Photo TR: My second trip to WDW

[EastCoastn07]

So I believe this is my very first photo trip report on TPR so bear with me please... This will most likely be a pretty extensive trip report considering I took over 700 pictures at the all the parks, so I'll try to keep it as minimal as possible with some of my best pictures. And now on with the report...

 

So, every summer for the past few years my family and I have went on vacations that included beaches and cruises, but no theme parks with the exception of Morey's Piers two years ago. When I heard my dad tell me that this year we were going to make a trip down to Florida to go to Disney, I was pretty ecstatic.

 

The last time I went to the park was back in 1997 when I was seven and when the whole 25th anniversary deal was going on so it was only fitting that ten years later we're at the park during the 35th anniversary celebration. The last time I was at Disney, as I already stated, I was pretty young and I really didn't get to appreciate it all the much so I was anxious to see how I would enjoy the parks at 17 years old, but I'll get to more of this later.

 

After a week of cleaning up from my graduation party, I was all packed and ready to embark on my week long adventure to the "happiest place on Earth". In attendance for this trip were myself, my dad, his girlfriend, her daughter, and my little sister. Little did I know that spending time with some of these people for a week was going to drive me insane, but I'll get more into that later on in the report.

 

I'll try to post my pictures in segments for each day I was in Florida so its easier to keep up with. Look forward to Day 2 in a day or so. I wish I could post all the pics at once, but I'm in California right now and I haven't really had time to look through the 700+ pics I have of my trip so I'll have to do it by days. So here we go...

 

Day 1: Arrival

June 24th, 2007

One last shot of Aquatica before the end of Day 1.

Another shot of the big slide complex in Aquatica.

On the way back to the resort, I got some pictures of Seaworld's new waterpark which looks pretty impressive from what I've seen thus far. I might have to make another trip down to Florida next summer to check it out.

So instead, we went to Sizzler, which we regretted because it was possibly the worst meal we've ever had. No joke.

After spending a day at the pool, we were originally going to go over to one of the parks for the night...but as you can see the weather turned ugly so we had to change our plans.

A shot of the big lake and fountain outside our balcony. Or maybe it's a picture of the insect screen around our balcony...

Another shot of our luxurious hotel room. I didn't get a shot of the other bedroom or bathroom.

This is what we found when we arrived at our room later in the day...I was really surprised to see how nice the place was.

When we arrived at the hotel, we weren't allowed to check in until after 4 p.m. so we decided to lounge at the pool to take up the time. Here's a shot of ONE of the two large pools at the resort.

We arrive at the Sheraton Vistana Villages, the resort we stayed at.

I also got a glimpse of Journey to Atlantis...Another coaster I was unfortunately unable to ride.

So did I mention that our resort was extremely close to SeaWorld? I guess not. On the way there I was able to snap a quick picture of Kraken, a coaster I was unable to ride this trip.

On the highway, we passed the real reason why I wanted to come on this trip.

Ok, I lied...We actually got a really spacious Chevy Impala which compfortably fit all five of us on the trip...Or so my dad thought.

After landing we went and picked up our rental car. Damn she's a beauty.

Sorry for the time gap and the lack of pictures up in the air, but I was extremely tired and I decided to get another 2 hours of sleep. This picture is pretty self explanatory...We're finally here.

Our plane...God damn I hate Southwest.

We're almost there.

As you may or may not know, the city Pittsburgh is really proud of their ketchup.

Random signage.

Welcome to Pittsburgh International Airport.

Forty-five minutes later, we arrived at the airport.

Our journey begins at 4:17 am give or take a few minutes...To tell you a little about myself, I'm really not a morning person, a reason why you won't be seeing any pictures of me on this day of the trip. But anways, after the alarm went off, I put my clothes on, grabbed my bags, and we were off to Orlando.

[Groteslurf]

Nice TR and pictures so far.

That new Seaworld waterpark seems worth a visit.

Looking forward to the next parts of yr TR.

[QuakerOaties]

Nice pictures so far. My family and I will actually be staying in that resort over Christmas. Do you mostly like it? How is transportation to the parks?

[Homer]

Man, that would have been an awesome rental car.

 

Anyways, glad you are having fun in Florida. Also, thanks for the Aquatica update! That water park is going to be freaking amazing when it opens!

[thefitness]

Nice trip report!

 

Aquatica really looks nice, and It looks even nicer in person too. I went to SeaWorld last weekend, and the property was really nice. Aquatica is going to make it even better.

[EastCoastn07]

Nice pictures so far. My family and I will actually be staying in that resort over Christmas. Do you mostly like it? How is transportation to the parks?

 

The resort was great. We got to spend three afternoons there to go swimming and what not and I had a blast. They constantly had activities going on poolside, which I thought was a great touch. It was a very nice place, you should enjoy it.

 

As for transportation to the parks, Seaworld is right down the road a mile or so. Disney is about six or so miles away from the resort and was very easy to get to. I'm not sure about Universal because I didn't see the park, but I'm sure it can't be that far away. I'm not sure if the resort supplies shuttles to any of the parks so you might want to check on that if you were looking for that.

 

As for Day 2, I'm going to start going through the 200+ photos I took at MGM Studios. Sorry If theres a longer than normal time delay in between days because I'm not at home on my own computer, I'm actually in California visiting my mom for a month so I'm dong this whenever I get some time on the computer. So look forward to day 2 and I'm glad everyones liking the trip report thus far.

[EastCoastn07]

Day 2: Disney-MGM Studios

June 25th, 2007

 

For our first day at the Disney parks we decided to go to Disney-MGM Studios because I wanted to go somewhere that had a coaster I hadn't ridden yet. My first choice was Animal Kingdom, of course to ride Expedition Everest, but my dad's girlfriend insisted that we wait till later on in the week to go there. I'm not sure why, but this was a reacurring thing that happened on the trip and pretty much made me a very miserable person by the end of the week.

 

When we arrived at the park we immediately went to Guest Relations to get a special pass for my sister. My little sister has had arthritis for most of her life and she takes some type of chemo medicine that doesn't allow her to be in sunny areas for long periods of time. Disney happily gave us a special pass that allowed us to go through either the handicap entrance or fast pass entrance which was a lifesaver and allowed us to ride pretty much everything and get out of the scorching Florida sun.

 

My first reaction to MGM Studios was no much has changed from what I remember from my last trip to the park. They added Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, the Extreme Stunt Show, Fantasmic (which I absolutely loved) and numerous other things. We tried our best to see everything, but due to some weather and maintainence problems, we weren't able to do so.

 

Indiana Jones was closed in the middle of the show due to their being a thunderstorm within a ten mile radius of the park (it never actually reached the park) and the Great Movie ride shut down right before we were about to get on. I was disappointed I didnt get to check out the new stunt show, but by the time we did everything my dad's girlfriend wanted to do, all the shows were over by then. Hell, she didn't even want to stay to 9 o'clock to see the Fantasmic show, but luckily we got to stay and I'm really glad because it was probably the best show I've seen period. But for the most part, I enjoyed my stay at the park, even though not much has changed, but I must say, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster was a pretty decent coaster.

 

Anyways, on with the pictures.

 

Lookout for Day 3 sometime later this week!

And to end Day 2, I leave you with a picture of the park's spotlights. Stay tuned for Day 3, I hope to post it sometime by the end of the week!

The Crossroads of World on our way out.

A shot of the Tower of Terror at night.

A sign advertising Fantasmic. I wish I could have stayed and watched the show again at 10, but SOMEBODY was too tired and we had to leave.

I wish I had enough fingers to count all the different Mickie's in the show...lol

I must say, I really enjoyed the finale.

It must be one hell of a task putting this show on twice a day throughout the season. I can't imagine all the hard work put into it.

The whole show was really great.

Probably my favorite part of the show when they lit the water on fire.

And the show started...I must say I really like how they projected the video up onto those walls of water.

MOV00871.MPG

I don't know what's up with Americas fascination with the wave is, but it seems like everywhere I go it get started.

I wonder how much money Disney makes everyday on all the stupid things parents by for their children.

Me and my little sister before the show.

By the time we got there, it looked like we were already an hour late...Oh well, we still got pretty good seats.

Nearing 9 o'clock we headed over to Fantasmic about an hour early to try and get good seats. Took this shot on the way there.

I probably would have saw this show if it wasn't for somebody in my party.

Oh hey! We're in New York.

Walt's plane.

A cool shot of the water tower with no water in it.

Where I hope to be working someday...

By far one of my favorite pictures I took...This guy got totally owned by all that water.

Next up, the Backlot Tour.

One last shot.

Let's just hope it's a lot better than that Star Tours ride...lol

So after this we started making our way back to the OTHER side of the park we were at originally, and we passed the new Crush's Coaster...Oh wait, nevermind, it's Toy Story Mania!

After the Great Movie ride broke down before we got to ride it, we went over and watched the animation show. We also took the drawing class (which I failed miserably at) and got this photo with the Incredibles. And must I say how tacky it is that the characters are now using giant stamps instead of handwriting otu their signatures. Good thing they were the only ones who I saw doing it.

Instead of finishing the rest of the attractions in the area, we walked all the way back to the other side of the park for an ice cream sandwhich, yes, an ice cream sandwich. My dad's girlfriend's daughter got the craving for one of these, and when she wants something she gets it. So we walked all the way back here to get one. Now you know why I was going out of my mind, and it was only the first day!

On our way into the 3D Muppets ride, we took a picture in front of the fountain.

Yay, 3:21 until I ride the most pointless ride ever...lol Ok, I guess it wasn't that bad, but I didn't enjoy it all that much.

Pretty good theming for a pretty bad ride...

Halfway through the Indiana Jones show, they ended the show due to a thunderstorm nearby. So instead of waiting for the next show we decided to head over to Star Tours.

After leaving the area we went over and watched the Little Mermaid show which I thought was pretty neat. We decided to come back to the animation studio later and head over to Indiana Jones. On the way there we passed this, which I had absolutly no interest in. It looked pretty dumb if you ask me.

Right before we got on the ride.

Last time I was here I really didn't get to take in the great theming inside the hotel. The whole ride really amazes me upstairs and down.

Hotel signage.

After riding Rock 'n' Roller Coaster we went over and rode Tower of Terror. Here's a picture looking up at the ride.

A peek at the cool looking exit area.

Credit #71! One of the few sit-down Vekomas I enjoyed.

This alone makes Six Flags and Cedar Fair theming look like a joke.

I thought the entry way was really neat...

We decided to go to the far right of the park and work our way across. This allowed me to get my 71st credit and a ride on this ride.

To tell you the truth I didn't realize this was supposed to be the park's center piece until the end of the week. lol

We finally got into the park around 8ish and the crowds were beginning to get to the park.

Yay, we're finally here...now where's Expedition Everest? lol

We left the hotel around 7:30 and 6 miles up the road we arrived at the entrance to Disney World.

[moofygirl]

Wow, The Sheraton Vistana Villages are a lot nicer than I thought they'd be. Looks like a beautiful resort. Would you stay there again?

 

Thanks for posting the photos. My last trip to Orlando was at the end of May and I'm in Disney withdrawal.

[EastCoastn07]

Yeah If I had a chance I would because the place had a lot to do on days you didn't go to the parks. If I ever went back to Disney though I'd probably stay on the resort because when we went back in 97 we stayed at the All Star Resort and I really liked that as well.

[Magnumfan]

I recommend staying at Port Orleans Riverside. That is a pretty nice to stay at while on the WDW property. You're pretty much in the center of everything, really close to Epcot when it's late at night(It helps when Epcot is the park that closes the latest during the Christmas holiday season).

[EastCoastn07]

Day 3: Magic Kingdom

June 26th, 2007

 

Sorry for not posting the pics earlier on, but I've been in Cali and its been hard getting on the computer long enough to go through all my pics and resize them and then make the post. But anyways, if I had to say which day was the worst day of my trip, I would have to say day 3. I would just like everyone to know that going to a theme park with a woman who does nothing but bitch all day, is by far the worst thing to do. You seriously wouldn't understand how aggrivated I was at the end of the day after spending the whole day doing everything my dad's girlfriend wanted to do and having to deal with her constant complaining. Not to mention we left the park early because her daughter didn't feel good and didn't get to catch the fireworks show...Luckily we came back to the park for day 4 but I'll get to that later on.

 

So I'm going to end the rant session, and get on with the pics. Look out for Day 4 sometime this week! Also, sorry if the pics seem random and not taken in any certain order, I was dealing with a dieing battery all day so I really didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I got a few more on Day 4.

And there you have it, a fun filled day of aggrivation at Disney's Magic Kingdom. To end day 3, I leave you with Fun Spot's 300+ ft. sky coaster and Old Town, which somehow we ended up near when my dad got totally lost. Stay tuned for Day 4!

Didn't catch this on the way in, I thought it was really neat.

The castle at night...I have a lot more of these that are a lot better (plus fireworks) for my Day 4 report.

We got one last ride on Space Mountain before the Queen made us leave for the night. Take note at how much my camera fails in pitch black environments.

My family absolutely hated me for dragging them on this coaster, and continuously told me how they thought it was by far the worst coaster they have ever ridden lol.

Credit #73!

Notice how my pictures went from sunny outside to pitch black...That's what happens when you only have one bar of battery left on your camera.

I forget what the boat is called, but in this picture you can faintly see the CLOSED Haunted Mansion. I really liked it the last time I was here and was anxious to ride it again, but was saddened when I saw it was closed.

Another shot of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad...I'll have more in my Day 4 report considering I had more battery life on the second day at the park.

Finally, several hours later and we arrive at my first new credit at the park. I think this was number 72 (sorry for lack of train - Fast Pass line goes pretty quick).

Pretty self explanatory.

So after the parade we finished up all the attractions in Adventureland, such as the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. Even though I have no pictures of Pirates, I must say Jack Sparrow looked incredibly human-like in the ride, and I applaud Disney for that.

Hey there, Beauty...haha

Probably the worst looking Aladdin ever...you'd think they could at least get someone that LOOKED as if they were from the Arabia or something.

The floats were continuously stopping throughout the parade and tons of cast members and paramedics were running all over the place so I had a feeling somebody passed out or something. At least we got a good look at every float, lol. But it wasn't fun standing out in the sun for so long, especially considering how hot it was.

Lack of battery life made me avoid taking so many pictures, so after riding all the rides in Tomorrowland and then eating lunch, we headed over to Adventureland and got to watch the parade.

Got this credit last time I was here and it was just as fun as it was ten years ago. However, I've seen what the company did with Disneyland's Space Mountain and I truly think the ride could use the same type of treatment. Even if they never build an entire new coaster like they did with DL, I still think the theming as well as the effects could use some revamping.

Even though I hate his ride, Stitch is still a cool ass dude.

The first thing we rode was Stitch's Great Escape. I was like, "HEY it's new, it should be great!", so we rode it. Man, if I ever regretted riding any ride in my life, this would be it. I probably almost puked halfway through the ride from that stench they blow at you, not to mention I kept smelling that smell everywhere around the park. Never again will I ride this ride, lol.

First stop: Tomorrow Land, probably my favorite area of the park.

Cinerella's Castle, Tinkerbell wire and all...

A shot of the castle from Main Street.

You've probably seen this picture a million times already...lol

A shot of the park from across the lake...This was new to me considering the last time I was here, the resort buses just dropped us at the gate. We chose to take the ferry over.

Yay, Magic Kingdom. A great place to spend our second day at WDW...or so I thought.

[bgwfreak]

Great 1st PTR dude!

[hemmy]

I just got back from my flight from Orlando

 

I went to the Magic Kingdom on July 4th and there were over 90,000 people there. So nuts

 

I also went to Epcot.

 

A lot of people like WDW but I am not one of them, all 4 parks are just boring IMO you can only ride those flat rides so many times before they drive you crazy.

 

I also went to Old Town and Funspot yesterday.

 

Kind of cool I guess. I rode the G-force Dragsters which went 0-110 mph in 2 seconds but that was a big let down and a waste of $30

 

I also rode some go karts which they are VERY strict about bumping.

 

Finally I tried out the haunted house in old town which was ok, but not scary.

[coastakid]

Nice Photo TR! It was great to be reminded of how amazing my trip was back in December! My brother and his girlfriend were in the Backlot Tour show and my brother got "pawned" by the water and his girlfriend was the captian of the ship. It was actually incredibly funny to watch . Haha, glad you had a great time...

 

-coasterkid

[coasterdude5]

Great TR, Disney is awesome. I didn't find Stitch to be that bad, for some reason I could barely smell the smell they blew out, not sure why though... It sounds like I was lucky.

[Darksin]

LOL Old Town is on Orlo Bronson Highway. You just made a wrong turn comming out of the park!

 

Wow it's been a while since I've been down that way even after living in that hellhole for 20 years. Funny how you miss the common sights! Love the photos and enjoy the vacation!

 

I can't wait for the Aquatica to open! They have been trying to build that since they got Discovery Cove open, way back when I was still working there at age 16 (a good ten years ago now). I can't wait to go back to Orlando and see what they've done to my parks, normally it just ends up with me ranting but it's always fun!

 

Mmmm come on Halloween so we can go to HHN!

[EastCoastn07]

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

June 27th, 2007

 

Wow, I can't believe I haven't been able to post this update in the past 8 days, but it's been really hard doing so while spending time with my family here in California. I'm only here till the first week of August so I'm trying to spend time with them and work on my pictures at the same time.

 

Anyways, after two long days at parks, the family decided that we should take a break and hang out at the pool and go to Magic Kingdom later on in the day and catch the fireworks show. So, that's exactly what we did, spent the afternoon at the pool and around 6 o'clock went to Magic Kingdom and rode some stuff over before watching the fireworks show. So, no use me talking any longer, here's the pictures.

 

Look forward to Animal Kingdom pictures real soon!

And I leave you with one last photo of Cinderella's castle...Stay tuned for Day 5 and pictures of Animal Kingdom and my favorite coaster on the trip, Expedition Everest.

Me and my dad in front of it all right before we left...I really enjoyed my visits at Magic Kingdom even though they didn't have a lot of thrilling rides. It was still a great experience.

I was finally able to get a picture of the statue of Walt and Mickey...I'm surprised how good this pic turned out.

The finale was just amazing and my jaw was wide open when it was all over. I would have to say this was the best picture of all them.

One of my favorite shots...Wish I would have take it horizontally.

These babies looked really huge in person.

Amazing...

I still haven't decided if I liked the Wishes show or IllumiNations better...

A really neat shot, it looks like the castle and the fireworks are the same color.

The shots keep getting better and better.

I was amazed how synchronized they had the fireworks with the music playing around the park.

The show started and I missed Tinkerbell while trying to pick the best shooting mode to take fireworks pictures. Thank god my camera has a shooting mode specially for firework pics.

Moments before the fireworks show began.

Astro Orbiter at night...Which means the fireworks are about to start any minute now.

As night drew closer, we began making our way back to the front of the park. Here's the Speedway...I definitely remember the cars being faster when I was a kid...lol

Astro Orbiter and all its glory.

Guess this is a little better...not.

Next, we got a few more rides on Space Mountain...Sorry for my cameras lack of dark photo taking.

Hmm?

My family wouldn't let me ride it one last time, so I only have this picture to remind me of it. lol

A day shot of my 73rd coaster...

Ah, me and Mickey. I know I have a picture of me and him from back in the day and it had the same exact background and everything...I'll have to scan that picture and post it when I get back to Penn.

So since my little sister didn't get to meet Mickey yet, we decided to wait at the Judge's Tent to get his autograph and take pictures. It's really unbelieveable how different this whole deal is now, because when I was at the park in 1997, I didn't remember there ever being 45 minute waits to get an autograph. Now that I think about it, it's pretty foolish waiting that long to meet some random college kid in a Micky suit, but the kids love it.

Entering Mickey's Toontown Fair.

After we rode BTMR once more, we got back on the train and headed to Mickey's Toontown Fair. On the way there, I got one last shot at the coaster.

I'm really disappointed I didn't get to ride this coaster the last time I was at the park, I probably would have loved it. Now I just think it's a 'okay' coaster.

Since I had more battery life today I was able to get a lot more shots of the coaster.

As soon as we got to the park, we hopped on the train and headed to Frontierland and got one last ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

The day before we took the ferry so we took the monorail this time which allowed me to get this shot of Space Mountain. I also got pictures of the construction site of the new hotel, but I didn't want to bore you guys with those.

The fam and I in front of Mickey...One thing you'll notice about all my pictures in the day, regardless of where the sun is, my eyes get all squinty because they're so sensitive. This pic is no different.

[IceDragon]

Wow! The last firework photo is amazing!!!

 

Thise shots took me back to when I was 5 and I went to Disneyland and saw the fireworks... It was beautiful...

 

Another great addition to an already amazing photo tr!

[Groteslurf]

Awesome updates !