I fully intended to completely explore Animal Kingdom Lodge, but it just didn't happen for one reason or the other. I never got out to the Savannah, never saw any animals (other than the two species outside our room), never walked around much outside at all in daylight...just a shame really because I probably won't stay there again. It was nice, it just wasn't Wilderness Lodge and it's far proximity to everything made travel to and from the parks a bit too much of a hassle (but I knew that was going to happen so I was prepared to suffer through it...once). And the food was good, but not fabulous enough to warrant a trek back down just for a meal. Another Disney Resort marked off my checklist though! I managed a shot or two as I was loading the car:
and we did eat breakfast at Mara, so I got a couple outside and around the food court area:
me and the lights again:
Usually, on the final days, my picture taking tends to wain a bit...I'm getting tired and I've taken multiple shots of everything by the end anyway. The rain curbed my picture-taking quite a bit, so the marathon snapping of Day 7 (as evidenced by the massive Day 7 Highlights two parter), was a rarity. I ended up with less pictures than usual, only about 4100 salvageable edits, but considering all the obstacles, still a good outcome! In all my Disney trips, not once have we had rain for more than half a day and certainly never the entire week. After a while you get used to it, but it never really stops being miserable and I hope it never happens again.
But unfortunately I don't have a single picture of the drive home. I wanted to get home as quickly as possible because Kate was in pain and I was tired, so I just took the short way. Besides, most of the drive was at nighttime anyway since we didn't get home till in the wee hours. There is nothing of interest to see that way and, because I went an "uncharted" route (one that I hadn't agonized months on Google Maps over), I relied way too much on my vehicle's sat-nav. What a waste of electronics! I have enough road rage as it is, I don't need added rage against the machines. It is definitely worth the extra 3-4 hours to take the long scenic way that I know like the back of my hand than relying on sat-nav, that's for sure!
Hope you guys enjoyed the highlights. Like I've said, the Sony RX100m2 really is a great little camera for a point & shoot and I wouldn't recommend anything else. I'm a lazy photographer, I want the camera to do all the work, not me, and this little guy definitely works pretty hard! I'm going to branch out and test RAW pictures on my Disneyland trip (well, RAW+JPEG), so hopefully I'll have better edits, although Lightroom really is amazing for photo editing even for JPEG's (and not nearly as hard to use as Photoshop or Elements).
The full album is located HERE if anyone wants to see more and you are welcome to see the pics from all my other Disney trips as well. Both 2013 trips were also taken with the RX100m2 and the Sony P&S line extends all the way back to 2009 (before that I was a loyal Kodak user-most people didn't like Kodaks because they were too "colorful" but, in a place like WDW where everything around you is oversaturated with color, that's the best kind of camera). I'm not one to hide my personal pictures much (probably because I'm rarely in them). I let a few, what others would call "bad" ones, through, but there is always a reason...either it was an important moment or something interesting did manage to come through, so please don't judge my photography skills!
I think, now that the pictures are done (although the final DVD movie hasn't been made yet), my Post-Disney Depression has finally subsided. When I can look at the pictures and not feel crushed because I'm not there (just a mild bit of nausea at my crap life that keeps away for so long), then I know I'm getting better and it's time to start planning the next trip. I'm not sure why I bothered to renew my Disney World Annual Pass since we're going to Disneyland this year, but maybe the gods will smile on me and by some miracle I'll be able to manage a weekender down to my World...it definitely is my Happiest Place on Earth and other than my house, there is no place I'd rather be.
and we did eat breakfast at Mara, so I got a couple outside and around the food court area:
me and the lights again:
Usually, on the final days, my picture taking tends to wain a bit...I'm getting tired and I've taken multiple shots of everything by the end anyway. The rain curbed my picture-taking quite a bit, so the marathon snapping of Day 7 (as evidenced by the massive Day 7 Highlights two parter), was a rarity. I ended up with less pictures than usual, only about 4100 salvageable edits, but considering all the obstacles, still a good outcome! In all my Disney trips, not once have we had rain for more than half a day and certainly never the entire week. After a while you get used to it, but it never really stops being miserable and I hope it never happens again.
But unfortunately I don't have a single picture of the drive home. I wanted to get home as quickly as possible because Kate was in pain and I was tired, so I just took the short way. Besides, most of the drive was at nighttime anyway since we didn't get home till in the wee hours. There is nothing of interest to see that way and, because I went an "uncharted" route (one that I hadn't agonized months on Google Maps over), I relied way too much on my vehicle's sat-nav. What a waste of electronics! I have enough road rage as it is, I don't need added rage against the machines. It is definitely worth the extra 3-4 hours to take the long scenic way that I know like the back of my hand than relying on sat-nav, that's for sure!
Hope you guys enjoyed the highlights. Like I've said, the Sony RX100m2 really is a great little camera for a point & shoot and I wouldn't recommend anything else. I'm a lazy photographer, I want the camera to do all the work, not me, and this little guy definitely works pretty hard! I'm going to branch out and test RAW pictures on my Disneyland trip (well, RAW+JPEG), so hopefully I'll have better edits, although Lightroom really is amazing for photo editing even for JPEG's (and not nearly as hard to use as Photoshop or Elements).
The full album is located HERE if anyone wants to see more and you are welcome to see the pics from all my other Disney trips as well. Both 2013 trips were also taken with the RX100m2 and the Sony P&S line extends all the way back to 2009 (before that I was a loyal Kodak user-most people didn't like Kodaks because they were too "colorful" but, in a place like WDW where everything around you is oversaturated with color, that's the best kind of camera). I'm not one to hide my personal pictures much (probably because I'm rarely in them). I let a few, what others would call "bad" ones, through, but there is always a reason...either it was an important moment or something interesting did manage to come through, so please don't judge my photography skills!
I think, now that the pictures are done (although the final DVD movie hasn't been made yet), my Post-Disney Depression has finally subsided. When I can look at the pictures and not feel crushed because I'm not there (just a mild bit of nausea at my crap life that keeps away for so long), then I know I'm getting better and it's time to start planning the next trip. I'm not sure why I bothered to renew my Disney World Annual Pass since we're going to Disneyland this year, but maybe the gods will smile on me and by some miracle I'll be able to manage a weekender down to my World...it definitely is my Happiest Place on Earth and other than my house, there is no place I'd rather be.
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