darthtatty
Been There, Done That, Going Back!
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
Friday 22nd May 2009 Disneys Hollywood Studios. Star wars Weekend
Got up early today as wanted to be there for opening time at 9am. We heard the other day when we went to DHS you needed to get fastpasses to meet the actors, to see the show and to get in to the shop. We knew that people started queuing for these the night before but who wants to do that on holiday. I did suggest to Matt he could always get up Very early and take a cab there but he wasnt up for that.
We had brekkie again at the Contempo and then caught first bus to DHS.
When we got there just a few minutes after opening time all the fastpasses had gone.
It took a while to actually get in, as it was very busy, saw the Storm Troopers on top of the entrance.
We decided to head straight for the shop
Had to queue up while they let in people with fastpasses in first, then they were letting people in a few at a time. Took about an hour and a half to get in, it was like a big warehouse full of Star Wars stuff. We realised very quickly that you had to queue up to buy the collectible items so Matt and I took turns in the queue while the other looked around the shop with Luke. Around 11.15 it was getting close to the parade time, so Matt decided to wait in the queue while I took Luke to see the Star Wars Parade. Just before the parade started it started to pour down with rain, Luke and I got soaked. They delayed the parade for about 10mins due to the rain it was good though especially seeing Ray Park
We met up with Matt not too long after the parade; he missed it due to still being in the shop. Wed planned to come back tomorrow so he could always watch it then.
We headed to Toy Story Mania, took about 20mins to get on using our GAC. Again this is just another shooting type ride, but in 3d. Thought it was good and worth doing just a bit over hyped. Sorry to anyone who thinks differently?
We then tried to do the backlot tour but due to it raining again theyd closed it.
So we headed to Pizza Planet for lunch and got a couple of pizza meals to share.
After lunch it was Star tours-yet again! After that we decided to go to the area where they were doing the Autographs, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ray Park (Darth Maul in Star Wars). We met him a couple of years ago at Milton Keynes, we all thought he was really nice and he spent ages talking to us. Luke hadnt really been into Star Wars and always called Matt a geek when he talked about it but after meeting Ray, Luke turned into a Star Wars geek.
Wed explained to Luke before we came on holiday itd be very unlikely hed get to meet Ray again, even if we did it wouldnt be as great as the meeting in Milton Keynes. Anyway we hung around the area, just about saw Ray and tried to take a few pictures but people kept getting in our way so we decided to do something else.
As we were walking away a lady came up to us and said, Does your little boy want to meet Ray Park?
She had 3 fastpasses but although there were 3 people in her group 1 of them was in a wheelchair so she said Im sure theyd let me in with just 2 fastpasses and you could do the same. Obviously we did and were very grateful, the time for the fastpasses was straight away. We had to wait a while but it gave us time to chat to the woman who had given us the spare fastpass. The cast members let us in; the fastpasses were really for each signature so we all got to meet Ray. I was expecting a quick hi, signature and bye but todays meeting was just as good as Milton Keynes. As we were queuing I watched him interact with others, he treated everyone as though they were the first person of the day and took his time with everyone. Top bloke! Now its just a shame we really didnt have anything much for him to sign, Matt brought lots of Star Wars stuff and wed seen some great Darth Maul pictures but wed got the items sent to the hotel. They were giving out pre printed pictures so we got him to sign that.
Luke was so excited to meet him and he was worth the wait.
Matt and Luke then did Star Tours after while I went and sat down, escaping the rain. They also tried to book a table for Sci Fi dine in but the ADR time was 8.20pm, the host suggest we just turn up as sometimes people dont show.
The woman who had given us the fast passes for Ray also gave us fast passes for Jay Lagaaia- she was going to be at all the Star Wars weekends and didnt want to hang around waiting in the rain. So we used them and met Jay, he was a nice friendly guy too, after meeting him we waited near the area Ray Park was and Matt got talking to a cast member (we think he was a senior staff member as he had his full name on his name tag) Told him we were going to see A visit to the Maul later, he sent a cast member off to get us some priority seating wristbands. We were then given fastpasses to meet Warwick Davis. He was pretty friendly but in the UK he goes to lots of sci fi things and wed seen him many times. Although wed never got his signature. Not a bad day seeing as we thought we wouldnt meet any and in the end wed got to meet them all.
As we walked to the Maul show we took pictures of Lightening and Mater
What can I say about the show, it was brilliant. Jay and Ray were amusing and really cool. We found that the wristbands were for children who were invited onto the stage, but we decided that Luke would enjoy watching it more. On stage Ray showed you how to use a lightsaber. Luke was ok with this, the children on stage were given lightsabers so we made sure Luke got one after.
Got up early today as wanted to be there for opening time at 9am. We heard the other day when we went to DHS you needed to get fastpasses to meet the actors, to see the show and to get in to the shop. We knew that people started queuing for these the night before but who wants to do that on holiday. I did suggest to Matt he could always get up Very early and take a cab there but he wasnt up for that.
We had brekkie again at the Contempo and then caught first bus to DHS.
When we got there just a few minutes after opening time all the fastpasses had gone.
It took a while to actually get in, as it was very busy, saw the Storm Troopers on top of the entrance.
We decided to head straight for the shop
Had to queue up while they let in people with fastpasses in first, then they were letting people in a few at a time. Took about an hour and a half to get in, it was like a big warehouse full of Star Wars stuff. We realised very quickly that you had to queue up to buy the collectible items so Matt and I took turns in the queue while the other looked around the shop with Luke. Around 11.15 it was getting close to the parade time, so Matt decided to wait in the queue while I took Luke to see the Star Wars Parade. Just before the parade started it started to pour down with rain, Luke and I got soaked. They delayed the parade for about 10mins due to the rain it was good though especially seeing Ray Park
We met up with Matt not too long after the parade; he missed it due to still being in the shop. Wed planned to come back tomorrow so he could always watch it then.
We headed to Toy Story Mania, took about 20mins to get on using our GAC. Again this is just another shooting type ride, but in 3d. Thought it was good and worth doing just a bit over hyped. Sorry to anyone who thinks differently?
We then tried to do the backlot tour but due to it raining again theyd closed it.
So we headed to Pizza Planet for lunch and got a couple of pizza meals to share.
After lunch it was Star tours-yet again! After that we decided to go to the area where they were doing the Autographs, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ray Park (Darth Maul in Star Wars). We met him a couple of years ago at Milton Keynes, we all thought he was really nice and he spent ages talking to us. Luke hadnt really been into Star Wars and always called Matt a geek when he talked about it but after meeting Ray, Luke turned into a Star Wars geek.
Wed explained to Luke before we came on holiday itd be very unlikely hed get to meet Ray again, even if we did it wouldnt be as great as the meeting in Milton Keynes. Anyway we hung around the area, just about saw Ray and tried to take a few pictures but people kept getting in our way so we decided to do something else.
As we were walking away a lady came up to us and said, Does your little boy want to meet Ray Park?
She had 3 fastpasses but although there were 3 people in her group 1 of them was in a wheelchair so she said Im sure theyd let me in with just 2 fastpasses and you could do the same. Obviously we did and were very grateful, the time for the fastpasses was straight away. We had to wait a while but it gave us time to chat to the woman who had given us the spare fastpass. The cast members let us in; the fastpasses were really for each signature so we all got to meet Ray. I was expecting a quick hi, signature and bye but todays meeting was just as good as Milton Keynes. As we were queuing I watched him interact with others, he treated everyone as though they were the first person of the day and took his time with everyone. Top bloke! Now its just a shame we really didnt have anything much for him to sign, Matt brought lots of Star Wars stuff and wed seen some great Darth Maul pictures but wed got the items sent to the hotel. They were giving out pre printed pictures so we got him to sign that.
Luke was so excited to meet him and he was worth the wait.
Matt and Luke then did Star Tours after while I went and sat down, escaping the rain. They also tried to book a table for Sci Fi dine in but the ADR time was 8.20pm, the host suggest we just turn up as sometimes people dont show.
The woman who had given us the fast passes for Ray also gave us fast passes for Jay Lagaaia- she was going to be at all the Star Wars weekends and didnt want to hang around waiting in the rain. So we used them and met Jay, he was a nice friendly guy too, after meeting him we waited near the area Ray Park was and Matt got talking to a cast member (we think he was a senior staff member as he had his full name on his name tag) Told him we were going to see A visit to the Maul later, he sent a cast member off to get us some priority seating wristbands. We were then given fastpasses to meet Warwick Davis. He was pretty friendly but in the UK he goes to lots of sci fi things and wed seen him many times. Although wed never got his signature. Not a bad day seeing as we thought we wouldnt meet any and in the end wed got to meet them all.
As we walked to the Maul show we took pictures of Lightening and Mater
What can I say about the show, it was brilliant. Jay and Ray were amusing and really cool. We found that the wristbands were for children who were invited onto the stage, but we decided that Luke would enjoy watching it more. On stage Ray showed you how to use a lightsaber. Luke was ok with this, the children on stage were given lightsabers so we made sure Luke got one after.
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