I'm there right now!!!

[RedOctober25]

Okay, so I am really sitting in my room on a very cold and rainy Florida day. ; For me it is raining a little too hard for me to take out the camera gear (unless I did the "Indoor Epcot" Photo Tour - but I was at Epcot yesterday) and didn't bring as much cold weather gear as I should have. ; Anyway, here is the trip so far.
; ; Thursday afternoon I arrived at the Orlando airport and after a short ride on a Magical Express I got to Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village around 5pm. ; I grabbed a bite to eat at their restaurant "Sanaa" and then hung out on the savannah for a while.
; ; Friday morning I slept in a little then got ready and headed over to EPCOT. ; I took the relaxed way in and went to DHS first then hopped the boat for a relaxing ride to the International Gateway. ; I am planning on hitting Epcot a second day (for the Flower and Garden Festival) so I took the bridge into France. ; Many of the Topiaries are already up for the festival and it was very neat to see the Disney Characters in plant form. ; I decided that this trip was going to be about doing the things I have not done in the past. ; Item One; Impressions of France... Check. ; Item Two; Reflections of China... Check. ; So here are my favorite photos from the past day.

Cinderella and Prince Charming in France

The water fountain in Morocco

Year of the Horse Topiary in China

KUNG FU BABIES! ; nuff' said.

Outside the Tomb Warriors in China

The Stave Church and the "Ghosts of Epcot"

 

[Craig]

the dusk shot in China is fantastic!

Dina and I will miss the flower show this year..............bummer

 

[zackiedawg]

Nice shots...sorry about the rain and cold (I don't mind the cold part myself, but the rain's a bummer). ; I like that China angle - hadn't thought of that one before.

I'll probably miss F&G too, unless I can whip up some short-notice plans...I might not get back up there until June/July.

 

[RedOctober25]

On the China shot, I love the way the pathway railing lights the way in one long strand of light. ; Here are a couple more shots from yesterday.

Mickey and Minnie as the Couple from "American Gothic" (the painting, not the TV show - if anyone remembers the TV show with Gary Cole)

The American Pavillion from the bridge by Mexico. ; (I love the lights added by Fantasmic on the right side, although the shot itself is a little blurry)

Spaceship Earth on the way out of the park.

I also got a few great shots for "Where Am I" posts, although I have to wait and post til after I visit a few more parks so that it won't narrow it down to fast. ; Can't wait to post some new ones.

 

[Tim]

My son, dad, and I will be there in just 7 days. ; Really looking forward to photo'ing flower and garden. ; Looks like it's going to be great. ;

 

[RedOctober25]

I will be back at Epcot on the 3rd for the first day of the F&G Fest. ; I actually added a day onto the end of this portion of my trip to do so. ; Some of the Topiaries I did not photograph yet include the Trolls of Norway, Timon with bugs in Futureworld, and and advetisment for "The Seas" that opens on Earth Day. ; FYI, the new Pistol Grip works awesomely (although I got extra scutiny at the Airport Security check for it) and am waiting for the shows to test out the Manfrotto 790b monopod (breaks down to a mere 15.5' so it fits in my backpack).

 

[Dennis Dest in FL]

All of them are excellent. ; Very inspiring.

 

[RedOctober25]

So I headed oover to Animal Kingdom today. ; And since this trip was about doing the things I had skipped in the past I hit both Camp Minnie-Mickey and Dinoland. ; I also saw "It's Tough to be a Bug!" since I got my new Polarized lense. ; The photos did not turn out as good as Tim's at PixelMania MuppetVision, but I still like them. ; I also got to see "Festival of the Lion King" for the first time (but got stuck towards the back of the theater. ; The good news is that I was a Lion and not a Warthog for the show. ; After the show I got my photo taken with Thumper and his main squeeze and followed that up by meeting Pocahontas (thought I was going to have to go to Planet Watch to see her). ; Finally, I made my way over to Dinoland and saw "Dino-Rama" for the first time. ; Found some more great "Where Am I" photos, but again will have to wait so you can't narrow down the park right away. ; Here are some of my favorite shots.

Chili the Chilean Tarantula... Shooting his barbs at the targets.

The King of the Jungle sings his song.

Patience sings the Circle of Life. ; (She got hit on while doing the introductions)

My mandatory character photo. ; Thumper and his girlfriend (does anyone know her name?)

One of the few animal photos I got (this is the Roseate Spoonbill).

 

[PolynesianMedic]

Nice shots. ; Looks like the weather has been a bit better then Pixelmania!

 

[RedOctober25]

So I realized that on this trip I spent more time relaxing at the resort than I did at the Parks, but hey... It's MY vacation. ; Anyway, the other day I headed down to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping and maybe take in a movie. ; I also decided to take flight with "Characters in Flight". ; I thought that I might get a little vertigo (I did get a quick queasy feeling when I saw the Avatar Treetop scene), but I didn't. ; I think it had to do with the fact that there is a solid bottom to the ring and it is hard to look directly down (you are in a cage - sort of). ; After that I hung out by the Samwati Springs Pool area as well as the Kidani Rock Outlook. ; I was glad I stayed for the African Folktales. ; The rest of the night was spent taking some night photos of the resort. ; Here are the rest of my favorites. ; Tomorrow I plan on heading over to Epcot for the first day of the FLower and Garden Festival.

Characters in FLight

Part of the Kids area at the Samwati Springs Pool (at Kidani Village)

The Kidani Village Lobby (from the Savannah Overlook)

The Lobby at Kidani Village

The entrance to the Kidani Village Lobby (I used my new 4-Point Star filter)

 

[hulagirl]

I'm enjoying hearing about your trip RedOctober. ; That Spoonbill photo is gorgeous!

 

[ELinder]

How was the view from the balloon? I've been thinking of heading over there to take some photos at altitude.

Erich

 

[Tim]

Thumper and his girlfriend (does anyone know her name?)

I believe, if I am not mistaken, her name if Flower.

 

[RedOctober25]

I thought Flower was the Skunk. ; I also thought I heard the Character Wrangler call her Buttercup, but that just didn't sound right either.

 

[Craig]

I love that inside night shot of the resort