Disneyland in February

Radiator Springs ride in the new Cars Land. © Mike Wong

Radiator Springs ride in the new Cars Land. © Mike Wong

As I mentioned in my last post, it was time for us to get out of Dodge and have some fun. So off to Disneyland! One of the things we wanted to see was the new Cars Land attraction and we were not disappointed. The kids absolutely loved the Radiator Springs ride and they said it was their favorite ride at either California Adventure or Disneyland!

 

The kids on the Tow Mater ride. © Mike Wong

The kids on the Tow Mater ride. © Mike Wong

The Tow Mater ride looked harmless, but it was actually a bit rough. The cart that you ride in the back whips you around pretty hard. Chris and I were smashing into each other the entire time while we laughed and then tried to catch our breath. I was holding my new GoPro HD Hero 3 camera filming the event and just as I turned it off, we got whipped around and the camera flew from my hands. Luckily though, the case was on it and it came out unharmed.

Details

Like everything at Disneyland, it’s amazing at the level of detail that the artists at Disney put into every aspect of the park. Here are some of the details that I really enjoyed while waiting for the Tow Mater ride.

A great El Materdor poster. © Mike Wong

A great El Materdor poster. © Mike Wong

Amazing detail in this license plate that I bet most people never notice. © Mike Wong

Amazing detail in this license plate that I bet most people never notice. © Mike Wong

Another license plate. Love the detail. © Mike Wong

Another license plate. Love the detail. © Mike Wong

Portraits of the kids

In between all of the running around, I was able to grab a couple of nice portraits of the kids.

Portrait of Nathan. © Mike Wong

Portrait of Nathan. © Mike Wong

Portrait of Devyn. © Mike Wong

Portrait of Devyn. © Mike Wong

Twilight at California Adventure

We walked back and forth between California Adventure and Disneyland about 5 times. According to my Nike+ Fuel Band, we walked over 20,000 steps. I don’t know exactly how many because somewhere just past 20,000, the battery died! But needless to say, we were exhausted. On our last trip back over to California Adventure for dinner and a ride on the big ferris wheel, we stopped at the Grizzly River Run to take a look at one of our favorite rides that was under renovation. Nathan loved seeing the infrastructure of the ride as the water was drained. The light was beautiful as the sun went down and I grabbed this shot of one of the main buildings that make up the Grizzly River Run.

Golden hour hits the Grizzly River Run ride. © Mike Wong

Golden hour hits the Grizzly River Run ride. © Mike Wong

You press this button to take the picture

After I took this, I had Chris and the kids get lined up for a quick family photo (minus me of course) when a nice passerby offered to take our picture. I said “sure, that would be great!” As I handed her the camera, I showed her that if she pressed halfway on the shutter release it would focus and then after the beep, to press the button. I had already dialed in the shutter and aperture settings manually. All she had to do was prefocus and then shoot. I almost didn’t tell her because you never know how much experience someone has shooting, but I did.

Even though I gave her that info and she said “okay”, she still didn’t do it. And because it was getting dark and my screen is only so big, I couldn’t really tell that she did not in fact follow the simple instructions and she just pressed the shutter release without any focusing at all. I suppose I could partially, or fully, blame my camera which is going on 6 years old now and it’s ancient auto-focus system, but I’m going to put some of the responsibility on the unnamed photographer. 🙂

So we have another nice family portrait that is out of focus. Oh well. A quick run through Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2 and we turn that out-of-focus color image into a lovely black and white image.

The Wong family. Friendly photographer unknown. Edits by Mike Wong

The Wong family. Friendly photographer unknown. Edits by Mike Wong

Do you see what I see?

I thought this was funny.

Reminds me of the Ted and Fred Road Trip book by Dr. Seuss. © Mike Wong

Reminds me of the Ted and Fred Road Trip book by Dr. Seuss. © Mike Wong

Last photo of the night

Finally as the night was winding down, Nathan stopped to grab a photo of the signature ferris wheel at California Adventure. I love getting candid photos of the kids when they’re not looking. This will go down as one of my favorites.

Nathan grabbing a photo. © Mike Wong

Nathan grabbing a photo. © Mike Wong

 

 

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Devyn, Nathan, People, Places, Travel