Through The Lens 158 – Merry Christmas

The holiday finale shown at the end of IllumiNations during the Christmas season has always been a favorite of mine. The photo above shows all 228 seconds of the finale.

“During this glorious time of year there is one message that rings out around the world in every language. Peace on earth. Good will to men is a wish to hold in our hearts throughout each passing year. A gift of immeasurable value. A treasure being handed down with care, from generation to generation. And so our holiday wish is that everyone, everywhere share in the spirit of the season. Peace on earth, good will to men.”

-Narration by Walter Cronkite

Merry Christmas!

Through The Lens 150 – Happy Halloween

Since its almost Halloween, I thought I would share one of my favorite photos of the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers.

Happy Halloween!

Through The Lens 142 – Illuminations China

Running behind this week, so I’m going to share a fireworks shot from the China Pavilion in EPCOT.

Happy Friday!

Through The Lens 131 – Illuminations

One of my favorite sequences from Illuminations – Reflections of Earth.

Happy Friday!

Through The Lens 98 – Happy Halloween!

One of my favorite photos of the Undead Ballroom Dancers from the Haunted Mansion Sequence of the Boo To You Halloween Parade at Walt Disney World.  The cast members who make up this group really play up their characters, making them a lot of fun to photograph.

Happy Halloween!

The Great Movie Ride

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

While not a typical trip report, I thought I would take the opportunity to share some of my favorite photos from the recently closed Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World. The Great Movie Ride opened with Disney-MGM Studios on May 1, 1989 and was an incredibly detailed attraction that took you into the movies.

As the name suggested, each attraction scene featured animatronics of movie stars in their most famous roles. The Imagineers went to great lengths to make sure every detail was perfect from filling the scenes with props to dressing the animatronics in clothes actually worn by the star(s) represented in the scene.  Photographically, I think the level of detail is what made The Great Movie Ride so much fun to shoot.

Through The Lens 88 – The Great Movie Ride

With the recent closing of the Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I thought I’d share one of my favorite photos of the ride.  The cowboy scene was always impressive with the explosion and actual fire in the bank.

The Great Movie Ride was the last opening day attraction from the former Disney’s MGM studios which opened in 1989 and is one of my top 5 favorite Disney attractions.

I’ll do a longer “trip report” post with more favorite images on Tuesday.

Through The Lens 74 – Wishes

In honor of Walt Disney World’s Wishes fireworks which ran its final show last night, I thought I’d share one of my favorite photos of the show.  The impressive amount of pyrotechnics, launched from the castle, the adjacent building roofs and the main launch site behind the Magic Kingdom made this show a favorite of mine. While the show was impressive from inside the park, watching it from across the lagoon really showed the scale of the show.