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Published On: Aug 05, 2007 08:38 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Aug 05, 2007 08:38 AM
Vacation, Day 1
Disney MGM Studios
Woke up at 7:30 AM with a horrible backache and
left hip pain, so I took a hot soak in the tub. Hsuan and the boys didn't wake
up until about an hour later. Had the breakfast items from the Sugar Loaf
lounge.
Breakfast in bed in Sugar Loaf.
The view across the marina from our balcony.
The lobby in the main building at the Grand Floridian.
Went to Disney MGM Studios, arriving around 10:30 AM. Missed the early show of Beauty and the Beast, so we went later to the 11:15 AM show of Playhouse Disney, then the 12:00 Beauty and the Beast. After a diaper change for James, we had a light lunch near the Beauty and the Beast show, then we saw The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at 2:00 PM. A special treat was that, after the show, the boys got to meet the actor who plays the German mechanic in the show. He was very funny. After asking William which theme park we were in, he pointed out to William that his Marvel superheroes t-shirt belongs at a competitor park (Universal Studios).
James danced and clapped at Playhouse Disney.
Beauty and the Beast.
Lunch.
Meeting the German Mechanic guy from the Indiana Jones show. (He's actually an American, though he lived in England a while.)
(Since James is scared of giant animal characters, and since William has met them multiple times on multiple trips, we've been skipping the character greetings this trip. It's made our schedule much easier.)
We noodled around a bit, getting a drink and some souvenirs, and then we saw Indiana Jones again at 4:00 PM. Got excellent front row seats. At 5:15 PM, we saw the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show for the first time ever. Then we took a bus back to the Grand Floridian.
At the hotel, we missed the evening appetizers in Sugar Loaf, so we got a quick dinner at the Gasparilla Grill. I managed to get William to nap, and Hsuan gave James a bath. Hsuan called the concierge desk and arranged reservations tomorrow at Epcot for 11:45 AM for our favorite Mexican restaurant and at 5:45 PM at a Frech restaurant. Then, I picked up some desserts and a liqueur (Kahlua) from the Sugar Loaf lounge. We watched a little American Idol, and at 9 PM, James, Hsuan, and I watched the Wishes Fireworks show from our balcony. I videotaped it, too.
Then we woke up William and caught a bus back to Disney MGM Studios, using our Extra Magic Hours privilege to catch a special 10:30 PM showing of Fantasmic. We got second row seats. The show was spectacular.
Unfortunately, I had forgotten (or maybe never really knew) how much mist from the show gets into the audience. The show doesn't warn people that the front rows can get damp, and I started remembering how a Sea World Shamu show zapped my older, previous Canon PowerShot camera. I got worried as my glasses got noticeably beaded occasionally with mist during Fantasmic, and after a while, I started turning off the Canon HV20 Camcorder I was using, pointing it downward.
Watching Fantasmic!
As far as I can tell, the CMOS chip is likely just fine. It was just mist, and the mist was likely fresh water (if not terribly clean), while the Sea World shows use salt water. When we got back to the hotel, I noticed in bright light that the lens was spotted a bit, so I'll have to find a lens cleaning kit at the gift shop tomorrow morning.
Note: When we get home, I can test the CMOS chip by taking still photos at maximum resolution of my computer monitors at white, red, green, blue, and black, with the HV20 pointing at the computer monitor and defocused. The resulting photos can be examined in iPhoto for stuck pixels or whatnot.
Breakfast in bed in Sugar Loaf.
The view across the marina from our balcony.
The lobby in the main building at the Grand Floridian.
Went to Disney MGM Studios, arriving around 10:30 AM. Missed the early show of Beauty and the Beast, so we went later to the 11:15 AM show of Playhouse Disney, then the 12:00 Beauty and the Beast. After a diaper change for James, we had a light lunch near the Beauty and the Beast show, then we saw The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at 2:00 PM. A special treat was that, after the show, the boys got to meet the actor who plays the German mechanic in the show. He was very funny. After asking William which theme park we were in, he pointed out to William that his Marvel superheroes t-shirt belongs at a competitor park (Universal Studios).
James danced and clapped at Playhouse Disney.
Beauty and the Beast.
Lunch.
Meeting the German Mechanic guy from the Indiana Jones show. (He's actually an American, though he lived in England a while.)
(Since James is scared of giant animal characters, and since William has met them multiple times on multiple trips, we've been skipping the character greetings this trip. It's made our schedule much easier.)
We noodled around a bit, getting a drink and some souvenirs, and then we saw Indiana Jones again at 4:00 PM. Got excellent front row seats. At 5:15 PM, we saw the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show for the first time ever. Then we took a bus back to the Grand Floridian.
At the hotel, we missed the evening appetizers in Sugar Loaf, so we got a quick dinner at the Gasparilla Grill. I managed to get William to nap, and Hsuan gave James a bath. Hsuan called the concierge desk and arranged reservations tomorrow at Epcot for 11:45 AM for our favorite Mexican restaurant and at 5:45 PM at a Frech restaurant. Then, I picked up some desserts and a liqueur (Kahlua) from the Sugar Loaf lounge. We watched a little American Idol, and at 9 PM, James, Hsuan, and I watched the Wishes Fireworks show from our balcony. I videotaped it, too.
Then we woke up William and caught a bus back to Disney MGM Studios, using our Extra Magic Hours privilege to catch a special 10:30 PM showing of Fantasmic. We got second row seats. The show was spectacular.
Unfortunately, I had forgotten (or maybe never really knew) how much mist from the show gets into the audience. The show doesn't warn people that the front rows can get damp, and I started remembering how a Sea World Shamu show zapped my older, previous Canon PowerShot camera. I got worried as my glasses got noticeably beaded occasionally with mist during Fantasmic, and after a while, I started turning off the Canon HV20 Camcorder I was using, pointing it downward.
Watching Fantasmic!
As far as I can tell, the CMOS chip is likely just fine. It was just mist, and the mist was likely fresh water (if not terribly clean), while the Sea World shows use salt water. When we got back to the hotel, I noticed in bright light that the lens was spotted a bit, so I'll have to find a lens cleaning kit at the gift shop tomorrow morning.
Note: When we get home, I can test the CMOS chip by taking still photos at maximum resolution of my computer monitors at white, red, green, blue, and black, with the HV20 pointing at the computer monitor and defocused. The resulting photos can be examined in iPhoto for stuck pixels or whatnot.
Posted: Wed - May 23, 2007 at 10:29 PM