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Articles and Reviews
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I
need a vacation! I’m going to
So,
one evening a few months back, my brother-in-law calls me up and asks
if he could take my son, Patrick, to
I decided fairly quickly that our whole family should go too and thus a party of six became a party of ten; four adults and six young kids ranging in age from four to nine. My wife was a bit surprised at the quick decision, but given that this would likely be our last family vacation together for some time, she understood the rationale to do the trip now, before our own family of five become a family of six by the end of July J We
booked the trip through Alaska Airlines and paid US $1800 for the roundtrip
airfare and four nights at the Anaheim Hilton, which is very conveniently
close by to
For the near two months between booking to actually going, the kids were excited and talked constantly about the biggest trip of their lives. My wife and I, of course, used the trip as leverage to accrue some good behaviour from them. The
excitement stemmed from not only going to
The
trip was purely a family trip and four days is not enough time
to see all the other sights to see in
As
a family trip, I packed lightly for photo gear, because my emphasis
was on capturing the family moments and the kids enjoying themselves.
Any resemblance to serious photography was purely coincidental J Serious
photography for me, aside from shooting weddings and events,
is mandated by the use of a tripod. The use of a tripod requires
contemplation of the subject and composition and I can take
the time to bracket shots to obtain the right exposure.
Yes, I was posing for my son taking this photo >> A single Nikon D200 without its companion battery pack and an 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 AF-S VR lens was it. I also carried a Nikon SB800 flash unit for indoor and fill-flash situations, but I only used it a few times. A Sony camcorder along with spare batteries and flash cards rounded out the equipment carried in the Lowerpro Rover backpack. My wife carried her Sony W1 digicam for those times when we were not together and she wanted to take some photos. The Rover backpack has been a bit of an unwanted child at times. While overall, it’s a mid-sized backpack, its two compartments always seemed a bit cramped. The photo section at the bottom never seems able to hold as much gear as I’d like and the top section never seems to be able to carry as much non-photographic items as I’d like. However,
for this trip, the Rover was just right thanks to minimal equipment being
used and the moderate
I
also borrowed a set of Cobra walkie-talkies so that I could
be in communication with the other family group. It was a great
idea to have walkie-talkies at
I had a close call when I lost my walkie talkie on one of the rides. I had to remove my backpack for most of the rides and the walkie talkie got caught and lost; I'm thinking it was the Winnie the Pooh ride. Thankfully, it was recovered the next day at the lost and found. No such luck for my lens cap though when I dropped it on the train tracks of the Casey Jr. Circus Train.
Photography
in
Disneyland also has good taste when it comes to the gear their photographers use, being all Nikon (tongue in cheek now, for the Canon, or other brand-using readers 8^) The gear looks like D70 cameras with 18-70 AF-S zoom and an SB800 flash unit. For my own photography, the 18-200 lens did as well as I had expected for a consumer-grade, all-in-one lens. The happy snaps of the family enjoying themselves at the parks look good and I’ve no complaints about the quality of the photos taken in good lighting. Ah, there’s the rub now isn’t it; in good lighting. In good lighting, shooting at ISO 100 and f5.6 or slower all the time won’t penalize you, but as soon as the light level goes down, a lens that can only offer f3.5-5.6 can come back and bite you in the gluteus maximus. While VR is an incredible boon for obtaining sharp photos of static subjects, it cannot do a damn thing to freeze motion. Only lens speed and/or high ISO can do that and so in various moments, I found myself wanting more lens speed and more ISO sensitivity than the D200 offers.
I also found myself wanting wider than 18mm at various times, which is a surprise for me, as I am generally more of a moderate telephoto range kind of shooter (70-200 range). I’m not complaining too hard though, because I knew the limitations of the lens and the times I was shooting in low light, we’re talking in the range of 1/20 of a second at f5.6 (200mm on the lens) and ISO 1600. That’s pretty brutally low light for most people and I avoided flash use as much as possible (except for a bit of fill here and there). In some situations, I even used ISO 3200 and as much as those shots still look iffy on the screen even after Noise Ninja clean up, for little 4x6 sized prints, they’re fine. Unlike some other users reports of the 18-200 lens I’ve read, mine didn’t physically fall apart and unlike some other consumer lenses made by Nikon, mine did not show any misalignment of the elements, which is indicated by one side of the frame being slightly soft or even appearing out of focus compared to the other side.
Unfortunately, my sample does suffer from zoom or barrel creep, as many other users of the lens have reported. At its most compact 18mm setting, there’s no creep, but as soon as I zoom in a bit, say around 50mm or so, and then leave it at that setting, when pointing downwards, the zoom extends like Pinocchio’s nose and vice versa when pointed up. A couple of times while walking around the park, I would grab the camera, look down at the lens and noticed the barrel having extended by itself. Unlike others though, I’m not terribly bothered by it and the 18-200 lens is nowhere near as loose and as sloppy as my manual focus Nikon Series E 75-150mm f3.5 lens, which is the worse I’ve ever used in regard to loose zoom rings (this particular sample of the E series lens, legend as some consider it, is not so legendary to my eyes). I should point out that the Series E lens does not extend out like the 18-200 lens, only the focus/zoom ring slops up and down the barrel. There
is plenty to see and photograph in Disneyland and its companion
While picture taking happens just about everywhere, it’s not carte blanche to photograph everywhere one desires. There are various times during certain rides and shows that flash photography is not allowed and the prohibition is made very clear before the ride or show begins. Unfortunately, there’s always someone that does not respect the rules and why they were implemented and still goes ahead to take a few flash-lit photos with his or her digicam. However, I never saw any errant photographer talked to or escorted out; Disneyland is very hands off except when it comes to safety. It’s annoying that as I sit with the camera put away in respect during a show, another person does not. It takes away from the enjoyment of the ride or show when all of a sudden; a burst of white light interrupts your view. It also makes you wonder how many people there are that think that the puny little flash unit built into their digicams can actually throw off enough light to capture a subject well beyond the range of the flash, especially with the usually low ISO set on their digicams. I took a little over 1000 frames, but many duplicates and triplicates of certain shots, so after editing down the keepers, I was left with around 450 frames from the D200 and the Sony W1 digicam. There is quite a difference in how the D200 sucks up the juice compared to the D2X, but this is rather apples and oranges, because of they are different cameras using different batteries. Whereas the D2X is known to shoot off 2000 or so shots per battery charge, the D200 would be lucky to achieve half that amount. After a pretty full day at Disneyland or California, taking about 400 shots and doing minimal viewing with the LCD (no chimping sounds coming outta me), the battery indicator that showed full charge at the beginning of the day was down to the last quarter indicator at the end of the day. Since I had three batteries, I just swapped out the old for a fresh one every day. I brought along three 8 GB flash cards with me and I used all three, one new one each day, as each can store up to 488 D200 RAW files. Camcorder use was minimal and I had no need for the extra tape and battery brought along for the trip.
Join
me and I will complete your photographic training. Together,
we will rule the photographic empire.
Travelling
by Air I was preparing for the worst in terms of being questioned and hassled, but in reality, I received none. On the Canadian side of the journey, I put my Rover backpack onto the conveyor belt of the walk-through security checkpoint and then gathered it up after I walked through the metal detector without any problems. No one rummaged through the backpack or questioned the contents. Once on board, I kept the backpack under the seat in front of me for easier access to some items during the flight, but it could easily have been swallowed up by the overhead storage compartment. I saw a number of roller cases in the overhead compartments that I didn’t think would be allowed as carry-on luggage and yet there they were, able to fit inside. I figure that you could carry-on a roller case the size of the Lowerpro Pro Roller 2 and not have any issues with Alaska Air and its 737-400 jets.
Going
through Customs usually entails a long line-up no matter which border
you try to cross. As bad as the line-ups were in Disneyland, none matched
the line-up we faced going through Canadian Customs, because we arrived
back in
In
Going
to the
All in all, air travel, for this short trip, was hassle-free. The thing to keep in mind is being ready with the documents requested when reaching various points. The boarding passes are looked at several times before you even get on the airplane, so keep them and your passports out and ready to be reviewed makes life easier for everyone. While air travel was pain free, the return trip was not free of hassles for us. When we started the trip, my brother-in-law rented a minivan to allow for side trips to stock up on bottled water, juice, pop, milk and snacks. The minivan only handles seven people, so three of us used a shuttle service to go from LAX to the hotel. Using a shuttle is quite convenient and cost effective at the typical US $15 per person charge. For the return trip from the hotel to LAX, I booked a shuttle service that conveniently had a desk inside the Anaheim Hilton. I don’t know what went wrong, but when I said I needed a Friday morning pickup, the gentleman at the desk input Saturday morning into the booking system. 4 am Friday morning, the three of us are waiting for the 4:30 am shuttle. In that brief time, two shuttles from the company I booked with came and went, with neither being our appointed pickup. 4:45 am, I call up the shuttle service and discovered the foul up. I asked what my options would be and the dispatcher put me on hold for a minute then came back and advised me that a shuttle is in the area and would be coming to pick me up in 30 seconds. I think, great, now that’s fantastic service to work quickly to get customers out of a jam, which is actually expected, since the shuttle service screwed up the booking. Unfortunately,
the shuttle that came by was one of the earlier shuttles that
had already turned us down, because it was going to
I swallowed the bitter pill and hailed one of the waiting taxis outside of the hotel for the drive to LAX. The driver was a pleasant old man, but he drove like a pleasant old man, which is to say, the clock seemed to tick quickly while we plodded along slowly. He said traffic was good and that we should make it in time to the airport. 30 minutes and US $100 later, we got to LAX and were able to check in just in time before cut off.
Oh,
did I mention that while we waited for our non-existent shuttle,
my wife told me that our designated ride wouldn’t be coming
to pick us up after all once we touched down in
Since
we were travelling with another family group, we worked out
that one of us would go back with them and pickup the family
van while the rest of the group had lunch at the airport. However,
while at a stopover in
The
other family group quickly volunteered for the deal that would
accrue them a free flight to anywhere
Touchdown
in
Er,
where’s the key for the steering wheel lock? Alas, the set of
keys given to us had no key for the steering wheel lock. Out
in the pouring rain we all go and back to the airport terminal
to consider our options. I called up my pop, who just happen to be shopping in nearby
In the end, when the chips were down, the people that came through for us, whether it was to drive us to the airport, or pick us up, were family – my family!
Disneyland
and
This
was my second trip to
Back
then, we stayed in a motel probably about a kilometre away from
the park. It was long enough ago that
Back
in 1980, we only did one day at
Next
time around, I’ll do full days at the two
It
was quite a trip down memory lane when walking through
There
is the Dumbo ride, the same as when
I was a kid, as well as the Tea Cup ride from
It was great fun to take my kids on the same rides I enjoyed as child.
Back
in 1980, Disney was big in developing robotic technology and I remember
a show that had an Abraham Lincoln robot giving a speech to the visitors.
This time around, similar robots were being used in a number of rides,
such as the Pirates of the
All the kids loved the Buzz Lightyear ride, because it’s the only ride that allows the kids to shoot ‘em up. This is me getting my butt kicked by my eight year old son:
I
found most of the rides to be pretty tame with the only one
that even came close to giving me any anxiety being the Twilight
Zone Tower of Terror in the
With these types of rides, there’s a minimum height requirement and my wife being in her condition, also could not partake of much of the fun due to warning signs posted at the entrances to the rides. Minimum height requirements generate unwanted family politics with some kids being tall enough and others not. My six year old middle daughter, Amy, always seemed to come up a few inches short while her same age cousin was always tall enough. Amy would pout and even after buying her a bag of popcorn to placate her (as she requested) she was still mad about not being able to go on the Indiana Jones ride.
On the last day, as we got early admittance with our three day passes, a couple of kids wanted to do the Matterhorn before the line up got too crazy, as it usually is during regular hours. I figured Amy would be too short again, but as we lined up and passed the height chart, I could see that Amy was more than tall enough for this ride. One of the other kids ran to get her, but couldn’t find her, so after the first ride, we sought her out and the older kids were shouting, Amy, Amy, you can go on this one! Amy
had a look of joy on her face when she found out she was tall
enough and she loved the
One
of the big highlights that everyone in the two families could
enjoy was the live Aladdin show in the
Patrick chilling out in California (the park and the state) >>
However, I came away being very impressed at the coordination, the intricacy, and observance of safety everywhere I went, and the theme park does this every day, every year for millions of visitors. Of course, the theme parks generate huge revenue, what with the ticket prices and generally exorbitant cost of food, drinks and souvenirs once inside. With all that money, you expect a well run park and a good show for the money. As
much as I first thought that having two overcast days on the trip took
away from the
It was a good trip (the kids loved it) and I expect I shall return much sooner than the 27 year interval between this one and the last one.
April 3, 2007 - I've been advised that good old Abe Lincoln (the robot) is still performing after all these decades since my childhood visit. As emailed to me:
Another anecdote that I forgot to mention; whenever I took my youngest, Sally (four years old), to the washroom, she would question why she had to use the men's washroom, when she is a "woman." Her proclamations would at times, be:
Due to her age and vocabulary, she would at times use "take" instead of "took" and miss a word or two in her sentences. Aw, such are the words that come out of babes and my only thought was, dear child, you ll be a woman soon enough to worry your old man's heart out. April 4, 2007 - Follow-up (as provided by a reader) on the The Walt Disney Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show at Disneyland; the animatronic robot is currently on hiatus for Disneyland: The First 50 Magic Years, and there is suggestion that Disney will not continue with the robotic show that first surfaced in 1964. |
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Correspondence & About this website Copyright © 1998-2008 Edwin Leong |
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Interestingly,
Disneyland has photographers located in strategic locations,
ready to snap a keepsake photo for you. It appears that they
either tag the photo taken with your visitor's pass, or upload
it to a central depot for processing, printing and pickup. I
noticed what appeared to be large PDA-like device hanging off
the photographer's shoulder.
Conclusion
