3 Young Jedi Take On SWW!(Day 3 pics and report on pg 3)

[DisneyObsessive]

Hi everyone! With just 7 1/2 days to go until my trip, I thought I'd start up a short pre-trip report of what has happened and what is to come in the next week!

First to introduce the crew

Originall it was to be only two of us.

Me (20)-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/themrschasez/IMG_1245Resized.png
Yes, that IS my myspace photo, however did you guess? It couldnt be that arm out of the picture obviously holding the camera pose, could it?

I am a Media major (journalism specifically) English minor at hunter College, located on 68th and Lex in manhattan. I've been to Disney 4 times previously, so this would be my 5th trip. The first trip was in 88... i just turned 2 as it was thanksgiving time (my birthday is the week before). We have a rather funny and embarassing video of my pudgy little self and my then 7 year old brother cause a ruckus in the magic kingdom.

Although I havn't gone as many times as most of you ;) I like to think of myself as a Disney expert because even in all the in between years Ive kept up to date on whats been going on in the world.

Dear friend Rob (20)- No picture as of now. Film major and complete star wars geek. I've known Rob since I was about 8 or 9 years old. I used to tease him because I am older than him and so a year ahead of him in school (I'm late in 86 and he's early in 87). Our mothers were good friends and both on the PTA at our elementary school. We spent every summer together, going to the beach every week. We lost touch jr high and high school, only catching up here and there. Suddenly college came and oddly enough, we started hanging out again. He lives with his aunt in Brooklyn and his parents and sister moved to florida. We will be staying with them when we go down.

We had plans to go since feburary, and up until last month, it was just us two in the picture. Then he said there was a 3rd party member.

Rob's DF Devin ( just turned 20 last month)- Apparently rob has known her since birth. Their mothers shared a room in a hospital when they were pregnant and traded contact info and it was all history from there. I had never met Devin until about a week ago... and that story and all will follow in the next post!

[DisneyObsessive]

So how did this trip even get planned?

The Beginning

It was feburary 16th. I was speaking with Rob online after viewing information on Star Wars Weekends. I casually had to said to him "man, itd be awesome to go to SWW".

"Yeah it totally would. We could stay with my family, itd be great."

"Yeah. Thatd be nice."

"yeah...you know... maybe...we could... let me call my mother."

So he does. He calls his mother in florida (they are in the Tampa area) and she says "Sure! Id love to see christine and have you guys here!" (She hasnt seen me since i was about 13).

He tells me she offered to buy florida resident passes, to make it cheaper on us, and that we could stay with her so no hotel expenses. I start to flip. I run downstairs to ask my mother... i was ready with all my reasons as to why i should go, ready for a bit of an argument as usual...

And she said yes. Without hesitation. It caught me off guard. My jaw dropped. In all of 30 minutes, i had planned to go to Disney World. I was dancing around the house, telling my mother she was the best mother in the world.

She passed away the very next day. She was sick for a while, and it turned out to be complications with pneumonia that took her from me on feburary 17th. She was only 51. Its a whole story in itself that id rather not get into right now.

The proceeding week was full of guilt. How could i go and have fun? would i be ignoring my mothers death? it felt wrong. Until my brother said to me "mom knew how happy Disney made you. She would never want you to cancel your trip because of her." I knew what he said was true. So the trip was going to happen no matter what.

So in march we booked our flight through jet blue. We decided to leave May 31st out of JFK, after school was over (though for me, i took off this semester because of my mother's passing). We would be going to Disney 4 days, spend the 5th day staying with Rob's family as I had found out his Mom has cancer and has been going through treatment. He wants to spend time with her and i totally understand that. then June 5th we'll be heading back home.

Devin is going to be flying in with us but leaving on the 4th.

Our Couple Becomes Three's Company

When Rob told me, without asking first, that a third person was coming, i was a little annoyed. I was looking forward to spending time with him and it being our trip. When i found out it was a friend of his that i hadn't even met, iw as worried. Would we get along? Id have to be living with this girl for 5 days, i hoped id like her!

We finally got to meetlike 2 weeks ago and it turned out just fine. We share the same sense of humor and she definately is fun to be around. I guess my anxiety was all for nothing. Still, ill never admit it to Rob, but i wish it was still just the 2 of us.


So things were relatively quiet since last month until the vacation starts creeping closer and my money starts to look like a problem...

Which i will continue in the next post as this one is looking a bit long!

[DisneyObsessive]

Money Talks... It's Especially Loud When You Don't Have Any!

So! Lucky for us because of the lack of hotel expenses and the offer for resident passes from Robs mother, the trip is only costing us about $400 a piece. (not including souvenier and other expenses). Can you believe that? $400?

Considering most of our food will be coming from Rob's moms kitchen, we are trying to keep in park eats to a minimum. WE'll just have super early breakfasts, bring in lunch, and some late dinners when we get back those evenings.

Well, the past month has been me trying to scavange more money. You see, i dont have a job right now and its been hell to find one. I do babysit and get rather good money for it ($13 an hour for the family im with) but its very sporadic. I als owrite articles online for an online public media company. It only pays about $5-8 an article but ive made over $$150 inthe past month.

But im stll cutting it close. I think my account, prior to giving rob a check for about $200 for the plane tickets, was at about $550.

So that leaves about $350. Take away $180 for the park tickets and thats $170.

And thats it. Thats all the money i have in my account, period after paying off the basics. This is before spending on food or souvys (in which the list of people to buy for has been SIGNIFICANTLY reduced!).

I do babysit the 29th and will make about $65 that night. I may need to borrow like $75 from my father, whic hi so dont want to do because he'll go off on me forever about it, but i need it as a just incase.


I am VERY frugal, trust me, i managed to spend onlyabout $100 on my last trip to disney which was 7 days, that was including food (im young i can live off one meal a day!) and a couple of trinkets for people! But the extra money will make me feel better in case of emergency or anything like that. So asking my dad... will be... interesting. I dont plan to ask him until this weekend. And im mentaly preparing myself for it!!

Im still worried more about my situation when i get home. Talk about needing to find a job FAST.

A Surprise POPS up!

Since Rob doesn't really feel like doing any planning, he left it up to me. And we are kind of, do as you please when yo uget there, no real plan in mind kind of people. But we wanted to have an idea of where we were going on what day.

Our flight comes in at 8:45 am on thursday. So we are going to spend the day at Epcot.

Friday we hit MGM bright and early for the official first day of Star Wars Weekends. We'll spend the whole day there.

Saturday we hit MGM early again, for SWW things we may have missed, celebrities we didnt get autographs from the first day, etc.

Saturday evening we head for the Magic Kingdom.

Sunday Morning we hit Animal Kingdom (which Rob hates... juuuust great... cuz i love it!). I promised him we are only there for EE, Dinosaur, and the Safari. And maybe a spin on Primeval Whirl, i love that ride!

Sunday afternoon/night, MAgic Kingdom again.


Rob's mom decided she wants to come with us to Epcot, along with his sister. But she doesnt want to have to drive back that evening. So she booked us all a night at Pop! Very cool! i have not stayed here before but have heard great things about it.

And since we will be on property, we will be able to take advantage of EMH. And it works out perfectly, because thursdays EMH is evening at epcot and AM EMH for friday is MGM! which is awesome with how dire it is for us to run for celebrity autographs for SWW in the morning. So we get an edge!

She only booked about a week ago, so this is all new to us! Makes the waiting even longer!

What Now?

Right now, I am aching to get the luggage from the attic! My dad promised sunday he'd get a bag down. Ive yet to make my checklist of stuff to bring. I also havnt flown since the whole "liquids" fiasco with airports, so i need to print out the info andmake sure i have the right things in those clear plastic bags.

I will be busy this weekend thank god, so atleast time wont go TOO slow. Of course im seeing pirates friday night and thats the only time im spending money before the trip. Saturday im going to dinner with a friend and a high school teacher (yes, i hang with my HS teachers, the alumni from my school are VERY close). And he usually treats us.Sunday im just hanging out a friends house, and thats always fun AND free!

Meanwhile, im dealing with my boyfriend being 1) quite a bit jealous as he is a huge star wars fan and 2) being sad about how he's going to miss me. We've known each other since november of last year (worked together over holiday season) but have been going out for 3 months, and this is the first time either of us will be away for more than a day. And we are one of those psycho couples who talks for hours on the phone every night heh. So i think its going to be pretty tough for him. I will def miss him but (and id never tell him this) i think im going to be so distracted by everything in disney it wont be as big a deal for me as him. Not to say i care for him any less! :lmao:

Oh. And did i mention how excited i am because naturally, Rob being a film major, we are going to be TAPING our vacation (especially Star Wars WEekends)? Like i said, the only tape i have from WDW is from 1988.

And of course, we'll youtube it! So you will all get to see some of our adventure!!

Anyway, i think i ought to make my checklist tonight.

I will report more as it happens!

[CantWaitToGo2007]

Sounds like you are going to have a great time! I'm so jealous that you get to go in only 7 days. I still have almost 7 months:sad1:

[DisneyObsessive]

hmm... not many people seem interested. should i bother continuing? you tell me.

Also, does anyone have a suggestion as to when we could possibly fit maybe like 2h ours at DTD somewhere in our schedule? I have no idea when to get over there...

[MickeyMaz]

hmm... not many people seem interested. should i bother continuing? you tell me.

Also, does anyone have a suggestion as to when we could possibly fit maybe like 2h ours at DTD somewhere in our schedule? I have no idea when to get over there...

It's tough to lose any park time, but since your in transit anyway, maybe you should hit DTD on Saturday between MGM and MK. It's almost on the way isn't it? And MK should be open pretty late on Sat.

Have a fun trip. Make sure you hit the Rope Drop for the SWW. I saw a video of the Stormtroopers putting on some kind of show at opening.

And keep up the reports. It's worth putting it all down if people are interested or not. Would you be writing this experience down if it was not for the Disboards? I posted trip reports for our last trip and I would have not done so except for posting here. And thank the gods I did. I always go back and re-read from my own trip to get some of that magic back. So keep posting you'll appreciate it later.

Sorry, one more comment. Add Everest and Finding Nemo to your EE rides for Animal Kingdom.

Maz:3dglasses

[DisneyObsessive]

THanks Maz, you have a very good point.

And yes hopefully somwhere between a transition sat or sunday we can stop by. or maybe hightail it out of MK before closing and spend the last part of any evening (sat or sun) there.

I promised rob only 2 hours, as he is a typical guy and shopping is scary for him. However, me being a not-so-typical girl, its scary for me too. I hate shopping. I go and get what i came for and get the heck out. RARELY am i in the mood to browse. But this is disney. and im sure once he returns to that lovely world of disney store he'll be ok.

We have ours here in NYC on 5th ave which is awesome, 3 floors of goodness and they have characters there! I really ought to stop by more often as its not far from campus... just a few blocks. Then i can grab some photos and ask mickey what he's in New york for this week? :)

Nothing else really going on right now, alls quiet on this front. Printed out the pre-trip checklist from t o u r i n g p l a n s . c o m which has taken care of most of the basics. Ive only had to add on a few. And being as, like ive said, my dad said he's not geting the luggage til sunday, i can't pack :(.

I am starting to make a mental checklist of what clothes im bringing though. I wish i had a place to put them off to the side in the meantime but i dont.

I assume there won't be much going on until sunday/monday. Im aching to do something though! I spend every day on the dis and listening to park audio and looking up things here and there and keeping up on any new SWW info. But right now theres only so much i can do.

Only 2 more days until i can start packing. And then ill feel im accomplishing something!

[prncssmel]

I say definitely keep going on with the pre and post trip report. Sometimes great things take awhile to catch on!

OMG, if I was that close to World of Disney, I would have no money at all 'cause I would be there everyday.

[zippyhannah]

i cant wait to read your trip report it will be nice reading ur perspective as i am 20 and going for my 21st never been before as am from liverpool uk and always wanted to go so my mum and dad are taking me and dboyf all the trippies i have read are from famileys remember to poast ur you tube link am gonna be doing the same as am a media student (more film side and advertising) hope ur having a brill time as you will be there now am now subscribing hope you have a fab time hannah

[DisneyObsessive]

Thank you guys for the encouragement to keep going! Zippyhannah, i know what you mean. Sometimes itd be nice to read a trip report you can relate to.
Of course, i hope you write one as well when you get back from your trip!

You are going to love disney. If you can take yourself out of the ordinary, believe in a little magic, it'll be awesome!!! So excited for you!

Yo-Ho, Yo-ho....

So i saw POTC: At World's End last night. Forget the critics, and even a couple of my friends, i LOVED it! Granted, the first one is and will always be the best. But i really enjoyed it! I never really had a problem with any of them quite frankly.

People really need to stop being so tough and just go and enjoy a movie. Not every movie needs to be this epic, oscar winning experience. Sheesh! Let loose a little!!

Without giving anything away, the monkey was great. The idea of Davy Jones' Locker? Very...weeeird.... and over all some great sword fight/battle scenes. I went with a big group (there was 7 of us) and we alll unanimously liked it.

Last night was also the last time i would see my boyfriend before I left. He was really bumming me out. He wouldnt even smile. He was acting like i was being shipped away to war!! He wont see me for about 2 weeks (i get home tuesday the 5th, but knowing how things go after vacay, prob wont see him til thursday the earliest). Considering we usually see each other twice a week and call each other every night, it IS a change. But i keep telling him it'll be fine.

He's just been in a bit of a bad situation that has really bummed him and ive been a huge support for him. So I think me leaving at this particular moment isnt ideal. And of course i will worry like crazy about him. But Im one of those people that just instinctually knows things.. and i know it'll be fine!!

Still, i will miss him and wish he could come along with me.

Rob has done a little packing since he said he just did laundry and figured he'd throw some in his bag now. Im still waiting to tomorrow to do so. Also, apparently the sling bag my dad bought in AK is MIA. So ihave to do a bit of a search. Rob said he's bringing a small backpack tho, and if i need to throw my stuff in with his i could. Id still like to find the bag though. ITs probably in the basement... and if youve seen my basement... yikes.

Today will be pretty easy going day. going to check my bank balance, work out a little bit of a budget, then relax with some friends tonight over dinner. Tomorrow will be wash/packing day! That'll definately take up a good amount of the day.

4 days, 18 hours and 44 minutes according to my little counter on my desktop. Not soon enough! Its been 3 years since my last trip, im aching for this one!

[ktink]

Enjoying this so far. I hope you have a wonderful trip! I'm just excited to be double digit dancing, I'm at 99 days. :cheer2:

[DisneyObsessive]

Ktink, i started my count at 110! It'll go faster than you think!!!

Things have been pretty quiet the past couple of days. I finally got my bag out of the attic and have done some packing! have most of the clothes packed. just one or two more items of clothing that need to be added.

As for the smaller stuff, and the seperate liquids/gels, ill probably get to that tomorrow. id get it all done tonight actually, but im trying to stretch out the task so i actually have something to do the next 3 days!

Other than that, we are just very excited. We've got some sort of an idea of what we will do at epcot... we should be arriving there around noon and will stay til midnight... but we figure we'll talk more details on the plane. Id talk more details NOW but i think Rob will kill me!

That's pretty much the update for now!! WE are getting closer and soon it will be off to Neverland!

[prncssmel]

Wow, only 2 more days for you! Good luck getting all your packing done.

[DisneyObsessive]

42 hours and counting until my plane takes off for Tampa (as that is where Robs family is). Though i think they will be picking us up and whisking us away to Pop ASAP.

I just got back from CVS to get some travel sized things... shampoo (as im a stickler for using herbal essences!), deodorant (a musthave in that heat!), toothpaste, and contact lense cleaner, though because i hurt my eye last week i may not even get to wear them but im not sure.

Speaking of, i needto pick up my contact lenses from the drs office today. theyve been sitting there for like 3 weeks. oops! Talk about procrastination. I guess she'll let me know for sure then if i can wear them or not.

Once I get that done I'll be set. No more running around. Ill be able to relax tomorrow and double check everything!

In the meantime i would say i am 60% packed. The excitement has really hit me and i cant concentrate on anything else!!! Ive cleaned the room already (as i hate the idea of coming home to a messy place, especially when i know ill will drop my stuff on the floor and make it worse).

What else to do? I dont even know!!! I guess finish packing! Which should only take me about 20 more minutes. And THEN what do i do the rest of the day?

and tomorrow?!?!?!

Too much time! need to go NOW!!!

Im supposed to babysit tonight but the mom hasnt called me yet. She told me like 3 weeks ago shed need me on the 29th, and shed call me that day for specific times (but she said somewhere around 7pm). Ok so its 11:35 and its a bit early but really, itd be nice if she called! I really need the extra $65 i would make tonight for this trip. If it doesnt happen, then im in a bit of a bind!

Well, we'll see what happens. in the meantime, i guess i better finish the packing!!!

[NewCrew42]

Have a great trip. I hope the babysitting gig comes thru for you.

SWW are the bomb. We have been every May for the past few years and were disappointed they were moved to June this year. Here a few little tips, but you may already know these things. Get there early. There is a cute little "show" as you enter the park. Ride Star Tours in order to go into the Tatooine Traders gift shop. (The gift shop at the exit of the Star Tours ride. There will be a que to go into it without riding the ride. If you are riding, just do this as you exit the ride. This way you kill two birds with one stone or one line rather.) There is a fun photo thing in the gift shop. They take your face photo and put it on a Star Wars character. Examle, your face with the hair and body of Padma. Very Cool and Very Fun as well as expensive. I think you can get fast passes for some of the Character autograph lines. Check your times guide when you enter the park. There might be a special time guide for the star wars events. There is usually a parade, check the time guide. One year my son got to see the preview for the 6th star wars movie. It was really cool. They used to play WMTBAM Star Wars edition. I wonder if they are going to replace this with something else since this show is no longer available. Just be sure to check the times guide to all the great information.

Have a great trip. May the force with you!

[DisneyObsessive]

Thanks so much for all the tips, NewCrew42! May the force be with you as well! Can't wait to read the rest of your trip report... guess ill have to finish it when i get home!

its almost 5 and i never got a phone call! seems like no babysitting. Ill have to borrow money from my father for sure... and asking him is a daunting task! ill leave it for tomorrow!

Down to 37 hours now! i dont even know what to do with myself! im listening to some park music and im 90% done with packing. THe last few things are my cell phone and charger, wallet, keys but i kind of need them right now! Ill be throwing them into a drawstring bag to carry on the plane with me.

Need to wake up bright and early tomorrow if im going to get to sleep by 9pm! I have that lovely sleep routine of go to bed at 1 or 2 am and sleep til 12 the next day. I decided the way to fix this is to go to bed late but wake myself up at like 7 am.

That way, im tired at 9pm and will have 6 hours of sleep before i wake up at 3am thursday to get ready! I have to be at the airport about 4:30, 4:45 (YIKES!).

I AM SO EXCITED! Can you tell? 2 MORE SLEEPS!

[DisneyObsessive]

Exactly 24 hours from now i will be in flight, about an hour away from my destination! I cant believe it!!! I'm up early (atleast for me) so i can try and get myself to bed at 9! Though one of my fav reality shows So You Think You Can Dance is on tonight 2 hours til 10. Eep! Ok maybe ill let myself stay up for it!

Today is going to be a very looooooooong day! I'll be back later for more of an update.

[DisneyObsessive]

We're off! See you tuesday!

[BlueBayou]

Can't wait to hear how the trip went. I hope it was a blast.

[prncssmel]

SWW sounds so exciting. Hope you're having fun!

[zippyhannah]

hope you having a blast cant wait to hear about it am deffo subscribing to your thread lol just took me an hr to find it lol
:chewy: :yoda::darth: may the force be with you
peace out:hippie:

[DisneyObsessive]

We're Back! We came back yesterday. I will be getting this thread moved to trip reports and will start the report once it's moved. Hold on to your hats and glasses, this here is the wildest ride in the west!

[DisneyObsessive]

Well, here we go!

Day 1- May 31st.

I woke up bright and early at 3 am :O Thank god we live only 5 minutes away from JFK. Took a shower, zipped up the bags, and my father woke up at 4 to drive me over.

Rob and Devin were at JFK waiting for me. It was completely empty and security went very quickly. We boarded the flight at 5:40 and we actually left pretty early. We took JetBlue, and this was my first time flying Jet blue. I really enjoyed it.

We landed in Tampa early, about 8:30. Rob's mom was there to pick us up. I hadnt seen her in years, or his sister! It was a nice little reunion of sorts. Rob's mom has cancer, so it was a bit of a shock to see her with no hair from her chemo. But other than that, shes still the same sassy lady ive always known!

We headed straight for Disney as we were going to be staying at Pop Century that night.

Well, we are right outside the Disney gates when... the car overheats. I kid you not. We start cracking jokes about our vacation starting out this way.
We had to pull over and wait 30 minutes for the car to cool down, and were attacked by lovebugs! it was DISGUSTING.

When the car was finally running,we traversed to the Hess station near the boardwalk to get some antifreeze.

This is Devin and Rob's sister Samantha (left to right) before the car broke down:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1263/532510387_937352e6d4.jpg

This is us after the car overheated!:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1265/533351570_0b5fc6c4d3.jpg

So finally, without further ado, we arrive at Pop.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1401/533351572_c9b1b2a61a.jpg

We wait for Rob's mom to check in, and while we do that, Rob and I decide to hit the arcade. We are big video game buffs (in fact, i worked at the Nintendo World store this past holiday season). We see that they have the Mario Kart arcade version. Its a pretty rare find in the U.S. and we had to hop on a try it. It wasnt that good.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1005/532510403_753198def9.jpg

Finally, we are checked in,but we decide we'll bring the bags up later. Now we're off to the Magic Kingdom!

Magic Kingdom

We arrive at MK around 11. Im used to going in late june or july so the crowds to me were amazingly managable.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1370/532423072_922c893238.jpg

We all are disney vets, this being my 5th trip, for rob and his mom and sis, like their 10th, and Devin is probably the least aquainted with this being her 3rd. So we had our plan of which rides to hit today.

Our first pick was Space Mountain. It said it was a 40 minute wait, we got through in about 15 minutes. Just as awesome as I remember! Robs mom kept screaming "Hold on! hold on!" the entire time. We had a blast.

We then ate at Cosmic Ray's. We ate alot of counter service because it was cheapest. After that, we headed to It's A Small World, which i promised I would do in honor of my mother. Another quick wait. It was hysterical. We wre commenting on how unhappy all the people looked on the boats pulling back in from the ride. Rob has out whole ride on tape and we were making fun of the ride, talking about how politically incorrect it is. We rewatched this part later when we got back to the hotel and were cracking up. Probably going to be the highlight of the DVD.

We then ran over to the Haunted Mansion, another quick wait. Rob kept fake-screaming everytime a ghoul popped up in th cemetary which would send me screaming!!!!

Then to Big Thunder, my favorite mountain. Rob taped some of this ride but it was so bumpy he had to stop most of the way through.

We then did Pirates, which i was pleasantly surprised with. I thought i was going to hate the integration of the movie characters but it wasnt pervasive at all.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1117/533351580_bc2235fef8.jpg

By then it was getting near 5 i believe, and we wnated to head to epcot for EMH.

Epcot

So we took the monorail over. At this point Rob's mom was feeling sick so we had her in the wheel chair for epcot. We first hopped onto Spaceship earth. Me and Rob love this ride, the others hate it. Devin was listening to her Ipod during it!!! WE got stuck of course, but only for a moment.

Then we headed over to Mission Space. Again, Rob and I love this ride. I think its the best ride in any amusement park in the world. It was Devins first time and she thought it was ok, but said she wouldnt want to go on it again because she did not like the pressure on her chest. Whatever! Me and Rob got caught up in the gift shop because we saw Star Wars merch. We got incredibly excited for tomorrow!

We then traversed some of the countries, trying to figure out where to eat. No one could agree. I wanted Japan, Rob didnt care, Devin wanted Germany, Samantha wanted Mexico, and Rob's mom wanted Italy. We would up splitting up and then meeting at the tables in America.

It was already 8:30 and i told them all they HAD to see Illuminations. Sowe got our spot between America and Italy. Rob taped the whole thing. I got a few pictures on his digital camera.

THis is what happens when you don't hold the camera still:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1008/532423098_1790417645.jpg

It looked really artistic though, so we held on to the picture :rotfl2:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1122/532423136_6c86a4ed83.jpg

It didnt really hit me that i was in the world until the fireworks. They were bit hard for me to watch as they reminded me of my mother and i got a bit choked up. They were just as beautiful as I remember they were when i last saw them four years ago.

Afterwards, we headed to Soarin. Ok... I'm sorry... maybe it was all the hype... but Rob and I hated it. We were not impressed at all. I didnt really "feel" like iwas flying at all. the other 3 loved it though, so que serra.

Test Track was a 90 minute wait, and we didnt think it was worth it. so we wound up heading back around 11.

We fit the 5 of us in the room in Pop. Rob slept on the floor, Devin and I shared a bed and Samantha and her mom shared a bed. THe beds were comfy enough. The shower was GREAT. Awesome water pressure.

We watched the footage from our days adventures and then passed out.

Rob and I set a wake-up call for 6:40, ready to take on Star wars weekends!! Now we were getting REALLY EXCITED.

What would our first day at SWW have in store for us? You wouldnt even believe it... stay tuned....

[Halloweenqueen]

Lovin the pictures!

We will be at SWW next week! Can't wait!

[DisneyObsessive]

First Day Video

Just wanted to update with a video Rob just edited for youtube. 4 1/2 minutes long, a little idea of our first day.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RG5pSfqmz5M

if you subscribe to him you'll get the others as he posts them, and of course i will post the links here as well.

Day 2 report (and hopefully short video) will come tomorrow!

[DisneyObsessive]

More Video of day 1!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yT9UYZKpESs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycORA-vQOzk

Part 4 is coming soon. Eventually i will organize all these. But here they are for now.

Day 2 report will come later today, promise!!!

[DisneyObsessive]

Day 2- Official Opening of Star Wars Weekends

So Stitch wakes us up at 6:40. I had never gotten ready so fast. Rob and I were out the door 8 minutes later, while the others slept in. Apparently the three didnt really give a hoot about Star Wars. Whatever. Rob and I were ready.

We get downstairs to the line for epcot and see a guy dressed as a storm trooper. Rob asks him "why do you guys have such bad aim?" and he just shrugs. A good little snippet caught on video.

The bus comes in about 5 minutes and the driver is grinning ear to ear when he sees all of us in our star wars shirts and gear. My heart starts pumping (it is right now just thinknig about the excitement of that morning!).

We get to MGM and its BLASTING Star Wars music! I was in heaven. Rob and I just grinned at each other. We were dissapointed to see Warwick was not there as he was supposed to be, but was replaced by Bonnie Piesse who played Aunt Baru in ep 2 and 3.

WE immediately found and hopped on line for Kenny Baker, R2-D2's autograph. Rob was getting it for himself and I was getting it for my boyfriend.

We waited 2 1/2 hours before we even got our fastpasses to meet him because they didn't let the line in until 9,even though it was EMH. so we watched tons of others get inside but we didn't care.

We saw sooo many people in costume. One couple had their infant dressed as chewie! Too cute! I couldn't get a picture but i got pictures of some others.

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So we finally get our fast passes and we dont meet him until 2:15 and its like 9:45! so we think, what next? We check the times guide and find out that we can make it to the showing of "Behind The Force" Which is a short documentary on what struggles Lucas went through to even get the first Star Wars filmed and convince people to sign on and theaters to show it. It was interesting but nothing i havnt seen before in previous full length documentaries.

Then, we headed to Star Tours to get fastpasses.

Soon it was 11, and we were ready for the parade. We found a good spot near the hat and I got incredible pictures. Ill post the best ones here.

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Ok i better stop or ill kill this thread with photos!!

So the parade ends and i am on CLOUD NINE.We go to ride Star Tours to find all the celebs and characters from the parade are standing on the stage next to it for a photo op! the crowds were crazy so i didnt get the greatest of photos.

Once we are done with Star Tours, we hung around Tatooine Traders, where i found a matted picture of R2-D2 for Kenny to sign.

we come out and see Princess Leia! The line was sooo short so we jump on. She loved the shirt i had on, the one i made for this day alone which has her quote "Arn't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

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Rob meets her next and hits on her. Ha. He said "I know you're with Han, but if you need a spaceship that works, call me." And she said "I'll keep that in mind." haha.

We decide we are going to go to the one on one interview show at 1. We have a little time to kill so we see Jango Fett and jump on line. He leaves and they tell us to stay online because another character will replace him. Rob is hoping its Boba. And then suddenly, Boba comes walking down the path and I squealed.

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Now its 10 to 1 and we RUN to the theater for the show. But there are plenty of seats. The show was great. Bonnie is singing now and performs a song for us and her voice is beautiful. Kenny rambled a lot, but it was cute! And Jay Lag'aia was such a wonderful host!!! As the show came to a close, they sang the mickey mouse club song to say goodbye.

So after the show we decide to kill more time by jumping on The Great Movie Ride. Just as awesome as i remember.

We get off and...omg its 2:28 and our fastpass to meet kenny expires at 2:30! we arnt sure if theyd really enforce it, but we RUN. I was shaking i was so nervous to meet him. He was a sweet man though.

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So now we're starving and the rest of the group is in the park. So we meet up at the comissary and grab a quick late lunch.

They don't want to do Star Wars, so Rob and I call it a day because we'll be back tomorrow for more stuff. We head instead to TOT and RNR. TOT was a pretty quick wait and it reminds me of why i love that ride. RNR was quick too, even though it said 80 minutes! it took us about 15!

The girls want to go on Great Movie Ride, so Rob and I hang out at the stores. It starts to pour for a little while so we are running from store to store on Hollywood Blvd.

Finally, we meet up and decide to leave around 7:30. Rob's mom treated us to dinner at Cracker Barrel which to a new yorker like me, was the weirdest place ive ever been. But apparently a common chain in Florida.

We take the long drive to their home in Tampa which was beautiful. I definately passed out in the car most of the way there and would continue to do this almost every time we were inthe car, whether on the way to the parks or back.

Rob and I are pumped for tomorrow, as we are focusing mainly on meeting characters, as well as catching a few things we didn't get to do. And then heading to do some more Magic Kingdom that evening.

Stay tuned for day 3!

By the way Rob is still ferociously working on editing and uploading more parts of our vacation to youtube, so when they are up i'll share! hope you guys like the vids you saw so far!

[DisneyObsessive]

Two more parts.

PArt 4, which is illuminations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNT-G3Hz7zA

Part 5, which is day 2 and opening day of SWW:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW83s_4bJ8M

[AGPrincess]

Great TR!! I love the photos. My family's got plenty of Star Wars buffs, so it's fun to hear about SWW.

And I loove your stormtrooper shirt. :thumbsup2

[DisneyObsessive]

part 6 which is the full parade from the spot we saw it from:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nSltYJPc5yA

[prncssmel]

Day 2- Official Opening of Star Wars Weekends

So Stitch wakes us up at 6:40. I had never gotten ready so fast. Rob and I were out the door 8 minutes later, while the others slept in. Apparently the three didnt really give a hoot about Star Wars. Whatever. Rob and I were ready.

Out the door in 8 minutes :eek: . . . Now that's a true Disney fan. I don't think I could have done that.

We get downstairs to the line for epcot and see a guy dressed as a storm trooper. Rob asks him "why do you guys have such bad aim?" and he just shrugs. A good little snippet caught on video.

:rotfl:

We saw sooo many people in costume. One couple had their infant dressed as chewie! Too cute! I couldn't get a picture but i got pictures of some others.

That is just too cute.

we come out and see Princess Leia! The line was sooo short so we jump on. She loved the shirt i had on, the one i made for this day alone which has her quote "Arn't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

Love the shirt. :thumbsup2

Finally, we meet up and decide to leave around 7:30. Rob's mom treated us to dinner at Cracker Barrel which to a new yorker like me, was the weirdest place ive ever been. But apparently a common chain in Florida.

Cracker Barrel? Of all the places in the area . . . So, what did you think of the food? I can see what you mean about a pretty big culture shock.

By the way Rob is still ferociously working on editing and uploading more parts of our vacation to youtube, so when they are up i'll share! hope you guys like the vids you saw so far!

Love all your reviews and videos!

[DisneyObsessive]

Day 3- More SWW and Magic Kingdom

Sorry it's been such a while! Ive been pretty busy since I got home. Just gave the boyfriend the gift of the matted R2-d2 picture signed by Kenny Baker. He flipped. I got major "Awesome girlfriend points" for that one haha.

So anyway, on with the report!

the night before it starts pouring. Apparently we are getting hit by tropical storm Barry. We are pretty dissapointed but are going to the parks anyway Saturday. There's no way we couldnt, because we don't have time to make up for it.

So in the morning, Rob's mom gets us all set with the rain gear. They are a "bigger" family so the raincoat they give me i am swimming in but its ok. Whatever works right?

It's pouring, and me and Devin fall asleep in the car, like we've been doing every morning and evening. We were avery tired couple.

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Me in my oversized rain gear

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By the time we wake up we are about 15 minutes away.... and its sunny. Im confused. Apparently the more we headed inland, the less rain.

Awesome!

We didnt get to MGM until 10:00 this time but it wasnt a problem since it seems alot of people didnt head out due to the rain.

So Rob and I decided to focus on autographs today. We notice the JEdi Mickey line is NOT out the door today. We walk inside and its like a 5 minute wait!!!

We meet mickey and when we are taking the picture with him, he is tickling the back of our necks! Then, I ask for a hug and he gives me a huge one and a kiss! It was wonderful.

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There is the autograph of some author of recent Star Wars books that Rob wants to meet at 11:00. So he did. The line was much longer than i anticipated, we waited about 20-30 minutes to see her. She seemed very nice though, and Rob started reading this new series and im interested.

So we head to get more autographs. We see Queen Amidala and manage to get on the line before they cut it off. Awesome! She was a sweetie. I asked her how things were on Naboo. Heh. Im a dork.

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So now, new line! wE decide to get in line and then Anakin Skywalker comes out and he is HOT. Oh. my. God. *cue hormones*.

Well it starts to rain so they move us to this other covered area where Queen Amidala is. They say we have to wait until Amidala is done with her line because her and Anakin are from different parts of the timeline and cannot meet. I say "Or the world will end!" and the CM laughed and was like "Exactly!"

Finally, Amidala leaves, Anakin comes out, and im drooling. Wow. He looked like Hayden, he sounded JUST like the character. I had to hit on him after Rob's encouragement. I was like "I know you've had problem with Padme, but im into sith." He just nodded, didnt even break a smile. He asked me my name and where i was from and then told me it was a pleasure to meet me. AAAAH!

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Oh i dont look way too happy there or anything, do i? :rotfl:

Then we decide, well we have to meet the man himself... Anakin years later.. thats right.. .Darth Vader! So we get on that line and meet a guy behind us who is actually doing the college program. We hear its not worth it for film majors because they really have no internships for them... we also hear most of the backlot tour is fake :eek:, but other wise we had a great convo.

He told us to see him at Epcot the next day but we didn't have time. I wish i could track him down. His name was Dustin but sometimes he goes by Tray (he had to change nametags once when he lost his original). He works Journey to Imagination and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. If anyone has a clue to who he is thatd be great.

Anyway, we finally get up to Darth and I am so intimidated. He's so huge! He's like 6'1, I'm 5'2. Yeah.

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After him, we manage to meet some stormtroopers. Its a great photo and im thinking of framing it.

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We also ran into some Sand People... Tusken Raiders... Sand Raiders... whicheveryoud like to call them!

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We did pretty well for meeting characters.

We meet up with Devin and decide to go see Lights, Motors Action. We VERY much enjoyed it. Very cool! Of course, the pictures we got just don't really portray whats going on. Wish Rob had his video camera with him but he didn't today because of the rain that turned out to be nothing!!!

Afterwards Devin and I had to take the pictures on the "Singing in The Rain" umbrella. Then we headed to do TOT one more time before heading to the magic kingdom.

We decided to walk back around and exit through star wars area... just to say goodbye.

It was so sad!!!!

Then we were off th the Magic Kingdom, in which we headed for space mountain and took a ride again. I then brought them to philharmagic, since neither of them had seen it.

Me and Devin decided to model a bit prior to being let into the theater.

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They LOVED it, and im so glad they did. Its my favorite of the shows at Disney.

We then headed over to splash mountain and they put us in the front row!! Me and Rob were front, Devin behind us. And Rob got soaked. They convinced me to put my hands up during the drop. And in the front row, that was terrifying!

We then wanted to do BTMRR, but it was closed because of some issue. So we went to eat. I wanted to get my funnel cake, so we headed over to get some and got stuck with the parade starting and I saw those creepy clown mask dudes that give me nightmares.

We RAN back to spacemountain, and then wait was nothing! And I got front seat that time too! I really lucked out this trip. Front in Dinosaur (as you will soon read), Splash and Space mountain!

We decided to run BACK to frontierland AGAIN. On the way Devin started "dancing". We got this funny picture of me in what we thought looked liek a Power Ranger pose, and skipping along with her shoe in mid-air. Yes, it went flying off.

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We get back to frontierland and this time BTMRR JUST reopened so again, no wait!!! Rode my favorite moutain in the dark and it was fab. Devin really loved it at night.

We then hit the candy store on the way out for Rob, and caught the beginning of Wishes but left. I like the fireworks but dont think they are anywhere near as good as Illuminations. WE caught the monorail as the finale was going on, and saw it in the distance. Pretty sweet.

Here is my castle pic, taken very quickly and a bit off center because my battery was dying.

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And here is a great pic of mickey and walt looking down main street

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So we're tired from all the running back and forth between frontierland and tomorrowland about 3 or 4 times. Thank god we are young and had the energy to do it!!!

Tomorrow we had Animal Kingdom in store and our first ever experiences on Everest, as well as reliving a few great attractions. And then ending our Disney days at Epcot. And losing the car...

Until next time!

[NewCrew42]

Great report!

That Anakin really looks like him! I bet it was fun to get your pic with him. :)

[prncssmel]

What an amazing Anakin! Looks just like Hayden. Cool that he sounded like him, too.

[WDW Poly Princess]

Loving your report! I had planned to go to SWW this year, but ended up not getting to go, so I'm enjoying living vicariously through you!

The videos are hilarious!