Monday, September 30, 2013

Here Are Some Tweets

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Sunday, May 5, 2013

Update: Cool Fireworks!

It turns out there was no announcement from Shrek tonight, I didn't think there would be. I did expect Illuminations to be neat and was not disappointed!
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BREAKING NEWS: Shrek Spotted at EPCOT

Hearing words from several readers that Shrek has been spotted near EPCOT and is expected to make an announcement later tonight.
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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

I Can Make Bingo Cards Too

Yeah I'm not about to let the official parks blog get a monopoly on making Bingo cards to use in the parks so here is the first in a four-part series I'll probably never finish: Magic Kingdom Bingo!

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Monday, April 15, 2013

27 Facts and Tips for Visiting The Magic Kingdom

As I'm sure many others do, I often get questions from friends and family about Walt Disney World. Things that seem obvious to some Disney fans aren't necessarily as obvious for the typical family planning a vacation to the resort for the first time. This has inspired me to create a list of facts and tips I can point to for any newcomer and help them get the most out of their vacation. Who knows, maybe even the more fanatical of us will learn a thing or two here! Maybe even me, the person who wrote it!

The Magic Kingdom seems like the logical place to start this list, being the first park and originally called "Disney World", a name that sticks with some tourists to this very day.

  1. As you enter the park underneath the train station, note the posters on the walls. These are all posters for upcoming movies based on attractions in the Magic Kingdom!
  2. At the train station, be sure to keep an eye out for the trains that stop by periodically. These are real trains!
  3. As you enter Adventureland, you will surely be aware of The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, the only ride in the park like this!
  4. The Jungle Cruise was originally planned to have real animals instead of animatronics, but it was decided that animatronics would actually be cheaper because they don't die quite so often and have a slightly lower tendency to maul guests. 
  5. Pirates of the Caribbean is a fantastic boat ride that was originally called Western River Expedition, and featured cowboys and Indians instead of the pirates you find today. Much to Imagineer Marc Davis' dismay, the ride was overhauled when someone pointed out that the building was accidentally built in Adventureland instead of Frontierland and was entirely out of place.
  6. The Golden Oak Outpost on the path between Frontierland and Adventureland is a great place to grab a quick snack. This was once the only location in the parkw here you could find McDonald's french fries, but this partnership was discontinued after their promise of "There's gold in them thar fries!" resulted in high operating costs and dental bills.
  7. Splash Mountain is a log flume based on one of the most well known Disney films that few have ever seen, Splash. This is a great ride for cooling off on a hot day and features a 52-foot drop into the popular retail chain The Briar Patch.
  8. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was designed as an extension of the Walt Disney World Railroad but troubles arose when the entire expansion was built without the use of a level. The result is an unintentionally fun roller coaster that remains separate from the park's original railroad.
  9. The Country Bear Jamboree is a fantastic live stage show that takes place in The Original Country Bear Hall and actual characters come on stage and perform the show! It concludes with a glorious three-hour finale called A Salute to All Animals But Mostly Bears.
  10. The Liberty Belle riverboat is a great place to relax and rarely sinks, so you'll probably be okay.
  11. There's nothing in the Diamond Horseshoe and there never was so just keep on walking, understand?
  12. The Haunted Mansion is another great place to relax and usually features a pretty short line. It should be noted however, that the ride vehicles are continuously moving and do not stop for loading and unloading. Some of the more ambitious managers have been known to speed the ride up to match the crowds on busier days, making the ride as short as 15 seconds and making getting into a ride vehicle a very difficult task!
  13. The Hall of Presidents is a slow-moving ride that takes you through the history of the American presidency. With a little touch of Magic from the Imagineers, guests will have a first-person experience of infamous moments from each President. These include uniting the country following the Civil War, getting stuck in a bathtub and having an affair with Marilyn Monroe!
  14. When heading into Fantasyland from Liberty Square, the first thing you will notice on your left is the brand-new Tangled water ride! Be sure to check out this brand new multi-million dollar experience shortly after lunch.
  15. After part of Fantasyland got into a bitter feud with Magic Kingdom president Phil Holmes over the excessive taxation of water features, a group of middle-managers decided to break off into a separate park they are calling New Fantasyland. They've even installed a picture of Phil Holmes looking like a complete doofus to mock him.
  16. The Be Our Guest ride is the landmark attraction in New Fantasyland, taking riders on a journey through the world of Beauty and the Beast.
  17. The area where Storybook Circus is now was once known as Mickey's Toontown Fair, a small area that featured the homes of several Disney characters and a small fair. Unfortunately, the 2008 economic crisis sent Mickey and Minnie Mouse's houses into foreclosure and a lengthy drought left the area with few crops, destroying the fair. With real estate at extremely low prices, an opportunistic carnie moved in and set up a circus on the land.
  18. As you enter the Storybook Circus neighborhood of New Fantasyland, you will surely be aware of Dumbo, the only ride in the park like this!
  19. The Mad Tea Party is a classic carnival-style blacklight dark ride featuring larger than life caricatures of Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Ann Coulter. 
  20. Ever wanted to see what it would be like to drive a car powered by Briggs & Stratton? The Tomorrowland Speedway might just be for you!
  21. As you enter Tomorrowland, you will surely be aware of Astro Orbiter, the only ride in the park like this!
  22. Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe is a great place to dine with animatronic entertainment from Sonny Eclipse. Just uh, make sure to get food somewhere else.
  23. The Carousel of Progress is a very popular show and Fastpasses can be hard to obtain. Unlike normal Fastpasses, the Carousel of Progress' Fastpasses are only given out as a surprise bonus when guests get a Fastpass for Space Mountain or Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It could take all day to get just one Fastpass for the Carousel of Progress but after seeing the show, you will understand why it was worth the effort.
  24. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover is a ride that features brief moments in the dark, high speed, shapr turns and sudden drops. Expectant mothers should not ride.
  25. There was once a commonly empty stage near Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It was rarely used and made for a good place to relax. Some frequent guests referred to this area as Paradise due to it's quiet and calm atmosphere compared to the typically noisy and busy Tomorrowland. Unfortunately management decided to pave Paradise and put up a parking lot.
  26. Like Disneyland's Club 33, there is a Club 626 in Tomorrowland. This exclusive-access restaurant features signature drinks such as the Tik Tok, and the Cotton-Eyed Joe.
  27. To reflect the futurisitic themes of Tomorrowland, there is only one trash can in the entire area. Instead of remaining in one static location, this trash can moves around the land, meaning he will come to you! When you see a trash can roll up, just dump whatever garbage you have on in.
I hope this list of facts and tips helped with your next trip to the Magic Kingdom. In the future, I'll be posting lists for the other three parks as well.
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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Review: Opteka Fisheye "Lens"


Once in a while over the past few months, I've been playing around with this, the "Opteka HD² 0.20X Professional AF Fisheye Lens". The first thing I need to do is clear up a few misleading points in the product's description. First of all, this isn't a lens. It's an adapter that screws onto a lens the way a filter would. Second, the product description lists a number of Canon cameras this product is compatible with (all of them). This product isn't just compatible with any particular brand of SLR because it's not a lens. It'll work with any DSLR as long as you have a lens you can attach it to.

The Amazon.com listing for this adapter claims the regular price is $200, but I've never seen it selling for anything other than $50. I'm guessing the regular price is just to make the actual $50 price tag look like a good deal. With the often praised Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens selling in the $250-$300 range, maybe $50 is a good deal.

My first observation when handling this adapter is that the build quality is pretty solid. It's constructed of metal and feels durable. It comes with two rubber caps for each end of the adapter and the rear one isn't always cooperative. Also included is a small drawstring pouch to keep the adapter in, which is a good thing because I'm not sure I trust the rear cap to stay on in my camera bag!

The adapter is designed to work with 52mm lenses and comes with step-down rings to accommodate lenses with 55 and 58mm filter threads. This isn't really an optimal solution as if you go too wide while using the step-down rings, the rings will start to get into the frame. In fairness, though. If you've gone that wide, you're probably getting a lot of lens barrel in your frame as well and are working with what is probably an excessively wide "focal length".
Too wide? Yeah, probably.
So far, I've used this adapter with two of my lenses. The standard 18-55 Canon kit lens, and the relatively new 40mm "pancake" lens (a great lens that I highly recommend for anyone shooting with a crop sensor). I'm assuming using the adapter with my telephoto lens would be pointless and ridiculous, so I'll probably do that eventually as well. I've had much better results with my 40mm than the kit lens. The adapter claims to have 0.2x magnification, which should turn a 40mm focal length into 8mm. I haven't done any thorough testing to see how accurate that claim is, but in my experience so far, it seems accurate.

Now to the really important part. The image quality is decent, if you don't mind cropping. The picture tends to be reasonably sharp in the center of the frame, but loses anything resembling sharpness as you get closer to the edges, no matter how small of an aperture you use.
Rough around the edges.


In summary, this adapter might be a good choice for someone on a budget who can't afford to shell out $250+ for an actual fisheye lens. Or maybe for someone who wants to play around with the style of photography but isn't ready to invest in an actual lens. In the end, though, you're going to get what you pay for and the results might be acceptable, but they won't be as good as they might be with an actual lens. If you're using lenses with a filter thread larger than 58mm, you've probably wasted your time reading this review, as you've spent enough on photography gear already that another $200 won't kill you. Just go buy the Rokinon.

Summary of summary: Can't/don't want to spend $250+ on a fisheye lens? Consider this adapter! Otherwise, go for the Rokinon 8mm lens.
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Thursday, March 14, 2013

It's March

Hey. It's March. Stuff's going on.

The EPCOT Flower & Mater Festival is picking up pace but I'm not ready to say it's in full swing because the butterfly house doesn't have butterflies yet.

 

Of course, the big draw to this festival is the Mater Topiary and he's back this year in a prominent new location between Test Track and Mouse Gear. Crowds have been heavy around the landmark topiary, either because it's popular or just because it's on a narrow walkway. This isn't an editorial, it's not for me to judge.



















Presenting...the backside of Mater!
















Lightning McQueen was also present.


There were also some other topiaries, meh.


























Tori Gate just isn't as interesting this year...


The German railroad is also dressed up for the Festival


Someone's screwing with me, aren't they???


Kodak Picture Spot is still alive somehow



On a serious note, local photographer Steve Vaughn has some prints for sale at EPCOT during the festival. He's got some nice landscapes of various tropical locations and it wouldn't kill you to take a couple minutes to check it out while you're in the park.

I cut through Innoventions for some reason.

A murder of Duffies
Magic Kingdom

 Okay that's enough EPCOT for now, let's throw some random stuff from the Magic Kingdom up.

It was busy

iPadography

Tangled Toilets look nice and I'm gonna take this moment to endorse the campaign to name this waterfall Inspiration Falls.

Again, this isn't an editorial but I feel like there should be a back on that seat.






That's probably like $30 in balloons hanging out above the PeopleMover.

What the Meg?!

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