Star Wars Weekend by Ray
from Be Our Guest Podcast
Pre Trip Report
I will be there from Friday May 29th to Sunday May 31st. It is just me as this is my "research trip". I am flying in to Orlando and will be a first time flying there and doing the Magical Express (Rachel has already told me take lots of pictures of Orlando Airlport.) I leave DFW at 7 am and get to Orlando at 1 pm. I hope to be able to check in about 2 at the Boardwalk. Hopefully I can get into my room and unpack a little before I head out.
On Friday afternoon, I will be going to Magic Kingdom and staying for extra Magic Hours. Eventhough it is just myself I have certain tasks to do like Tom Sawyer Island, Toontown (had very little pictures of Toontown), and some rides in Tomorrowland (unfortnately my TTA will be closed). Once I am done with that it is my time and I have until 1 am.
On Saturday morning I will be hitting Star Wars Weekend. I am excited about this as the last time I was there I did not really know what they were doing. This time I will have plan. I am also planning to do a couple of rides like TSM, RnR, and One Man's Dream (never had a chance with little ones). I do have one ADR. Lunch at the Brown Derby (thought I have a nice dinner to enjoy). I am planning to be there until after the Star Wars Hoopla. I may get back to the room and hit the pool if I up to it.
On Sunday Morning I plan on going back to DHS for SWW if I miss anything from the day before. I am planning to hit EPCOT before lunch. I want to eat my way around world showcase. I will start with France and see how far I go. My flight leaves at 7 so I figure I have a couple of hours before I have to go.
Following Katie and Ed's example I have set up a twitter account and will send a couple of pictures. The address is http://twitter.com/rayhp if you want to check on how I am doing. I will not have a computer to check in so I will do a trip report when I get back with the pictures.
A start
I actually did fly down to for that short trip, but we wanted to get that experience with ME for the website.
First thing I noticed was the shuttle to the main gate.
While I rode I was waiting for the monorail spiel, but got nothing and was disappointed with nothing. Disney needs to talk to MCO.
I was really surprised by the airport and mall within the airport. It is not like it here at DFW. Loved the Disney Store.
I went downstair looking for ME and it was not hard to find with the signs.
There was no line to get my boarding pass and hop on the bus. I did have to wait for about 20 minutes to get going. I was like come on hurry up, need to get MK, but I behaved. Loved the little film on the way.
It did rain there twice while I was there. Once on ME.
Here was a great sight.
I really enjoyed the ride from ME. It was a really nice experience. Now when I left I had the luggage with me so I did not have to worry about it getting lost, but I sure it does not happen much.
Boardwalk was the 2nd stop after Riverside. It was funny while we were waiting for the people to get off at POR. There were people trying to get on the bus to go to the airport. The driver said not this one for after he dropped off passengers it was his scheduled break. I did talk to the driver for a bit and he said that people always get on the bus trying to go to the parks. They just assume it was the right one.
Here was another great sight.
I did online checkin a couple nights before hand. It was really nice. I walked up at 2 and they had my room ready to go. It was on the 2nd floor close by the lobby. It was a nice room, but I have to say after the last two trips with a 1 bedroom villas, I was surprised by the size. I thought it was a little small. The was my first impression. I did enjoy the room and it was big enough for me.
I loaded up the water pouch for my backpack with water and ice, and headed out to MK. I just made it to the bus, infact I had to run to catch it.
Magic Kingdom
This is also a nice sight.
I saw the end of the parade on main street as I was getting on the train. I hopped over to Frontierland to go to Tom Sawyer Island. As I was on the boat I saw the Genie.
I could see some of the parade while I to go over to TSI. There I took alot of time taking pictures and it has some very nice views of BTMR and HM. It is also pretty quite compared to the park. I then walked over to Toontown and then to Tomorrowland. I saw a couple of hidden treasures there that I did not know before.
The news robot
had newspaper of Stitch's great escape.
And there is the phone booth that calls different type of information.
I got to watch the preshow for Stitch's Galaxy Day Celebration which is funny. It is a news station and the weather man is Tom Morrow. The show is also cute (but I wish they had shade).
I walked over to the hub to enjoy a treat and wait for the move it, shake it, celebrate it parade.
If you have not seen the parade, the bring the floats to the hub and then the dance and bring the crowd in to the streat with them and celebrate with them. It was fun watching them and the crowd dance in the street. If you have a chance you should check it out.
I went back to Tomorrowland to have dinner, do Laugh floor (where I was the guy that believed that catsup comes froms cats), stitch, and astro-orbiter. It had been a while since I was on astro-orbiter. I had forgotten how high and fast you go. Of course while I was up there I could not resist a picture.
By then it was time to get a dole whip float and find a spot for Wishes. While I was sitting down, I was talking to a family that had never had a dole whip. I told them it was good, but once you get it you can't stop.
After wishes I decided to stay and try and get a couple of more rides since it was EMH. I hit Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion. I tried Splash Mountain, but the line was 50 mins. I figure it was time to go back to the room and sleep.
Disney Star Wars
I walked to the park and was able to get a great view of the park.
When I got there there was a line already at 7:40 just for the meets with the special Star Wars Guests. I heard a cm say that they were there at 3am that morning. I am sure it was fun. Jay Laga'aia the host for SWW (he was captin Tyco in Attack of the Clones) was out there with the guests just talking and he started to sing Weird Al's parady of the Phantom Menance "The Saga Begins". It was nice of him to come out and visit. He says he loves coming to SWW despite the 26 hour flight from New Zealand.
I was upfront in the line, but it gave me a really bad view of the stormtroopers when they came out. They were funny. It is one of the highlights of SWW. If you go to SWW, try to get there early enough to see them.
One nice thing about getting there early was I was able to walk on to TSM with no line. It was the first time that I was able to see Mr. Potato Head. I really wish that every one that rides him can see him.
I went to meet some of the Star Wars Characters. I was waiting in line to meet Chewbacca, but it was the Ewok that came out. I then went to see Jedi Mickey. I was actually hoping to meet Darth Vader Goofy and Storm trooper Donald, but it did not happen. When I did meet Mickey he asked about my "Celebration" pin. I was celebrating my solo trip.
Just as I got done, guess who walked out to give Mickey a break.
I like Goofy's underwear.
I did have some luck with the next character. Now Joshua favorite princess is Snow White, and Becca is Princess Auroa. But there is only one princess for me.
Afterwards I head out to the Star Wars store by the backlot tour. When I got there it was not busy. The CM said it was a 2 hour wait last week.
They did not have what I wanted. The action figures of the new mini statues were not going to be there until next month. At least I got a picture of the stuff that was coming out.
I will just have to wait until I go to Disneyland to buy the stuff. I did get a couple of pins and the kids a shirt where Donald is a Stormtrooper, and a shirt where Huey, Luey, and Dewey is stand on each others should and taking Darth Vader on.
After the the store I took some time to enjoy One Man's Dream. I just love the models that they have there.
After that I went and got a seat for the parade.
The parade is always fun with the characters and the children that also get to march as jedi's.
After the parade I found out that I am not "too short to be a stormtrooper".
For lunch I decided to splurge and use both of the two dining credits for the Brown Derby for lunch.
I got the sirloin steak. The steak was okay but when you eat it with everything the add it was pretty good.
I also got the grapefruit cake. I did not know what to think about it before I ordered it but since this was also on the original Brown Derby menu I thought I would try it. It was very good. Really enjoyed it. It was also the only reference to the 20th aniversary of DHS I saw.
After lunch I decided to take in a couple of shows before ToT. I saw the little Mermaid and enjoyed it, then I saw Playhouse Disney for research. Felt little weird being the only adult there. After that I felt I could do ToT and not have to worry about lunch. Then I did Star Tours and meet a couple of other characters.
I got in line again for Chewbacca and was lucky this time.
I meet the bounty hunter Zam Wessell from Attack of the Clones. She had me get on my knees to pose for the picture. I was laughing so hard. Rachel wanted to know who was my new girlfriend.
After that it was time to go watch the Star Wars Hyperspace Hoopla. If you have never seen it is where the Star Wars Characters go have a dance off competition. It is a blast. They danced to songs from the 90's. Where else can you go and see Darth Vader and Stormtroopers dance to MC Hammers "Can't Touch This".
If you have not seen it before and not going to make it to SWW, here is a link to it from youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXJHnv_SiKg
When you see Chewbacca dance look at the bling on him and the Jawas. The video does not even have everything. There was on extra 10 minutes that was cut out. It is really fun to watch it. Another highlight of the trip.
I did take a lot of pictures of Star Wars weekend. To many to place here. But if you want to see them they are at here.
http://rayshpictures.shutterfly.com/605
After that I headed back to the resort and had dinner. Still had time, so I walked over to EPCOT and caught Illuminations.
I then headed to the other side and did Mission Space. I love Mission Space. There is nothing like when the ride starts and you are blasting off. It was so much fun, I did it again.
I then walked through MouseWorks and purchased some music CD, Illuminations and Fantasmic (Fantasmic is Becca's favorite music. She will come in and want to listen to Mickey and she listen to the whole thing.)
I then walked through Innoventions East and West taking pictures. They had some neat exhibits. You could really spend some time in there. Then I hoped over to do Journey to the Imagination w/ Figment. Made sure to not breath in certain parts.
It was getting close to 11, so I headed over to Mexico to start my eating around world showcase. now I tried to get one thing from store or counter service from each country. According to my rules I had to finish everything. Twice I was not able to finish, but since it was my game it did not matter.
At Mexic I was thinking about churro, but you can get them anywhere. I decided to get the conga drink which is orange, pinneaple juice with lime.
Then I walked over to Norway and went to the bakery. I was going to get a pastry, but salmon and egg sandwhich looked so good. It was good. I would get that one again.
At China I watched the 360 movie. I did not see anything in the store that I wanted, so headed over to the counter service and got some potstickers.
They were just okay.At Germany I decided for the apple struddle.
I have to be honest. I thought it was okay, but when I lived in Belgium I had some really good strudel so it is hard to compare.At this point I was starting to feel a little full. In Italy I was having a real problem finding something to eat. So I got a piece of chocolate from the store.
At the US I got something that is very American. I got a coke, and it was hard. I did not finish this one. I drank some of it with my next choice at Japan and then tossed the rest.
At Japan I decided to get something non-sweet, so I got a bowl of Miso soup. It was very good.
At Japan I was really full and did not think I was going to be able finish it.
At Morocco, again I looked around to see what I could get. I decided on this pastry. I asked the cm the name and she said it was chocolate and almond pastry. I got it mainly because it was not to big and I though I could at least finish it. It also was very good.
and I had no problems finishing this.
At this point with two countries to go, I actually felt pretty good. I looked at the store at UK as I did not want any Fish and Chips. I found a bag of chips that looked pretty good. I asked the cm if they were actually from the UK and she assured me they were.
I only ate half of them and saved the rest for Rachel as she likes chips from England.
At Canada, I took in O'Canada. It is a funny movie with Martin Short. I like the end where he needs help to get out because he has a fast pass for soarin. I also like it in the movie when the song begins and the mounties come out. In Canada, I looked around to find something. I thought about the maple syrup, but thought at the end of it might not be a good thing. So I got the next biggest Canadian item. Popcorn. I have to assume it is Canadian as they sell it there.
With the popcorn I was able to watch offkilter play.
It took me about 4 hours to make my way through world showcase. It was fun doing this as I got to look at the stores and the pavilions trying to find something to eat and was able to try new things.
At magical express I was waiting and there was another person just by himself waiting for magical express. I had asked if he was by himself and he said yes. He was one of the people on the "Mom"s Panel". His name was Doug, and Disney had flown a couple of the panelist to come and watch the American Idol experience when they had the winner last Friday. We had a very good conversation about being on the panel and my website. He was going to look at the website and also pass it on to one of the panelist that has a son with aspergers.
I have to say again I was really surprised by all the stores and hotel within Orlando's airport. Took a couple more pictures of course. I had a nice flight to Charlote, but when I got there my flight was delayed. It was delayed for 3 hours. It did not take off until 2 in the morning. They did not want to cancel the flight as they would have to put everyone in a hotel. I was so happy to get home at 4 am. While waiting for the flight I remembered how nice it is to drive, but I knew I could not drive straight thru to Disney.
Thanks everyone for reading my trip report