Festival of Fantasy, Part 2!

Would you believe I made it all the way out to the opening day of Star Wars Weekends on Friday... only to realize within a few hours that I was sick and had to come home and wallow on the couch in sicky sickness all weekend? BAH.

After gallons of hot liquids and neti-potting and round-the-clock humidifiers, though, I'm mostly human again. (Head colds when you can't take decongestants are EXTRA fun, lemme tell ya.)

So let's pick up where I left off with Disney's new Festival of Fantasy parade!

After the Tangled float come two more spectacular costumes: the Lion Fish and Shelly:

Once again Disney steps up by giving us non-movie characters with jaw-dropping detail. SO. COOL.

I should note this parade moves FAST, so you're definitely going to miss stuff as it zips by. I've seen it twice now, and could barely take the camera away from my face either time - and even then, I still missed a few shots I wanted!

Check out that headdress! She even has orange feathers on her eyelashes!

Shelly is another of my favorites, so in trying to photograph her I've now completely missed the two Pink Coral Dancers - twice! Here's a quick side shot of one as she strode past me, though:

And here's the shot that made me miss the two Corals:

Worth it.

These are all a precursor to Ariel's Under-The-Sea float, of course:

Though small by comparison, this float still has motion and movement with an animatronic Sebastian driver and two rotating conga lines of dancing fish:

I like that so many characters are up high, allowing even shorties like me to see them through a crowd, but the blinding midday sun can also be a challenge. (Make sure you use spot metering for photos, or you could end up with dark silhouettes against the bright sky!) 

Wrapping up the Little Mermaid section are a pair of spinning seahorses:

The operators wear funky holographic track suits and sunglasses, and spin the seahorses by hand.

Next, Newsies-inspired Lost Boys segue into Neverland:

I like the look; definitely a fun new take for the Boys.

The Neverland float is another whopper. In the front you can see Skull Rock:

 ... topped with a pirate ship manned by Peter and Wendy:

The ship is balanced on a shimmery sequined rainbow, with Captain Hook swinging on an anchor underneath.

I missed Hook this time, so here's a shot from a different day on Main Street:

Tinkerbell sits at the other end of the rainbow in a garden of oversized flowers: 

 

(Psst. Hey, parade guy. DOWN IN FRONT.)

 I think Tink was upset that her wand wasn't working here:

:)

And trailing behind was good ol' Tick Tock the Croc:

Again, this shot is from my first parade viewing at the flag pole on Main Street. I don't recommend standing there, though; I wasn't happy with most of my photos from that day. Too many crowds-in-the-shot, and most of the performers' faces were in heavy shadow from the side. The only pics that worked were straight shots down to the castle - but to be fair, those could be AMAZING:

So if you do opt for the Flag Pole area, I'd say forget side shots and just keep your camera pointed down towards the castle like this.

The Brave dancers start off the segment with some line dancing:

And they're followed closely by Merida's giant bagpipe float:

The bagpipe has a large crown platform for Merida, and is decorated with shields, tassels, and even a round target (with an arrow in the bull's eye) on the opposite side.

Near the top are the infamous plate of cakes from the movie, and if you squint you can see Merida's baby bear brothers peeking out from the pipes:

This is the most static float of all. I can't remember if the bears move or not -  I'll have to watch for that next time! - but if they do, they're the only animated element onboard. Not complaining, of course; I mean, look at this thing. o.0

K, that does it for this round! Coming up, the fire-breathing Maleficent I know you've all been waiting for, plus the parade finale! In fact, here's another teaser, which is one of my favorite shots of anything ever:

Sha-POW! 
This = insta Jen happiness.

*****
Click here for Part 3!