That's it, moved to FL to be closer to Mickey! Update 2/4 Kidnapped at WDW 10/03/09

[JPFamilyMom]

I think exposition hall is where they do the bibbidi boutique photos isn't it? That might be what you are talking about, I think I've read that on other TR's, you know families with girls not like us and our crazy boys But when they add the pirate thing I was wondering where they would do those photos, cause photos are included in the big package, and I would want something fun for a background, the bibbidi background I saw was plain blue. Oh wait, ask di, didn't your daughter take photos there, or just at the grand floridian, I can't remember.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Melissa,

Yup, Exposition hall is where Heather got her bibbiti bobbiti boutique photo shoot, I assume they didn't have enough space at the castle.

The photos look great, and the presentation sounds really fun! It's great to hear all the background to the shows. Have just finished reading Realityland which details all about the creation of WDW - really interesting!

I can sympathise with the rug issue - as Grumpy says it is the bane of my life when shopping!

A get together at Biergarten would be great! We're hoping to book with Disney soon!

Di x

 

[jmskinner]

I think exposition hall is where they do the bibbidi boutique photos isn't it? That might be what you are talking about, I think I've read that on other TR's, you know families with girls not like us and our crazy boys But when they add the pirate thing I was wondering where they would do those photos, cause photos are included in the big package, and I would want something fun for a background, the bibbidi background I saw was plain blue. Oh wait, ask di, didn't your daughter take photos there, or just at the grand floridian, I can't remember.

Per Di below, you are correct. It was a plain blue screen and there where little girls there all dressed up now that I think about it.

Hi Melissa,

Yup, Exposition hall is where Heather got her bibbiti bobbiti boutique photo shoot, I assume they didn't have enough space at the castle.

The photos look great, and the presentation sounds really fun! It's great to hear all the background to the shows. Have just finished reading Realityland which details all about the creation of WDW - really interesting!

I can sympathise with the rug issue - as Grumpy says it is the bane of my life when shopping!

A get together at Biergarten would be great! We're hoping to book with Disney soon!

Di x

I may have to pick up Realityland. The presentation was fun. Something I didn't mention was it takes about 1-1 1/2 years to produce a new show like that. Also, Steven was asked about anything being discussed to change Illuminations since it is so old. His answer "yes"!

 

[jmskinner]

Ok, I know, I promised SWW but thought I would finish this MTR on Wishes and then I promise I will get back to SWW.

As we left Exposition Hall you could feel the air as soon as you left the store. It was still so hot. It was like walking into a wall. As we left the hall, Spectromagic was going on. So getting to this little RSVP area we were to have for the fireworks wasn't going to be easy. It was a little after 9:00. They wanted us in our spots by 9:30, so we headed off for a snack. First stop candy store. Jonas was the hungry one, but he couldn't find anything even though these caught our eye:

How I have never seen these. Must buy one later.

Headed over to the bakery where Jonas found a piece of carrot cake. I was bad Mom, snapped this pic:

Then told Jacob he shouldn't be doing that. Actually it is a good sensory exercise for him, but I guess in the middle of a eatery isn't the best place to work on sensory issues.

Uh oh, Mickey was watching:

We fought the crowds and made it to our viewing area. We were down below the Plaza Restaurant. Not the best viewing site due to the trees, but it was nice that we didn't have to squeeze in among 1000's of people to watch Wishes. We had the whole patio area and the walkways down to it for maybe 100 people. Many people tried to get through but the CM's only allowed those of us with the wristbands. I felt a little important.

Several people had put chairs in front of the stairway, not blocking it, but just on the left side. There was space behind them, so I though we could do the same. Jonas wouldn't do it. I was a little miffed when I walked back over and six other people had done what I wanted to. We finally found an area and sat back to watch.

Of course I couldn't resist snapping pics while waiting:

The fellow AP holders that attended the event:

The show finally started:

After Wishes, even though it was so late, the Magic had hit Jonas and he wanted to ride Haunted Mansion. Now he wanted to walk through the castle, because for some reason he has only done so once, but we remembered that after the firworks you can't go that way. So, we fought the crowd towards HM.

Here is where the adults have yet another meltdown. Jonas wanted to go right. He kept saying that HM was to the right of the castle, I told him it was to the left. Finally he gave in and went my way. We walked across the bridge over past the Hall of Presidents. Wow, there was HM right there. I so wanted to tell him told you so, or have been wanting to get a map and show him. Directions seem to be the one type of disagreements we continually have.

Well, the line for HM was all the way back to the stable. Jonas said he was going to the restroom when he saw the line. I was still mad so I just hopped in line with Jacob. We of course compared the line to that horrible line we had at Christmas. Finally I called Jonas and told him where in line we were, we had wrapped around and were heading back towards the main gate of HM. Jonas quickly joined us and seemed to be in a better mood, so I cheered up also.

Of course I snapped lots of pics:

Front door of HM:

We made it in. I have tried many times to get a pic of the end of our host and failed everytime. Jonas asked if I was going to try again, and thought why not. Lights went out and I just held down that button on the camera and look what I got:

And here it is edited:

I didn't know I got it until we got home.

We left the little room, as usual killed ourselves to be one of the first out of the room. Why do we do this? It was really odd, because the room was empty. The last couple of times we have ridden, you left the elevator room and ran right in to a large crowd, but not this time.

Jacob rode by himself and we got behind him. I continued to snap away and had a nice surprise when I got home. Research pays off (after a little editing):

More to come later.

 

[thecapells]

Nice HM pics.
Were those with or without flash?

 

[jmskinner]

Nice HM pics.
Were those with or without flash?

Thank you. And those were without the flash. I try never to use the flash on my camera where I might disturb others, especially rides. They were edited to brighten a little bit. Someone on the photography board has posted some fantastic pics from haunted mansion and a couple of other rides without the flash and I followed the settings he said he used as well as I could. I don't have as nice a camera as he does.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Gosh, I am enjoying these pics so much, Melissa! It's been so long since I've been on many attractions...last yr I was with a 2 yr old & her mom and we only did things she could enjoy - of course - but the trip before we had skipped a lot thinking we'd be back soon..well, stuff happens and soon was not one of the them. LOL

Soo, your pics are fabulous - it's the next best thing to being there..and love hearing about your adventures. Thanks so much!

 

[jmskinner]

Gosh, I am enjoying these pics so much, Melissa! It's been so long since I've been on many attractions...last yr I was with a 2 yr old & her mom and we only did things she could enjoy - of course - but the trip before we had skipped a lot thinking we'd be back soon..well, stuff happens and soon was not one of the them. LOL

Soo, your pics are fabulous - it's the next best thing to being there..and love hearing about your adventures. Thanks so much!

You are welcome. Glad you decided to join. That is why I try to go back as often as possible, I know we will soon leave the area and who knows when we will make it back.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Those are GREAT HM pictures, I'm impressed.

I saw those Mickey Rice Krispy heads on a food special, but never in person, I can't wait to eat one

Can't wait to see what else you did that night.

 

[scottny]

the Wishes presentation or show or whatever it is called sounded interesting.

Nice pics inside HM.

 

[jmskinner]

Those are GREAT HM pictures, I'm impressed.

I saw those Mickey Rice Krispy heads on a food special, but never in person, I can't wait to eat one

Can't wait to see what else you did that night.

I may have to buy one of those Mickey heads. I think it might last a week...well maybe all day.

the Wishes presentation or show or whatever it is called sounded interesting.

Nice pics inside HM.

Scottny and anyone else interested, if you check out Steve Davison or Magical you can find his presentations. It is really was entertaining and informative and I have said before. Now, on to the TR.

 

[jmskinner]

So, Jonas wanted to walk through the castle. No arguments to get to the castle at least.

Jacob wanted to try to pull the sword:

And I have never really looked at Sir Mickey's:

Sadly, we had just missed Mickey:

Now, I had seen the following statue in many pics but never knew where it was so I was very excited when I spotted it:

Finally made it through the castle, so I took pics of the murals (sorry, I seem to be leaning.)

Check out the haze:

That's not a Disney magical fog, that is the humidity in the air. It was almost Midnight and that is how thick the air was.

As we were leaving, another Spectromagic parade was coming through, but we were tired, so one last pic:

Ok, next post is more SWW!

 

[jmskinner]

Ok, we had our goodies from Wickets Warehouse and now Jonas wanted to ride ToT and RnR, but first some food. Stopped at...is it Cafe Rolls? I can't remember, but they have some great bakery type options. The 20th Anniversary cupcakes looked so good:

Ok, black and white doesn't work so well here.

Off to ToT. We couldn't get FP's because we had TSMM ones and I totally forgot about the two hour rule that we could get more FP's after two hours.

Jonas noticed this pot:

Now, every time we have ridden this, we have always been sent to the room on the right, but this time we went left. I always love getting to see something new.

Now, do you see the guy next to me on that ride photo, here is a close up:

I didn't know he was staring at me until I took this photo. I guess he thought it was strange that I was taking pics while on a ride.

Ok, I'll continue this later. I promise, it was SWW and there are SW pics coming up!

 

[carissanboys]

Loving the black and white photos Melissa!

I'm the same way about texting. I haven't done a lot of it (we just got it added to our plan) so I'm very slow with it. I can't stand doing it actually (but I love to receive them!).

Awesome pictures of HM!

That special event sounds very cool!

Chuck has been telling me how hot it is down there. Of course he's not in the same area as you, but still well over 100 and humid. Blech.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

the guy on ToT

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Hi Melissa

The Tower of Terror pics are outrageously cool....great work. Did you deliberately take the pic of Cinderella so she had the crown on her head?

Gordon

 

[jmskinner]

Loving the black and white photos Melissa!

I'm the same way about texting. I haven't done a lot of it (we just got it added to our plan) so I'm very slow with it. I can't stand doing it actually (but I love to receive them!).

Awesome pictures of HM!

That special event sounds very cool!

Chuck has been telling me how hot it is down there. Of course he's not in the same area as you, but still well over 100 and humid. Blech.

Thanks. I think the black and white worked in DHS, but I don't really like the ones at MK.

I walked outside with Jonas this morning and it actually felt cool, so unlike the past week.

the guy on ToT

We had a good laugh about it.

Hi Melissa

The Tower of Terror pics are outrageously cool....great work. Did you deliberately take the pic of Cinderella so she had the crown on her head?

Gordon

Thanks, and no I didn't realize the crown was right on her head. I had to go back and look to see what you were talking about. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

More SWW coming up.

 

[jmskinner]

So, we had survived ToT, Jacob was still shaking. Now it was time for Star Tours.

I think pics of the hat should only be taken in color, maybe I can do that color effect Gordon mentioned earlier on it.

Speaking of Gordon, look, SW pics:

Look who swung through the crowd:

So after Star Tours, we made our way through Tattoine Traders really quickly so we could find a spot for the parade. It was about 10:15am, we had 45 minutes before the parade started. We found a spot over by the Indiana Jones Show.

Another character came through:

Then some more:

As they were performing I decided the black and white just wasn't going to do so...

Here's a view of ToT from where we were at for the parade:

Finally we heard it, the SW music, it was time, IT WAS TIME!!!

Side note, I started out with my zoom lens and realized that wasn't going to work, so I switched mid-parade, but I'm stop talking...writing, here are pics:

more to come...

 

[jmskinner]

Still more to come:

 

[jmskinner]

Well, I'm not done...we still have the Kodak camera that Jonas was carrying. Next post.