Disney

Fort Wilderness Lodge Christmas Tree

Disney Christmas

I headed off to the Magic Kingdom and Fort Wilderness lodge with the usual suspects of central florida photographers (you know who you are!) last week and captured this image in the Lodge’s lobby.

Disney always does a great job with the decorations in the resort lobbies.  The Grand Floridian, for example, has an amazing tree as well.  We had planned on heading there, but as with most photowalks, we spent most of our time photo-stopped and didn’t get very far!

Disney Fantasy in the Caribbean

Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship

This is the Disney Fantasy (Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship) docked in Cozumel, Mexico in late September.  I took this shot after a long day at port immediately before boarding to depart for Grand Cayman.

Cozumel was a fun port of call – complete with Mayan Ruins at San Gervasio; now they’re not what one would imagine Mayan ruins to be (tall pyramids nestled in a valley, etc).  They’re about 35 minutes out from the port and they’re easy to get to and walk around.  Everyone will tell you the mosquitos are really bad, but they really aren’t  – though this could have been a function of being out there in late September.

As for the Fantasy, the ship is, in a word, amazing.  It’s beautiful, clean, and very well maintained.  It’s not hard to see why it’s the jewel in the Disney Cruise Line  fleet.  I won’t do a full review here but I will recommend mousesavers for a good discussion on DCL and the Fantasy.

Disney’s Fantasyland: Eric’s Castle

Disney's Fantasyland: Eric's Castle

The light isn’t always there and sometimes you just have to wait for it. This was one of those times where I just sat around with nothing to do for a while until the light was just right.

A cloud or two would have made this just perfect, but one can’t have everything I suppose.

From the new Fantasyland at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Single handheld exposure edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Epcot’s Illuminations, Japan

Epcot Fireworks Illuminations

Epcot’s Illuminations fireworks display as seen from the Japan Pavilion at the World Showcase.  I was shooting very long exposures this night (30″+) and was only able to get a few images because of the duration.  I didn’t get a lot of images, but I do like what I captured.

It was also a fun shoot.  I locked up focus and composition an hour or so before the show, ate some sushi, chatted with some friends and waited for the fireworks to start.  I love the music that accompanies the show.

China Epcot’s World Showcase

Located between the Germany and Norway Pavilions at Epcot’s World Showcase, the China Pavilion features a replica of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.   Epcot’s replica is home to the 360° movie “Reflections of China”.  I love seeing this movie and all the images of China it contains but I don’t always get a chance to when I visit Epcot.

Outside of the frame on either side of the bridge are serene ponds that make for interesting photos themselves.  I’ll see about grabbing a shot of some of the lily pads next time I’m there during the day.

Meanwhile in Radiator Springs

Radiator Springs At Disney's Art of Animation Resort

Flo and Ramone bask in the sun at Radiator Springs in Disney’s Art of Animation Resort in Orlando Florida.  I love it when the sky just comes together for a photo like it does here.

 

 

 

France: Epcot’s World Showcase

There’s no way to travel faster around the world than to take a walk through the World Showcase at Epcot.  There are eleven countries represented including France (which you see in the photo here).  There are rides, foods, and shows at the various countries to give visitors a “taste” each nation (especially if you’re there during the annual Food & Wine Festival as I was to take this photo).

I wasn’t fortunate to have clouds that night, but it was an exceptionally clear sunset which has its own charm.

The New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World

Disney’s new Fantasyland at Walt Disney World in Orlando will be fully open on December 6th featuring two new areas that will double the current size of Fantasyland: the Enchanted Forest and Storybook Circus.  Storybook Circus with the new Dumbo Ride and Barnstormer (a Goofy based coaster) is already open.   The Enchanted Forest will open next week.

The image above was taken just outside Beast’s Castle in the Enchanted Forest a few weeks ago.

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Lobby

 

Disney’s Art of Animation Resort will soon be open and it is, in a word, amazing!  Every facet of it was filled with amazing artwork and characters from Finding Nemo, Cars, The Lion King and the Little Mermaid.

The image above is from the resort’s lobby.  This is the check-in area and facing the wall you see here are images from Disney movies.

Contemporary Sunrise

It’s been a long day! Got up about 5am to shoot the sunrise over the Contemporary Hotel from the Grand Floridian.  Got to the Grand Floridian at about 6am and shot quite a bit until the sun cleared the top of the Contemporary.  I’m heading off to Tampa tomorrow for a couple of days of fun with the family, seeing some friends, and doing a little bit of shooting. Have a great weekend