To bring or not to bring...Camcorder

[jacksonsmom]

I am not sure if I want to bring our camcorder for our up coming trip.

Part of me does & would like to get some things on tape so we can watch them over again, my 3 yr old might enjoy that but then a part of me really doesn't want to haul it aronud (it's not a small one) & worry about it on rides & whatever else.

I guess what I am wondering is how to people decide if they are going to bring a camcorder or not?

Do you only bring it to certain shows & events? Or do you haul it around all day?

I was thinking maybe only bringing it to the park for a few times, we will be there for 13 days, no way am I going to want to take it all 13 days!

 

[MomE@Home]

We bought a Canon ZR45 MC digital camcorder for our trips-it's small & lightweight. You can also take still digital pictures with it but I don't think the quality is that great. I wouldn't bring it every day-maybe just the first day of each park and to any special events and/or shows (character breakfasts too) .

 

[CEDmom]

I had the same dilemma as you when getting ready for our trip. We didn't bring it mainly because I forgot about it and didn't have it on the packing list. It was our DD (3 1/2) first visit to WDW and I would have liked to capture her reaction to seeing the parks. If we had brought it I probably would have only carried it when going to a park for the first time since ours isn't small either. If you have the room in a carry on than I'd suggest bringing it and just using it a few times. I know our DD does like to watch herself from other tapes we have.

 

[antmaril]

We brought ours for our first trip to Disney, but we didn't bring it to the parks every day. Since you are there for 13 days and your child is quite young, I would be tempted to bring it. Once you've recorded some of that first trip, however, I wouldn't bring it on future trips. It is a pain, no doubt about it, but we do have some great memories from the video we took. Our son was four at the time of our first trip (Big Red Boat and WDW). He's 16 now and I will tell you the video from that trip is great fun to watch.

Just my two cents!

 

[crisi]

brought ours, but it wasn't worth it. Had battery problems, it was difficult to lug around - especially with small kids - we already had all the "kid stuff" to haul - then the camcorder on top of it.

I think I have about 2 minutes of the entire vacation.

 

[jacksonsmom]

Thank you everyone.

I still am not sure, but I talked to DH & relayed what everyone's opinions are & he said to just bring it along.

So we may not use it much but being this is my son's, not to mention all of us, first trip, it might be nice to have some of it on film.
I guess I would rather bring it with & not use it then not bringing it with & wishing I did have it....make sense??

Would it be safe to leave it in the resort room on the days we are not bringing it? Is there a place I can store it? We are staying at the CBR, if that makes a difference.

 

[SusieQ2452]

I say take it along provided it's not too big. We've visited three times w/ our kids and took the camcorder every time. The first time they were 3 1/2 & 7. We don't look at the video often but when we do, we're so glad that we hauled it around w/ us.

 

[Megan's Mom]

We took ours last year and the first day and a half we didn't use it that much but then the third day we took video of the characters interacting with Megan and we wished that we had done the same thing all of the days. When we got home we realized just how good it was and we saw things that we missed while we were there. We are so glad we took it.

 

[tink2]

Oh my goodness, I can't imagine not taking our camcorder! We video a lot- probably too much and end up editing when we get home. But I wouldn't trade the video of my DD kissing Cinderella for the world, or Tigger playing with DS, or DD's eyes when she saw the castle, or.......
Also, it is my DD-4 and DS-2 favorite video. They love watching it! DS was a baby when he went, but he loves to watch it. Also, we are using it to prepare him for the upcoming trip.
I vote take it and use it, maybe not as much as us, but some. You will not regret capturing your family's precious moments of tape forever!

 

[jacksonsmom]

OK! I am convinced!

We are bringing it along!!!!!

I think I would kick myself if I didn't bring it

Thank you!

 

[deirdrefitch]

Our first trip, I decided that dragging the camcorder around all day was not worth the trouble. The whole trip my DH and I discussed how we wished we had brought the camcorder. We really missed alot of neat Disney memories. The second trip I took it everywhere. Pictures are really great, but the excitement in your child's voice can't be missed. We watch the tapes every now and then to get a taste of the excitement at Disney with our kids. These tapes are priceless.

 

[Mommy Poppins]

We took ours on our 2000 trip when our kids were almost 5 and almost 2. We are now planning an unexpected trip for December of this year and we are starting to watch the videos from our last trip. It is helping the kids to remember things that we saw and did (especially my youngest) so that they can make a list of their favorites for this trip. We didn't take it to the park every day, but we have 1 1/2 tapes of our 10 day trip. For us, I think it was well worth it. We now have a 1 year old who will be 19 months on our next trip and we will take the camcorder again for the same reason.

 

[MomE@Home]

I wouldn't think leaving your camcorder in the room would be a problem, we left ours in our room to charge several different times with no trouble. One tip-make sure to label your camcorder with your cell# and your resort info. in case it gets lost.

 

[corky805]

I have been struggling with this same ?? as well. Thanks for asking!

 

[jahexom]

My vote is to take it, especially for "first" experiences. We took ours when kids were smaller and still enjoy watching the videos. Now that kids are big we don't bring one because we would have to spend too much time waiting for Dad to catch up. He tends to enter another dimention when using the camera. Also, as I and DD get older we don't appreciate all the views of us from behind as DH struggles to keep up.

Jen

 

[jacksonsmom]

I am glad I asked this question.

I am not questioning it anymore. Sounds
like I will regret it if I don't bring it.

Thank you!

22 more days

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We took it on our first trip- every single day, everywhere we went. But it wasn't much of a hassle at all- considering we had a 2yr old and a stroller with us the entire time. Therefore we didn't have to CARRY it.... plus we had to do the parent swap on most of the rides anyway. And the only rides she could ride were the type it was fine to carry a camcorder on the ride anyway. So that worked out perfectly. It was even MY first trip to WDW, and also my children's. There was no way I was going to capture that all JUST in pictures. LOL Taped pretty much everything.

Our next trip I'll bring it- and we'll see how it goes with the stroller/etc. I'm sure she'll want to be in a stroller and therefore I'll bring the camcorder with no extra hassles carrying it/etc. I'm not sure I'll tape every single thing every single day though... especially not on the days we go to the water parks (didn't do water parks last time- but that's the last thing I need to do is carry a camcorder around in water parks or have it get stolen from our seats or something- and no point bringing it if it's going to be in a locker. LOL)

Man I used a ton of tapes on that trip. LOL

 

[Mouselander]

It is a good idea to 'remember' to bring a cam-corder along. Not that you have to used it ALL of the time.... cause DH might get tired being behind the lens (LOL....my DH was in 11-20-00)!!!

We planned to bring our cam-corder along 5-22-03 trip....BUT It was left at home charging the batteries. We missed alot of special moments. At least I remembered the 35mm !

 

[tax58]

We bring our on vacation every year, but we don't carry it the entire time. Only when we thing it will be worth tapping. Of course we always wish at least once that had it with us.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Ps. Just a note for anyone that doesn't want to carry around a large camcorder. My sister said they have one around $200 at Walmart right now that is a tiny camcorder but will also take digital pictures. I'm going to wait until after she's bought it (which she intends to next time she's there) and see how the digi pictures come out- if they come out better than my digi camera, I'll buy this even though we already have a camcorder.
I'll try to remember to update this thread to let you know how it works- but wouldn't that be cool to be able to have a camcorder that ALSO takes digi pictures on a disk???