You can take the girl out of Disney, BUT

[annmarieda]

I have had good experiences at Pecos Bills... and have read good things about it. However, in December the burgers both ds and I got were pretty gross. I am not sure what happened. Your review though tells me that I should not swear them off.

Awe.. you gotta love the Tiki room (new/old version) it is so classic Disney. It reminds me of some of the things I saw on Sunday nights that aired on the Wonderful World of Disney. I am not sure exactly how it does... but something about the music maybe? I do realize though it isn't for everyone. That is the beauty of WDW... there is something for everyone!

That is too funny about the dole whip. I LOVE them.. the floats that is. I am not sure if it better in the heat. Sharing has been a must when it is cold...but when it is hot, I want a whole one to myself!!!

I love your Splash Mountain photos!

I bet that couple had no idea what the fast passes were. I think it is that type of person who leaves disney and thinks "never again" They don't get the most out of their vacation... and think that Disney is just lines...crowds...etc. Makes me sad for them.

This is such a cute picture!!!

Oh, sad day!!! I didn't realize your departure day was so near. At least you got to go back to US for a bit.

I love Claire's suitcase. I am pretty sure you mentioned before, but remind me... where did you get it?

Thanks for writing this TR! It was fun to get a glimpse at something I dont do. Dont' get me wrong...I LOVE WDW and am always thinking of how to get back, but I want to go other places...do more things.

 

[jenseib]

I have had good experiences at Pecos Bills... and have read good things about it. However, in December the burgers both ds and I got were pretty gross. I am not sure what happened. Your review though tells me that I should not swear them off.

Awe.. you gotta love the Tiki room (new/old version) it is so classic Disney. It reminds me of some of the things I saw on Sunday nights that aired on the Wonderful World of Disney. I am not sure exactly how it does... but something about the music maybe? I do realize though it isn't for everyone. That is the beauty of WDW... there is something for everyone!

That is too funny about the dole whip. I LOVE them.. the floats that is. I am not sure if it better in the heat. Sharing has been a must when it is cold...but when it is hot, I want a whole one to myself!!!

I love your Splash Mountain photos!

I bet that couple had no idea what the fast passes were. I think it is that type of person who leaves disney and thinks "never again" They don't get the most out of their vacation... and think that Disney is just lines...crowds...etc. Makes me sad for them.

This is such a cute picture!!!

Oh, sad day!!! I didn't realize your departure day was so near. At least you got to go back to US for a bit.

I love Claire's suitcase. I am pretty sure you mentioned before, but remind me... where did you get it?

Thanks for writing this TR! It was fun to get a glimpse at something I dont do. Dont' get me wrong...I LOVE WDW and am always thinking of how to get back, but I want to go other places...do more things.

Thanks for reading along. I got that suitcase at the Yacht Club gift shop last summer. It was $50. Way more than I wanted to spend, but I had to have it to get all my things home and all the other options were $100 or more, so I guess this was a bargain!

It sometimes amazes me how little research people do for trips. One year I told my parents over and over to get fastpasses when they could (they had gone with my youngest sister that year) and they didn't get them till the last day because they had thought you had to pay for them, and only realized they didn't that day because I had called and asked if they were using any when they said lines were long.

 

[petals]

great trip report. Can't wait for the next one

 

[DonnaBoo]

Jennifer
I absolutely loved your trip report. You have a great writing style. I felt I was right there with you. Your pictures are amazing and have really helped me in planning my own trip to Universal and Disney.

It's our 5th time to the World but our 1st time to the dark side. So, we are really excited about Universal. Your trip report actually got me more excited about going. Your family looked like they enjoyed it a lot.

So, now I'm trying to find your pretrip report for your next upcoming vacation. I must have missed the link somewhere. Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks

 

[annmarieda]

Thanks for reading along. I got that suitcase at the Yacht Club gift shop last summer. It was $50. Way more than I wanted to spend, but I had to have it to get all my things home and all the other options were $100 or more, so I guess this was a bargain!

It sometimes amazes me how little research people do for trips. One year I told my parents over and over to get fastpasses when they could (they had gone with my youngest sister that year) and they didn't get them till the last day because they had thought you had to pay for them, and only realized they didn't that day because I had called and asked if they were using any when they said lines were long.

Ya know... way back, I think I had that same thought. You must have to pay for them. I mean... if you didn't why wouldn't everyone get fast passes? Didn't take me an entire trip to figure it out... but yes, that first trip.. it was a book, and then go. I did little to no planning. I don't think I even looked at a park map prior to goin.

 

[Brownie54]

What a GREAT trip report!!! We truly appreciate all the hard work you put into it. Thank you, thank you.

 

[MEK]

Your MSEP pictures are gorgeous. Did you photoshop the color back into the pictures? Love them! There's so much background light!

I really do want to ride the Simpsons ride. I just learned that the three day tickets at Costco actually don't expire until the end of 2015. You can use one day at a time. I am definitely going to Universal on my next Disney trip.

I laughed at your trip back to the airport. I get exactly like that when I am hungry and Denny knows it. I got pretty snippy with him back in December and its always a shame when your last hours in Florida have a fight in them.

I have had my share of anxiety attacks, so I know that feeling. I know when they are happening and I can know use techniques to get myself out of them, but sitting in a stuffy airplane will definitely trigger that feeling in me.

Really enjoyed you TR and hate to see it end.

 

[jenseib]

great trip report. Can't wait for the next one

Thanks! I can't wait for that trip too!

Jennifer
I absolutely loved your trip report. You have a great writing style. I felt I was right there with you. Your pictures are amazing and have really helped me in planning my own trip to Universal and Disney.

It's our 5th time to the World but our 1st time to the dark side. So, we are really excited about Universal. Your trip report actually got me more excited about going. Your family looked like they enjoyed it a lot.

So, now I'm trying to find your pretrip report for your next upcoming vacation. I must have missed the link somewhere. Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks

Thanks for following along. I really had a good time and I am glad it helped you with plans too.

My PTR is actually a 2 in 1. It has the Universal and Disney trip in it. On the firts page, towards the bottom of the intro it says what page to find the start of the disny planning. Here is the link

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2892848

Ya know... way back, I think I had that same thought. You must have to pay for them. I mean... if you didn't why wouldn't everyone get fast passes? Didn't take me an entire trip to figure it out... but yes, that first trip.. it was a book, and then go. I did little to no planning. I don't think I even looked at a park map prior to goin.

It's amazing how much I have learned over the years....and now wit hthe internet. It's amazing we used to travel without having access to the web.

What a GREAT trip report!!! We truly appreciate all the hard work you put into it. Thank you, thank you.

Thanks so much for reading. I do always hope my TR's help others plan and I also show we aren't one of those perfect fairytale families. We have a good time, but we also have ups and downs. Sometimes we get grump, even on vacation.

Your MSEP pictures are gorgeous. Did you photoshop the color back into the pictures? Love them! There's so much background light!

I really do want to ride the Simpsons ride. I just learned that the three day tickets at Costco actually don't expire until the end of 2015. You can use one day at a time. I am definitely going to Universal on my next Disney trip.

I laughed at your trip back to the airport. I get exactly like that when I am hungry and Denny knows it. I got pretty snippy with him back in December and its always a shame when your last hours in Florida have a fight in them.

I have had my share of anxiety attacks, so I know that feeling. I know when they are happening and I can know use techniques to get myself out of them, but sitting in a stuffy airplane will definitely trigger that feeling in me.

Really enjoyed you TR and hate to see it end.

I didn't edit color back in, but I did up the saturations a bit. I also used on some of the photos a tool called shadow and highlight. I love this because when things are kind of shadowy or lit wrong this can sometimes even out the light. Not always, but a good amount of the time. I use it a lot if I take a flash picture at night too. I forget, but do you have photoshop. My version is CS3, but I bet the newer versions probably have it. If you do, I can give you my settings for it. I don't use the default. Sometimes it still needs adjusting, but for the most part what I set it to works great.

Here is a sample of an origional and edited version.

(or at least one version I could find fast. It's not super noticable, but you might see it. I'll look for a better one in a bit.)The first one should look more washed out and the 2nd slightly less washed out (if I loaded the right ones. LOL)

 

[jenseib]

Another comparison.

Now in the first ones, they are already edited to have a little better color balance and lighting. I do that in camera raw, then go into photoshop to adjust the shadow and highlight. Once I do my stuff in camera raw, it changes the base photo.

 

[jedijill]

Thanks so much for the Universal review. I'm headed back in November for the first time in several years to see the new WWOHP thanks to some free tickets from work.

Jill in CO

 

[mom2rtk]

Jen, I actually notice a fairly distince difference in your before and after photos. The second ones are far sharper.

 

[jenseib]

Thanks so much for the Universal review. I'm headed back in November for the first time in several years to see the new WWOHP thanks to some free tickets from work.

Jill in CO

Thanks for reading. I hope some of my useless info helps you out!

Jen, I actually notice a fairly distince difference in your before and after photos. The second ones are far sharper.

Yes, I hadn't sharpened the first ones either yet at that point. I do that in photoshop as well. I am addicted to editing. I have a hard time posting anything as is anymore. Some changes are very slight, but I "know" that I imporved them to the way I saw it, or like it.

 

[Kathy Jetson]

Ugh! I just finished my reply and the Dis logged me off and my reply is gone now I gotta do it again

I wanted to get River a orange dolewhip float this time but we never got around to it. I'm sure he would love it. That's funny Claire finished both Skip and your floats!

I don't think I got any pictures inside Splash because I was afraid to get my camera wet. I'm glad Claire liked it now she has a new ride to go on.

That's funny Claire told on Skip about the lady who asked for a cigarette. She'll keep you both on your toes!

River LOVED the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game. I would only let him play 2 games a day. I had to keep reminding him that he was using up time for the rides. It is a neat game but I just kept thinking of other things we could be doing instead of playing a game.

We went into that Christmas shop for the first time this year. I walked around and took pictures. I'm sure everyone that goes in there does. The cm's that were in there when we were there were nice. I can't believe they followed a mother and daughter around and frowned on picture taking. Don't they see that all day?

Its good to hear Skip got to keep his clothes on at the airport
I also can't believe the flight attendant told the lady to shut her dog up. I can see if it was non stop barking the whole time.

I know what you mean about that Disney feeling. We really liked Universal and IoA. I think Universal has really stepped up their game. When we were there all the employees were so nice and seemed happy to be there whether they were or not. If I lived there I would go a lot. They just don't have that total immersion feeling that Disney does. I think Disney has better characters too.

Your next tr is going to be SUPER LOOOOONG!

 

[mom2rtk]

:

Yes, I hadn't sharpened the first ones either yet at that point. I do that in photoshop as well. I am addicted to editing. I have a hard time posting anything as is anymore. Some changes are very slight, but I "know" that I imporved them to the way I saw it, or like it.

Well, you're doing a great job with it.

I need to get my own TR finished up but have to finish a huge batch of editing still. That of course is the down side...... once we see what we can do with the editing, we just can't NOT do it!

 

[jenseib]

Ugh! I just finished my reply and the Dis logged me off and my reply is gone now I gotta do it again

I wanted to get River a orange dolewhip float this time but we never got around to it. I'm sure he would love it. That's funny Claire finished both Skip and your floats!

I don't think I got any pictures inside Splash because I was afraid to get my camera wet. I'm glad Claire liked it now she has a new ride to go on.

That's funny Claire told on Skip about the lady who asked for a cigarette. She'll keep you both on your toes!

River LOVED the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game. I would only let him play 2 games a day. I had to keep reminding him that he was using up time for the rides. It is a neat game but I just kept thinking of other things we could be doing instead of playing a game.

We went into that Christmas shop for the first time this year. I walked around and took pictures. I'm sure everyone that goes in there does. The cm's that were in there when we were there were nice. I can't believe they followed a mother and daughter around and frowned on picture taking. Don't they see that all day?

Its good to hear Skip got to keep his clothes on at the airport
I also can't believe the flight attendant told the lady to shut her dog up. I can see if it was non stop barking the whole time.

I know what you mean about that Disney feeling. We really liked Universal and IoA. I think Universal has really stepped up their game. When we were there all the employees were so nice and seemed happy to be there whether they were or not. If I lived there I would go a lot. They just don't have that total immersion feeling that Disney does. I think Disney has better characters too.

Your next tr is going to be SUPER LOOOOONG!

I'm like that with games and stuff too. I want to be riding rides. We'll see how it is in Nov and then maybe give it a shot, though Claire really wants to do the Agent P game at Epcot.

I know, my next trip is so long, it's gonna take me forever to write up a TR. That might be good since I have no clue how soon we'll be back again, so that will take away some of the blues.

Well, you're doing a great job with it.

I need to get my own TR finished up but have to finish a huge batch of editing still. That of course is the down side...... once we see what we can do with the editing, we just can't NOT do it!

I've still got a ton of pictures from home activities to edit yet too. I get burned out every so often, then other times it's really fun. It's funny though, because when I take pictures at a home party or event, everyone wants to see my pics posted to facebook right away. They have no clue how time consuming it can be.

 

[MEK]

I have photoshop, but I never learned how to use it. I just do everything with the iphoto, but its got limitations.

Will look at your comparison photos when I get home tonight (since I can't see them at work)

 

[mousetravel]

Love the pics!

As always, I loved your TR!!
Now, I need to get caught back up on your PTR!

 

[nassau812]

Great trip report.

 

[jenseib]

I have photoshop, but I never learned how to use it. I just do everything with the iphoto, but its got limitations.

Will look at your comparison photos when I get home tonight (since I can't see them at work)

I took a class that touched on it a few years ago and bought 2 books which I sometimes pick up when I am in the learning mode.

Love the pics!

As always, I loved your TR!!
Now, I need to get caught back up on your PTR!

I haven't done too much updating over there lately. I seem to have not much to report as of now and not much time either.

Great trip report.

Thanks so much for reading along!

 

[vleeth]

Loved your trip report. Now I'm reading your old ones. I wish I had done trip reports so I could go back and see Hope younger.