A Disney Anniversary - Halloween Time at DLR, UOR and WDW - Sept/Oct 2019 - COMPLETED 01/09/2020

Day 13 - Part 4 - Pixar Pier in Blue

The sun had set, and we rushed around the Pier capturing it against a beautiful blue sky! This area is so photographic, especially after the sun sets. There will be a lot of pictures here and not too much commentary, the pictures speak for themselves I think.















Here's a nice before and after look at the reflections in Pixar Pier with and without Photoshop:





















There a number of "series" photos we took, like the above of the Jumpin' Jellies in various stages of going up and down! The next "series of pictures" involve the Golden Zephr and it's various spin cycles. I really love these pictures.









Happy with our photos of Pixar Pier (I really love the pictures we shot that evening) we headed into Grizzly Peak for a few photos. The sky had deepened into a dark blue by this point, and we were fast heading from a blue to black sky.







We headed on to Buena Vista street, to photograph the eerie purple Carthay Circle and fountain. The vibrant colors in the area around Halloween do make photos difficult, there is almost too much light for the camera. But it does make for an interesting version of the classic Buena Vista Street.











The other creepy thing about Buena Vista Street at Halloween is the headless horseman! As I mentioned before, when discussing Boo to You, headless horseman freak me out! And the creepy music and lighting around this guy definitely didn't help. I have to say, Oogie Boogie's Bash seemed a lot scarier than Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney World (we didn't actually go to a party, this is just based on the lighting and atmosphere we saw on our non-party nights in the park). There was a Photopass photographer set up right in front of the horseman, so we had to be a little more creative with our angles.









Continued in Next Post...
 
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OK, WOW at your pixar pier sunset/night pics. Spectacular!! Would look amazing as art work, on the wall, I think.
Hahaha love the Green Army Men story. 2 of them stopped us in line for Buzz this year and asked "What is the password"? Luckily I was able to dredge up some very old Toy Story knowledge and reply "to infinity and beyond!"
How did you go, in general, with sharing meals? We did that, too, and found the portion size had gone down significantly since 2017..
 
OK, WOW at your pixar pier sunset/night pics. Spectacular!! Would look amazing as art work, on the wall, I think.
Hahaha love the Green Army Men story. 2 of them stopped us in line for Buzz this year and asked "What is the password"? Luckily I was able to dredge up some very old Toy Story knowledge and reply "to infinity and beyond!"
How did you go, in general, with sharing meals? We did that, too, and found the portion size had gone down significantly since 2017..

Thank you so much. We actually do have a wall of Jared's Disney photos and I'm planning to update and add to it, and will definitely be adding one of the shots of Pixar Pier at sunset.

I'd never run across Green Army Men at DCA before, they are quite hilarious by the sounds of it. Glad you knew the password and were let into the Buzz attraction. Good guess too!

We were fine with sharing meals. Especially as we usually got both an appetiser/entree and a entree/main. I found that, for the most part, the portion sizes were large enough to handle it. There were instances where we didn't share, like the day we ate the Monte Cristo sandwiches at Cafe Orleans, and on occasion when we got a burger and fries or something like that. That being said, we probably could have easily shared the Monte Cristo, it was HUGE. But it was too yummy to share!
 
Day 13 - Part 5 - Waiting for Color

By 8pm we were done with the photos we planned to take before park close, and so we headed over to Pixar Pier to wait for World of Color. The show wasn't until 10pm, and we had a Blue Fastpass, but we figured that we should probably start waiting to get a good spot for photos. There wasn't even a rope set up to wait at when we arrived near the Blue Fastpass entrance, but there were a few people milling around, and by 8:23pm we'd been let into a holding area to wait. We were then let in to find a viewing spot at 8:45pm. We were jostled out of the way a little as people rushed in, and we noticed that most of them were headed for the second level of the Pier Gardens, so we headed down to the centre of the very front row, right on the water. We later realised we were actually in the Yellow Fastpass area, but there were no ropes or CMs blocking us from going down to the front and no one seemed to mind that we went. Plus this area did not fill up until about 15 minutes before the show.

The very front row was marked as a "wet zone" so it seemed people were avoiding the area. Jared was a little worried about the camera (though it is water resistant), but I pointed out to him that this spot was one that Tom Bricker (my favourite Disney photographers) likes to shoot from. His advice about the "wet zone" was comforting, and basically outlined that on a calm night without much wind you won't get too wet. It was a calm night, so Jared relaxed a little.

We were a little worried at first, once we realised we were in the wrong section, that the CMs would come and kick us out. However our fears were quickly allayed when two lovely Aussie girls, who had come down to the front by asking a CM if they could, had been told they were welcome in the area, provided they had any colour of Fastpass. We had a fantastic chat with the girls, who were from Newcastle (a town a few hours north of Sydney). We managed to raise their excitement levels, as it was their first Disneyland trip, and they'd never seen World of Color before.

Not long after we finishing chatting with our new Australian friends a lovely couple, Mike and Dean, joined us and we got chatting to them. They congratulated us after seeing our badges but we were soon outdone as they'd been married for 11 years and together for 34! I asked them what the key to a long lasting relationship was, and Mike's answer was "go to Disney together". When he said that I knew we'd become great friends that evening, and we did have a fantastic chat with them about all sorts of things (mostly Disney of course) while we waited the hour and 15 minutes for the show to start.

Jared wasn't sure if he should shoot the show with our Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 lens, which is water resistant, or use our Samyung 14mm wide angle f2.8 lens, which wasn't water resistant, but would allow us to get wider shots. In the end he settled on being safe, and put the 24-70mm lens on.

This was the view from our spot with the 24-70mm lens on. Pretty perfect hey!



As the show began to start I welled up with emotion, feeling so much joy and happiness! World of Color is my favourite Disney night-time spectacular, and due to a number of different circumstances we hadn't seen the original (which is the best) since 2012. I can't really describe to you how happy I was to be standing up against the water, listening to the swell of the music, and watching those fountains dance! I always cry during World of Color, I think because I am a musical being and music moves me so much. I think this is another reason why I love World of Color as much as I do. I don't care much that there is no "story", for me the tapestry of Disney music and images, combined with the graceful dancing fountains, create the essence of Disney and trying to tie things together with a story line would just cheapen that. The show reminds me of my childhood and how I learnt to sing, and found the joy of music, by listening to Disney songs. The show is an artistic and dazzlingly colourful mosaic of Disney's greatest movie moments and reminds me how Disney movies and music influenced and shaped me as a child, and how much I continue to love Disney entertainment today. The show is, for me, showcasing the heart of Disney.

So there I was, dancing and swaying, singing and crying and probably looking like a complete crazy person to everyone around me! But I didn't care! While I was doing all that, Jared was dutifully photographing each moment of the show. I have a lot of pictures to show you, so this will probably end up being two posts. I also took a few videos of some of my favourite World of Color moments, which I'll add here too.

I love the quote at the beginning, about every child being blessed with a vivid imagination. It reminds me to cherish my inner child and let it's imagination out from time to time!



































Part way through "Under the Sea" Jared decided, given that we were hardly getting wet at all, that he wanted to switch to the wide angle lens. So he did!










We hadn't really thought we'd get many shots of the projections, as our goal was to capture the fountains movement. But we ended up with a few shots that I think showcase the projections really well (like this next one). I have to say I was beyond thrilled with how our World of Color photos turned out.









As some of the larger fountains got going we did start to feel a little water. You can see in this next shot that the camera lens had a few water "dots" on it. Jared had a cloth and he'd wipe the lens from time to time, so it wasn't really a big deal.





I think this is one of my favourite of the "projection" shots! It just turned out so perfectly!











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Day 13 - Part 6 - Fountains of emotion

World of Color continued, and I continued to be enthralled by it!



During the Pirates of the Caribbean section we did find ourselves getting a little damp. Nothing unmanageable but you definitely do get wet in the "wet zone".



Jared and I shared a tender moment at this point of the show. I always get teary when Belle says "I love you" to the beast, and he comes back to life. As Belle told the Beast she loved him, and turned and whispered the same in Jared's ear. It was one of those lovely moments where what you are experiencing completely captures the emotions you are feeling, and I couldn't think of a better way to express to my amazing husband just how much I love and care for him than by taking advantage of that romantic moment.
























And so my favourite night-time show came to an end, and I had the best time watching it! I felt so much more immersed in the show from the front, I really do think this "wet zone" is the perfect viewing platform. I also think that this was the most emotion and joy I experienced on our whole Disney trip. There is something about World of Color that brings that out it me, and I enjoy the experience so much.

I love the "post show credit fountains" that keep going after the show has finished! Jared stayed and photographed them, and these are some of my favourite shots taken of World of Color.



























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Day 13 - Part 7 - Closing down California

After World of Color was done the park had been officially closed for 30 minutes, though Buena Vista Street was still open. We had plans to close down the park tonight, and get some shots of an empty Buena Vista Street.

While we waited for the World of Color crowds to disperse we tried a few shots of Pixar Pier.







There were still a few people around, but we were pretty tired so we decided not to wait until Buena Vista Street was completely closed. Additionally, we were a little nervous about being "moved on" so quickly by security, as we had been the previous night at Disneyland. So we started taking our photos.













By the time we were done with the above photo there were hardly any people in the park anymore. We did see the couple we'd christened the "instagram idiots" the previous night taking a number of pictures, but they weren't in our way tonight!

The security guards had moved to all the entrances off the Buena Vista hub, but weren't rushing people out of the area. So we headed back to the fountain to take one more wider photo.



And Jared wanted another go at the headless horseman, now that the best angle to shoot him from was not being used by a Photopass photographer.



We left the park exactly on 11:00pm just as Buena Vista Street was officially closing.

Jared set up for this shot of the entrance with it's spooky Oogie Boogie overlay, and I headed further into the plaza to wait at the spot I planned to take our next picture.



While waiting for Jared a group of guys wearing matching "gay days" t-shirts asked so nicely if I wouldn't mind them taking a picture where I was waiting. Of course I didn't mind at all, but they were so thankful and sweet it made me smile! Not long after I'd finished with their "photoshoot", Jared joined me and we took our final shots of the evening.





We arrived at the ART bus stop at 11:15pm but we had to wait until 11:50pm for a bus to show up! We really just should have walked, as we would have gotten back to the room much quicker. This was probably the longest we waited for an ART bus, which were supposed to show up every 20 minutes.

Still, while waiting, I did get to see a Disney "woogie" dog (to clarify, "woogie" is what I call my favourite dog breed, the Border Collie). This "woogie" was a Disney service dog and too cute!

Once the bus finally dropped us at our motel it was 12:05am, and we were ready for bed.

Continued in Next Post...
 
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Day 13 - Part 7 - Closing down California

After World of Color was done the park had been officially closed for 30 minutes, though Buena Vista Street was still open. We had plans to close down the park tonight, and get some shots of an empty Buena Vista Street.

While we waited for the World of Color crowds to disperse we tried a few shots of Pixar Pier.







There were still a few people around, but we were pretty tired so we decided not to wait until Buena Vista Street was completely closed. Additionally, we were a little nervous about being "moved on" so quickly by security, as we had been the previous night at Disneyland. So we started taking our photos.













By the time we were done with the above photo there were hardly any people in the park anymore. We did see the couple we'd christened the "instagram idiots" the previous night taking a number of pictures, but they weren't in our way tonight!

The security guards had moved to all the entrances off the Buena Vista hub, but weren't rushing people out of the area. So we headed back to the fountain to take one more wider photo.



And Jared wanted another go at the headless horseman, now that the best angle to shoot him from was not being used by a Photopass photographer.



We left the park exactly on 11:00pm just as Buena Vista Street was officially closing.

Jared set up for this shot of the entrance with it's spooky Oogie Boogie overlay, and I headed further into the plaza to wait at the spot I planned to take our next picture.



While waiting for Jared a group of guys wearing matching "gay days" t-shirts asked so nicely if I wouldn't mind them taking a picture where I was waiting. Of course I didn't mind at all, but they were so thankful and sweet it made me smile! Not long after I'd finished with their "photoshoot", Jared joined me and we took our final shots of the evening.





We arrived at the ART bus stop at 11:15pm but we had to wait until 11:50pm for a bus to show up! We really just should have walked, as we would have gotten back to the room much quicker. This was probably the longest we waited for an ART bus, which were supposed to show up every 20 minutes.

Still, while waiting, I did get to see a Disney "woogie" dog (to clarify, "woogie" is what I call my favourite dog breed, the Border Collie). This "woogie" was a Disney service dog and too cute!

Once the bus finally dropped us at our motel it was 12:05am, and we were ready for bed.

Continued in Next Post...
Looks like a perfect night!
BCs are my fave too.. In fact we have 4.5.. so can relate there ;)
 


Finally starting to binge your report! (So far I'm up to your first visit in Pandora)

Gorgeous photos in Sydney! That place is high up on my bucket list (though I think whenever I get to Australia I'll need to make a stop in Perth to see some familiar faces)! Glad your eye cleared up-that would have been aggravating to have to deal with! And LAX sucks so much! Even US people have to do the digital scan and then the person, which is just weird to me...

Love love love the NRJ photos! So crisp and gorgeous! I do like that ride for the same reasons you do!

Looking forward to reading the rest!
 
Finally starting to binge your report! (So far I'm up to your first visit in Pandora)

Gorgeous photos in Sydney! That place is high up on my bucket list (though I think whenever I get to Australia I'll need to make a stop in Perth to see some familiar faces)! Glad your eye cleared up-that would have been aggravating to have to deal with! And LAX sucks so much! Even US people have to do the digital scan and then the person, which is just weird to me...

Love love love the NRJ photos! So crisp and gorgeous! I do like that ride for the same reasons you do!

Looking forward to reading the rest!

Thanks for joining in! I’m a little behind thanks to being ill this week so hopefully next week I’ll get to some more updates.

Sydney is a fantastic city and a must do if you come to Australia. Perth is a little out of the way but of course if you come you’d have a place to stay! We could easily meet you in Sydney too as that’s where jared has to go for work often.

I’m glad it’s not just me who thinks LAX is a nightmare! It was just such a strange way to do things, verifying your ID twice.

I wasn’t 100% happy with the Navi River Journey pics (given it was our first day and we were still getting used to the new lens). The ride is great though, so beautiful and relaxing. Anyway I’m glad you enjoyed them 😀

hopefully soon you’ll get to the part where I talk about how awesome it was to meet you 😀
 
Looks like a perfect night!
BCs are my fave too.. In fact we have 4.5.. so can relate there ;)

So curious as to how you have 4.5 BCs??? Do you have a puppy?? If so please please post pictures!

It was a lovely evening!
 
Day 14 - Part 1 - As long as there is imagination in the world...Disneyland's shows - Part 1

Hi all, sorry for the brief delay in updates - I've been a little ill and have been resting and haven't had a chance to post.

Back to the trip, we had finally arrived at our "scheduled" rest day of the Disneyland trip (i.e. the day we weren't heading into the parks until later in the afternoon). We did have a plan to meet Jared's Kawai colleague, Alan (who works for Kawai US) and his wife Melanie at Downtown Disney for a late lunch at 2pm though.

Since we could, we slept late and when we awoke Jared headed a few doors up to Coco's Bakery, where he discovered that they did gluten free pancakes! So he bought back a huge portion for us to share for breakfast, but there was so much food even sharing we couldn't finish it all! They were really good pancakes though.



For the rest of the morning we rested, watched Dancing with the Stars and generally blobbed about.



We left the room at about 1:35pm and headed into Downtown Disney. We were taking my lightsaber back into the park today, so we could take some photos with it in Galaxy's Edge that evening, so I had it with me as we walked in. The sling bag that they provide with it does make it surprisingly easy to carry!

On our way into the bag check we found ourselves walking alongside two lovely American guys who struck up a conversation with us. They were annual passholders, and I think they were initially drawn into a conversation with us about the lightsaber I was carrying, but we ended up having a great chat about all things Disney. It was lucky we made some friends, as the line for the bag check was enormous and we needed to kill time while we waited!

We met Alan and Melanie at the Ballast Point Brewery in Downtown Disney. We ordered a few share plates (wings, chips, nachos etc) and they wouldn't let me drink because I only had a picture of my passport on me! Weirdly, they accepted Jared's Australian drivers license (which I didn't think they would normally accept) so he got to drink (no fair :P). We had a good time getting to know Alan and Melanie a bit, and it was nice to meet some of the people Jared knows from work (and meets every time he is in Japan).

We headed into Disneyland at about 4:20pm. Our plan was to see the final showing of Mickey and the Magic Map for that day at 5:20pm, but we were quite early. Luckily for us, as we entered Disneyland the Main Street Band was heading up to Town Square for a performance, so we decided to stop and enjoy them for a bit.











They were joined before long by the Dapper Dans! We enjoyed a medley of Americana songs, though we didn't stay for the entire performance.




We headed to the very back of the park (almost anyway, not counting Toon Town - we never seem to go back there) to wait for Mickey and the Magical Map. We arrived at 4:45pm just as the previous show's crowd were heading out.

I was getting quite hot by this point, it was the warmest day of our Disneyland trip at 31C (88F) and we'd already finished our water bottle. Though Jared filled it up again I really needed some cold water, so he agreed to go find a small chilled bottle of water for me while I waited. When we were finally let in we managed to grab a pretty good spot in the front row of the second section. I preferred this spot to anywhere closer to the stage as we didn't need to worry about peoples heads right in front of us.

I really enjoy Mickey and the Magical Map, especially how the Wizard uses Walt's line about how the "map" (aka Disneyland) will never be finished as long as there is imagination in the world. I do hope that Disneyland is never finished, that it continues to grow and evolve in a way that creates a place of joy for each new generation, while still keeping elements of the nostalgia that makes it what it is, the original Disney park and the standard for amusement parks everywhere. I'm grateful for the fact that each time I visit there is something new to enjoy, whether it be something major (like Galaxy's Edge) or something new for us, like experiencing a classic attraction we've never done before.

Anyway, please enjoy the million photos Jared took of the show.

















































The singing talent in the show was particularly good! Other than Flynn Rider (who was only ok) the performers really nailed their characters vocal nuances, and sung fantastically. I have this strange thing about Disney performances in that I want them to sound exactly like the original movie versions of the songs. I'm a musician, so I normally appreciate a new and different take on a classic song (vocally or musically). However I never really like when popular artists re-imagine Disney songs, or when live performers put their "own spin" on the songs. I just want to hear them as I expect to hear them - and the performers in Mickey and the Magical Map definitely did that! I guess I'm very stuck in my ways in respect to Disney music from my childhood! Perhaps it's because I know the versions I know so well!

Continued in Next Post...
 
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Day 14 - Part 2 - As long as there is imagination in the world...Disneyland's shows - Part 2



































When the show finished we had some time before the sun started to set so we decided to set out for a classic Disney attraction we'd never actually experience, the Enchanted Tiki Room. We figured that this would also be the perfect time to enjoy a Dole Whip, so we headed to the Tiki Juice Bar and were told they were only accepting mobile orders (which was weird). We placed a mobile order for a Dole Whip and chatted away to the friendly CM at the counter while we waited for it to be processed. She wanted to guess what part of Australia we were from, though she didn't get it right it was a fun game (who knows about Perth honestly, I don't blame her).



Dole Whip in hand we headed into the next show of the Enchanted Tiki Room almost immediately, ending up with a pretty good seat closer to the front of one of the four sections. We enjoyed our perfectly themed snack as we waited for the show to start, taking in the wonderful tropical atmosphere. We didn't really know much of what to expect from the show, knowing only that the birds "sung".

The Tiki host came out to start the show off and he was HILARIOUS. Among the many things he said that made me laugh was a joke about sending our rubbish to the magical land of fill! His accent and the way he said things (I that foe-Hawaiian way) were just as hilarious.

The show started and we were immediately swept up in the catchy tunes, and were soon singing along "in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room". It was quite amazing considering that it was imagined and constructed in the 1960s. These days there is nothing hugely awe-inspiring about it, but it is so damn cute and I can see why it's such a popular Disney "classic". It really draws you in to the imagination and joy Walt Disney had creating new technologies to thrill and excite people's imaginations, and to create believable fantasy worlds for his guests to enjoy. It's also amazing to think that without these little singing birds many Disney attractions, famous for their amazing animatronics and electronics, would probably never have existed. These little birds paved the way for the next level of themed attractions and for that they should be admired and revered!

It also makes you appreciate the evolution of animatronics, from this guy....to the new Hondo Ohnaka figure in the Millennium Falcon!





















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So curious as to how you have 4.5 BCs??? Do you have a puppy?? If so please please post pictures!

It was a lovely evening!
One is a cross, looks like a miniature BC.
Here are her and her sister, who we lost 6w ago from a crow we think dropping a bait on our property. Totally devastated :( :( :( :( :(IMG_6771.jpgIMG_6914.jpg
 
One is a cross, looks like a miniature BC.
Here are her and her sister, who we lost 6w ago from a crow we think dropping a bait on our property. Totally devastated :( :( :( :( :(View attachment 456006View attachment 456007

Ahhhhh WOOGIES!!! Thank you so much for sharing!! You've totally made my day! They are adorable. I'm so sorry for your loss. We lost our 9 year old cat suddenly a few years ago and it's so devastating. I'm so sorry you had to loose her for such a senseless reason. Sending love xoxo

This is our Teddy, he's a Border Collie x German Shephard x Kelpie. We call him our Border Shepie





 
Ahhhhh WOOGIES!!! Thank you so much for sharing!! You've totally made my day! They are adorable. I'm so sorry for your loss. We lost our 9 year old cat suddenly a few years ago and it's so devastating. I'm so sorry you had to loose her for such a senseless reason. Sending love xoxo

This is our Teddy, he's a Border Collie x German Shephard x Kelpie. We call him our Border Shepie





Thanks very much. Yes, senseless murder of an 11m old pup. Really hate Australia sometimes :(
Your pictures and report have made me smile when they have been very short supply (Still very teary), I really appreciate it.
Your boy is gorgeous, he looks like an overgrown BC!
 
FYI, I reckon this name is just as annoying and long-winded as the Big Grizzly Runaway Mine cars at Hong Kong Disneyland is. Since it will annoy me to write the name every time I mention the coaster, I'll probably do the same thing I did in my Asian trip report, and refer to this ride in my own hilarious short-hand from now on (or at least I think it's funny, you may disagree).
Everytime I walked by Big Grizzly, internally I called it "Big grizzly zoom zoom!"
 
Thanks very much. Yes, senseless murder of an 11m old pup. Really hate Australia sometimes :(
Your pictures and report have made me smile when they have been very short supply (Still very teary), I really appreciate it.
Your boy is gorgeous, he looks like an overgrown BC!
I'm very honoured that my report is helping you through a tough time. I hope that overtime the grief is more manageable (we never forget them but I've found time does help). And maybe when you are ready you'll be able to give another pup who needs a loving home a furever family xo

Thanks, yes he is quite large for a BC. He has a bit more of the shape of a German Shepherd in places, and he often stumps people. They can tell his part Border Collie but then aren't sure what to make of him!

Thanks again for reading along and all your comments and support, it really does mean a lot. Sending love to you are your family xo
 
Day 14 - Part 3 - The sun sets on Tomorrow, Fantasy and a Galaxy, Far, Far Away.

Once we were done in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room we headed over to the monorail platform to take a few sunset photos. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a monorail to show up, but it was worth it, as the light was perfect by the time it did.








Once we finished in Tomorrowland we noticed that the sun was still setting beautifully behind the castle. We rushed over to take a few pictures of that too!











This was my absolute favourite of our sunset photos that evening!





Timing is everything with sunset photography, well that and actually getting decent sunset light, and we lucked out on this evening with both. The sun was in a fantastic position behind the castle. I was so happy with the pictures!

When the sun had finally set, we headed back into the hub to get some pictures during blue hour. There were a lot of people about, claiming spots for the fireworks later that night, so we could only get a number of tighter angle pictures.

















We knew there was absolutely no chance of getting a front of castle spot for the fireworks. We had wanted to photograph the show from in front of the hub (the best spot since the castle is so small) but we had seen the crowds waiting on Friday night, snapping those spots up over 3 hours before the start of the show, and we just weren't willing to wait that long for a spot. We did plan to try grab a spot just behind the partners about 2 hours before the start of the show, but we had some time until we needed to do that, so we headed into Galaxy's Edge to capture it against a blue background.

We headed into the Resistance forest area and found Rey and Chewy performing some repairs to the X-Wing.







Chewy was adorable, he spotted Jared and his camera and posed for him!





It was a little dark so the pictures aren't perfect, but we were so glad to capture this moment. This is one of the many fantastic things about Galaxy's Edge. There was no preamble to the show, no story, just the premise that you are on a planet in a Galaxy far far away, and you've run into a couple of the planet's inhabitants working on a ship they plan to fly!

After Chewy was done fixing the ship he came down into the crowd that had gathered around and mingled a bit. He came over to Jared, who was sort of staying out of the way of those crowding around Chewy and gave him a big pat on the shoulder! Jared said he felt very loved when Chewy sought him out like that!

With Rey and Chewy done with the X-Wing we decided to have some fun with it.





Unlike Pandora, Galaxy's Edge at night DID NOT disappoint! The lighting is so beautiful, so crispy and so otherworldly. The area is transformed at night, and is even more beautiful!



This is, I believe, where Rise of the Resistance will let out when it opens! I'm so excited to see what the attraction is like through videos and articles in just a few days. Still looking at this I am still a little sad knowing we didn't get to experience the attraction in person.



Galaxy's Edge was pretty quiet this evening, I think a lot of the people in the park were already waiting for the fireworks out in the hub. The marketplace was still busy though.



Taking these photos we ran into the BEST Galaxy's Edge CM of our entire trip. He had clearly taken the storytelling aspect of his job to heart, and he approached us to warn us that there were troopers in the vicinity, and we should try hide if we saw them, as they were after Resistance spies. I told him that I had managed to evade them once, but I appreciated his warning. He asked if I'd managed to run into Vi Moradi yet, and I said no but that I'd helped Chewy and Rey fix the X-Wing for a quick getaway, and he replied that that was a smart thing to do. I also told him I was training in the ways of the Jedi and that, if need be, my saber would protect us!

Pretty soon the troopers showed up and he hid behind a wall as they walked past, and we did too. It was just one of those moments where the story really felt real thanks to this CMs commitment to guest interaction and storytelling! We ran into him later on too, and he would again thrill us (more on that later though).





The area around the Falcon was not so quite either. We had planned to take some photos with a Photopass photographer but there were big lines, so we decided we'd come back after the fireworks, when we would be taking more photos, and do in then. As we were setting up our shots of the Falcon a fantastic CM asked us if we were planning to take some long exposures of the saber light zooming about. We hadn't even though of it, but her terrific suggestion put the idea in our head for later. She also told us that Batuu got much quieter after the fireworks, so we could come back and take more pictures then. She was so helpful and we were extremely grateful, and seemed genuinely interested in our photography and making sure we got good pictures.





We had one last ship to photograph before we made our way out to wait for the fireworks.....the Tie-fighter.





One of the only things we didn't manage to see during our time in Galaxy's Edge was the short show with Kylo Ren and the stormtroopers. Oh well, you can't have everything I suppose!

Continued in Next Post....
 
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Day 14 - Part 4 - The Nostalgia of Halloween Screams

Once we had made our way back to the hub it was difficult to work out where to "linger" to try and grab the best spot we could for the fireworks. The section in front of the hub was already full, and we thought the next best spot would be behind the partners statue, but the area hadn't been roped off and we didn't know what sections would be viewing areas and which would be thoroughfares. It was 1 hour and 45 minutes before the start of the show at this point. Luckily, Jared was able to find a CM who informed us that the only viewing area within the central hub area was the entrance to the central hub from Main Street. The rest of the entrances and the area around the partners would remain a thoroughfare. That information confirmed, we grabbed a spot on the rail at the front of the entrance to the partners statue section of the hub. We were also able to help other people who wanted to know if this area would become a viewing spot for the fireworks.

When the CMs came by with the rope we managed to grab a spot to set up the tripod right at the front of the roped off area. Jared had been standing there for about 20 minutes to claim his spot, so that was fair. I jumped in from my spot on the railing as the rope went up and the area quickly filled up with people. Thankfully, everyone had decided to sit down to wait out the show, so I didn't feel so silly doing it. I did have to pop out of the area to go to the toilet and I asked one of the ladies behind me if she wouldn't mind keeping my spot for me, and she happily obliged. As I made my way back in we struck up a conversation with this lady and her family. Her teenage son was particularly adorable. He saw my lightsaber and said he was jealous, he wasn't going to get to make one. I asked him if he'd like to have a play with it and his face just lit up! He was so surprised that I would let him have a go with it, but it was really no big deal and it was so lovely to see the enjoyment on his face. After his family took some pictures of him with it and I'd put it away, we continued chatting. This was probably one of the best chats we had with any other guests during our visit to both Disney World and Disneyland. This family was beautiful. Our chats ranged from everything about their home to our home, to the son's absolute love of Disney and dream to be an Imagineer, to Jared's camera and photography. After I showed them a few pictures from our Instagram account they both started following Jared, as they were so impressed by his photography. They also wanted to see the shots he would soon be taking of the fireworks when they were posted. Later on, when I did post one of the photos, I got comments from both the ladies (who were a mum and her daughter) about how lovely it was to meet us and chat. It was very special.

The chatting definitely made the time go quick and before long we were standing up getting ready for the show to start. Halloween Screams is nostalgic for Jared and I, and in a way, very romantic too. This sounds like a strange thing to say about a Halloween themed show, so perhaps I should elaborate. Halloween Screams was the first Disney fireworks show we ever saw, on our first day at Disneyland on our honeymoon. It was the first year the fireworks were shown (2009) and one of the only years (other than this year) that they were shown outside of a Halloween Party. We were utterly amazed, at the time, by the sheer beauty of the castle projections, the amazing volume of fireworks in this show. It was like nothing we'd ever seen. Obviously, we've now seen a number of Disney fireworks shows that surpass this one in terms of technology, volume of fireworks, projections and creativity. But this show was our very first taste of the wonder of a Disney fireworks spectacular. We also got "This is Halloween" stuck in our heads so well, that we continued to sing it for years to come, and it became our Halloween theme song each year we would mark the holiday at home. I hadn't ever seen the Nightmare before Christmas, so for me that tune was something that connected me to the Disney parks.

Seeing the show again was like a trip down memory lane. Yes, there are probably better Disney fireworks spectaculars out there. And the Magic Kingdom's Not So Spooky Spectacular was, well, more spectacular. But there is something about these fireworks, the music and the location that made me smile from ear to ear for the entire show. It was fantastic.

Jared go a little mad that the fireworks, probably thanks to the wind, were a little lop sided. We also had to contend with the trees in the hub blocking our view a little. But given that we couldn't photograph the show from just in front of the castle, I think the spot we choose was the next best thing.











We did have to deal with the fact that the rope in front of us was right on a walkway through the hub, so we did have people (with lights and things) zooming through a number of our shots.



























Continued in Next Post...
 
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