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October 28, 2009

CHOC Walk in the Park

Light Meter by Lisa K. Berton

On Sunday, October 18, 2009 I participated in a 5K walk through Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure to raise funds and awareness for Children's Hospital of Orange County. Thanks to my family, friends, and readers like you, I was able to raise $880.00.

I'd like to share some photos of the event with you.

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Thousands lined Main Street, USA pre-dawn ready to fulfill their promise.

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The crowds were well-managed by only allowing a certain number of walkers out at a time.

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Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and a Master of Ceremonies got us pumped up.

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Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from the upcoming movie, "The Princess and the Frog" made an appearance alongside a bluesy jazz band.

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Jasmine and a few of the other princesses went for a ride on King Arthur Carrousel.

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Informative signs regarding CHOC were scattered along the route as a terrific reminder of why we were all there.

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My friend Lisa, her husband Jeffry and their son Logan were a part of Team Fairy Godmothers.

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This little green army guy had the best job. He sat and told us to keep marching. LOL

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Teams often have custom designed T-shirts made and this is just one example of how Lisa and I were nearly brought to tears over and over again.

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The House of Blues had their Sunday gospel singers performing at the end of the walk. This woman had positive messages and blessings for everyone.

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Canine Angels proved that it's not just us humans who care about kids.

Feeling inspired? This link will take you to a music player for my friend's band, HERE II HERE. Check out the first song, Waking Journey (Walk with Me). I think it fits the blog.

We have the Disneyland press release with a video about the walk!

October 27, 2009

Disney Pic of the Week: Morocco

Photographic Innoventions by Scott Thomas

The Morocco pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase is the only one sponored by its country's government. When it was being constructed, the King of Morocco sent his royal craftsmen to lay all the tile work, carvings and paintings you see in the pavilion. This northern African country makes for a beautiful Disney Pic of the Week.

Tangier Traders sells traditional Moroccan clothing in Epcot's Morocco pavilion, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
Tangier Traders sells traditional Moroccan clothing.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/13s, f/4.5, 1600 ISO, +0.3 EV, 36mm Focal Length

Barrie and Lisa will be here on Thursday and Saturday with their favorite photos from Morocco.

October 25, 2009

Where in the World #107

Focus on Disney World by Barrie Brewer

This was Challenge #106:
 Where in the World #106

And here's the answer:
Starabilias sign in Downtown Disney
Copyright © 2009 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D300, 18-200VR, 1.6s shutter, f/11

Starabilias was a really fun store to browse when it was open. I always gave myself lots of time because it was full of interesting music, movie, history and sports memorabilia. It was located at Downtown Disney - Westside.

Robin Mcconnell was the first to send in the correct answer for the challenge! Congratulations to Robin and all the other readers who got the answer right: Sharon Pierce, Scott Otis, Vincent Maltese, Charles Wright, Travis, Sarah Haas, Tim Rachuba, Chad Ryan, Sharon Dale, Jon Solomonson, Linda Mac, Chris Nash, Vittoria Vignone and Kristen Gainey. Each of you were entered in the October winners’ drawing.

It’s time for the monthly drawing. This month’s big winner is Carri Marotto! Congratulations Carri, you are the lucky recipient of a fabulous Disney book and some really cool AllEars schwag!

Good luck to everyone as we begin another month! Here we go…

_______________________________________________________________________

Challenge #107: Where in the world is this?

 Where in the World #107

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, October 29, by clicking on the blue box below. Please do not post answers using the Feedback Form link at the bottom of this post. Remember to be specific with your answer - just naming a park will not get you into the drawing.

Click Here to Submit Your Answer
_______________________________________________________________________

Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for some special AllEars® goodies and a cool Disney book!

October 24, 2009

Mulan in Rouge

Light Meter by Lisa K. Berton

Princess Fantasy Faire in Disneyland hosts a variety of activities including a meet and greet with princesses. For a while they held a coronation ceremony which was very cute and got the kids involved. This photo of Mulan is from that ceremony. You never knew which three princesses would attend until they made their grand entrance.

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Canon EOS A2 with Canon 70-300mm USM, Fujifilm

Disney Pic of the Week - Fantasyland

October 23, 2009

Telephoto Landscape

Photographic Innoventions by Scott Thomas

Mistakes. We all make them. Most of the time when we make a mistake, it doesn't work out to good. Sometimes you get a pleasant surprise. Such as the case in the photo below of Expedition EVEREST taken from the bridge between Africa and Discovery Island. I had just finished walking the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and had my camera in Aperture Priority mode and set to it's largest f-stop of f/2.8. That is best for taking animal portraits with and not landscapes. Well, I forgot and took this photo. I didn't realize what I had done until later when I was on the other side of the park. What do you think? Ideally, I would have used f/11 to f/16.

Expedition Everest telephoto landscape in Disney's Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida.
Expedition Everest Telephoto Landscape.
Nikon D70/70-200VR, 1/3200s, f/2.8, ISO 200, EV -0.3, 70mm Focal Length

Using a telephoto lens, even a short one, compresses the image captured by the camera's sensor. The compression worked here to keep the depth of field small enough to keep the image in focus almost from front to back. Remember, with my camera crop of 1.5x, this is the equivalent to a 105mm telephoto lens (70mm x 1.5). There is softness in the extreme areas and I wouldn't want to print this any bigger than an 8" x 12".

October 22, 2009

Another Cinderella

Photographic Innoventions by Scott Thomas

Cinderella Fountain statue in Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
Cinderella Fountain Statue.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/20s, f/5.3, 200 ISO, +0.3 EV, 80mm Focal Length

For my Disney Pic of the Week on Fantasyland, I have chosen a different angle of this lovely Cinderella Fountain statue I showed previously as Queen Cinderella. Here she is her step-family's maid holding one of her woodland friends with the shoppes of Fantasyland softly focused behind her. Tells a completely different story.

This photo and others are featured on the AllEars.net Disney Desktops page. Download them for your computer's screensavers and desktop wallpapers today!

October 21, 2009

The Mother(s) of All Trips - The End

Light Meter by Lisa K. Berton

Day 5
I forgot to jot down notes so it's possible that things are out of order.

Four days of being out in the heat and thick humidity can and will affect you. We were tired and worn so this morning we slept in. Breakfast consisted of more cereal, mini-muffins, fruit, juice, and other items we'd picked up at the grocery store.

When we arrived at Epcot I steered us to Universe of Energy where we walked right inside and waited 5 minutes for the pre-show to begin. It was roughly 40% filled giving me the impression that we'd have our own row to stretch out on. Wrong! That's something I'll never understand. If there are lots of empty rows, why do people still sit in mine? Anyway, it was a nice cool place to relax and avoid the perils of Mother Nature although escaping dinosaurs can leave you tired as well.

Leisurely we strolled along until reaching Mexico where the sun felt even stronger than it did in the future, odd as that sounds. Inside, my mom and Judi poked around the gift shop and picked up some hard peppermint candies. Panchito and Jose Carioca were having a heck of a time finding Pato Donald so we tried to help. The whole gang was reunited at the end of the boat ride.

Soon after it was time for our reservation at Biergarten in Germany. The timing of our meal allowed for 2 performances by the band. Buffets are difficult for me to select from with my pepper allergry, if you will, along with a long list of dietary restrictions. The chef came out and I found him to be somewhat difficult and giving me a hard time. I've been there before and have been taken care of with far more sensitivity from other chefs. Long story short, I was given a piece of fish, whipped potatoes, and some sort of cheese and pasta dish, the latter of which I couldn't eat. Seems Chef Artur felt how annoyed I was given that I handed him my list of restrictions which he may not have read and the resistence he gave me so he didn't charge me anything. He did request that in the future I call the restaurant directly.

Prior to the vacation my mom asked me a few times if she could meet my friend Amy so we'd arranged to meet up that afternoon. When we came out of Biergarten, Amy was waiting for us. We sat around and chatted then Judi went shopping and saw a line of beer steins singing. I suspected they were part of the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure and I was correct.

With no real plans or a list of things any of us wanted to do we casually wandred through Italy and American Adventure where we sat and waited for the next showing. I never knew there was anything to look at on the far right side of the room where Voices of Liberty perform. Ask me what's there. I already forgot. A baseball mitt? Had it all been about pop Latin groups I would be able to recall everything. What can I tell ya.

This attraction, American Adventure always makes me want to take a nap. It's dark, the room temperature is comfortable, and the naration sounds monotone to me. So there I am, pushed back into my chair in "nap position," closing my eyes, previewing what I look like while sleeping and my good friend slaps my wrist. Fine, fine, I'll try to stay awake. Meanwhile, to Amy's left, my mom's asleep. Not fair I tells ya!

My mom & Judi checked out the shops in Morocco but came back empty-handed. They weren't too interested in seeing Japan or France so we took a ride on the Friendship Boat over to where the future meets the world. The mothers decided they'd had enough touring and were ready for more shopping on the way out. My mom suggested we go back to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner and invited Amy to join us. We split up with plans to meet up again later.

I'd missed Club Cool the first day we were in Epcot. Before skipping over to MouseGears I took them for some free soda and eagerly waited for one of them to try the infamous Beverly. Judi didn't have anything to drink and my mom never chose the bitter soda. Drat! Foiled again!

A little shopping in MouseGears, a fun conversation with a CM whose name escapes me, and our time together in the parks was over. They rested at the resort and did some packing before we picked up Amy and went out for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. It was a nice evening.

Day 6
Up early, packed and ready to roll it was back to the airport for the flight home.

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Judi & my mom, Sheryl

Notes

Birthday Fun Card - Judi's goal was to buy herself a Minnie Mouse watch. She checked many stores before finding one with easy-to-read numbers. I can't recall what else she bought.

Handy Manny - My mom bought presents for her friend's grandchildren and Handy Manny toys were a suggestion. She wanted me to photograph the character but he was busy with kids so later on in the day I went back and was able to get some photos for her.

Dietary Restrictions - For the most part every chef I've talked to has been great and a few have been absolutely superb. In my reservations I always note an allergy to pepper and advise them of dietary restrictions. For a few trips I faxed my list along with my ADRs to a department that deals specifically with this. Half the time I'd arrive at the restaurant and the kitchen never got the message but was able to make something for me on the spot. Next trip I'll try contacting the restaurants directly if it's one I think will have trouble accomodating me.

Spritzer Fans - This turned out to be a great purchase. It helped my mom to stay cool and thin out the thick humid air she was breathing. The price is ungawdly however at $16.00. Get one at a local store and bring it with you along with extra batteries.

Birthdays - If you make your reservation by phone or online be sure to let Disney know you or someone with you is celebrating a birthday. I had it marked for every reservation. When you call they'll ask for the name and birthday of the celebrant and if you want the restaurant to recognize the event. I'm curious if these questions will be asked next year when the promotion is over.

Drinks to go - My mom had a great idea and put it to work every day. Take an empty water bottle with you or hang onto it after finishing it in the park. Before leaving a restaurant, ask your server for a refill and pour it into the bottle along with ice. Trust me when I say bring a small funnel. Attractions don't allow you to carry drinks in cups but closed bottles are permitted.

Do you have any questions?

October 20, 2009

Disney Pic of the Week - Fantasyland

Focus on Disney World by Barrie Brewer

Flying Dumbos, a magical carousel, tiny children singing “It’s a Small World”… Even before I had ever visited Walt Disney World, I had a picture in my head of what I would see when I got there. That image was Fantasyland. To me, Disney World was Fantasyland. This week, Scott, Lisa and I will be sharing some images we’ve captured of the land where elephants fly.

It’s a Small World
Copyright © 2008 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D300, 50mm lens, 1/125 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1250

One of the many vignettes from It’s a Small World in the Magic Kingdom.

October 18, 2009

Where in the World #106

Focus on Disney World by Barrie Brewer

This was Challenge #105:
 Where in the World #105

And here's the answer:
Mama Melrose's Lobby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Copyright © 2009 Barrie Brewer, Nikon D300, 18-200VR, 1/60s shutter, f/8, ISO 1600

I think Mama Melrose’s is a real hidden gem. I’m a big fan of Caprese salad and the one I had here was delicious. This shot was taken in the lobby where there is a display of photos of the Legends of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

A lot of people guessed Hollywood Studios this week but remember, you have to give me a bit more detail than just the name of the park to be entered into the drawing. Dan Owens was the first to send in the correct answer for the challenge! Congratulations to Dan and all the other readers who got the answer right: Alissa Ammons, Robert Anderson , Douglas Mcknight, Brianne F, Bruce Hinterleitner, Kristin Olmedo, Baines Family, Mike Thomson, Kye Layton, Karen Schlumpf, Sharon Lee, Jerry Weldon, Caryn Schill, Emily Currier, Amanda Campbell, Jennifer S., Scott Otis, Jennifer Townsend, Melody Salemi, Daniel Record, Doug Brigger, Kristen Gainey, Jen Norris, Danielle And Matt Murgia, Vanessa Gordon, Karrie Mooney, Lisa Graham, Ashley Salters, Ed Aleszczyk, Matt Cofone, Mike M., Lisa Mccormack, Anne Hainsworth, Jeremy Reichelt, Eric Gasser, Carri Marotto, Travis Grim, Tiffany Keenan, Sarah Connors, Matt Degrandis, Penny, Aubrey Cooper, Jillian Domings, Katy & Emily Robinson, John R. Frangakis, Donna Currier, Melissa Dye, Leigh Mertz, Lauren, Heidi Goodhue, Alicia Roth, James Dezern (dzneynut), Christopher Bourassa, Craig, Jessica Reed, Marie Phillips, Ashley Ryan, Holly Anderson, Nicole Mason, Barbara Cardarelli, Marianne Goode, Roye Ann Morris, Debbie Poole, Alicia Henderson, James Berry, Kathy Berry, Tim Rachuba, Theresa Rucando and Ronnie Schreyer. Each of you will be entered in the October winners’ drawing.
_______________________________________________________________________

Challenge #106: Where in the world is this?

 Where in the World #106

Do you know? Do you have a guess? Send in your answer, before the end of the day on Thursday, October 22, by clicking on the blue box below. Please do not post answers using the Feedback Form link at the bottom of this post. Remember to be specific with your answer - just naming a park will not get you into the drawing.

Click Here to Submit Your Answer
_______________________________________________________________________

Everyone who sends in a correct answer to a Where in the World Challenge this month will be entered in a drawing at the end of the month for some special AllEars® goodies and a cool Disney book!

October 17, 2009

The Funmeister!

Photographic Innoventions by Scott Thomas

Funmeister mascot of Pleasure Island in Downtown Disney, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
Funmeister Mascot of Pleasure Island.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/6s, f/9, 500 ISO, +0.3 EV, 28mm Focal Length

The Funmeister or Moon Man mascot can still be found around the remains of the original Pleasure Island entertainment complex and thought it a fitting tribute for my Disney Pic of the Week on Pleasure Island.

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