Greetings from Tokyo Disney Resort!

Welcome…to Tokyo Disney Resort. (Read that like John Hammond in Jurassic Park.) We have made the pilgrimage to Japan to visit what many Disney fans regard as the pinnacle of the Disney theme park experience. Barring issues with our flights or our poor senses of direction, we are now at Tokyo Disney Resort to celebrate Tokyo Disneyland’s 30th anniversary, and to visit Tokyo DisneySea (where we will undoubtedly acquire at least 27 Duffy souvenirs).

We’re mostly disconnected from the rest of the world on this trip, but we (mostly Sarah) will be posting occasional photos to Instagram, assuming the modems we rented for our iPhones work. Further assuming that the nifty Instagram plugin works, you should be able to view our 20 most recent live photos from Tokyo Disney Resort on this post below. If for some reason photos don’t display below, or you want to see all of our photos from Japan (not just the Disney ones), follow us directly on Instagram: Sarah here or Tom here. Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of the east coast of the United States, so expect daytime and nighttime photos to be roughly reversed in terms of night and day back in the US.

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Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade Photos

Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade is run during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom on select nights during the holiday season. Christmas is one of the best times of year to visit Walt Disney World, and this parade is a big reason why!

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade debuted in 2007, when it replaced the very similar Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade; the prior parade had been running since 1994. The current Christmas parade consists of elves, toy soldiers, reindeer, gingerbread men, and Disney characters in their holiday finery. The music in this parade is very catchy, and is available online (find it with our Disney Parks Music Guide). It is not the same as the parade that is shown on ABC on Christmas Day, which is filmed at Walt Disney World the first weekend of December each year.

Here are some photos of Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade: (more…)

Here Comes the Christmas 2012 Grand Finale!

If the Christmas season were a fireworks show, we’d be nearing the grand finale. The presents are wrapped, the food is prepared, and one of our smaller family gatherings just concluded, leaving the house empty and quiet for the rest of the night. Of course, tomorrow morning the “grand finale” will occur, in the form of Christmas morning. I no longer have the sense of anticipation for Christmas morning that I did as a child–Sarah and I don’t do much in the way of gifts for one another and we don’t yet have kids to vicariously experience the joy of Christmas gifting–but it’s still a great day for spending time with family and enjoying festivities.

It might be a tortured analogy, but I think firework shows have some parallels. Just before the grand finale is the “late Christmas eve” portion of the show, where everything quiets down to build anticipation and make the grand finale all the more poignant. The grand finale is like a series of glorious, explosive presents. Fireworks themselves are festivities. As for the family part of the analogy…well, uhh…like I said, it’s a tortured analogy.

In real life, I love this quiet time. It’s a great time to just sit around, eat a couple a few dozen cookies, and watch Christmas movies with the family. In the world of fireworks…well, who likes a “tranquil” fireworks show? Only communists. To that end, here’s a photo from the grand finale of Holiday Wishes, when the perimeter bursts, incredibly bright streaming fireworks, and Cinderella Castle Dreamlights all erase the tranquility from the night sky over Walt Disney World.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Please click the photo above to view it large.

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Technical details: shot with a Nikon D600 with a Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 Lens. See our guide for more photography equipment recommendations.

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Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even…

Not only is Disneyland Paris’ Main Street the most beautiful and detailed Main Street I’ve ever seen, but it’s also the most beautiful Main Street at Christmas. This is in large part to the Christmas tree (which I’m told dates back to 1992 and is due to be replaced next year, but has aged quite well), but is also due to the whole Town Square area, which is filled with small pine trees and fake snow (or fake and real snow, depending upon when you visit). It also doesn’t hurt that Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant looks even more resplendent with its icicle lights than it normally does, and that other decorative touches are added up and down Main Street. Besides Main Street and the north corner of Frontierland, the Christmas decorations are fairly subdued, but it definitely feels like Christmas on Main Street in Disneyland Paris.

This is my favorite view of Disneyland Paris at Christmas; I could have stood up here for hours just gazing out at the park (definitely make sure to click the photo to view it large). For some more of my photos of Disneyland Paris at Christmas, check out this post on the Disney Parks Blog yesterday. (more…)

Illuminations: Peace on Earth Photo (+CRAZY Nikon D600 Deal!)

Illuminations: Reflections of Earth with the Peace on Earth tag is one of my favorite aspects of Christmas at Walt Disney World. One of my other favorite aspects is the Osborne Lights. Unfortunately, we only had one night last weekend to try to see both. Disney’s Hollywood Studios closed at 8 pm and Epcot closed at 9:30 pm. Perfect, I thought. Unfortunately, we hung around Disney’s Hollywood Studios for “just one more song” and “just one more photo” until 9 pm (I didn’t realize they kept the music running after the park closed…I thought it was just the lights. Anyone know when this changed?), at which time I literally had to RUN from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to get to Epcot in time for the fireworks. I made it just in time, and didn’t even bother trying to find a better spot along the World Showcase Lagoon to view the show. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to see much or, more importantly, hear much from here, but it actually wasn’t too bad of a view and I could hear the show perfectly. Walt Cronkite’s narration always gives me chills.

Nikon D600

On an unrelated note, but as a heads up, I woke up to an email this morning from Amazon that the Nikon D600 with 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR Lens is on sale today and tomorrow for $700 off (making the price $2,000). I felt sick to my stomach, as I paid that much for the camera alone when it was released. Granted, I wouldn’t have had the camera in Europe had I waited, but I would have saved $700. Still, if given the choice I definitely would have taken the $700 and just used my Nikon D700 in Europe. Ouch.

But, the good news for you (if you haven’t also purchased the Nikon D600 before today) is that this is an insane deal. Nikon normally fixes the price of its cameras, so discounting like this just doesn’t happen. The other good news is that Amazon inventory cycles quickly enough that the dust problems reported with some early cameras likely will not be an issue if you purchase today or tomorrow. You can read more about this camera, which is my primary camera, in my review of the Nikon D600 and see sample photos I took using it at Disney here. Or, you can look at my photos of the day for the past couple of months, almost all of which were taken with the Nikon D600 (it’ll say in each post). (more…)

Cinderella Castle Dream Lights: Reflections of Christmas

At Christmas-time, Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom is enhanced with the “Castle Dream Lights,” which give the Castle a resplendent glow. This look is amplified in the rain, when the lights from Cinderella Castle and all around Main Street glisten off the pavement.

Sarah and I took a quick trip to Walt Disney World this weekend to enjoy our favorite time of year at Walt Disney World: Christmas. Our plan with taking the trip was to book a cheap flight to Florida to earn the miles necessary to book a free flight (which otherwise would have cost $600+ each) to Disneyland for New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately, by the time our credits from the flights registered, the awards flights were sold out. Oh well, it was a great weekend, nonetheless, and even though we were only there for less than two full days, it felt like a lot longer. We crammed as much as we could into the trip, even closing out three different parks on Saturday night! (more…)