Booked my next visit - June 21 - 25!!

I've finally booked my summer trip - a little later than the usual first week of June or last week of May...I was holding off to find out if and when a friend from England was able to fly over for a stay. ; She confirmed she's coming to town June 19 through June 30 to stay at my house, and agreed a Disney trip sounded great as she hasn't been since I took her back in 1998. ; So after a little digging for availability on short notice, I was able to grab a villa at Saratoga Springs for Friday June 21 checkin and Tuesday June 25 checkout. ; So if anyone's up there around that time, let me know - I'll be all around and entertaining a visitor from the UK on her second-ever Disney visit!

 

Well we're overlapping by a day, so if you find yourself around on the 21st, and want to meet for a shoot, or just a beer and a hello, let me know. ; I'll probably get there around 3pm, and check in and be ready to head out around 4:30pm. ; Usually the first day there, I head over to DHS for the evening, leaving around 8-9 to get something for dinner. ; I'll be entertaining a friend from England, but may still get some alone time to go shooting, as she'll be wanting to spend time hitting a spa, doing some shopping, and laying out by the pool getting sun - things that are important to English people but mean nothing to me living down here!

 

Heading up to Diz tomorrow...

I've been weighing the decision on what camera gear to bring - and I think I've decided this trip to just go lightweight and bring the NEX kit alone, leaving the DSLR home. ; I'm still not 100% sure I won't just chuck the DSLR in the car at the last minute because it's hard to commit to just one camera, even though I know I'll use the NEX 90% of the time. ; But since I'm headed up with a friend and meeting some family too, I won't have as much dedicated photography time alone, I don't like to make everyone else wait while I set up long, intricate shots...and no small issue that it will be 100 degrees and 95% humidity plus crowds, every day, with the 40-50% chance of rain that always looms in summer...the NEX kit will definitely be the most likely choice each day, with the DSLR only possibly seeing some use for nighttime long-exposure tripod work if I feel inspired.

If I stick to the NEX, I can bring the camera and 8-10 lenses in a small shoulder bag - and bring my little compact bag each day to the parks which fits the camera and 3 lenses in it...much easier than carting the DSLR backpack along!

 

Looked like some huge boomers were moving into the parks late afternoon up there on the radar. ; We've had pretty much daily rain - but typical Florida stuff - hot all morning and into early afternoon, then the heat builds up the supercells and the thunderstorms break out in a violent rush for an hour or two, before clearing...then maybe another later at night. ; With that type of weather, the NEX is a safer bet, because I have a tiny waterproof bag, and can even keep a Ziploc freezer bag in the back pocket to toss the camera into in an emergency downpour.


Despite the heat and crowds, I'm looking forward to getting up there again - just to walk around and enjoy the scenery in between breaks for air conditioned buildings. ; Oh, and some good meals!

 

It's definitely HOT up here, and fairly crowded. ; But occasional rain showers cool things off and knock the crowds down a bit for an hour or two...I've seen worse crowds so it's not bad...though I also haven't hit MK yet.


Did DHS the first day and it was fairly crowded when I first got there (5pm), but by 8pm it was nearly empty - Star Tours was 10 minutes walk on, and Toy Story Mania only 20 minutes. ; Stayed to closing.


Hit Epcot the next day - got in around 11am, not terribly crowded. ; Soarin fast pass was only 2 hours later than when you picked it up - standby was 1 hour. ; Hot - only light rain once in the late afternoon. ; Ate at Morocco for dinner, then watched Illuminations from Japan (tried out the Japan spot back in the pavilion, but didn't bring my tripod so my shot opportunities were limited).


Hit AK Sunday - very hot, fairly crowded. ; Only 30 minutes for safari ride, 1 hour for Kali...fast passed Safari and Kali, then hit the animal trails and the train to Conservation - then hit Safari when I got back, and went over to Kali and hit that at 1:20pm - as soon as we got off, it closed for technical difficulties...and stayed closed for 2 hours. ; Everest closed twice too for the same. ; No rain...stayed until near close, went over to AK lodge for dinner at Jiko. ; Then hit minigolf on the way back (Winter/Summerland). ; Got back around 11pm last night and hung around reading until 3am - so slept in this morning until 10am. ; Now just checking work e-mails, browsing a bit, and probably not heading into the parks until 2-3pm. ; Going over to MK today - chance of rain again today, but spotty and small. ; Hot again. ; I'm at Saratoga Springs, so will walk over to Marketplace bus stop, hop a bus to Wilderness Lodge, and take the boat over to MK. ; Going over late so I can stay into the evening...may just eat something quick for dinner this time in the park, or if I have time, monorail over to one of the resorts for a bite, then back again.


Gotta pack tonight, and heading out tomorrow for home. ; I did decide to take only the NEX and 7 lenses - having great fun with the Voigtlander 35mm F1.4 lens - manual focusing at Disney is fun!