Tall Palms, Full Moon, Big Spaceship Earth

It’s becoming more and more difficult to think of unique names for Spaceship Earth photos, given that I have so many of them. The only thing stopping me from switching to a bland numbering scheme (“Spaceship Earth 112,” “Spaceship Earth 113,” etc.) is that I’d never remember what number I was on. Whether one person needs so many Spaceship Earth photos is a good question. Probably not, but I enjoy photographing it so much that I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon, and as you might notice, most of my Spaceship Earth photos are night photos.

Almost all of these photos are taken at the end of the night, when an odd thing happens: I have a second wind. It has honestly happened more times than I can count. We’re traversing the park, incredibly tired, but when I start taking photos at the end of the night, no matter how tired I was previously, I suddenly am overcome with energy (or adrenaline…or whatever scientific term actually explains what’s happening) and just want to keep going. Does this happen to anyone else? I can seriously be tired to the point where I begin to nod off on Maelstrom, but as soon as I start setting up the tripod in front of that viking outside Norway, my energy begins picking up. By the time we get to the front entrance of Epcot, I’m downright hyper.

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Fantasia Topiaries – Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Photo

While Food & Wine Festival is my favorite event at Epcot thanks to the excellent food to sample, Epcot looks its best during (and right before) Flower & Garden Festival. All of the regular flower beds receive special attention and new flowers, topiaries are placed throughout the park, and various special touches are added. With the exception of the Cars topiaries in World Showcase Japan and the recycling of some topiary designs that are well past retirement age, I thought this year’s Flower & Garden Festival was better than last year’s. This was largely due to this beautiful display at the entrance. It was nice to see a movie with no timely promotional tie-in take center stage, and this set a great tone for guests as they entered Epcot.

Now let’s just hope that next year the dinosaur topiaries that used to surround Universe of Energy find homes in Flower & Garden Festival!

Technical details: Nikon D700 and Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 Lens. See our Disney Photography Guide for more photography equipment recommendations. 

Another Spaceship Earth Night Photo

With each Spaceship Earth photo I post, it becomes more and more difficult to come up with something to say about the shot. I’ve said all of this before, but it bears repeating… Spaceship Earth is my favorite photo-subject at Walt Disney World. It’s an amazing and unique icon. It is the embodiment of what made EPCOT Center a special park, and reminds me of the reasons why I love Epcot. Photographically, I just can’t stop taking photos of it. This is the most “basic” angle of Spaceship Earth, and I’ve taken far more unique and interesting photos of Spaceship Earth, but I still couldn’t help but stop and snap this photo. It has been done before and will be done again, but I can never resist a Spaceship Earth photo. Never.

Technical details: Nikon D700 and Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 Lens. See our Disney Photography Guide for more photography equipment recommendations.

Epcot Monorail Race Photo

This scene of two ‘racing’ monorails, Spaceship Earth, and the flower bed at Epcot has become one of my Walt Disney World “Signature Shots.” The original from 2009 is one of my most popular Flickr photos of all time, and that photo (which was inspired itself by a Walt Disney World press photo from the early 1980s) has since inspired a number of other shots of the scene, by both myself and others. The shot has become increasingly difficult for me to accomplish since the monorails don’t run during Evening Extra Magic Hours (the usual nights we visit Epcot), so I decided to try for a daytime version during our recent trip.

While the shot has its own unique challenges at night, given the high number of people in this dual-PhotoPass zone during the day, it’s even more challenging then. I was pleased that I was able to capture it, and look forward to capturing this signature shot in a new way next time!

Technical details: Nikon D7000 and Rokinon 8mm Fisheye Lens. See our Disney Photography Guide for more photography equipment recommendations.

The Incrediblesorail – Epcot Monorail Photo

Today, I’m excited to announce Walt Disney World’s new experimental prototype monorail of tomorrow (or “EPMOT” as Disney has dubbed it) for the Epcot monorail line: the Incrediblesorail! Much like Elastigirl, this monorail is able to stretch its length around the entire center of Epcot, covering the full length of the monorail track within Epcot and “wrapping” both sides of Spaceship Earth as it flanks the track on both sides of geodesic sphere.

In addition to the promotional potential that this first-of-its-kind monorail will offer to the hit Disney-Pixar film, The Incredibles, the Incrediblesorail will also increase capacity on the Epcot monorail line by approximately 19,820%. This great new future-monorail was seized for Walt Disney World by X-S Tech under the direct supervision of Walt Disney Imagineering.

Seems like I’ve been posting a lot of photos from Epcot lately. Check out yesterday’s Journey into Imagination photo if you haven’t already. See our previous “Photos of the Day” by clicking here.

Technical details: Nikon D7000 and Rokinon 8mm Fisheye Lens.