We Defected to the West! DLR 2013

[AussieMumma]

I'm joining in! I LOVE your photos, they are amazing.
Brings back memories for me as we were there early December 2010, it was our first and only time seeing the Christmas theming and I just loved it all

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up!


Those are amazing shots of WoC, Janet. I bet you're pleased with them.

Hope to see some of your Utah shots.

 

[mom2rtk]

Carsland looks beautiful at night.

Your pictures of WOC are stunning! Looks amazing.

Thanks! I enjoyed shooting WOC. Although many love the original show more, this is all I've seen.

And I agree. Carsland at night is amazing. I really need to find a way to get there right around closing time so I can appreciate it without as many heads in the way!

I'm glad you can chuckle with me. I wasn't the worst one either. One of my coworkers said that she was about to sit down to put on her eye make up and started to take down her pants as though she was in the bathroom!



I know! It's been driving me crazy. Just when I am used to the new way they do things, they change it again!



Those were all just handheld? You are awesome!!!

LOL, you teachers have my admiration. I would love having a job that lined up with my kids' school schedules, but honestly just always knew that job would take more patience than I possess!

And yes, the WOC shots were handheld. I'd still love to shoot it one day with a tripod, but really just needed a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the water for these.

It's crazy. I'm reading that even with fastpasses people are queuing up that early to get a good spot! They need to do this and their Fantasmic in a tiered area like Fantasmic at HS!

Well, to be fair, it really isn't so much a fastpass even though they call it that. Everyone getting in needs one, so it's more of an admission ticket distributed through the FP system. And yes, it really seems to be a fail on Disney's part to design such a poor viewing area for such a fantastic show.

What a lovely post on my beautiful state! I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to Utah, we can make it to DLR in one day, it's a long day, but still, and I'm an hour and a half from the top of UT!

Well, your state is probably my favorite in the nation. It would be a nice bonus of course to be within driving distance to DLR. It's pretty much 3 days to drive it from here. We have done it 4 times, and it does help to have so much between here and there to see along the way...... I'd drive back to Utah tomorrow though if I could. But I have an inexplicable thing for big red rocks.

I also have one of those rain sleeve bags in my backpack. I carry it with me even when it is not raining just in case if I go on a wet ride or maybe one day go up close to watch WoC. The bag does leave the lens expose but I always carry a microfiber towel with me just in case if I have to clean the lens. That was great that both of you were able to watch WoC when it was a windy night.

I keep on in my bag at all times too. I love shooting Splash Mountain and always put on the rain sleeve when I do. I didn't get to on this trip though. Just too cold to chance getting wet. We really look forward to doing it on this trip. the weather HAS to be better, right?

I do have to say that we just got REALLY lucky it wasn't windy that night. It could have gone a LOT worse for us!

 

[mom2rtk]

Your shots are awesome! It really is hard to capture it if you don't get a good spot.

You look like you got a good one too. Much better than the ones I had....but I was not about to go to the wet zone either. Did you get very wet?

Thanks Jen! I was really worried when we got home that I hadn't gotten good shots of WOC. Honestly, I shot the show, and I never looked at what I got until I just worked through them last week. LOL, I figured it was too late to do anything about it if they were bad anyway!

We didn't get wet at ALL that night. What we were was very lucky. We took a real risk going down there on such a cold night. Up until that point I fully intended to go back another night to shoot it from a higher spot.

There were some shots where my lens fogged a little. You can see it on the lights on California Screamin in the background. But it wasn't as bad as I thought it was at first at least.

Great WoC shots as others have said. That was one big disappointment of my December day at DLR -- they stopped WoC less than 5 minutes into the show because the wind was too strong and it was making the projections fuzzy. Naughty wind. After waiting for it (with cocoa to keep us warm), all I could think was how much more I could have seen that night instead.

I said I was going to go home and watch it on YouTube, but I was too grumpy about it and the season passed without me ever seeing it. I think I like your stills better, especially 6 months later!

PHXscuba

Sounds like you went on Monday night maybe? That was the night we had been thinking about going back. We also thought about staying for fireworks that night but bailed around 6 from sheer exhaustion. I didn't find out until the next day that all the night stuff had been cancelled. Of course, the minute I heard that I was not the least big surprised since I do recall how crazy the wind had been all day.

What a HUGE disappointment though to go to all that hassle of getting there in place and THEN having it cancelled. This all really taught me a lesson that next time we need to make sure we plan to see the night shows early in our trip so we don't risk missing it. We totally just lucked into getting to see WOC on Friday (THANK YOU KATHY!!!).

I don't blame you for being too grumpy to watch it on youtube. I would have felt the same way. I'm glad my stills came at the right time for you.

Your pictures of WOC are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! If you haven't already, you should do professional photography.

Thanks so much. If I had it to do all over again, I'd be a professional sports photographer. Don't ask. Too many years of YMCA ball when the boys were little I suppose!

I'm joining in! I LOVE your photos, they are amazing.
Brings back memories for me as we were there early December 2010, it was our first and only time seeing the Christmas theming and I just loved it all

Isn't it just the best place in the world at Christmas?

Catching up!


Those are amazing shots of WoC, Janet. I bet you're pleased with them.

Hope to see some of your Utah shots.

Thanks so much PiO! As I mentioned above, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got around to sorting through all the shots. Fantasmic didn't go as well. I guess there's next time?

And I'm still sorting through the Utah shots. But I'll post some soon.

 

[MEK]

I just found your trip report today and read the whole thing. I am planning a DL trip sometime in 2015, so I am really enjoying your commentary and beautiful pictures.

How great that you have a built in travel partner with your daughter. She looks like she is having a blast. I have two sons who are the exact ages as yours (just finished their freshman & junior years in college).

Looking forward to more!

 

[PHXscuba]

Sounds like you went on Monday night maybe? That was the night we had been thinking about going back. We also thought about staying for fireworks that night but bailed around 6 from sheer exhaustion. I didn't find out until the next day that all the night stuff had been cancelled. Of course, the minute I heard that I was not the least big surprised since I do recall how crazy the wind had been all day.

What a HUGE disappointment though to go to all that hassle of getting there in place and THEN having it cancelled. This all really taught me a lesson that next time we need to make sure we plan to see the night shows early in our trip so we don't risk missing it. We totally just lucked into getting to see WOC on Friday (THANK YOU KATHY!!!).

I don't blame you for being too grumpy to watch it on youtube. I would have felt the same way. I'm glad my stills came at the right time for you.

Yep, it was Monday night. It wasn't a total surprise -- it had gusted on and off all day. The skating snowflakes in the parade had no snowflakes strapped on. And I had been thinking the projections looked fuzzier than I recalled from the original WoC. But it was still disappointing. I guess Disney has a threshold where the show becomes too degraded and decides it's better to cancel all together.

And you are right about trying to see outdoor shows early in a trip, just in case. Santa Ana winds cancel things at DLR, summer storms at WDW, etc.

PHXscuba

 

[mom2rtk]

I just found your trip report today and read the whole thing. I am planning a DL trip sometime in 2015, so I am really enjoying your commentary and beautiful pictures.

How great that you have a built in travel partner with your daughter. She looks like she is having a blast. I have two sons who are the exact ages as yours (just finished their freshman & junior years in college).

Looking forward to more!

Thanks! I'm so glad you found us! Do your boys shun Disney the way mine do? I hope not. Thankfully my daughter is a big fan and loves going.

Yep, it was Monday night. It wasn't a total surprise -- it had gusted on and off all day. The skating snowflakes in the parade had no snowflakes strapped on. And I had been thinking the projections looked fuzzier than I recalled from the original WoC. But it was still disappointing. I guess Disney has a threshold where the show becomes too degraded and decides it's better to cancel all together.

And you are right about trying to see outdoor shows early in a trip, just in case. Santa Ana winds cancel things at DLR, summer storms at WDW, etc.

PHXscuba

Well, I feel so stupid. We saw part of that parade on Monday and we never did figure out why the skating snowflakes weren't wearing their snowflakes! I just told Katie and she got a big "DUH" smile on her face.

It really would be a bummer to wait through that hassle and get into WOC only to have it end half way through. I probably wouldn't have figured out why either. I would have just assumed my glasses were fogged up or something! Thanks for solving one of life's great mysteries for us!

 

[mom2rtk]

I hope everyone had a great 4th!

After all the talk about fireworks photography here, and given that I just found my missing neutral density filter again, I decided to break out the tripod and practice up for our Disney trip in December. These are from our city's local display on the 4th. It's not nearly as fun as shooting with a castle in the frame, but it will do in a pinch.

IMG_9094 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

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[mom2rtk]

Saturday December 7th, 2013:


They had been calling for rain on Saturday in the forecast for some time. And they were right. We woke up to a rainy cold Saturday. Thankfully this was our off day and we didn't have a lot planned. Brunch at Goofy's Kitchen and a tour of the 3 on-site resorts, then back for an early night so we could hit the ground running the next day. We came down to the lobby to find Santa sitting on his chair with no line at all. So Katie had a little chat with him. She was hesitant to tell him what she wanted for Christmas, but she finally whispered something in his hear. I'm not sure when Santa started doing this but as we were ready to leave he mentioned out loud to me that she wanted red Vans. I guess the big guy can't keep a secret.


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It's not far to the DL Hotel from the Paradise Pier. But it's farther than I wanted to walk in the rain since I had forgotten to bring umbrellas. So I decided to splurge on a taxi.

A few shots on our way into the Disneyland Hotel:


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We checked in a little early at Goofy's Kitchen, but we were both hungry. I was a little disappointed that the characters were almost identical to our arrival night. Mad Hatter remembered us, and I almost blew it by commenting to Katie how it was the "same one". I had to do some fast talking with the Mad Hatter to get out of hot water. Thankfully there were no small children within earshot. I guess in the end, I'm just as bad as the PPH Santa at keeping a secret.

We saw Goofy out front, then Mad Hatter, Chip, Dale, Baloo, Alice and Pluto in the dining room.




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Hey, let's both make a silly face!


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It wasn't really worth the cost of eating at GK twice since the characters were mostly the same. But it was worth it to have some character interaction on our off day. I'm not sure if I'd do the same next time or if I'd consider dropping our GK on arrival day.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great update, Janet. I love seeing pictures of your DD with the characters and....



.....as I'm not the one spending the $$ on breakfast at GK, I'm thoroughly enjoying the vicarious living.

But I know what you mean. We normally aim for one character meal per trip (or sometimes two if we're heading to WDW where they spread the characters out more).

I hope everyone had a great 4th!

After all the talk about fireworks photography here, and given that I just found my missing neutral density filter again, I decided to break out the tripod and practice up for our Disney trip in December. These are from our city's local display on the 4th. It's not nearly as fun as shooting with a castle in the frame, but it will do in a pinch.

Great shots. Glad you found the ND filter.

Sadly, I have to pretend that I have fun shooting the fireworks in Melbourne. No castle here.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great fireworks pictures Janet.

Very nice pictures of you and your DD at PPH and GK. It is nice to eat at GK where other DISers enjoy it. I enjoyed it as well but one time is enough for me.

 

[mom2rtk]

Great update, Janet. I love seeing pictures of your DD with the characters and....



.....as I'm not the one spending the $$ on breakfast at GK, I'm thoroughly enjoying the vicarious living.

But I know what you mean. We normally aim for one character meal per trip (or sometimes two if we're heading to WDW where they spread the characters out more).






Great shots. Glad you found the ND filter.

Sadly, I have to pretend that I have fun shooting the fireworks in Melbourne. No castle here.

Thanks PiO! I was really happy to find my ND filter and I might actually have the courage to try it out at DL! I just need to get an idea of how long I can leave the shutter open and not blow out the castle.

We've always really enjoyed character meals. I just wish there was more variety at GK to justify going twice. It's just a nice way to extend the park feeling on the days we can't be at the parks.

And sadly, it took a bit to talk myself into pulling my stuff together and fighting the crowds to go shoot the fireworks. I just get a lot more excited about it when there's a castle involved. One of the things I don't like about this show is that so many of the bursts all go off at the same spot. So even if I get a really long shutter speed, they are all on top of each other. The shots I posted were really the only ones with bursts in different areas. And I took more than 50 shots. At least at Disney they are going off all around the castle so it makes for a more interesting composition over a long exposure.

Great fireworks pictures Janet.

Very nice pictures of you and your DD at PPH and GK. It is nice to eat at GK where other DISers enjoy it. I enjoyed it as well but one time is enough for me.

Thanks Bret! We have really enjoyed our trips to GK over the years. I just doubt we'll go all out and do it twice next time.

 

[mom2rtk]

Saturday December 7, 2013 Continued:


After lunch, we investigated the decorations in the Disneyland Hotel. Santa wouldn't be in for a while but we couldn't resist checking out the GORGEOUS set-up he has there:

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Next we headed out to Downtown Disney. The ice rink was uncovered, but I'm not sure if it was open. Nobody was skating, but it had been raining most of the morning.

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We stopped and bought pins at a kiosk, then stumbled upon the Pearl Factory. Yikes! I almost forgot that was part of my plans for the day! I had a teacup pearl cage in my bag for Katie. So she picked a pearl and was able to add it to her collection of pearl necklaces. While we were standing at the kiosk, a group of marines walked through DTD apparently escorting someone. The girl working at the stand said they were there with one of the cast from Jersey Shore. I don't watch the show, so wouldn't know them if I saw them, but it was amusing anyway.

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After shopping, we decided to head back to the room for a while. It was only 2:30 and the Santas wouldn't be out at the DL Hotel or GC for a couple hours. It was nice to go back and get off our feet for a while. The Missouri Tigers football game was on, and I wanted to see how that was going. I texted back and forth with Timmy for a while, but gave up on the game when they fell behind.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Pick-a-Pearl! I love Pick-a-Pearl.

That's a beauty you got....and it suits the teapot setting you have. It's beautiful!

I don't watch Jersey Shore either.

 

[TexasErin]

Hi Janet!

I am still playing catch up on reading your TR, but I had to say that your pictures are amazing! I am really enjoying your report- words and pictures!

We would love to be able to see Christmas or Halloween decorations, but my children's schools blow a gasket when they miss. There was one year where we received a truancy letter when my son had only missed 3 times (twice was due to step throat for which we brought dr's notes and once was due to losing a pet). We like to go for 10-day trips (we only go once per year) and there is no way that their schools would allow that, so no December or October trips for us. And the Christmas/New Year's school break would be way too crowded for our tastes....so I'm living vicariously through your stunning photos.

We had our first DLR trip last month and had PLANNED on going back to WDW next year......BUT....we had so much fun that we will be going back to DLR again next summer!

Erin

 

[rndmr2]

Love all the Christmas decorations at the Disneyland Hotel, that area for Santa is really pretty, love that sleigh and those chairs.

The ice rink area is really neat, I just love Olaf he's so cute!

 

[missangelalexis]

Nice pics with Santa, I love how festive you both look.

Bummer about meeting the same characters, but still some great pics!

I love the milk and cookies prop at Disneyland Hotel.

Downtown Disney looks awesome decked out for the holidays!

 

[jenseib]

You already know I love the fireworks shots!

What a fun down day. It looks like Katie can go in and pull her own oyster right out there....I think Claire would like that. I just remembered we did it in Epcot again in March, so I need to get a new cage for her pearl. I might have to go look for the tea cup one. That is really cute.

So...did Katie get Red Vans then?

 

[mom2rtk]

Pick-a-Pearl! I love Pick-a-Pearl.

That's a beauty you got....and it suits the teapot setting you have. It's beautiful!

I don't watch Jersey Shore either.

I'm starting to think all the pearls are beauties. Or we're just very lucky. Because Katie sure has gotten some very pretty ones through the years.

It just seems to be a tradition for us now. But Katie has 5 now I think, each in a different cage necklace. Maybe it's my turn next time?

Hi Janet!

I am still playing catch up on reading your TR, but I had to say that your pictures are amazing! I am really enjoying your report- words and pictures!

We would love to be able to see Christmas or Halloween decorations, but my children's schools blow a gasket when they miss. There was one year where we received a truancy letter when my son had only missed 3 times (twice was due to step throat for which we brought dr's notes and once was due to losing a pet). We like to go for 10-day trips (we only go once per year) and there is no way that their schools would allow that, so no December or October trips for us. And the Christmas/New Year's school break would be way too crowded for our tastes....so I'm living vicariously through your stunning photos.

We had our first DLR trip last month and had PLANNED on going back to WDW next year......BUT....we had so much fun that we will be going back to DLR again next summer!

Erin

Hi Erin! Thanks for the kind words. I have been very lucky not to have to fight the school too much on our December trips. There were a couple years I got hate mail, but it was more of the "miss too much more and we'll turn you over to the courst" sort. No impending action at least! We are definitely on borrowed time. I'm pretty sure we can eek out a week this December, but then she'll be in high school and we'll have to re-evaluate.

Like you, I would not love going over Christmas break. I'd just spend the whole time sad over how much better it could have been. So I know not to do that.

I just can't do WDW in the summer. But DLR in the summer is totally doable. We did it a number of times before and had a great time. I probably should have saved all these DLR visits for high school, because now that we're getting close, I find myself wanting to get back to WDW.

Love all the Christmas decorations at the Disneyland Hotel, that area for Santa is really pretty, love that sleigh and those chairs.

The ice rink area is really neat, I just love Olaf he's so cute!

The whole resort is just gorgeous that time of year. I'm totally ruined for visiting any other time. I'm sure I'd feel like something was missing.

Nice pics with Santa, I love how festive you both look.

Bummer about meeting the same characters, but still some great pics!

I love the milk and cookies prop at Disneyland Hotel.

Downtown Disney looks awesome decked out for the holidays!

Thanks! As you can see, Katie loved the milk and cookies prop too! I really thought their Santa area was just amazing.

You already know I love the fireworks shots!

What a fun down day. It looks like Katie can go in and pull her own oyster right out there....I think Claire would like that. I just remembered we did it in Epcot again in March, so I need to get a new cage for her pearl. I might have to go look for the tea cup one. That is really cute.

So...did Katie get Red Vans then?

Yeah, Katie sort of has the oyster thing down, don't you think?

There are tons of choices of inexpensive pearl cages on Ebay. We have had a lot of fun choosing one before each trip. Which reminds me...... I need to go see if there's anything new for this year!

And shockingly....... she changed her mind on the red Vans before Christmas. She decided she wanted white Converse sneakers instead. I waited until days before Christmas to finish up her shopping because she kept changing her mind. Shocking, huh?

We did start back to school shopping last week though. Guess what shoes she decided she couldn't live without?

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm starting to think all the pearls are beauties. Or we're just very lucky. Because Katie sure has gotten some very pretty ones through the years.

It just seems to be a tradition for us now. But Katie has 5 now I think, each in a different cage necklace. Maybe it's my turn next time?

Absolutely!