Come to the Dark Side...4 Weekends of Fun with the Force(Updated 11/12)

[kaoden39]

Hi!

I am so sorry to hear that JJ had such a rough day yesterday. That is so hard for all of you.


I am glad to hear that Grumpy gets to go do something he loves so much. He needs time to have a break from work and away from school.

 

[annmarieda]

I really love all those displays! I am drawn toward purses and bags... but ya know... I don't even carry one???!!! And now there are matching shoes? Very amazing!

 

[lovethattink]

We drive. To expensive for a family of 5 to fly. Plus it's actually kind of insane if we were to try to fly to my parent's. We'd fly out of SFO into Portland (Northern Oregon) and back down to Klamath Falls (Southern Oregon). Just not feasible. It's about a 6 1/2 hour drive when we stop to eat but if we drive straight through with no stops it takes us about 5 1/2 hours. Our kids are great travelers so we're fine driving. Plus it's really nice to have our own vehicle.

Glad Grumpy is getting out to!

Oh no! That's not good! Hope today is going better!

That's not a bad drive. When we lived up north we often drove 18 hours it took to get to FL in one day. Can't do that kind of drive with JJ though.

Lol, he is glad too. He's enroute to the airport right this minute.

Hi!

I am so sorry to hear that JJ had such a rough day yesterday. That is so hard for all of you.


I am glad to hear that Grumpy gets to go do something he loves so much. He needs time to have a break from work and away from school.

It's a new day, and hopefully today will go better!

He is so excited to go fishing. Annual fish fry at the end.

I really love all those displays! I am drawn toward purses and bags... but ya know... I don't even carry one???!!! And now there are matching shoes? Very amazing!

The displays are so pretty. Makes me want another one. I don't typically carry a purse either. For the parks, I use a backpack. Occasionally for church I'll carry a purse.

 

[ladylyons]

That's not a bad drive. When we lived up north we often drove 18 hours it took to get to FL in one day. Can't do that kind of drive with JJ though.

No it's not bad at all. When I was 15 I went on a 3 month trip with my grandparent's. It took us 3 weeks to get to Florida!!!! We were in a motorhome so it wasn't like we were cramped in a small car thank goodness!! It was me, my 13 year old sister and 8 year old cousin. It's a trip we'll never forget and we still talk about it. We left the day after school got out (got back 3 days before school started back up), drove the southern states to Florida (stayed for 2 weeks) then went up the east coast to New York and then back across the northern states! Stopped and saw the sights along the way like Tombstone, AZ; 4 corners (where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona meet), Alamo, Gettysburg, Statue of Liberty, Washington DC, etc. Over all it was an awesome trip!!

 

[lovethattink]

No it's not bad at all. When I was 15 I went on a 3 month trip with my grandparent's. It took us 3 weeks to get to Florida!!!! We were in a motorhome so it wasn't like we were cramped in a small car thank goodness!! It was me, my 13 year old sister and 8 year old cousin. It's a trip we'll never forget and we still talk about it. We left the day after school got out (got back 3 days before school started back up), drove the southern states to Florida (stayed for 2 weeks) then went up the east coast to New York and then back across the northern states! Stopped and saw the sights along the way like Tombstone, AZ; 4 corners (where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona meet), Alamo, Gettysburg, Statue of Liberty, Washington DC, etc. Over all it was an awesome trip!!

Wow! Now that's a road trip! My grandparents had a motorhome too. Though we ended up using it more for a playhouse than for road trips. I remember talking on the cb and listening to 8 track tapes when we did go places.

 

[lovethattink]

We had an ADR for 1:30pm at Sci-Fi Dine In and plans to meet friends after lunch. Other than that we were playing it by ear and winging it.

We arrived just as the cm were roping off the stormtrooper area. The troopers drove those stands back stage. It was a mini-parade! JJ was in awe and oohing and awing. I forgot to get a map and discovered JJ’s friend at the information desk. Of course, he had to go say hello.

​

I think our next stop was window shopping at Darth Mall.

We were greeted by these as we walked into Darth Mall. These were pretty cool, but they did cause a bottleneck to enter the shopping area as people stopped to take pictures.

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We no sooner walked in the shopping area and JJ spotted his buddy Dave Eckstein. He thought his VIP pass was totally cool and asked if he could take a picture of it. While pictures were being snapped I asked if it was ok to get our annual picture of JJ and him together. He was game and JJ was more than game! Again, I cannot say enough good things about David. He is a great guy, fantastic role model, and he’s very encouraging. JJ invited he and Ashley to his next play. However, the timing didn’t work again. They both had some very exciting things on the horizon for that weekend.

​

JJ is not a very good shopper. He wants everything. He had three gift cards from his birthday that were specifically for SWW shopping. To him, $75 was a ton of money. However when one annual passholder shirt costs, $34.95 that blows half of his funds!

As we were leaving, we found these pressed pennies to make. Too bad they said Star Tours instead of SWW!

​

So I grabbed a piece of scrap paper and began to write down a shopping list for all of us. If he wanted something, we wrote it down on paper and the price. If we wanted something, we wrote it down and I took a picture of it. Once we got mostly through the merchandise, we left the store…empty handed.

There was enough time to go see Behind the Force: Star Wars Voices.







It seems like the Clone Wars celebrities are always laughing and having fun.

​

We had some time before our ADR so we looked to see if any roaming characters were outside. We found Jawas!! Last year we missed these guys. Yet we always had something to trade with them. This year we brought old Star Wars cards to trade. The jawa liked this item and gave him a Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom card in return. Now JJ was hooked on jawas. He loved them. He was fascinated by their glowing eyes and wanted to know how it works.

There was also a Clone Trooper out there too.

​

It was time to go cool back off. Writer’s Stop is a great place to cool off. We found “our” air vent and JJ stood under there until his body temp cooled back down. It was time for our ADR so we walked through the door in Writer’s Stop right into the waiting area of Sci-Fi. Gave our name and we were seated in no time. I was a bad DISer and did not take any food pictures. I had a turkey sandwich minus the bread, JJ had chicken nuggets and fries, and dh had a burger. We tried something new to us, the dill pickle chips. They were very good. Ok, to me they were very good. Not so good to JJ or Goofy.

Now I see a pattern. My stomach pain came back. This time it felt like I had gall stones, except my gall bladder was removed years ago. I blamed it on the pickle chips and forced myself to ignore it.

While we were eating, we attempted to go over the merchandise and prices. This was a really good math lesson for JJ. He added up all the stuff he wanted at Darth Mall and was shocked to find out that his total was way more than what he had. He really wanted a Salacious Crumb, passholder shirt, some angry bird merchandise, the Cars merchandise he wanted wasn’t there. He wanted to save money for when it did come in. He also wanted a cup and mug like his big brother was going to get. There was also a big set of Jedi Mickey star fighter and another play set he wanted. At the same time, he didn’t want to spend ALL of his gift cards.

After lunch, we met friends and we all went shopping together. JJ stuck with one angry bird toy and saved his gift cards for another day. We got Grumpy his annual mug and cup. Dh got the event picture, window decals, and something else. I got a couple Her Universe shirts (Darth Vader and Han Solo shirts) and the Her Universe necklace. Goofy headed out of the park with our friends. They went to their car and he put the merchandise in his car, then returned back to us. Meanwhile, JJ and I walked around and tried to stay cool in stores.

Next up was the celebrity autograph. JJ was excited beyond belief. He told EVERYONE he saw he was on his way to see his friend Ashley Eckstein. They had a very nice M&G. He told her all about the story he is writing about Ahsoka. They talked about his plays. Again she apologized that she missed it. Said maybe next one. But JJ chimed in right away to say that she was busy that weekend. She looked at me questioningly and I told her that he already asked her husband. Even to think they would consider going is above and beyond!

Either before or after Obi-Wan and Beyond, we saw the modal nodes.



​

At some point, we stopped in at the store that sells Muppet merchandise to cool off. We found this really neat Phineas and Ferb book. It’s a flip book that allows you to make over 200 different combinations to read. JJ loved this book and it was the perfect distraction while waiting in line for Obi-Wan and Beyond.

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This show is fantasic! James Arnold Taylor uses more than 150 voices. Each one sounds totally unique.

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As the show winds down, James Arnold Taylor becomes serious. He talks about a date that changes his life forever. He talks about the tragedy that struck him when he lost his voice due to toxic mold and the joy that would eventually come out of this tough situation. He talks about everyone having a date that was life altering in one way or another. Last year, seeing the show for the first time really struck home, seeing it a second time struck a chord just as much. As we have a date, Father’s Day, June 21, 2010. That’s the date that forever changed our lives; when JJ had a life threatening grand mal seizure and stopped breathing.




We ended our day with Hyerspace Hoopla.

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What we accomplished:

2 characters - Jawa and Clone
3 shows - Behind the Voice: Star Wars Voices
Obi-Wan and Beyond
Hyperspace Hoopla
1 Celebrity Autograph
Shopping

 

[Moodyzblu]

Thanks. Is there a next Disney trip in the making?

Actually, we are planning another trip to Disneyland. We really loved it there and feel like we didn't have enough time, so we're looking forward to going back and finishing up !


I love how all the SW /CW celebs are so interactive and JJ seems to really enjoy it !

 

[lsenquiz]

We are eating at the Plaza for the first time in September. I am really looking foward to it and will have to try the soup. The service you guys got was amazing.

Interesting information about the name tag. I had not idea but will definitely look for that in the future.

We also hope to try the interactive Pirate Adventure in September. We still have 4 more villians to beat at SOTMK first though.

Isn't it awesome when you son chooses to do something not because he wants to but just because it will make you happy . Love the fairy pictures

 

[mommy2mrb]

sorry to hear JJ had some more issues the other day, hope he is doing better

wow looks like an awesome day! great M & G, photos and meeting friends! good job with the math lesson to help JJ pick out what he wanted to buy

love that Ashley and David are so wonderful to JJ and you all!
what a story from James...so true that in a moment your life can change, we live with our "date" every day too

 

[lsenquiz]

Awesome pictures of the 4th of July parade. I would love to see it someday but I do not see me ever stepping food into Disney the week of July 4th

Great reviews of the shows. We are not ready for those yet because Gabriel still does not understand that there is a "voice" behind each character. He overheard someone talking about the person who plays Chewy while we were there and got very upset thinking that the Chewy that we were waiting in line to see was not the real Chewy. I am sure we will be at the shows when he gets older.

We loved the Jawa's also. They are so much fun. We had no idea that they traded but will not be caught short handed next year

 

[annmarieda]

What an incredibly full day! Looks like you had a lot of fun! Sorry your tummy was not fairing to well still.

 

[ladylyons]

Wow! Now that's a road trip! My grandparents had a motorhome too. Though we ended up using it more for a playhouse than for road trips. I remember talking on the cb and listening to 8 track tapes when we did go places.

It was! And it's a memory we will never forget especially since it's been 10 years this year since we lost my grandparent's. We used to play on the cb too as we'd be driving down the road. The best one's were when we'd happen upon the trucker we were talking to and they'd wave at us!!

What another fun day at SWW! I just love how Ashley just takes everything JJ has to say in and remembers him! I wouldn't be surprised if they do show up to one of his plays if they are available one of these times. How fun with the Jawa's that they'll trade with you. That just makes that meet even more special.

 

[WDWRids]

What a great day! JJ got to see alot of his favorites. I have to say the nodes are a bit strange. Ha ha. Love the merchandise photos. The bags are great! Especially the Harveys.

Hows JJ? Sorry to hear he has had more choking episodes. When should all the new meds take full effect?

My grandfather is back in the hospital. We have had some issues with the cath care while at the rehab facility and then when they replaced it....they put in incorrectly which resulted in damage delaying the test to determine his treatment. Feel so bad for him! Hopefully things will start improving soon.

Have a great day! Headed to Disney this weekend?

 

[mickeystoontown]

It looks like ya'll had a fantastic time at SWW! Lots of Meet & Greets which is always awesome. I still find it so sweet that Ashley and her husband are so kind and remember their conversations with JJ.

 

[lovethattink]

Thanks so much for reading along and responding. I hope to be back later today to respond and with another update. We went to see the new Despicable movie. Love those minions. JJ did great there, but since the drive home he is feeling very anxious. I need to go sidetrack with something creative and hopefully some of his school work too. We did a fun experiment last night with cocoa and salt, and a couple days ago we began working on a countdown calendar. Seems as long as he is pre-occupied with something he is fine. But as soon as he has time to think about things he experiences those tics in his throat. He is on a waiting list for Occupational Therapy, number 16 in line. Hopefully someone will cancel in the near future and he'll get in.

 

[lovethattink]

Actually, we are planning another trip to Disneyland. We really loved it there and feel like we didn't have enough time, so we're looking forward to going back and finishing up !


I love how all the SW /CW celebs are so interactive and JJ seems to really enjoy it !

Oh how fun! I know your family really loves it there.

The characters and celebs were awesome. JJ genuinely loved every single second of SWW. (Well, except for one, but we'll get there.)

We are eating at the Plaza for the first time in September. I am really looking foward to it and will have to try the soup. The service you guys got was amazing.

Interesting information about the name tag. I had not idea but will definitely look for that in the future.

We also hope to try the interactive Pirate Adventure in September. We still have 4 more villians to beat at SOTMK first though.

Isn't it awesome when you son chooses to do something not because he wants to but just because it will make you happy . Love the fairy pictures

I hope you enjoy eating there as much as we do. They call the soup, a chicken potato soup, but it's definitely a nice creamy potato soup with a little bit of chicken.

I have to remind JJ when we eat there and Chef Ken isn't working that he won't get spoiled like that. Chef Connie is great and we love her, but Chef Ken is like kin. Same thing at the Coral Reef. Illeona, one of the servers, spoils the daylights out of us. I swear she has ESP, lol.

I didn't know about the names tags either until the Mayor pointed it out.

How were the SOTMK portals working for you? Good luck beating the last 4. Make sure your video camera catches the end, and don't forget to pick up your extra pack of cards once you win!

Yes, I appreciated him thinking of me and the fairies. Although he could have said Hall of Presidents for Daddy and he would have been just as safe.

sorry to hear JJ had some more issues the other day, hope he is doing better

wow looks like an awesome day! great M & G, photos and meeting friends! good job with the math lesson to help JJ pick out what he wanted to buy

love that Ashley and David are so wonderful to JJ and you all!
what a story from James...so true that in a moment your life can change, we live with our "date" every day too

As soon as JJ get anxious or worried those throat tics start, or when he goes into panic mode. Yesterday it was suspense from watching Power Rangers that caused it. We are doing Wilbarger Brushing protocol, and waiting to get him in for OT. Hopefully that will help to calm his system down.

It was a great day!

Thanks. They really are fantastic individuals.

I know you can relate to his story.

Awesome pictures of the 4th of July parade. I would love to see it someday but I do not see me ever stepping food into Disney the week of July 4th

Great reviews of the shows. We are not ready for those yet because Gabriel still does not understand that there is a "voice" behind each character. He overheard someone talking about the person who plays Chewy while we were there and got very upset thinking that the Chewy that we were waiting in line to see was not the real Chewy. I am sure we will be at the shows when he gets older.

We loved the Jawa's also. They are so much fun. We had no idea that they traded but will not be caught short handed next year

Thanks to Limited Time Magic this was after the 4th. I can't imagine going on the 4th. Park reaching capacity is not my idea of ideal crowds either.

I hope that my son wasn't the someone your son overheard. My son noticed a couple days that Chewy wasn't as tall as he use to be and didn't hesitate to say something about him looking shorter.

The Jawas were a hoot. And they were very particular in what they'd trade for.

 

[lovethattink]

What an incredibly full day! Looks like you had a lot of fun! Sorry your tummy was not fairing to well still.

It was lots of fun.

It was! And it's a memory we will never forget especially since it's been 10 years this year since we lost my grandparent's. We used to play on the cb too as we'd be driving down the road. The best one's were when we'd happen upon the trucker we were talking to and they'd wave at us!!

What another fun day at SWW! I just love how Ashley just takes everything JJ has to say in and remembers him! I wouldn't be surprised if they do show up to one of his plays if they are available one of these times. How fun with the Jawa's that they'll trade with you. That just makes that meet even more special.

Those are memories you will always cherish.

Yes, gotta love SWW. I'm sure you and your son would have a blast if you could swing a mother/son trip.

I won't hold my breath, but it sure would be a neat surprise.

The jawas were lots of fun. But being a roaming character meant at any time they would pick up and roam away.

What a great day! JJ got to see alot of his favorites. I have to say the nodes are a bit strange. Ha ha. Love the merchandise photos. The bags are great! Especially the Harveys.

Hows JJ? Sorry to hear he has had more choking episodes. When should all the new meds take full effect?

My grandfather is back in the hospital. We have had some issues with the cath care while at the rehab facility and then when they replaced it....they put in incorrectly which resulted in damage delaying the test to determine his treatment. Feel so bad for him! Hopefully things will start improving soon.

Have a great day! Headed to Disney this weekend?

Lol, yes the modal nodes are the butt of a lot of jokes

JJ is still having some problems. Some days a lot and some days a few. Today only once so far.

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Continuing to pray for him.

It looks like ya'll had a fantastic time at SWW! Lots of Meet & Greets which is always awesome. I still find it so sweet that Ashley and her husband are so kind and remember their conversations with JJ.

We all really enjoyed SWW. Wish that Grumpy had been there too. I know he would have enjoyed it as well. Maybe next year he'll go for a day?

They are very sweet and genuine. When you think of all the people they see in a day it's amazing they take the time to make a mental note.

 

[ladylyons]

Yes, gotta love SWW. I'm sure you and your son would have a blast if you could swing a mother/son trip.

The jawas were lots of fun. But being a roaming character meant at any time they would pick up and roam away.

I'm actually prepping my DH for it. Hoping by the time they roll around we might be able to make it a mommy/daddy/Jeremy trip. Leave the younger two at home with grandma. I know they would love that and I know Jeremy would love to have some just mommy/daddy time which he doesn't get very often. So we'll see what I can work out.

We have the issue with Peter Pan here (roaming). Every time I've come across him there's a line but he'll just up and leave and a new line forms so we've never been able to meet him. Hopefully we'll be able to see him though on our next trip whenever that might be.

 

[lovethattink]

I'm actually prepping my DH for it. Hoping by the time they roll around we might be able to make it a mommy/daddy/Jeremy trip. Leave the younger two at home with grandma. I know they would love that and I know Jeremy would love to have some just mommy/daddy time which he doesn't get very often. So we'll see what I can work out.

We have the issue with Peter Pan here (roaming). Every time I've come across him there's a line but he'll just up and leave and a new line forms so we've never been able to meet him. Hopefully we'll be able to see him though on our next trip whenever that might be.

Now there's an idea!

I didn't realize Peter Pan roamed at DLR. I hope you all get to see him next time!

 

[lovethattink]

Jedi or Bantha​

I'm not sure what it is about JTA that seems to bring out the best and worse in people. Remember that commercial that use to say, "things that make you go hmm." JTA sign up was one of those things.

We arrived at DHS around 6:30am and we all got in line for a FP for James Arnold Taylor. By 7 we had FP in hand a were wristbanded. We got in line at the turnstiles. We were the 4th, 5th, and 6th people at "our" turnstile. There was a little girl with her family ahead of us and JJ was entertaining her with his Yoda voice impressions.

For some reason, their passes weren't working so it took us a little time to get into the park and to the JTA rope. A cm held a sign up in the air to let people know this was the area for JTA. There were about 10 people at the rope ahead of us. We figured we had the first JTA in the bag.

The stormtroopers did their opening show on the street. The cm gave rules to stay behind her walking to JTA. Many people began to fill in everywhere. The curb, the stores and they all missed the instructions about staying orderly.

The rope dropped and it was like a herd of bantha heading to JTA instead of jedi. People began running on top of Hollywood and Vine, nearly knocking cm over to attempt to get ahead of everyone for JTA. We were now pretty far back, not at the front of the line where we started. As we got to the Indy area, cm were sending strollers to parking. So all those people who were in the front suddenly got pushed back further and further in line as they parked their strollers.

Only 1 parent was permitted per child. Goofy took the w/c from me. We had no idea that this was going to be a very long queue. There were many people behind us and JJ went at the pace he could handle. This slowed up the line. People tried to pass us, but the man behind us stopped them. JJ set the pace and pretty soon after weaving here and there, we met up with the rest of the queue.

9:20 a.m. was the JTA time he got. This worked out perfect with the 10am to 10:15am FP time we got for James Arnold Taylor.

Characters weren't out yet, but we decided it would be wise to get in line for Chewbacca since it was cool outside and was perfect weather to wait. We walked over to the queue and got in line. I think JJ may have taken a nap while we waited.

Chip and Dale came out a little early that day, and Chewie was a few minutes late. There was no line for Chip and Dale, but Chewie's line was huge! We did good by getting in line right way before. There weren't many people ahead of us, but there was a huge crowd behind us.

The M&G with Chewbacca was very nice!

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When it was time to go for JTA, the first show's group was still there at Sounds Dangerous. There were technical difficulties with the stage. Would JJ make it to JTA? If he did, would he make it to see James Arnold Taylor in time for his FP?