The Force is Strong in This One: SWW and Celebration VI, Disney Done Differently

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Worpress is pretty straightforward and easy to set up

Hmm. Thanks, I'll look into it.

I blog book reviews. It is so easy. If I can do it anyone can.

So maybe you can help me?

I wish we could get down to a SWW. Kent and Grace would love it, but school is still in session here when it's going on. (The girls don't finish until next Wednesday.) With them getting older I hate to pull them out of school for more than a day or two at a time--especially as Grace usually misses a couple full days each month for medical appointments as it is. With the cost of flights it's not worth coming down for less than a week so I don't see us making it to a SWW any tome soon. We actually prefer to come for two weeks because that's easier on Grace since we have a few down days in there to help her recover from the heat and exertion.

Catherine

That's understandable.

Under day 2 and day 3, the writing in red is a link to Attractions Magazine's blog with their youtube videos of the parade and Hoopla. Maybe Grace would like to watch them? Next best thing to being there.

Things are ok. She is scheduled for another surgery... but since I don't want to spend another summer with her in hospital and recovering... we are trying some non surgical tricks. This is night two applying said "trick" We saw a big difference after just one night. If after 3 weeks we are in a good place, the doctors will allow us to cancel surgery.


Looks like day one was quite the success..dispite the heat. Don't you just love it when kids are sooo happy? "Best Day EVER!"

Sorry you had to skip day too, but I can see especially if it were hot outside how it just would be way to much.

Day three looks to have satisfied some shopping needs. So what is this hyperspace hoopla show about?

Oh cool, I hope it works completely so she can avoid another surgery.

You can watch the hoopla show if you click the red link on day 3. Scroll down a little on the blog and the video is embedded. The song is at the beginning. The show is a dance off between the good guys and the bad guys. Chewy is hysterical. The last number is the best, but you have to stick around to watch it after they announce the winner.

 

[jenseib]

You crack me up about your singing. We went and saw Madagascar last night and I keep sining the afro circus song...and my family is about to kill me.

 

[KatMark]

Great start. Love the photopass pics!

 

[lovethattink]

You crack me up about your singing. We went and saw Madagascar last night and I keep sining the afro circus song...and my family is about to kill me.

I can imagine!! Just the commercial is catchy!! How was the movie?

Great start. Love the photopass pics!

Thanks! We have 900 pictures on the cd, so hard to decide which ones not to post!

 

[lovethattink]

Helicopters/Fire/Road Closures​

This is a direct quote from my Disney Done Differently TR post #2234

Friday afternoon I got a text that I-4 was closed due to a brush fire and traffic was backed up. We debated whether to leave or not. I turned on the tv and to try to find out where the road was closed, it said from the 417 to the 528. I don't know my roads, I drive by landmarks and apparently dh is the same.

We made the decision to go. We got onto I-4 with no problems then ended up in bumper to bumper traffic. All traffic was directed off the highway. We had left the GPS at home and had no clue which way to head.

I called The Palms Hotel & Villas where we were to stay the night and I was given directions. Why do people in Florida like to name so many roads with the same name? Subdivisions are famous for that and it can get so confusing.

We made it to the motel! The best directions would have been to go to where the helicopters were hovering. 3 helicopters were directly above the motel. There was a Bay News 9 reporter standing in the tree line right down the street at 192 and Parkway. We new the fire was nearby, but had no idea how close. We could surely smell it!

Check in was a breeze! I had called the motel earlier in the month because we were considering changing from CSR in early May to them. A very nice man from The Palms gave us a code to use online to get the best rate possible. We didn't change from CSR to them, but I did use the code for this Memorial Day weekend instead.

Reading online ratings and reports of the resort had me a bit concerned. Both Lidian and Blessedmom04 have stayed here. Both said it was very clean, very friendly staff, and nice, but it wasn't Disney.

We were quite satisfied with the room when we got there. We were placed in building 7. This is the only building with an interior entrance for the rooms and an elevator.

The room was very spacious.

Some exterior pictures

The pros and cons

The pros:

1. The staff was very friendly. Disney could take lessons from them on friendliness. I was truely surprised by how wonderful they all were.

2. It was very clean. There wasn't a spec of dust or fingerprint to be found on any of the surfaces, except the dishwasher which was very clean on the inside, but not so clean on the outside. All the drawers were immaculate inside.

3. There is a garbage disposal!

4. The bathroom is large.

5. The living area has comfortable seating.

6. The full size refrigerator with full size freezer!!

7. Free continental breakfast and coffee/tea through out the day. Breakfast included waffles, premade eggs, bagels, muffins, packets of hot cereal, cold cereal in dispensers, flavored creamers, canned fruit salad no fresh fruit, bread for toast, toasters, microwave, apple juice, orange juice, lemonade, packets of syrup, pats of butter and margarine, packets of jelly, packs of cream cheese.

8. The kitchen has pots/pans, utensils, sharp knife, cutting board, glasses, mugs, plates, ice cube tray, 1 "flipper/spatula".

9. Plenty of towels. Also they had their own towels for the pool at the pool.

10. Parking is near the room

11. Convenient to I-4.

12. Eating places near by, Charlies Steak and Sea Food, Wendy's, Subway, Golden Corale, Kobe, Boston Lobster Fest.

Cons:

1. Only 2 very small trash cans in the room with the only large trash can I could find being the one at the pool.

2. You could hear passing traffic on I-4, the rooms were not sound proof and you could hear all your neighbors. The windows are single pain, so you could hear anyone outside talking, even in normal voices. We were in the furthest building and could still hear the people in the pool. We were on the first floor and could hear any foot traffic above us as the ceiling made creaking noises.

3. There was an odd smell through the air vents. It wasn't mold. It smelled almost like CLR cleaning products and stale coffee.

4. You must wear your wristband to swim in the pool or eat breakfast. If you lose your wristband you must pay for it.

5. Upkeep of wear and tear on furniture and fixtures wasn't as good as Disney. For example, the window upstairs above our room had a crack in it. Our TV cabinet had a huge chunk of wood missing from the side. Sidewalks weren't swept clean like Disney does daily.

6. Twice housekeeping knocked on our door around 10:40am on check out day to see if we left yet. We still had the do not disturb magnet on the door, but they disturbed.

 

[lovethattink]

We had decided to stay close to Disney to make it easier on Anakin. We hoped to make it each day of the weekend. Grumpy didn't stay with us on Friday night for a couple reasons. Anakin's OCD was in overdrive on Thursday and he needed a break and some distance from his brother. (It's difficult to be a sibling to someone with a chronic condition. It's difficult on the parents, but I think more so on the siblings.) Also, he was planning to go to SWW with a friend on Saturday. With the fire we didn't know how things would go driving back and forth to get his friend and take the friend back home, then turn around and come back to the motel.

This was our first time EVERY staying off property. The deciding factor for us was $70 at the Palms vs $124 at POP. Here is the comparison I wrote on the other TR comparing Pop to The Palms POP vs The Palms Comparison

 

[lovethattink]

Week 2: Friday: Part 2​

The smoke was very thick at the motel. We took our chances and headed to SWW. There was no sign of smoke at DHS...or was there?

We looked for SWW maps. There were none at the front entrance, so we went to Sounds Dangerous where the SWW information booth was located. The booth was empty. Anakin saw Queen Amidala and wanted to meet her. We got in line and I asked the cm if he had a map. No luck. He sent me over to the Indy cart. No luck there either. Guess we were going to have to wait until Saturday to get the map. I had a copy of the map I had printed online from Studiocentral in the car. So that didn't do us much good.

We also asked the cm if being in line means we will definately see her. He said yes. (Past SWW years, the queue closed at certain times and even if you were in line, you might not see that person. We had lots of tears the year before because of this happening over and over. Which goes to show, our timing isn't the greatest, lol!)

Queen Amidala was wonderful with Anakin. She took her time with each person/family. I couldn't hear what all they were talking about, but there was some serious conversing going on!

She invited Dad and Mom to join in the picture. I declined since I wasn't in costume.

This time our timing was perfect!! The queue closed one family BEHIND us. Anakin wanted to see other characters, especially after seeing Hyperspace Hoopla the weekend before! We told him the characters were soon finished meeting people because Hoopla was soon to start.

Knowing he might not see any other characters he was extremely elated to see the Cantina Musicians near Star Tours. They are roaming characters which mean they don't have a permanent M&G spot, they walk around. It's always a challenge for anyone to catch a picture with roaming characters. Kids and adults alike run in there when the opportunity arises, because before you know it they move on to another spot. Having a w/c or not being as fast as others adds to this challenge to meet them.

Anakin tried to meet one, but one after another person butted in and beat him to it. I apologized to Anakin that he didn't get to see one, and another Cantina Musician heard must have heard me. He turned his back on the people butting in front and motioned for the other musicians to join him. Talk about pixie dust!!!! Tears came to my eyes! They crowded around Anakin and dh and posed for a picture!!

This really made our day! Now Anakin didn't believe us that the characters were soon done with M&G. We went over to the Chewbacca and Ewok queue and it was closed for the night as they were finishing up with who was in line already. He was disappointed, but asked if we can still take pictures. So we went to the M&G areas and took pics without the characters.

We were getting hungry. We didn't have dinner ADRs so I called Disney Dining to see if there were any openings anywhere. We snagged a 9:35 resie for Sci Fi!

Keep this picture in mind. It was foreshadowing another time that Anakin would take down Dad.

It was almost time for the Hoopla, but Anakin was hungry and hot. Writer's Stop was our next destination for a snack and to cool down.

We arrived just at the Idol screen just before Hyperspace Hoopla started, and enjoyed the show once again.

Remember I said there weren't any signs of smoke? We didn't smell any smoke. But there were so many bugs out that weren't out the previous week. You know how we were singing last weekend? This weekend we added hand motions. It was the same hand motions to the song of "Shu Fly don't bother me".

After the show we ran into old friends, Stephen and his mom, from back in our pin trading days! We haven't seen them since Anakin was an infant! Stephen has some health issues and his social skills are right on par with Anakin. They got along so well and want to have a play date at a park another time. Stephen and Grumpy met years ago in line for the kid's board on Friday nights at the Contemporary.

Before we knew it, it was time for our ADR. We said our goodbyes to them and headed to the Sci Fi. When I checked in I was told the wait was about 30 to 45 minutes. 30 - 45 minutes??!! We debated, but stayed after a cm said that they were expecting a bunch of tables to be leaving all around the same time shortly. We met families waiting. The 9pm people hadn't been seated yet and it was 9:35.

Before we knew it they were called and 5 minutes after that we were called!!

I got the spinach dip, Anakin got chicken nuggets, dh got the picnic burger, and we got onion rings to share.

The picnic burger is a cheese burger with 2 hotdogs, saurkraut, ketchup, mustard, and sauteed onions. Dh couldn't even eat half of it. He got it boxed and took it back to the motel.

Walking out of the park was quiet. It was empty. Reminded me of a scene from Kingdom Keepers.

 

[lovethattink]

Recap so far

Week 1

Friday
1. Commander Cody M&G
2. Behind the Force show

Saturday
(skipped)

Sunday
1. Darth's Mall shopping
2. Luke M&G
3. Hyperspace Hoopla


Week 2

Friday
1. Queen Amidala M&G
2. Cantina Musicians roaming M&G
3. Hyperspace Hoopla


​

 

[jmskinner]

Thought I would check out your TR when I saw the title and so glad I did. Love all the pics and seeing another child enjoy SWW as much as mine is great. The story of the Cantina Muscians brought a tear to my eye too.

Sounds like you live in the Orlando area, are you going to Star Wars Celebration in August?

 

[lovethattink]

Thought I would check out your TR when I saw the title and so glad I did. Love all the pics and seeing another child enjoy SWW as much as mine is great. The story of the Cantina Muscians brought a tear to my eye too.

Sounds like you live in the Orlando area, are you going to Star Wars Celebration in August?

We live in Central Florida. Not as close to Disney as we'd like, but close enough that it's not too inconvenient to go for a couple hours.

Yes!!! We are going to C6!!!! It's our first celebration ever! We have no idea what to expect. In line for Stars of the Saga, someone told me that SWW is like a summer splash pool party and Celebration is like deep sea diving. We are so excited. Have you been to a Celebration? Are you going in August?

 

[JustRZ]

We live in Central Florida. Not as close to Disney as we'd like, but close enough that it's not too inconvenient to go for a couple hours.

Yes!!! We are going to C6!!!! It's our first celebration ever! We have no idea what to expect. In line for Stars of the Saga, someone told me that SWW is like a summer splash pool party and Celebration is like deep sea diving. We are so excited. Have you been to a Celebration? Are you going in August?

Good friends of ours are heading for C6 (they also went to C5 last year). So jealous

 

[lovethattink]

Good friends of ours are heading for C6 (they also went to C5 last year). So jealous

Sweet!!! Do they have any pointers for a newbie?

Maybe another year?

 

[englishrose47]

[Signing on and going back to read!!

 

[englishrose47]

All caught up !!Great pix of Star Wars weekend and the SciFi Food !!! We are eating there in October !!

 

[jmskinner]

We live in Central Florida. Not as close to Disney as we'd like, but close enough that it's not too inconvenient to go for a couple hours.

Yes!!! We are going to C6!!!! It's our first celebration ever! We have no idea what to expect. In line for Stars of the Saga, someone told me that SWW is like a summer splash pool party and Celebration is like deep sea diving. We are so excited. Have you been to a Celebration? Are you going in August?

Yes, we are going! Ordering our tickets next week. And that is a great description of comparing the two events. I have a little photo TR of V in my PTR linked in my signature. It is at the bottom of page 1 and continues on page 2.

We moved to VA from the Tampa area last Summer, so missed SWW this year, but at least we are going to Celebrations.

Hope you have a great time and it should be absolutely wonderful for Anakin since it will be nicely air conditioned.

 

[JustRZ]

Sweet!!! Do they have any pointers for a newbie?

Maybe another year?

I will ask them


Us going to another Celebration is a definite possibility. I'm still pouting that we can't go this year Well, we could, but we would have to leave Mal here, and I think he would pout more about that than I am about missing out completely.

 

[JustRZ]

She says to check out and memorize the schedule while you're waiting in line on the first day and plan accordingly. One man Star Wars Trilogy is fantastic, as is the costume contest, which her 1 year old will be in. Panel interviews are fun, but get monotonous, so pick the most important ones. Always know where you are in relation to a restroom, the convention center is gigantic.

Oh, and don't let security see your water bottles when you're heading into auditoriums, apparently they learned this the hard way

 

[lovethattink]

All caught up !!Great pix of Star Wars weekend and the SciFi Food !!! We are eating there in October !!

Welcome!! Thanks! Have you eaten there before? We love the atmosphere!

Yes, we are going! Ordering our tickets next week. And that is a great description of comparing the two events. I have a little photo TR of V in my PTR linked in my signature. It is at the bottom of page 1 and continues on page 2.

We moved to VA from the Tampa area last Summer, so missed SWW this year, but at least we are going to Celebrations.

Hope you have a great time and it should be absolutely wonderful for Anakin since it will be nicely air conditioned.

Maybe we'll run into you there? Yay on ordering tickets! Are you going to get the shirt? We aren't. Kind of looks like Yoda is giving the finger, lol. But that's not why we aren't getting it, just didn't appeal to us. We bought our tickets over a year ago. I will definately check out your C5 links!

Very pleased about the air conditioning!

I will ask them


Us going to another Celebration is a definite possibility. I'm still pouting that we can't go this year Well, we could, but we would have to leave Mal here, and I think he would pout more about that than I am about missing out completely.

Thanks, appreciate your asking!

And if you were there, you might keep thinking about how he'd like this or that and feel badly he wasn't there. We do that so often with all the things when Grumpy doesn't go with us.

 

[mommy2mrb]

love the photos of Anakin and Goofy together
happy he got to meet Queen Amidala and how awesome the Cantina Musicians were to take a group photo!
we love eating at SciFi, so nice a cool....Goofy's hamburger looks like a heartattack waiting to happend can see how he couldn't finish it in one sitting

hope you all aren't getting hit too hard by the TS Debbie, stay safe!

 

[JLCJMC]

Enjoying you TR. my son and I also do Disney Differently . We have never been able to do Star Wars weekends because of the timing, but we are headed down in a few weeks and cannot wait! I saw an article saying that they had a "freeze yourself in carbonite" keepsake at sww --- sooooo jealous! Would be our dream keepsake Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your adventures --- many happy thoughts!