PIXELMANIA 2018 Dates

Nancy K said:
Thank you. One other question, do you recommend a Park Hopper?
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You're welcome!

Considering that we haven't finished the schedule yet, I can't answer that with certainty. The last two years we ended up with split days on Saturday & Sunday where we did DHS in the morning and AK in the evening one day and then did the opposite the next. We try not to do that but it happens from time to time.

Also we sometimes schedule a late night shoot at MK on Saturday if the park is open late enough, but that's generally very sparsely attended. I think it was just Tim and I last year. Disney typically modifies the park hours at the last minute, so that late night meet is usually the last thing added to the schedule.

Sorry for the vague response. With new lands opening the last couple years and continuing the next two years, we often have to re-shuffle the schedule at the last minute as new information comes available.

I recommend planning on a Park Hopper for budget purposes and then making the final decision based on the schedule if you want to save a few dollars.
 
Disney has started to charge RESORT guests for parking at their resorts/
Value: $13 nightly

Moderate: $19 nightly

Deluxe: $24 nightly

Standard parking fees will not be charged to Disney Vacation Club Members when they’re staying at a DVC Deluxe Villa regardless of whether they used vacation points or another form of payment.

Budget accordingly.
~Joanie
 
Joanie Eddis-Koch said:
Disney has started to charge RESORT guests for parking at their resorts/
Value: $13 nightly

Moderate: $19 nightly

Deluxe: $24 nightly

Standard parking fees will not be charged to Disney Vacation Club Members when they’re staying at a DVC Deluxe Villa regardless of whether they used vacation points or another form of payment.

Budget accordingly.
~Joanie
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Will only have a car for a night or two (possibly)... but staying on points. But waiting for that next proverbial shoe to drop...


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Reserve your Pixelmania room now if you want to avoid the parking fee ripoff. Reservations made on or before March 20, 2018 will be exempt from the overnight parking charge.
 
Another Pixelmania Travel Flash [insert teletype sound effect here]

If the current Southwest fare sale is showing a lower price for your Pixelmania flight, you have to call 1-800-I-FLY-SWA to get it changed. I tried for four days to save $12 on my return flight by rebooking online, and every time it said the fare wasn't available. When I called Southwest, the agent said there was a software bug that won't let anyone change a fare on a flight that is more than 31 days in the future. My reply was "As a computer programmer, I find that inexcusable."

The good news is, after a bit of difficulty, the agent was able to book a new reservation that gave me the lower price on the return flight while preserving the original price on my flight to Orlando (the latter increased from $106 to $291 in less than a week - is Pixelmania that popular?).

The current fare sale extends through Monday, March 19, 2018, so you still have time to save a few dollars.
 
!!!!My dates are booked!!!!

Well, they were booked before, but it was a three part split stay because someone snuck in at the 7 month window before and grabbed my room for one night smack in the middle of the trip. So I was going to have to stay Kidani (x5 nights), Jambo or Bay Lake (x1 night) then back to Kidani (x6 nights). Today when I called in to switch the placeholder of Bay Lake to Jambo (saves 5 points if the waitlist did not come thru) I asked first to see if the full stay was available as a long shot. And my DVC CM sprinkled a little pixie dust, waved her wand and turned three reservations into one!!! It made my day! Now I can move on to booking airfare, the rental car (only one or two nights) and buy the MNSSHP tickets.

So I’ll be at...
Kidani from Oct. 21st thru Nov. 1st


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I have some more questions. 2018 Pixelmania dates are October 24-28, just trying to figure out flight times, etc. I know some of you are going to be there longer 7+ days, just curious do you get a park ticket for each day or schedule non park days? I’m thinking I’d like to visit some of the other resorts. Somewhere I saw last years schedule, thank you
 
Nancy K said:
I have some more questions. 2018 Pixelmania dates are October 24-28, just trying to figure out flight times, etc. I know some of you are going to be there longer 7+ days, just curious do you get a park ticket for each day or schedule non park days? I’m thinking I’d like to visit some of the other resorts. Somewhere I saw last years schedule, thank you
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I have an annual pass so park tickets aren't a concern. Keep in mind that the resorts will not be decorated for Halloween when we are going. The reason we did some of the resorts was because they were decorated for Christmas, however that shouldn't stop you if you want to visit the resorts.
Joanie
 
most of the core pixel mania group, locals and those of us frequently posting here all have annual passes of some sort, most of us for 10+ years now, 15 years in my case
 
please ask away, we welcome all here, we are more than happy to answer questions about how or why we do what we do, one of the neatest things about pixel mania is we all work at getting better and helping each other get better, not to mention the often funny moments each pixel mania brings
 
Approximately how many photos do you normally take during Pixelmania? Just wondering how many (more) SD cards I should purchase. Thank you
 
I took around 3,000 shots but I download the memory card to my lap top and then from the lap top I download to external storage every night, no matter how insanely late it is, so I have NO pictures on the card the next morning.

I name my folders by date after transferring the images to my laptop so all of that day's images are in one folder, then I label the folder 10 28 18 MK morning DHS at night for example so I know where I was that day.

In general I employ a file naming system, for each one that is processed in Photoshop, with the date first then a text identifier (for Ex. Illuminations) possibly followed by the camera file number (example (exposure #) 1124).

I use a Western digital passport as my external drive. Because these external drives can not have images located IN THE CAMERA on the camera card directly downloaded I have to first download the camera card to a lap top and then from the lap top I can connect the external Western digital passport drive and transfer the files to the Western digital passport.

This means while I am traveling I have my pictures backed up to 2 places, my lap top and my Western digital passport.

So to recap: files on card in camera > connect card reader to lap top and transfer files from card to lap top > Connect external storage unit (Western digital passport hard drive) TO lap top and copy picture files on lap top to Western digital passport.

Finally, after I am sure the files have transferred and stored correctly I erase my memory card in the camera by formatting the card using only the camera body to do this (it avoids potential problems with external sources, say in my lap top, from improperly formatting my camera card so that my IN camera file system has problems writing to the card while I am shooting.)

The last thing I do before I pack up my camera equipment and LEAVE the room for Disney is TAKE A PICTURE of the room. This ensures that A) I remembered to replace the camera card and B) I took the battery out of the charger and returned it to the camera. These are the two most common mistakes that Disney Parks photographers make on these trips. Forget either one and you have to go back to the room and get them if you don't have spares. I usually erase the room picture as soon as I see it could be taken successfully. Then I am out the door.

~Joanie
 
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I am pretty sure Joanie meant 3,000 shots. I took a little over 5000 each of the last two Pixelmanias. I only used SD cards and transferred all the images when I got home. I have quite a few cards, especially since the price for higher memory has gotten cheaper.
 
Thank you. Last trip to WDW I took 1700 photos. Right now I have 3 64gb SD cards. I usually travel with my iPad and not laptop, I use a WD external HD too. I was thinking separate SD card per day? I wasn’t sure if anyone used a cloud type online storage.
 
I don't think anyone here uses cloud storage for backups while traveling. Like Joanie, I copy the images off the cards and back up to externals every night. Gary uses a card for every day. Either method will work fine, just depends on your preference on varying a laptop.
 
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