Aerial Views of WDW

Not only did this guy get clearance to fly over WDW property, he made sure he had good light when he did.

Aerial Views of WDW

Good stuff.

 

Cool! ; It looks like he's done that a couple of times from the dates on the photos. ; Getting clearance once must be almost impossible... I wonder how he pulled it off a couple of times.

 

Those are mine, thanks

There's nothing special about flying over any of the WDW properties above 3000ft unless there are additional restrictions in place for VIP visits (President, VP, etc).

There's a lot of lower altitude traffic on the south side of WDW because it actually is outside the special airspace (called a TFR). Technically the airspace ends along the southern edge of EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. Downtown Disney is outside the airspace completely, so lower-altitude traffic will often fly along I4 before transitioning north or south around the Disney airspace.

People do have waivers to operate in the airspace but they're pretty rare (I've done that before and it's a pain to do for everyone involved), so if you see someone circling the parks it's a safe bet they're above 3000ft. Helicopters flying around EPCOT are almost always flying along the southern portion of the park around the World Showcase where the airspace ends.

By the way, the only time I've ever seen any fixed-wing aircraft actually flying over MK or EP "low" was when the Thunderbirds flew over in F16s - and that was a treat.

-Scott

 

Welcome aboard, Scott!

Those are some really nice shots! ; What kind of aircraft are you using as a shooting platform?

 

You're most welcome, Scott! ; As I mentioned, the photos in the album are stellar and the time of day gives them a 3-D look and feel.

There's a myth debunked, I thought ALL airspace around the parks were restricted for years. ; Have noticed much more air traffic the last few trips over the parks. ; I remember the signs trailed behind small planes touting Rosie O'Grady's (?) or something like that (was back in the 80's).

 

Welcome Scott.


Might need to talk to you .. I am building a site and some of these photo's would look great on it....

 

Great shots Scott and welcome aboard!!!

 

Thanks - I'd rather not be specific, but I only use airplanes (not helicopters).

Thanks

Yup, it's a myth. We're just restricted to 3000ft and above within 3 nautical-miles of the Contemporary resort. It's been like that since 2001.

 

Every time I see this one I want to go back and edit it but... anyway, click on this for a higher-res version than is available on my site. Fantasyland from this month, July '12.

Click to enlarge...

 

Thanks

For a number of reasons traffic in Florida has increased just about everywhere. I haven't noticed a huge increase in traffic right around WDW but I'm sure there's more than there used to be.

There are a couple of helicopter tour operators in the area now too (I think one is located near Universal on I4). No doubt they're the majority of the helicopter traffic you see around the area.

I think the two closest airports to WDW is Kissimmee and Apopka. Neither is really "right next door", but Kissimmee probably is a source of some of the overhead traffic transiting north/south over the parks. Orlando has it's own controlled airspace situation and there's a big bombing range north of Apopka that is in a large restricted area. Those two factors no doubt contribute to pushing light aircraft traffic toward the WDW area if they're heading down to Kissimmee or Lakeland, but really shouldn't be causing any particular concentration over the parks (except for the inevitable sight-seers).

 

Hard to imagine most of the Fantasyland expansion will be open this fall. ; Your photos are very clear and sharp.

You mentioned the Thunderbirds. ; I was there when they did the flyover. ; Here is my account of the event:

Thunderbirds Over Disney

 

That's awesome

 

Wonderful work! ; I love the B&W HDR of Spaceship Earth. ; Thanks for sharing quality work from a fresh perspective!

 

Thanks

Here's one of the hub - from this month:

Click to enlarge...

 

How cool would a Pixelmania 2012 group shot from above be?