Water rides and protecting your equipment

P

Paul

Member
Just curious how everyone protects their camera gear while riding some of the water rides in the parks. ; Do you take turns and have someone watch your stuff or are any of your bags water resistant? ;

I would hate to miss all the rides with the family just because I don't want the gear to get wet!

Kali River Rapids has a center console to put some stuff, but it is not very big and not sure how well it works. ; Splash mountain seems tricky as well since some times you stay pretty dry and other times you can get soaked.

Also, what about Fantasmic? ; Is there a splash area if you sit too close? ; I want to sit fairly close so I can get some good close ups which I have been unable to do thus far.
 
splash mountain - when the big splashes come, i tuck the camera under my shirt and turtle up in the seat and have had no problems.
fantasmic - never had a problem but i like to sit a big higher up so the railing is out of the shots.
kali - no way in hades i am taking my camera on that one without a waterproof casing or at the minimum soft sided rain pouch (thankfully, those aren't TOO expensive).
 
"Paul" said:
Also, what about Fantasmic? ; Is there a splash area if you sit too close? ; I want to sit fairly close so I can get some good close ups which I have been unable to do thus far.
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Well, beginning in June, yes, there will be a substantial soak zone, but it should affect those sitting at water's edge. ; This is due to the wake from the Flotsam and Jetsam jetskis. ; A 200mm lens plus crop factor is an awfully good lens from the standing room only area, if you don't have good CMs that night that let you go to the best seat in the house.

As for the water rides, I haven't taken pictures from there since I had my film Olympus Stylus Epic fixed lens.....
 
"Roger" said:
If you don't have good CMs that night that let you go to the best seat in the house....
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yes, that was a good night for us.
 
The only one I don't take gear on is Kali River Rapids. ; I don't trust the center console at all and its always too full to fit my camera bag anyway. ; My mom won't ride it, so the rest of us leave our gear with her. ; I've also never tried to take pictures on Splash, so I have always put my gear in the camera bag and zipped it closed. ; The outside of the bag gets wet, but it has never soaked through to the inside.
 
kali - no way in hades i am taking my camera on that one without a waterproof casing or at the minimum soft sided rain pouch (thankfully, those aren't TOO expensive).
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;D I tend to agree on that one

Well, beginning in June, yes, there will be a substantial soak zone, but it should affect those sitting at water's edge. ; This is due to the wake from the Flotsam and Jetsam jetskis. ; A 200mm lens plus crop factor is an awfully good lens from the standing room only area, if you don't have good CMs that night that let you go to the best seat in the house.
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so where is the best seat in the house?
 
I'd say it's right behind this sign, above:

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It ends up being below the center lighting tower that rises each evening to put on the show.
 
There is a Fantasmic! someplace else??? ; ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


Yes, DL. ; Part of me still can't fathom "sitting" for Fantasmic!
 
"PolynesianMedic" said:
Sorry that's the only one I've seen. ; I know people say the DL one is better, but I'll have to wait and see.
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I hope Tim can agree[nb]Even though he saw a broken show, with Pinnochio not working, and of course, no Ursula float which has now been replaced[/nb] that Fantasmic! at DL puts her younger sister to shame.

And this is before getting the new dragon this year!

Makes me want to take a 1 day trip back to SoCal this summer. ; But I'll probably wait to see World of Color on the same trip, since the hype is building that Fantasmic! will be surpassed by it.
 
Roger, you threw me off, I thought we were talking WDW's version of Fantasmic. ; I'll keep your tip in mind in case I get back out there to DL. ; Anyone have a seating tip for the "Fantasmic" at DHS?
 
I think Tim summed it up perfectly for me regarding the water rides. These suggestions are precisely what I do. I tucked right after taking this shot.

 
nice capture Leo, I wasn't even considering taking any shots on Splash or Kali, but now I might have to practice my technique since Splash looks doable.
 
splash, i too do the turtle up thing

fantasmic, i won't bother again until they revamp the show, got all i wanted mousefest 07, from the special desert seating area up top, via the 200 f2.8 on the tripod

kali rapids, that's actually why i always have some plastic shopping bags tucked into the bag somewhere
 
I'm a chicken with cameras on wet rides...my DSLR ain't going near any of them!

I have brought my compacts along for a few wet rides - but never really get very good shots, because I end up putting them away too soon, for fear of the upcoming splash.

Leo has a much nicer Splash Mountain than me...this was the best I could manage:

[attachimg=1]

Kali? ; Never have, likely never will, unless I have a camera in a waterproof case.

The shows I don't worry as much about - I usually avoid sitting in an obvious splash zone, and don't mind covering up the camera briefly as some spray flies.

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I use a home-made camera poncho to keep my camera dry, both on wet rides and in wet weather.

A camera poncho is simply a 1-gallon Ziploc bag with the corners cut off to accommodate the snap hooks of my camera strap. See details here:

http://www.willcad.org/image_cameraponcho.shtml

I rarely shoot with the bag on, though someone on the DIS boards recently used my technique and got a fantastic series of downhill shots on Splash Mountain (last post on first page):
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2187381
 
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