1-800-GOOG411

Here is a cool service from Google that can help even when you can’t get online.  We were in downtown Disney and needed to make a dinner reservation.  We knew the name of the restaurant, but didn’t know the phone number.

Using a cell phone I called Google 411 (1-800-GOOG411).  The automated voice asked for the city and state.  It then asked for the type of business or the name of the business I was trying to reach.  I said the name of the restaurant.  Google repeated it back to me and asked if I would like to be connected.  It was just that easy.

On top of all that, the Google 411 service is free.

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Digital Cameras

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This was the Christmas of the digital camera at our house.  The older kids got Canon SD1000’s and the little girl got a Disney point and shoot.  We managed to take about 5000 pictures during the holidays.

I can’t say enough about the SD1000.  It’s difficult to take a bad picture with this point and shoot.  The display is big and the face-focus technology ensures pictures of friends and family look good.  If you are looking for a reasonably priced point and shoot, pick one up. 

The Disney camera was something we picked up knowing we were heading south for the holidays.  The pictures are ok, but in the hands of an eight year old, the sky is the limit.  The picture above was taken by one such eight year old. 

I remember the 110 camera my parents bought for me one Christmas many years ago.  Ten minutes later all the exposures were used up and I was ready to get them developed.  I’m not sure that camera ever saw a second roll of film.  The Disney camera has taken a couple hundred pictures and they are all on my daughter’s computer.  She is quite proud of them.

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Merry Christmas

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We spent Christmas Eve on Main Street USA with more than five millions lights donated by the Osborne family. The display is four or five blocks long and synchronized to Christmas music.

Disney even managed to make it snow.

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Extreme Stunts

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If you visit Disney’s MGM park, you must see the Extreme Stunts show.  Half a dozen cars “dance” at speeds up to 70 MPH in a cozy venue similar to what you would find at a county fair.  The cars, motorcycles and jet skis all move in a high-speed choreographed chase with lots of burning rubber, fire and jumps.

In the behind the scenes tour the guide said they go through a complete set of tires for every car in each show.  Our show was flawless, but judging from the stacks of spare bumpers and fenders, they probably have a few mishaps along the way.

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Disney Tech

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I have been impressed with the technologies used “behind the scenes” at Disney World.  Our park entrance ticket is a credit card with a graphic on it.  The one I’m holding has the Incredibles.  Are tickets worked for multiple days.  As we checked in, we swiped the card and touched a finger print scanner.  The scanner prevents multiple people from using the same card.

Most of the popular rides had FastPass stations.  By swiping an entrance ticket a FastPass card was generated.  Using the FastPass a rider could skip the normal queue for a ride and go right to the front.  If you have been to Cedar Point, they use hand stamps to do this.  This limits a rider to a total of two line jumps per day.  At Disney, the technology behind the FastPass lets a rider have more than two FastPasses per day and it does so in a fair way. 

Each FastPass has a one hour window when the short-cut is available.  There is also a time printed on the FastPass, usually an hour or two after the FastPass is issued, when the rider is eligible for another FastPass.

Another cool technology was the Photopass.  Disney is all about Disney characters.  There’s Mickey, Goofy, Donald and all those movie characters.  They are stationed at different parts of the park and at each venue there is a professional photographer.  Guests are free to take as many pictures as they like, but a Disney photographer also snaps a few with a high end DSLR and links your pictures to a Photopass (in picture above) using a 2D barcode.  Once you have a Photopass from on venue, any other Disney photographer (and they are everywhere) can snap your picture and scan your card’s barcode.  Over time, you can have photos taken all over the park linked to one Photopass.

When you get home, a URL and code on the card get you into all your photos.  The prints are expensive, but if you miss a shot of your daughter with the Little Mermaid, it might be worth it.

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