ashw100
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
Day 7: Part 1
May the Force be with Us
Waking up this morning was like waking up Christmas morning. We had all been looking forward to this day so much and it was finally here
. Before the boys started getting cranky, I had always planned to let Joe and Connor go to DHS without me and the little boys, because I figured they would need the extra rest this late into the trip. Thank goodness I did this, because without it, it could have been another cranky day. I got up with Joe and Connor and they got ready and were out the door a little after six. We were unsure if buses would be running that early. We called and the CM said not until 8, luckily they were running and they were on the bus right away.
I was able to get back to sleep for a little, so I was happy. Meanwhile, Joe and Connor were encountering their first glimpse of SWW crowds.
I explained that these were people that were lining up for autographs. Our weekend had Ian McDiarmid, who plays Emperor Palpatine, for those familiar with the franchise, and it was a pretty big deal; the crowds show this. He was also in awe of all the people dressed up. He sent me a picture of a girl in the Leia gold bikini.
He also sent me pictures of the map.
I appreciated him trying to include me in their morning. Before I started planning this trip I had seen the movies one time each and was pretty apathetic toward them. We got all six on blu ray and re-watched them before the trip and that combined with following the SWW DISboard thread religiously, lead me to become a fan myself. It kind of sucked to do all that planning and then have to miss out on that early morning excitement, but if anyone should be there, I was happy the two real SW fans could be. By the time they were being let into the park for the Stormtrooper opening, the two little boys and I were waking up. They had a pretty good spot for rope drop.
Joe texted me that the stormtroopers were awesome and that they were headed to meet Chewbacca. Getting to meet Chewie
was the main reason they woke up so early and it paid off because at 8:11 they were meeting him and an ewok 
. The ewok is significant because they usually weren’t out until after the parade.
It is slightly annoying that we went through all the planning and effort for this meet and now you can meet Chewie every day, this may be the fact that I am still bitter about them canceling SWW though. Shortly after they met Chewie, the boys and I were entering the park. I have to say the environment is so different during SWW. There is this excited buzz and it is infectious. Boba Fett and Jango Fett were on stage patrolling the crowd when we walked in.
I also received a text from @Dugette telling me she was in line for Chewie at that time. Joe and Connor had gotten in line to do Star Tours, so I went towards that part of the park. I spotted Dugette, Dug, and Izze standing in line. This was my first DIS meet and I was so excited I forgot a picture
. I got to chat with her and her husband about their trip so far, they had arrived the day before. It was nice to share experiences of dealing with difficult toddlers 
. She and her husband were so lovely to talk to and I am so glad I met them. While I was chatting away, Joe had taken Connor to get his face painted like a stormtropper.
We met up at the Chewie line and bid farewell to Dugette and Company. As you may recall, we bought the boys Blasters a few days before and James’ had already broken. We wanted to see if we could exchange it for a working one so we headed toward the Prop Shop. We passed by the Lightening meet and stopped to say hello. The park was empty over here and we made a joke about we just had to get in line for the hottest meet of the day
.
Joe was very sweet and suggested we get our family picture that I had wanted from the day before here. I didn’t have the heart to tell him the picture had more to do with being in front of the castle and in our matching shirts than just any family picture at Disney. Its still a good picture though, just not one for my Christmas card.
We also passed the meet and greet area for the Clone Wars and Joe wanted a picture in the toy box.
When we got to the Prop Shop it was VERY crowded
, I didn’t know it at the time but it was the dump area from Darth’s Mall. Thankfully, the lines themselves weren’t too long and they exchanged the blaster no problem for me, I didn’t have the receipt anymore, so I was very grateful. I also bought the boys the Jedi training academy lightsabers so they could have those for the day. I have to say these are only about $12 and they are so light and compact compared the build your own the boys have. They don’t make noise or light up, but now that our collection has grown to almost 10 lightsbabers, these are still the ones my boys use the most. The boys found these Lego droids while I was in the shop.
Once we had that business out of the way, we were coming up on our ADR time and headed in that direction.
May the Force be with Us
Waking up this morning was like waking up Christmas morning. We had all been looking forward to this day so much and it was finally here
. Before the boys started getting cranky, I had always planned to let Joe and Connor go to DHS without me and the little boys, because I figured they would need the extra rest this late into the trip. Thank goodness I did this, because without it, it could have been another cranky day. I got up with Joe and Connor and they got ready and were out the door a little after six. We were unsure if buses would be running that early. We called and the CM said not until 8, luckily they were running and they were on the bus right away. 
I was able to get back to sleep for a little, so I was happy. Meanwhile, Joe and Connor were encountering their first glimpse of SWW crowds.
I explained that these were people that were lining up for autographs. Our weekend had Ian McDiarmid, who plays Emperor Palpatine, for those familiar with the franchise, and it was a pretty big deal; the crowds show this. He was also in awe of all the people dressed up. He sent me a picture of a girl in the Leia gold bikini.
He also sent me pictures of the map.
I appreciated him trying to include me in their morning. Before I started planning this trip I had seen the movies one time each and was pretty apathetic toward them. We got all six on blu ray and re-watched them before the trip and that combined with following the SWW DISboard thread religiously, lead me to become a fan myself. It kind of sucked to do all that planning and then have to miss out on that early morning excitement, but if anyone should be there, I was happy the two real SW fans could be. By the time they were being let into the park for the Stormtrooper opening, the two little boys and I were waking up. They had a pretty good spot for rope drop.
Joe texted me that the stormtroopers were awesome and that they were headed to meet Chewbacca. Getting to meet Chewie
was the main reason they woke up so early and it paid off because at 8:11 they were meeting him and an ewok . The ewok is significant because they usually weren’t out until after the parade. 
It is slightly annoying that we went through all the planning and effort for this meet and now you can meet Chewie every day, this may be the fact that I am still bitter about them canceling SWW though. Shortly after they met Chewie, the boys and I were entering the park. I have to say the environment is so different during SWW. There is this excited buzz and it is infectious. Boba Fett and Jango Fett were on stage patrolling the crowd when we walked in.
I also received a text from @Dugette telling me she was in line for Chewie at that time. Joe and Connor had gotten in line to do Star Tours, so I went towards that part of the park. I spotted Dugette, Dug, and Izze standing in line. This was my first DIS meet and I was so excited I forgot a picture
. I got to chat with her and her husband about their trip so far, they had arrived the day before. It was nice to share experiences of dealing with difficult toddlers . She and her husband were so lovely to talk to and I am so glad I met them. While I was chatting away, Joe had taken Connor to get his face painted like a stormtropper. 
We met up at the Chewie line and bid farewell to Dugette and Company. As you may recall, we bought the boys Blasters a few days before and James’ had already broken. We wanted to see if we could exchange it for a working one so we headed toward the Prop Shop. We passed by the Lightening meet and stopped to say hello. The park was empty over here and we made a joke about we just had to get in line for the hottest meet of the day
. 
Joe was very sweet and suggested we get our family picture that I had wanted from the day before here. I didn’t have the heart to tell him the picture had more to do with being in front of the castle and in our matching shirts than just any family picture at Disney. Its still a good picture though, just not one for my Christmas card.
We also passed the meet and greet area for the Clone Wars and Joe wanted a picture in the toy box.
When we got to the Prop Shop it was VERY crowded
, I didn’t know it at the time but it was the dump area from Darth’s Mall. Thankfully, the lines themselves weren’t too long and they exchanged the blaster no problem for me, I didn’t have the receipt anymore, so I was very grateful. I also bought the boys the Jedi training academy lightsabers so they could have those for the day. I have to say these are only about $12 and they are so light and compact compared the build your own the boys have. They don’t make noise or light up, but now that our collection has grown to almost 10 lightsbabers, these are still the ones my boys use the most. The boys found these Lego droids while I was in the shop. 
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At least we're in good company 
. On our first trip Connor was 2 months shy of 4 and he had a blast then too.
. I would say only 1/3 of the restaurant was full, which was weird considering the crowd outside, but barely anyone was seated while we were eating. We also got our super cool lightsbaers that could be blue or red. 
. 
. 
. I’ve only included the best of what I got but there were many more characters than what I have. 
. 
great report, wanting to take our 2.5 year old (well she will be) in may 2017 so this is helpful. thanks!
has. Maybe Ren will speak too. 
. I actually think he just really wanted the bucket. 
. It of course broke and he cried. A young guy probably around 21 saw the whole thing happen and came over and handed me his death star glow cube. I was so taken aback that not only he was kind enough to do this, but it’s not as if my son’s behavior warranted such generosity. I asked him if he was sure and thanked him profusely. I kept this one with me this time. It was getting close to our reservation time and Joe and Connor were still in the show, so I made my way over to try and check in without them. It was very chaotic over on this side of the park with JTA happening and people without reservations trying to get into the Rebel Hanger. The Rebel Hanger was actually just Backlot Express transformed for SWW and was announced very close to when SWW actually happened although I don’t remember specifically when they announced it. Even though I had no idea what it would be, I snatched up an ADR as soon as they became available, because as long as it was Star Wars, I figured we would like it. The experience’s first day was this day and the first reservations were for 4 o’clock so we were literally some of the first guests to get to do this, which I thought was pretty cool
. 
). I have never been inside Backlot Express, but I was pretty impressed with how fast they transformed it to the Rebel Hanger. 
