Film shooter going to Orlando, FL

I will be heading to Orlando, FL to see the famed Disney World in the middle of June, for 7 days. This will be with extended family, but mostly just my wife, sister-in-law, 2 kids ages 3 & 6 and myself in our group. We are planning to spend time in the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. What film speed would you bring? I was thing of Fuji Superia for day time, but having a hard time choosing between 100 or 400 speed. I have purchased some Superia 100 but I’m still thinking of getting some Superia 400. For the night time shows was thinking of using B&W, Fuji Neopan 1600, and some color either Superia 1600 or 800 . I will bring the gear listed below, will not be using a tripod.
My local lab has suggested the Fuji 200 for day light. They are telling me that up to 12 x 18 I would be hard pressed to see the difference between 100 and 200. They are split on a fast film for night, seems either Fuji 800 or 1600. The ones picking the 1600 state that if I was using a Mono pod or better yet a Tri-pod they would pick the 800.

How large of a print can you make from a well exposed 35mm negative, in ISO 100, 200, 400, and 800. I'm not looking for poster size to be view from feet away, but a print to be put in a frame and hung on wall viewed from a foot away. I'm thinking like as large as 12x18. All of the shots will be printed at 4x6 from a local pro-lab, the good ones will be adjusted in photoshop and printed at home to 8x10, and a few very good ones will be printed 12x18 at the local pro-lab.

My walking around kit is going to be the EOS3 with the EF 24-105IS. When going to the Animal Kingdom I will use the EF 70-200 as the main lens. For night shooting was going to try the EF 17-40, but I think the EF 50/1.8 will be a better idea. I don’t plan to carry everything all the time, just what I think I need for that day.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Early June in Orlando? Gosh, you're gonna sweat like the dickens!

For daytime why would you need anything faster than 100? It's the height of the Summer in the sub-tropic region of the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun will be at its near highest point and the skies will be extremely bright (even when behind the clouds)!

As to night shooting - are you talking about available light or with flash? If the former, then pushing the 400 to 800 or even 1600 should do the trick. Particularly if you're talking about outdoor venues. [Remember, it's June and even at 9:30PM you still have some dusk light].

If indoors with flash, the 400 will be fine.

Just remember to carry towels when you're out there - it's going to be hotter than Hell!

If you want to photograph inside the dark rides you'll want to have 1600 - I've done some work inside Spaceship Earth and the Carousel of Progress with 1600 and it turned out pretty well. For outside use whatever you want - the sun will be BRIGHT unless it is very cloudy, so even 50 would do for outdoors (no joke). Night in the parks is a bit brighter than normal, so you should be fine with 800, or even 400, depending on where you are. There will be lights all around the place and most of the subjects at night are going to be very lit up.

It will be hot out, especially if you are not used to it. It doesn't bother me that much anymore, but I've been down here for a while. There are security checkpoints at the entrance of each park, and they will want you to open every compartment, so when you in line, go ahead and unzip everything to speed the process. It's not that bad, but it can cause delays.

Let me know if you have anything specific in mind and I might be able to help you out.

- Randy

When I was there in December 2003 I shot exclusively ISO 100 film. However, most of the time I used f/2.8 zooms (I carried them around in a backpack so it wasn't too awful). With slower zooms you might prefer to run about ISO 200 but 100 should still be okay, particularly for shorter focal lengths.

I got way more good photos at the Kennedy Space Center - I'm not sure if your schedule will permit you to go there, but if you can it's well worth the visit.

DisneyWorld was fun. I'd easily go again. I didn't get award-winning photos but I am glad I took some gear.

You might catch the tail-end of the Flower Festival at EPCOT, which is well worth seeing this year. Some years it's kind of lame, but this year they did a nice job with it. Lots of interesting flower opportunities if you're into that sort of thing.

- Randy