I was walking around Epcot’s Spaceship Earth and my attention was drawn to the stainless steel panels at the base near the queue entrance. I walked over and held my camera above my head with the lens resting in the seem created by the two panels and fired away. The original shot was OK, but the lines gave me an idea for a modified version. I started first firing up the Tron Legacy soundtrack in iTunes and went for it. This first version, Enter the Grid, reminds me of some of the merchandise that was sold in the parks to promote to movie.

Then few minutes later it hit me…. What would it look like inside the grid?……..

01010100 01110010 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110011 01110000 01101001 01110010 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110110 01101001 01100101 01110111 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01010011 01110000 01100001 01100011 01100101 01110011 01101000 01101001 01110000 00100000 01000101 01100001 01110010 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01000100 01101001 01110011 01101110 01100101 01111001 00100111 01110011 00100000 01000101 01110000 01100011 01101111 01110100 00101110 00100000 00100000 00001010 00001010 01010111 01100001 01101100 01110100 00100000 01000100 01101001 01110011 01101110 01100101 01111001 00100000 01010111 01101111 01110010 01101100 01100100 00001010 01000101 01110000 01100011 01101111 01110100 00001010 01010011 01110000 01100001 01100011 01100101 01110011 01101000 01101001 01110000 00100000 01000101 01100001 01110010 01110100 01101000

Translation….

Tron inspired views of Spaceship Earth at Disney’s Epcot.

Walt Disney World
Epcot
Spaceship Earth

Spaceship Tron: Enter and Welcome to the Grid originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

I look forward to Epcot’s International Flower and Garden Festival each year. The park explodes with color and character based topiaries. You can find these topiaries scattered around the World year round, but the best time to view them all in one place is at the annual festival.

When I heard this years entrance theme was Fantasia I was thrilled. I love Fantasia, including the 2000 update. In fact, the Fantasia
and Fantasia 2000 soundtracks were the first two CDs I loaded onto my first iPod! To top it off Sorcerer Mickey is my favorite Disney Character!

19th Annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival
Walt Disney World

19th Annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival – The Hand of a Sorcerer’s Apprentice originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

I was looking through some cruise pictures and this one caught my attention. I processed this at the same time as the previous Stacked Reflection shot, but I was not really happy with it. After having a fun time with the Dream shots, I’ve Got A Dream and I’ve Got Another Dream , at Castaway Cay that had some cool lens flare and sun burst I am liking this one again.

Disney Cruise Line
Deck 12, Disney Dream

Stacked Reflection II – Disney Cruise Line originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

Ok, I know I posted almost the same shot yesterday and said it was my favorite shot of the 4 different compositions. Well, I’ve changed my mind.  This is now my favorite.   This set of shots makes me thankful that I shot a full range of exposures which helped capture the details of the ship and the star burst and light rays from the sun.

The 10 exposures I used for this HDR image ranged from 1/13 sec to 1/4000 sec at f/22 ISO 200.

Reissued Public Service Announcement: MAKE SURE YOU GET ANY DUST OFF YOUR LENS BEFORE SHOOTING

Disney Dream
Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Disney Cruise Line

I’ve Got Another Dream | Disney Dream HDR at Castaway Cay originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

I have dreams, like you — no, really!
Just much less touchy-feely
They mainly happen somewhere
warm and sunny
On an island that I own
Tanned and rested and alone
Surrounded by enormous piles of money

I can only guess Eugene Fitzherbert, or you may know him better as Flynn Rider, was thinking of Castaway Cay during his part of the song. Anyway, I’ve taken this shot of the Magic and Wonder and as the title would suggest, I’ve finally Got the Dream! I cannot wait to complete the set with the Fantasy this summer.

In total I shot 4 different angles and this one was an instant favorite as I looking at the LCD while waiting in line to re-board the ship. I noticed the sunburst that was created while looking at 1/4000 exposure then as I continued the rays of light started to appear around 1/400 sec.
 
Exposures ranged from 0.8sec to 1/4000 sec at f/22.
 
Public Service Announcement: MAKE SURE YOU GET ANY DUST OFF YOUR LENS BEFORE SHOOTING
 
Disney Dream
Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Disney Cruise Line

I’ve Got A Dream | Disney Dream HDR at Castaway Cay originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

I’ve never been one to put the camera away during the middle of the day as it is not always practical to get up extremely early or stalk sunset. I figure, why waste a perfectly good opportunity to be creative and shoot for an HDR image.
 
While on a Disney Cruise the early mornings are simple, the sunsets for me are not. We always choose main dinning which usually runs through the sunset. Then, there is the fact that the ship leaves Castaway Cay at 4:30 PM or earlier if there is a weather system approaching. Even when there is a late departure in another port it would not come close to the beauty of Castaway Cay.
 
I’d love the opportunity to spend a few nights on Castaway Cay even with the man-eating bugs.
 
Disney Dream
Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Disney Cruise Line

Sun Kissed Dream | Disney’s Castaway Cay originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

Follow the path to Castaway Ray’s Stingray Adventure on Disney’s Castaway Cay.
 
This Port Adventure will get you a hands on encounter with the stingray during a feeding session. First, you are given the opportunity to feed the stingray, which will actually take the food right from the palm of your hand. Followed by a snorkeling adventure amongst the over 40 rays who call Castaway Cay home. The Port Adventure lasts about and hour and runs $35 (10yrs and up) and $29 for children. Read more at about this adventure at DisneyCruiseLine.com
 
Disney Dream
Castaway Ray’s Stingray Adventure
Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Disney Cruise Line

Castaway Ray’s Stingray Adventure | Disney’s Castaway Cay originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

Mount Rustmore, yes that is RUST, not RUSH, at Disney’s Castaway Cay is one of those must have family photo ops for families visiting the private island. Imagineers re-purposed old marine scrap into pop art featuring the likes of Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck, ad Goofy.
However, for some reason, I cannot find a single family picture at this location. I guess there is another good reason to go back!

Mount Rustmore at Disney’s Castaway Cay
Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Disney Cruise Line

Castaway Cay’s Mount Rustmore Revisited originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

The one thing Disney has yet to figure out is how to control the weather. I’m sure there is an Imagineer or two tucked away in a remote office working on solving this problem…..

Regardless of the weather, Castaway Cay is always a fun time. Just find a hammock under a palm tree, relax and realize your car will not be full of sand at the end of the day!

Castaway Family Beach
Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Disney Cruise Line

A Palm Frond Dream | Disney’s Castaway Cay originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog

 
The radar domes offer a place to kick back and relax on the sundeck. If you look closely you can see the Meyer Werft ship builder plaque.
 
Deck 13 Forward
Disney Dream

Disney Dream – Deck 13 Forward originally posted on Scott G Sanders's Blog