DIS Dads The Dis Dad's Club III

[Captain_Oblivious]

DON: Looks like a great day! You must have had the same weather we did. Thanks for posting the pictures!

For all those with Canon Rebels and Nikons, I was at Walmart this week and they had the vertical grips that cover most of the models of those two marked down to $18 from $99. Basically it is a grip that screws onto the bottom of the camera using the tripod mark. It has room to attach two batteries in it so you can shoot longer, and a separate adapter that lets you operate off AA's in an emergency. The neat thing is it moves the shutter button and a bunch of the other controls onto the grip so they are still right where they would normally be when you're holding the camera the "normal" way.

Another cool think to look into if you don't have a separate flash is a flash diffuser since the built in flash on Digital SLRs is pretty harsh. The one I picked up is a Puffer, if you do a search on "Gary Fong puffer" you'll find it. Gary's website has some videos where he shows you the same picture taken with and without the diffuser and the difference is pretty amazing.

Thanks for the heads-up! I'm learning that the purchase of the camera is just the beginning...

Inspired by Emma's Dad's effort, I went ahead and got the PTR for our October trip started. It's linked in my sig below.

I'll check it out. Emma's Dad is now inspiring trip reports?! Who would have guessed?

 

[Disney Commando]

As promised, here are some photos from our adventure at Busch Gardens Europe yesterday. Yes... I'm pulling a Stopher and doing a mini-TR in the thread

Great Report Don, Glad to see you had a great time.

I can't wait to go back to BG, we usally go at least 3 times a year, we have the Platnuim Pass from SP.

Love the Mickey shirts

Sad to see Big Bad Wolf is gone, that was one of my favs. Weren't they building a new ride somewhere in the park, kind of a Soarin' type ride

Do they still have the horses

 

[chillcoupons]

CHRISTIAN!! Welcome back! Sorry to hear about the canceled DL trip... but wow! You'll be staying at FW now! It's going to take me a long time to get DW to try out FW... she is NOT an outdoors person at all. Me... I'm from back woods Ohio... so it's right up my alley.



Oh yeah! Is the Man Room at least finished out?? Pics?

No the room is not finished I keep spending all my money on trips to Disney.
I am debating putting any money into the house because living in the Detroit area we are upside down in this house already. There are some great deals on homes around here but my business is down about 60% over the last 2 years so it has been difficult to come up with cash to get out. Good news is this year I have already made about what I brought in all last year and the pipeline is full

Awesome pics of Busch Gardens, It looks like you had a great time. I went in my early teens and rode the lochness monster it was my first loop.

 

[tutter99]

Thanks for the heads-up! I'm learning that the purchase of the camera is just the beginning...

I was lucky enough that I had a boss who swaps out his camera every two years, he sold me an image stabilizer 70-300 lens that is amazing. The only problem is the normal 20-55 lens that came with the camera can't do a bunch of the cool tricks the other one does.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Don: Nice pics. Looks like a good time. Unfortunately our local theme park is Six Flags Great America, just north of Chicago. As as kid, (when it was 4 hours away) I thought it was the best place on earth. Now we live an hour from it, but Disney has showed us how lacking that place really is.

I was lucky enough that I had a boss who swaps out his camera every two years, he sold me an image stabilizer 70-300 lens that is amazing. The only problem is the normal 20-55 lens that came with the camera can't do a bunch of the cool tricks the other one does.

A co-worker lent my her 70-300 last summer. I took it to a local bluff overlooking a beach. With that zoom, I felt like one of those sleazy paparazzi getting pictures of B-list celebrities.

 

[Disney Commando]

stopher & dvczerfs, both you guys have been to Disney more than any of us. Any idea on total days spent, has either one of you spent a year there yet

 

[stopher1]

stopher & dvczerfs, both you guys have been to Disney more than any of us. Any idea on total days spent, has either one of you spent a year there yet

Doing some quick and dirty math, no, not a year, but just a little over 1/2 year for me. In total I've been there 45 times, and since the very first trip I count that I've racked up 186 nights. Now that's not to say these were all family trips, not at all. About 25 of those were solo trips that I've made while in FL on business, staying 1-3 nights tacked on to the front or back-end of the work trip. Additionally 6 have been trips taken directly for Disney with a special project I've been associated with on for the past 4 years. The rest were family trips of some sort. Of course that's WDW - it doesn't take into account my trips west to DL for the same reasons. The stays at DL aren't as numerous, but the visits to the parks far outpace WDW by a thousand fold or more.

 

[Disney Commando]

Doing some quick and dirty math, no, not a year, but just a little over 1/2 year for me. In total I've been there 45 times, and since the very first trip I count that I've racked up 186 nights. Now that's not to say these were all family trips, not at all. About 25 of those were solo trips that I've made while in FL on business, staying 1-3 nights tacked on to the front or back-end of the work trip. Additionally 6 have been trips taken directly for Disney with a special project I've been associated with on for the past 4 years. The rest were family trips of some sort. Of course that's WDW - it doesn't take into account my trips west to DL for the same reasons. The stays at DL aren't as numerous, but the visits to the parks far outpace WDW by a thousand fold or more.

Wow 6 trips for a special project, sounds like a nice perk

 

[Mrincredible1980]

Ok guys, so today my wife totally blindsided me with a request that I am not sure of. I had already planned a trip to Disney at the end of May, booked, payed and ready, and today she says that she wants to move that trip to October and go to Vegas at the end of May! I really didn't know how to react. I've never been to Vegas and can honestly say that it has never really appealed to me to take a trip there. But her teacher friends are wanting us to take an adult trip. I honestly don't know what to do. Any advice?

 

[Disney Commando]

Ok guys, so today my wife totally blindsided me with a request that I am not sure of. I had already planned a trip to Disney at the end of May, booked, payed and ready, and today she says that she wants to move that trip to October and go to Vegas at the end of May! I really didn't know how to react. I've never been to Vegas and can honestly say that it has never really appealed to me to take a trip there. But her teacher friends are wanting us to take an adult trip. I honestly don't know what to do. Any advice?

Do the kids know they are going in May? That would be my concern, if they don't know, as long as they will let you change your trip without a cancelation fee go in Oct. for the Holloween events. If the kids know about the trip it will most likely be harder to do

 

[chillcoupons]

Additionally 6 have been trips taken directly for Disney with a special project I've been associated with on for the past 4 years.

Hey Stopher let us know if you need any help with that project.

Ok guys, so today my wife totally blindsided me with a request that I am not sure of. I had already planned a trip to Disney at the end of May, booked, payed and ready, and today she says that she wants to move that trip to October and go to Vegas at the end of May! I really didn't know how to react. I've never been to Vegas and can honestly say that it has never really appealed to me to take a trip there. But her teacher friends are wanting us to take an adult trip. I honestly don't know what to do. Any advice?

There is no easy solution to this if your wife has her mind made up. We all know that are lives are easier when we agree with our wives. I would not want to go to Vegas but I also would not want to hear her complaining as we prepared to go to Disney. I know she will enjoy herself once she gets there but the preparation might be rocky.

Do the kids know they are going in May? That would be my concern, if they don't know, as long as they will let you change your trip without a cancelation fee go in Oct. for the Holloween events. If the kids know about the trip it will most likely be harder to do

Great point commando! You can't let the kids down.

 

[Mrincredible1980]

Hey Stopher let us know if you need any help with that project.



There is no easy solution to this if your wife has her mind made up. We all know that are lives are easier when we agree with our wives. I would not want to go to Vegas but I also would not want to hear her complaining as we prepared to go to Disney. I know she will enjoy herself once she gets there but the preparation might be rocky.




Great point commando! You can't let the kids down.

I have not let the kids know, it was going to be a surprise, I guess I will talk to Disney today and hope for the best. I guess its hard for me thinking that anything could ever compete with the fun I have at Disney!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I guess its hard for me thinking that anything could ever compete with the fun I have at Disney!

Totally agree here. Neither my wife nor I have any inclining to go to Vegas. She's just as big a Disney nut as I am!

 

[tutter99]

I have not let the kids know, it was going to be a surprise, I guess I will talk to Disney today and hope for the best. I guess its hard for me thinking that anything could ever compete with the fun I have at Disney!

I've been to Vegas 4 or 5 times and had a blast every time. I'm not much of a gambler when I'm there, I'm more into the architecture and the different attractions the hotels have done to lure people in (tigers, roller coasters, etc). Disney has the same lure for me with the rides, landscaping, building design but with one big difference; I'm completely at ease at Disney and not worried about my, and the people I'm with, safety. Vegas is definitely cheaper but when I leave I've got the attitude that I don't need to see it for another 5 or 6 years.

 

[dvczerfs]

stopher & dvczerfs, both you guys have been to Disney more than any of us. Any idea on total days spent, has either one of you spent a year there yet

commando, ill let you do the math. ive been there 48 times. ive never gone down for less than one week. in the last 12 years, ive taken 12 dvc stay trips each 11 nights ands 10 park days. 6 none dvc trips each with 6 park days. from 1993-1999 (99 being our first trip as dvc members, dw and dd and i spent 8 trips at 10 park days each. now from 85 to 93 the days vary but we still have our ticket stubs (i know) we took 10 trips and we spent 73 days in those 10 trips in a park. ok, now it gets harder to remember exact park days. but there were 12 trips from 73-84 as a kid. from 73 to 82 it was the mk only so your looking at 3 and 5 days in the parks. i have a few of the stubs with date stamps on them but they were in the early and mid 80s. for round numbers fiqure 4 days in the park each one of the 12 trips thats 48 more day. i was born in 1965 so i was only 8 the first time i was there and the amount of park days were not many at that time because the mk was the only thing there. so i got to be close to one year in the parks. that 48 in 12 trips may be high. the first few times were only 2-3 days at the mk. my brother was stationed in the air force at homestead afb so we made the trip a few times a year to see him and my moms sister who lived in stone mountain ga.(still have no clue to what her grand kids said with that accent.) and just one other little note, ive driven eveyone of those trips.( passenger from 73-81) never flew to to florida yet. so, each trip is 1080 miles one way thats approx 52,000 miles total. loved evey trip, just wish mom and dad would have been here longer to enjoy them, mom passed in 81 and dad in 84. (he drove us in may of 84 w/ kidney stones!!!!) he came home and a month later complained about head aches and found out he had a brain tumor. he passed in october. he was a 6-3 280lb ex marine and he turned into a kid everytime he walked under that train station in the mk. mom did it for him and us kids.people ask me, why do you have mickey mouse tattooed on your leg?

 

[FreezinRafiki]

people ask me, why do you have mickey mouse tattooed on your leg?

PICTURE! PICTURE! PICTURE! (unless it's really high up on the leg. Then please, no picture!)

 

[trennr]

Ok guys, so today my wife totally blindsided me with a request that I am not sure of. I had already planned a trip to Disney at the end of May, booked, payed and ready, and today she says that she wants to move that trip to October and go to Vegas at the end of May! I really didn't know how to react. I've never been to Vegas and can honestly say that it has never really appealed to me to take a trip there. But her teacher friends are wanting us to take an adult trip. I honestly don't know what to do. Any advice?

Well since the kids don't know about May...and to keep the spousal unit happy...tell her you'll do Vegas...but it has to include a viewing of the Lion King Broadway show...and one of the Cirque Du Soleil shows...

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

I actually ordered it prior to talking to Nick, but after seeing his pictures, it totally confirmed the choice!

My parents have the XTi, too, so it came highly recommended. Now I'm reading up and trying to learn about aperture, ISO, etc. I finally learned how to make water blur in waterfall pictures!

on both points

Anyway, I hear ya about the lenses, flashes, etc. Must...resist...temptation...

This is the hardest part of owning a DSLR, $ cha ching

Wow! That's a high compliment. Thanks! I'm really proud of that Indiana Jones shot. I could be biased because it's my favorite movie ever, but I was thrilled with how it turned out.

As far as Beer :30 goes, I'm with trennr: A&W!

I have to agree that is a great shot, well done!!

Ok guys, so today my wife totally blindsided me with a request that I am not sure of. I had already planned a trip to Disney at the end of May, booked, payed and ready, and today she says that she wants to move that trip to October and go to Vegas at the end of May! I really didn't know how to react. I've never been to Vegas and can honestly say that it has never really appealed to me to take a trip there. But her teacher friends are wanting us to take an adult trip. I honestly don't know what to do. Any advice?

I say try and get to the friends and try and get them to change their minds, which will cause a casscading effect back to your wife and then BAM your in Disney!

I watch to much TV, hey its worth a shot

PICTURE! PICTURE! PICTURE! (unless it's really high up on the leg. The please, no picture!)

Be careful with what you ask for..........

 

[trennr]

Well last Fridays Siemens Employee drawing was for a 7 Night Disney Cruise for 4.

They haven't posted a winner yet...Crossing my fingers...toes...legs...arms...eyes.

 

[DisneyDadC]

Well its raining today so that means I have plenty of time for fun!!! Any good hijacks I mean Tr's going on today??