Trip Reports

September 2007 started a serious effort to photo-document the parks, with a new 10MP Canon G7. It was the first camera that I felt had the controls perfect, and really opened up photography to me in a way my analog Nikon F3 or the earlier G series cameras could not.

This report starts in the Smoky Mountains, with stops along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Kennedy Space Center before getting to Walt Disney World. We stayed at Saratoga Springs, and attended a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

Finally, a couple of days was spent at the Portofino Bay Resort in Universal Orlando.

This is my December 2008 Trip Report where I had almost perfect weather with me in Florida, as the rest of the country got snowed on. It was Christmas everywhere, and had highs in the mid-80's every day. (sigh)

I stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, and attended RADP 13

This is my December 2009 Trip Report, where meeting people was just as important as beating PiC in Toy Story Midway Mania. Sub-par weather, but you can't win 'em all. From hot dogs in Atlanta to hunting for Shark's Teeth in the Gulf, it was a fun winter vacation...

I stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village, attended RADP 14, and took a trip to Venice Island.

This is my December 2010 Trip Report, where frigid temperatures made for a cold trip. Still, it was a trip to Walt Disney World. Stayed at Old Key West, with visits to a few other resorts for Christmas.

Highlights include RADP 15.

After a terrible trip in December 2010, I thought I'd make up for it by attending the "Destination D: Walt Disney World 40th" event, which celebrated WDW's 40th anniversary. So in May 2011, I reported on my Disney Up North, Not A December Trip trip.

I stayed at both Disney's Wilderness Lodge and The Contemporary hotel this trip.

This is my It Was Hot, Then It Rained, Repeat Tomorrow Trip Report, where I broke two of my (sorta) WDW rules. First (with the exception of Animal Kingdom Lodge,) stay at a different resort every trip. Second, don't go during June, July or August.

But rules were made to be broken, right? So in August 2011, I went to Florida and stayed at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort...

September/October of 2011 was my Now, For Something Completely Different Trip, where I took my mobility impaired Mom (Miss Marie) to Disney World with help from BYPT Jenny...

I rented DVC points for a two-bedroom mobility accessible villa at Saratoga Springs and a scooter...

This was my fifth trip to WDW in December, so I decided to do something different and bought tickets to D23's 2011 Magic and Merriment event.

I would make my December 2011 one of my most memorable vacations at Disney World. Highlights would include a visit to the Cinderella Castle Suite, and a couple of holiday backstage areas.

I stayed in a preferred room at Port Orleans Riverside, which I hadn't stayed at since 2003.

In March 2012 I took "Miss Marie", my mobility (and memory) impaired Mom to Disney World again, for my Let The Memories Begin... Again... trip.

We stayed in a two-bedroom mobility accessible villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village.

Oh, I also attended the D23 preview of John Carter...

In September/October 2012 I documented my This Is Too Good To Pass Up Walt Disney World trip.

I attended D23's Epcot 30th Anniversary Celebration and D23's Super Scream / 2012 Sip & Scream Event, with the highlight of dinner in The Great Movie Ride.

We rented two value rooms (one was a mobility accessible room) in the Little Mermaid section of the Art of Animation Resort.

On June 16, 2010, Disney and D23 had a Toy Story 3 / Joan Cusack meet and greet promotion. You could buy a limited edition Jessie Doll, and meet the voice herself, Joan Cusack. There was a D23 promotional tie-in, where the first 40 people to send an e-mail to D23 would be guaranteed a dol... Action Figure. I got one, and wrote a trip report on the experience...

On February 21, 2011, D23 and Walt Disney Studios had a Blu-Ray Bambi screening at the MCA Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in celebration of the Blu-ray Platinum Edition release of the movie.

On June 25, 2011, D23 held a Cars 2 Cross Country Screening Event in three cities across the US.

In December 2013, D23 offered a double feature of Mary Poppins and Saving Mr. Banks on the big screen two weeks before the movie's general release. I'd been waiting to see this movie since July, so I got tickets.

Best of all, it was free. (Free, as always, is a relative thing...)

D23 takes one of their shows on the road to ten locations through the US.

D23's Disney Fanniversary Celebration 2012 was a presentation of those things Disney having a major anniversary in years ending in '2' and '7'.

I attended the June 24 event in Chicago.

D23 takes their second road show to ten locations through the US.

D23's Disney Fanniversary Celebration 2013 was a presentation of those things Disney having a major anniversary in years ending in '3' and '8'.

I attended the March 10, 2pm event in Chicago.