After I recovered from my shock, I realized there was NOTHING I could do. We still had the opportunity to ride Guardians a few more times... which we did...
I must admit, while I put on a good face for the camera, I was in VERY deep thought. HOW would I rectify this situation? I started looking at
Amazon. How much was another camera body and could I get it same-day primed or even sooner at extra cost? Yeah.. .that was going to be over $1800 and wouldn't arrive until TOMORROW, which meant I'd miss Club 33 without a DSLR. While Amy, Katherine, and I had been many times, it was Lindsey's first trip, and as she is defacto family now, I wasn't going to let that happen. A quick text to Joe, and he was ready to offer up his old Canon body and his lenses. He could deliver it in the afternoon. I filed that away after extending extreme gratitude. I was reeling... thinking... a call to the closest Best Buy.. nope, we don't have that. Every googled retail store, intent upon buying a new body.. finally, I found Fullerton Camera.. they rent bodies and lens, and had one.. only problem.. they didn't open for another hour plus. Resigned to making a decision later in the day, I started to accept my fate and just start living Disneyland without photo-documenting it. I must say, I'm sure it was fun, but without the pics, I might have forgotten those parts even happened. That's part of why I photo-document. It makes the memories POP and it takes me RIGHT BACK to that place in time. I can hear the kid's voices in my ear. The wind rushing by.. The smells. That's my biggest motivation for trip-reporting. I can relive it the same way, with precision, year, after year, after year. It doesn’t ever fade.
After a LOT of up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, it was time for breakfast. The family headed for Flo’s but I was headed up to the Chamber of Commerce to see what they could do. I filled out a report, showed them the devices, was handed a piece of paper and basically told "Call us later". I stopped at the camera shop across the street on the way back and inquired about renting or flat-out buying a body... NOPE. Defeated, I made my way back and caught up with the family on the Pier.
Anybody who's close enough to me to be FB friends knows that Victoria is basically Ron Swanson. She'll KILL and entire pound of bacon saving one, maybe two pieces for me. We are truly kindred in this regard. I just hope she has the same mistrust for government and realization that Taxation IS THEFT that I do. Her appetite would NOT be stymied this trip, and she basically just wanted to shovel bacon into her face. I commend her.
The older children not wanting to lose fingers or have their arms torn from their shoulder sockets, kept their distance.
After sufficient cured and smoked pork refueling, it was time for some RACERS!! I'm not sure if we won or not, but gosh, darn it. WE WON!!!! The car full of this much ambition, grit, and raw RESOLVE HAS TO WIN!!!
We normally make our way down to Paradise Pier... only most everything was DOWN. Screamin' DOWN, Toy Story, DOWN, Mickey's Fun Wheel of DEATH, DOWN... the Swings were going, but for whatever reason, we ended up at the Zeppelin.
Vic was loving the wind!!
The swings were spinning.
The Fun Wheel... covered in scaffolding
The entire area, in refurbishment.
But finally, we hit Goofy's... It was a grand time!!
After which, it was time for me to leave... I high-tailed it to the exit of DCA, marched my way against the flow of people intent upon pushing me back, closer to where I was coming from... Along the way, I had hit an Uber requests for the drop off lot. I made it to the lot and had but a 4-5 minute wait before my ride showed up. We headed north on Harbor and towards Fullerton... my equipment rental store first and foremost on my mind. Five point Two miles, a hair over Sixteen minutes, and $8.36 later, I was at Fullerton Camera. I must say, they opened the store early just for me after I explained my need on the phone. I brought my bag in, explained what I was after, showed them my gear and the issue, gave the rental body a once-over, re-adjusted all the settings to how I shoot, gave it a few shutters through my lens, and was satisfied. A quick credit card swipe and contract sign, and I was back on the street waiting for an Uber to take me back.
This time, it would be a hair over six miles and almost Twenty-one minutes, but I was dropped at the Disneyland Hotel Lobby. I rushed up to the room, swapped camera straps between the bodies, clicked on my favorite lens, and was headed back to the park at a fast pace.
I gotta say, anybody who needs a camera or lens rental or even used purchase, PLEASE go check them out. They literally saved my trip experience I was spending five-figures on. So grateful!!!
http://fullertoncameras.com/
My DSLR took a hit at Disney World when we got caught in a down pour and I didn't get it put away fast enough. It flaked out most of the night until it dried out and was OK the next day. Still had me nervous thinking I ruined it!
