G'day from Canada - ready for a read ?

B

Brother Jay

Member
Hi Everyone,

Jason from just west of Toronto here. ; I have not had much time to really look over the forums in depth but from what I have seen this would appear to be a great place for me to pose what will turn out to be a lot a lot of questions.

A couple months ago I came to a sad realization; most if not all pictures from my family vacations to the Disney parks over the years have been lost. ; Many fond memories still remain intact regardless. ; I am growing ever closer to 40 and have now reached the breaking point - I cannot stay away from a Disney park for much longer!! ; When I was almost too young to remember my family visited Disneyland, though I don't have many memories of the place. ; I can only imagine this is where I was infected with the Disney bug. ; Many years later my family hit Orlando and stayed @ the Vistana resort (what a great trip!). ; At the time Epcot was Disney's only alternative park but it didn't matter - we were at Disney World! ; The trip was over before I new it and back north we were once again. ;

Sadly, as life always finds a way to demonstrate some things were just not meant to be. ; My parents were about to call it splitsville so my dad and me took one more trip down before the family fractured and was scattered to the four winds. ; Disney was still just the 2 parks but this time we hit the Kennedy Space Center and the beachas well as the parks. ; Picked up a wicked souvenir sunburn that covered my whole back on the last day!

Well, years have passed and sadly I have not met that special someone, but at least I am no longer with that no-so-special-someone (there's always an upside). ; I am however tired of the idea that you can only go to Disney if you have kids or a standard family. ; So tired of the idea am I, that I have decided I am returning to the park next year (2013). ; Gotta save as the trip will not be split across multiple people - just me. ; Gonna stay in a resort hotel, though I don't think any of them have rooms that cater to my size party. ; Another reason I am putting the trip off until next year is so I have some time to get decent/good/better at taking pictures since a big part of this trip is to get some pictures that can go with the fond memories I have. ;

With pictures in mind but no photography skill or camera to go with it I set out and bought a camera that was recommended by a friend and was on sale. That camera was a Canon SX150 IS. ; I played around with it for a couple of weeks but found that while it did have a nice zoom, the camera was not quite was I was hoping for. ; Thankfully the store had a 15 day exchange/upgrade policy so I walked in and out once again, but this time with a G12. ; My thoughts are that it is a camera that can take me a long way towards deciding if that next tier of photography is for me or not. ; ; So now I have the camera, I guess I had better figure out how to use it! ; For the record, the last camera I owned was a twin lens reflex. ; Going to visit Canada's Wonderland this summer at least once as a trial run for the trip next year. ; Lots of green, coasters, buildings, mountains (no castles ; :( ) for me to work with. ; Cannot wait to return to Orlando and see all the changes!!

Time for some fresh memories...

Jason


The person responsible for writing this rant offers his apologies for any eye-strain or mental trauma you may have endured while reading
 
Welcome to the forums Jason.

Love your footnote. ; Disney resort hotels, while rare, do have queen/king size 1 bed rooms. ; If you are staying on a budget, I recommend a value hotel. ; Used to recommend Pop Century, mainly because you usually don't have to fight for bus service with other hotels, but that is changing in the next few weeks. ; Not sure if the the new hotel (aka Pop Century's defunct Golden Years) is anything other than suites....
 
ok , welcome aboard first if all, now i'm just saying ya know, if a person was really looking for a way to jump start those dormant photo skillz, just saying, maybe that person could do worse than attend pixelmania 2012, just saying , there will be a lot of canon knowledgable persons in attendance, and a whole boatload of disney photo skillz in atttendance, might just be that a person could get the equivalent of a free workshop at pixelmania, just sayin
 
Welcome Jason - nice to have some Great White North members in here too. ; Your story has some similarities to my own, and I often travel solo to Disney at least 2-3 times a year - I actually have come to love the solo trips almost more than those with family or friends (I am close to Disney World, so I go 6-7 times a year - some trips are with family, some with a friend or two, and some alone). ; I can assure you Disney is a fantastic place to travel solo - everyone is so open and friendly, you meet and talk to people at the parks, restaurants, resort lobbies, and resort grounds. ; When you want to - sometimes you can just find a quiet spot to chill, to read, or to take your time with some photography.

As Gary hinted at, you can also consider seeing if you can make it down in the vicinity of Pixelmania in December - many of us are there, including some of us running solo, or at least abandoning the family for parts of the day to hang out with fellow photogs.

And be sure to post your trip here too, once you get it planned - there's a trip board, and with so many of us living close by or visiting frequently, there's a good possibility you might even run concurrent with another TMIPer and might be up for a meet.
 
Thanks for the welcome gang!

Before I say another word I gotta say it. ; So many of the pictures I am finding on this site are just awesome! ; I may not know how to take the pics that I can now aspire towards, but I certainly can recognize them. ;

I tend to spend my days making all the digital movies appear on screen at Toronto's AMC Theatre, and with those nice Sony projectors hitting a 4K resolution can really make your eyes salivate. ; That is assuming of coarse that the people filming the movie weren't just filming tripe. ;

In answer to some of your thought - I will in fact be very much on a budget when I do come down. ; This is also why I will sadly not be able to come down until next year as it will take me time to save for it. ; The reason I wanted to stay at one of the Disney resort hotels (one of the cheaper ones) is for multiple reasons. ; I don't want to have to rent a car while I am down there and did plan on using the Disney transportation system to get around (love all the transportation pics gang!). ; Disney also has a name to protect pertaining to their rooms for rent. ; I tend to think I am less likely at a Disney park to run into Bed Bugs, thieving room cleaning staff and everything else that can come with off site accommodations. I know I have only been down there a few times but the last time when there with my dad, and even at the Vistana we had some 'difficulties' with employees. ; I want this trip to be.... ; Magical ; ;)

I have been reading in various forums what a joy visiting the parks can be when riding solo so most is not all of my concerns pertaining to this are behind me not that I know I am going. ; This IS a big leap for me though. ; I generally don't get out as much as I would like and do tend to somewhat keep to myself - shy until I know you. ; This will be the first time I have ever done anything 'grand' by myself. ; Part of what has made it easier for me to make up my mind is all the stories of how friendly everyone is, and somewhat what I remember from my trips of younger years. ; As I roll into next year and the savings have grown a little I will start to lock down my plans and start REALLY bugging you all for tips ; ;D

So how much of a northern presence do we have here? ; I gotta say, this was hardly a white year for Toronto though. ; 2 Days of snow all winter and it was melted by the next day both times. ; Never seen a winter like this before - but I HATE winter anyways so it was the most rewarding winter weather I could have hoped for. ; I am truly envious of those of you who live in the are and can do multiple visits a year. ; If I win a lotto I am buying a second home in Orlando as one of the first things I do!

Next year is so far away, but it keeps my smiling each day! ; Well, that and the hope that I win the lotto.

One quick question as this was part of the early version of the dream. ; Is there such a thing as affordable and contemporary resort at any time of the year ? ; My grandmother was with us in Disneyland and must have bought a Disney photo book while she was there. ; For years and years as a child, every time the family visited I was looking through this book at pictures of space mountain at night and the contemporary.
 
The Contemporary is always a 'premium' level resort, so though it will occasionally have sales and promotions at various times of the year, it won't ever be cheap, per the level of the Disney Value resorts like Pop Century or All Star. ; One nice thing about the Disney resorts is that even the cheapest ones still have great transportation, nice main buildings, food servies or restaurants, and are safe, clean, and roomy. ; They've got the three main tiers of resort, with some higher and lower within each tier.

But also, don't be afraid to visit all the resorts - it's one of the most fun things to do in my opinion. ; Reserve a half a day, or a few mornings before heading to the parks, and just hop a bus, boat, or monorail to whatever resort you want - walk around the grounds, see the scenery, check out the views, have a meal...whatever you want to do. ; I go to many different resorts just to take photos of them and walk around the grounds. ; Disney transportation can always get you back to your resort, as late as 1am or more via Downtown Disney.
 
Welcome aboard Jason. You will find lots of insight from the good people here at TMIP. There is no finer establishment around & you will soon find that you are glad you popped in. Soak in all that everyone has to offer, trust me, there is lots of knowledge in these parts. ; :)
 
"zackiedawg" said:
The Contemporary is always a 'premium' level resort, so though it will occasionally have sales and promotions at various times of the year, it won't ever be cheap, per the level of the Disney Value resorts like Pop Century or All Star. ; One nice thing about the Disney resorts is that even the cheapest ones still have great transportation, nice main buildings, food servies or restaurants, and are safe, clean, and roomy. ; They've got the three main tiers of resort, with some higher and lower within each tier.

But also, don't be afraid to visit all the resorts - it's one of the most fun things to do in my opinion. ; Reserve a half a day, or a few mornings before heading to the parks, and just hop a bus, boat, or monorail to whatever resort you want - walk around the grounds, see the scenery, check out the views, have a meal...whatever you want to do. ; I go to many different resorts just to take photos of them and walk around the grounds. ; Disney transportation can always get you back to your resort, as late as 1am or more via Downtown Disney.
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It is great to hear that you can just sorta wonder about taking pictures of the other resorts. ; Even if I don't manage to stay at the contemporary (if even for a night) then I will certainly make sure I take a trip over there to finally see it up close and in person. ; Thanks to the hours I work it is not a hard thing for me to find myself getting out of bed just before 5am so I should be able to grab some nice early morning shots as well. ; Do you happen to know what time most of the park transportation tend to start up in the morning?

My biggest concern at this point is that a standard 7 day tip will not quite be enough time. ; Check in and check out day I would guess to be a wash as far as visiting the various parks, and I am just not sure that 5 days is enough time for me to hit the 4 parks @ have more than enough time to run around grabbing all the shots I felt I missed on the other days.

^ Thanks Coo1eo, My biggest regret is that Disney is a long ways away in any flavor, wish I could just hop in a car and hook up with you all at these gatherings. ; Once Wonderland opens for the year I will start to post some pics so I can get some feedback and advice from the masses.

Quick question pertaining to the HDR shots I am seeing on here. ; Is the 3 shot bracket of the G12 enough to pull off anything like what others are doing?
 
Welcome Brother Jay! I just returned from a week at the World before Easter. I just want to let you know that you will be fine by yourself. I have afriend that goes 2-3 times yearly and one of those are him alone. On my last trip I went off 2
nights alone from 9pm to 1am and loved it. My wife and daughters were asleep in the hotel room. I have an 18 month old and a 5 year old, so a little time alone was so nice. I could focus on photography and move at a faster pace. Good luck on your trip and just have fun.
 
I started going to the world in 2006. ; Of my 13 trips so far, at least half have been wholely or partly solo. ; Having been to Disneyland for the first time last week, I can say I feel safer going solo at Disneyworld that Disneyland (not to say that I wouldnt though). ; Just dont do a big song and dance routine about being solo while you are down there and you will be fine.
 
"Brother Jay" said:
It is great to hear that you can just sorta wonder about taking pictures of the other resorts. ; Even if I don't manage to stay at the contemporary (if even for a night) then I will certainly make sure I take a trip over there to finally see it up close and in person. ; Thanks to the hours I work it is not a hard thing for me to find myself getting out of bed just before 5am so I should be able to grab some nice early morning shots as well. ; Do you happen to know what time most of the park transportation tend to start up in the morning?
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Busses usually start running an hour or so before the park openings...so look at the park opening schedule and that's about how early you can start hopping on to go to the resorts...you just transfer through any park, Downtown Disney, etc from YOUR resport bus to the park/stop to the resort bus you want to go to. ; It's cool in the mornings because you're often the only person headed the other direction from the parks - I usually sit up front and chat with the driver.

My biggest concern at this point is that a standard 7 day tip will not quite be enough time. ; Check in and check out day I would guess to be a wash as far as visiting the various parks, and I am just not sure that 5 days is enough time for me to hit the 4 parks @ have more than enough time to run around grabbing all the shots I felt I missed on the other days.
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The key is to multitask your days. ; Check out the resort locations, and plan out your day so that you head to the parks VIA the resort of choice. ; That way, each day you can get whichever park you choose, plus at least 1 resort on the way there and on the way home. ; For example, when I stay at Saratoga Springs and want to go to Magic Kingdom for the day, I'll start out in the morning via Downtown Disney to a Fort Wilderness Lodge bus...visit that resort, take photos, then head out to the boat over to Magic Kingdom. ; Alternately you could bus to Fort Wilderness Campground, or any of the 3 Monorail resorts. ; If I'm headed to Epcot, I might instead find the bus to Boardwalk, check out those resorts around the lake, and then walk into Epcot via the International Gateway. ; If I'm going to Hollywood Studios, I might go to Downtown Disney and catch the cool boat to Port Orleans - walk through French Quarter and Riverside taking photos, and then hop the bus to DHS. ; When going to Animal Kingdom, I'll instead take the bus to AK Lodge, walk and shoot, then bus over to AK. ; The same thing on the way out of each park - rather than take the bus to MY resort, I'll hop a bus or boat to another I haven't seen yet...enjoy that place, then take the Downtown Disney bus and transfer back to my resort.

Quick question pertaining to the HDR shots I am seeing on here. ; Is the 3 shot bracket of the G12 enough to pull off anything like what others are doing?
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Depends on how wide you can stretch the bracketing - if it only goes in increments of .3 or .7, you won't get a very wide dynamic range - typically you'd want to stretch the 3 or 4 frames at least 1 stop apart. ; Though you don't have to use bracketing - if you set the camera on a tripod, simply take 3 or more frames in Manual mode, adjusting the aperture 1 stop between each shot. ; Or you can shoot in P, A, or S mode, and use the EV control to adjust (EV often has a little more range of adjustment than bracketing on entry level cameras, so you can usually go -1 EV, 0 EV, and +1 EV at least - some cameras might go as much as +/-2 EV).
 
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