Main Street USA (How You DON'T Want to See It)
- Thread starter Scott
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I was expecting something much worse than just a little H2O. I actually don't know what exactly I was expecting, but.. the thing is, especially as a kid, I enjoyed the rain. While everyone else was cowering inside a gift shop or rushing around holding a guide map over their head I was out happily enjoying the lack of crowds. My motto was from the movie "Big Trouble in Little China".. "A brave man likes the feel of nature in his face". For those of you not so inclined about moisture the counter quote is "a wise man is smart enough to get out of the rain".
Now I've designed me whole Disney setup (my backpack and clothing combinations) around either waterproofness or water irrelevance. My backpack has a rain fly that can cover the entire thing, I wear a completely water proof hat that keeps my sunglasses dry (I really don't mind my hair getting wet, I just hate trying to dry off my sunglasses), and for really wet days I have waterproof shoes so puddles are less of an issue. For REALLY wet times I carry ziplock bags that I can use to cover my wallet and cell phone to keep them dry no matter what. I also did that when I rode the Kali River Rapids like 10 times in a row during an Extra Magic night. After a while all the water pouring down on me was almost meaningless, I could get no wetter. Unfortunately the waterproof shoes were unable to deal with the volumes of water pouring down on them from above.
Another of my favorite Disney memories was a time when I was walking through Epcot towards the World Showcase during a rainstorm. Most people had already cleared out of the open areas, with the few remaining people rushing about, as I said trying to cover their heads with pieces or paper or bags or whatever. I was reveling in it.. enjoying the cool refreshing shower. When I was crossing a bridge I met up with a kindred spirit, someone on the other side of the bridge walking the opposite direction. We looked at each other for a moment and he said "it's only water!" and we continued on our way. I dunno.. I got a kick out of it.
I'm not sure I have any such pictures though.. for the simple fact that my camera gets safely cocooned inside my backpack at the first sign of rain. I think the most unpretty Disney pictures I have involve the castle being worked on with a crane.
Now I've designed me whole Disney setup (my backpack and clothing combinations) around either waterproofness or water irrelevance. My backpack has a rain fly that can cover the entire thing, I wear a completely water proof hat that keeps my sunglasses dry (I really don't mind my hair getting wet, I just hate trying to dry off my sunglasses), and for really wet days I have waterproof shoes so puddles are less of an issue. For REALLY wet times I carry ziplock bags that I can use to cover my wallet and cell phone to keep them dry no matter what. I also did that when I rode the Kali River Rapids like 10 times in a row during an Extra Magic night. After a while all the water pouring down on me was almost meaningless, I could get no wetter. Unfortunately the waterproof shoes were unable to deal with the volumes of water pouring down on them from above.
Another of my favorite Disney memories was a time when I was walking through Epcot towards the World Showcase during a rainstorm. Most people had already cleared out of the open areas, with the few remaining people rushing about, as I said trying to cover their heads with pieces or paper or bags or whatever. I was reveling in it.. enjoying the cool refreshing shower. When I was crossing a bridge I met up with a kindred spirit, someone on the other side of the bridge walking the opposite direction. We looked at each other for a moment and he said "it's only water!" and we continued on our way. I dunno.. I got a kick out of it.
I'm not sure I have any such pictures though.. for the simple fact that my camera gets safely cocooned inside my backpack at the first sign of rain. I think the most unpretty Disney pictures I have involve the castle being worked on with a crane.
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I don't have many 'ugly' Disneys either...I don't really mind when it rains there - I live in Florida, so I'm used to regular rainshowers anyway!
Here is a shot I took in the pouring rain - I had my little 2MP Sony U20 wrapped in a plastic baggie - it was a drizzly night, and the rain had just picked up. The crowd was rushing by with raincoats and bags over their head, and I liked the 'mean' looking clouds backdropping the castle - so I handheld a 1-second shutter of Canada in the pouring rain:
It's no masterpiece, but I like it.
Here was a mean thunderstorm closing in behind Journey into Imagination a few years ago:
That's about it - and both taken with my little compact handhelds. I don't usually bring my bigger cam on stormy days, or if I get caught in a shower, I tuck it away in its waterproof bag, and just leave the little waterproof cam around my neck if I see something I want to snap in the rain.
Somewhere I have a blurry pic of two friends in Mickey rain ponchos running for cover in Animal Kingdom in a torrential downpour - we were all walking through the rain without a care in the world until lightning cracked the top of the Tree of Life...then we all ran for the nearest store for cover! I don't have that shot uploaded - I'll see if I can find it and post it.
Here is a shot I took in the pouring rain - I had my little 2MP Sony U20 wrapped in a plastic baggie - it was a drizzly night, and the rain had just picked up. The crowd was rushing by with raincoats and bags over their head, and I liked the 'mean' looking clouds backdropping the castle - so I handheld a 1-second shutter of Canada in the pouring rain:
It's no masterpiece, but I like it.
Here was a mean thunderstorm closing in behind Journey into Imagination a few years ago:
That's about it - and both taken with my little compact handhelds. I don't usually bring my bigger cam on stormy days, or if I get caught in a shower, I tuck it away in its waterproof bag, and just leave the little waterproof cam around my neck if I see something I want to snap in the rain.
Somewhere I have a blurry pic of two friends in Mickey rain ponchos running for cover in Animal Kingdom in a torrential downpour - we were all walking through the rain without a care in the world until lightning cracked the top of the Tree of Life...then we all ran for the nearest store for cover! I don't have that shot uploaded - I'll see if I can find it and post it.
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We spent a long day and night holed up at Pop Century waiting out Hurricane Jeanne in 2004:
Hourglass Lake
Doing my Weather Channel impersonation
The next day there were trees down all over, but the parks (except DAK) opened up only a little late.
Definetly NOT how I wanted to see WDW!
Dave
Hourglass Lake
Doing my Weather Channel impersonation
The next day there were trees down all over, but the parks (except DAK) opened up only a little late.
Definetly NOT how I wanted to see WDW!
Dave
Welcome Dave!
Your pics and story reminded me of mine -
Back in the mid 1990s I worked at the theme park formerly known as Adventure World (now Six Flags America) in First Aid and as a water attendant. One day in the late afternoon I left work and unbeknownst to me a tornado was coming towards the park. It ripped through the park, followed me east, and then followed me north towards home. Ahead it was bright and sunny.
In my rear view mirror it was pitch black.
It continued to follow me north and then east again - it died out near my house (about 30 miles away) and ripped the roof off a house 1/4 mi away.
The park was closed the next day to clear the trees - whole paths were blocked, one slide was destroyed. At least no one got hurt at the park.
Your pics and story reminded me of mine -
Back in the mid 1990s I worked at the theme park formerly known as Adventure World (now Six Flags America) in First Aid and as a water attendant. One day in the late afternoon I left work and unbeknownst to me a tornado was coming towards the park. It ripped through the park, followed me east, and then followed me north towards home. Ahead it was bright and sunny.
In my rear view mirror it was pitch black.
It continued to follow me north and then east again - it died out near my house (about 30 miles away) and ripped the roof off a house 1/4 mi away.
The park was closed the next day to clear the trees - whole paths were blocked, one slide was destroyed. At least no one got hurt at the park.
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Great shots, Justin. I like your angle on the Canada Pavilion night shot. I might "borrow" it for next time.
Dave - Welcome and thanks for those photos. One thing about Florida weather, usually the rainshowers come and go quickly, unless there's a hurricane.
Luckily for me, the vast majority of my time at WDW has been in good weather.
Dave - Welcome and thanks for those photos. One thing about Florida weather, usually the rainshowers come and go quickly, unless there's a hurricane.
Luckily for me, the vast majority of my time at WDW has been in good weather.
Don't you people bring up hurricanes and intensity! Safely tucked away in the middle of the state, and only catching a fading Frances & Jeanne, and just the edge of Wilma...Disney was the place of refuge most of my friends and neighbors went to from down here to escape the hurricane eyes!
You can check out my Frances gallery...3 days for the fat, lumbering storm to pass by - fortunately only a cat 1-2:
http://pic1.funtigo.com/zackiedawg/?b=1 ... start&cr=1
Or you can check out my little gallery of Wilma, as seen from the center of the bullseye, right under the eye wall of a cat 2-3 hurricane!:
http://pic1.funtigo.com/zackiedawg/?b=2 ... start&cr=1
I spent 8 days without electricity or phones after Frances, 5 more days after Jeanne, and 10 days after Wilma including no water either. $17K in damage from Wilma - the Banyan tree in my pool was fun! Months of cleanup - the World's largest mulch piles after the city collected all the downed trees. Commuting to work 23 miles with no stoplights at intersections for more than 2 months, turned a 40 minute drive into a 1 1/2 hour drive.
Guess what I did after going through hurricane Frances and having no power for 8 days? I went to DISNEY WORLD to get away! And what happened? Hurricane Jeanne decided to come. I decided to bail out of Disney the day she was supposed to hit so I could rush home and batten down the hatches, since I had left the home unprepared (not expecting a second hurricane so soon). I was the only car driving south on the Turnpike - the northbound lanes were a parking lot for the entire 160 miles from people trying to evacuate Florida. The irony was that all the people who fleed South Florida for Jeanne ended up heading to central and north Florida - where they ended up closer to the hurricane's center! Down in South Florida, Jeanne wasn't that bad - never went over 90MPH, and Frances had already cleared everything away that was going to fall down. She knocked the power out again - but that's because the system had only just been jerry-rigged with duct tape and coat hangers a week or two before.
It's funny...still when I go back to Disney even just a few months ago, I still look at all the fallen trees in the pine forest areas. And they were putting tiles back on the resort roofs for a year after the storms. Between late 2004 and mid-2006, any drive up from South Florida to Disney became known as the Blue Roof Drive - from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando, thousands and thousands of blue tarps covering the roofs of houses and businesses!
You can check out my Frances gallery...3 days for the fat, lumbering storm to pass by - fortunately only a cat 1-2:
http://pic1.funtigo.com/zackiedawg/?b=1 ... start&cr=1
Or you can check out my little gallery of Wilma, as seen from the center of the bullseye, right under the eye wall of a cat 2-3 hurricane!:
http://pic1.funtigo.com/zackiedawg/?b=2 ... start&cr=1
I spent 8 days without electricity or phones after Frances, 5 more days after Jeanne, and 10 days after Wilma including no water either. $17K in damage from Wilma - the Banyan tree in my pool was fun! Months of cleanup - the World's largest mulch piles after the city collected all the downed trees. Commuting to work 23 miles with no stoplights at intersections for more than 2 months, turned a 40 minute drive into a 1 1/2 hour drive.
Guess what I did after going through hurricane Frances and having no power for 8 days? I went to DISNEY WORLD to get away! And what happened? Hurricane Jeanne decided to come. I decided to bail out of Disney the day she was supposed to hit so I could rush home and batten down the hatches, since I had left the home unprepared (not expecting a second hurricane so soon). I was the only car driving south on the Turnpike - the northbound lanes were a parking lot for the entire 160 miles from people trying to evacuate Florida. The irony was that all the people who fleed South Florida for Jeanne ended up heading to central and north Florida - where they ended up closer to the hurricane's center! Down in South Florida, Jeanne wasn't that bad - never went over 90MPH, and Frances had already cleared everything away that was going to fall down. She knocked the power out again - but that's because the system had only just been jerry-rigged with duct tape and coat hangers a week or two before.
It's funny...still when I go back to Disney even just a few months ago, I still look at all the fallen trees in the pine forest areas. And they were putting tiles back on the resort roofs for a year after the storms. Between late 2004 and mid-2006, any drive up from South Florida to Disney became known as the Blue Roof Drive - from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando, thousands and thousands of blue tarps covering the roofs of houses and businesses!
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