That Disney Life

 It's been a long time since life said slow down and share your life with others. Since the last Around the World with Ridge post, the Growing up Disney Family got a little bit bigger. 

I met my now wife, Tara, years ago but we lost touch for a while. Then via some social media I Snapped a picture of the gates of WDW and without thinking she commented how she loved Disney and our connection was reborn. 

It didn't take very long to realize we were right for each other and become inseparable. 

I'll take the time to go into more life details down the road as I would very much like to kick off Growing Up Disney with our new story but I haven't gotten to the best part. 

While 2020 brought a lot of hardships, we were not able to have our magical Disney wedding we spent a year planning. However; God saw fit to give us the most perfect baby we could have hoped for instead. 

Charlotte

She's already well on her way to Growing Up Disney with two Trips to Walt Disney World already under her belt. 

We look forward to sharing our Disney life at home and on our trips. Sharing things we learn along the way. 

Charlotte, Tara and I look forward to continuing to Grow Up Disney. 

More to come.... 

Photo Flashback! Using Film



Tom Sawyer's Island and Harper's Mill


I've talked about it before, but I really enjoy using film when I have the time and the patience to make a more "expensive" photo. This is of Harper's Mill from May of 2011 and taken with a Minolta SRT 102. The camera is older than I am and still does a wonderful job.

A Walk Around The World With Ridge -- Storybook Circus

Merch under the Big Top

When I was in Walt Disney World I the chance to see Storybook Circus and experience the new Dueling Dumbos. Also I got a tour of the new merchandise “tent” Big Top Souvenirs with friend and employee @deblady Dana. They do it all under the Big Top, snacks, hats, clothing you name it. Directly across from the shop is Dumbo’s new location.

In the Big Top everything is themed to a traveling circus, I’m just glad that clowns aren’t in here cause then I would be creeped out. The carpet around the middle of the room looks like it is a weaved together canvas ring. Around the center are the registers and a snack station where dipped apples and popcorn are available. There is a hat station to have your favorite ears embroidered in the back of the store as well. All the merchandise that you would normally find all around the park you can find here.

Treats under the Big Top

The Floor looks pretty cool.

Goofy’s Barnstormer is back and re-themed to fit the new area. But to me and probably all the kids the dueling Dumbos are the main attraction. The new design carries over the circus theme and if you can remember the movie the waiting area has elements of the movie. Floating around the ceiling is Dumbo and Timothy Mouse. Inside the waiting area you come up to a cast member who finds out how many are in your party then gives you a pager. The kids have a big play area while the adults can either chase the little ones or have a seat on the bleachers. Everything is wonderfully done and I have to say we waited about 20 minutes to ride Dumbo but it felt like five. I think it will be harder to get the kids to want to leave the waiting/play area to ride Dumbo. I can say that my niece Tink is going to love it. What I can also say is that it was my first time in memory that I have ridden Dumbo. Yeah that’s right I can’t remember ever riding it before. What of it?  Well there is still more to come from Storybook Circus. Pete's Silly Side Show will be open soon and when it ties into the Enchanted Forest it will be a story to tell.

Enjoy a few pictures of the area and know that the theming of the area is excellent.  

Store Front

The Sign telling you so come back! Leave your wallet!

Looking across to Dumbo

More Signs under the Big Top

A look around the at the detail

Signs heading into the waiting area for Dumbo

More signs

Telling the CM how many in our party

Dumbo Play area

More play area



still more play area

Even more play area

Go in here.

Bottom of the side is Sport the fire dog's house.

More of the room

Dumbo and Tim

About to ride

Dana

Details of Dumbo

Details of Dumbo

Other signs of things still to come

Pete's side show will be opening soon if it hasn't already

The circus train play area

Circus train play area

Everyone will get wet over here.

Jumbo! Dumbo's Momma

Oh no it's Me!

LOL, me "working"

Photo Flashback! Spaceship Earth

I think this will always be one of my best shots of Spaceship Earth.

A Walk Around The World With Ridge-- What to do with those pictures?

Me in action!

With my continually growing love of photography, managing my files is a real concern. I love to come in from the parks and get that immediate gratification of viewing the fruits of my photographic labors before I sleep.  When I am at home I load my pictures to my main PC (yes I have more than one computer, nerd alert!) then back them up to my external hard drive. But what will you do on a vacation? Take a laptop, iPad or android-based tablet or just leave them on your memory cards until you get home? While there is no right or wrong answer, I’ll tell you how I get by and keep up with my work.

Old Key West Lighthouse

When I drive to WDW space isn’t really a concern and I will bring my laptop along. This is a handy thing since in our world of instant connections and the interwebz staying plugged in is just a hazard of living. However, I do like to disconnect sometimes. But this isn’t helpful for the topic at hand. With rooms at the resorts having internet access and most of them having free wifi now you can post to twitter, Facebook, tumbler or anywhere else pretty easily. I don’t know about everyone else but I collect memory cards for my camera. I find them on sale and horde them. I have about 128 gig worth of them and I could never worry about downloading them till I get home, but as mentioned before we have to get posting to the internet!

Not only is my laptop good for storage but Photoshop is a tool to make good photos great. Sometimes you just can’t get those images right in the camera so I will want to clean up the keepers and show them to the world!

Flying to WDW has become more and more frequent for me and I bought myself a new toy to rival the iPad for those trips. I have an AsusTransformer Prime, with the detachable key board and built in SD card reader. This is a 32 gig internal storage that also has a mini SD card expansion that I put an additional 32 gig of space. There are lots of Photoshop mobile apps that do a pretty good job of emulating the desktop version. Before I bought the Asus, I borrowed my parent’s iPad but it requires an additional device to transfer your pictures however it really doesn’t take anything away from the experience. Both of these devices are fantastic at letting you review your work in stunning high definition. 

What do you like to do with your photos while you are away from home? What is your device of choice for travel?

A Walk Around the World With Ridge -- On or Off Property

I'm sure that I have in some way covered this topic several times in the past but it was asked of me today at work. I'm the "Disney Guy" as I'm sure many of you have the moniker in your own circles. So the question asked of me is can they save money by staying off property?  It is a couple with a 4 year old son and they'd like to visit at Thanksgiving. The crux of the whole thing is money. We all want to save a dollar when we travel, and especially with gas prices so high it becomes a real issue. Anywho I quickly rattled off the two things I myself do when looking to book on cash.

·         Check the internet for prices (Priceline, Hotels.com, Kayak, Orbitz, etc.)

·         Call an Authorized Disney Travel Agent

Starting with Priceline and other web services:  I've used Priceline pretty often and can usually get what I would feel like is a good deal.  However something to remember with online shopping, no matter which service you use, are the hotel fees that are not included in the price of the room. You'll be paying those when you get there. Some hotels have parking fees and room amenity fees; it can be a mess but not too bad a hassle. There are several little tips for using services like Priceline that can help you work around some of the features that limit how many times you can bid in a day. Just by changing a couple of your criteria you can keep trying for rooms. I think that WDW Today has done a great job of talking about booking and I suggest giving them a listen. Try Episode 1066 - Priceline. Another thing to remember about staying off property is parking ON property. Some of the hotels off property will run a shuttle over to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) but if you drive yourself it is 14 dollars a day.

Personally having stayed both on and off property, I very much prefer on, but I have an Annual Pass that gives me free parking and room discounts. The Value Resorts for Disney tend to be only slightly higher than those outside property but if there is a deal or a special running you can get a package that will bring everything back inline price wise. This is where an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner comes in. I wish I had the time to become one myself.  You discuss your plans, goals, dreams or what have you and they do all the leg work to accomplish it for you for the best price they can. Also it costs you nothing to use their services. I personally have used friends of the site Travel With the Magic when I have booked stays on cash rather than with DVC points.  I can go on about my day and someone else gets to run around and book stays, ADRs and any other services that are available.

Having a little one changes up the situation just a little. I myself not having anything but my Boston Terrier, Lily, know next to nothing about travel with children. From being around my sister with two little ones and having already made several goes at it at Disney with them. I can say that research is going to be key. Use the internet and telephone and call up some of the hotels that you might find on some of the barging hunting sites. Find out what is standard and what comes at a price. I feel like as far as some of the accommodations and kid friendliness, Disney is going to win that hands down. When in the parks stick to a schedule as much as possible for eating and napping. It's going to be hard because everyone is out of their usual comfort zone and excited to be at Disney. However try as you might you can't do it all everyday or else someone is going to be very cranky. As I people watch I see it most often being the adults that lose their cool first.

So the moral of the story is research. To learn about Disney there are lots of informational sites and as I have said many times before my favorite general information site is Allears.net. Hotels, restaurants, services, you name it something probably exists about it on that site. For park planning I prefer Touringplans.com and the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. There is so much information available that it is silly not to know what you are getting into before you go. Everyone will have good and bad trips and almost everyone knows someone that has been. Reach out to those friends as well, listen to the good and the bad, read up on it and make the best decisions you can.


For more, please visit Around the World with Ridge

Photo Flashback! Sea Base Alpha

This shot was from my first or maybe second trip to Disney and I loved Sea Base Alpha! This Deep Ocean Diving Suit mock-up really kept me entertained. What do you remember about Sea Base Alpha and the Original Living Seas? Hydrolators anyone?

A Walk Around the World With Ridge-- Extra Batteries

So for me and my tech friends, our smart phones are a way of life. All the Tweeting, Facebooking, foursquare, all the Disney Apps, reservations, surfing the web, texting and, on occasion, making a phone call. Now all these location-based apps burn up a battery and anyone spending a day in the parks can tell you a smart phone on medium to high usage isn't going to make it past lunch time. So where do you do find an outlet? Well, yes, you can but they are few and far between and a regular visitor has probably already taken that outlet from some poor kid that wants to play Angry Birds in Space. Next option? External Batteries!

There are several brands and varieties to chose from depending on your needs and your wallet.   Here are two that I own.


· Zagg Sparq. This little beauty is a hard core power packing brick that has 2 USB ports to charge your devices. It comes in at a whopping 6000 mAh (milli amps per hour) that is able to charge your phone up to 4 times. I personally own the Sparq and it has made 6 trips with me and I can't see a time that is hasn't been completely perfect. My phone of choice is an iPhone and it seems odd but I like having a long cord (I have several 6ft after market cords I purchased off of Amazon) connected to my phone and I can have my Sparq anywhere else. One of the nicest features of the Sparq is having the whole thing one contained unit. It has built in plugs so it can go right into the outlet and get to charging. I highly recommend the Sparq to anyone who uses (overuses) their smart phone. Check it out at http://www.zagg.com/accessories/zaggsparq.php

· Another wonderful battery I own is the Anker Astro 5600mAh Backup External Battery. This little guy is small and powerful and has a built in flashlight, fits in the palm of your hand and kept me charged up all day. This little guy was half the cost of the Sparq but has some drawbacks when compared to the Sparq. Without an adapter you can't charge it. There is only one USB port to charge your device but since I only have one phone that wasn't a problem for me. I loved the size and ease of use and storage in my pockets.

I can say for sure that almost any extra battery would be helpful to everyone but it also depends on if you want to be carrying around extra things in your bags or pockets. Either of these batteries would be perfect for almost any situation where you need extra life for your digital devices. But there are so many options to chose from you need to do your research and find what would be the best fit for you. My personal rule is the bigger the mAh the longer it will last and the more I get to play.

A Deluxe Studio At Old Key West

  So I made it to my room early in the day, my bags were to follow later having taken their own journey via Magical Express. My room is a standard Deluxe Studio having two queen beds and a small kitchenette with a mini fridge that is remarkably deficient of beer.... silly me "I" have to purchase that myself?!? Anyway the room is wonderful and beachy as a trip to Old key West should be. Make sure you check out the bed spreads for the hidden Mickey...

Hidden Mickey