Sharing the Disney Magic with Family & Friends-DL Diamond Anniversary-DCA F&W Fest Kiosks & The End!

[skier_pete]

I am a little sad about the Aladdin show leaving because I only got to see it once and was looking forward to it being there in February when we go. I get why they would want to change the show after so long, but I really wonder if Frozen will have the repeatability for locals to keep it popular and full.

Actually there's one thing I'm a little nervous about for our February trip (and excuse me for bringing this up on your thread), and that's how many things will possibly be down for refurb. I know this past winter they had a LOT down in preparation for the 60th anniversary, but we are going to only be there during the weekdays, and I am concerned that not only will they have a lot shut down, they will also not do the nighttime shows. I would be so disappointed if we don't get to see World of Color and also Paint the Night. Do you know was last year more the exception that they had all these shows down? I am less concerned about the fireworks, which I know often only go on weekends, but without World of Color running I am almost wanting to change our plans.

 

[rentayenta]

Lunch at Flo's looks YUM! I have had their chili verde breakfast and really enjoyed it. We'll have to try it for lunch. We always end up on the Wharf.

 

[franandaj]

I'm going to cry when Aladdin goes away! Its such a great show! Guess I need to go see it on Broadway and the cruise!

Looks like a fun day...so cool someone knew the puppeteer! The food at Flo's looked great...I haven't eaten there yet either!

Jill in CO

I've got to see it at least three more times before it goes away. I have one planned for next week, and that gives me three months to see it two more times.

It is going to be sad when Aladdin goes away for another Frozen show. It is an amazing show especially with the Genie. I remember sometime back around 2009 when Disney announced that Toy Story the Musical was going to replace Aladdin but it never happened. Nice that you were able to do a lot of rides that day with Magdalene and their friends. From the shots you posted with the rented lens, I would guess that it is a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens. You took nice pictures from the Aladdin show.

It will be sad when it goes away. I hope there is a huge backlash and the same thing happens like when they were going to replace it with Toy Story. There is too much Frozen going on. Yes it was a 50mm 1.8 Prime Lens, it was OK for Aladdin, but I would prefer a 35mm.

I haven't been to Flo's V8 Cafe in a long time since I didn't enjoy the food. Maybe it might have improved since 2012. The food looks nice.

Very nice update.

I think the menu has changed since 2012, I remember there being open faced sandwiches on the menu, and those were gone, so I think the menu changed a bit since the place opened.

I do NOT like that Frozen is taking over everything. Sure, a few things here and there but things have gotten too much. IMHO. But I do love Olaf so I'm not totally against it.

I have had enough of Frozen as well, I hate that it is taking over everything. Everywhere you turn in the park, you see a little Anna or Elsa. Olaf is cool though, I just don't want to see it take over completely.

Great pictures cool about Iago's handler.

The outside eating area looks really cool with RSR in the background.

Thanks, it was a nice backdrop for lunch.

It looks like you had another lovely day in the park. The photos from Aladdin came out great. In November, we were in the first row of the second section and the process passed right in front of us. This was quite something. How neat to get to meet one of the people in the show. Lunch looked lovely.

Corinna

That's actually my favorite spot to sit in, but the folks who knew Iago's handler wanted to be up really close to see him. I'm looking forward to seeing it again next week.

Such a disappointment. This literally is the best theme park show I've seen and it is a shame that it will be going away. I haven't followed this story closely. Are they replacing it with a new Frozen show, or are they just going to move the Frozen Sing Along into that building?

And then will Muppets come back?

I'm not sure what is going on. I think it's a full on musical show of Frozen, not just the Sing Along. I'm hoping with the Muppets and their new show that they are working on a new Muppet attraction. That old one is very dated. I remember seeing it in 1993 at Disney/MGM Studios, so it's time for a new one!

I really thought all the meals there looked good. It was one of my favorite Disney counter service places on either coast. I enjoyed it and I'm glad you did too!

I think it deserves a revisiting, I'll try the ribs next time, and I think I want to try the Mac and Cheese as well.

They were awesome! Thanks for not getting a picture because I'd probably try to lick the screen.

 

[franandaj]

I am a little sad about the Aladdin show leaving because I only got to see it once and was looking forward to it being there in February when we go. I get why they would want to change the show after so long, but I really wonder if Frozen will have the repeatability for locals to keep it popular and full.

I'm a lot sad about the Aladdin show leaving and I have seen it numerous times. They tried to change it a few years back to Toy Story the musical, and never did. I can't imagine Frozen having the draw that this musical does. So many people are over it, and it's a lot of young kids who cling to it. Not the best audience for a stage show.

Actually there's one thing I'm a little nervous about for our February trip (and excuse me for bringing this up on your thread), and that's how many things will possibly be down for refurb. I know this past winter they had a LOT down in preparation for the 60th anniversary, but we are going to only be there during the weekdays, and I am concerned that not only will they have a lot shut down, they will also not do the nighttime shows.

Last year was a total exception. We go every year in February and yes there are some closures for refurb, but this year was crazy with how many things were down. I doubt that in 2016 they will close so many things since just about everything was fixed last year.

I would be so disappointed if we don't get to see World of Color and also Paint the Night. Do you know was last year more the exception that they had all these shows down? I am less concerned about the fireworks, which I know often only go on weekends, but without World of Color running I am almost wanting to change our plans.

I can see the fireworks not running while you are there, but so far they have still been scheduling them for the evening during the week. At least for September. I can't see Paint the Night going down except maybe a brief rehab. Even then, they could do one float at a time and still run the rest of the parade. I have no idea about WoC, but it had such an extensive rehab last year it should be good for a long long time.

Lunch at Flo's looks YUM! I have had their chili verde breakfast and really enjoyed it. We'll have to try it for lunch. We always end up on the Wharf.

Flo's was good, I'm willing to do it again. The Wharf is a good place because of all the choices. I do have to go back and try the ribs and Mac and Cheese.

 

[dhorner233]

Great pictures of the Aladdin show! You had great seats! I can't wait to see it - next week I wish they would keep it too. Everything is Frozen, Frozen, Frozen!

 

[franandaj]

Great pictures of the Aladdin show! You had great seats! I can't wait to see it - next week I wish they would keep it too. Everything is Frozen, Frozen, Frozen!

yes! We will be seeing it next week! I can't wait!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Add me to the list of those who are truly sad that Aladdin is being replaced. I love that show and it's one of the reasons I love going to DCA. I don't know if Frozen will be as big a hit....we'll see.

Great use of the rental lens! Which one was it?

And would you eat at Flo's again?

 

[dizneeat]

All caught up again. As much as I love going on vacation, catching up here is hard to do.

And please count me in to those who are sad to see Aladdin leaving. We saw it in 2006 and LOVED it. It is the one show I never miss on the Fantasy.

 

[rentayenta]

Add me to the list of those who are truly sad that Aladdin is being replaced. I love that show and it's one of the reasons I love going to DCA. I don't know if Frozen will be as big a hit....we'll see.

Great use of the rental lens! Which one was it?

And would you eat at Flo's again?

I know everyone is nuts over Frozen but I think they should keep Aladdin. I liked Frozen but I liked Tangled better. I enjoyed many other movies more. I guess maybe now that the girls are older, Frozen isn't something we'll see necessarily. Joshua has a PG13 name for the ladies of Arendelle. He thinks they have taken over. I tend to agree.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Yes it was a 50mm 1.8 Prime Lens, it was OK for Aladdin, but I would prefer a 35mm.

Graham surprised me with a 35mm 1.8 prime lens when he joined me in Dubai. I so love this lens. Mine is Nikon though.

That's actually my favorite spot to sit in, but the folks who knew Iago's handler wanted to be up really close to see him.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get this spot next week.

I'm looking forward to seeing it again next week.

Me, too.

Corinna

 

[mvf-m11c]

It will be sad when it goes away. I hope there is a huge backlash and the same thing happens like when they were going to replace it with Toy Story. There is too much Frozen going on. Yes it was a 50mm 1.8 Prime Lens, it was OK for Aladdin, but I would prefer a 35mm.

I think the menu has changed since 2012, I remember there being open faced sandwiches on the menu, and those were gone, so I think the menu changed a bit since the place opened.

I understand why Disney is doing this especially with Frozen being so popular even to this day and with the Frozen Fun earlier this year. There is the Frozen Sing-Along show and I wonder what Disney will do with that show or return it to Muppets Vision 3D. The 50mm f/1.8 prime lens is okay for shows while the 35mm is the ideal for rides. I tried the 50mm before and I didn't like it on the rides.

Graham surprised me with a 35mm 1.8 prime lens when he joined me in Dubai. I so love this lens. Mine is Nikon though.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get this spot next week.

That is nice that you got a 35mm f/1.8 lens Corinna. You will enjoy it especially for the dark rides.

Hope you are able to get a good spot for the Aladdin show. It will depend on how long you are willing to wait for the show.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I did get a picture of us all in the car, but since no one wanted to be pictured in the red neck shot, I cropped it for just Magdalene and me.

Well, it looks like the two of you are having a good time!

I just love this scene. I am really going to miss this show when it is replaced by Frozen.

I was disappointed to hear the Aladdin show was going away, too. I've heard such great things about it. Wish I could have seen it when I was there.

By the time we reached the happy ending, I was so pleased with the lens in this setting that I was taking pictures of rapid movement in low light, just because I could.

I think these turned out really well!

Flo's looks pretty tasty. Another place I'll have to go back for.

 

[rentayenta]

Have fun in the parks today ladies! Can't wait to see pics.

 

[franandaj]

Add me to the list of those who are truly sad that Aladdin is being replaced. I love that show and it's one of the reasons I love going to DCA. I don't know if Frozen will be as big a hit....we'll see.

I can't see how Frozen is going to be nearly as popular as this show has been.

Great use of the rental lens! Which one was it?

It was an F1.8 50mm Canon lens. Next post you will hear some of the things I didn't like so much.

And would you eat at Flo's again?

Sure, I wouldn't make a point of it, but it was good.

All caught up again. As much as I love going on vacation, catching up here is hard to do.

And please count me in to those who are sad to see Aladdin leaving. We saw it in 2006 and LOVED it. It is the one show I never miss on the Fantasy.

I can't wait to get behind due to being on vacation!

I know everyone is nuts over Frozen but I think they should keep Aladdin. I liked Frozen but I liked Tangled better. I enjoyed many other movies more. I guess maybe now that the girls are older, Frozen isn't something we'll see necessarily. Joshua has a PG13 name for the ladies of Arendelle. He thinks they have taken over. I tend to agree.

You'll have to text it to me!

Graham surprised me with a 35mm 1.8 prime lens when he joined me in Dubai. I so love this lens. Mine is Nikon though.

How nice! Too bad you couldn't have used it for the DL part of your trip!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get this spot next week.

Me, too.

Good thing you kept them crossed!

I understand why Disney is doing this especially with Frozen being so popular even to this day and with the Frozen Fun earlier this year. There is the Frozen Sing-Along show and I wonder what Disney will do with that show or return it to Muppets Vision 3D. The 50mm f/1.8 prime lens is okay for shows while the 35mm is the ideal for rides. I tried the 50mm before and I didn't like it on the rides.

I hope that Disney does a new Muppets 3D show now that the new series is on. Frozen has taken over everything though, I don't like it. I didn't like the 50mm on the rides either.

Well, it looks like the two of you are having a good time!

we were!

I was disappointed to hear the Aladdin show was going away, too. I've heard such great things about it. Wish I could have seen it when I was there.

I think most everyone is disappointed. I don't know anyone who is happy about it.

I think these turned out really well!

Flo's looks pretty tasty. Another place I'll have to go back for.

The pictures in the show came out pretty good, and so did some of the rides, I just think they could be better with a different lens. Flo's was pretty good. I would definitely eat there again.

Have fun in the parks today ladies! Can't wait to see pics.

 

[franandaj]

Our next move was to hop over to Disneyland. My memory is becoming fuzzy and all I have is pictures to remember by, but my next pictures are from the Haunted Mansion, so I have to assume that was our next ride.

I’ve had good luck in the stretching room before, but something tells me that these pictures came out a little better with the rented lens.









I have never been able to capture pictures of the lenticular portraits in the hallway, only the ones at my own house!





This shot of the loading area came out much better than the previous shots.



And then I was able to get some pictures on the ride itself, which is a first!



Even though it’s blurry, I did get this one of Madame Leota.



The ballroom scene was my most successful.





And the Black Widow Bride.



These are not very good shots, but they are the only ones that I have ever been able to take in the graveyard.







I’ve never been able to get a shot of this gal, even a blurry one, so this isn’t bad.



Next we went over to Pirates of the Caribbean. This was another ride, I was hoping for some good luck on the pictures. Here we are on the Bayou.



And the diners at the restaurant.



Remember when I told you to pay attention because there would be a test later? Notice how much better this shot of the pirate came out than my picture from weeks before.



In case you weren’t paying that much attention, I’ll show you here to remind you.



I was able to get quite a few more pictures in the ride and they were much more clear than with my other lens.









[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

This is the first time I have captured the pirate ship on film (or whatever you call it these days).











I finally got the kitty kats!









This is the first time that I’ve been able to get the guys in the jail cell.



Or their little dog too!





And the ones I got of Jack were fairly reasonable too.





After this ride my mind is a little bit fuzzy. I don’t remember if we rode Big Thunder Mountain or not. Seems to me I would have taken pictures, but maybe not. I know we headed over to the Matterhorn where I chose not to ride. Instead I futzed with my phone because I hadn’t received and email or a text message all day and that just seemed strange to me. Also I was getting error messages when trying to access Facebook or the DIS. So while the others were on the Matterhorn, I restarted my phone. Once it synced back up with the cell towers and services, it went kind of crazy, a jillion text messages came in. Mostly from Fran, most of them things like “Are you there?” “Why aren’t you answering?” “hello….” “Have you lost your phone?”

It turns out that my nephew (who was staying with my parents) had suffered a seizure and was taken to the hospital by the paramedics. I’m not sure what everyone else was doing, but I ended up calling my parents and trying to figure out what was going on, even though there was absolutely nothing I would be able to do. Eventually I talked to my father who told me they were at the hospital awaiting results of tests that they had run, and there was no news, so I went back to my life in the present. It was time to ride Finding Nemo submarines.

I was hoping for a better outcome on the photography front. These shots were all taken in the exposed lagoon.





















And then that was it for photos. My camera wouldn’t take any shots in the dark part of the ride.

After that I think we rode Space Mountain and we were done for the day. Well except for the nighttime activities!

 

[Flossbolna]

Finally getting around to catch up on replies!!

The company was lovely and we all had a great time that day, but you’ll have to live with these pictures of Fran, Magdalene and myself.

I loved our outing with the large group! And those are some fantastic pictures of the three of us! I need to get those files from you somehow!

The menu.

Oh, I am so happy that you got a picture of the menu. I totally failed in that regard. Not sure why, I guess I was overwhelmed by how wonderful everything was!

Several people in our party ordered the Country Sausage and Pate Maison with Apricot Mustard and Rhubarb. I admit to having envy over this one.

Yes, I ordered that. It was quite wonderful! I hope you get another chance to try it some time!

I don’t’ remember what this drink was, but it looked interesting as well.

This is my drink. It was a Gin Fizz. It was supposed to be made with egg white, but they had run out of egg white and I got it without. It had gin, lemon and cream. And something sweet. And it was quite tasty!

The only other unique item was the Summer Garden Pea Soup with English Pea, Poached Leeks, Fava Beans and Petit Mint. It was poured tableside.

Before the trip I had emailed with you about which foods I liked for that other big meal that we had together and I remember that I told you that I did not like soups that much. So, it was really funny that I ended up being the only person ordering the soup. But it did even convince the not so much a soup lover! But I love fresh peas, so I had high hopes which were not disappointed!

When the entrees came, they were very dramatic about it. We all had our plate concealed under domes, and it took four waiters all at once to reveal our plates to us.

It was really impressive with the whole table having domes on their plates! And it is funny how in your picture you can see everyone taking pictures at the same time! I am holding my camera and your neighbor is holding a camera as well!

Quite a few people in our party ordered the Petit Filet Mignon, Tender Haricot Verts, Cabernet Jus. They all seemed to enjoy it.

I absolutely loved it!!

Several people tried the Sweet Corn Crème Brulee with Blueberry Compote, Blueberry Ginger Soda and Peach Madeline, and declared it delicious.

Our server highly recommended it and I was just intrigued by the idea of sweet corn in a dessert. It was such a fantastic combination!

We adjourned to the lounge for another round of beverages before saying good night.

The drinks in the lounge were a fantastic way to end that meal! We also got some spicy nuts with our drinks (not that we were hungry...). I was so happy that everyone seemed to get along so well!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I'm sorry to hear about your nephew and hope he is doing alright.

You did quite a lot of rides that afternoon. The pictures turned out nice during your experience. The one that I liked was the Talking Skull. Sorry to hear that you are having problems when taking shots in the dark parts of the ride. Even though the 50mm f/1.8 is a nice lens but it doesn't have that extra wide angle like the 35mm which does make a difference when going on rides.

 

[rentayenta]

I'll text it right now.

That picture of Darla made me jump. Hahaha!!!!

How's your nephew doing? Seizures are scary things. I was with Chloe during many of hers. Press frightening. I hope they figure it out soon.




I know you have lots of fun things before December but I am really looking forward to our Disney day with Jill. We'll be there a full week so hopefully we can go to dinner too.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oh no! I hope your nephew is okay!

I like a lot of your pictures in the HM, Pirates and the submarine. I'm guessing it wasn't wide enough for you.