Questions re: ITTBAB and Ariel's

[bayareadisneyland]

Hi! I had heard a rumor that ITTBAB would be down this fall for a movie preview. I hate how this great attraction (my daughter's fav) gets closed for a dumb preview! Do you think they would move the preview to the Muppet's theater now?

Also, going to splurge on Ariels. We have a party of 8. Should I ask for outside seating? It seems the pictures are much cuter if taken outside. Thoughts?

As always, thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi! I had heard a rumor that ITTBAB would be down this fall for a movie preview. I hate how this great attraction (my daughter's fav) gets closed for a dumb preview! Do you think they would move the preview to the Muppet's theater now?

Also, going to splurge on Ariels. We have a party of 8. Should I ask for outside seating? It seems the pictures are much cuter if taken outside. Thoughts?

As always, thanks!

OK, so I'm dumb - what's ITTBAB?

 

[SMD]

It's Tough to Be a Bug.

I think that it's possible both could be used to preview movies at the same time. I also expect to see Prep and Landing back in the former Muppets theater at some point.

 

[DisneyPhans]

Also, going to splurge on Ariels. We have a party of 8. Should I ask for outside seating? It seems the pictures are much cuter if taken outside. Thoughts?
!

YES. To be absolutely simplistic, these are basic things I've found:

• Do not shoot the windows behind the subjects if you're indoors
• Keep subjects in the shade/under the canopy if outdoors under bright light/clear sky
• Heavily overcast/cloudy/lightly drizzly day would be an optimal outdoor lighting situation- HERE you can shoot outside of the shade

Indoors...

The downstairs area is not well lit for photography, other than where Ariel is positioned for set photography. Shots indoors look like you're sitting in a restaurant. Here's a typical example on the internet of that type of shot:

Again, don't shoot at the window, or this happens. You can't control everything and I can't fault the photographer, but you can anticipate and try to prevent this.

Outdoors...
The more artistic shots are available outdoors, but you still want to be careful . The safest general approach is to shoot under the canopy, or stay entirely in the shade.

This family went on a very bright sunny day, likely late afternoon/early evening which is NOT ideal. Here, the photographer did the right thing by staying in the shade.

This is what happens if you shoot in bright light. Again, lots of things are not in our control, and this might be okay for most people.

Outdoors, cloudy day.

On cloudy overcast days, you have much more even lighting, which is about as good as you can ask for. These shots aren't perfect, but at least the lighting gave me the best chance possible at the time, and Belle gave me a good look. Unfortunately, we all have to deal with uncooperative children at times.

 

[mom2rtk]

YES. To be absolutely simplistic, these are basic things I've found:

• Do not shoot the windows behind the subjects if you're indoors
• Keep subjects in the shade/under the canopy if outdoors under bright light/clear sky
• Heavily overcast/cloudy/lightly drizzly day would be an optimal outdoor lighting situation- HERE you can shoot outside of the shade

Indoors...

The downstairs area is not well lit for photography, other than where Ariel is positioned for set photography. Shots indoors look like you're sitting in a restaurant. Here's a typical example on the internet of that type of shot:

Again, don't shoot at the window, or this happens. You can't control everything and I can't fault the photographer, but you can anticipate and try to prevent this.

Outdoors...
The more artistic shots are available outdoors, but you still want to be careful . The safest general approach is to shoot under the canopy, or stay entirely in the shade.

This family went on a very bright sunny day, likely late afternoon/early evening which is NOT ideal. Here, the photographer did the right thing by staying in the shade.

This is what happens if you shoot in bright light. Again, lots of things are not in our control, and this might be okay for most people.

Outdoors, cloudy day.

On cloudy overcast days, you have much more even lighting, which is about as good as you can ask for. These shots aren't perfect, but at least the lighting gave me the best chance possible at the time, and Belle gave me a good look. Unfortunately, we all have to deal with uncooperative children at times.

While not my first choice, you can shoot with windows behind you. You just need to have a nice flash on your camera and know how to adjust the settings. I wanted my photo with Fairy Godmother at Plaza Inn to be with the windows behind her (instead of the buffet!) and she flat our refused. LOL.

You are right though that you should always be aware of your light and where it's coming from and feel free to ask the character to change directions if needed! Don't be afraid to step out in the aisle and ask if they can turn the other direction if needed. Fairy God mother is the only character I have ever had decline.

My biggest suggestion is not to be afraid to ask for a different table if it's near the beginning of your seating and you don't like where you are headed for seating. We were seated at a 2 top right on the main walkway on one trip and we couldn't get a decent photo for anything. There was no room at all. So the next year I saw we were headed back to the same table (there are only so many 2 tops in the restaurant) I asked if there was any way to sit somewhere else. If they said no, it would have been fine, but instead they took us to a much better spot and I got better photos that trip.

One of my favorite spots is back near the doors that head outside. There's a lot of space and you tend to get a lot of indirect natural light coming in those doors:

Cindy and Ariel by mom2rtk, on Flickr

My new favorite spot is outside. Where we were seated, we were able to step away from our table and get Paradise Pier in the background:

Rapunzel on Paradise Pier by mom2rtk, on Flickr