We Defected to the West! DLR 2013

[amandaw]

What a great last day in the park!

That meet & greet with Cruella just sounds like so much fun! I love all the different poses! And your daughter's dress is beautiful. You are very talented lady.

Thank you for sharing your trip with all of us here. It has definitely helped me learn a lot about DLR. I am quite nervous about going there for the 1st time next year so reading your TR has definitely helped me.

 

[KCmike]

Fantastic last couple of installments. Such gorgeous shots of your daughter in her gown, IASM facade at Christmas, and inside the Lilly Belle train car. Was that your first time inside the train car?

Again such wonderful images Janet. Bravo!

We're both should be getting close to our Christmas trips to Disney on both sides of the country now. Are you all geared up and ready with plans and such?

 

[Yzerbear19]

It had been really hard to leave California just as the weather was warming up. It was even harder to leave knowing it was bitter cold back home. And we hadn't brought winter coats. That morning when we packed, we put things we could layer into the outer pockets of our suitcases. So we stopped and added some layers and headed out into the cold. The worst part was standing outside waiting for the Parking Spot bus to arrive. Thankfully the car, which had been parked outside through an ice storm and bitter cold weather, started right up.

I can sympathize with this. We seem to always forget our winter coats. My sister's birthday is in January so we will often go away then. The one time we had to wait for my brother to get out of work in Detroit and then come pick us up. He called us and said he was at the airport, but he must have just exited because we ended up waiting outside without winter coats for 15 minutes or more. You would think we would learn, but never seem to. LOL

Your trip report was awesome! What a great trip.

Your photos or Small World are amazing!!!! What settings do you use to shoot?

 

[mom2rtk]

Beautiful, Small World photos, Janet! I would love to see the holiday overlay sometime!

And, you were really lucky to have a captain who pointed out the scenery along the way home on your flight! I have photographed that area with each trip, and was able to identify LV, Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon, but don't know if I ever had a Bryce / Zion view.

I really enjoyed this trip report! Do you have all your plans made for this year's trip? Looking forward to hearing about it!

Thanks Karen. I hope you get to see the Small World holiday overlay sometime. It really ended up being one of our absolute favorites from this trip.

And I agree that it was great our captain told us what we were seeing. I came home talking about that flight as much as I talked about Disneyland. We tried hard to get flights into LV again this trip, but just couldn't work it out. We're flying direct into LAX this time, then changing planes in Denver on the way home.

We really have been behind the curve planning for this trip. I made reservations for the final of the old Fantasmic Dessert seating for this trip. And we're doing CC for the WoC package on arrival night. But beyond that, I tried to cut down on ADRs. I really did feel hemmed in with "appointments" last time. I want as much unstructured time as possible.

Looks like Katie had a great time meeting the characters and all nicely dressed up.

A very nice night at DL. I always pass by the Star Wars Jedi Training Academy which is great for the young kids. Nice pictures when in Mickey's Toontown and to ride IASWH at night which is great.

I enjoy reading your trip report and seeing all your great photos. I will be looking forward to hearing from your upcoming trip along with your new toy.

I really wish they did the Jedi Training Academy when the boys were little. There was a time that our house was completely engrossed in Star Wars. Not a birthday or Christmas went by for years without the boys getting a variety of Star Wars items.

We'll probably visit Toontown the same time of day on this trip. It was so much more pleasant with a lot less people there.

I'm so glad you read along the trip report. Have a great time on your trip. I look forward to your early reports on this year's holiday season. And yes, I'm very excited to be heading to DL with my new toy soon.

I love your little Christmas tree and the pictures from Small World are amazing. It looks fab all lit up!
Great trip report

Thanks Petals. I'm so glad you read along with us. And thanks to you (and everyone else!) for sticking with me when this dragged out far longer than it should have!

What a great last day in the park!

That meet & greet with Cruella just sounds like so much fun! I love all the different poses! And your daughter's dress is beautiful. You are very talented lady.

Thank you for sharing your trip with all of us here. It has definitely helped me learn a lot about DLR. I am quite nervous about going there for the 1st time next year so reading your TR has definitely helped me.

Thanks Amanda.

You will love DLR. It will give you the chance to experience so many "Disney firsts" all over again. I'll probably do another TR after this trip, so feel free to drop in and ask any questions you have as you continue planning your own trip.

 

[mom2rtk]

Fantastic last couple of installments. Such gorgeous shots of your daughter in her gown, IASM facade at Christmas, and inside the Lilly Belle train car. Was that your first time inside the train car?

Again such wonderful images Janet. Bravo!

We're both should be getting close to our Christmas trips to Disney on both sides of the country now. Are you all geared up and ready with plans and such?

I KNOW! Can you believe how close it's all getting? Knowing the holiday season starts this week at DLR makes it all seem so much closer! We really have been slow to make our actual plans for this trip, but we're getting there. I guess one of the things I like about DLR is that I don't really HAVE to make my plans early if I don't want to. We have finally started to map out a rough outline of what we want to do when though.

How about you? Did you get your FP reservations made? Remind me how many days you guys will be there? I bet you're excited to photograph WDW at Christmas with that 60D.

And yes, that was our first time to ride in the Lilly Belle. And it seems we did it just in the nick of time!

I can sympathize with this. We seem to always forget our winter coats. My sister's birthday is in January so we will often go away then. The one time we had to wait for my brother to get out of work in Detroit and then come pick us up. He called us and said he was at the airport, but he must have just exited because we ended up waiting outside without winter coats for 15 minutes or more. You would think we would learn, but never seem to. LOL

Your trip report was awesome! What a great trip.

Your photos or Small World are amazing!!!! What settings do you use to shoot?

We didn't really forget our winter coats so much as we took a calculated risk so we wouldn't have to carry them. But we got a cold wintery blast while we were gone so came up short on that risk calculation. That trip home on our December trips really is a harsh slap in the face most of the time. Yet it must be worth it since we keep going back for more!

Detroit though? Ouch. You probably win the battle of the winters! (Or lose? )

If you want to see the settings on any particular photo, you can click on it. That takes you to the Flickr page where the settings are displayed. I love that about Flickr!

On the Small World photos, I set the ISO (usually 1600 or 3200) then shot aperture priority set at 2.8. I'm hoping to make time to take some outdoor Small World shots with a tripod this time.

Thanks so much for reading along!

 

[KCmike]

Four days at WDW for us this time around. I would love to stay around longer but this seem to be just the right fit. We actually flirted with going back to DL but the magical express, 7DMC ride, and just seeing MK, Ecpot, and the Osbourne lights for the first time swayed us. I did get our fast passes already and was able to hit all the headliners for each park. Don't know if I just got lucky or not but I was able to hit 7DMC both days in MK and our other favorites like Splash. My wife wants to do the Sci-Fi Drive In but I can't seem to get a reservation for it. We've eaten just about everywhere around the WDW Resort but haven't done that one yet.

Where are you staying this year at DL? We are going back to our roots and staying at the Port Orleans Riverside. I love eating at the mill and it has such lush grounds for a moderate. Plus we like taking the boat to Downtown Disney. It's our favorite hotel if we don't stay in one of the monorail resorts.

 

[MEK]

I was away for a couple weeks and then its taken me another couple weeks to update my own TR and get caught up on my subbed ones.

I know I missed some updates but I did read the last 4 or 5. Love the pictures of the Lilly Belle! What an amazing little train car. Adorable.

Yay that Katie might be a teenager but she's not afraid to have some fun in her Aurora dress. The poses in front of the castle were lovely. I'm glad you finally got the sun to cooperate. That castle looks so beautiful decorated for Christmas.

I really enjoyed all the photography in your TR. You really did a great job of bringing DL to live.

Nice views from the plane on the way home! I love when the pilot actually announces geographical landmarks. It really cool.

Thanks for the great TR!

 

[jenseib]

Beautiful photos....as always. I can't wait to see what your new camera does.
It really sucks that you are done, but good to know that another one is around the corner.

Love Katies dress. You got some great shots of her and the Castle.
Cruella looks like so much fun. I really would love to go around Christmas time some year. I might have to start stalking air prices for the next few years.

 

[mom2rtk]

Thanks to everyone who had been pulling for Timmy's cat. We actually lost him yesterday. It was a really tough diagnosis and we knew the odds were stacked against him. Thanks again for all the good wishes.

 

[Disney127]

Thanks to everyone who had been pulling for Timmy's cat. We actually lost him yesterday. It was a really tough diagnosis and we knew the odds were stacked against him. Thanks again for all the good wishes.

So sorry to hear this, hugs.

 

[YodasMom]

Thanks to everyone who had been pulling for Timmy's cat. We actually lost him yesterday. It was a really tough diagnosis and we knew the odds were stacked against him. Thanks again for all the good wishes.

I'm so sorry, Janet! It's so hard to lose a beloved furry family member. Hugs to you, Timmy, and your family.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Condolences, Janet. Thinking of you all.

 

[mom2rtk]

So sorry to hear this, hugs.

I'm so sorry, Janet! It's so hard to lose a beloved furry family member. Hugs to you, Timmy, and your family.

Condolences, Janet. Thinking of you all.

Thanks guys. We know he's in a better place. And even though we got some extra time with him, it really was quite sudden. He was only 7 years old. We had 4 cats, but this is the one Timmy had bonded with many years ago, so it was really hard for him.

 

[KCmike]

So sad and so young. So sorry to hear it. Thoughts and prayers go out to your family and especially Timmy.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Hugs! Sorry about the kitty.

Great TR as usual. I was here lurking, but I didn't always post. Thanks for sharing all your great pictures and stories!

 

[MEK]

Just read about your cat and wanted to say how sorry I am. 7 is very young for a cat, making it that much harder. As one cat lover to another, I am truly sorry. Cats are special animals and they can make awesome pets. I hope Timmy is OK.

 

[mom2rtk]

So sad and so young. So sorry to hear it. Thoughts and prayers go out to your family and especially Timmy.

Thanks Mike. I went and got Timmy at school Thursday and have really enjoyed having him home this weekend. He's missing his cat an awful lot, but is working through it. Howard was a very loyal, special friend of his. He's enjoying hanging out with our other cats this weekend though, something he couldn't do at school.

Hugs! Sorry about the kitty.

Great TR as usual. I was here lurking, but I didn't always post. Thanks for sharing all your great pictures and stories!

Thanks Tina! I appreciate you reading along and sticking with me as the TR dragged out. And thanks for the hugs.

Just read about your cat and wanted to say how sorry I am. 7 is very young for a cat, making it that much harder. As one cat lover to another, I am truly sorry. Cats are special animals and they can make awesome pets. I hope Timmy is OK.

Thanks so much. It helps a lot that we at least know what was wrong with him, and understand that it's pretty rare. So the odds of it happening to another of our cats is pretty remote.

I really was never that close to Howard since he spend nearly all of his time in Timmy's room, only coming out briefly to eat and use the box. But I have had him close by these last few weeks as I medicated him and watched him closely. I really got close to that cat, and am now really missing him too. He was so sweet and gentle.

 

[missangelalexis]

Katie looks beautiful in the Aurora dress!

Great photos with Cruella! And it sounds like you encountered some really helpful CMs!

Cute pics in Minnie's house.

The Christmas setup in your room is just too adorable!

The outfits at PCH Grill are so fun, never seen those before!

Amazing shots from the plane.

So sorry to hear about your cat

As a side note, Suzy & Perla were randomly out last week on my visit to WDW! It turned out to be a disappointment though as the line was already closed when I discovered them One day!! On the bright side, I got to get the group photo with Mary, Bert and Mr. Penguin so no complaints!

 

[mom2rtk]

Four days at WDW for us this time around. I would love to stay around longer but this seem to be just the right fit. We actually flirted with going back to DL but the magical express, 7DMC ride, and just seeing MK, Ecpot, and the Osbourne lights for the first time swayed us. I did get our fast passes already and was able to hit all the headliners for each park. Don't know if I just got lucky or not but I was able to hit 7DMC both days in MK and our other favorites like Splash. My wife wants to do the Sci-Fi Drive In but I can't seem to get a reservation for it. We've eaten just about everywhere around the WDW Resort but haven't done that one yet.

Where are you staying this year at DL? We are going back to our roots and staying at the Port Orleans Riverside. I love eating at the mill and it has such lush grounds for a moderate. Plus we like taking the boat to Downtown Disney. It's our favorite hotel if we don't stay in one of the monorail resorts.

I'll be excited to hear what you think of WDW at Christmas compared to DLR. I know you'll enjoy it. I have found myself wanting to get back to WDW lately to try out the mine coaster myself. I know it's not going anywhere..... but I'd still love to get there sooner rather than later.

Did you get an ADR for Sci-Fi yet? We have eaten there several times through the years and really enjoyed it. But Drew is really into 50's monster movies, so it was a no-brainer for us. Hopefully you have been able to find a cancellation by now.

We're staying at PPH again this year. As much as I like the other on-site hotels a bit more, I'm just looking for the cheapest way to be on-site for early park access each day. Not to mention that Disney bubble we love.

I remember you saying before that you love POR. So glad you get to stay there on this trip. We need to stay there sometime. I have heard so many good things from others about that resort.

Did you see that they changed the dates of the parade taping in the MK? I'm thinking that might be over the time you are there. I think I saw it's maybe the 8th and 9th now? I hope that doesn't interfere with any of your plans.

I was away for a couple weeks and then its taken me another couple weeks to update my own TR and get caught up on my subbed ones.

I know I missed some updates but I did read the last 4 or 5. Love the pictures of the Lilly Belle! What an amazing little train car. Adorable.

Yay that Katie might be a teenager but she's not afraid to have some fun in her Aurora dress. The poses in front of the castle were lovely. I'm glad you finally got the sun to cooperate. That castle looks so beautiful decorated for Christmas.

I really enjoyed all the photography in your TR. You really did a great job of bringing DL to live.

Nice views from the plane on the way home! I love when the pilot actually announces geographical landmarks. It really cool.

Thanks for the great TR!

Thanks! The best part of going to Disney these days is seeing Katie embrace her inner child. Of course, I do the same, but any day you can get that out of a teenager is a big win!

The trip home is always so sad, but it was a nice consolation prize to find some interesting scenery to distract us. Not sure if we'll get that this time, but it was a welcome sight last time.

Beautiful photos....as always. I can't wait to see what your new camera does.
It really sucks that you are done, but good to know that another one is around the corner.

Love Katies dress. You got some great shots of her and the Castle.
Cruella looks like so much fun. I really would love to go around Christmas time some year. I might have to start stalking air prices for the next few years.

Thanks Jen! I'm really ready to be at DL with my new camera. Oh, and my family. I've been trying to get to know it a bit, but nothing beats time in the park with lots to photograph and lots of time to shoot!

Maybe you need to plan a Christmas trip with some DIS friends?????

Katie looks beautiful in the Aurora dress!

Great photos with Cruella! And it sounds like you encountered some really helpful CMs!

Cute pics in Minnie's house.

The Christmas setup in your room is just too adorable!

The outfits at PCH Grill are so fun, never seen those before!

Amazing shots from the plane.

So sorry to hear about your cat

As a side note, Suzy & Perla were randomly out last week on my visit to WDW! It turned out to be a disappointment though as the line was already closed when I discovered them One day!! On the bright side, I got to get the group photo with Mary, Bert and Mr. Penguin so no complaints!

Thanks for the kind words on the cat. I think we're all ready to put that all behind us and move on now.

We always try to squeeze in some Christmas decorations to put out in our room. I need to go shop for something new for this year. After so many years of doing that, I would feel like we were missing something if we didn't.

How fun that Suzy and Perla were out at WDW, but how disappointing that the line was closed. Last time we were in the MK (June 2013) for a one day visit, we saw Mary out with a penguin. I got all excited like you until they told me the line was closed. So now I can be jealous of your group photo with Mary, Bert and the penguin! I actually stalked that penguin for several years until we first found him in 09.

 

[KCmike]

We'll be there in two weeks from Friday. We got our Magic Bands today! Woohoo!!! I haven't even tried to get a reservation for the restaurant. I am going to try again tonight. I was on the other side of the boards tonight and saw a couple of posts about how they moved the parade and actually saw you posted on one of them. I'm so glad they moved it! We are there on that Friday for our first MK day and was hoping we didn't have to deal with it but I think my wife was secretly hoping she could get on tv for the parade taping!

PPH is the only on-site hotel we haven't stayed at. I like that you can view WoC from the rooms if your facing that side. I'm not sure how long the walk is from there? I always thought DLH was kind of a long walk but at least you get to walk through DTD which I always thought fun because of the live bands that play there. Do you go that weekend as well?

Did you get a non stop flight or are you trying to get a closer airport?