Monday 09 October 2006

Day 3

My schedule of conference sessions was sort of morning-heavy today.  I was happy to have wireless access, as I could avoid the mad dash to the room to check email and voice mail (you can check Vonage voice mail over the internet!).  I found a lovely little courtyard at the Swan hotel where the wireless signal was strong, and there were tables and fountains scattered about, too.  So that's where I would stop during the day.

I was done by about 3:00 PM-ish, and headed over to the Magic Kingdom.  I was on a mission, you see.  An acquaintance on the internet posted that her son had proposed to his girlfriend at the Magic Kingdom, in a little structure at the foot of the rose garden that I believe used to have little swan boats launched from it.  It's now just an empty boat house.  In any event, this friend wanted to get some nice photos of the boat house to include in the wedding video, and the ones in her camera were not up to par.  I took that as a digital gauntlet thrown, so I was off to the Magic Kingdom to see what could be done about getting some decent shots of this structure.

The front entrance to the MK was all done up in autumnal finery.  After entering, I took the train to Frontierland and got a Fast Pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Then I walked back to Pirates of the Caribbean.  I was eager to see the new Captain Jack Sparrow features.  However, the ride was "101" when I got there, with the Cast Members turning people away in droves.  They said they didn't know when the ride would be back up and running.  So, I only got to see the spiffy new skeleton feature on the outside of the attraction, but figured I'd be around all week and could catch the ride in its entirety at another time. 

I backtracked to Pecos Bill's for some tasty pulled pork.  PLEASE NOTE it was not as good as Todd's, but after all we must lower our expectations after having experienced the way Todd makes it.  Dinner done, I went outside for a smoke on the bench near the McDonald's French fries wagon, and was quite alarmed when a woman sat down next to me, broke out the rolling papers, and began to roll her own!  I seriously did a double, then triple-take before determining that the Disney police were not going to descend upon that bench!   Still, I hurried away from there to check and see if PotC was up and running again - it wasn't.  Browsing through the gift shop, I contemplated purchasing the Captain Jack doll, but decided instead to wait for the November trip, when Nieceling and I would once again have a Shop Till We Drop day, so that we could purchase him together.

It was time to redeem my Fast Pass for BTMR, so I did that and then got back on the train so that I could enter the park all over again and properly shop my way up Main Street.  I checked out passholder pins and watches.  There was a Mickey bracelet watch that was kind of intriguing, and which would definitely be a departure for the woman who doesn't remember how many Tinkerbell watches she owns...

Moving toward the hub, I noticed that there was a show going on at the castle stage, so I stopped to watch for a bit.

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I cut to the right through the upper rose garden, on my way to the boat house.  I was sorry I had dallied, because I was losing the light, which I had not thought of.  But I think I got some good shots for the wedding video - isn't this just the BEST place to propose to your sweetheart?

 

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It was starting to get dark, and would soon be time for the Spectro Magic parade.  I decided to set myself up near a trash can by the side of the road around the hub.  This way, I would have something to lean on if I grew tired, and I would also have something to lay my cold drink down upon.  Now, you might be thinking, "eeew, you put your water bottle on top of a trash can, and then you DRANK from it?  EWWWWWW!".  But you see, we are in Disney.  There are no drips or fungus or crud on the tops of Disney's trash cans.  They have no more or less germs on them than the tables set up down by the lagoon, outside the ice cream parlor.

 

The Cast Members came out to play games with the amassing crowds, keeping the kids occupied until it was dark enough for the parade to begin.  A British family of three - two parents and a rather sullen pre-teen boy - came and camped near my trash can, and we made amiable conversation, comparing cameras, stalking the castle with our lenses, and commenting on the games as they proceeded.

 

 

Finally, it was time for Spectro Magic.  I don't know what could be harder to photograph than things that are lit up and moving in the dark!  But I got a couple of shots that I haven't captured before, including the Main Mouse, so here they are -

 

 

 

After the parade was done, I made my way back to the little boat house, to see the fireworks show, Wishes, from there.  I met another British couple, this time with a toddler named Charlotte, who had just learned to say, "Quack!  Quack!".  Barricaded inside the boathouse by her stroller, her parents, and me, she was able to toddle with abandon, yelling at the ducks all around us in the water, "Quack!  Quack!".  Poor ducks, I rather think they were expecting some sort of handout.  Instead, they got Charlotte.

 

Viewing the fireworks from the lower rose garden is a very different perspective.  The fireworks are actually set off from behind the castle a good ways, but down there you are pretty much beside the castle.  So the field of vision is very wide - the castle being all the way on the left, and the actual fireworks on the right.  While the fireworks are going off VERY close from down there, it's just weird to have the castle so far to the left of the "picture".

 

 

Once Wishes was over, I purchased yet another bottle of ice cold water and decided I needed a water bottle holder - the bottles sweat, so you can't put them in your bag else they will get your camera wet, but if you hold them a long time, your hand freezes.  So I purchased a Mickey water bottle "sack", and was then able to place it in my touring bag.

 

On my way out the gates, I noticed that the moon was no longer full, but still bright in the sky.  I started moon-stalking, trying to get the moon and the Main Street train station in the same shot.  I had this idea as I was passing under the monorail, to take a shot between the rails.  Imagine my surprise, just as I was clicking the shutter, when a single headlight came into view right beneath the moon!  Betcha wouldn't have known what this was without me telling ya!

 

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There was a couple on the bus that was lost.  They thought the bus would take them to the parking lot, where they had their car.  By time they figured it out, the driver decided to take them back to the MK.  It was very late, and they probably would not get in if they went by taxi, so he decided to help them storm the gates.  Wasn’t that nice of him? 

At the hotel, I made a pitstop for milk.  Tubbies is no more, it’s called Picabu now, and there are these little guys drawn on the wall that remind me of the smiley that leaps with joy.   

On the way to the room, I caught the spam fairy walking away from my door!  It was actually the same bell dude that had brought my luggage up for me. 

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There was STILL ice in the ice chest – amazing!  But I replaced it anyway, because I did not want to have to do it in the morning.  I posted a sampling of the boat house photos for my friend, and then I hit the pillow with a resounding THUD.

 

• Day One
• Day Two
• Day Four
• Day Five
• Day Six
• Day Seven

Back to Symposium 2006