dandaman Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Trip notes: - Flew down to Florida for the weekend to visit my sister in college. Picked her up in St. Pete on Friday and headed up I-4 for the weekend. - Downtown Disney and Polynesian AND Hallowishes fireworks, same night. A great pre-cursor to the day ahead. - Epcot > Everything in the history of the universe. Any questions? Good. Moving on... Step 3: Purge as necessary. Moral: There is no proper nor possibly way to enjoy Beverly. More coming shortly. Step 2: Wait five seconds. Daniel's Guide to Drinking Beverly Step 1: Pour Beverly and serve. Parents went to a free wine seminar in Wonders of Life (as in, "Wonder why it's still here?"). Apparently sampling 5 wines ranging from $40 - $400 a bottle was the vacation highlight. "That Ellen ride". I had a nice nap. "Wes, I desperately want to hypersleep with you!" Wes has now just started paying attention. "Mynd you, moose bites kan be pretti nasti..." The one thing from Food and Wine Fest that I had: Durban Spiced Chicken. Chicken = awesome, mysterious square congealment = WTF? "Why? WHY?!" Best part of World Showcase. Found a good angle on this. "The Lone(ly) Patriot" What, no DLP? Canaba represent! "OH, that's creepy!" Anyone catch the Emeryville, California reference on the wine poster? Yep... just the Figment Experience... no crappy 3-D show in here whatsoever! ...And some pumpkins that I wouldn't mind seeing on my front porch this Halloween. Beats carving it myself. Living with the Land features Disney's own Dole Whip grow-op! Finally! (He's only hiding 'cause the Coral Reef restaurant is looking for new menu ideas.) There's Mickey... There's Dory... There's the old fish from Scene 24... There's Bubbles... Tried finding Nemo. There's the French guy... BIG improvement over the SeaCabs, IMO. (Heck, even this SIGN beats the old "Hydrolators to Nowhere" theme.) Rodent shout-out to Elissa #2 The wandless version of the "big golf ball thing" (as I've heard many a tourist so eloquently describe) certainly looks a lot more majestic. Ratatouille stuff + Spaceship Earth = much kicking of ass The next day (but you knew that...) This is pretty much the gist of Hallowishes: Various villains drop by and asplode the castle, but do it in pyrotechnic style so no one notices. Sis decides to entertain herself by creating her own Polynesiahenge on the beach. But they did have self-serve Dole Whips downstairs, making this hotel food court the best thing since the Dawn of Red. This as close to Ohana's flame-grilled 50-pound meat slab dinner as you'll get. Decided to hit up the Polynesian for some fireworks action. Whilst waiting for Hallowishes to start (which I'd actually never seen before), I screwed around with the camera settings on the lobby waterfalls. Unfortunately, no "crazed Desmond with a gun" feature was available. Best ride EVAR!!1! Proving that consuming Ghirardelli chocolate is a cardinal sin, this sundae costs exactly $6.66 with tax. Rodent shout-out to Elissa #1 Time for some shoppin' Our hotel for the next two nights in Orlando. Very great suite rooms, especially for $88/night. Thank you, MouseSavers. We start with the Hands of God attempting to grab our plane and fling it back to Hell. Upon hearing of its actual departure from Detroit, he let us go and apologized for any confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 Part 2, and I only wrote this 'cause it needed a "proper message" to post. Thanks for reading, folks. 'Till next time! And now for my montage of SSE night shots to round out the report. Then a CM on a Segway asks if I wanted him to bring me up to the plaza. It's gestures like these that make me really respect these folks. Thanks to him, these turned out quite well! So they rope off Future World (East?) after the show. My intentions were to grab some good shots of the Mission: Gary plaza, but obviously that didn't work. As Paul and Bill can attest, this is EXACTLY what it looks like 6 months out of the year in Canada. At least the finale is the one photo that turned out half-decent. Apologies in advance for the quality of these... I tried to fit in as much fire as possible. Hopped over to France for some "photos de l'eau". Nighttime facilitates the need for a steady hand and/or a tabletop tripod. Luckily I had one. Since I had to hold the camera during the upcoming Illuminations shots, try to guess which one. Believe it or not, in the 13 years I've been visiting Epcot, I've never set foot beyond the gate archway to China. VERY nice film. Yeah... not today. Despite the glare, I got pretty lucky with this around 5:30 in the afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbadboy Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 So far, this is a seriously awesome photo TR. Your pictures are wonderful. But your captions steal the show. "Awesome, mysterious square congealment" HA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwantRevenge Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 awesome TR. is there any proper way to describe beverly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 is there any proper way to describe beverly? It almost tastes half-decent in the first 5 seconds, but shortly thereafter your taste buds basically get kicked in the proverbial gonads. In short: "Bitter as hell". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferfish Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Great TR. You could have done the single rider line on test track if you didn't want to wait in the stand by line. Boy, this makes me want to go back so bad, but thats probably not going to happen in the next three years, sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 You could have done the single rider line on test track if you didn't want to wait in the stand by line. Not at 45 minutes, I wouldn't have. I've used it many a time, but I find that Test Track just isn't worth over a 30-minute wait anymore. Thanks again folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
America Sings Freak Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Very good photo TR. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resonancej Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Your pics are amazing, photography must be a hobby of yours or something. On a different note I can't wait to hit up the Food and Wine festival next week and eat my way around the world showcase. What's wrong with the white congealed stuff, looks like mashed potatoes to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillMontu Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Nice job, a little bit like my recent TR. "Wes, I want to hypersleep with you!" is one of the best captions ever\ Have you ever thought of a Gorillapod?. I took mine to EPCOT a few days ago and got some nice shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkStitch626 Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Awesome TR. I must bring up though "Beverly" is really not "that" bad. I enjoy it myself...I mean 2 or 3 of my friends want to find it online and buy a case. I love the stuff personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hattuchili Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Wow, great pictures you took there at WDW. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 1. Your pics are amazing, photography must be a hobby of yours or something. 2. What's wrong with the white congealed stuff, looks like mashed potatoes to me... 1. Well, I actually got my first camera last August. The basic reason I bought it was exactly for the reasons on here... trip reports. I guess you could say it's evolved into a hobby, though I barely know crap about f-stop, etc. And thanks! 2. Yeah... it wouldn't have made such quick friends with the trash bin if it were mashed potatoes. From other family members who tried it (in a manner not unlike convincing your friends to try Beverly), they concluded it was tofu. I'd heard it was the epitome of bland before, but it's now off my menu for life. 1. "Wes, I want to hypersleep with you!" is one of the best captions ever. 2. Have you ever thought of a Gorillapod?. I took mine to EPCOT a few days ago and got some nice shots. 1. I write pretty much the same reports (with some changed captions and photos) on WDWMAGIC. There I type up a Works document with image tags and post it all at once, once I'm done. Here, since I have to upload photos individually, I write the captions then. In other words, I had no idea what you were talking about until I looked back at what I'd actually typed. 2. I actually meant that I HAVE the tabletop tripod. Steady hand I do not have, as the fireworks pictures show... but those Gorillapods look awesome. I try wrapping it especially around all the railings at the parks, but it doesn't work. Awesome TR. I must bring up though "Beverly" is really not "that" bad. I enjoy it myself...I mean 2 or 3 of my friends want to find it online and buy a case. I love the stuff personally. To each his own. I'll take my Smart Watermelon from (China?) any day. And might I just say I love that avatar! ^Soren! Ironic that you should appear here. Last time I posted something about Epcot, you were involved. August 2006: I'm still ugly as ever, but I don't care 'cause I'm with SOREN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIP Psyclone Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Cruelty to pumpkins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 There are a lot of talented photographers on this board, but your pictures in this PTR flat out dominate. Kept saying over and over "oooo! That's my new wallpaper!" Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildStangAlex Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Dude! I want your Maverick Shirt! Where did you get it, online? I didn't see that one anywhere at CP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 ^I got it the Sunday before it opened, on the... 20th of May? 21st? Somewhere around there. When I went there the last week of August, they still had the exact same ones. You should be able to find them in the Maverick gift shop. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmy Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 How did you manage to take a nap on the Ellen ride? That thing is too loud and gave me a huge headache which continued to throb in the July sun after the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 How did you manage to take a nap on the Ellen ride? ^The miracles of creative license for the sake of story and lying outright having a love child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissie Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Awesome TR. I must bring up though "Beverly" is really not "that" bad. I enjoy it myself...I mean 2 or 3 of my friends want to find it online and buy a case. I love the stuff personally. I like the Beverly too! We should start a fan club. Awesome TR! Looks like u had a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterJunkie Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Those are some awesome pictures. I love how people capture parts of EPCOT that others could overlook. Most of those shots, including the fireworks are desktop wallpaper worthy. My current desktop is a nighttime picture of the "wand free" SE. Wonderful report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Now that's what I call dedication. Putting hidden Mickeys in the clouds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 ^Trust me, that's the first thing I looked for when I uploaded it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Although it does kinda look like Mickey giving us the finger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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