(DISCLAIMER: I was in no way compensated, extended free service, or am affiliated in any way to Kingdom Camera Rentals. I was a first time user and wanted to share my experience with the company from an unbiased perspective.)
While planning our most recent trip to WDW I had a thought. Would’nt it be awesome if there were a great local company in Orlando that rented out camera gear so I don’t have to lug a bunch of gear on a plane? I began to scour the interweb looking for such a business and rather quickly came upon Kingdom Camera Rentals. From the outset everything looked amazing, they say they will bring you the gear and pick it up, they have great equipment, AND they have fantastic prices. So far so good.
Being the cautious person I am when it comes to purchasing with companies I have never used before, I searched the internet high and low for bad reviews (always the bad first!).Using keywords such as “Kingdom Camera Scam” and “Kingdom Camera horror stories” (tell me you’ve never done it!) I came across absolutely nothing but the opposite. Great reviews by prominent Disney Blogs and even glowing reviews by people in Disney forums! Was it possible that I had actually found a company with 100% customer satisfaction? If there were anything bad to be found about Kingdom Camera it was either tucked away in the depths of Internet Hell or it simply was just something I was not going to find.
I went on their easy to use website and searched through their impressive offerings and decided on a lens that I have always died to try, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED Zoom for around 90 bucks with damage waiver… I am still drooling. I checked the available dates and sent my order in. Still at this point I was expecting something to go wrong, ordering was way too easy… something had to go wrong.
Within a day of ordering online I got a phone call from Ron confirming my pick up time and location. Something I was extremely impressed with is that they actually were going to drop it off at my resort in the lobby and pick it up in the same spot. I was a bit apprehensive as I was hoping that they would be punctual so I didn’t have to wait around, maximum park time was on the line after all!
D-Day came and I with my ever doubting mind thought “This will be it! they will be late. No one can be this good!”. I could visualize and taste my scathing review in my mind. The sinister smirk was still on my face as I turned the corner and immediately saw Ron with his son sitting on the fountain….. 10 minutes early! What was this Dark Magic?!?
They went over the equipment, showed me that it was in good working order, got me to inspect it, and sign off. We chatted for a bit and I learned that this was a family operated business, and customer service is their number one priority. Did I mention Ron even brought a camera bag for me to fit my gear into… for free.
They even had an awesome business card!
I took my lens back to our room at Coronado Springs and my wife asked how it went, to which I replied in a sad voice “awesome, everything was perfect”.
We used the lens for the entire duration of our stay and I must say it was amazing working order. Having professional glass on your body really makes a world of difference in your photos. Let me just rant for a second about this and then I will digress. If you are paying thousands of dollars for your trip and you have any photographic ability in your body at all, you owe it to yourself to take some fantastic photos and videos of your experience.
Here are some pictures I took with the lens:
( All of my photos on Flickr can be used on your own blogs as long as you link back to us)
At the end of the week it was time to part ways with the lens, which had essentially become my third child. Needless to say this was the hardest part. I fully expected someone to be there right on time and of course they were. I was happy to meet Lenise this time and she was very pleasant and accommodating She had a camera in her hand and had been taking photos of the lake at the resort so we talked shop for a bit and I was on my way.
I walked along the beautiful paths of Coronado back to my room and thought about how amazing Kingdom Camera was. I had read some reviews that when their customers cameras stopped working Ron and Lenise had met them IN THE PARKS! and handed off new working units. Based on my experience I 100% believe that this truly happened.
I honestly don’t think I have ever been more satisfied with a company in my life, and I sing of their praises constantly to anyone who will take 20 minutes to an hour to listen.
Give em a shot, I promise you will not regret it!
