Daddy and Daughter trip again with Mom This Time

For those of you who remember us from last year, you know that my daughter and I are true Disney nuts and it has become our end of summer, before school starts, blowout time together. Last year, my wife decided to stay home. I didn’t go into any great detail as to why, but it was due to her having horrible bouts of vertigo. It was to the point, she couldn’t ride anything. As this year progressed and the plans for this trip started to take shape, my wife decided she wanted to come this year and went to see her physician for something to help with her issue. She was able to get a plan from the doctor which ended up working great. Another twist to the trip was that we would drive down to Disney. This was a huge stretch for me as I’m not a huge fan of long drives, especially not 12 hour ones. I’ve had a lot of people tell me it wasn’t horrible and I figured I would at least give it a try. Our home away from home was going to be the Boardwalk and all of us were pretty excited to go. A week before the trip we added some extra folks with my sister in law and her niece meeting us there.
So after a Thursday night of loading the car up and a few hours of sleep, we began our journey at 2:00 am. This was well planned on my point as I thought my wife and daughter could sleep for a good portion of the trip through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Well, that was the initial thought. As we drove from one side of Louisiana to the other, I would look in the rear view mirror to see my daughter watching movies on my Ipad. Luckily, by the time we reached Mississippi, she dozed off and for the next few hours it was very quiet and the time and miles actually passed pretty quickly. By the time we reached the Florida border everyone was back awake and we pushed on until we reached Orlando. The total drive time ended up being right under 12 hours and we pulled into the Boardwalk about 3 in the afternoon. We checked in and got to see the 1 bedroom DVC that would be our home for a week. If you have never stayed at the Boardwalk, the rooms are truly amazing.
The original plan was to rest for a few hours and then head to Magic Kingdom for the evening and extra hours. As you can imagine, an 8 year old back at Disney after a year was ready to go. So off we went to the bus stop to catch a ride to the kingdom.

 

[Joshua&CalebDad]

LOL, it not annoying. I don't think anybody has the right to be annoyed when asked about there photos. and btw, its actually a great question because I didn't go into in the trip report. This year I did not use a ND filter. For no other reason than I forgot them on my desk at home. For the finales, they definitely would have helped. These were no ND at f22, the exposures ranged from 30 seconds to 90 seconds. Since I don't know the shows that well, I usually watch you tube video of the show and make a script to shoot by using my iphone as the stopwatch during the show.

I did use ND filters last year and the times were about the same with a couple of exposures being longer but my f stop ranged from 10-14.

Wow, I can't believe you got those photos without using any ND filters. Everything that I had read basically said that unless you used the filters you would get a lot of washout, which you obviously didn't. Great job.

 

[everestnut]

Wow, I can't believe you got those photos without using any ND filters. Everything that I had read basically said that unless you used the filters you would get a lot of washout, which you obviously didn't. Great job.

Finales will definitely be blown out without nd's just due to the amount of fireworks going off. The posted finale of wishes was only 17 seconds and I wish I would have had my filters. Another scene that I think needs the filter is the villains scene in wishes. This year I broke it up into 2 exposures.

 

[everestnut]

Great job with the Pirates and Fireworks pics!

Thanks. I really was happy with alot of the fireworks shots. There are a few I would have done a little differently, I guess that's a reason for another trip.

Stay tuned ...... Another round from illuminations is coming a little later

 

[everestnut]

Oh yeah, I have it and have read it over quite a few times now. I purchased the updated version that they put out a month or two back. I purchased the digital copy so I could read it from any computer that I was close to.

I didn't realize they updated it, to the blog I go

 

[everestnut]

Well after a few days away from the trip report, I’m back to move it along. Gotta hate when work gets in the way of reliving a Disney trip. From Wishes we headed back into the park for what we hoped would be a typical evening extended hours. Throughout our first few days, we found the parks to be pretty busy with relatively long waits and we were hopeful to get some of our favorites in without having the 60 minute waits. Our first stop was Splash, where the wait had been 60-70 minutes before Wishes started. 12 minutes later….. we were loading up. As we rounded the bend there was a really cool photo op with the castle and the moon.

From there we caught the second showing of the parade and then to Space. The wait for Space was a little long but not unbearable. We had 1 extra for the rides we did and it was time to drop her off with my sister in law and then it was just me and Em for the remainder of the extra hours. We stopped off at Casey’s to fuel up on corn dog nuggets and then back into the park we went. We hadn’t really seen any of the new portion of Fantasyland and Em wanted to see what they had done to the first rollercoaster she had ever ridden. The new part of the park is actually pretty neat and I’m anxious to see the rest of the new Fantasyland once its open. We rode Barnstormer a few times and while a smaller coaster, its still pretty fun. My daughter has actually become very curious about photography and when she and I get to roam the parks late at night, I let her experiment with my camera. Here is one she shot.

Throughout the night we roamed around taking pictures, riding and laughing. These are the times I really appreciate spending with my daughter. On one of our stops to Haunted Mansion, I wanted to try something a little different. Now as a disclaimer, I stole this idea from Blackthidot as I had seen a picture he had done. His execution was a whole lot better than mine. My daughter and I couldn’t stop laughing as we ran in and out of this shot. So here is our attempt of looking like ghosts in front of the mansion.

I guess we will end this night of the trip report with a few of the pictures we both shot.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Love the mansion pic! I do remember seeing that in John's TR! Such a cool idea!!

There is nothing better than that special Daddy/Daughter time. Those create some of the best memories and are an awesome bonding experience

 

[everestnut]

Since we ran around in the parks until late, we slept in on the Monday and then spent the day at the pool. Not sure why, but I didn’t shoot any pictures of the pool. It really is very nice and the slide was just right to keep Em occupied for quite a while. We headed in around 3 and cleaned up. After talking a while we decided to head over to Downtown Disney. Anna, my wife, had never been. We figured we would do a little shopping and see the sites. As we walked down to the bus stop, it started to rain. Just a light rain and I figured it was the typical afternoon shower and would come and go. Well, mother nature had other plans. By the time we got to Downtown Disney, it was a nice steady downpour. We tried to make the best of it with stops at the main Disney store and Lego, but it became obvious that the rain wasn’t letting up so back to the hotel we went.

It was extended hours at Hollywood Studios and the original plan was to spend the night there and let Em ride RnR as many times as she wanted. I guess getting soaked put a damper on her and my wife’s spirits as they decided they were done. I figured I would take the opportunity for a nighttime photo run. I really love taking photos in the parks at night. All of the parks make such incredible use of lighting, it is always fun for me. The rain slacked off at about 9:30 and out I went. I ended up staying at Hollywood Studios until it closed at 1 and then took a few shots of the boardwalk area as I walked back to the room.

After shooting in side of Star Tours, while I was walking out I looked at the dark que and thought to myself I wonder how a long exposure with my fisheye look. So I set up and took a few 30 second exposures. Here is one of them. I liked the way it came out..... maybe next time I'll remember to take my camera bag out of the shot.

 

[everestnut]

Love the mansion pic! I do remember seeing that in John's TR! Such a cool idea!!

There is nothing better than that special Daddy/Daughter time. Those create some of the best memories and are an awesome bonding experience

Definitely, it was funny, Em and I talked about it while we sat at Casey's. Over the last few trips, we have had some great times and memories. It will always be our time

 

[Sarabell]

I love your TR! I love that your girl is a rollercoaster junkie and she is now tall enough to experience all the cool ones. Reminds me of myself and my dad. We used to ride all the rollercoasters together when I was little and we had a blast!

Let me tell you, I´ll give you two thumbs up (or a million if I had enough thumbs) for the pics! all i can say is WOW! I might steal one for my desktop if you don´t mind (I plan to go back to WDW someday soon and I like to keep my target in sight )

Can´t wait for more!

 

[fractal]

Loving the report and that last batch of pictures are terrific!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Love the night shots of DHS and the Boardwalk. DHS is my favorite park to photograph at night.

 

[everestnut]

Well after a visit from Hurricane Isaac (and an un-welcomed visit at that), I'm back to get the trip report moving along again. This entry will be a little short as I'm at work, but really wanted to get back to it. After my late night run at Hollywood Studios, we started the next morning back where I left off. We were there right at rope drop and quickly headed back to Em's new favorite ride, RnR. With a fast pass in hand, we jumped in the standby line and went through pretty quickly. Much to my surprise when we got off, the standby line was still short enough to ride again before it was time for our Fastpass. After a few rounds, we headed over to Tower of Terror. The wait was a little longer but not overly long. We then headed over to Star Tours and got there about the time that the Jedi Academy show was starting. This was actually the first time we had ever seen it and all of us thought it was pretty cool. I will say that I'm not sure I would want the Darth Vader job in the middle of summer.

Here are a few pics from the morning:

 

[fractal]

Welcome back! I hope Isaac wasn't too much of a pain for you.

Wonderful job with the pics - love the Tot one!

 

[everestnut]

Welcome back! I hope Isaac wasn't too much of a pain for you.

Wonderful job with the pics - love the Tot one!

Thanks. I do love to get the ghosts in ToT.

We got really lucky with Issac on my side of the state. Not that far to my east really took the brunt of it.

 

[maryszhi]

what kind of camera and lenses did you use???? i am going to ask for it for christmas

 

[everestnut]

what kind of camera and lenses did you use???? i am going to ask for it for christmas

The main body I shoot with is a Canon 60D. Lenses..... well lets just say as a true photo junkie, there were quite a few different ones in the bag.

The first trip to Disney with my 60D, I only had the kit lens and it did really well. Dark rides, you will need a faster lens.

 

[everestnut]

For our evening round, we headed over to MK. It wasn't an extended hours and I had already shot Wishes twice, so it was more of just the laid back catch a few rides and soak up the atmosphere. We were able to ride BTMRR as Wishes was underway and I have to say it is one of my favorite Disney sites to see the bursts as you are riding up the lift hill. With an early reservation at Tusker House the next morning, we didn't stay long in the park and were actually able to get out before the bus line got too long.

 

[everestnut]

Well, our final full day at the world started with breakfast at Tusker House. This is Em's favorite breakfast location and I have to say mine too. The food is really good and we love to be in Animal Kingdom early. The food didn't disappoint and it was very quick even with the characters coming by. This was fine with us as we wanted to get into the park. The first stop........ always Everest. We all love the coaster part, but recently have been paying more attention to the overall theming of the whole que. I know there are alot of folks that talk about the non moving yeti and I would agree that I hope at some point the folks at Disney get him working again, I am still incredibly impressed with the great detail spent in the que. From the flags out front, to the statues throughout, to the climbing ropes, I love to shoot this area.The park was pretty busy, but with the use of fast pass we were able to ride 3 times. There is one thing that I really love to shoot on the ride and that is the Yeti as you go speeding by. I did get one, but still not as good as I want. I seem to always trip the shutter to early. From there it was off to Dinosaur. I figured I had the dark ride stuff down and was prepared to grab some cool shots from inside the ride. Wow... was I wrong. to describe how bad they were, I could take a picture with my lens cap on and post it here and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Back to the drawing board for this ride. We then headed over to Primeval Whirl. We had never ridden this one to the height requirement and while definitely not my favorite, it was ok. Now one of the things I have always noticed is it always seems much hotter at Animal Kingdom and today was no exception. We stayed about as long as all of us could go (which wasn't real long) and headed back to the Boardwalk around 3. After cleaning up and resting for a little while we headed over to the ESPN club for burgers. For those that have never had one, they are really good.

 

[everestnut]

For the last evening, my wife decided to stay in and start the packing up process as we were pulling out at 4 am and Em decided she wanted to stay in. I figured I would just walk down to Epcot and shoot Illuminations from Japan. It had been raining on and off for the afternoon, but it finally stopped around 8. I packed up my gear and headed out. This was really the first time that we have stayed within walking distance to Epcot and I must say it is a really nice perk to the Boardwalk. I got to my spot and set up for about 8:30 and just set back and relaxed until the show started. Out of the 6 trips we have taken over the past few years, we had only seen Illuminations once a couple of years prior and I must say I don't know why we never went. The show is really enjoyable. I do prefer the Wishes show overall, but this one does have some really cool effects. With being alot farther away from the show, I decided to go with a little longer exposure than the first night I shot the show. The look is a little different and there are pictures from both shows I really like. In retrospect, I really wish I hadn't left my ND filters on my desk and the next go round they will be the first things in the camera bag when I pack.

After Illuminations, I decided to do a slow walk around the park and do some long exposure shots. One of the benefits of being within walking distance was there was no real rush to try and get on a bus to get back to the hotel. There weren't many folks leaving after me and while thinking back, there were alot of other things I would have loved to shoot, I'm pretty happy with the ones I did get.

 

[fractal]

Love the pics! Next trip I am definately not going to be as shy using a tripod.

Great job with the Yeti!