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

[franandaj]

BTW, we made a reservation for dinner at Café Orleans between the Mickey show and the fireworks....

 

[tksbaskets]

Bret, great pictures around DL. Looking forward to more. It's fun that you and Fran will have a little DIS meet too. Thanks for sharing.

TK

 

[kmedina]

Fantastic Halloween pictures. Enjoy your DISmeets today.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I have been away from my trip report since I have been busy with work. Now I finally have some time to reply to the posts since my trip last weekend.

With the November trip coming up in two months with my DA and her colleague family we have made our dining planning for the trip. I can't make the reservations until tomorrow and the next day since it will be available to make reservations. We will be having breakfast at Minnie and Friends on Saturday the 23rd around 9:30am to 10am. On Sunday, we will be having lunch at Ariel's Grotto - Princess Celebration. There is a lot of planning to go through where my DA and I will have four days of fun with my DA colleague family where they will be at the parks for 5 days. I will get to the details later on when we get closer to the trip report. But first, I still have to work on my two trip reports from last month and last weekend.

Bret, great pictures around DL. Looking forward to more. It's fun that you and Fran will have a little DIS meet too. Thanks for sharing.

TK

Hi TK,

Thank you TK. I have been busy lately and I will have some time to write up a quick update of what happened last weekend. It was fun to meet up with PiO, her family, Alison and Fran last weekend.

Fantastic Halloween pictures. Enjoy your DISmeets today.

Thank you Kim. We had a great DISmeet on Sunday and Monday. We got to ride a lot of rides during the trip and it was fun.

I have shown some pictures of the Halloween decorations, food and merchandise during the trip. I will be showing some more pictures during the trip and I am still way behind on my trip report during the D23 Expo last month.

Day 1 September 14, 2013 Part 1​

I got in Anaheim around 1:30pm since we left Sacramento a little bit earlier than normal. We left around 5am and got to town at 12pm. First my DB, his GF and I head on over to Irvine to drop off some stuff for my DB GF brother who is going to Irvine University. They told me that I didn't have to stay with them too long since he had some help from other friends. So I stayed in Irvine for about an hour and I head on over to Anaheim.

I checked in at Best Western Anaheim but my room wasnt ready so I just left my bags and other stuff in the car until the room was ready so I used that time to go to DL and get photos of the Halloween decorations. Since I wasnt going to meet up with PiO and her family until Saturday, I used Saturday as the day to get as many pictures of the Halloween decorations.

I arrived at the park just before 2pm and it wasnt that busy on a Saturday. So here are pictures from Main Street with the Halloween decorations. Most of the decorations look the same over the years since I have been going to DL during the Halloween season. I didnt go last year since I was at WDW during the Halloween season as well as the Food and Fine Festival at EPCOT.

The Disneyland Railroad Main Station

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln building with the Halloween decorations

The Mad Hatter store (not the one in Fantasyland)

I went in the Disney Showcase store that had all different kind of Halloween decorations and merchandise. Some of the pictures turned out blurry when I was taking pictures. There were a lot of neat costumes and Halloween t-shirts including a light up pumpkin shirt.

I left the Disney Showcase and back out on MS getting as many pictures of the Halloween decorations.

The giant Mickey pumpkin at MS Town Square looks great during the Halloween season.

At first when I was taking pictures of getting the pumpkins on the MS building, it didnt seem like there were too many pumpkins outside and in the windows on the upper levels of the MS buildings. But later on during nighttime, we were able to see them at night.

At the Hub are the land pumpkins with different characters.

Buzz Lightyear of Tomorrowland

Rogger Rabbit of Toontown

Tinker Bell of Fantasyland

Winnie the Pooh of Critter Country

Woody of Frontierland

Jack Skellington of New Orleans Square

 

[mvf-m11c]

Here is a quick link to Alison (franandaj) trip report thread during the DISmeet. [post=49650003]Ready, Set, Let the Games Begin! - TR Begins on page 64!![/post]

Day 1 September 14, 2013 Part 2​

After getting pictures of the Disney character pumpkins at the Hub on MS, I head on over towards the Haunted Mansion Holiday to see what the wait time was like to get on. The park was kind of busy that afternoon where it didnt feel busy on a Saturday afternoon at DL.

When I got to the HMH, the wait time to get on the ride was at 30 minutes and the FP was not opened.

I was not planning on waiting that long to ride HMH, I head on over to Frontierland to see the Dia De Los Muertos.

After seeing Dia De Los Muertos right close to Rancho del Zocalo restaurant, I head on over to the Ray Bradbury tree.

The plaque of The Halloween Tree

After looking at the Ray Bradbury tree, I head on over towards Big Thunder Ranch to see the Halloween Carnival which had a lot of Halloween decorations and activities. In the past during the Halloween season until last year, Halloween Carnival was called Halloween Round-Up which didnt used the Festival Arena.

Outside Big Thunder Ranch

Scare-Dy-Crow Shack which had a lot of Halloween decorations

Back outside the Scare-Dy-Crow Shack

They had the petting area opened at Big Thunder Ranch where you are able to pet the goats

I was now entering the Festival Arena where there is a lot of activities to do.

The schedule during the Halloween Carnival

Thats it for this post and I will have more pictures from the Halloween Carnival.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – September 14, 2013 – Part 3​

I’m now in the Festival Arena during the Halloween Carnival at DL. It just felt the same like the Jingle Jangle Jamboree during the Christmas season where the Festival Arena is used for different activities. This was my first time being in the Festival Arena with the Halloween decorations since I didn’t see it last year. It felt the same like the Jingle Jangle Jamboree which is all decorated with Halloween decorations and activities for everyone to do including games, food stand which had Halloween treats, character meet & greet tent, etc.

Games for Fun area

Carnival Treats which had some special Halloween treats.

Cotton candy that looks like a candy corn

I did get a treat at the stand which was a spiced apple cider. It was a warm cider drink that was quite warm. I shouldn’t get it since I was warm that day at the parks but I wanted to try it out. Here is the menu at the Carnival Treats stand.

Conjure a Villain tent which had Disney villain characters. I didn’t go inside since the line was long just to get in. I heard that it can take a while to get inside the tent and meet the characters.

Halloween Crafts

There wasn’t anything going on stage but Billy Hill and the Haunted Hillbillies are playing later that day.

One of the CM’s was carving the pumpkins

I was about to leave where Goofy was all dressed up as a skeleton.

Big Thunder Barbeque Halloween Roundup is decorated during the Halloween season.

I left Big Thunder Ranch and I started to head on out of the park since I still have my stuff in my car and didn’t check-in too my room. I wanted to check-in to my room when I got to SoCal but it wasn’t ready. Since I came on a Saturday instead of Friday which I usually come during my trips so the room wasn’t ready when I got here. So I had to go back and also bring my tripod for the nighttime show that night.

While I was walking through Sleeping Beauty Castle, I see that Snow White Wishing Well area is all closed up for refurbishment.

Before I left the park, I had to stop at the Jolly Holiday Bakery at the Plaza Pavilion in MS to see the Halloween treats.

I got the Minnie Pumpkin Demitasse when I was at the Jolly Holiday Bakery. It was nice to have one of the Demitasse during trip.

After having the Demitasse right at the Jolly Holiday Bakery, I walked down MS and had to stop at the Candy Palace to see more of the Halloween treats and there were a lot of different choices of Halloween treats.

When I exited the Candy Palace, I looked at all the different Halloween decorations on the buildings at MS and most of them were unique and different than the ones that I have seen in the past years during the Halloween season.

I left the park and head on back to Best Western Anaheim Inn and check-in to my room around 4pm. I was in the park for a couple of hours just to see all the different Halloween decorations. I unpacked all my stuff that was in my car and I rested up until around 5:15pm when I head back to the park so I would watch the 5:40pm show of Mickey and the Magical Map. I have watched MatMM back in June and this time I was going to videotape the show since I used my camera the last time.

That’s it for this post and I will have more from that Saturday night at DL.

 

[franandaj]

Thanks for the link Brett! That area at the Festival Arena looks really neat. I didn't even know it was there. You always clue me in to great stuff going on that I never know about!

 

[ACDSNY]

Love the Halloween decorations pics Brett! Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

[franandaj]

Those sweet treats looked really good! I'm glad I didn't see them or I might have bought some of them and ate them! I need to lose weight since I'm leaving for F&W in a couple days!

 

[tksbaskets]

What a beautiful day for picture taking you had. They were all wonderful. The Halloween Carnival really looks like fun.

One of my favorite pumpkins was the one from "Up" where the guy was a child in his pilot hat and glasses.

The treat pictures made me hungry.

Someday I'll be back to DL for Halloween. Until then I'm glad you go and do such nice trip reports Bret!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great pics Bret.

 

[kmedina]

I love all of the really detailed, carved pumpkins of the characters they put out. Are those real pumpkins? If so, they must have to replace them often. I guess that is why they have artists on site making them. It must have been really cool to watch that. Watching art being made is so cool! The conjure a villain tent seems cool in theory. It would be a bummer to wait in what everyone claims is always a long line just to get in an see a character you're not interested in. I wish they had a schedule. If they did, the line would probably be shorter all the time (unless it was a really popular character).

The park is more decorated than I expected. I have heard a lot of people say it's scaled back a lot. It has been many years since I have been around that time. We have never been around then, since I was an adult. I do not remember much. Thanks for all the pictures. They are getting me do excited. How will I pick my treats with so many to choose from? They all look do good. What was the one you had? I have never heard of that before. Is it a drink?

 

[mvf-m11c]

Thanks for the link Brett! That area at the Festival Arena looks really neat. I didn't even know it was there. You always clue me in to great stuff going on that I never know about!

Your welcome Alison. There are a lot of interesting events at the Festival Arena behind Big Thunder Ranch. I have seen private events at the Festival Arena in the past and wonder what kind of things are happening.

Love the Halloween decorations pics Brett! Thanks for sharing them with us.

Thank you Angela. It is nice to see the Halloween decorations at DL but it still won't be better then the Holiday season at the DLR.

Those sweet treats looked really good! I'm glad I didn't see them or I might have bought some of them and ate them! I need to lose weight since I'm leaving for F&W in a couple days!

The treats at DL look very good to get. I can't believe you are only a few days away till your trip to WDW and at the F&W Festival. I really want to go back one day to WDW during the F&W Festival after trying it last year.

What a beautiful day for picture taking you had. They were all wonderful. The Halloween Carnival really looks like fun.

One of my favorite pumpkins was the one from "Up" where the guy was a child in his pilot hat and glasses.

The treat pictures made me hungry.

Someday I'll be back to DL for Halloween. Until then I'm glad you go and do such nice trip reports Bret!

Thank you TK. It was very clear and warm that day. It wasn't as hot as I have expected in September where it could be in the high 90s. I believe it was in the low 90s when I was in the park that afternoon taking pictures of the Halloween decorations. The Halloween Carnival is something where you can spend a lot of time in. Don't forget that the Festival Arena will have Jingle Jangle Jamboree with the Christmas activities during your trip. So I would try to squeeze in some time to do go to the Festival Arena.

The Disney character pumpkins were very neat and it was the start where there weren't that many on Saturday.

Thank you TK. I know that you will go back one day to the DLR during the Halloween season and you will enjoy it.

Great pics Bret.

Thank you PiO. Nice to hear from you while you and your family are on the road during your trip in the U.S. Hope everything is going well for you and your DH and DS.

I love all of the really detailed, carved pumpkins of the characters they put out. Are those real pumpkins? If so, they must have to replace them often. I guess that is why they have artists on site making them. It must have been really cool to watch that. Watching art being made is so cool! The conjure a villain tent seems cool in theory. It would be a bummer to wait in what everyone claims is always a long line just to get in an see a character you're not interested in. I wish they had a schedule. If they did, the line would probably be shorter all the time (unless it was a really popular character).

The park is more decorated than I expected. I have heard a lot of people say it's scaled back a lot. It has been many years since I have been around that time. We have never been around then, since I was an adult. I do not remember much. Thanks for all the pictures. They are getting me do excited. How will I pick my treats with so many to choose from? They all look do good. What was the one you had? I have never heard of that before. Is it a drink?

The character pumpkins at the Halloween Carnival are real carved pumpkins by CM's. Some of them might last awhile while the carvers are working on new characters everyday. I didn't go back to the Halloween Carnival on the other days so I don't know what new Disney characters pumpkins were out. Conjure a Villain tent is a nice idea to have a character meet & greet place to see different characters that you don't see to often. But to wait in a long line that is close to the rides at the park didn't make any sense. I saw people sitting on the haystacks just to get int he tent to meet the characters. I wasn't willing to wait that long to get in the tent. There wasn't a schedule at the tent on which Disney Villain character was meeting the guests.

DCA is scaled back with decorations from the new Buena Vista Street. I barely seen any Halloween decorations in DCA this year where there is a giant candy corn at the former Sunshine Plaza now BVS. I have never been to DCA during the Halloween season before the DCA renovation plan that changed Sunshine Plaza into BVS. Sherry E knows about Candy Corn Acres back in the day and maybe she will reply about Candy Corn Acres at DCA. At first when I entered MS that the DLR has toned down the Halloween decorations in the windows with the pumpkins. But at night, you are able to see them through the windows. So at least they still have the pumpkins in the windows on MS at night. You and your family will have a great time during the Halloween season at the DLR. Don't forget to go on the HMH and you should stop at the Halloween Carnival to see the Disney character pumpkins, Disney Villains, etc. I'm glad that you are enjoying the pictures from my trip Kim. All the treats at the park look very good and I could easily find something to get. I got two different treats at the parks. The first one was I got a spiced apple cider drink at the Halloween Carnival. It is a warm apple cider drink which will be perfect to have in the morning or at night if you are cold. I got it in the afternoon which wasn't a good idea since I was warm that time. The other was the Minnie Pumpkin Demitasse which was a dessert that had chocolate cake on the bottom and the frosting was pumpkin and chocolate with a candy corn on top. They were very good but I would have not got the spiced apple cider drink in the afternoon.


The next updated post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – September 14, 2013 – Part 4​

I rested up at the Best Western Anaheim Inn which is on Harbor Blvd and one of the two hotels that I have stayed a lot while visiting the DLR. After all the driving from Sacramento to SoCal and helped my DB and his GF dropped some stuff at his GF brother place in Irvine, it was nice to rest up a little until it was time to head on back to the park later that night to watch Mickey and the Magical Map.

At 5:15pm, I head on out of the BWAI and with my tripod so I can videotape the 5:40pm show of MatMM and the 9:30pm RDCT fireworks that night.

When I got back to DL, I head on over to the Fantasyland Theater to watch Mickey and the Magical Map at 5:40pm. I just made it in time with 10 minutes to go until 5:40pm so I had time to set up my tripod with my video camera while I used my hands for taking pictures with my DSLR camera.

Here are pictures from MatMP during the 5:40pm show on Friday (these are not pictures from the DISmeet on Saturday the 15th with PiO, DH, DS, Alison and Fran).

Apprentice Sorcerer Mickey

The Great Sorcerer Yen Sid and Apprentice Sorcerer Mickey

Louie from the Jungle Book scene

Pocahontas

Mulan

Rapunzel

Sebastian from the Little Mermaid scene

Mickey and Yen Sid

Princess Tiana from the Princess and the Frog scene

After the show was over, I head on over to New Orleans Square to have dinner. I went on over to the Royal Street Veranda to have steak gumbo that night. I love to eat at the Royal Street Veranda to have gumbo.

Steak Gumbo that night

I took it with me to the Hub so I can get a good spot to watch the 9:30pm RDCT firework show. I have staked out in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle a lot so I can get the spot to watch the fireworks and take pictures as well as videotaping. This time, I will be using the tripod for the firework trails.

I have taken firework trails a few times and on the last trip in August, I have taken a lot. I have learned a lot of taking firework trails pictures from PiO and other DISers that have helped me over the years.

It was around 7:30pm when I got a curb side spot for the 9:30pm show of RDCT. Waiting for 2 hours is a long time but it is worth it to me as long I get a great spot to take pictures or videotape the fireworks. There are people would say that they would not even wait 2 hours to see fireworks. I understand what they are saying including that the show can be cancelled due to high winds.

I waited for 2 hours which went by quickly while I was checking my setting on my camera and reading what is going on the threads with my iPad.

For the settings, I set my DSLR with the lowest aperture on my 18-105mm lens to f/11.0, ISO 200 and I used the 0.9 ND Filter.

Here are pictures from RDCT on Saturday night for the 9:30pm show.

That’s it for this post and I will have more pictures from RDCT that Saturday night at DL.

 

[Sherry E]

Bret -

One of the things I talked about in the recent DIS Unplugged podcast (from 9/19) was the lack of decor in DCA. I was saying that DCA is pretty much disconnected from the Halloween Time celebration, despite whatever is supposedly happening with the Mad T Party (which was not very Halloween-ish when I saw it). The hotels are disconnected from it. There's no theme-appropriate music playing in DTD or in DCA.

In photos, to people who have not experienced the parks for Halloween Time it appears that there are decorations everywhere. Those of us who have experienced Halloween Time in the past know that the decorations have been scaled back, and that they are really only concentrated in 2 or 3 areas in Disneyland: Main Street, Frontierland and New Orleans Square -- but the same NOS stuff (around Haunted Mansion Holiday) is basically there for the holiday season too, so only the Main Street decor and the Frontierland decor are exclusive to Halloween Time.

I think I am quite a bit less forgiving about the lack of decor than Liza/funatdisney is. She doesn't seem to mind the lack of Halloween decor in comparison to the holiday season decor. I do mind, it however! This year, again, there was no Masked Mickey floral at the entrance to DL. You mean to tell me that Disney can't arrange to have that Masked Mickey in place by the start of the season? Why can't they?

My main issue is that Halloween Time -- the season -- is just as long as the holiday season. They both last for about 7 weeks, give or take a day, depending on when certain holidays fall in the week. Is it fair and balanced that the holiday season has sooooooo many more decorations and general festivities (in both parks, in DTD and in the 3 hotels) to fill those 7 weeks and Halloween Time is only happening in Disneyland? I don't think it's fair and balanced at all. I think it makes sense to have a longer holiday season and a slightly shorter Halloween season.

I think that if Disney is going to devote a whole season to Halloween and have it last as long as the fully developed holiday season, they should add more decorations and events to fill it out for 7 weeks! What they have in Disneyland is not enough to make up for what is not happening in DCA.





Kim --

You listened to the Halloween Time podcast, correct? I don't know if it was edited out or left in, but I spoke about the pumpkins at the Halloween Carnival/Jamboree/Round-Up/Ranch because I talked to one of the carvers at length on 9/13. I was saying that the carvers look for certain odd shapes and colors of various gourds to help create their masterpieces. For example, if they had not found a piece that could serve as Olaf's carrot nose, there would be no Olaf on display. The carvers don't want the perfectly round pumpkins -- well they can use them and just sort of 'etch' a character onto the pumpkin, but it's really the throwaways that they want -- the ones that most people would not want.

Also, the heat does a number on some of the pumpkins, shortening their lifespan, but humidity can help to preserve them just a little longer. Dry heat is a killer, though. Some of the pumpkins that are a bit less detailed and elaborate (maybe the ones that have not been carved up in detail, but have just been used as a 'canvas,' let's call it) can last a bit longer.

 

[kmedina]

You are more patient than I am when it comes to waiting. I cannot wait that long. One day if we all have APs and plenty of time to tour, I will have to let go of my commando style and tour the way you do. The fireworks shots are fantastic as always. We are probably getting Xander an AP this trip. We have one day hoppers, so we will get them for me and Crap on our next trip. Connor will not need one until next June.

Sherry, I did listen to the podcast you're referring to. I knew some of the pumpkins were real. I just assumed the ones that look perfect in the pictures were fake (especially since I remember you saying they look for imperfect ones to start carving). Every time we carve pumpkins, they are dead within a few days. I would assume the same would happen to the ones at Disney, so it seems like a lot of work for products to turn over so quickly. They could invest that money in DCA decorations instead and put up plastic pumpkins. Maybe, I will feel differently when I finally see them in person.

 

[Sherry E]

You are more patient than I am when it comes to waiting. I cannot wait that long. One day if we all have APs and plenty of time to tour, I will have to let go of my commando style and tour the way you do. The fireworks shots are fantastic as always. We are probably getting Xander an AP this trip. We have one day hoppers, so we will get them for me and Crap on our next trip. Connor will not need one until next June.

Sherry, I did listen to the podcast you're referring to. I knew some of the pumpkins were real. I just assumed the ones that look perfect in the pictures were fake (especially since I remember you saying they look for imperfect ones to start carving). Every time we carve pumpkins, they are dead within a few days. I would assume the same would happen to the ones at Disney, so it seems like a lot of work for products to turn over so quickly. They could invest that money in DCA decorations instead and put up plastic pumpkins. Maybe, I will feel differently when I finally see them in person.

Kim --

You'll definitely see lots of fake pumpkins, all up and down Main Street and around the Partners statue!

You're right -- there is a lot of work that goes into the carved pumpkins (especially the detailed, elaborate ones) at the Carnival, but some of them do last longer than others. The ones with a lot of exposed 'flesh,' for lack of a better word, probably run the risk of rotting even faster -- especially in dry heat -- but the ones that are not carved up too intensely (like this year's Minnie Mouse pumpkin) will last longer. The Olaf pumpkin might last longer too.

I think Disney must have plenty of money to throw towards some DCA decorations. They are already bringing in lots of people for Halloween Time so it's not like it would be a flop. I don't know why they don't do more in DCA now that the whole billion dollar makeover is complete.

 

[mvf-m11c]

You are more patient than I am when it comes to waiting. I cannot wait that long. One day if we all have APs and plenty of time to tour, I will have to let go of my commando style and tour the way you do. The fireworks shots are fantastic as always. We are probably getting Xander an AP this trip. We have one day hoppers, so we will get them for me and Crap on our next trip. Connor will not need one until next June.

I can be patient at times like for the fireworks, F!, WoC, parade, etc. since they are only one to two times a day while the rides you can get on anytime of the day (except for the rides at the RoA like Mark Twain, Columbia, Canoes, etc.). It has been a long time since I have waited in a long line just to get on a ride. I forgot what ride it was but I know it was an hour in WDW. Thank you Kim. That is nice to hear that you will be getting Xander an AP during your trip this month.


Back to the trip report.

Day 1 – September 14, 2013 – Part 5​

Now back with more pictures from Remember Dreams Come True fireworks that Saturday night.

After RDCT fireworks was over, I head on back to the room since I was tired from the driving to SoCal with my DB and his GF. I could have stayed a little bit longer that night in the park since it doesn’t close until 11pm but I wanted to get some rest so I can spend it with PiO and her family the next day. She told me that they are going to spend the whole day at the park on Sunday. Mostly I take a break in the middle of the afternoon but I wanted to spend some time with PiO and her family that day.

I was leaving the park as well as a lot of other people. When I was walking down MS, I noticed that there were more pumpkins in the windows at night. I didn’t see them during the daytime but at night, there were more pumpkins that were hidden during the day.

I left the park after 10pm and I head back to Best Western Anaheim Inn to call it for the night and the best part of the trip was Sunday. On Saturday, it was an exploration day of all the Halloween decorations at DL. Main Street and Frontierland was decorated with the Halloween decorations like every other year with the Halloween Carnival, Dia De Los Muertos, HMH, Ray & Bradbury’s tree.

The thing that was new to me was the Halloween Carnival since I have never been to it ever since it started in 2012. Just like Jingle Jangle Jamboree it was a Halloween version where there are a lot of different activities to do.

Now that Saturday is over, the next best part of the trip report is about to happen.

Stay tune for the next update.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – September 15, 2013 – Part 1​

After spending part of the day in DL exploring all the Halloween decorations at DL and watching MatMM & RDCT, now is the day that I have been looking forward to the most since I came to SoCal with my DB and his GF to help out her brother by moving in to Irvine. It is the day that I will get to see PiO (PrincessInOz) for the 2nd time since last year where she was in San Francisco along with ACDSNY and usnuzuloose. This was also my first time meeting her family DH and DS. We will also meet up with Alison and Fran later that day when they check in at the GCV.

I got up around 6:30am so I can leave the hotel early enough so I can meet up PiO and her family at the Esplanade. She told me that they will be going to DCA first so they can get FP’s for Radiator Springs Racers since the wait time to go on that ride will be very long.

I got to the Esplanade at 7:30am and waiting for PiO and her family. It was foggy that morning where it was visible to walk around. I waited for PiO and her family to arrive but they didn’t arrive at the Esplanade until 8am. I met them right at the security check-in. It was nice to see PiO again and it was nice to meet her DH and DS. Everyone in the family had a camera with them and this was going to be a fun time taking pictures when we were walking around the DLR.

After we met up, PiO head on over to Guest Relations to do something while her DH and DS took PiO’s tripod to the locker area at the DCA side. I knew that PiO likes to take a lot of pictures and she is one of the people that inspired me to become a better photographer. So during the trip, I did ask her for tips when using the settings on my DSLR. When PiO finished her business at the GR, DH and DS met up with us and we head on over to DCA first thing.

When we entered DCA, the park was already past 8am, so the first thing we did was head on over to the RSR FP’s queue. The RSR queue was all the way towards the Carthay Circle Theater. So we all head in the queue but DH and DS went on over to Paradise Pier so they can get on TSMM. It makes sense to go on TSMM that morning where most of the park guests are at RSR. So DH and DS went on over to PP while PiO and I are in the RSR queue to get the FP’s.

It took about 15 minutes to get through the RSR queue and our return time was 9:40am to 10:40am which is not a bad time that morning where we got in the park a little late that morning.

After getting the FP’s we head on over to PP to meet up with DH and DS. When we got to PP and at TSMM, they text PiO and they were in the queue for TSMM. Since they were on the ride and the wait time was only 10 minutes, PiO and I got on the ride.

It went really fast through the queue which was only 10 minutes to get through the queue and on the ride.

During the ride, PiO was taking a lot of pictures while I was getting ready to get a high score on the ride. I got 193,400 while she got 97,100 on the ride.

After we got off the ride, we met up with DH and DH outside. Then our next ride that DS wanted to do was Mickey’s Fun Wheel or Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Doom where I called it. (Thank you Sherry for calling that ride MFWoD) He wanted to go on the swinging-gondola where I don’t even like to go on the swinging gondola. PiO encouraged me to go on the swinging-gondola. She knows from my past trip reports that I never go on the swinging-gondola’s since I could get sick from the swinging. I did it for her and so we head on over to MFWoD.

The ride wait time was a walk-on that morning which is not surprising to me. Just when we were close to getting on the swinging-gondola, PiO had a change of heart and decided that she will want to go on the non-swinging gondola. So I joined along with PiO since I don’t want to take part in the swinging-gondola. It looks like I won’t be going on the swinging-gondola so it has been a long time since I have ridden in the swinging-gondola.

DH and DS in the swinging-gondola queue

While we were riding in the non-swinging gondola, PiO used the opportunity to take a lot of pictures while we did see her DH and DH in the swinging-gondola. I took a few pictures that I have took during the ride.

We rode MFWoD two times in a row since there weren’t any people in the queue to get on the ride. So we went on the ride two times in a row while PiO and I are in the non-swinging gondola and DH and DS were still in the swinging-gondola.

After we got off MFWoD, we head on over to “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure”. Since it was the morning, it was a walk-on that morning. This was also a great opportunity to get dark ride photos.

DH and DS rode it together while I rode it with PiO. We did talk a lot about the settings on the DSLR of how to take pictures. When we rode the Little Mermaid ride, I used the 35mm f/1.8 lens for the dark rides. I set the ISO at 3200 and different shutter speed. When I looked at the pictures after the ride, they were a little blurry while some of them turned out nice. She told that with more practice with the settings and going back on the ride again and again that I will get the pictures just right. I will have another opportunity during the trip to get better pictures on the Little Mermaid but that will be on another post later on during the trip.

Here are some pictures from the ride.

Exposure speed: 1/200 sec

Exposure speed: 1/250 sec

Exposure speed: 1/125 sec

Exposure speed: 1/160

Exposure speed: 1/250

After we got off the Little Mermaid ride, it was time to head on over to Cars Land to ride Radiator Springs Racers so we can use our FP’s. When we were heading to CL, we went through the backside which is from Pacific Wharf to see Cadillac Range at RSR and we were now taking pictures of Ornament Valley. It is so nice to see RSR from this side when you enter CL. We all took our cameras and took a lot of different angles of RSR. I took some pictures as well as everyone else but not as many as PiO, DH and DS.

After getting some pictures of RSR, we head over to the queue and use our FP’s to get on RSR. When we got to the entrance, the stand-by wait time was at 60 minutes which is about right around 9:40am when the park opens at 8am.

“Radiator Springs”

It took about 10 minutes for all of us to go through the FP queue and on the ride. Good thing that we got the FP’s that morning at the time when we entered the park after 8am. PiO, DH and DS were up front while I was in the back so they can get a group picture together.

Talk about a lot of Cars waiting to get to the station to let the guests off

For the ride experience, we all had our cameras to take pictures. This was the first time for me using my DSLR on the ride while I mostly videotape the ride. But after videotaping the ride a lot of times when the ride opened in 2012, it was time to get some pictures.

Here are some of the pictures from RSR.

I can never get tired of the water fall of Ornament Valley

Watch out for Mack!!!

Passing by Van

Sheriff pulling us over for speeding

There’s Frank.

Entering the town of Radiator Springs

We entered through Ramone’s House of Body Art where we want to go through Luigis Casa Della Tires side.

That’s it for this post and I will have more pictures from Radiator Springs Racers.

 

[franandaj]

What great pictures you got of the morning. I'm glad you folks got on so many rides that morning! Good choice to avoid the swinging Gondolas!