What's in a title anyway? How about 1300 pictures? 4/15/11-> Bonus Section pt1 & 2

[AlisaMom]

We want more

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Great update!!! Looks like you had fun being an actor.......maybe a new career....LOL!!!!

I had a blast. It's not over yet, I just haven't been able to update today. There's still some really good shots from Indy coming up!

What an afternoon you had! First of all poor Nate! Clinging to his mother like his life really is about to end. We really shouldn't laught at that, right?
We probably shouldn't laugh....but is really is pretty funny


I'm happy to see that you put those drinks to good use as well.
I wouldn't ever abuse alcohol....by pouring it down the drain

Too bad you don't have a recording of the evil laugh!
Maybe I'll throw a recording up on youtube towards the end....remind me

What a fun update!

I cannot wait to see what happened! I must say I agree with your monkey acting! I think I would have done the same.
The guy next to me was confused at first but played along and we were cracking up. That was such a great time

I think the ToT ride was adorable. Makes you laugh and feel bad for him all at once.

I know I'm the dad, and not supposed to laugh but.....

I didn't know you could take take the boats to Hollywood Studios... I will have to keep that in mind!

From Epcot, the ferry goes to the different hotels. You can go to the Boardwalk and walk the 5 minutes or so, or get off at any of the hotels and wait for the Hollywood Boat.

Great pictures of course!
Thank you too much

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Congrats on your award winning performance! LOL
I don't know about award winning. They haven't even announced the other nominees yet

Ohhh DO I know ALLLL about the torture of Tower of Terror... but in my defense - I had never been on it before. Yes, I knew what went on, but do you REALLY know what goes on if you've never been on it before?! Long story short - Madi and I went on it for the first time (for both of us) on our last trip.
Notice how I didn't go on right? I hate that ride, and I have a good reason (with a story) as to why......but that's going to come up later in the TR.



***NIKON SIDE NOTE: Any good, bad, otherwise advice to give a wannabe photographer that is seriously looking into the D5000 within the next month?

Where do I begin Best piece of advice is to go to the store and hold a couple different ones. You'll know which one is meant for your hands.

It does do video pretty well but doesn't autofocus while taking video.

The 2 lenses that usually come with the "kit" are the 18-55mm (Equivalent to a 3x zoom on a point and shoot) and the 55-200 (10x zoom.) They are fine to start with but I switched over to a Sigma 18-250 lens. I got it used from www.bhphotovideo.com for under $400 and it looks, acts, and feels brand new. It's sharper and the one lens has a longer reach than the two did combined, so now I never have to switch lenses which I hated how often I did it.

Every manufacture has some kind of image stabilization. Nikon calls it Vibration Reduction (VR). Unless you have really steady hands, always get the VR.

One of the biggest advantages to having a DSLR is being able to shoot in a raw format (Nikon calls it NEF) instead of a compressed JPG. If you decide to shoot in raw, you need some piece of software that lets you open/edit/save-to-jpg like Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements. Lightroom is the standard, I use Photoshop Elements because it was familiar to me.

If you know how Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO work together, you're set. If not, check out the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Good read and makes it pretty easy to understand.

A wireless remote on ebay goes for $5 from China and works just fine.

Tripods are your friend.

My prediction is the next lens you by will be a Nikon 35mm 1.8

After all this, I could have done another update I am in some desperate need of coffee. Hope that helped a little. I'm no expert but I'll gladly pass on what I've learned or what I'm doing at any time. Don't hesitate to ask

Oh yea, you need to use the camera if you want to learn the camera. When I first got it, I loved it the first week and thought I wasted a lot of $$$ by week 2 because I didn't like the pictures I was getting. After I learned how to really use the camera, I fell in love.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

We want more

I will try soon. Last night I left work 4 1/2 hrs early because of the ice/snow we got hammered with. People were stuck everywhere and the plows couldn't get in until the cars were moved. I was there, I have 4 wheel drive, and a tow strap soooo.....long story short I should have stayed my full shift at work. At least then, I would have gotten paid for my time! Oh well, that's what I get for being a nice guy

My eyeballs are burning out of my head still, so if there's a new update it's not going to be for at least 12 hrs from right this minute.
Even then, I'd only give it a 50/50 chance, but you never know!

Gotta go get coffee and then shovel this ice out of here!

 

[twinmom]

I have only read your first post and feel the need to comment. First, the Rangers will not allow the Phillies to win the World Series. Second, I plan to read your whole report, and third, our feelings are not hurt, we are PISSED that Cliff Lee left!!!

Great report so far except for your delusional beginning

 

[twinmom]

I am all caught up You have some awesome photos and I love your writing style. I am really enjoying this report. I will forgive your Phillies talk since I decided that in your Indiana Jones pictures you look like Josh Hamilton You can have your Cliff Lee, we have our MVP!!!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I am all caught up You have some awesome photos and I love your writing style. I am really enjoying this report. I will forgive your Phillies talk since I decided that in your Indiana Jones pictures you look like Josh Hamilton You can have your Cliff Lee, we have our MVP!!!

I'm on the net via my cell so i'll keep it short. No matter what game you're playing, one king never beats four aces

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

Important side note that I left out - I am taking a Digital Photography class this semester. I wanted a bird class that I knew I would get a lot out of! I will go out and fondle some gadgets this weekend - thanks! ---but wait - did you say you spent $400 on a lens? EEK!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Important side note that I left out - I am taking a Digital Photography class this semester. I wanted a bird class that I knew I would get a lot out of! I will go out and fondle some gadgets this weekend - thanks! ---but wait - did you say you spent $400 on a lens? EEK!

Yep, $400 and I can't tell you how much more I love that lens over the 2 I originally got with the camera. I wish I had originally gotten this one since you figure those 2 probably cost $250 ish I'm guessing.

If you are looking to shoot things like birds or other wildlife and are buying the kit, I'd consider looking at something like the 75-300mm over the 55-200. You loose a tiny bit of range in between the two lenses (56-74mm) but probably won't miss that at all. The extra 100mm reach makes a pretty big difference when photographing from far away.

The more you play with your new camera, you find that this is a hobby that can be as expensive as you want it to be (notice how I didn't say cheap?)

It really is so much fun though!!!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

If anyone tried to check out any pictures earlier, it appears I ran out of bandwidth....and before day 3 was even finished!




So, the problem has been fixed and Day 3 should be finished sometime this morning.

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

Great update! We took our DS7 on Big Thunder Mountain this time (he is timid when it comes to rides, and we are spoiled with our DS12 who has always wanted to ride everything) and he was not too happy. And I love thrill rides, but hated TOT, so I feel for Nate!
Enjoyed the extra butter, try to wrangle up some snow caps or raisinets this time!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Great update! We took our DS7 on Big Thunder Mountain this time (he is timid when it comes to rides, and we are spoiled with our DS12 who has always wanted to ride everything) and he was not too happy. And I love thrill rides, but hated TOT, so I feel for Nate!
Enjoyed the extra butter, try to wrangle up some snow caps or raisinets this time!

There's so much I want to blurt out right now but I don't want to throw spoilers out there about what's ahead! Lets for now just say that there were a lot of firsts the boys, and us, this year! I don't want to throw out there my feelings for TOT yet either.....that's coming up soon too.


I just noticed the Dream in your signature.....NICE!!!
Will there be a Trip report in your future?

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Continuing where we left off, the director wanted to kill me. Apparently he has done this before because he wanted me to charge him with an imaginary knife so it would be considered self defense. I wasn’t able to bring my own imaginary knife because of the TSA check points back home so he let me borrow his. Usually I know better than to bring an imaginary knife to an imaginary gun fight, but that 3rd drink must have clouded my judgment.

He again asked me where I was from. I replied “Philly.” He replied “I thought so. You look like you’ve done this before.”

Enraged, I drew my imaginary knife and lunged at him, determined to plunge it directly into his cold directors heart.

He fired a shot. It was a hit.

Still maintaining a firm grip on the knife, I staggered back. The pain was almost unbearable.

Wanting to say goodbye to my wife and kids, I staggered back into the audience.

The guy interpreting this into sign language paused in shock at what was going on. I don’t think this was what he had signed up for (No pun intended.)

I desperately tried again to soak my imaginary knife in the blood as black as only a director can bleed. At the same time, on the left, you can see he leveled his gun.

He fired, hitting me directly in the chest.

I was going down, and I knew it.

He fired again. This time I took it in the left shoulder. My knife was gone. This was no longer self defense, this was a cold blooded murder.

I inched closer. I knew it was over but I wanted to see into my killers eyes. I wanted to see into his soul and I wanted him to know that this would never be over.

In my final moments, all that went through my head was my wife and kids. With my last breath, I reached out to them. Told them I loved them. And went to sleep.

The End.


No wait! The whole thing was imaginary remember?!?!?

I rejoined the rest of the cast and went back to work. It’s not easy being an actor!

These other guys tried to upstage us. I wasn’t impressed.

Until they all STARTED FLYING!!!

These guys were really good. So much goes into what they do and they deserve more credit than they get. If only they would put their skills to good use, instead of being evil.

Hey look, right in the middle. Told you I’m still alive…..

 

[NateNLogansDad]

The action moved to stage 2 and we were right there on top of it.

Indy grabbed his whip and we feared for his life

(yes back then they had baseball hats turned backwards…..I looked into it)

It was time for us to get out of the way, so I tried my hand at flying just like the bad guys.

But I guess I’m just not evil enough….*sigh*

The rest of the show is awesome but you need to see it for yourself. Here’s a few more to give you a taste of what it looks like…..

After the show was over I took the boys back stage to meet Logan’s hero, and my co-worker.

And THAT my friends was the tale of how I will be known as Rob, the dead guy from Philly.

*wait for applause*

*waiting*

*cough* OK, moving right along.

So here’s the story about finding the third kid…….

Tina’s cousin had decided to book a trip with her family for a few days during the same week that we were there. The Beach Club was totally booked as far as the 1 Bedroom rooms go and they really didn’t want to do a Studio so they went with the Boardwalk. Their youngest daughter wasn’t feeling good right before they left and it got worse when they finally arrived. To top things off, it spread to both parents. Of course it couldn’t be just a head cold. They had projectile vo….well, I won’t get too graphic. So everyone was sick except for their son Kyle. Poor guy, 8yrs old and had been stuck in his room all day at Disney World with everybody throw….you know.

So, after we got out of Indy’s show, Tina got a text with what was going on. Without a second thought, she called her cousin and asked if we could come get Kyle. Needing a breath of fresh air, her cousin decided to walk over to the studios and drop him off.

We went back over to our spot, this time with just a snack

And Nate had a turn with the small camera

She showed up with Kyle and we told him we were taking him to see a show. (Unfortunately he would never get to see me act *sigh again*)

Our double stroller became a triple and we headed down the Blvd along with 9,995 other people

Just to stand in line next to this

Nate informed Kyle that he was brave and got on the Tower of Terror today. Kyle had never been on it but really wanted to give it a try. Nate used about 500 different words to describe what went on but what he was trying to say was “never never again.”

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Within roughly 15 minutes, the line began moving. Brandon was with us and practically did a crowd surfing move but was able to score us some seats about 5 or 6 rows back.

I ran back to one of the kiosks to grab something the boys had been begging me for since the minute I got down there……Light Sabers! Of course now that Kyle was with us enjoying his first few minutes of freedom at Disney, I had to grab him one too. There’s no way I could leave him out! I wish I had my camera out when I met them back at the seats. You would have thought Christmas just came early!

Sorry, back to Fantasmic! I was loving it. I have a lot of shows on my list of awesomeness, but this one up there with Wishes. If we came home from a trip without seeing Fantasmic! I would probably consider that trip a bust. Sad I know, but this is a MUST SEE with one of the highest priorities!

Where else do you get to see this guy….

with this kind of setting……

battle the dark villains in person and show that good will always conquer over evil?


I know that there may be someone reading this that either has never been to Disney yet, or just has never been to this show. I want you to take these pictures with a grain of salt. However good the show might seem through the eye of my lens, it is actually roughly 9745 times better. I’m not going to narrate through the show this time, I’m just going to post the pictures.

BUT

I think the pictures would look and feel SO MUCH BETTER if you took a second to open up a new window in your internet browser, go to Youtube.com, do a search for Fantasmic WDW, click on any video that’s at least 15 minutes long, let it buffer, buffer, buffer (sorry, that’s a SNL joke) and when it starts to play the music, minimize that window and come back to my trip report to view the pictures. It will add a little something to it, I promise! If you know the show, it’s fun to flip back and forth till you get to the part where the picture falls into play. Let me know if you get a little teary eyed or goose bumps….it’s OK, I get both every time too )

And now, ladies and gentlemen I invite you to experience Fantasmic! A journey beyond your wildest imagination……..

 

[NateNLogansDad]

 

[NateNLogansDad]

(^See Mickey at the top of the mountain?)

As usual, Fantasmic! was the best. I wish they showed it EVERY night but since it is the most expensive show in all of Disney world (including Wishes) they only ran it 2 nights during our week.
We headed out when the show let up with out poor stroller struggling to keep up with the weight of all three kiddies piled up on it. Kyle is the one on the right, Logan on the left, Nate up front, all armed to the teeth with light sabers.
We opted to pass on the ferry because the line to get on would have taken a couple of boats for us to get under way. As nice as the weather was, we would have been foolish not to enjoy it anyway. The path along the waterway is pretty romantic, even while pushing a stroller.

As we came up to the Boardwalk, I asked Kyle how he liked the pool. Poor guy didn’t get to see the pool yet! Personally, clowns freak me out but since we had never seen it in person we headed up there.

What crazy goof ball ever decided to go with a psycho clown that spits out children for a fun time at the pool was off his or her rocker. Clowns are scary. Nuff said.

We walked around to the other side of the hotel till we ended up on the actual boardwalk. I wasn’t quite quick enough with the camera but if you look off in the distance, you can just barely make out the last of the fireworks in the distance coming from Epcot.

We waited for Kyle’s mom by the water and the kids practically had the whole area to themselves to have sword fights.

We said our goodbye’s for the night and headed back to our beach house just across the pond for a late night swim.

We had offered Kyle to come with us but I think he missed his little sister and wanted to check up on her.

We told him that he had an open invitation to come out with us whenever he wanted. After all, we were only a hop, skip, or a boat ride away!

 

[tigerdragon]

Wow, more great updates!

I was once that mean mommy that made my little 5 year old ride something he wasn't so sure about. It was Dinosaur and he was terrified of it. So I bought him a dinosaur toy after the ride and he was okay. Now at 10 it's one of his favorite rides.

How cool that you got chosen to be in the Indiana Jones show! I think it would take three alcoholic drinks for me to be able to get in front of that crowd.

I haven't seen Fantasmic! in a few years but your pictures make me want to go back. We're going to try to make it to the show in March.

 

[dismagiclover]

Fabulous update! I think you missed your true calling in life. You should have been an actor! Love all of the Fantasmic pictures. I really love all the pictures of the Boardwalk (well except maybe the clown with the scary eyes. He really does look less scary during the day.) That is one of the prettiest places in Disney at night.

 

[jaiwin]

Let me tell you , I have enjoyed spending the afternoon in the parks, via your pictures. Im sitting at my desk at work, and the systems are down. so lucky me i get to read your trip report and get paid for it. So after patiently waiting for the next installment of this report, i decided i would go and read you last trip report. I got to day 7 or 8, i forget, and they told me that systems are back up... But not for long, so i caught up on this one, and now i will be returned to trip report with 9100 pictures ( or however many pictures that was )