Walt Disney World 2004 - Page 1

For starters, this picture is for someone who once wrote to say that I didn't have enough pictures of Casey's Corner on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. I believe that person was a Casey's Corner cast member. So here you go - complete with a nice little ad for Coca-Cola! As you can see, the day started out to be nice and sunny. Unfortunately, the clouds soon moved in.

I really liked this shot of the Liberty Belle riverboat sitting at the dock in Liberty Square, so I thought I would include it here. The riverboat was originally named the Richard F. Irvine, but its name was changed a few years back. Dick Irvine was one of the people responsible for construction of the park.

Here are the Notorious Banjo Brothers and Bob. And if you aren't sure, those are the Banjo Brothers on the left (holding the banjos) and Bob is on the right with the tuba. They offer some great entertainment in Frontierland, and they were happy to pose for this picture, as you can tell by thier goofy grins.

Even though the clouds were starting to move in, it turned out to be a great day for taking pictures of the different Walt Disney World Railroad engines. Here is a shot of the Roger E. Broggie as it makes its way between Mickey's Toontown Fair and Tomorrowland. And I happened to catch the picture right as they were blowing the whistle. A little steam always adds a lot to a picture of a steam train.

This shot of Town Square in the Magic Kingdom was taken from the rear platform of Main Street Station. You can see that the park wasn't overly crowded that day. And although the clouds stayed around most of the day, it never really did rain any. Since it was getting close to parade time, to get this picture I had to fight off some parade placeholders that had staked out their spots very early. But they did have a good view once the parade came by.

This is a view inside the Main Street Station of the Walt Disney World Railroad. Most people don't linger very long inside here, and to me it is a relaxing place. On the left is an old band organ, along with two old movie machines, all of which still work. And on the right behind the bench is a painting of men clearing trees during railroad construction.

I moved over to Animal Kingdom for a while, and I got there just in time to see Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Expedition parade. Here is Mickey waving to everyone at the end. Because of the way the parade loops around, I actually saw it twice. There were a lot less people the second time, which made for better picture-taking.

Moving along again, here is a scene from the All-Star Music Resort. I was staying in the Country Fair building, and this view shows some of the landscaping in the courtyard area between the Country Fair buildings. Note the different varities of cactus adding to the western feel. And the lantern-like lights hanging from the posts actually flickered at night, as if they had flames instead of light bulbs.

After dark, I started playing with photographic techniques in the Magic Kingdom. Here is a time-lapse photograph of the carousel in Fantasyland. Pretty cool, and just a little creepy. Did anyone see Something Wicked This Way Comes?

Here is a night shot of Cinderella Castle from the Tomorrowland bridge. Since I didn't have a tripod with me, this shot required setting the camera on the concrete railing and holding it really steady. It took a few tries, but this one worked out okay.

And here is a closer view of the Castle during its orange period, again taken from the Tomorrowland bridge, this time zoomed in closer. Some of the Castle colors didn't photograph very well, such as the deep blues. I was actually surprised at how well orange turned out.

What better way to wrap up a day at the Magic Kingdom than with fireworks! I hadn't seen the new Wishes fireworks yet, so I was eager to see how they were. And I thought they were great! Adding fireworks launched from the Fantasyland rooftops really added to the show. Here is a shot from close to the end where the Castle is seen in silhouette with fireworks exploding behind it.

This shot, also from Wishes, is of the grand finale, with the Castle illuminated by the bright fireworks shot from the Fantasyland rooftops, as well as the high rockets exploding overhead. A great ending to a great show.

And as we exited the Magic Kingdom, there was Mickey Mouse on the railroad platform at the front of the park waving and telling everyone goodnight. If he hadn't been talking, I probably wouldn't have turned back to see him there. I thought it was a nice touch to end the day.

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