And now for a report. This'll be scatter shot and bullet-pointed!
Stayed at the Saratoga Springs Resort in a 2 bedroom villa, which was great inside, but I enjoyed the felling of Port Orleans French Quarter when walking around. SS is huge, I think there were 6 bus stops, and it does have the feeling of being a resort and not a hotel. Of course, when spending as little time as I could there (mainly for sleeping), I did not experience many of the resort amenities. The food was fine, usual breakfast fair and a lot of flatbread choices for lunch/dinner. We stayed at the Springs area, which was close to the restaurant.
Used the Disney Dining Plan for Quick Service, which worked out great, giving us 2 meals and 3 snacks a day. Even if we didn't save money, it was still nice having that chunk of cash already budgeted out.
Spent the majority of time in Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. Crowds were light early in the week, probably due to the MLK holiday ending and it being very cold. Well, very cold for Florida, which I found amusing since up here in PA we just endured near zero temps for a couple days. The crowds picked up towards the middle of the week, a lot of Brazilians were there, all identifiable thanks to their matching shirts. By the end of the week, even Mission: Space was boasting a half hour wait, and at one point, Midway Mania hit near 2 hours.
Aside from the cold, the weather was magnificent. The first day gave me those amazing 3D clouds with a ton of definition, making for great backdrops. The remaining days gave me unbroken blue skies like I never see here at home.
In the Magic Kingdom, there was a crane taking down the Castle lights the first day, but happily that was removed by the time we made it back. I was bummed Mickey's Philharmagic was closed, but everyting else was open. I enjoyed the enhancements to the Haunted Mansion, and I quickly gave up trying to take any photos, even my with new lens. Tomorrowland was torn up, thanks to the new stage in construction and the additional parking lot. The Monsters Inc Laugh Floor was a ton of fun. I was even picked to be Mike in the first skit. Caught wishes twice, once at the end of Main Street, and the second in front of Dumbo in Fantasyland. I challenge anyone who does not believe in Disney magic to watch kids ride Dumbo while fireworks explode overhead to not feel it by the end.
Epcot was great, still by favorite park because of my great love for the classic World's Fairs that we may never see again. Skipped most Future World attractions except for Spaceship Earth. Enjoyed the new additions and was impressed by the goofy futures I could choose. Spent a long time walking the World Showcase loop, snapping pictures and experiencing the little things that make Epcot special. All the parks had a lot more activity than when we went in October 2006. Skipped the Kim Possible Adventure, though kids were having a lot of fun with it and it brought them further into World Showcase.
At Animal Kingdom, I rode the usual attractions, and saw a lot of activity on the safari. Caught the Finding Nemo Musical, which was wonderful, and ate at the Yak and Yeti counter service, which was a nice change of pace from burgers, though nothing amazing.
Disney's Hollywood Studios had the walls up around the hat, so that will lead to some cropping in my long exposure shots during extra magic hours. Not much else interesting.
Shot almost 3500 pictures over the 7 days, a lot of handheld panoramas. Lugged my tripod around, since it was just too big for the lockers, but it was worth it for the firework and long exposure pictures. I loved using the SlingPro pack, even found a way to hook my tripod on a strap to avoid carrying it during the colder days. Both lens performed great, the 50mm allowed for some good shots on Pirates and a lot of fun snaps around the parks.
I'm working on my photos now, pulling out the good ones for some panorama stitching and/or tone mapping. I know I did not get every shot I wanted, but that's okay because it gives me motivation for next time.
The only downsides were folks using flashes on Pirates and other dark rides, which annoys me and ruins the mood. I kept telling myself that this may be their first and only time ever at the Parks. There was a little bit of cleaning around the parks and resort, but aside from a broken lamp cover in front of the room, nothing major. I witnessed a gull snatch a churro out a guy's hand while he was walking, and that was awesome.
Overall, it was a great trip and I came home with hundreds (if not more) of photos to print, frame, and hang on the wall. It was such a different experience going with an eye for special pictures, rather than taking snapshots with a point and shoot. I did get shots of the four icons at night, which I always wanted, and a couple decent firework shots. I'll be posting photos frequently, though I also want to space them out because it might be a whie before we get back. I'll leave you with this one, and keep an eye on my
Flickr feed for more.
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