Disney Springs Town Center Grand Opening Mega Thread!!

[nelsonj3]

A camera like mine takes stills and movies (4k).
f-stops. Think of the pupil of your eyes. As light intensity around you gets darker the larger your pupils get to take in more light. As intensity of light around you increases your pupils get smaller.

f-stop is the size of iris (pupil) on a camera. The smaller the f-stop number the larger the iris is. The larger the f-stop number is the smaller the iris is. If you can find a film SLR camera and you can manually set the f-stop look into the lens. As you change the f-stop you will see how it works.

f-2.8 means the iris is larger than f-8

Did I confuse you?

That's actually very helpful! So, when looking for a camera that's good in low light, I need to find a camera that has a lower f-stop number which means it has a larger opening for light to enter.

Do you recommend an SLR type camera over a camcorder for video? I guess the SLR's usually have better lenses, so that would probably help to get a better image.

 

[nelsonj3]

Also important to remember that the lower the number, such as 2.8, the less depth of field you have, that is, what is in front or back of where the camera is focused is likely to be more out of focus.

That makes sense too. So, I might be able to take in more light, but my overall image might seem less focused since I can only focus on a limited range of objects. So, closer objects might be in focus, but objects in the background would be more blurry than normal, depending on where I actually decided to focus the camera. Did I get it?

I'm generally a quick study.

 

[beer dave]

How did I accidentally click on the how to work your camera thread?

 

[Eoghann]

That makes sense too. So, I might be able to take in more light, but my overall image might seem less focused since I can only focus on a limited range of objects. So, closer objects might be in focus, but objects in the background would be more blurry than normal, depending on where I actually decided to focus the camera. Did I get it?

I'm generally a quick study.

That's a very important detail. 2.8 isn't too bad with a bit of care, but my new camera lens goes down to f1.7 and at that point you can easily have a person's ear in focus but not their nose. So you can't while the extra f stops are nice it's not a free pass.

 

[manning]

Below are a few pictures I took with the FZ300. I got it recently and stilling learning how to use it. No flash was used.

I didn't take any videos so I copied some from Youtube

 

[manning]

That makes sense too. So, I might be able to take in more light, but my overall image might seem less focused since I can only focus on a limited range of objects. So, closer objects might be in focus, but objects in the background would be more blurry than normal, depending on where I actually decided to focus the camera. Did I get it?

I'm generally a quick study.

As Prof Higgins says "I think you've got it

Depth of field


A lens can only bring objects at a single distance from the camera into sharp focus. But if you look at photographs, you can see a considerable area of the scene from near to far that appears sharp. Even though theoretically only one narrow plane is critically sharp, other parts of the scene in front of and behind the most sharply focused plane appear acceptably sharp. This area in which everything looks sharp is called depth of field. Objects within the depth of field become less and less sharp the farther they are from the plane of critical focus. Eventually they become so out of focus that they no longer appear sharp at all.

attached is a video that explains it better than I can.

http://www.adorama.com/alc/0012518/article/Depth-of-Field-AdoramaTV

 

[manning]

Which brand camera to buy? The one you like and meets your needs. You’re always going to get a debate on which one is the best. What’s that saying? “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. Shop all the brands.

I own Canon and Panasonic. Why? Because I like them. When I bought I liked their features.

The Panasonic I have is a bridge camera. I now use this over my DSLR. I got tired of carrying around all those lenses. I've heard some pros use this as their backup camera.

A huge majority of brands use Sony sensors. This is what sold me, Splashproof / Dustproof Rugged Design: The LUMIX FZ300 features a splashproof / dustproof rugged design with tight seals on every joint, dial and button, so it stands up to harsh weather conditions and challenging environments-from a marshy jungle to a windy desert. I can shoot in the rain. Just don't put it underwater. To do that it has to be waterproof. Other brands may be coming out with this.

Lens quality. It is made by Panasonic but it is Leica design. In order to use it Leica requires their name be put on it to ensure the lens is made to Leica quality standard. It is a very,very good lens.

There is a $100 rebate now.


To buy a camera or camcorder. Good question.

Did I put you to sleep yet?

 

[Pumbaa7287]

I was there for the opening (actually found myself in the original poster's video up at the front and center of the crowd!). I tend to agree with most of what's been said here. The shops are nice, but not super unique, and very little of it interested me when there are cheaper options online or in local stores, as a local myself. I ate lunch at D-Lux and a burger, shake, and fries ended up costing me about $25 once all was said and done, which seemed pretty outrageous for a place that was basically on par with Five Guys (better burger, worse fries). I will say that while waiting outdoor in line to get in to D-Lux they had a cast member there who was telling us the back story of the building, and that was quite fun and unique for the area. The 'story' was essentially that it used to be called the Glowing Oak Ranch and was owned by the Sinclair family. They'd light bonfires underneath the Oak tree (which is still planted next to the restaurant) that gave the ranch it's name. That's the type of stuff that I love and makes the experience unique, but I'm not sure how easy it will be to access that type of experience now that the opening rush is over and they transition in to herding the tourist cattle through the line as quickly and efficiently as possible.

 

[nelsonj3]

Which brand camera to buy? The one you like and meets your needs. You’re always going to get a debate on which one is the best. What’s that saying? “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. Shop all the brands.

I own Canon and Panasonic. Why? Because I like them. When I bought I liked their features.

The Panasonic I have is a bridge camera. I now use this over my DSLR. I got tired of carrying around all those lenses. I've heard some pros use this as their backup camera.

A huge majority of brands use Sony sensors. This is what sold me, Splashproof / Dustproof Rugged Design: The LUMIX FZ300 features a splashproof / dustproof rugged design with tight seals on every joint, dial and button, so it stands up to harsh weather conditions and challenging environments-from a marshy jungle to a windy desert. I can shoot in the rain. Just don't put it underwater. To do that it has to be waterproof. Other brands may be coming out with this.

Lens quality. It is made by Panasonic but it is Leica design. In order to use it Leica requires their name be put on it to ensure the lens is made to Leica quality standard. It is a very,very good lens.

There is a $100 rebate now.


To buy a camera or camcorder. Good question.

Did I put you to sleep yet?

Not at all! This is all good info. I'm going to keep researching, and I'll eventually find the right one. Then, it will just be a matter of getting the money in the budget for it.
I think I will definitely want at least a Water Resistant camera so that I can shoot in the rain without worrying like you said, or even on a water ride.

 

[nelsonj3]

I was there for the opening (actually found myself in the original poster's video up at the front and center of the crowd!). I tend to agree with most of what's been said here. The shops are nice, but not super unique, and very little of it interested me when there are cheaper options online or in local stores, as a local myself. I ate lunch at D-Lux and a burger, shake, and fries ended up costing me about $25 once all was said and done, which seemed pretty outrageous for a place that was basically on par with Five Guys (better burger, worse fries). I will say that while waiting outdoor in line to get in to D-Lux they had a cast member there who was telling us the back story of the building, and that was quite fun and unique for the area. The 'story' was essentially that it used to be called the Glowing Oak Ranch and was owned by the Sinclair family. They'd light bonfires underneath the Oak tree (which is still planted next to the restaurant) that gave the ranch it's name. That's the type of stuff that I love and makes the experience unique, but I'm not sure how easy it will be to access that type of experience now that the opening rush is over and they transition in to herding the tourist cattle through the line as quickly and efficiently as possible.

That's awesome that you found yourself in my video! I found myself in a few other videos from that day too. (I'm in Timtracker's video for a decent amount of time... should have turned around and said hello... lol).

I haven't tried D-Lux yet, but if it is comparable to Five Guys, then maybe it won't be such a big deal. Atmosphere is pretty cool, and eating on the deck/patio would be nice with a view of the springs.

 

[nelsonj3]

Here is a nice, relaxing video of just the Springs in 4K UHD. Enjoy!!

 

[manning]

When you get your camera and start taking stills I'll try to explain the rule of thirds.

 

[Juliet25]

Recently went to Disney Springs and here's some observations

*Not very crowded. I think the opening day excitement has died down. IDK what it's like at night, but I've been twice in the afternoon and crowds were pretty average.
*Line at Sprinkles not crazy long. Got my free cupcake (plain vanilla) and it was very good. I would actually pay $4.95 for it. I love a good vanilla cupcake. I was in and out of shop in less than 10 minutes.
*Mall is very nice but way too fancy for my tastes. I wouldn't purchase any of these brands at home, so I'm not going to waste my vacation time and money on them here. If I want to shop Origins, I'll do it at home.
*My biggest complaint is the new bus stop. You get dropped off in the center (which makes sense), but there's no longer more than one stop. If you're looking to shop the old Marketplace, you're in for a long haul. You're no longer dropped off right behind the Christmas shop. World of Disney is somewhat close, but everything else is quite a trek (compared to how it used to be). I used to enjoy taking Disney transport for a quick shopping trip, but that's a thing of the past. It's hard to explain the bus layout; you get dropped off close but the return buses are spread out. YMMV as to whether you find this inconvenient.
*Lots of new shopping and entertainment options, so I'm sure the old "West Side" will appeal to lots of people.
*My big complaint is that shopping just the Marketplace is not as easy as it once was.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

So with the current bus loop closing at the Marketplace, does Disney plan to build anything there?

 

[nelsonj3]

Recently went to Disney Springs and here's some observations

*Not very crowded. I think the opening day excitement has died down. IDK what it's like at night, but I've been twice in the afternoon and crowds were pretty average.
*Line at Sprinkles not crazy long. Got my free cupcake (plain vanilla) and it was very good. I would actually pay $4.95 for it. I love a good vanilla cupcake. I was in and out of shop in less than 10 minutes.
*Mall is very nice but way too fancy for my tastes. I wouldn't purchase any of these brands at home, so I'm not going to waste my vacation time and money on them here. If I want to shop Origins, I'll do it at home.
*My biggest complaint is the new bus stop. You get dropped off in the center (which makes sense), but there's no longer more than one stop. If you're looking to shop the old Marketplace, you're in for a long haul. You're no longer dropped off right behind the Christmas shop. World of Disney is somewhat close, but everything else is quite a trek (compared to how it used to be). I used to enjoy taking Disney transport for a quick shopping trip, but that's a thing of the past. It's hard to explain the bus layout; you get dropped off close but the return buses are spread out. YMMV as to whether you find this inconvenient.
*Lots of new shopping and entertainment options, so I'm sure the old "West Side" will appeal to lots of people.
*My big complaint is that shopping just the Marketplace is not as easy as it once was.

I totally agree with you about the bus stop situation. The parking garage situation is similar too. The one nice thing about having five different parking lots as they did before was that you could at least try to park closer to where you wanted to be. For example, if we wanted to eat at the Wolfgang Puck Express in the Marketplace, there used to be a lot really close to it. Now, you have to park at the Lime Garage and walk quite a distance. The bus stop is even further from the marketplace, so I totally get what you're saying. I guess it makes the bussing more efficient since the busses only stop at one stop at the Springs, but it does make it less convenient.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I ate lunch at D-Lux and a burger, shake, and fries ended up costing me about $25 once all was said and done, which seemed pretty outrageous for a place that was basically on par with Five Guys (better burger, worse fries). I will say that while waiting outdoor in line to get in to D-Lux they had a cast member there who was telling us the back story of the building, and that was quite fun and unique for the area.

I get airport, stadium and theme park prices ... even though I'm not happy about them. But shopping center fictional backstory prices?

Not sure but maybe we'll see that in "not very long", stores and restaurants will be closing and rumors will leak of yet another renovation and rebranding of this area.

It could be another example of how Disney's abundance of land leads them to keep trying to hit one out of the park over and over again with a super-stupendous shopping/eating area, whereas Universal seems to deal with their constricted Citywalk space without any need to close it and re-tool it every ten years.

 

[Accident]

It could be another example of how Disney's abundance of land leads them to keep trying to hit one out of the park over and over again with a super-stupendous shopping/eating area, whereas Universal seems to deal with their constricted Citywalk space without any need to close it and re-tool it every ten years.

What I had heard is arrest from pleasure island were getting excessive, especially with drunk driving and beer muscle fights.. I think the reimage was prompted more for visitor safety and the shopping theme, that place was always a shopping theme and road work, more parking was needed. They knew people were leaving and spending money away from property so they want to try to keep them. no different than building the water parks or mini golf. keep them on property and spending here.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

...was at "springs" for a few hours today...

Some
Good...lots of not so good in my opinion .

 

[rteetz]

...was at "springs" for a few hours today...

Some
Good...lots of not so good in my opinion .

In town during the big Dis mega meet I see. Would love to hear your thoughts throughout your trip of different things anything interesting to do or see.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

In town during the big Dis mega meet I see. Would love to hear your thoughts throughout your trip of different things anything interesting to do or see.

Springs is...well...ummm...trying to be "fair"...might be there later this week...I'll...um...ehh...yeah...

...later