I thought this edition of my 10 on 10 would be easy. 8 days in Disney and my camera slung across my body on my {love!} Black Rapid strap for the whole ride. And I took loads of pictures. However. Disney is the sort of place that proves to be tricky to photograph. When you’re *doing* Disney that is.
I pushed a stroller. A lot. Which lead to many one handed shots: toggling, back button focus and shooting with one arm/hand. Tricky! Plus we were frequently moving. Walking, dodging & weaving, meandering back and forth through lines, spinning, jerking, speeding, bumping, turning on a continuous stream of rides. Not always the best lighting either. And it is challenging to take pictures of your kids *enjoying* a ride when you’re squashed right in the seat next to them. It is really too easy to get caught up taking pictures of *stuff* (did I need 20 shots of the Electric Light Parade?? Or 30 versions of Cinderella’s castle?)
But this was the first magical visit to Disney for my kids (thanks in no small part to two loving & generous grandparents!) And I captured some really magical moments. I was tempted to paste together images from the various days, but in the end I wanted to stay true to the idea of ONE day. I had chosen our first day at our first park …. the Magic Kingdom to use for this month’s edition, so I’m sticking with it
. Here are 10 of my favorite shots of that MAGICAL day.
ONE: “Good Morning Cinderella!” We stayed at the Polynesian Resort, which was across the Seven Seas Lagoon from the Magic Kingdom. Our morning picnic breakfast ritual included feeding the scraps to the ducks and greeting the castle. Brynn LOVED looking at the castle.
TWO: Our first *up close* of the much loved castle. Really …. you never do get tired of seeing it
THREE: I planned our days using “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World“. Despite the Thanksgiving-week crush of people, following their “touring plans” proved to keep our wait times relatively low! They said “Ride Dumbo First!” We did
Wait times later on were upwards of an hour!
FOUR: Close by was “It’s A Small World“. It was too tame for Finn…. but Brynn & I rode it a total of four times!
FIVE: Splash Mountain. Turns out that my 4 yr old Finn likes the thrill rides. All of them! He rode every one that his 40 1/2 inch frame could get on. Those are my 3 boys in the back row You can’t see Finn — short as he is — but he’s in between daddy & big brother.
SIX: On our way out for a mid-day rest/nap, we ran into a couple of nuts. Meeting the characters ….. every one we could ….. was HUGE for the little ones
SEVEN: Back at the park we grabbed some FastPasses to get in to see the two happiest mice ever. Note the mini versions clutched by the two youngest. Those mice are BIG around this house!
EIGHT: More FastPasses to ride Buzz Lightyear. One of the things I loved most about our trip was the *superglue* effect it had on these brothers. They love each other, sure. But throughout this trip Finn had to ride every ride with Dylan — no one else. And would often only be pushed in the stroller by Dylan. Big brother readily complied. Sigh.
NINE: Cinderella likes her castle sparkly like her glass slippers. So her Fairy Godmother transformed the castle each night. How could you NOT love to look at this????
TEN: Weary and needing sleep after a LONG magical day, we ride the ferry across the water to our beds. This will keep for us until tomorrow.
I miss Disney. We had eight magical days that were spent all together all the time. No time for checking messages or playing on an iPod. Best. Family. Trip. Ever.
Now that you’ve enjoyed some Disney flavor, perhaps you’d love to visit Hawaii! Go see Kristi Ahrens 10 on 10 edition to get a little tropical!!
show | hide | 8 comments
Marisa Reda - It’s hard to balance taking pictures and being in the moment, I think that you did.
My fave is the one of Splash Mountain! Awesome!
Elaine - Having been there the week before you, I can’t thank you enough for the beautiful photos since my photography was not as great as yours. The best part for us was just having the family together in a truly magical place. Like you said, no electronic toys, no sports to run off to, no meals all separate, it was a time to bond as a family and be in an environment that was so amazing. The Animal Kingdom Resort was outstanding, even the crane outside our window who woke us each day, next to the giraffes and zebras. My boys say everyday, “we miss Disney”. Me too.
celestejones - Looks like you all had a great time. I used that book to for my vacation. TFS
Jackie P - Looks like a fun time!
Mrs. Fun - Oh what fun!! I love all of these!! Next time just pack me under all the clothes, I promise to be good
Karlee - How fun! Love what you captured. The one of the castle with all of the sparkly lights is beautiful!
angela king - omg. i am a disney freak. i agree that it is HARD to photography disney when you are there with kids. i know i get so wrapped up in what’s going on that i often forget my camera. believe it or not. i love the first one and the one of the castle. omg. perfection. next time i go to disney i’ll be staying at the polynesian. it’s where me and my lovely fiance got engaged.
valerie - aww. after seeing these pictures, i’ve just realized how selfish i’ve been! (i have been dreading this trip since before my kids were born…) but as soon as i saw the picture with the chipmunks, i realized just HOW excited my 3 year old would be at disney. it really will be a magical trip.