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

[PrincessInOz]

Bret - Great firework shots!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret - Great firework shots!

Thank you PiO. I wanted to get some more impression from you of what do you think of the fireworks. I did follow the instructions that you provided on the thread to go with ISO 100 and set the aperture at f/9.0 and shutter speed at 4 to 6 seconds. Some of them turned out well and some didn't.

Day 1 – June 9, 2012– Part 25​

Back to more pics from Magical fireworks with the firework trails.

You can see Dumbo from the trail during the fireworks.

That's it for tonight and I will have more pics from Magical fireworks.

 

[tksbaskets]

Great firework pictures!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great firework pictures!

Thank you TK.

Day 1 – June 9, 2012– Part 26​

Now back to Magical fireworks with the firework trails.

I will be back with more later tonight.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – June 9, 2012– Part 27​

More pics from Magical fireworks with the firework trails

After Magical was over, I packed up all my stuff and started to go on over to the TIki Juice Bar to get a nice Soft Serve Dole Whip after a long day at the parks. Most of the guests that watched Magical around the Hub and MS started to head on over to Frontierland to head on over to the RoA for the 2nd show of F!. But I had to go through that way since they wouldn't let any guests in Adventureland side since that is the exit for the guests who watched the first show of F!.

I head on over to the Tiki Juice Bar and I only had to wait for 5 minutes to get my Dole Whip Soft Whip. I always like to get a nice soft serve everyime I go to DL at night to conclude my night.

After getting the Dole Whip, I started to head on out of the park while it was still busy that night when the fireworks was over. I was originally planning on seeing MMY that night, but I was kind of tired from that whole day and didn't get any rest from the driving and going to the preview that I decided tocall it for the night.

I got back to the hotel around 10:30pm and that concludes my day at the DLR.

This was a day trip that I will never forget in a long time since we were there for a preview of CL & BVS before it was open to the public.

We got to enjoy BVS during the preview and got to see it going back and forward to the entrance and at the Carthay Circle Theater. It was very nice to go to BVS while there was barely any people during the preview. I wish that the Storyteller's statue would be revealed during the preview. But I will get the chance to see it in the future.

CL was so amazing as I have said it back and forward again and again on the threads.

I already said those thing on my previous posts, but I'll say it again that CL & BVS are so amazing.

Even though my DA didn't come with me to watch Magical that night, it was nice to see watch it and take pictures of the firework trails that night. The whole day was a great success and one of the best times I have ever gone to the DLR.

The next day which is Sunday will be another AP preview but this time it will be at nighttime. I am really looking forward to see Radiator Springs at night with the neon lights all light up at night.

That's it for Saturday and the next day is going to be exciting.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Bret - Those fireworks are great, especially if its the first time you've tried the longer exposures. You got great colour in the trails, which can be tricky to do - especially the blue.

For next time, I would dial back either the time to 2 - 3 seconds or set the aperture to f/11 - f/16. Your set up shot of the castle shows that you got the exposure right but when the fireworks started up, the additional light from the fireworks resulted in some of the castle being a little over exposed.
Dial back either setting and check the exposure again before the show starts.

The other thing - you have the luxury of having seen the show a number of times. If you know when the fireworks are going to be in full blast, change the time to a shorter time duration. In some of those cases, 1 - 1.5 seconds might be sufficient.

Have fun with this and I look forward to seeing more gorgeous fireworks trails on your TR in the future.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret - Those fireworks are great, especially if its the first time you've tried the longer exposures. You got great colour in the trails, which can be tricky to do - especially the blue.

For next time, I would dial back either the time to 2 - 3 seconds or set the aperture to f/11 - f/16. Your set up shot of the castle shows that you got the exposure right but when the fireworks started up, the additional light from the fireworks resulted in some of the castle being a little over exposed.
Dial back either setting and check the exposure again before the show starts.

The other thing - you have the luxury of having seen the show a number of times. If you know when the fireworks are going to be in full blast, change the time to a shorter time duration. In some of those cases, 1 - 1.5 seconds might be sufficient.

Have fun with this and I look forward to seeing more gorgeous fireworks trails on your TR in the future.

Thank you PiO. It's not bad for the first time by trying the firework trails.

I will do that on my next trip to DL when I watch Magical or another firework show. I though about setting the shutter speed to 2 to 3 seconds since 4 to 6 got a lot of it and it leaves a lot of trail in the pics.

I will be using that those tips when we do the fireworks on July 4th at my house. I know that they are just little ones, but it will be good practice when I do the fireworks later on.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – June 10, 2012– Part 1​

Now it's time for the next enjoyable day at the DLR. After a great day going to BVS & CL during the AP preview, it was a new day and we were ready to go to DL that Sunday morning. My DA was still tired from yesterday even though I stayed at the DLR until 10:30pm on Saturday. She just wanted to relax until we go to DCA for our preview time on Sunday at 6pm to 11pm. But this means that I can't get my wristbands until she comes with me to the ticket booths.

I really got up late that morning and I knew that I only had about a few minutes to take a shower and get dressed in order to get to DL during the rope drop at 8am.

I left the hotel around 8am and I knew that I was going to get in the park around 8:10am when there are some people at the park that morning. Like always in the morning in June which is always cloudy in the morning. It is nice when the weather was nice in the morning even though it was cloudy.

I head on in the park around 8:10am and like I usually do on any of my trips to DL, I always go to BLAB first since the line is a walk on and I try to get a high score on BLAB.

While I was on MS heading on in the park, I stopped to see the new Alice Davis window on MS.

After looking at the window on MS, I head on over to MS Hub area and saw that it was really quiet that morning.

So I head on over to TL where I usually go in the morning.

When I got over to TL, Astro Orbiter and BLAB are always walk on in the morning, but ST was very interesting. The wait time was only 5 minutes and it was a walk-on. I thought about riding ST that morning, but I always like to ride BLAB first thing. So I stayed with my original plan of riding BLAB first.

But first, I head on over to the ST FP machines to get a FP for ST

Now heading on over to the BLAB entrance.

When I went through the queue, the Buzz AA was all covered up so the Buzz AA was not running during that time. Sorry for the blurry photo since I was walking when I took the pic.

So my score for BLAB was 578,300 points. That was not a great score and I know TK that you would love to have that score on BLAB. The only problem I had with BLAB that day was the secret target at Zurg where it didn't light up even once. Also the jack in the box area didn't open and I lost a lot of points at that part. So part of the ride was not working that day.

After getting off BLAB, I head onover to the Hub and take some pics of the flowers.

So I started to head on over towards the Matterhorn to see if they are doing any soft openings. But I really doubt that there is any soft openings that day.

A look at the Matterhorn

I walked around the Matterhorn to see if it was open or not. But it wasn't so I just walked around.

While I was walking down, Monorail Mona or Orange came along right by the Matterhorn when I was walking.

More shots of the Matterhorn from TL side. The Matterhorn looks so nice without the scaffolding after those last two trips I had this year. Even though I don't like the railings as part of the ride, the Matterhorn looks great and even better then ever.

There was a worker on track right by the waterfall

Now I was back in TL just roaming around the area and see what the lines were like.

The wait times for ST went up to 15 minutes which was not that busy while AO and BLAB were still 5-10 minute wait. So I just kept walking around until I got back to the Hub.

That's it for tonight and I will be back with more tomorrow.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – June 10, 2012– Part 2​

Now back to the trip report.

After walking around DL that morning, I head on over towards Adventureland to get some pics while the park was empty. At least that morning was quiet. But more and more people started to come into the park.

It was also quiet at Adventureland

Once again in the morning, INDY was broken down. Almost everytime I go to DL in the morning, INDY is broken and not running.

Over at the RoA, it was quiet while the Mark Twain and Columbia are in the dock and side dock.

Tom Sawyer Island looks empty.

So I head on over to NoS

I got some flower pics in NOS. These were right by the entrance of the NOS RR station

So i head on over to Criiter Country

Splash Mountain was only 5 minutes which is normal in the morning.

I went into Pooh's corner to see what kind of merchandise is in the store and then I head on out of CC.

Now passsing the RoA and heading on over to Frontierland back side

Just about 10 minutes until 9am. I still have 45 minutes until I head on over to DCA

When I was right by BTMRR, I saw the BTR Jamboree sign where it is in the back side right by BTR where it is a nice area to see characters, craft and music. This is close to the Family fun Weekend last year where they had a Country style theme. I didn't see it this trip since we were concentrating at CL & BVS.

Like always in the morning which is quiet

Now in FL which was semi busy that morning. Ride like Dumbo, PP, & AiW had long lines while the others were just walk on's.

A nice pic of the Matterhorn from the FL side

Flowers right by SLCB

I was now in IASW plaza and saw the Brave meet & greet area. This area is where they have the character meet & greet area during any year and now it is the meet & greet area for the characters of Brave

I believe Merida the main character of Brave is greeting guests

That's it for this post and I will be back with more tonight.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The skies look grey at this time of morning. And the park is rather empty. Love the pics of the flowers.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Hi Bret!

Just popping in really quickly to see if it was "safe" to look at your TR on the current page. It is. I'm trying to avoid pics of Cars Land right now. That's why I'm not chiming in on yours and Sherry's TRs. I want to discover all those details myself this fall. I enjoyed your Disneyland pictures on this quiet morning and I have to say that the pictures of the flowers brought a huge smile to my face. That picture taken by the NOS entrance to the RR station looked very fall-like to me.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The skies look grey at this time of morning. And the park is rather empty. Love the pics of the flowers.

I really like going to DL in the morning when the skies are grey and know that it is not warm in the morning. The first hour at DL in the morning is always so empty which I like to see it where I can get a lot of empty crowd shots.

Thank you PiO.

Hi Bret!

Just popping in really quickly to see if it was "safe" to look at your TR on the current page. It is. I'm trying to avoid pics of Cars Land right now. That's why I'm not chiming in on yours and Sherry's TRs. I want to discover all those details myself this fall. I enjoyed your Disneyland pictures on this quiet morning and I have to say that the pictures of the flowers brought a huge smile to my face. That picture taken by the NOS entrance to the RR station looked very fall-like to me.

Hi Deej. It's nice to hear from you.

It is safe to look at my TR and it will be awhile until I get to the pics of CL & BVS. I can understand that you don't want to see pics from CL & BVS right now since you want to be surprised when you see it in person.

Thank you, I always think of you when I see the flowers around the DLR. So I got more flowers on this trip then I have done in quite some time. Maybe I need to do a flower quest one day so you can see all these amazing flowers at the parks. Glad you like the picture of the flowers right by the entrance of the NOS RR station.

I will have the next post up later tonight after I am finish with my work on the internet.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – June 10, 2012– Part 3​

Now back to the trip report after a long night with doing work on the internet. I left off around IASW Plaza where the Brave meet & greet area is just right across the street from IASW. So after looking around at the meet & greet, I head on over to the DLRR since I like to ride the trains at DL.

IASW clock is about to open

Toontown is about to open at 9am

I head on over to MTT station and the E.P. Ripley is approaching the station so I just made it when it arrived at the station.

I only rode the E.P. Ripley towards the TL station.

IASW looks quiet that mornnng

Now I was back in TL and started to head on over to the Matterhorn to see it again. I didn't get any pics until I got to FL since I wanted to look at the Matterhorn very carefully without getting my camera out.

Most of the rides at TL started to pick up after 9am with Autopia at 10 minutes & FNSV at 20 minutes. I thought about riding the monorail, but it was too close to the rope drop at DCA.

FL is also starting to pick up that morning with SLCB line is already towards the street.

After being around FL, I started to go back to the Hub to get some pics around the area.

The former Carnation Plaza Gardens is now up with walls and being replaced with the Fantasy Faire which I am not too excited about. There was alo the light poles for the Grad Nites days

Over at Adventureland, I went over to get a FP for Indy before I head on out of the park. The ride was back up and running and the wait time was at 30 minutes.

So I head on out of Adventureland and back to MS

Now I am heading on out of DL and over to DCA. The park started to pick up that morning.

Almost 9:30

Even though the Carnation Cafe is closed, I really like the new sign

When I was around MS TS, I had to get some more pics of the flowers around the Flag Retreat

Almost 9:30 and DCA should be open for the rope drop

The Fred Gurley Engine #3 is at the MS station

Now I left DL and now over to DCA for my usual morning. I will be back with more tomorrow.

 

[franandaj]

Great pictures Bret! I have been hopefully behind on your TR and it took me a while to catch up. I did want to say, when did Luigi's Flying Tires start serving teriyaki chicken? You might want to check your acronyms!

Those fireworks shots are GREAT! Especially for a first effort. I'm sure they will just continue to get better.

I'm looking forward to seeing your nighttime shots of Carsland.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great pictures Bret! I have been hopefully behind on your TR and it took me a while to catch up. I did want to say, when did Luigi's Flying Tires start serving teriyaki chicken? You might want to check your acronyms!

Those fireworks shots are GREAT! Especially for a first effort. I'm sure they will just continue to get better.

I'm looking forward to seeing your nighttime shots of Carsland.

Thank you Alison. It was actually Lucky Fortune Cookery at the Pacific Wharf what I meant to say. Maybe I did say LFT at the Lucky Fortune Cookery which should be LFC.

The fireworks turned out not bad for a first try. When it's 4th of July next week not this coming week, I will do a test with my DSLR camera for the fireworks so I can be prepared for my next trip to take pictures of the fireworks.

I still need to get through this morning in order to get to the best part of the night.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – June 10, 2012– Part 4​

After a nice day at DL in the morning, I am now heading over to DCA. It is so fun to go to DL in the morning since most of the rides are walk on's and most importantly that it is easy to walk through and take a lot of pictures without any people in the shots.

When I exited DL and through the Esplanade, the park wasn't open just yet so I had to wait awhile outside the gates to enter the park. There were quite a number of people waiting to get into DCA, but that is common on any day in the morning. It was also going to be interesting in the future when DCA opens at 8am on busy days just like DL so I better enjoy coming to DCA at 9:30am while DL opens at 8am. I also saw on the left hand side of the turnstiles where they let the guests in for the preview of CL & BVS which was open. I would easily gone through the special event turnstile so I would have to wait like the regular guests, but my DA wasn't with me and I couldn't get the wristband without her.

The turnstiles open after 9:30am and now in DCA that morning. They let the guests who have their wristbands for the preview event that day through BVS while most of the guests have to go through the back side of Soarin. This will be the last time we will go through the back side of Soarin.

Now I am heading on over to GRR to get a FP for WoC at the 9pm show. I wasn't planning on seeing the 9pm WoC show since we will be a private viewing of WoC that night. I read that there will be a WoC show after our preview was over at 11pm which is exciting.

As always in the morning, I got the 9pm blue section for that night.

When I left GRR, I was now in PP and waited right by the red light tower until it was time when DCA opens at 10am. So I just got on my iPad and read what was going on at the preview and talk to some of you DISers that day.

It was 10am and DCA is open officially, so I waited right by the rope drop area heading on over to PP.

Most of the guests mostly goes towards TSMM and some stop at CS. There were a lot of guests heading on down towards TSMM and CS. There was quite a line for getting on CS while most of the guests are heading on over to TSMM.

There were even more people getting on TSMM then I thought when I got down towards the entrance. Just look at all those people trying to get in the queue for TSMM.

I would say that the wait time all the way back towards CS is at 30 minute wait time and these people are not even in the main line.

Instead of going on TSMM, I mostly go on MFW all the time to get aerial photos of DCA and DL. I was first in the non-swinging line while there were some on the swinging line. While I was on MFW, the preview of CL was running that morning. So I did get some pics of CL while it was running that morning.

So here are some pics from MFW that I usually do every morning at DCA

SSS

LM ride

ToT

Part of Soarin building as well as Space Mountain

Pics of Cadillac Range

A look down at the viewing are for WoC

Cozy Cone Motel

More pics of RSR Ornament Valley

There is a stage set up at the entrance of CL which will be for June 14th on Media day.

That's it for this post and I will have more later today.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Love the view from MFW of CL. I still remember the view towards CL of the barricades and open metal beams during construction. Thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to the night time shots.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Love the view from MFW of CL. I still remember the view towards CL of the barricades and open metal beams during construction. Thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to the night time shots.

It's so fun to ride MFW. Some people won't even go on the ride due to the height of the ride. But I will brave the element and get those great pics from MFW. I can't believe after seeing those CL walls since CL started construction back in 2009 and all of a sudden before the opening they used wall hedges before it opens which is neat.

I have already uploaded the nighttime pics on flickr if you want to see it, but it makes it more interesting when I write it up.

I am wondering how Kim (kmedina) is doing at the DLR this week. Hope she has a great time for Connor's birthday trip.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – June 10, 2012– Part 5​

More pics of DCA from MFW

I can barely see some people at CL during the preview

Another look at Ornament Valley and Cadillac Range

RSR was running that morning as you can see the ride vehicles

Even in the morning during the preview, there is a long line at Cozy Cone 5 for popcorn.

You can barely see Mater's Junkyard Jamboree tractors from this view.

One of the side entrance to CL right towards Pacific Wharf

RS Town Hall

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Another race at RSR

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Now a look at Paradise Pier CS track
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The Cove Bar scaffolding was down on this trip and looks very nice with Ariel's Grotto

After getting some great pics of DCA from MFW, I got off and now off to next next activity. I will be back with more from Sunday.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – June 10, 2012– Part 6​

After getting off MFW, I decided to head back to the hotel to rest up a little bit before my DA and I head back to DCA to get our wristbands. When I left MFW, it started to pick up with more and more people in line for MFW at the swinging and non-swinging lines.

A pic of the light pole at PP for you Deej

Over at TSMM, the wait time was already at 40 minute wait time when I passed it. Talk about a long line for TSMM early in the morning. But I am not surprised one bit. So TK, I know that you will easily ride TSMM during that long wait time. I do commend you and your family when you went earlier this year and rode TSMM multiple times on each day.

Still it was quiet around King Triton's Carousel while CS wait time was close to 25 minutes.

Some billboards signs as when you walk down to the rides but I am going on out of PP

Now I'm leaving PP

Before I head on out, I decied to head on over to BVS to see the CCT again. But first I passed the BSC and CL which is covered up with the wall hedge. There were some people that were trying to look through the hedge and see CL

Now I am back at BVS and by the CCT

Earlier on the trip, I didn't get too many pics of the fountain at BVS so it was a good opportunity to get some pics of the fountain.

I decided to head on out of the park, but I couldn't go through BVS until I got my DA so I had to go through Soarin. It was also a good opportunity to get another FP before I left the park.

I got over to Soarin and the wait time was already at 20 minute wait. At least the wait time at DCA Soarin is nothing compared to Soarin at EPCOT which could be at least 40+ minute wait when the park opens.

When I head on over to the FP line for Soarin and got my FP, I got extended tickets with my FP. When I looked at them, one of them was the FP for Soarin while the first one is the "Glow with the Show Ears" AP event which tells the AP holders about the event just like the time when I got the same thing at ST the other day. So I got one of these reminders for DL & DCA. There was also another ticket which I got free arcade token for the Mad Arcade during Mad T Party. But I don't plan on going to Mad T Party since I am at CL that night.

After getting the FP at Soarin, I head on out of the park and back to the hotel to rest up for awhile until we head on back to the DLR that afternoon. Later that day, we plan on eating at the ESPN Zone for lunch since we didn't get in on Saturday night. I know that it will be quiet at the ESPN Zone in the afternoon since there is nothing big going on that day.

I will be back with more later today.