Walt Disney World Memorial Day Trip Report – Part 2
It was mid-afternoon during the Rock Your Disney Side 24-Hour Party, and despite being up since 4:30 am and only having had about 4 hours of sleep the night before, I was feeling pretty good. Everyone has always told me that I wouldn’t be able to keep up my “hyperactive pace” as I got older, but since graduating, I’ve found that I’m now able to sleep even less. Not that any of you care about that, but I pride myself in forcing myself to push the limits, so humor me. I’m sure it will catch up to me at some point, but hopefully by that time science finds a way to replace the weak parts of me with robot features.
Sarah, on the other hand, was not doing so well. She had met me in the park after 10:30 am, and was already feeling like she needed a nap to make it through the night. In fairness, she didn’t slept until 10 am, but she takes longer to get ready and wasn’t in much of a rush to get to the park. I guess sunrise photos present a challenge when taking iPhone photos for Instagram! 😉
We decided to grab some coffee and cola from Auntie Gravity’s (their iced-coffee is small and disgusting, for what it’s worth) and wander around Tomorrowland for a bit to see if that worked as a pick me up before she decided whether she’d walk back to the Contemporary for a nap. We did the Peoplemover a couple of times, getting off in between because there was actually a line for it! I’m not sure how many times we did the Peoplemover total during the 24 hour day, but I’m going to go with “a lot.” I have some roughly hour-long gaps in between some photos, and most of those gaps can be explained by relaxing on the Peoplemover. For the record, neither of us fell asleep on the Peoplemover. It really was just a matter of relaxing and chatting. I’m a staunch ‘no talking during attractions’ person, but the Peoplemover is one exception to that rule, which is partly why we do it so much.
After these rides, Sarah decided to play it safe and head back to the room for a nap so she could make it all the way through the night. I hadn’t been taking many pictures during the afternoon, so I figured it would be a good opportunity to wander around and get some shots. Here’s what I came up with…
As I was trying to photograph something else near Jungle Cruise, this balloon attached to a parked stroller blew into my camera. I think I speak for all(?) Disney photographers when I say that while I hate “abandoned” strollers, they do score points with me when they have balloons attached to them. Disney balloons are great to photograph, but there’s no way I’m buying one just for photos, making these stroller balloons great.
Although it is a bit awkward when the owner of the stroller approaches while you’re taking photos of the balloon. For this reason, I recommend taking the photos with a telephoto lens as opposed to a wide angle one. Unless you enjoy awkward encounters, in which case go nuts with the wide angle!
After a pretty successful morning, I wasn’t even remotely in the zone that afternoon. I wandered around taking more photos, most of which found their way into the recycling bin.
I also met a lot of people, and actually conversed with some of them! I had talked to several people that morning, but I always kept it short because I was ‘on a mission,’ so to speak. Anytime someone says hello to me in the parks, I’m thinking there’s about a 50/50 chance they’ll think, “what a weirdo” (or worse). This is partly because, in fact, I am a weirdo. It’s also partly because my mind is often preoccupied with something else. Just remember, people like me from the internet are usually odd. That’s why we are on the internet!
The light was starting to get “good,” so I figured I better snap out of my funk.
That didn’t really happen, but I was still able to grab a few nice sunset shots as the sun disappeared below the horizon.
I wish I would have spent more time focusing on scenes in which the sun was lighting up scenes, rather than just shooting into the sun. I love the way the sun is kissing Prince Eric’s Castle here, but this is literally the only photo I took of this scene.
I am a big fan of the Castle Walls. I think they add a lot to the environment and are especially photogenic. These are in no way a significant thing for most Disney fans, but I think it’s the details like these that make Disney parks great. I hope that the Castle turrets supposedly coming with the Central Plaza/Hub redesign resemble the ones in Tokyo, as I feel those also add a lot, and further enhance the presence of Cinderella Castle in the park.
Hoping the sun was lighting up the sky behind Splash Mountain, I headed over there.
The official sunset time was approaching, so I headed over to Tomorrowland, where I had no luck. I finally headed over to the bridge overlooking Cinderella Castle and took a few shots. After I thought the sunset was well over, I took this shot. It was more or less an afterthought at the time, as the sky looked fairly blue to my eyes with only vague traces of color. However, when I opened up the raw file in Photoshop, I noticed the camera picked up a ton of color!
Obviously, this photo has been edited, but the colors are accurate to what was in the photo straight out of camera. I don’t understand the science behind it, but it amazes me what the camera can “see” that our eyes can’t. I just wish I had put more effort into the photo in the first place, as I really like the end result both in terms of color and the guests in the foreground. I only wish I would have put more effort into capturing the guests.
While I was photographing the sunset here, I noticed they were setting up a roped-off fireworks viewing area around me. I decided to just stay there for Wishes, as I fully expected Main Street to be chaos and Sarah was on her way to meet back up with me and she’d have an easy time finding me here.
The Frozen segment of Celebrate the Magic was new to me. I really enjoyed it. I’ve said this before, but I really think Celebrate the Magic is underrated. I know Magic Kingdom fireworks are a quintessential Disney experience, but I think I’d be okay with Disney shifting from Wishes to a longer projection show that incorporates some fireworks, plus lasers and water fountains. I far prefer Disney Dreams at Disneyland Paris to Wishes, so this would be a win in my book.
Celebrate the Magic can be tough to photograph, and my results aren’t helped here by the fact that I botched things a bit.
I decided to go for a longer exposure of the finale. I didn’t expect it to be this blown out, but I kind of like how the intense fireworks illuminate the entire area.
Sarah had arrived just before Wishes started, and came bearing food from Contempo Cafe. She knows the way to my heart! 😉
It may not be clear from these fireworks photos, but this is an absolutely awful spot for viewing the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Essentially, all you can see is the few bursts shot from Fantasyland, and the highest bursts shot from behind the park. Most bursts are shot from behind the park, so that means you’re missing a lot of the show from here. I cover better locations in our Magic Kingdom Fireworks Viewing Guide.
Rather than scarfing down the Contempo Cafe food as I tried to photograph the fireworks, I waited and we headed to some seats in Tomorrowland. This sandwich was delicious (as is pretty much everything at Contempo Cafe).
After that, it was time to start the fun part of the 24-hour party!
Being used to these events at Disneyland where the parks are PACKED overnight, we were surprised by the relatively low wait times. We did a ton of attractions, putting photography on the backburner for most of the rest of the night.
Sarah had never done Enchanted Tales with Belle, so we did that. She was really impressed by the technology, which she thought made a cute and humorous show something that would appeal to a range of guests. I wouldn’t go quite that far–I do think the technology gives it wider appeal than it otherwise would have, but the story and entire premise falls a little flat for me..as an adult without kids. However, I’d never dream of going to other character meet/shows like this, and I do enjoy this. I think for the target audience, it’s an excellent experience. Personally, I’d sooner do Turtle Talk with Crush, though. I think that’s the more enjoyable show of this nature, even if it lacks the Belles (ha!) and whistles.
One of my goals for the year is more variety in my photos. I still love a static landscape shot, but I want to mix it up with photos like this. This is that singles and doubles approach that I mentioned in my blog post on photography composition. Not every shot can be (or should be) a beautiful sunset behind Cinderella Castle!
We did some other attractions in Fantasyland, then Sarah stopped to gaze longingly into La Fontaine de Cendrillon. Totally unposed, just like those other shots from the first part of this report. Riiiiiiiight.
As we were walking past Prince Charming’s Carrousel, I panned one of the horses (for non-photographers, that’s moving your camera with the subject, with the idea being that the subject is crisp or close to crisp and the background is blurred–the success rate for these shots can be low) and Sarah really liked the results. We did this a while ago at Disneyland, but she wanted a new, better shot so she got in line. Unfortunately, every single one of my photos was a fail. Besides this stationary one before the ride started.
After that we wandered around and did other things in Fantasyland. As we were exiting ‘it’s a small world’, some guy in a Malificent shirt handed us cards to do an exclusive Malificent meet & greet. We figured this was “exclusive” in the same sense that those old Carousel of Progress “bonus FastPasses” they distributed were exclusive, so we planned on blowing it off. However, I happened to see a photo on Twitter from someone else who had done the meet & greet earlier, and it was “movie Malificent”!
Disney meet & greet face characters can be sort of hit or miss in terms of their look being believable, and there’s pretty decent wiggle room when you’re playing a character who is animated. Doing a meet & greet with a character portraying a well-known actress with a distinct look? That seems like a recipe for disaster. Somehow, they pulled this one off flawlessly, with the woman playing Malificent being not only gorgeous and a dead ringer for Angelina Jolie, but also totally nailing the character. This was by far the creepiest meet & greet I’ve ever experienced. I was uncomfortable the entire time, which I think was the character’s goal. It was a ton of fun.
We went up to the Cinderella Castle dance party, which I was able to tolerate for all of 30 seconds before leaving Sarah there while I wandered off to take photos. I may be a bit of a curmudgeon, but I am not some staunch purist who thinks there shouldn’t be dance parties under any circumstances. During special events, weekend nights, etc., I think dance parties in the parks actually have their place. With that said, there are just some songs that aren’t ever appropriate for the Magic Kingdom. Those inappropriate songs were about 50% of the playlist during this dance party.
While Sarah was dancing, I headed up to the front of the park for photos.
We actually saw about 10 people that night wearing Glow with the Show ears. That may seem like a low number (and it is), but comparatively speaking, it’s higher than normal!
Disney needs to get DJ Roomba to spin mad beats for these parties.
We had been giving fellow Disney photographer Mark Willard a bit of a run-around prior to this, but we were finally able to meet up and hang out with him for a little while. With that it was time for more dark rides. First up, Little Mermaid.
As a change of pace, I decided to try my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens for the dark rides. Always good to have some variety in dark ride shots.
The Little Mermaid dark ride is generally fairly easy to photograph, but lighting in some scenes can be a challenge.
Bonus points to anyone who knows where in the attraction this Sebastian is found.
Next up was Haunted Mansion.
Leave it to cats to think hanging out around a bunch of ghosts is a good idea.
After that we wandered towards the front of the park, where I noticed that the moon looked pretty cool. It was a waning crescent, which I know not because I’m a moon freak, but because that’s what Google said. I kept moving around to find the best angle, ultimately heading up to Swiss Family Treehouse for this shot.
We then headed for the Frontierland dance party. I was sick of this one after 45 seconds (a new personal record for time spent at a Disney dance party?) at which time I wandered towards Splash Mountain for photos. It turned out the bridge over the Rivers of America was the perfect spot to photograph the moon!
I also photographed Splash Mountain while I was back there, before going to find Sarah. I didn’t want her to get too much groove on.
We were in the home stretch and, surprisingly, neither of us were all that tired.
At around 5:45 am, we decided to line up for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train one more time. About 5 minutes later, I noticed the sky turning a rich shade of blue, so I got out of line and started taking photos.
I didn’t have much time in New Fantasyland, as they were clearing the park fast once 6 am hit.
While I can’t blame them for wanting to get guests out of the park so they could do maintenance, etc., before the next operating day, I wasn’t expecting it given that Disneyland has been pretty lax about clearing the park the last couple of years at the end of these parties. I should have planned out a better plan of attack, as I saw other photographers over by the Liberty Square Bridge capturing the beginning of a gorgeous sunrise, but I couldn’t get over there.
Instead, I made the bone-headed move of going all the way up Main Street to try to get an elevated view from the Train Station. The Train Station was roped-off and I wasn’t allowed to go back down Main Street for shots in the hub. I basically stood at the end of the street watching the sunrise unfold but not being able to photograph it. Now I know how dogs feel when they are on leashes and want nothing more than to chase cars.
The view on the way out…
The sunrise just kept getting better and better, and even though we couldn’t be in the park for it, we felt like walking back to the hotel during the sunrise was a nice way to end the…MONORAIL!
…That essentially describes what I was thinking when I turned the corner and saw this monorail. The idea of photographing monorails at sunrise hadn’t even crossed my mind before, and all of the sudden I was going crazy.
We waited for several monorails, photographing them each as they passed! After about 5 Resort Monorails passed without a second Express Monorail (which is what I really wanted), I came to the conclusion that the first Express Monorail we saw was parked in the Magic Kingdom station.
After about 30 minutes of waiting and photographing the monorails, I decided to give up and head back (Sarah had walked back about 15 minutes prior) to the room. All told, I had about 10 monorail shots that I really liked, which was the perfect way to end the 24-hour (or 25+ hour, by this point) day.
Overall, we had a blast at the 24-hour party. Honestly, there’s very little about the party itself that appealed to me–I dislike dance parties and we forgot about the Villains pre-parade, which was the only thing that was of interest–but I still really enjoy them. As a photographer, the opportunity to be there for sunrise is huge, and it’s fun to try to put together a solid day’s worth of photos. As a guest, it’s fun to experience a day in the park with a lot of like-minded guests, and to see the costumes.
There were a couple of things that disappointed me. First, Walt Disney World totally dropped the ball on having worthwhile unique foods for the party. We spent very little on food that day, after spending embarrassing amounts on food at Disneyland the two previous years. At Disneyland, the food has been the highlight of the event for me. Second, and sort of to that end, since these are clearly becoming a yearly thing, I hope Disney understands that the luster of 24 hours in the park, for many guests, is wearing thin and there needs to be more done to draw guests to these parties. It’s still exciting enough to me to make a special trip for it each year, but I had by far the most fun at the first event, “One More Disney Day” at Disneyland. Special menus at Disneyland is a start, but unique fireworks, more decorations, special lighting, and other little touches are all little things that would all go a long way in enhancing the appeal of these parties to repeat guests. Finally, I’m disappointed in Sarah and I for not once doing Carousel of Progress or Country Bear Jamboree during the party. That is just distinctly unpatriotic.
We had a few hours to sleep before our lunch reservations in Epcot, so it was time to head to bed…
Click here to return to our Walt Disney World 2014 Memorial Day Trip Report Index in order to navigate to other installments. If you’re new to our trip reports, make sure to check out our past Walt Disney World and Disneyland Trip Reports.
For actual Walt Disney World trip planning tips and comprehensive advice beyond these quick and random tips, make sure to read our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide and related articles.
Your Thoughts…
Did you attend the Rock Your Disney Side 24-Hour Party at Walt Disney World? What would you change about the 24-hour parties to improve them? What do you think of the dance parties? Share your comments on any of these things—or anything else from the trip report—in the comments!
great photos…love how you incorporated the moon into the shot with the castle
Fun read. So funny to read about your manic pace and how “crazy person on the internet” you think you are. I think you are very sane and such a wonderful photographer. Congrats on getting to go home again. How many more installments do we get for this report?
Mike
You think I’m sane…on the internet. This is my home turf, so of course I come across better here. You’ve never met me in person! 😉
Love the sunrise photos making me wish we could go back again this year, having only been in April.
As for enchanted tales with Belle. I took my very shy 5 year old to it dressed in her Belle dress and when she put her hand up to volunteer and played the horse in the little play I cried my eyes out silently at the back, amazing experience. So you may not be the demographic they are going for at the moment.
Can’t wait to read about Epcot, we adore Epcot!
Nah, we aren’t the demographic for Enchanted Tales with Belle, and that’s fine. Small children can’t do Space Mountain, so I understand that I won’t be able to enjoy everything.
It’s just that, in this case, I feel like they had the opportunity to make something that would work on multiple levels, but I think it sort of falls short on that. Oh well, not really a big deal, and parents and their kids seem to love it, so it’s a victory there!
Love love love your photos. Thanks for an amusing and engaging trip report 🙂 This makes me excited to do some trip reports of me own when I go to WDW in August!
That DJ Roomba reference was perfection. Between that and the Nic Cage SNL reference that you made recently, its clear that you have great taste in pop culture references!
You will quickly change your mind when I start making Keeping Up with the Kardashian references. 😉
(Normally, I would let sarcasm stand on its own and hope readers are sharp enough to pick up on it, but in this case I want to make it abundantly clear: that’s a joke, I don’t actually watch that garbage.)
Dude! These are by far your best pics! The sunsets with the silhouettes and the fireworks next to the castle with the reflections off the water are spectacular! I’m also really liking your new angles – they really distinguish themselves from all the ‘regular shot’ pictures and get my creative juices flowing for my trip in October.
Overall, this has been a great start to my Friday!
Thanks!
Thanks for the kind words–glad you enjoy the photos!
We were at Disneyland’s party – it was very fun and festive!
Wooo! I’m Disney Tourist Blog famous!
I have to say, trip reports have never really been my thing, and I’ve often questioned the appeal, but your writing style makes yours extremely entertaining.
Your photos are making me wish I stuck around longer. Ultimately it was probably for the best that I left when I did, but dang… Sunrise Monorails. That’s pretty awesome.
I agree with you in part re: Celebrate The Magic – it’s very underrated and so much better than Wishes. Personally, rather than seeing Celebrate The Magic extended and Wishes eliminated, I’d rather see a completely new, awesome, blows-everyone-away fireworks show for Magic Kingdom. Fireworks at the end of the day are such an iconic Disneyland-style park experience, and WDW more than any resort has the ability to just go crazy with that – they should take better advantage of it. (And I don’t mean just more impressive pyro, though that’d be a good start, but something with more emotional connection too; a la Remember Dreams Come True.)
Gorgeous photos as always, particularly of that sunrise!
Extremely entertaining? No need to suck up just because I mentioned you. 😉
If Disney would replace Wishes with a strong fireworks show, I probably wouldn’t feel like I do about getting a Disney Dreams-esque show. I know fireworks are an iconic part of the experience, and the Magic Kingdom is fortunate that it doesn’t have the same types of fireworks restrictions as Paris, Anaheim, or Tokyo, but I still think it’s time to take these fireworks shows to the next level.
I had hoped you’d write a trip report for this event. We had similar impressions about the party, but had a great time and experienced SO many more attractions than we usually would be able to. I was also surprised about the short waits overnight, but happy to be able to “accomplish” so much. The return of the trip reports has been triumphant! Can’t wait to read about the rest of your weekend.
I wonder if attendance for the party this year was lower than last year? It’s hard for me to judge, since comparing Magic Kingdom to Disneyland isn’t really sensible, but it seems like the party was never really packed. If they are going to keep doing these every year, hopefully that gives them an incentive to give these parties more of a draw going forward.
Love your blog, I have had a pass for 24 years and MK never gets old to me, we only lasted until 11 on the 24 hr day, we should have gone back to room to nap…heading back for Car Masters this weekend
As always your photos are fantastic, but this comment is solely to let you know that your DJ Roomba comment made my day! And let’s be real, there is no better DJ then DJ Roomba!
Plus, DJ Roomba will work for cheap…DIRT cheap! 😉
Loved the report! I have to ask where Sarah got her dress! It’s super duper cute!
I need to know too! I want that dress. It’s adorable! 🙂
Great trip report as always, and you have me very excited for the next installment 🙂
Someone on the part I post said they’d seen it at Charlotte Russe. I’m curious about the minnie hat. Is it currently available in the parks? I’m going next month and would love to have the hat!
I love the longer exposure on that fireworks shot!
I think we’re going to the 24 hour party next year (assuming they do it) in Disneyland since we’re planning to buy annual passes. It’s disappointing that they’re not doing more to enhance the parties year after year, but I think for me the novelty will be strong next year since it will be my first.
On a semi-related note, I’m glad you spoke so highly of Contempo Cafe here and elsewhere! When my fiance and I were in WDW in September, we had lunch there one day when we needed a little MK break and it was AMAZING. He got the lobster roll and said it was the best he’d ever had, and it was pretty much worth it just for the cupcakes. We would never have thought to try it without hearing your glowing reviews, so thank you for that!
Yeah, if it’s your first party, it will have a ton of novelty for you, personally. You’ll have a blast! I just question how the concept will hold up long-term since these parties mainly cater to locals. Out of towners who already have trips booked are another big demographic…but they already have trips booked, so it’s not really a draw for them in the first place. Very few people are booking first-time party trips around these parties after they are announced.
I debated that lobster roll on this trip, but I just couldn’t get past the price (I want to say it was like $17?) glad to hear that it was awesome, though!
I’ve been binge reading your blog and loving it. Then you threw in a DJ Roomba reference. You have now won me over as a reader for life.
Careful, new scientific research suggests binge reading this blog kills brain cells.
Sebastian is in the Kiss the Girl scene. 🙂
Love all your photos! If it wasn’t for two little boys, I’d probably be running around like a crazy person taking pictures too. The monorail shots are great. I also really like the one of the lanterns with Rapunzel’s tower in the background.
It’s a shame to hear WDW doesn’t do the 24 hour party “bigger”. I’m not one for dancing either. Especially when 50% is inappropriate. (Ideally Disney would always be G rated). So if that’s the main focus, the party would never be a draw for me.
I’m a coffee junkie, sad to hear the coffee is not real good. 🙁
I don’t think Disney always needs to be G-rated, but some things just aren’t appropriate for the Magic Kingdom. While I’m still not a fan of the dance parties in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, they are less egregious there, I think.
The vertical monorail shot with the monorail in the low right hand corner is a knockout!
Are the extra points for Sebastian supposed to be a trick? And what do I get for said points, huh? (BTW, the Kiss the Girl scene)
I was just commenting to a friend that it seems these 24-hr events are going to be an annual Memorial Day event (and maybe again for leap year in 2016?), and I’m excitedly preparing to go for the first time next year. But I agree that it seems there’s less emphasis on making it a truly special event. Food and merchandise appeal to me much more than dance parties do!
Loved the recap and photos!
Just like the knowledge that it’s the Sebastian from the ‘Kiss the Girl’ scene, these points are worthless or priceless depending on your perspective: they are worth the bragging rights of knowing a lot about Disney theme parks.
There will be more opportunities to ‘earn points’ throughout this trip report. GET EXCITED!!!
Loved your trip report. Used it as ammunition for my argument that we should rent a car for our trip in July in lieu of magical express because our flight arrives so late and leaves so early. We’ve been to WDW many times but have always rented a car, I don’t know that our upcoming trip is the right time to try out the bus.
(And I think Sebastian is in the “kiss the girl” scene of the ride.)
🙂
Correct on Sebastian.
Disney’s Magical Express and bus transportation at Walt Disney World in general is incredibly hit or miss. You could have 3 consecutive trips of generally awesome transportation, then 3 trips with terrible transportation. Besides DME, we had great luck with the buses on this trip. Who knows…
I love, love, LOVE reading your trip reports! You have such a wiseass sense of humor, much like mine, I’m ashamed to admit. I myself am a Disney World virgin, so your photos and reports are wonderful to look at and plan for next year. If you could, for those of us not in the know, please label some of the photos that may not be obvious what or where they are. I’ve had a few moments, boy, that’s great but what is it?
I’m glad this blog seems to be as much fun for you as it is for us, your viewing public. Thank you and keep up the great work!
Ha, I like that you are ashamed to admit your sense of humor is like mine.
I also am ashamed of my sense of humor. 😉
I had a blast at this party as well, so much that I only walked away with maybe 75 photos..most of which I won’t even be using for anything. I have to agree that they dropped the ball on food offerings, however I was able to get my chowder on at 2am at harbor house, but disappointingly the upstairs was closed 🙁
Regarding fireworks shooting spots..you may want to add new fantasyland to your list. The spot on the bridge aiming towards beasts castle, or near gastons fountain are awesome!
I am loving this trip report!!!
Yeah, I think I am going to add New Fantasyland to the list, with just a heavy caveat that it’s not a good spot for first-timers who want to really enjoy the show.
I didn’t even think of trying to go to Columbia Harbour House’s upstairs in the middle of the night. That would have been a nice, relaxing spot…if it were open!