PRINCESS Palooza 2011! 9/9 Update: Departure Day

[mom2rtk]

Beautiful night shots!!!!! You always get the best Cinderella in her carriage shot! I love Disney at Christmas, and all the other times of the year too!!!

Well, you did notice that was LAST year's shot, right? Her carriage wasn't in the parade, presumably because of the rain that night.

Thanks for the kind words though!

I'm so excited for you leaving in a week! I bet the weather is.... well....... almost as nice as it here!

 

[hjd0411]

Have to agree about the toy soldiers and the reindeers for the Christmas parade. I also enjoy the girl toy elves. It reminds me of Sing-A-long song videos that my kids use to watch as children. My wife started crying when we saw the parade at Disneyland back in 2010. Oh the memories!

I am really digging that 17-55 2.8 lens of yours. Love that their is no blur for your parade shots. Is it the fast shutter speed that is making the difference?

X 2!!! I thought the same re the 17-55 2.8 lens, but I see that you were using a different lens! Those parade photos are amazing - so sharp. I think I will be doing a lot of homework before I go!!! Got to practice, practice, practice. Not a lot of night time photo ops around here, though!!
Looking forward to more! Only day 3!! Woo hoo!!!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Have to agree about the toy soldiers and the reindeers for the Christmas parade. I also enjoy the girl toy elves. It reminds me of Sing-A-long song videos that my kids use to watch as children. My wife started crying when we saw the parade at Disneyland back in 2010. Oh the memories!

Mike I missed this part of your comment earlier. I think the girl elves are pretty cool too. Also the other girl dancers in red and green. I just love it all. I even love the music that some find annoying. It just ALL makes for a great atmosphere. I'm not surprised your wife cried at the DL parade. I'd love to see that one some day. Can you tell if it's vastly different from this one?

X 2!!! I thought the same re the 17-55 2.8 lens, but I see that you were using a different lens! Those parade photos are amazing - so sharp. I think I will be doing a lot of homework before I go!!! Got to practice, practice, practice. Not a lot of night time photo ops around here, though!!
Looking forward to more! Only day 3!! Woo hoo!!!!!

Many thanks! If you guys thought this was my 17-55 f/2.8 lens, then that's great praise. I looked back and think I was shooting aperture priority at 2.8 with the ISO at 3200. I had some trouble with this lens front-focusing wide open (it's notorious for that) so I sent it to Sigma last year with my camera and do think it came back much better.

It looks like you have some great Disney fun ahead of you! What camera/lenses do you have?

I see you're headed to DL. I can't wait to get back there again. You have a lot farther to go to get there though!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Thanks Jenn! That's you as a tiny tike in front of that lovely pink castle 15 years ago, right?????

Heaven's no... I ripped that off of Photobucket.

I missed the Cakestle by 3 months...

 

[mom2rtk]

Heaven's no... I ripped that off of Photobucket.

I missed the Cakestle by 3 months...

As you might guess, I would have been extrememly ticked to show up and have the castle cloaked in pepto pink. But I thought it was cool to include it in the MMY show. A little nod to one HUGE mistake!

 

[jenseib]

I took Michael and Paige thre for their first trip with the pink castle .

I am loving all your shots. Drew looks so thrilled sitting there waiting for the parade.
Your parade shots are awesome. I wish I had some extra cash to burn and I would so buy that lens!
Now did you use any flash at all? I'm assuming no, with the high iso. You really aremaking me excited for our Nov. trip. I might have to do 3 parties......I might need to win the lottery to do all I want to though.
I think these are the best parade shots I have EVER seen. Yo uare right, it just has so much atmosphere. Remind me at the end of Oct that I want to sit on Main street for the 2nd christmas parade!

 

[mom2rtk]

I took Michael and Paige thre for their first trip with the pink castle .

I am loving all your shots. Drew looks so thrilled sitting there waiting for the parade.
Your parade shots are awesome. I wish I had some extra cash to burn and I would so buy that lens!
Now did you use any flash at all? I'm assuming no, with the high iso. You really aremaking me excited for our Nov. trip. I might have to do 3 parties......I might need to win the lottery to do all I want to though.
I think these are the best parade shots I have EVER seen. Yo uare right, it just has so much atmosphere. Remind me at the end of Oct that I want to sit on Main street for the 2nd christmas parade!

Thanks Jen! No flash at all on these shots. I used some last year, but after reading the back and forth on countless threads debating this issue.... I decided to give this a try. I brought up the exposure quite a bit in LR3 and had to adjust the white balance, but I was happy with how they turned out.

We ended up doing 3 parties this trip, for a variety of reasons. Mostly because I knew Drew wouldn't want to do much character hunting and in fact want to do some rides. That just violates every recommendation I make about the parties! But if you don't have a lot of MK time, the parties CAN indeed be a great time to do rides. In FACT..... I'm thinking the party might be a great time to check out the new stuff in Fantasyland if it's too busy during the regular park day.

Fortunately you'll be going in early November. Hopefully you won't have as many crowds to worry about. I'll be sure to remind you where to sit before you go! Down around the hub by the train Station isn't as busy so it's a good backup if the sides of Main Street are too full. Sitting right on the hub looking straight up Main Street is great too since you get the castle in the background.

 

[katt789]

Wow I've missed a lot! Haha
I love the shots of everest. Ahhh I love that ride so so much!
I can't say I'm a huge fan of dinosaur, and because of that I skipped out on Indiana Jones while in DLR

The party looks awesome! I loooove the shot of Katie walking up to the Tremaines, and the looks on Cindy & the sister's faces! Fantastic!

 

[mom2rtk]

Wow I've missed a lot! Haha
I love the shots of everest. Ahhh I love that ride so so much!
I can't say I'm a huge fan of dinosaur, and because of that I skipped out on Indiana Jones while in DLR

The party looks awesome! I loooove the shot of Katie walking up to the Tremaines, and the looks on Cindy & the sister's faces! Fantastic!

Thanks Katt!

You really sould have done Indy. I don't care for Dinosaur at all, but Indy is one of my all time favorite Disney rides. I mean.... come on, they have that cool song and all! It just "works" as a ride and Dinosaur leaves me cold.

 

[hjd0411]

Many thanks! If you guys thought this was my 17-55 f/2.8 lens, then that's great praise. I looked back and think I was shooting aperture priority at 2.8 with the ISO at 3200. I had some trouble with this lens front-focusing wide open (it's notorious for that) so I sent it to Sigma last year with my camera and do think it came back much better.

It looks like you have some great Disney fun ahead of you! What camera/lenses do you have?

I see you're headed to DL. I can't wait to get back there again. You have a lot farther to go to get there though!

Thanks for the iso details etc. Keeping notes on these!!!
I have a Canon 60d (which I have only had for a couple of months!), and a Canon 18-250, which I used as my walk-around lens last time at WDW (2010), plus I now have a Sigma 30mm 1.4 and Sigma 10-20. Still working out the best way of transporting them around the world!!
I've been to DL only once before, so I'm looking forward to going back. The strange part is, even though DL is lots closer (only a 12 hour flight!!), I've been to WDW 4 times and DL only once!!!
I'm looking forward to the Disney Wonder cruise too!! Maybe by the end of this vacation I'll be over Disney???!!! Hmmmmm, probably not..!!!!

 

[mouselovenfamily]

I'm so excited for you leaving in a week! I bet the weather is.... well....... almost as nice as it here!

I hope the weather is as nice as the Missouri weather has been! I'll be doing a TR for sure when I return!!! Talk to ya soon!

 

[fairestoneofall]

your pictures.

i hope one day to have a trip where i can truly focus on photography. however, on our last trip, i had a six-month-old and i was sick. i was just trying to make it through! ha!

 

[fairestoneofall]

LOL! I sort of thought so this time. I've always heard the face characters are better looking in CA because they are all trying to break into the movies in Hollywood.

We saw the same Belle (not this one, one that comes up later) 3 times. And while she was pretty, she looked Italia to me, not anything like I envision Belle.

(i realize this is going back several pages.)

i never understand why you see beautiful girls dancing in the parade or working elsewhere and yet some of the characters are... um... less attractive. a princess should be GORGEOUS. we met the most sweet, beautiful girl working at Ft. Wilderness one year. i couldn't believe she was hidden away there when she should've been wearing a yellow dress. i've yet to see a beautiful Sleeping Beauty. and Belle almost always has a big nose.

now, i'm sure some of those beautiful girls don't want to be a princess. but i can't imagine that ALL of the beautiful girls don't want that. i'd think that would be a pretty prestigious thing to be.

 

[fairestoneofall]

12/10: Continued



IMG_5147B by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Josh Gates! DD would flip! he is the host of Destination Truth on Syfy.

is this in the standby line (i've never been through the standby line)?

eta: okay, i just saw on Wiki that he actually presented that footprint to Joe Rohde. if that's true--COOL!

 

[francis6306]

What a fun night!! Glad you had fun in the rain or the sprinkles…

When we were there, the "Aladdin" M&G changed continuously! Started off with Genie and Abu, then after we got cookies, it was Jasmine without Aladdin- at some point Aladdin came, and then Jasmine was gone. All in the span of like 45 minutes I think? (We passed it a couple of times).

 

[mom2rtk]

Thanks for the iso details etc. Keeping notes on these!!!
I have a Canon 60d (which I have only had for a couple of months!), and a Canon 18-250, which I used as my walk-around lens last time at WDW (2010), plus I now have a Sigma 30mm 1.4 and Sigma 10-20. Still working out the best way of transporting them around the world!!
I've been to DL only once before, so I'm looking forward to going back. The strange part is, even though DL is lots closer (only a 12 hour flight!!), I've been to WDW 4 times and DL only once!!!
I'm looking forward to the Disney Wonder cruise too!! Maybe by the end of this vacation I'll be over Disney???!!! Hmmmmm, probably not..!!!!

Sounds like you have some great gear for your upcoming adventure. I'm sure you'll have an awesome time..... once you GET here! We live right smack dab in the middle of the country, nearly as far from one Disney park as the other. But man, I'm restless after a 2 1/2 hour flight. Not sure how I'd go about handling a 12 hour flight!

And as for being "over" Dinsey....... LOL! I'm guessing you'll come back twitching with the need to book another Disney trip to plan for!

I hope the weather is as nice as the Missouri weather has been! I'll be doing a TR for sure when I return!!! Talk to ya soon!

YEAH! Can't wait to read (and see) how it all goes! Be sure to post back here when you get it started!

And yes, the weather here has been gorgeous. But seriuosly.... I've had the A/C on for days! This scares me for what summer will be like!

your pictures.

i hope one day to have a trip where i can truly focus on photography. however, on our last trip, i had a six-month-old and i was sick. i was just trying to make it through! ha!

Sick at Disney? Man, that's just so unfair. But there will be much time down the road for Disney photography. It's not going anywhere. Enjoy that baby while you can. Enjoying the parks with your little one WILL go away. So make the most of that while you can. I LOVE touring the parks with Katie, but I miss the chance to see the small child wonder of it all too.

(i realize this is going back several pages.)

i never understand why you see beautiful girls dancing in the parade or working elsewhere and yet some of the characters are... um... less attractive. a princess should be GORGEOUS. we met the most sweet, beautiful girl working at Ft. Wilderness one year. i couldn't believe she was hidden away there when she should've been wearing a yellow dress. i've yet to see a beautiful Sleeping Beauty. and Belle almost always has a big nose.

now, i'm sure some of those beautiful girls don't want to be a princess. but i can't imagine that ALL of the beautiful girls don't want that. i'd think that would be a pretty prestigious thing to be.

LOL! I agree! I won't point out any specific characters, but some just weren't as gorgeous as I would have expected. I don't know much about the hierarchy of positions at Disney, but I would guess a face character would be far more desirable than working at Ft. Wilderness. But maybe being a dancer is more desirable than being a face character? I don't think the face characters make much, but I'm guessing most of the dancers are trying to gain experience to dance on Broadway one day?

Josh Gates! DD would flip! he is the host of Destination Truth on Syfy.

is this in the standby line (i've never been through the standby line)?

eta: okay, i just saw on Wiki that he actually presented that footprint to Joe Rohde. if that's true--COOL!

That's pretty cool! This had to be in the FP queue, because we didn't do standby.

What a fun night!! Glad you had fun in the rain or the sprinkles…

When we were there, the "Aladdin" M&G changed continuously! Started off with Genie and Abu, then after we got cookies, it was Jasmine without Aladdin- at some point Aladdin came, and then Jasmine was gone. All in the span of like 45 minutes I think? (We passed it a couple of times).

Yeah.... that swapping out thing drives me nuts. Because you can get in the line and keep missing then one you're really looking for. So I was really surprised when the Tremaine family photo op turned out to be all as one big group. I really wish they'd do that more often.

 

[fairestoneofall]

Sick at Disney? Man, that's just so unfair. But there will be much time down the road for Disney photography. It's not going anywhere. Enjoy that baby while you can. Enjoying the parks with your little one WILL go away. So make the most of that while you can. I LOVE touring the parks with Katie, but I miss the chance to see the small child wonder of it all too.

my ten-year-old DD and i both were sick. and it was her birthday too. she rarely gets sick, but was crying in the resort bathroom the morning of her birthday. we had to go in and see our Drizella though. she ended up sticking it out all day (i was willing to go back to the room with her--frankly, i would've been HAPPY to do so). but yes, both sick. no fun. it was the first trip where i was really ready to be done. once we'd been home a week and i felt better, i just wanted to be back at WDW.

That's pretty cool! This had to be in the FP queue, because we didn't do standby.

it has been a LONG time since i rode EE. i've only ridden it once and wouldn't have known who Josh Gates was at that point in time. i will definitely look for it next time (didn't ride the last trip--see above illness. ha!)

 

[Caretames1]

I'm here! Why does my busy life interfere with the DIS??

What amazing updates! I cannot wait to show the Fam! I can say Kadence is gonna freak over the Princesses, John's gonna wish we were there now and I am sooo happy we are going to be there for MVMCP!!


Janet, I just can't express to you how amazing your photos are. I could just stare.

So, as we get close to Nov, I'll be picking your brain for MVMCP Tips!


I found my spot for the parade too!

 

[jenseib]

I'm here! Why does my busy life interfere with the DIS??

What amazing updates! I cannot wait to show the Fam! I can say Kadence is gonna freak over the Princesses, John's gonna wish we were there now and I am sooo happy we are going to be there for MVMCP!!


Janet, I just can't express to you how amazing your photos are. I could just stare.

So, as we get close to Nov, I'll be picking your brain for MVMCP Tips!


I found my spot for the parade too!

Perhaps we will be sitting next to each other!!

 

[mom2rtk]

my ten-year-old DD and i both were sick. and it was her birthday too. she rarely gets sick, but was crying in the resort bathroom the morning of her birthday. we had to go in and see our Drizella though. she ended up sticking it out all day (i was willing to go back to the room with her--frankly, i would've been HAPPY to do so). but yes, both sick. no fun. it was the first trip where i was really ready to be done. once we'd been home a week and i felt better, i just wanted to be back at WDW.



it has been a LONG time since i rode EE. i've only ridden it once and wouldn't have known who Josh Gates was at that point in time. i will definitely look for it next time (didn't ride the last trip--see above illness. ha!)

Well I sure hope you all stay well on your next trip. Do you have anything in the works?

I'm SO glad your DD hung in there and found her Drizella! We thought about you when we saw her this last time. She must love her job. She's been there a long time. Good thing animated characters never age!

We'll find your Drizella shortly. My next day is Epcot, and it was a short-ish day, and it rained all morning, so not QUITE as many pictures.

I'm here! Why does my busy life interfere with the DIS??

What amazing updates! I cannot wait to show the Fam! I can say Kadence is gonna freak over the Princesses, John's gonna wish we were there now and I am sooo happy we are going to be there for MVMCP!!


Janet, I just can't express to you how amazing your photos are. I could just stare.

So, as we get close to Nov, I'll be picking your brain for MVMCP Tips!


I found my spot for the parade too!

Many thanks Carey! I wasn't worried. I knew you'd eventually catch back up with us. I'm SO glad you get to experience MVMCP for yourself. You're gonna love it. There's not quite as much to do as MNSSHP, but honestly, it's just such a magical atmosphere.....

Perhaps we will be sitting next to each other!!

Now you two cut it out! You're gonna make me switch to November! Well, November is actually under consideration, but probably not early enough to catch both of you.

December works LOADS better for me. But the appeal of maybe catching a less crowded party could sway me.