"What's the Catch - Do I Not Get Bacon?" - 11/27 - TR started!

[teekathepony]

Well, you made me feel better about our flight. We are planning to drive 2 1/2 hours to the closest airport that will give us a direct flight to MCO. Then the flight is only about 3 hours. Seems short compared to your trip. We booked our flights for November as soon as they came out. We are flying from Albany, New York on SW for the first time.

LOL Our flight path generally has that effect on people! I love where I love but it makes for long travel days.

Hi!! Just stopping in and catching up! I was busy with vacation and have had a crazy week after! So first off, happy belated Johnny birthday!
Thanks, from Johnny!

Also, I love your AK pictures, the lion roaring the gorilla and the expression! Wonderful! So beautiful! Your plans for the day look great.... Especially the mention of MVMCP!! I love Disney parties, and I can't wait for our redo on MVMCP (I was so sick when we went last time) The fireworks alone are worth the admission!
Thanks! I've been lucky over the years with at least one animal "performing" well for me
Ohhh sick at the party couldn't be fun, hope your redo works out better.

Your flight - ugh - that's pretty tough. We are going to spend the night at a local hotel to our airport (park & fly) because its a 2.5-3hr drive, and our flight leaves at 6:35 am... If you drive to the other airport that could be an option to save a few bucks....
It is an option we're considering. I hate driving but if I must then I will, and there is a park & fly close by too.

Also, those gorilla pods look pretty handy I like your gear list too! Sounds like you and Johnny will be set up pretty good!!

Love my Gorillapod, it's pretty fun. Johnny is so excited to use all his new gear this trip!

Hey I have a photo question, so basically there is no "real" photo labs or photography stores within 90 minutes of my house - where do you suggest getting pictures printed? I just had a ton done at walmart one hour and they came out horrible, I know it wasn't me, because I had a couple of same pictures printed between Disney and the same walmart at different times that came out better. This time the pictures were all very very dark, looked nothing like what showed on both my laptop and ipad...

So I am thinking if I want pictures printed nicely I am going to have them mailed to me... Any suggestions?

I can honestly say I don't know, I've never looked into it because I just get all my stuff done at my store. I know any Wal Mart pictures always come out horrible, they basically rush things so much there's no quality control. I've heard some people talk about Shutterfly, they do lots of photo books and things like that but I think they do prints too. I can't say anything about the quality though, I really don't know.

 

[SAT887]

I can honestly say I don't know, I've never looked into it because I just get all my stuff done at my store. I know any Wal Mart pictures always come out horrible, they basically rush things so much there's no quality control. I've heard some people talk about Shutterfly, they do lots of photo books and things like that but I think they do prints too. I can't say anything about the quality though, I really don't know.

Thanks for the input. I think I am going to try shutterfly and I also read adorama does prints online as well... Looks like some experimenting is in order!

 

[amazingact21]

I remember your crazy flight path from your last PTR, but reading it again still surprises me. I can't believe you end up at 4 airports in your adventure to get to Disney. It makes me appreciate the 7 hour drive I have to take a bit more.
Hopefully, you'll find an arrival time that works a little better with your schedule. I agree, getting to Orlando at midnight would be ridiculous.

 

[emmysmommy]

Ha! Sounds like an exciting day at the shop - glad business picked up!

Wow, you have a LONG travel day! That's a lot of miles to cover and flights to change to get to WDW! What airline is the AirMiles connected to? That's wise planning to have almost all of your miles covering your flights already. I've recently switched carriers to fly to Florida to Southwest since they are so much cheaper and bags fly free. If you didn't have option 2 eat into any of your vacation days it may be worth it to stop in Halifax for the night. (Wave to Rob!)

White Balance, I think I'd heard of that before but now I know! There's just so much that I don't know.

 

[silverhaze269]

Wow, those flights really do suck I would probably opt to drive to Halifax, stay over-night and then fly out the next morning. I'm not sure if you've done that before or not, but there are some hotels close to the airport that have complimentary shuttles, and will also store your vehicle for you in a secure lot. We've done it once before (as a family). Also, if you end up doing that or decide to fly to Halifax and then stay over-night to fly out the next morning, you should see if air miles has a flight that goes from Halifax to somewhere in the US and then on to Orlando from there. It's so much easier to do the customs pre-clearance here!

Also, I hear ya about not being on the DIS much lately...we've been busy too. Mostly because it's been nicer out so we'd rather be out enjoying that than stuck inside on a nice day.

 

[teekathepony]

Thanks for the input. I think I am going to try shutterfly and I also read adorama does prints online as well... Looks like some experimenting is in order!

I would like to try them out myself actually, just to see what the quality and service is like. Let me know if you do and how it goes!

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[teekathepony]

I remember your crazy flight path from your last PTR, but reading it again still surprises me. I can't believe you end up at 4 airports in your adventure to get to Disney. It makes me appreciate the 7 hour drive I have to take a bit more.
Hopefully, you'll find an arrival time that works a little better with your schedule. I agree, getting to Orlando at midnight would be ridiculous.

Hahaha yes I share my pain to help others see their own travel isn't so bad. Now I need someone from Australia to put me in my place too! Hehe
I'd like to look around a bit and get a better arrival time. I hate getting in really late.

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[teekathepony]

Ha! Sounds like an exciting day at the shop - glad business picked up!

Wow, you have a LONG travel day! That's a lot of miles to cover and flights to change to get to WDW! What airline is the AirMiles connected to? That's wise planning to have almost all of your miles covering your flights already. I've recently switched carriers to fly to Florida to Southwest since they are so much cheaper and bags fly free. If you didn't have option 2 eat into any of your vacation days it may be worth it to stop in Halifax for the night. (Wave to Rob!)

White Balance, I think I'd heard of that before but now I know! There's just so much that I don't know.

Oh man, it was a slow day at work that's for sure! Today should be really busy, grad season so we have about 600+ 8x10s to print for a local photographer and then whatever else we get. Two proms last night! Hopefully we will be really busy!

Yup, it's a pretty long way. I wish I could get so etching direct from Halifax, it would make for a much shorter day! I think at this point I probably will end up in Halifax for the night. Hehe ill wave to Rob if I do. I think AirMiles has connections with several airlines but I'm not too sure. I know they mostly use Air Canada.

White balance is kind of neat sometimes. Cameras usually do a pretty good job on auto though, I must admit!

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[teekathepony]

Wow, those flights really do suck I would probably opt to drive to Halifax, stay over-night and then fly out the next morning. I'm not sure if you've done that before or not, but there are some hotels close to the airport that have complimentary shuttles, and will also store your vehicle for you in a secure lot. We've done it once before (as a family). Also, if you end up doing that or decide to fly to Halifax and then stay over-night to fly out the next morning, you should see if air miles has a flight that goes from Halifax to somewhere in the US and then on to Orlando from there. It's so much easier to do the customs pre-clearance here!

Also, I hear ya about not being on the DIS much lately...we've been busy too. Mostly because it's been nicer out so we'd rather be out enjoying that than stuck inside on a nice day.

We stayed at an airport hotel in Maine once but not in Halifax. I think at this point that's our best option though. I will have a look at different flights that allow me to do customs in Halifax. We did do that once, it was soooo quick and easy!

Yup, the weather has me outside more often too, can't say I mind!

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[chattadisser]

Thanks for the photography lesson!

I didn't realize until the map how far to the east you are! We lived in Maine for a period and I thought that was far away! It is a beautiful area and I used to watch the cruises to Nova Soctia depart and think "I'm going on day". Unfortuantely we never got there when we lived in Maine but maybe someday...it looks beautiful there.

I think breaking the flight inot two days might be best but then you've got the added expense of a hotel. Last time we went to Disney we didn't get in until midnight and while not really fun, it was quick on ME at that time of night!

Christine

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

That's quite the flight schedule you have to go through to get to Disney. I think my preference would be to spend the night at Halifax so that you would be more well rested when you arrive in Disney!

 

[disneykiwi]

Hahaha yes I share my pain to help others see their own travel isn't so bad. Now I need someone from Australia to put me in my place too! Hehe
I'd like to look around a bit and get a better arrival time. I hate getting in really late.

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Hey there

Well I'm not Australian but close to them, we just flew over from New Zealand and that was 12 hours but no flight changes at all - so was easy compared to your plans by the looks of it. Aussies have to come another 3 hours further at least I believe.

Not complaining as it was for Disney and so is worth it but going home was hard

I took your first few photography lessons with me and some of my pics seem so much better so

 

[natebenma]

Wendy- that is a lousy set of flight options! I didn't realize you have to go through so much just to get to Florida.

Unfortunately, no advice, but I do have plenty of sympathy for you!

What kind of flier are you? Nervous, productive, bored? I love to read, so I actually don't mind long flights, even better if for some reason my family is seated in a different part of the plane.

Thanks for your latest lesson! I am back on lesson one, working on Aperture. Now that I have finally found how to change it on my camera, I have been practicing but I haven't really been using it in situations where it makes a big difference.

I'm going to check out lesson 2: Shutter Speed today, and I will try to practice on fireworks in the coming week.

Really appreciate the time you have taken to share this info with us!

Hey I have a photo question, so basically there is no "real" photo labs or photography stores within 90 minutes of my house - where do you suggest getting pictures printed? I just had a ton done at walmart one hour and they came out horrible, I know it wasn't me, because I had a couple of same pictures printed between Disney and the same walmart at different times that came out better. This time the pictures were all very very dark, looked nothing like what showed on both my laptop and ipad...

So I am thinking if I want pictures printed nicely I am going to have them mailed to me... Any suggestions?

I print a lot of photos. Pictures are my favorite souvenirs from a trip, and I usually will fill at least one 500 page photo album per trip.

I mostly use Shutterfly for my prints. The service is easy, the quality for the most part is fine and the price is right. Plus they offer lots of specials once you start ordering from them.

If I have an immediate need for a photo to fill in gaps and I don't want to wait a week to receive the prints, I will use Sam's Club.

Although I think Shutterfly does offer an option where you can pick up prints at Target, perhaps same day?

We used to have a Ritz Camera locally and I swear the owner would break into the biggest grin when I walked through the door. The Sam's Club photo techs know me by sight and name, too, so perhaps I use that photo service more than I admitted to.

 

[SAT887]

I print a lot of photos. Pictures are my favorite souvenirs from a trip, and I usually will fill at least one 500 page photo album per trip.

I mostly use Shutterfly for my prints. The service is easy, the quality for the most part is fine and the price is right. Plus they offer lots of specials once you start ordering from them.

If I have an immediate need for a photo to fill in gaps and I don't want to wait a week to receive the prints, I will use Sam's Club.

Although I think Shutterfly does offer an option where you can pick up prints at Target, perhaps same day?

We used to have a Ritz Camera locally and I swear the owner would break into the biggest grin when I walked through the door. The Sam's Club photo techs know me by sight and name, too, so perhaps I use that photo service more than I admitted to.

Thanks for the info on Shutterfly. I don't even have a target locally... Literally, I have Walmart, a few gas stations.....and a grocery store I was just so disappointed with my most recent experience, I honestly do not expect much from Walmart but these were so way off! It's nice to get feedback, so I am not wasting money and time with not so great results.

 

[natebenma]

Thanks for the info on Shutterfly. I don't even have a target locally... Literally, I have Walmart, a few gas stations.....and a grocery store I was just so disappointed with my most recent experience, I honestly do not expect much from Walmart but these were so way off! It's nice to get feedback, so I am not wasting money and time with not so great results.

Just noticed at your location. My DH and I both grew up in Dover. Most of my family is still in NH. (Sorry to jack your thread, Wendy)

 

[SAT887]

Just noticed at your location. My DH and I both grew up in Dover. Most of my family is still in NH. (Sorry to jack your thread, Wendy)

We are farther north, on the NH/VT border in the White Mountains - actually probably closer to Canada than Dover! We are transplants from NJ hoping to transplant our way out sooner than later though

 

[teekathepony]

Thanks for the photography lesson!

I didn't realize until the map how far to the east you are! We lived in Maine for a period and I thought that was far away! It is a beautiful area and I used to watch the cruises to Nova Soctia depart and think "I'm going on day". Unfortuantely we never got there when we lived in Maine but maybe someday...it looks beautiful there.

I think breaking the flight inot two days might be best but then you've got the added expense of a hotel. Last time we went to Disney we didn't get in until midnight and while not really fun, it was quick on ME at that time of night!

Christine

We're pretty far out, that's for sure. But it sure is beautiful! I work downtown by the waterfront where all the cruise ships pull in, and all the passengers tell us that Cape Breton is the most beautiful place they've ever seen.

We are hoping to book the flight tonight so I guess we'll see. There is definitely no easy option so it looks like we'll be spending a night somewhere. I hate the thoughts of the added hotel expense, but if it means more time in Disney then I guess we can do it.

That's quite the flight schedule you have to go through to get to Disney. I think my preference would be to spend the night at Halifax so that you would be more well rested when you arrive in Disney!

We might actually get to spend the night in Toronto instead, thereby allowing us a single, short flight and landing in Orlando around 11AM! Hoping to book flights tonight, so I might have an update later!

Hey there

Well I'm not Australian but close to them, we just flew over from New Zealand and that was 12 hours but no flight changes at all - so was easy compared to your plans by the looks of it. Aussies have to come another 3 hours further at least I believe.

Not complaining as it was for Disney and so is worth it but going home was hard

I took your first few photography lessons with me and some of my pics seem so much better so

Hehehe I was actually thinking of you when I wrote that. I knew you were a New Zealander and not an Aussie but I guess I'll cite creative license? Or something like that?
YIKES to a 12 hour flight! Ouch. At least there were no stops, that's a good thing! My longest flight was 8 hours to Frankfurt and I think it was easier than airport hopping all day.
Oh yay! I'm so glad to hear the lessons are working!

Wendy- that is a lousy set of flight options! I didn't realize you have to go through so much just to get to Florida.

Unfortunately, no advice, but I do have plenty of sympathy for you!
Thanks for the sympathy! I love where I live so it balances out the rest of the year. Usually.

What kind of flier are you? Nervous, productive, bored? I love to read, so I actually don't mind long flights, even better if for some reason my family is seated in a different part of the plane.
I'm not nervous and I love to read, so in those ways I'm actually a really god flier, but my issue is my ridiculous short legs make it really uncomfortable to sit for so long. If I try to put my feet on the floor they don't really reach, putting a lot of pressure on the backs of my legs, so I usually sit cross-legged but there's no room for my knees. Hahaha the pains of being vertically challenged!

Thanks for your latest lesson! I am back on lesson one, working on Aperture. Now that I have finally found how to change it on my camera, I have been practicing but I haven't really been using it in situations where it makes a big difference.

I'm going to check out lesson 2: Shutter Speed today, and I will try to practice on fireworks in the coming week.

Really appreciate the time you have taken to share this info with us!
I'm so glad to see people enjoying these lessons! I hope you'll share your fireworks pictures with me




I print a lot of photos. Pictures are my favorite souvenirs from a trip, and I usually will fill at least one 500 page photo album per trip.

I mostly use Shutterfly for my prints. The service is easy, the quality for the most part is fine and the price is right. Plus they offer lots of specials once you start ordering from them.

If I have an immediate need for a photo to fill in gaps and I don't want to wait a week to receive the prints, I will use Sam's Club.

Although I think Shutterfly does offer an option where you can pick up prints at Target, perhaps same day?

We used to have a Ritz Camera locally and I swear the owner would break into the biggest grin when I walked through the door. The Sam's Club photo techs know me by sight and name, too, so perhaps I use that photo service more than I admitted to.
(I know this was meant for Sarah but I just wanted to say thanks for your review of Shutterfly! I've always wondered what they were like to order from!)

Just noticed at your location. My DH and I both grew up in Dover. Most of my family is still in NH. (Sorry to jack your thread, Wendy)

No worries, it's a discussion thread and you're discussing!! I don't get the thread-jacking anger some people get hehe. It's alllll good.

 

[teekathepony]

Just a really quick update to say that we were not able to book our flights last night. We are extremely disappointed with AirMiles options this year. We are unable to fly there on the day we want and arrive before midnight. We are unable to break the flights into two days and spend a night in either Halifax or Toronto. We are unable to get a flight home at all on Saturday like we wanted and may have to extend our stay a night. Really, really frustrated!
We don't quite have enough miles to fly so we would have had to buy about 150 (at 30 cents each plus tax). We decided to wait a little longer for two reasons -- 1. To save the full amount of miles, and 2. Hoping they add more flights! If not, we are going to have to pay for flights and that gets so expensive from here. Yuck!

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[Lmartheleur]

I completely understand! We are considering a trip in October! We got a pin so why not use it haha However the flights are another story. I wouldn't find flying from Halifax but even then we only get in at 4 instead of noon. Hopefully they will add more flights!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Getting caught up!

Bahaha to Brenda with the "Wave to Rob". Oh my that was cute.

I feel your pain regarding flight options. Of course you have the one extra hop, so even worse for you. I always get so envious of the flights others get for those ridiculously low prices.
It's a shame that you are sooo close to direct flights coming out from Hali to MCO. They usually kick in around the first week or so of December.

My fingers are crossed that something good comes along!