Tips about Epcot and Photography

Like most of you out there, I take lots of pictures when I am at Disney World. In order to keep the taken film separate from the untaken film, I have finally come up with a simple method of identifying the canisters of film. When packing my camera case, I put some of my self-stick address labels in with my film. When I finish a roll of film, I attach one of the labels to the outside of the canister to identify it as being taken. I also use these labels when I take my film for processing -- I don't have to write my name and address on all those film envelopes that way! I have been known to double expose rolls of film and to process blank rolls of film, but this is the best solution I have come up with to avoid that. - Sue Nelson

I am the picture taker in our family, so needless to say I am not included in our family vacation photo album! Solution: I have a group shot taken at every park that we visit by the Disney photographers at the entrance way. I also have them taken at the water parks. I use these pictures for our yearly Christmas cards. - Fran Dodge

One other thing I didn't read anywhere before we went was that some of these meals (Chef Mickey's and Tusker House) offered family photos. I know some people are put off by this, but for families with young children, who are often in strollers in the parks, this is a nice way to get a picture of everyone together and (hopefully) smiling! We found the photographers in Magic Kingdom and Epcot especially seemed to avoid those of us pushing our clan in strollers... especially doubles! - Hollie Moots -

During our trip to WDW, we did several character meals. At first we would only use our cameras to take pictures after the characters signed the autograph books and were posing with the kids. But after the second meal we started snapping away as soon as the characters approached our table. We are so glad we did this because we captured a very funny sequence of events while at the Villains Dinner at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian.

These candid shots tell a funny story, showing the playful interaction between my sons and the characters. After that, we started snapping away at all of the character meals, and now that we're back, we see that the candid shots usually gave us better pictures than the posed ones! So my tip is start taking pictures as soon as the characters approach your table and start interacting with your children. Of course you want the posed pictures, but the candid ones just might end up being your favorite memories of the meals! -Theresa Brown

(Editor's note: This is a great tip for character meet and greets in the parks also!)

EPCOT - On every trip to Epcot we try to collect different things from each country, but I'm beginning to run out of space. So this year we decided to collect candy from each country. We usually picked up two different candies at each country. The only country that did not have candy was Morocco, so we bought a pastry. It's a tasty treat that you can enjoy at the park and later at home. I took some to my family and we had a contest to see what country they thought the candy came from. So, in essence it's a treat, collection, and later a game, but only needing short-term storage space. What a fun, tasty thing to do -- my family enjoyed it! - Kelly Adkins

EPCOT - On every trip to Epcot we try to collect different things from each country, but I'm beginning to run out of space. So this year we decided to collect candy from each country. We usually picked up two different candies at each country. The only country that did not have candy was Morocco, so we bought a pastry. It's a tasty treat that you can enjoy at the park and later at home. I took some to my family and we had a contest to see what country they thought the candy came from. So, in essence it's a treat, collection, and later a game, but only needing short-term storage space. What a fun, tasty thing to do -- my family enjoyed it! - Kelly Adkins