up later that day and I told them if we ride TSMM at Disney Hollywood Studios at WDW the wait time will be 5 times worse than this time.

So we head on over to TSMM and the wait time only said 15 minutes which was a breeze. I know that you will be overjoyed TK with TSMM wait time only 15 minutes after the parked opened at 8am. It just shows you how much of a difference the wait time is when the park opens at 8am instead of 10am plus you have CL which draws a lot of people away from TSMM.

I got some pictures of the signs while we were in the queue of TSMM

We are almost at the station

My DB and V had one side of the car to themselves while I went by myself. This was their first time riding TSMM while I have ridden it plenty of times. I know all the secret targets on each different scene and I did offer them the tips of what to hit, but they told me that they don’t want any help and will just go ahead and shoot and shoot on the ride.

When we finished TSMM, I had the highest score on the ride with 221,900. I didn’t get a pic of my DB and V, but they told me that my DB got 177,400 points which is amazing for his first time riding TSMM. V only had 45,300 points.

As expected I had the highest score in the vehicle. I also beat the best hour time at 229,500. Someone early that day got 338,800 points. Then the best one of the month was 617,600 which is amazing. I have seen 500,000+ on youtube and have barely seen 600,000+ scores. Whoever got that score is a master of TSMM.

During the ride, I only hit the secret targets on the first and second scene while the others I had trouble. This always happens to me when I ride TSMM which the first scene and second scene are easy to do while the break the plate game (scene 3), ring toss game (scene 4), and dart game (scene 5) are hard to unlock just by yourselves. I have got the secret targets at scene 3 & 4, but I have never got scene 5. Maybe one day, I will unlock the scene 5 secrets. But I have seen people on youtube can do it with no problem. You just got to have great timing and pulling that string on the gun like crazy.

When we got off TSMM, they went on over to CS as their next ride. I decided to chicken out and not ride CS that day since I have all my equipment in my bag. I could have rode CS that day, but we got to ride Matterhorn and BTMRR that day. So at least I rode on a roller coaster that day. When we left TSMM, the wait time went all the way up to 30 minutes which was not surprising. Good thing we rode TSMM just a while ago or we would have to wait another 15 minutes to get on TSMM.

Over at CS, the wait time was 15 minutes which was reasonable that day. They went on CS and I decided to get a few pics while I was waiting for them around CS. I was planning on getting a picture of them on the launch part of CS. But after waiting for 2 minutes, I was thinking of riding Mickey’s Fun Wheel or Sherry would call it “Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Terror” I believed. It was a nice day and it was perfect to go on since I was waiting for them on CS.

I was waiting at the railing right by the CS launch area until I change my mind and head on over to MFWoT (Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Terror).

A look at the WoC platform which looks awful with that brown color

Now passing through TSMM

Some flowers right by TSMM store

TSMM queue started to pick up but it wasn’t all the way towards the street

Here is another picture of the light fixture at the Hot Dog Hut stand

I’m now at MFWoT and about to ride in the non-swinging gondola. For the people that have read my previous TR’s in the past, I always go on MFWoT every time during my trip in order to get pictures of the construction of DCA these last three years. A lot has changed over the last three years at DCA with Cars Land, Little Mermaid ride, Paradise Pier viewing area for WoC, WoC platform, Silly Symphony Swings, Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta restaurant, Paradise Garden Grill & Goofy Sky School all added to DCA these last few years. I could have not ride MFWoT because with everything completed, but it is always fun to go up on MFWoT and get pictures of the DLR. I know that I am one of the few brave people that would do that since people are afraid of height. It is really scary to ride MFWoT especially the swinging gondola which I will never go on if even if you ask me to go with you.

Now here are pics from MFWoT which I got that day. I used the Nikkor 55-200mm lens instead of the 35mm lens.

A look at SSS

The Golden Zephyr

Ariel’s Grotto

A look at Cadillac Range at Cars Land

A look at Flo’s V8 Café as well as Luigis Flying Tires. You can see from the picture at LFT that there weren’t any beach balls at LFT which was a surprise. But I will get to that on another post.

The Cozy Cone Motel

The Tower of Terror

Matterhorn Mountain

Another pic of DCA and DL

Grizzly River Run

A look at PP viewing area for WoC

That’s it for this post since I am out of pictures, I will have more from MFWoT on the next update and find out next time what pictures I got.

 

[tksbaskets]

Looks like a fun morning. You had a GREAT score on TSMM You are so right that my family would have been overjoyed with a 15 minute wait time.

My sister was at WDW this past weekend. At 11 am the wait time for TSM was 120 minutes. The FP was for 4:15 pm.

I'm glad you post pictures from MFWoT as Sherry and I will never be on that ride to see the view.

I love the hot dog stand sign

 

[usnuzuloose]

That is an awesome score! Yeah, I wouldn't get on that wheel, swinging or not. I would be slumped over! At least your not afraid of the part that doesn't swing. Love the pictures you get from up there. Keep it coming! Love your reviews!

 

[kaoden39]

Bret, I always love your pictures from Mickey's Funwheel. I am amazed at the people that don't like that ride. I love the view from it.

 

[ACDSNY]

Love the pics from Mickey's Fun Wheel or as I call it Mickey's Wheel of Death. I've done the swinging ones a couple of times with little kids that wanted to go and I hated it. I don't mind the stationary ones as you mentioned the views are great.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Looks like a fun morning. You had a GREAT score on TSMM You are so right that my family would have been overjoyed with a 15 minute wait time.

My sister was at WDW this past weekend. At 11 am the wait time for TSM was 120 minutes. The FP was for 4:15 pm.

I'm glad you post pictures from MFWoT as Sherry and I will never be on that ride to see the view.

I love the hot dog stand sign

It was a fun morning at DCA that day. It would have been nice if I got to ride RSR that morning during APEE. Sometimes I am still wondering from that morning if I went on LFT instead of waiting in that line at RSR, I would have gotten on the ride that I enjoyed a lot during the AP preview. Some people like LFT while some don't. I still like LFT during the preview and I was sad that I didn't get to ride it during this trip. Thank you TK. My score was okay, I am still trying to get up in the 300,000+ score on TSMM. As you know from what I have said in the past TR's is my arm strength. It does get sore while pulling that string a lot of times. I need to work out my arm a lot instead of being on my computer. I always think of you when I ride TSMM and knew that when DCA opens at 7am during APEE/EMH you and your family would ride TSMM all day with little wait.

You did tell me that you sister was at WDW where you planned out the trip for her. Did she have a great time? I wasn't surprised to see TSMM wait time at 2+ hours and FP's mostly gone until the afternoon. It just shows you what a difference from DCA to DHS at WDW. Those FP's at TSMM just made the wait time at DHS so slow where it will take 2 times longer then DCA TSMM.

That was a nice sign to get as well as a light fixture.

Thank you TK.

That is an awesome score! Yeah, I wouldn't get on that wheel, swinging or not. I would be slumped over! At least your not afraid of the part that doesn't swing. Love the pictures you get from up there. Keep it coming! Love your reviews!

Thank you Jo. The score was nice on TSMM, it would have been better if I got a little bit higher. I am still happy with those scores on TSMM. Some people are brave enough to go on MFW and some won't even go on it. I really don't like going on the swinging gondola then the non-swinging. Thank you. I'm glad that you are enjoying the trip report.

Bret, I always love your pictures from Mickey's Funwheel. I am amazed at the people that don't like that ride. I love the view from it.

Thank you Michele. It has been three years since I have been taking pictures from MFW and they have been fun and exciting. There are some people that like MFW and some that don't like it. I am just one of those crazy people that would go on MFW. Every time I ride it and at the very top of MFW, I try not to look on the bottom since it is scary to look at the bottom. Are you thinking of riding MFW when you go to the DLR in a few months?

Love the pics from Mickey's Fun Wheel or as I call it Mickey's Wheel of Death. I've done the swinging ones a couple of times with little kids that wanted to go and I hated it. I don't mind the stationary ones as you mentioned the views are great.

Thank you Angela. I also do call it Mickey's Fun Wheel of Death a few times to my party members while we passed MFW. The swinging gondola's are not that bad for people who like swinging. I just hate it when it swings back and forward on the track and it seems like the gondola is about to fall off the track. The non-swinging are fun to go on especially the view where you can take great pictures.


I'll post one more update tonight before I call it tonight. Stay tune for the next update.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – August 14, 2012– Part 4​

I left off at Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Terror while I am getting some pics around the DLR. The whole morning was crazy by getting FP’s for RSR which I waited an hour in the queue and got show passes for WoC that night. Plus we got to ride TSMM this morning. Now I am on MFWoT while my DB and V are on CS. Now back to the pictures from MFWoT.

A sign from the Boardwalk Bazaar store

Another pic of GRR

Looking at Cars Land again from MFWoT

Some of the pics were bright that day from MFWoT

A look at BTMRR

A look at the Little Mermaid ride

When MFWoT was over, I saw that the lines for the swinging and non-swinging started to pick up while I just walked on that morning. Now I head on back to CS to meet up with DB and V.

While passing through TSMM, the wait time started to pick up and TSMM extended the queue. It was close to 40 minute wait to get on TSMM. Good thing that the three of us rode TSMM a while ago before all these guests are in line.

I met up with DB and V around CS and they had a blast riding CS. So we were about to head on towards the bridge of PP, but they wanted to go around PP from the other side towards SSS, GSS, etc. Now we head on the other side of PP, but first I did get some pics while we were walking.

Light fixtures on PP which we see around the Boardwalk area

Now passing through Boardwalk Pizza & Grill

Now approaching Goofy’s Sky School

But first we passed through Jumpin’ Jellyfish

When we passed through GSS, it was only a 10 minute wait and this was a great time to ride GSS while the wait time is short. I can’t believe I never ridden GSS last year and this was a great opportunity go on it during a short wait. I told them that it is a mouse coaster which has tight turns. So we head on in to GSS.

Some pics of the decorations of GSS queue

That’s it from Goofy’s Sky School. We will find out on the next update if we graduated from Goofy’s Sky School.

 

[franandaj]

WoW! i can't believe how long it has taken me to catch up! Your pictures are great! Any you cover so much territory in so little time! No wonder it's hard to keep up, so many photos, so little time!

 

[ACDSNY]

Two more new rides for us...Goofy's and the Little Mermaid.

 

[franandaj]

Two more new rides for us...Goofy's and the Little Mermaid.

Don't forget the Matterhorn they put in new ride vehicles for that for one too!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up too....seems like CL is drawing crowds away from the rest of the park. Nice to have a short wait for TSMM.

 

[mvf-m11c]

WoW! i can't believe how long it has taken me to catch up! Your pictures are great! Any you cover so much territory in so little time! No wonder it's hard to keep up, so many photos, so little time!

Thank you Alison. We got to do a lot of rides in such a short time at DCA that morning and we still aren't done just yet with DCA. We still got RSR FP's to use around 11:30am to 12:30pm.

Two more new rides for us...Goofy's and the Little Mermaid.

That's good to hear that you will ride Goofy's Sky School and the Little Mermaid ride.

Don't forget the Matterhorn they put in new ride vehicles for that for one too!

Just as Alison don't forget the Matterhorn with the new bobsled vehicles. I'll give you a tip about the new sleds, they are very tight and don't bring a big bag on the ride since it was uncomfortable with it. There is barely any leg room in the vehicles where you can see people knees from the cars. I would also consider riding BTMRR that day since there are reports that it will go be closed the whole year next year due to refurbishment.

Catching up too....seems like CL is drawing crowds away from the rest of the park. Nice to have a short wait for TSMM.

CL is drawing all the guests away that morning where the rides at PP were walk on or a short wait time. Time has changed at DCA where people would head on over to TSMM as the first ride and now CL is the first place for people to head on over.


The next update will be up shortly so stay tune.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – August 14, 2012– Part 5​

I left off last at Goofy’s Sky School where the three of us are about to ride it. It was exciting to ride GSS after its renovation last year. I can’t believe I haven’t ridden GSS since it opened last year. The only problem I had about riding GSS is that the cars are very tight and I wonder if I can put my bag on the floor with no problem. We’ll wait and find out when we get in the car for GSS. The last time I rode GSS or actually the old ride was called Mullholland Madness was a few years ago just as when Mullholland Madness was about to close for Goofy’s Sky School theme.

We only had to wait 10 minutes to get on the ride which went by really quickly. I mostly have seen the lines for GSS at least 15 to 20 during the summertime which isn’t that bad and we were lucky to only have to wait 10 minutes to get on GSS.

Taking a picture of the background of GSS loading station

When we got in the car, I was able to put my bag in the car and I barely had any room leg room where it was uncomfortable. I could have put my bag on the side or skipped the ride, but I just went with it. Here are some pics from GSS. DB and V were in the front while I was in the back.

We learned how to fly the Goofy Way. I love that sign at the end of the ride.

After we got off GSS, we head on over to another ride at PP. When we walked right by PP viewing area, we decided to ride the Little Mermaid ride since it is right next to the GSS.

When we got to the entrance of the LM ride, the wait time was just 5 minutes and I knew that it was going to be a walk-on. So we head on over to the LM ride. It was very interesting to hear from V that the Little Mermaid is her favorite Disney character. So I knew that she was going to like this ride.

Here are some pics of the queue of the LM ride before we got on the ride.

Another light fixture pic

A treasure chest

Now we got on the ride and about to go under the Sea with Ariel and her friends. I used the Nikkor 35mm lens which this is the true test of the lens for nighttime rides. I was hoping that this lens is as better than the other lens that I used for the ride which will be better.

Pictures from “The Little Mermaid Ariel’s Undersea Adventure”.
Scuttle at the beginning of the ride

One of the clam mobiles going under the sea

Ariel and Flounder

It was hard to get Ariel where she was blurry

Ursula

Ariel & Eric

And of course Scuttle at the end of the ride just as he was at the beginning of the ride

When we got off, we started to think that it was about time to head on out of DCA and over to DL especially that we did mostly everything that we wanted to do at DCA. We could have went back to CL to see what LFT wait time was like. Luckily I looked at mousewait app on my phone and it was 50 minute wait time and there was no way they would want to wait in that line for about an hour. So we head on out of the park and over to DL.

This concludes this post. What will we ride at DL that day? Find out on the next update.

 

[kaoden39]

Thank you Michele. It has been three years since I have been taking pictures from MFW and they have been fun and exciting. There are some people that like MFW and some that don't like it. I am just one of those crazy people that would go on MFW. Every time I ride it and at the very top of MFW, I try not to look on the bottom since it is scary to look at the bottom. Are you thinking of riding MFW when you go to the DLR in a few months?

I love MFW and we go on it every trip. It is always on my must do list. I love the view from up there.

 

[Sherry E]

Looks like a fun morning. You had a GREAT score on TSMM You are so right that my family would have been overjoyed with a 15 minute wait time.

My sister was at WDW this past weekend. At 11 am the wait time for TSM was 120 minutes. The FP was for 4:15 pm.

I'm glad you post pictures from MFWoT as Sherry and I will never be on that ride to see the view.

I love the hot dog stand sign

You got that right, TK! I will be content to look at Bret's photos from MFWoT because I will never be going on it! I even get a little uneasy riding in the Monorail at times!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks Bret. I'm so happy to see your pictures of GSS and the Little Mermaid. Both rides are new to me (although I have done Mulholland Madness a few times). Both are on my to-do list next time I'm in DLR.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I love MFW and we go on it every trip. It is always on my must do list. I love the view from up there.

Hopefully on your trip, you will be able to get some pics from MFW.

You got that right, TK! I will be content to look at Bret's photos from MFWoT because I will never be going on it! I even get a little uneasy riding in the Monorail at times!

Thank you Sherry. I know that you don't like to go on MFWoT, but I am kind of surprise to hear that you are uneasy of riding the Monorail. The Monorail is not that high up in the air like MFWoT.

Thanks Bret. I'm so happy to see your pictures of GSS and the Little Mermaid. Both rides are new to me (although I have done Mulholland Madness a few times). Both are on my to-do list next time I'm in DLR.

Your welcome PiO. Glad that you like my pics from GSS and the Little Mermaid. I was also going to ask you on my pictures from the Little Mermaid ride that some of them didn't turned out so great as I have thought with the new lens. Maybe I need to set up the shutter speed and aperture to a specific timing on the dark rides. You will like both rides and just like Angela, those are two rides that she will be doing on her upcoming trip next week. I am glad for her that she will be going to DL shortly.


The next update will be coming up so stay tune.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – August 14, 2012– Part 6​

We left off getting off the Little Mermaid ride. We got to do a lot of rides that morning at DCA. Now that we finished the LM ride, we are on our way out of DCA and over to DL. The park crowd levels started to pick up with more and more people entering DCA that morning. So I knew that DL would also pick up with more and more crowds that day. The weather started to pick up that morning and it was still nice and cool. Now let’s get back to the trip report.

We left the LM ride and on our way out of DCA.

On the way out of DCA, we were now approaching BVS. It was kind of busy around the Carthay Circle Theater so I was wondering what was going on around the area. We did find out what was going on around up there.

When we got around the Carthay Circle Theater one of the Red Car Trolley’s was not moving and the show “Red Car News Boys” show. This was the first time seeing the show in person where I have seen clips on the web. But we weren’t here to see Red Car News Boys as we head on out of the park. But I did get some pics of the show while we were heading on out of the park. This is one of the shows that I planned on seeing during the trip, but that will be another time to see the show.

Now leaving BVS that morning and over to DL.

I got a few pictures on the way out of the park. The park started to feel a little when we were about to exit right at the turnstiles

I did tell DB and V that we needed to get back to DCA around 11:30am to 12:30pm to use our Radiator Springs Racers FP’s or it would have been a wasted day for me in the RSR FP line. We knew that we only had about an hour or two at DL until we returned to DCA.

We left DCA and now heading on over to DL. When we were back at the esplanade that morning, it looked kind of semi busy that day. Hopefully DL wouldn’t be as crowded at DCA. But with everything happening the summertime, I didn’t know what park will be crowded or not. But with DL, it will always be crowded no matter what.

I looked at the turnstiles at DL and I knew that we were going to be in a long line that morning

At the turnstiles at DL, we had to wait quite a while to enter DL. It’s almost like every morning around that time that most of the crowds started to get up and have breakfast and now are entering the park.

Now we were in DL. I asked what ride they wanted to do first, DB wanted to ride Star Tours since he didn’t get to ride it on our WDW trip. During my WDW trip in December, DB and my dad were at EPCOT that day while I was at DHS with my other group. I got to ride ST at DHS which is the same ride but the only difference between the two ST at DL and DHS is that the buildings are completely different.

So we head on over to TL. But before we head on over to TL, I had to get some pics on MS that day.

MS TS didn’t look that super busy that morning where it was manageable and walkable. I can tell that a lot of the people in DL are heading on over to the big rides since I have seen mostly adults and teenagers. But that was at MS and there could me more that day.

And of course I can’t forget the flowers on Main Street Town Square for which these are for you Deej if you are reading my TR.

Now walking down MS where it was nice and clear that day.

While we were walking down MS, the Horse-Drawn Streetcar and the Horseless Carriage passed by on MS

Still walking down on MS and about to head on over to TL. But on the way, we saw Mary Poppins and Bert walking down.

We were now in TL and passing through Astro Orbiter. I know that this was a bright picture since we were close to the ride and it was bright in that area.

Around TL, AO was about 15 minute wait and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster was at 15 minutes. We looked at ST and see was the wait time was 30 minutes. I knew that it wasn’t worth waiting that long to ride Star Tours, so we head on over to the ST FP machines and get FPs for ST.

When I got the tickets our return time was around 10:55am to 11:55am which was about 40 minutes to return to ST and use the FPs. That was a short time to come back to ST and go on the ride. It also worked for us a lot since we could ride ST first before returning to DCA to ride RSR.

After getting FP’s for ST, we thought about going on another ride while we were around TL. This is it for this post since I am out of pictures. We’ll find out on the next update to see what our next ride will be at DL that Tuesday morning.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Apologies in advance to all of Bret's readers that will get bored with the photog-speak.....

Your welcome PiO. Glad that you like my pics from GSS and the Little Mermaid. I was also going to ask you on my pictures from the Little Mermaid ride that some of them didn't turned out so great as I have thought with the new lens. Maybe I need to set up the shutter speed and aperture to a specific timing on the dark rides. You will like both rides and just like Angela, those are two rides that she will be doing on her upcoming trip next week. I am glad for her that she will be going to DL shortly.

Bret - I tried to look for those pics in your flickr account to check the exif file details to see what your settings were but I couldn't find them?

And what mode are you most comfortable shooting in on your camera?

If you are shooting in the shutter priority or time mode (Is this S on the Nikon?..it's Tv on the Canon), then next time, try setting the shutter speed to 1/50 and see what the camera calculates for the ISO and aperture. (I am assuming that you can hold the camera steady at speeds of 1/40 or 1/50. You could try going lower if you have a steady hand but I've found that with the movement on a ride, 1/25 is as much as I can go...but that's me. You might be a lot more steady.) If the ISO is pushing into an ISO setting that you know to be noisy on your camera, then try a different setting.

You could shoot in aperture priority as an alternative (I think this is A on the Nikon;...Av on the Canon). Set your aperture around 2.8 and again check the other two settings. You may want to adjust the aperture so that you get a shutter speed around 1/40 or 1/50 (or even faster) so that you balance off the steady picture with an image where some things are in focus. Aperture settings in the f/2.2 or lower give a shallower depth of field and a lot of the set might be out of focus. Think of it like a pane of glass....the higher the number, the thicker the glass. Everything in that glass pane will be in focus. The lower the number, the thinner the glass. Everything in the glass pane will be in focus but much less will be in focus, because it is thinner.

If you are shooting in manual mode, then I would set the ISO no higher than 1600 (assuming that it gets noisy above this level), 1/50 sec and try the f/2.5 or f/2.8.

If you have time, play with the aperture setting at home. Have a lens that allows you to go down to f/1.8 is great because you have more options for different picture effects in a variety of conditions. The image will be different at the different f-stops and it is an individual preference as to whether you like the out-of-focus look or not. I would recommend that you try it out and work out what your preference is, if you haven't already. Flowers are great subjects to try this on. Set up your camera on the tripod so that you can directly compare....Pick A mode and focus on the flower. The start taking shots from f/1.8 all the way up.

And if I can be so bold as to put an example in here....I took this at the weekend with an f-stop of f/2.8. The flower center is in complete focus and the petal tips are slightly out of focus. The background is a complete blur....but that was the look I was going for.

I wish I had taken a second shot with a different setting to demonstrate it....but if I had changed the f-stop to e.g., f/5.6, I would expect the tips to be in complete focus and also to be able to see more details of the plant and leaves in the background.

Hope this helps.

 

[tksbaskets]

PiO that was fascinating! Beautiful shot to be sure.