donaldduck1967
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...and Canada. I never did figure out what that huge blue thing is in the background? Anyone know?
Isn't that Soarin' ?
Ten days of Groucho at SSR, lotsa pics
- Thread starter Groucho
- Start date
Isn't that Soarin' ?
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- Jan 16, 2006
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Thanks again for the compliments! I really appreciate them. 
I dumped the photos nightly to a laptop (thanks, work!) and had planned on burning DVDs nightly (since I don't trust hard drives, especially laptop hard drives), but I forgot that the aging DVD burner in the laptop can only do DVD+Rs and all I brought was DVD-Rs! Oops! Fortunately, I had just swapped in a new, larger drive into the laptop (the old one was occasionally making a "chunk" noise despite passing all diagnostics) and it's a good thing I did, as even with the larger hard drive, I nearly ran out of space on it. Currently, all the photos exist on two hard drives, and the processed ones are on a third drive (my main PC) and burnt onto two DVDs.
I brought two 2-gig SD cards and also had a pair of 512-meg ones if things got really desperate. Except for one-ride photos (two rides each of Big Thunder and Everest), I exclusively shot RAW format, and the 2-did cards hold about 184 or so pictures each. The first few days I didn't take as many pictures as I feeling feeling ill, but most days I'd fill about one and a half cards, only one day did I fill both cards and have to start using one of the 512s.
I dumped the photos nightly to a laptop (thanks, work!) and had planned on burning DVDs nightly (since I don't trust hard drives, especially laptop hard drives), but I forgot that the aging DVD burner in the laptop can only do DVD+Rs and all I brought was DVD-Rs! Oops! Fortunately, I had just swapped in a new, larger drive into the laptop (the old one was occasionally making a "chunk" noise despite passing all diagnostics) and it's a good thing I did, as even with the larger hard drive, I nearly ran out of space on it. Currently, all the photos exist on two hard drives, and the processed ones are on a third drive (my main PC) and burnt onto two DVDs.
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Is Soarin' really that big? I thought it existed in the space that used to be Kitchen Kabaret, then Food Rocks. Maybe that's just the queue and they build a new building? Still, that seems massive (and a big distracting from World Showcase) for a ride like Soarin'.
We skipped it this trip... I've rode it in CA and at WDW on our last trip and I just don't understand how it's so popular. It's OK, certainly, but I don't think it's worth all the praise - different strokes for different folks, I guess. Last trip, we did the Keys to the Kingdom tour (which was terrific, highly recommended) and at one point, I asked the guide what her favorite attraction was, and Soarin' topped the list - but she did admit that Haunted Mansion and Pirates were probably the top MK ones, which I'd certainly agree with, except that I'd say top overall. Haunted Mansion is still my favorite attraction on property.
donaldduck1967
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Hmm... it didn't even occur to me that Soarin' could be that large. That'd kind of a shame, I had hoped that was some sort of temporary structure. First the Swan and Dolphin, now this... they keep messin' with the World Showcase skyline! Oh well.......
Anyway, back to the report!
Our plan was to continue along the countries until we got to the International Gateway. It was getting pretty dark and I only had the monopod, but did my best to get some nighttime photos. I shot this fountain many times and was never 100% satisfied, it's got too much dynamic range to capture as well as I'd like. Much brighter than this and the bottom of the bowl starts to get blown out.
I do like this shot of just the bottom of it.
Here's Morocco - again I'm not 100% satisfied with this one.
More France:
By now, it was time for Illuminations. We got a nice spot by the water but it was a little far away from the action. I tried to brace the monopod as best as I could.
The "inferno barge" was working well - I was happy to see it because it was out of commission on our last trip, a year ago.
After Illuminations, we hopped on a boat over to the Boardwalk (never actually made it there on any previous trips) but just walked through pretty quickly, taking a bus to Downtown Disney. We agreed that, since Jack was pretty tired/asleep at this point, I'd head back to the room with him and the others would stay and wander around Downtown for a while. So, I made the walk from DD to our room in the Springs area of SSR - really not a bad walk at all. It actually took maybe 12 minutes or so (pushing a stroller), but there were enough things to look at that it seemed much shorter.
We had a good night's sleep and in the morning, on our way out the door, I noticed one of the carts used by Mousekeeping...
And it made me think about all the little touches Disney does on even the most mundane of objects.
Next up... MGM!
Anyway, back to the report!
Our plan was to continue along the countries until we got to the International Gateway. It was getting pretty dark and I only had the monopod, but did my best to get some nighttime photos. I shot this fountain many times and was never 100% satisfied, it's got too much dynamic range to capture as well as I'd like. Much brighter than this and the bottom of the bowl starts to get blown out.
I do like this shot of just the bottom of it.
Here's Morocco - again I'm not 100% satisfied with this one.
More France:
By now, it was time for Illuminations. We got a nice spot by the water but it was a little far away from the action. I tried to brace the monopod as best as I could.
The "inferno barge" was working well - I was happy to see it because it was out of commission on our last trip, a year ago.
After Illuminations, we hopped on a boat over to the Boardwalk (never actually made it there on any previous trips) but just walked through pretty quickly, taking a bus to Downtown Disney. We agreed that, since Jack was pretty tired/asleep at this point, I'd head back to the room with him and the others would stay and wander around Downtown for a while. So, I made the walk from DD to our room in the Springs area of SSR - really not a bad walk at all. It actually took maybe 12 minutes or so (pushing a stroller), but there were enough things to look at that it seemed much shorter.
We had a good night's sleep and in the morning, on our way out the door, I noticed one of the carts used by Mousekeeping...
And it made me think about all the little touches Disney does on even the most mundane of objects.
Next up... MGM!
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We hopped on the bus and headed for MGM and made a beeline for one of my favorites rides... the Tower of Terror! Ignoring the sign:
...we got in the queue. I just love the theming of this attraction, inside and out. There are always new details to notice. I'm not sure if I'd noticed the statues outside before.
There are just tons of wonderful little touches to keep your eyes amused while waiting in line, if you take the time to look around.
The ride was great as usual, and we had a couple minutes to kill before meeting up with the other half of the group, who both rode it once in the past and won't ride it again - wimps.
I wandered over to Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, which was closed for refurb now. Next trip, I guess...
We wandered around some more. Jack loves cars and hung around the Cadillac for a few minutes. He's too young yet to realize that we go for performance not luxury in our family, so I'll forgive him.
Speaking of cars...
Jack usually goes bonkers when he sees Lightning McQueen, and while he doesn't know many words, he can usually come up with "ka-chow" for him. He was a little intimidated by the "real thing", though. That's OK, it was a mob scene! The cast members do a good job of calming it down after a few minutes.
I have more and better Cars pictures on a later date, so no more of those for now. We went and watched Beauty and the Beast, which I hadn't seen before (heck, I hadn't seen the movie before a few weeks ago). Pretty good.
Next we stopped into Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. I really enjoyed a lot of the memorabilia and have a bunch of pictures to share, so I'll do those in the next message!
...we got in the queue. I just love the theming of this attraction, inside and out. There are always new details to notice. I'm not sure if I'd noticed the statues outside before.
There are just tons of wonderful little touches to keep your eyes amused while waiting in line, if you take the time to look around.
The ride was great as usual, and we had a couple minutes to kill before meeting up with the other half of the group, who both rode it once in the past and won't ride it again - wimps.
I wandered over to Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, which was closed for refurb now. Next trip, I guess...
We wandered around some more. Jack loves cars and hung around the Cadillac for a few minutes. He's too young yet to realize that we go for performance not luxury in our family, so I'll forgive him.
Speaking of cars...
Jack usually goes bonkers when he sees Lightning McQueen, and while he doesn't know many words, he can usually come up with "ka-chow" for him. He was a little intimidated by the "real thing", though. That's OK, it was a mob scene! The cast members do a good job of calming it down after a few minutes.
I have more and better Cars pictures on a later date, so no more of those for now. We went and watched Beauty and the Beast, which I hadn't seen before (heck, I hadn't seen the movie before a few weeks ago). Pretty good.
Next we stopped into Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. I really enjoyed a lot of the memorabilia and have a bunch of pictures to share, so I'll do those in the next message!
jackdis
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I can't say it enough...your pictures are fantastic.....truly amazing!!! I'm glad I'm getting the chance to see some of the "details" that I haven't paid close attention to on our trips. On our last trip we definitely slowed down to take in some of the fantastic details, but you are sharing so many more wonderful ones! Thank you!
GoldenAfternoon
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You are a very talented photographer! Thanks for sharing your pics
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As always, thanks for the kind words!
I took a bunch of pictures in the museum area of One Man's Dream - it's worth visiting for that alone, to say nothing of the actual movie. I love the models of various attractions and castles.
I also broke my usual "no flash" rule to try to get a photo of the Nautilus. Still not great, but better than I was getting without a flash (since it's so dark).
At some point in here, we had a pretty good lunch at Backlot Express, and had dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe, which is always a fun meal. (It was closed last time we were there, so it was mandatory!) I was caught putting my elbows on the table a couple times but not enough for a real punishment. I did get some abuse when the Viewmaster didn't work for me (or others at the table) - then worked perfectly when the waiter came back. Ack!
After dinner, it was dark enough to set up the tripod for a few night shots.
Next stop... the Polynesian for Lapu Lapus and Wishes from the beach!
I took a bunch of pictures in the museum area of One Man's Dream - it's worth visiting for that alone, to say nothing of the actual movie. I love the models of various attractions and castles.
I also broke my usual "no flash" rule to try to get a photo of the Nautilus. Still not great, but better than I was getting without a flash (since it's so dark).
At some point in here, we had a pretty good lunch at Backlot Express, and had dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe, which is always a fun meal. (It was closed last time we were there, so it was mandatory!) I was caught putting my elbows on the table a couple times but not enough for a real punishment. I did get some abuse when the Viewmaster didn't work for me (or others at the table) - then worked perfectly when the waiter came back. Ack!
After dinner, it was dark enough to set up the tripod for a few night shots.
Next stop... the Polynesian for Lapu Lapus and Wishes from the beach!
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A little more before bed...
After MGM, we hopped on the bus for the Polynesian (or is the TTC then monorail to Poly? don't remember for sure), as my sisters-in-law had seen some pictures of the Lapu Lapu drinks and wanted to try them. (They're served in a whole pineapple.) I'm not much of a drinker (never been drunk, very rarely drink and when I do it's a "girl drink"
) so I didn't get anything, but headed out for the beach to try to catch Electrical Water Pageant. It was going by, but with no music - probably because Wishes was just beginning and they were playing that music. We found a quiet spot, I put the tripod in spikes (instead of rubber feet) mode, and took some Wishes photos. The only problem was a little traffic on the water, which left some odd horizontal lines near the bottom of the photos. Oh well!
There were good views of the Contemporary and the Grand Floridian, as well.
Jack had a great time running around in the sand for a while...
We headed back into Poly...
...and caught the Downtown Disney bus. This time, I wandered around a little by myself and got some photos...
After MGM, we hopped on the bus for the Polynesian (or is the TTC then monorail to Poly? don't remember for sure), as my sisters-in-law had seen some pictures of the Lapu Lapu drinks and wanted to try them. (They're served in a whole pineapple.) I'm not much of a drinker (never been drunk, very rarely drink and when I do it's a "girl drink"
) so I didn't get anything, but headed out for the beach to try to catch Electrical Water Pageant. It was going by, but with no music - probably because Wishes was just beginning and they were playing that music. We found a quiet spot, I put the tripod in spikes (instead of rubber feet) mode, and took some Wishes photos. The only problem was a little traffic on the water, which left some odd horizontal lines near the bottom of the photos. Oh well!
There were good views of the Contemporary and the Grand Floridian, as well.
Jack had a great time running around in the sand for a while...
We headed back into Poly...
...and caught the Downtown Disney bus. This time, I wandered around a little by myself and got some photos...
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We got to Downtown Disney and I wandered around for a little while, not going into any stores, just carrying around the tripod and taking photos.
I walked back to our room and had a good night's sleep. In the morning, I was starting to feel really good, and we hopped on the bus to MK.
For breakfast, we dined on, you guessed it... cinnamon rolls from the Bakery. One of my favorites places on property!
We decided to head for Fantasyland and take in Peter Pan and Snow White, which I haven't been on in many trips and which always have huge lines during the day. Fortunately, it was early enough that they had short waits. One of the things I tried to take photos of this trip but rarely got a chance to was the ride control panels. Here is the Snow White one.
I did a couple on-ride photos, too, which I really didn't try to do much of on the dark rides this trip.
We headed for Tomorrowland...
And hopped onto Buzz Lightyear.
This is a ride I'd never done before - it was down on our last WDW trip, and the lines at DL were just too long. I don't remember my exact score (I would have taken a photo if I knew they were going to clear it so quickly afterwards) but I got somewhere around 89,000 - which is apparently pretty good for a first attempt! Good enough to put Zurg behind bars!
Coming up... more Magic Kingdom!
I walked back to our room and had a good night's sleep. In the morning, I was starting to feel really good, and we hopped on the bus to MK.
For breakfast, we dined on, you guessed it... cinnamon rolls from the Bakery.
One of my favorites places on property!
We decided to head for Fantasyland and take in Peter Pan and Snow White, which I haven't been on in many trips and which always have huge lines during the day. Fortunately, it was early enough that they had short waits. One of the things I tried to take photos of this trip but rarely got a chance to was the ride control panels. Here is the Snow White one.
I did a couple on-ride photos, too, which I really didn't try to do much of on the dark rides this trip.
We headed for Tomorrowland...
And hopped onto Buzz Lightyear.
This is a ride I'd never done before - it was down on our last WDW trip, and the lines at DL were just too long. I don't remember my exact score (I would have taken a photo if I knew they were going to clear it so quickly afterwards) but I got somewhere around 89,000 - which is apparently pretty good for a first attempt! Good enough to put Zurg behind bars!
Coming up... more Magic Kingdom!
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Thanks, glad you're enjoying it!
Not so many replies on this page so it's getting extremely photo-heavy... but what the hey, let's keep going.
We walked over to Liberty Square and had lunch at Columbia Harbor House, one of my favorite counter service restaurants on property. It's certainly the best-themed counter service that I can think of anywhere on property and is nicely roomy so there's rarely danger of not finding a table. The tuna sandwich is terrific!
Afterwards, we hopped on the Liberty Belle...
We were able to see a little of the parade (as much as we ever saw of it) from the boat:
The Liberty Belle is a great place to look at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad:
...and the Haunted Mansion.
Not a great shot, but how often do you see the front door?
Back to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain...
Those easy-to-miss metal palm trees...
And hey, even a photo of my wife! (The third one from the left, nearly invisible.)
Jack had been sleeping but was going to wake up soon, so next stop, Toontown Fair!
Not so many replies on this page so it's getting extremely photo-heavy... but what the hey, let's keep going.
We walked over to Liberty Square and had lunch at Columbia Harbor House, one of my favorite counter service restaurants on property. It's certainly the best-themed counter service that I can think of anywhere on property and is nicely roomy so there's rarely danger of not finding a table. The tuna sandwich is terrific!
Afterwards, we hopped on the Liberty Belle...
We were able to see a little of the parade (as much as we ever saw of it) from the boat:
The Liberty Belle is a great place to look at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad:
...and the Haunted Mansion.
Not a great shot, but how often do you see the front door?
Back to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain...
Those easy-to-miss metal palm trees...
And hey, even a photo of my wife! (The third one from the left, nearly invisible.)
Jack had been sleeping but was going to wake up soon, so next stop, Toontown Fair!
Becky521
DIS Veteran
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- Jul 24, 2006
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Groucho,
You haven't seen Saratoga until you've seen it in the summer. It is absolutely crazy. Those of us who live around it don't go in unless it's absolutely necessary.
Thanks for all your great pictures and your report. It's so fun to read what everyone else does on their trips and get ideas for our next one. WE hit Italy in time for the Romeo and Edna show also. My husband was picked to be Romeo.
You haven't seen Saratoga until you've seen it in the summer. It is absolutely crazy. Those of us who live around it don't go in unless it's absolutely necessary.
Thanks for all your great pictures and your report. It's so fun to read what everyone else does on their trips and get ideas for our next one. WE hit Italy in time for the Romeo and Edna show also. My husband was picked to be Romeo.
Credit Man
<font color=teal>Love the shark reef<br><font colo
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Thanks for this wonderful report. Looking forward to more.
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