Trip Report Thank Heaven for Little Girls.

A few years back my son and I took a trip out West and along the way spent a few estrogen free days in Disneyland. This year was the girl's turn, even if that wasn't part of our original plans.

Planning vacations as your children get older can be a difficult task. Demands from college, high-school, camps, activities, and even part time jobs end up leaving very few open spaces on the calendar. Lately it seems that mid July to mid August is our sweet spot for getting away and so it was again this year. Based on a great deal on a condo found by my wife Val, we came up with a somewhat last minute plan to visit Clearwater Beach Florida...and oh yeah, we decided to drive down from Pennsylvania. I also had an eye to sneak away to WDW for at least a day during our week stay.

My son Sterg had to bow out of the trip. He's starting college at Penn State this year and since he's on their swim team he needed to stay behind and train. See what I mean about other demand? Don't feel too bad for him however, he has had a few nice trips of his own over the last six months. It may have also saved his life as I'm sure having to deal with him for 18 hours in a car would have stirred some primal blood anger in me.

Without Sterg it would leave myself, my wife Val, my 21 year old daughter Alex (about to become a college senior) and my 13 year old daughter Toni. Not quite "little girls" anymore but as most Dads will attest to; they are always little girls. Anyone who has read my previous reports knows that Val is not the biggest Disney fan - but how could we be so close to WDW and not go? After much deliberations on the scale of the Yalta conference we hammered out an arrangement to make one day on our trip "Chris, Alex and Toni get to go to Walt Disney World" Day. Where there is a will...

The big day came - we departed on a Saturday at 3pm in the afternoon after loading up our trusty stead/Ford Explorer. Leaving Sterg home by himself for a week brought it's own set of issues but he was all smiles and willing to play photographer as we said our goodbyes...

At this point we had no idea what we were getting into...

Sterg's long arms came in handy here...

Alex and Toni settling in for a long voyage and adventure while Sterg makes sure we say our goodbyes to Prince our dog.

We were on our way to Florida!

 

[MinnieM123]

I think that I'm going to have to steal that photo on EE looking up at the track and use it as my desktop wallpaper. Wow....just wow!!

Glad to see that I wasn't the only one who was awe-struck by that photo! My goodness, that angle shot of the track that @fractal captured, was absolutely brilliant.

 

[fractal]

By the way, on the way up the mountain I noticed that both waterfall were working as well as the fog. There was no "bird on the stick" at the top but we did hear it.

I had planned to take this picture - the couple right behind me looked a bit confused.

Last trip Toni and I rode front seat, which was not only fun but was a great spot for photos. This time we forgot to ask for front seat.

 

[fractal]

EE is just a great way to start off your day! After our trip to see the Yeti, we decided to do it again! The ride was still basically a walk on which was in a way a bummer as I love the queue line.

We did ask for the front row this time but I let the girls in front of me. Ride #2 for the day!

I put the camera away for the second trip up EE to enjoy it more. I did manage some shots afterwards. I took this with the wide angle - should have used a "longer lens" as I had to crop the shots a good deal.

"rather watch"

Still love the details!

We then hustled over the bridge into Dinoland and toward's Toni's nemesis; Dinosaur. She got close last trip, but still couldn't keep her eyes open the entire ride.

 

[Zipadeelady]

always love reading your reports, thanks for posting.

 

[DisSplash]

So happy to see your new trip report and thanks for inviting us all along and into some of your family's adventures! I love the pictures at Clearwater - you captured the hue of the sky and water so beautifully! I have always complained about HDR "messing up" my pictures - especially on my IPhone - but that HDR shot of the beach was pretty darn cool!

It looks like your Disney plans are going off without a hitch so far ...I cannot wait to see how the rest of your Disney Day plays out!

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Loving your Disney day pics! Attempting four parks in one day seems like madness to me! Good madness I hope you do it!!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Awesome report so far. It is fun to see the pictures of Clearwater, my family went there a lot when I was a kid. I remember it being a beautiful beach.

 

[smk]

awesome as always! Love the pics, beautiful fam...

 

[Scott10]

As always, awesome trip report! My wife and I honeymooned to Clearwater Beach and Disney, so this report is really cool to follow along to! While not having Sterg on the trip had to be a bit of a bummer, having 2 daughters myself that are 8 years apart, I very much enjoyed your synopsis of their personalities and summaries of their interactions.....I almost feel like I am reading about my own 2 girls as they are very much similar. I always remind my older daughter to not get too agitated with her sister, because more than likely that will be her maid of honor in her wedding and future best friend when they are adults!

 

[Ella's Mommy]

YAY!! I love your trip reports!! Awesome pics at the beach

 

[mousefreak]

Another Fractal trip report! Sweet!

 

[DznyRktekt]

YYYEEESSS!

 

[Uncle Lupe]

I think that I'm going to have to steal that photo on EE looking up at the track and use it as my desktop wallpaper. Wow....just wow!!

I've been using his SSE nightime shots for a while on mine. His threads have some great pics.

 

[KathyJetson]

The beach is so pretty there, it looks like a nice relaxing vacation. Four parks in one day? Oh the suspense will Toni keep her eyes open or not? I can't wait to see how your day turns out!

 

[StephK]

This is great! my BF & I are spending a week in Orlando before we hit the world in October & you have convinced me to do a day trip to Clearwater beach it looks beautiful!!!
Thanks for the TR

 

[fractal]

The timing on your Everest pic is just about perfect.

Thanks!

I think that I'm going to have to steal that photo on EE looking up at the track and use it as my desktop wallpaper. Wow....just wow!!

Please do!

Looking forward to the rest of that long Disney day!

Thanks!

always love reading your reports, thanks for posting.

Thanks for following!

So happy to see your new trip report and thanks for inviting us all along and into some of your family's adventures! I love the pictures at Clearwater - you captured the hue of the sky and water so beautifully! I have always complained about HDR "messing up" my pictures - especially on my IPhone - but that HDR shot of the beach was pretty darn cool!

It looks like your Disney plans are going off without a hitch so far ...I cannot wait to see how the rest of your Disney Day plays out!

Thanks @DisSplash ! I try to make my HDR's as realistic as possible but even so, it's always tempting to "juice up" the sliders.
Thanks for following!

Loving your Disney day pics! Attempting four parks in one day seems like madness to me! Good madness I hope you do it!!!

Thanks @prfctlyximprct ! Enjoying your report as well. Yes, we set the bar pretty high that day.

Awesome report so far. It is fun to see the pictures of Clearwater, my family went there a lot when I was a kid. I remember it being a beautiful beach.

Thanks @ajrwdwgirl ! We really enjoyed the beach.

awesome as always! Love the pics, beautiful fam...

Thanks @smk!

As always, awesome trip report! My wife and I honeymooned to Clearwater Beach and Disney, so this report is really cool to follow along to! While not having Sterg on the trip had to be a bit of a bummer, having 2 daughters myself that are 8 years apart, I very much enjoyed your synopsis of their personalities and summaries of their interactions.....I almost feel like I am reading about my own 2 girls as they are very much similar. I always remind my older daughter to not get too agitated with her sister, because more than likely that will be her maid of honor in her wedding and future best friend when they are adults!

@Scott10 , the beach and WDW make a good combo! That's good fatherly advise!

YAY!! I love your trip reports!! Awesome pics at the beach

Thanks @Ella's Mommy & thanks for following along!

Another Fractal trip report! Sweet!

@mousefreak - Thanks!

YYYEEESSS!

@DznyRktekt

The beach is so pretty there, it looks like a nice relaxing vacation. Four parks in one day? Oh the suspense will Toni keep her eyes open or not? I can't wait to see how your day turns out!

Thanks @KathyJetson !

This is great! my BF & I are spending a week in Orlando before we hit the world in October & you have convinced me to do a day trip to Clearwater beach it looks beautiful!!!
Thanks for the TR

@StephK I think you'll enjoy the beach break!

 

[fractal]

As we entered Dinosaur my plan was to attempt some photos I haven't made before...and having said that the first shot I took was one I've taken on every trip...

After this photo I took off the wide angle lens and put on my "special weapon" lens I brought along specifically for dark rides. One of the cool things about my camera is with an adapter I can fit almost any lens on it. Last year I purchased an old Minolta Rokkor 50mm f/1.4 lens (for about $50). It's an old film lens from the 80's but at f/1.4 it is fast. What that means is that it can let in a lot of light in dark situations. To make it even "faster" the adapter I have for it is a "focal reducer" which in essence makes the lens an equivalent f/0.95 lens. The big challenge with this lens is that you have to manually focus it. Manual focusing with my Sony is made easier with "focus peaking" - so in theory I had on the best lens in my arsenal to grab some dark ride shots ( with Dinosaur maybe the darkest ride). Now I was ready to put it into practice.

Test shot...not perfect focus but at least it's a different shot.

Toni started getting nervous as we descended towards our time rovers; "Time to man up" I said. Then I looked at Alex who seemed equally uncomfortable.

"I don't remember this ride" She says while playing with her hair (Alex would not make a good poker player).

"You were definatley on it, but that might have been 7,8 years ago" I said. Over the last two trips, Alex was not part of Toni & my morning thrill ride jaunts so it was like new to her.

"I'm timid" Alex replied.

"Well, then you also need to man up, Toni's going to keep her eyes open the entire time"

The slower queue line allowed me some photo ops.

Then we were transported back to the time of the Dinosaur...

 

[fractal]

Bouncing around in your rover in the dark makes Dinosaur one of the toughest rides to take photos. Last trip I noticed that you spent a good deal of time in total darkness, this time however, the small meteor streaking lights were working were previous there was just darkness.

I thought I nailed this shot when I took it, but alas the focus was off...I was bumming later.

I did get a shot of the Carnotarus but I'm pretty sure this was the replacement one (head on a stick). A remember the real one to be better lit and came out more.

Well, my photographic challenge came up a bit short. Something to shoot for next trip. Toni, however proudly proclaimed that she indeed kept her eyes open the entire time. Alex on the other hand admitted keeping her eyes shut for most of the ride. Alex has no problem dealing with blood and other "bodily fluids" in labs or at her job, (which would make me feint) but a good scare in the dark freaks her out.

Out of the darkness,

and into the light.

up next, more terrifying indoor fun, but first a carnival rollercoaster!

 

[Sharkreef11]

Having fun following along! Glad you were able to get a Disney day in your trip. Some Disney is better than no Disney! Pictures look outstanding as always.

 

[DisSplash]

I can sympathize with Alex ... Dinosaur is not exactly my favorite ride. Mostly because it jerks you around way too much. It gave me a back-ache the last time I rode it.

Still following along!