Trip Report Grandma Joins The Resistance ... Dec 9-12, 2019

This trip report will cover our brief visit to Walt Disney World for the Christmas Festivities. For background .. my husband, Lou, and I are DVC members and previously made several trips a year to WDW. But we hadn’t enjoyed a good visit for a few years - both of us had health issues which affected our mobility, and we relocated our full time residence from Florida to Maine - which meant travel to WDW takes more planning!. We are both retired.

While still not 100% on the fitness scale, we wanted to get back into the Disney Bubble, and Christmas time is the perfect time. I planned this trip as a gentle re-introduction for us; just a few days, a few nice dinner ADRs, and the Candlelight Processional. This would be a ride-free trip - or would it? I was nervous about the trip, but started reading trip reports here in the forum, and that helped get me excited about our upcoming adventure.

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We arrived at about 3:30 pm on Monday, December 9th. We spent the previous night at the Embassy Suites in Portland, ME, and caught a 7:30 am flight. Our flights were good, and transportation from the airport was with Quicksilver Transportation. Our room was ready when we arrived and I was happy - my only request was a room close to the elevator. We scored 3009! Perfect ... oops, the Boardwalk numbers rooms from the END of the corridor. So we were the fourth room from the end of a very long corridor on the third floor. After a helpful discussion at the front desk, I learned that almost all of the one bedroom units are at the end of the building. How did I forget that? Oh well, we made the trek, had a lovely room, and it worked out fine.

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I forgot to take photos of the room, but we had a nice view of the Beach Club and the Yacht Club. Fair warning here ... one of the things I like to do at Disney is take photos, so this will be a photo heavy report.

Our first ADR was at Yachtsman’s Steakhouse, so we soon headed over to the Yacht Club. The silver lining for our room location - we were an Easy walk from the Swan and Dolphin, and Yacht Club if we skipped the elevator and just popped down the stairs to the outside walkway. We saw the start of a nice sunset when we stepped outside:

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We stopped to enjoy the views, and I have to say, we were enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.

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... continued in the next post
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Thanks! I think Galaxy’s Edge is a Disney Photographers Dream. Yes, it is a new Sony A7riv. I mostly used it with the Sony FE 35mm 1.8 lens. A lot to learn with these new cameras!

I shot raw, then processed in Lightroom. It generally didn’t take much processing. I am really loving the camera - performance wise and reduced weight compared to my Canon DSLR




Thank you, Nunu. We are not as active as you and Frank, but we do what we can 😁

Very nice! I have the A7rii which I love as well. My next camera will be the A7riv but I may need to upgrade my home computer first.

I've been shooting mirrorless since 2011 so feel free to ask me questions. It is a bit of an adjustment from DLSR.
 

SharonD

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Your photos are absolutely stunning!! I enjoyed them & your TR! Thank you for sharing!!
Thank you! I am enjoying your TR!
I enjoyed this very much. Thank you, Sharon!
Thank you. I appreciate how friendly the folks here are to new posters.
Thank you for sharing! Sounds like your trip was short but sweet with lots of great memories made!
Thanks! Yes, it was a short one, but turned out to be a good one. We’d prefer at least a 4-5 night stay, now that we are coming from Maine.
 

SharonD

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Very nice! I have the A7rii which I love as well. My next camera will be the A7riv but I may need to upgrade my home computer first.

I've been shooting mirrorless since 2011 so feel free to ask me questions. It is a bit of an adjustment from DLSR.
I may be reaching out! I am reviewing lots of YouTube videos, especially on the various focusing and tracking options.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful trip report. Both the spectacular pictures and commentary were delightful!

🌟 :cool: 🌟
Thank you for the kind words 🥰
So 😞 it is finished! I hope you will reward us with a TR on your next trip 😀.
Thank you. If all goes well and we get back in April, I will most likely do another Trip Report. It is a nice way to save our memories, and a chance to share with others.
What a wonderful TR. Thanks for all of the great pics. (I had to skip the RotR pics for now but I look forward to checking them out after my next trip 😉)
Thank you - sounds like you are like me. I don’t like to look at a lot of photos before I see a new area. For example ... I am avoiding most on Pandora, as we’ve yet to go to the new area.
 

MickeyCB

Well-Known Member
Very much enjoyed following along, thanks for sharing your adventures and those amazing photos!!
(And I can't wait to ride Resistance, so jealous)!!!
 

SharonD

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Such an awesome trip report. And the photos!!👍I look forward to your future travels. You, your camera and AKL=WOW!!!🐘🦏🦒🦓
Thanks so much. I am looking forward to Animal Kingdom ... I’ve only seen the lions / lioness with their eyes open a few times.

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Very much enjoyed following along, thanks for sharing your adventures and those amazing photos!!
(And I can't wait to ride Resistance, so jealous)!!!
Thank You! I am sure you will have a chance to ride it on a future trip.

Awesome awesome awesome TR! Thanks for sharing. Your photos are stunning! I’m glad you got a chance to experience rise of the resistance! Hope you’ll be sharing your trip with us in april!
Thanks! And I will plan to share the April trip.
 
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Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
Thanks! I think Galaxy’s Edge is a Disney Photographers Dream. Yes, it is a new Sony A7riv. I mostly used it with the Sony FE 35mm 1.8 lens. A lot to learn with these new cameras!

I shot raw, then processed in Lightroom. It generally didn’t take much processing. I am really loving the camera - performance wise and reduced weight compared to my Canon DSLR
Amazing photos! @fractal helped me pick out my first Sony, sadly I didn't take it on my last two trips with my girls. Hopefully next fall ;)
 

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
Just read your TR, and appreciated your perspective from a "slower" approach. You see, my husband and I have mobility problems and need to use an ECV at times. Mostly we can walk but slowly:) We also go to our favorites and enjoy the meals and beautiful places at WDW. I love the pictures. I had to laugh that you never took pictures of each other, just never thought of it! I do the same thing! LOL. Maybe one day I will get up the courage to do a TR too, but I enjoy reading so many great ones. Thanks, again, for the amazing pictures. My favorites are the night time ones, like the Swan and Dolphin on your way to HS!
 

SharonD

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I must agree with everyone else, your photos are wonderful! Thank you for sharing with all of us !
Thank you - I am glad you enjoyed the photos - I had fun taking them.

Just read your TR, and appreciated your perspective from a "slower" approach. You see, my husband and I have mobility problems and need to use an ECV at times. Mostly we can walk but slowly:) We also go to our favorites and enjoy the meals and beautiful places at WDW. I love the pictures. I had to laugh that you never took pictures of each other, just never thought of it! I do the same thing! LOL. Maybe one day I will get up the courage to do a TR too, but I enjoy reading so many great ones. Thanks, again, for the amazing pictures. My favorites are the night time ones, like the Swan and Dolphin on your way to HS!
Thank you - it can be difficult to transition to the slower approach, but at least we are both still going to Disney, right? I had physical therapy today, and my therapist was very pleased that I walked 5-6 miles a day last week. He seemed a little surprised, so I had to explain Disney Motivation.

You should definitely give doing a TR a try.
 

SharonD

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Amazing photos! @fractal helped me pick out my first Sony, sadly I didn't take it on my last two trips with my girls. Hopefully next fall ;)

Oops, I wanted to comment on your post. I totally get it - when the kids are younger, or you are touring the parks with family, photography generally can’t be the priority. Our (now grown up kids) say they love to have me along because they don’t even have to take a snapshot. For me, a trip to Disney is very much about getting a chance to practice my photography - it certainly wasn’t always like that.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Absolutely loved your report! Beautiful photos and your touring style sounds so relaxing and fun. I tell my husband all the time that we could totally go to Disney and have a blast without riding any rides (or maybe just one or two). It's just a fun place to be no matter what you do!

Out of curiosity, do you have a favorite lens to use for your park photos? I've mainly been taking my very light-weight 28mm, and I'm wanting to branch out and try some different lenses. I tend to pack my 85mm, but don't take it into the park with me much.
 

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