The Mouse

One of the places I visited this past weekend was Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. One of the benefits to knowing an employee up there is that you occasionally get the opportunity to go into the parks for free. It's a lot more fun that spending $50 some odd dollars. You can go late in the day after the crowds have thinned out, and the lines are much shorter on the rides. We walked right onto The Haunted Mansion and Mickey's PhilharMagic. We also rode the new Stitch ride that replaced Alien Encounter (which itself replaced Mission To Mars years ago). But I've got to tell you, it stinks. Well, if you've been on it, you'll think that's a joke, but really, it's lousy. Little kids may like it because they get to see Stitch, but as a ride, it gets the big thumbs down. Strange they didn't ask me what I thought before they invested millions of dollars in the refurb...

I never go anywhere without the camera, and Disney was no exception. We didn't arrive until well after dark, so all I got were hand-held night shots. Thankfully, they illuminate the castle pretty well, and my camera has some built-in tricks for getting decent shots at longer exposures. I don't think the shot of Walt and friend above in front of the castle is too bad.