Summer Is Here! Featuring Indy Evac, POTC Lights Out, LDF's Kids,Night Shots and more

[Wendygirl]

Well something IndyCM did got him banned

Gee, and it was his first and only post too. By the way, I like your sig.

[penguinsoda]

Gee, and it was his first and only post too. By the way, I like your sig.

No... it actually wasn't...he had several with his first acct. and he has a few in the litterbox..... :


LDF... how dare you torture your poor daughter by making her ride Thunder!! You probably told her no more text messages on her phone unless she rode it!!


And how do you do those panoramic shots? I have a panoramic assist mode on my camera, but I don't know how to use it.

[Wendygirl]

No... it actually wasn't...he had several with his first acct. and he has a few in the litterbox..... :

You and I are posting at the same time just about, hence I didn't see your sock puppet comment. I get it now, though as a person who did not know he was doing this it just seemed weird. Thanks for clearing it up.

And now, back to ld's fabulous photos

[Mac Daddy]

LDF... how dare you torture your poor daughter by making her ride Thunder!! You probably told her no more text messages on her phone unless she rode it!!

Attempts to resist my powers of persuasion are futile. And you're next. Screamin here we come.

And how do you do those panoramic shots? I have a panoramic assist mode on my camera, but I don't know how to use it.

I do it with Photoshop. Look under the file menu and click on "new." Under new you'll find a "Merge" option. Grab your three or four shots and off you go.

Haircut time for the boys. Ahl be bahck.

[Alice's Wonderland]

Beautiful pics LDF!! The Indy ones are neat and I love the BTMRR ones!

[clara]

I'm surprised the CM's were letting you take photos at all. Or maybe they just didnt' see you snapping. I know when I was on Winnie the Pooh and it was evac'd I took one photo IN the car as we were waiting and was instantly told "no photography please"

Great shots though!

[Datameister]

That shot going up the first lift hill on BTMR has got to be the coolest, most artistic shot I've ever seen of any part of the attraction. Hats off to you from an inferior photographer.

[RPerez3]

LDF - Love the Indy photos. But, especially love BTMRR interior mountain shot. Really cool.

Cheers -

[Mac Daddy]

(Part Four...In which LDF thanks you for coming back and heads to DCA...)

(Viewing hint: On the merged shots, you may need to scroll to the right, especially on the shot of Belle's library.)

So with a pocket full of FOUR different fast passes, we headed back up Mainsteet:



...and crossed over to DCA where we immediately fast passed the rapids knowing that at 1:00 we'd still be able to fast pass Screamin when it opened. We headed to Mulhulland Madness, which has a deceptively long stand-by line as parades of other fast passers move to the front. Must be kharma... Finally it was 1:00 and time for Screamin to open. As I was just getting a fast pass, I figured it shouldn't take too long. However, when I got there....

(The line for fast passes is in front of me and the line for Screamin goes up the boardwalk.)



The madness was on THIS side of Paradise Bay.

My daughter and Pluto were patiently waiting for me:



So...after waiting....and waiting...we got the fastpasses and headed into California Dreaming to get out of the sun. If you're hot, this is a GREAT place to catch a nap and cool off.

We then fast passed Soaring, got SOAKED on the rapids and headed back over to Screamin where the littlest LDF road for the first time.

Other shots:



Work continues on the Midway Pixar thing....



Then it was off to the Animation building where we vistited the Sorcerer's Workshop for the first time. To my surprise, we had a great time there! As you enter, there is a room where you can create a bit of your own animation and watch it in action:



Then you come into Belle's Library which I thought the imagineers did a great job with. I had to merge the shots to get the room....



Throughout the room are a series of desks at which you answer a few questions to find out what Disney character you are most like:



My son got Mushu. Now THERE'S a surprise....



Every so often the room will go dark and a petal will fall from the rose...




And finally you come to our favorite: A chance to do your own voice overs to animated characters:




My daughter and I did Jafar and Iago...




Then it was back over again for Dinner at the Golden Horseshoe. (Yes we always eat there but we love Billy Hill and Chicken Strips.)



With the new lens, I was able to get a bit closer in order to catch Billy's "prosteethis:"









He says he's been working on choreography. Instead of Riverdance, he calls it "Puddleprance:"






The fearsome foursome say goodbye...



(Still to come: Fireworks and Nightshots....)

[Wendygirl]

How in the world did you get so many fast passes for so many rides? Don't you have to wait until your time is up before getting another one?

That line for Screamin

I just love this Billy Hill. The last two times we have been there he has not done Puddle Prance. That is the funniest gall darn routine I have ever seen.

[penguinsoda]

Attempts to resist my powers of persuasion are futile. And you're next. Screamin here we come.

I've said it before somewhere and I'll say it again....

Dream on Monkey Boy. Space was a fluke.... do you hear me!? A Fluke!!!

(I don't know, I just like saying Monkey Boy. )

I do it with Photoshop. Look under the file menu and click on "new." Under new you'll find a "Merge" option. Grab your three or four shots and off you go.

Haircut time for the boys. Ahl be bahck.

Ah.... I'll have to go out someday and take some practice shots and..... practice.

[Mac Daddy]

How in the world did you get so many fast passes for so many rides? Don't you have to wait until your time is up before getting another one?

Bwahahahaha..... My kids are constantly complaining, but I'm militant about making a trip to another attraction as soon as the time is up. In fact, we got to two a couple minutes early and had to wait for the official time to be up. The trick is to get to the park early enough so that the return time doesn't knock you out for several hours. Since most of the Disneyland popluation was in line for Nemo, we scooped up fast passes for Space Mountain, Splash, Thunder, and Indy before going to DCA. Once in DCA, the Rapids are on their own stystem and we knew we wanted to fast pass Screamin early. So by 1:15, we were holding SIX fast passes. And that's after hitting Space, Splash, Thunder, Star Tours, Buzz all with standby lines under 15 minutes before we headed to lunch. As soon as we went back to Disneyland, we snagged another Indy and had dinner at 4:00 to beat the rush. Then it was fast passing craziness until midnight.

That line for Screamin

Tell me.

I just love this Billy Hill. The last two times we have been there he has not done Puddle Prance. That is the funniest gall darn routine I have ever seen.

Those teeth crack me up every time. I think the puddle prance routine depends on which players he has in the band. One of the mandolin guys switches off and I think we saw a new bass player when we were there.

I've said it before somewhere and I'll say it again....

Dream on Monkey Boy. Space was a fluke.... do you hear me!? A Fluke!!!

(I don't know, I just like saying Monkey Boy. )

Monkeyboy? When did I turn into "Monkeyboy?" De Nile isn't just a river in Egypt....or something.

Say it with me: SSSSSScreamin. (That's right. I stole your smiley. What now?)

As for the merge shots, take several shots in a semi circle and photoshop takes care of the rest. It's like falling off a bike. Not that I would know.... :

[pirateslife4me]

I'm enjoying your trip report! Love the Indy Evac! Good stuff.

[penguinsoda]

Monkeyboy? When did I turn into "Monkeyboy?" De Nile isn't just a river in Egypt....or something.

Say it with me: SSSSSScreamin. (That's right. I stole your smiley. What now?)

As for the merge shots, take several shots in a semi circle and photoshop takes care of the rest. It's like falling off a bike. Not that I would know.... :

What? Don't like Monkeyboy? I tried Panorama Boy but it just doesn't have the same ring to it...

And say it with me.... NOOOOO WAY JOSE!! Space was an accident. I'm older and smarter now. I have high blood pressure. I have a bad heart. I have a bad back. I have two broken legs. What part of you're not getting me on Screamin' do you not hear? Your kids do not want to see them pull a petrified penguin off the ride. Trust me on this...

Pft... stole my smilie... I have plenty more where that one came from. Does this look like anyone we know?

[Mac Daddy]

(Part Six: In which LDF realizes that this thread is getting way too photo heavy and wonders if Micechat will begin to sink under the strain... )

Ah...what the heck.


After an early dinner at the Golden Horseshoe, it was off for a quick spin on Pirates:



Who's ready for more Pirate "art?"














After Pirates we used the first of our two fastpasses for Indy. The line was respectably long for a Wednesday. I guess it really is Summer now, eh?



After Indy it was time to try out the Mark Twain on it's final trip of the day:




The first thing you notice as you step aboard the newly refurbished Mark Twain is the strong scent of finish or linseed oil. The steps have all been resurfaced and include new trim...


And the exterior paint is shiny and new:



It easy to see why this has taken about three months or so. The ship is beautiful again after all the stripping, sanding, staining and painting that has been done:






There is still work to be done, but I think they'll try to limit it to the morning hours. I think the hand rails might be the last to get finished:



My one complaint? THEY CHANGED THE RECORDED SPIEL!



The old voice was AWESOME! The new voice is.....BLECH!

It's like....styrofoam.

WE WANT THE OLD VOICE!
WE WANT THE OLD VOICE!

I could almost imagine the old voice as Mark Twain. The new guy...not so much. More like "anchor for eyewitness news" voice.

BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

But I digress.

Off we go...




Hurry baby ducks or you'll get toasted by Fantasmic!




Speaking of Fantasmic, I wonder if this pow wow happens every night. Is something amiss?




Getting ready...



Setting the rigging on the Columbia...




The view from the top level looking back is amazing...



Racing the train is always fun...



They kept the cabin and it's out from under the tarps. No flames.




The destruction of the Fort continues unabated..




Good-bye old friend.





(Almost done...Fireworks and Night shots up next....must...ssssssleeeep....)