Sleepy and Grumpy visit Tatooine–A SWW TR! - The End - All done and Link to new TR

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

I think Fran recently got us a Leota head, now how to float it.



We do have this haunted bride….



None of my graveyard photos came out. Photobabble ahead We need to invest in some lenses that will open to a wider aperture. Mine only goes to 4.0 and I remember as a kid I used to like to shoot on 2.8 a lot of the time./End Photobabble

We headed over to our next FP+ which was in



We saved about 10 minutes wait time with our FP+. Do you know which ride we were on?





We’ve been recruited into the army of Space Rangers!



You know until looking at these pictures, I never really noticed how creepy all the creatures in the ride are. I’ve always been so busy shooting the targets, I missed so much!











But of course the little green men aren’t creepy, they are cute!







And of course our main man, Evil Emperor Zurg!











I think that I spent more effort doing a different kind of shooting on this ride.



At least I knew when to put down the camera!



At least they got him where he belongs.



By this time it was almost midnight and we had a 5:30AM wake up call, so we headed out of the park, but not before taking a couple long exposure shots. (well as long as I could without a tripod or a trash can).





We had an easy trip back to the resort and a nice comfy bed for the night. Next up Star Wars: May the Force be With You package!

 

[Leshaface]

Congrats on the VGF. Probably DS wouldn't use it this trip, but in a couple more, definitely! Plus they have them at the VGC and I've heard they are pretty comfortable.

Good to know about VGC - for you know, just in case I need to kick DH out of the bed

I saw it on bangzoom (Bonnie's) TR when they had the strawberry soup at breakfast. I made sure that we went on our next trip, and now Fran has made sure we go on every trip since then! She goes for the Strawberry soup, if you weren't counting, I think she had three bowls full!

Speaking of Bonnie, I had sent her a PM a few months back seeing how things were going. She was super busy with school and productions but everyone was doing well.


You got some good shots of the parade along with some amazing shots of the castle!

There are a few YT videos about how to make realistic cobwebs. It would probably look 'nicer' than using cotton to spread out over the chandelier, but that would work too

Sheesh you had a long night, but I can't wait to hear about your next day!

 

[jedijill]

Your fireworks pictures turned out awesome! Great work! Sounds like you had a great evening....I love the HM and can't wait until you finally get to do you HM room.

Jill in CO

 

[Pinkocto]

What fun that you went over to MK after dinner! Knowing me I'd probably have gone straight to sleep Great shots of the castle show and fireworks!

I am so bad at Buzz, I'm convinced the laser does not go where I'm pointing

 

[rentayenta]

I am so bad at Buzz, I'm convinced the laser does not go where I'm pointing

Mine does the same thing.

Nice shots Alison. Love the Buzz ones. I never really pay attn to the creatures either but I will now.

I vote cut the slab and add a Stretching Room.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Your nighttime pictures are very nice Alison. You were able to get some nice shots of the MSEP, Celebrate the Magic! Castle Projection show and Wishes. Without a tripod and keeping the camera steady can be hard to do and overall they are very nice.

I sometimes think to myself which Buzz ride I like. The MK or DL version. I am so used to the DL version since I go there a lot of times but Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is a nice one too. Nice picture on the ride.

 

[wdrl]

Your fireworks and castle photos are awesome. It certainly doesn't look like you really need better lenses!

 

[heaven2dc]

Hi neighbor! well....almost lol I moved to the LA area 2 years ago and live about 10 mins from LAX. It should only take 8-10 mins to get the airport but most times it takes 15 mins minimum so I understand how what should be a short trip can involve all day sometimes in the LA area

CSR is a pretty resort but the deluxe resorts spoil us, don't they? The Villas at the Grand Floridian are absolutely beautiful! One day I hope to buy into DVC.....always rent points when we've gone to WDW and stayed at BWV. How did you like the beds? They look so comfy!

OMG....loved that HM Dooney & Bourke purse! That was super sweet of you to pick it up for your friend.

Would love to do a Dismeet sometime at DL - have always visited DL solo the past year since I've had my AP.

Can't wait to read all about your 2nd day at WDW!

 

[disney ny]

I made it to your report- 5 pages in but I made it. Haven't been able to DIS much with the end of the school year but I am done now so I will have lots of time this summer. We are under the 60 day mark for our trip so I am very excited to see everything in your report!!
Glad you liked the mine train and I am actually glad it is somewhat mild because I think I have convinced my 5 year old son to go on. He sees the commercials on the Disney channel and thinks he wants to. I come from a family of chickens so that is saying something Your dinner looked nice, we did the breakfast there once and loved the characters. Coronado also looks really nice- don't know when we will ever get to the moderates and values now that we are DVC but someday and I loved the menu from the Pepper Market. The one downfall of the deluxes is the quick service. Anyway I am going to go see if there anything to catch up on the dream house thread now too!!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Lol I laughed so much reading your post! We did the same thing re FP+. Booked them all in England where it was an average 65 degrees when we left lol. Yes we also hit every parade but we were trying to get out of the park in the afternoon. One day a CM escorted us on a secret route!

Your photos are amazing of the Fireworks. I enjoyed them all but the first one of the castle. Outstanding! You don't need to invest in a lens I thought that was the bees knees

I think that is so cool you have that HM wallpaper. I love that!

Lovely photo on Buzz and thank you for your helpful comments about VGF. Very useful.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I had used the same strategy for FP+ as Cynthia (eandesmom), but her trip was over NYE and mine was during the blazing hot time of year. Most of our FP+ were for the middle of the day, the time when you want to be back at your resort in the pool or taking a nap.

Unless you're one of those crazy families that tries to cram way too much into a single day.

Here are a few of the pictures I took. I think I would put my readers to sleep if I posted every picture I took, plus my bandwidth at photobucket would be through the roof!

But they look so nice!

Then came the fireworks. I will add a disclaimer, since I have only been back at really trying to take quality pictures (rather than documentation pictures) for a month (at the time of these pictures), I didn’t have a tripod, nor did I even think I might be taking fireworks pictures. I know that these are nothing in comparison to Bret’s or PIO’s fireworks pictures, but perhaps you will all come with me on my journey as I learn to improve upon my long exposure nighttime photography.

I think they turned out great!

We do have at least three rolls of this wallpaper.

Can I borrow some for my kids' bedrooms?

You know until looking at these pictures, I never really noticed how creepy all the creatures in the ride are. I’ve always been so busy shooting the targets, I missed so much!

See that target on the inside of the robot's hand? That's one of the 100,000 point-targets.

By this time it was almost midnight and we had a 5:30AM wake up call, so we headed out of the park, but not before taking a couple long exposure shots. (well as long as I could without a tripod or a trash can).

I liked the one of Tomorrowland.

 

[lisaviolet]

We headed to the
So la la la, we come rolling into the store, I come around the corner and this woman is staring at me. And she looks strangely familiar. A little befuddled and definitely taken off guard the only thing I could come up with was, “Is that YOU?”

To which she answered, “yes”. Well of course, but she knew what I meant! Finally it came to me, Lisa or Lisaviolet.

Pictures or it didn't happen.



_______________________________________________________

And then here is Fran post lunch and post cocktail. I think she evens looks done.



And with that we decided to head off to find our room. [/QUOTE]

Really?

I think she looks sexy like she's totally up to something. It must be her done/sexy look.

Oh boy, I am so behind. Man! But can't wait to get a chance to catch up.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I love all your nighttime photos. I still have not managed to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom. I managed to catch it many years ago at California Adventure. I love your photos from Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. They look so vibrant.

Corinna

 

[afwdwfan]

I think I would put my readers to sleep if I posted every picture I took, plus my bandwidth at photobucket would be through the roof!

But if you'd posted just a few more, your readers could scroll down really fast and it would be like we were watching the video!

Then came the fireworks. I will add a disclaimer, since I have only been back at really trying to take quality pictures (rather than documentation pictures) for a month (at the time of these pictures), I didn’t have a tripod, nor did I even think I might be taking fireworks pictures. I know that these are nothing in comparison to Bret’s or PIO’s fireworks pictures, but perhaps you will all come with me on my journey as I learn to improve upon my long exposure nighttime photography.

Fireworks pictures are always welcome, and always good.

We’re on a slab, so I doubt we’ll be able to incorporate the stretching room feature into our HM room.

Digital picture frames with an animated image?

By this time it was almost midnight and we had a 5:30AM wake up call

I'm getting tired just reading that.

 

[franandaj]

Good to know about VGC - for you know, just in case I need to kick DH out of the bed

Speaking of Bonnie, I had sent her a PM a few months back seeing how things were going. She was super busy with school and productions but everyone was doing well.

That's good to know, I've thought about her lately.

You got some good shots of the parade along with some amazing shots of the castle!

Thanks! Once I have a tripod, I hope to get some even better ones.

There are a few YT videos about how to make realistic cobwebs. It would probably look 'nicer' than using cotton to spread out over the chandelier, but that would work too

Interesting, I'll have to check it out when we go back to building the HM room.

Sheesh you had a long night, but I can't wait to hear about your next day!

I know, why do we keep doing this to ourselves?

Your fireworks pictures turned out awesome! Great work! Sounds like you had a great evening....I love the HM and can't wait until you finally get to do you HM room.

Jill in CO

Thanks! It was a lot of fun!

What fun that you went over to MK after dinner! Knowing me I'd probably have gone straight to sleep Great shots of the castle show and fireworks!

I am so bad at Buzz, I'm convinced the laser does not go where I'm pointing

Normally we do go back to the room and sleep after dinner, this was a somewhat unusual trip for us. I much prefer the DL version, I can shoot a lot better when I can remove the gun.

Mine does the same thing.

Nice shots Alison. Love the Buzz ones. I never really pay attn to the creatures either but I will now.

I vote cut the slab and add a Stretching Room.

I didn't even notice the creatures until I was writing up this part of the TR. Yeah, like cutting the slab won't add much to the cost of the room!

Your nighttime pictures are very nice Alison. You were able to get some nice shots of the MSEP, Celebrate the Magic! Castle Projection show and Wishes. Without a tripod and keeping the camera steady can be hard to do and overall they are very nice.

Thanks Bret! Coming from you that's a big compliment!

I sometimes think to myself which Buzz ride I like. The MK or DL version. I am so used to the DL version since I go there a lot of times but Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin is a nice one too. Nice picture on the ride.

I like the DL one better definitely.

Your fireworks and castle photos are awesome. It certainly doesn't look like you really need better lenses!

Thanks! It's probably the peer pressure of my friends who are all getting new lenses and camera equipment fueling that desire.

 

[franandaj]

Hi neighbor! well....almost lol I moved to the LA area 2 years ago and live about 10 mins from LAX. It should only take 8-10 mins to get the airport but most times it takes 15 mins minimum so I understand how what should be a short trip can involve all day sometimes in the LA area

to the TR and welcome to LA! You understand the traffic!

CSR is a pretty resort but the deluxe resorts spoil us, don't they? The Villas at the Grand Floridian are absolutely beautiful! One day I hope to buy into DVC.....always rent points when we've gone to WDW and stayed at BWV. How did you like the beds? They look so comfy!

The beds were totally comfy! I was very happy to sleep there!

OMG....loved that HM Dooney & Bourke purse! That was super sweet of you to pick it up for your friend.

Would love to do a Dismeet sometime at DL - have always visited DL solo the past year since I've had my AP.

Can't wait to read all about your 2nd day at WDW!

Those purses are very rare, I'm glad that I was finally able to get one for her. Let me know next time you plan on going and maybe we can meet up. My best excuse for going to the park is that I have to meet someone from the DISboards! I'll actually be out there a lot this next month. I have several DISmeets planned!

I made it to your report- 5 pages in but I made it. Haven't been able to DIS much with the end of the school year but I am done now so I will have lots of time this summer. We are under the 60 day mark for our trip so I am very excited to see everything in your report!!
Glad you liked the mine train and I am actually glad it is somewhat mild because I think I have convinced my 5 year old son to go on. He sees the commercials on the Disney channel and thinks he wants to. I come from a family of chickens so that is saying something Your dinner looked nice, we did the breakfast there once and loved the characters. Coronado also looks really nice- don't know when we will ever get to the moderates and values now that we are DVC but someday and I loved the menu from the Pepper Market. The one downfall of the deluxes is the quick service. Anyway I am going to go see if there anything to catch up on the dream house thread now too!!

I'm excited for your trip! I think it's a perfect coaster for a 5 year old, not too scary at all.

Lol I laughed so much reading your post! We did the same thing re FP+. Booked them all in England where it was an average 65 degrees when we left lol. Yes we also hit every parade but we were trying to get out of the park in the afternoon. One day a CM escorted us on a secret route!

I always like it when you get to take a secret backstage route!

Your photos are amazing of the Fireworks. I enjoyed them all but the first one of the castle. Outstanding! You don't need to invest in a lens I thought that was the bees knees

I want to be able to take something with a wider angle, plus I want a larger aperture setting.

I think that is so cool you have that HM wallpaper. I love that!

Lovely photo on Buzz and thank you for your helpful comments about VGF. Very useful.

Fran was so excited when she found it online, she bought it immediately in case they stopped selling it. I'm glad my comments on the VGF were helpful.

Unless you're one of those crazy families that tries to cram way too much into a single day.

But they look so nice!



I think they turned out great!

Thanks!

Can I borrow some for my kids' bedrooms?

I'll let you know if we have any left!

See that target on the inside of the robot's hand? That's one of the 100,000 point-targets.

Hmmm, thanks for pointing that out. That would change my odds completely if I could hit one of those!

I liked the one of Tomorrowland.

Thank you!

Pictures or it didn't happen.

Like a secret affair, it only matters that you and I know it happened.

_______________________________________________________

Really?

I think she looks sexy like she's totally up to something. It must be her done/sexy look.

Oh boy, I am so behind. Man! But can't wait to get a chance to catch up.

After 17+ years, I know her "done" look. Her "up to something" look has a much more evil twinge to it.

I love all your nighttime photos. I still have not managed to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom. I managed to catch it many years ago at California Adventure. I love your photos from Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. They look so vibrant.

Corinna

Thanks! I think that was actually the first time I have watched the parade instead of tried to go on rides while everyone else was watching it.

But if you'd posted just a few more, your readers could scroll down really fast and it would be like we were watching the video!

Fireworks pictures are always welcome, and always good.

Thank you!

Digital picture frames with an animated image?

I'm getting tired just reading that.

It gets even better.

 

[franandaj]

The next morning Olaf called us bright and early at about 4:30AM or maybe it was 5AM. Either way it was much earlier than I wanted to hear from anyone, but we had a cab coming for us at 6:15 so we had to be up and atem. There was no way we were missing THIS day! I’m pretty sure that we snoozed the first call and got a second one, and that we slept for at least another 10-15 minutes before getting up and ready. I’m pretty sure that I set the coffee maker the night before so all I had to do was hit “start” and I could have at least one cup of coffee before we were on our way. I remember thinking that I should have bought a togo mug, but I think I still had my paper coffee cup from day before so I used that.

We both grabbed a yogurt along with a plastic spoon. We didn’t need to eat too much as our tour pretty much included food for most of the day. When we got down to the transport area, our taxi was waiting. The Valet/Bellman and cab driver helped us get the scooters into the cab/van and we were quickly on our way to DHS. We arrived well in advance of the arrival time and headed over to the Guest Services area where we were supposed to meet our guides.

You see a few weeks before our trip, Disney announced a package tour with a price that would make your eyes water. However, it included EVERYTHING that we had our hearts set on doing (plus a few more things like meals) with FOTL, reserved seating access. No need to make FP+, no need to rush from line to line, VIP tour guides would take us seamlessly from attraction to attraction and we would get in a few bonus attractions in addition to the things we really wanted to do.

For us it was a no brainer. We are spending my nieces and nephews or whoever’s inheritance. Fran has no family, we have no kids and I don’t have a close relationship with anyone in my family except my parents. Heck I’ve only become FB friends with my sister, her DH and DD in the last month and a half! We’re spending whoever’s inheritance it might be!

When we arrived the line for the wristlets for the Celebrity autographs went back this far.







I’m sure glad we weren’t interested in those!

So we waited outside Guest Relations and soon some plaids approached us and called us by name. This was a little disconcerting at first. “Are we the only two who booked this tour today?” I asked. Well I wasn’t far off, there was family of three from some country who was descended from England, and a pair of friends who were local Floridians. Seven people and we had three plaids, plus the guy who “invented” this tour. Soon our plaids took us inside the park and over to the area where we would view the parade and the fireworks later in the day.





This is the stage where a lot of things happened during the day.



Our guides told us that the lighting rig was done in the shape of the Millenium Falcon and we should take a picture. Good call!



They had Han Solo in Carbonite on the stage.



Then we headed this direction, not to ride rides….



But to get here.



They had some interesting displays in this room.













But what was even more interesting was this sort of interactive app that you could download on your phone to take character pictures with a smartphone. Once the app was open you could focus on the background, certain character options would become available and the floor was marked as to where to stand for which character that you wanted a picture with. There were quite a few of these, but we got a little bored after the first two, plus it was our time to go into the main shopping area.









So after our virtual character meets, we went into the shopping area. Fran was again in rare form. I try to be restrained when we go to these places. I look at the T-shirts, knowing I won’t wear black T-shirts, I don’t buy them. I look carefully at the jewelry, I have enough pretty jewelry, I don’t need to buy stuff just cause it’s there. Paintings, we have more than we have wall space for, unless it TOTALLY speaks to me and I know where it’s going, I don’t buy it. I think I had one bin of stuff. I know I got a dress, the T-shirt for the year, a pint glass, a shot glass and a couple other things that we collect and will go in our display case. Fran went kinda nuts.

It was understandable. Look at the store.





We also took some pictures with Jedi Mickey and Mini.



This is the dress that I got from the "Her Universe" collection.



[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

This was the section of the store where they would customize merchandise for you. We didn’t have time for that today, but we would be back, just not every process.



Ahh yes, the Ackbar Snackbar! We would be back for this too!



These were the various offerings of the Ackbar Snackbar. We didn’t partake today since we had plenty of food in our tour package, but we would be back!



And these are the Yoda and Darth Vader cupcakes.



Sorry about the blurriness of the limited merchandise area. This is where we landed first since it would sell out potentially first that day. These are the gals who started our “pile”.



This guy was watching over the store for security.



And looking up, just some of the store markers.



And here are just some gratuitous shots of the shelves. By this time they had started letting in the general public in limited capacity.







Here is Fran in all her shopping glory. This is one of the situations where the Plaids really helped out. Between the three who were accompanying us, we were really the only group out of the three in our tour who were “power shopping” so each of the guides would follow Fran with a basket. Once she filled the basket they would take it back to the “pile” she had started and another plaid would take over carrying the basket behind her.





I went outside to wait because it was becoming increasing claustrophobic inside that store. One of the plaids came out to wait with me and we had a nice long chat while waiting for Fran to check out. Everything was shipped home and these are the boxes that arrived. Keep in mind the one you can’t see in the back was just as big as the front two. There are four boxes as a result of her shopping spree this morning. She tells me most of it is going on eBay, but I’ll believe it when I see it!



After our shopping trip we were escorted over to the patio at the Hollywood Brown Derby for a continental breakfast.







This was my breakfast.



And this was Fran’s.



[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

After our small breakfast break, we went over to ride TSMM.











We’re always Beavers.





Then it was off to ToT for a ride.









And then we still had time to ride RnRC!



At this point, it was just nearing 10:30AM when they would open the VIP viewing area, since we were sharing that with about 100 folks who had purchased the “Feel the Force” package we needed to be there as soon as it opened, so we hightailed it back to the parade area.

 

[Leshaface]

Wow such a small group! I'm sure you were excited about that though.

OH MY GOSH! Look at your dress! Too awesome and you look fab in it!

those boxes. But I bet it felt like Christmas when you got to open them at home...if they are opened yet that is! Will you be posting your purchases at some point?