~*Jaclyn & Chris’ Star Wars Weekends Hoopla*~ Updated 7/16

[Belle_373]

Hi! Welcome to my second trip report!

I was not able to fully finish my first trip reported for our engagement trip back in 2009.

To quickly recap, during our September 2009 trip Chris proposed on the Polynesian Beach.

In the middle of my report, Chris and I started new jobs and moved into our first home. It was a very busy time in our lives. We also adopted two kittens from the same litter. Our fur babies, Coby (aka Cobra Commander) and Ella.

Last year, we got married on Monday, October 3, 2011 at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion and had our reception at Disney’s Boardwalk.

The Reason for this Trip

In 2005, Chris and I went on our first trip to the world back in May 2005 with Chris’ parents. Little did we know at the time (I wasn’t introduced to the DIS yet) it was over Star Wars Weekend. It was only a four day trip so we were only able to spend a few hours at MGM and only did one Star Wars Weekends activity—Who Wants to be a Millionaire—Star Wars Edition.

Since 2005, I have been promising Chris we will go back for Star Wars Weekends. However, we always ended up cancelling our plans for a Spring trip in favour of a Fall trip. My favorite time in Disney is late September/early October. I love all the fall decorations at the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival and the low crowds.

While planning this trip, we booked, cancelled, re-booked, and changed resorts 3 times. You would think after 11 trips together in 7 years we’d know what we wanted. NOPE.

But after seven years, we finally went in for Star Wars Weekends.

Who?

Jaclyn, 26 & Chris, 29

Our trip mascot of this trip, Hans, or as Chris prefers to call him Han Solo. He was purchased the first day of the trip and will appear many times throughout the report. He sure had some crazy adventures.

Where?

We stayed at Disney’s Corondo Springs Resort

When?

Saturday, June 2 – Saturday, June 9

 

[Belle_373]

Saturday, June 2
Good morning! Good Morning!
Marina Margarita
Check-in at Corondo Springs
“It’s the Mexican version of grilled cheese!”

Sunday, June 3
We’re late! We’re late! For a very important date.
Deserted Streets
At what age do toys become collectables?
The Maul Mall
It’s going be to Legend…wait for it Dary

 

[grandfloluver]

I'm in! I am actually doing a TR right now too because I was down there the same time as you!

 

[HeadintheClouds]

You looked beautiful on your wedding day! Great start, I'm in. (And just like you I changed hotels lots of times)!

 

[Belle_373]

I'm in! I am actually doing a TR right now too because I was down there the same time as you!

Welcome! I’ll go check your TR out.

You looked beautiful on your wedding day! Great start, I'm in. (And just like you I changed hotels lots of times)!

Welcome! And Thank you!

 

[gingermoonman]

What a great TR, love the Han Solo!!

 

[Belle_373]

What a great TR, love the Han Solo!!

Thank you!

 

[Belle_373]

Saturday, June 2 - Good morning! Good Morning!

Chris and I woke up at 4:30am to the lovely sound of the Magic Kingdom Welcome Medley. I have an ipod docking station alarm clock and every morning I set it to wake up to one of my favorite Disney Park songs. Who am I kidding? They are all my favorite.

We ran around doing some last minute packing and saying good bye to our fur-babies and then were out the door at 6am. Since we were flying out of Pearson International Airport this trip, Chris’ parents offered to drive us. Usually, we tend to fly out of Buffalo because the taxes on flights out of Pearson are more than the actual cost of the flight. I got a good last minute (2 months out) deal for an Air Canada flight because there were only a few seats left on the plane and they were not next to each other. It ended up not being such a great deal after all the additional Air Canada charges; such as the $25 luggage fee per bag of flights to the US.

We got to the airport in about 20 minutes (YAY for Saturday traffic). I do this drive every day at 6am and it usually takes me 45 minutes -1 hour.

After checking in, we found out we were too early and they would not let us through Custom. Travelling always stresses me out and I like being at the airport 3 hours early. US Customs was backed up because a lot flights were cancelled the day before due to the rain and the passengers were re-booked on flights for today. We were placed in this Q-Lounge and were not allowed to leave until they called us for Customs. We were finally called at 8:00am and our boarding was scheduled for 9:30am. I was beyond stressing. Once we got to customs, it was still backed up and it took an hour to get through it. Everyone around us was stressing and trying to skip lines because they were all late for their flights. Luckily, after US customs, security only took about 5 minutes. We got through and had 25 minutes to spare.

I was looking forward to having a nice relaxing breakfast at Tim Hortons and picking up a Starbucks latte. I am not sure why but Tim Hortons coffee makes me nauseous. And this fact makes be a bad Canadian. Well, since we only had 30 minutes and the Tim Hortons was on the opposite end of the gate. We grabbed Starbucks and I got my usual Venti Non-Fat Extra Hot Caramel Macchiato and we split a turkey sandwich. Yes, it was 9am but we had been up since 4:30am and none of the sugary breakfast items seemed appealing. It’s strange, when I was younger; I loved sweet breakfasts but now not so much. My mom actually fed my brother and me cake for breakfast. And no, neither of us are diabetic. Shocking, I know!

We got to the gate and did our restroom stops and boarded shortly after. Then we sat and waited, and waited. They held the plane an extra 45 minutes to allow for all the passengers stuck at customs. At this point I was getting annoyed. I understand and appreciate that Air Canada didn’t want passengers to miss their flight. However, I had now been delayed and inconvenienced twice to allow for passengers who didn’t get the airport at an appropriate time. OK, my rant is over. And I feel much better. Thank you!

Chris and I sat a row apart, so I am not really sure what he did during the flight. All I know, is he was upset he couldn’t watch the movie Contangion because he had a child in the seat next to him.

I was planning on reading the last book in the Fifty Shades of Grey Series—Fifty Shades Freed. But I had a nine year old gif, next to me and didn’t feel comfortable reading it. So I watched, The Vow. Normally, I love these types of chick flick movies. I am huge fan of Nicholas Sparks. But this movie was just not good.

We landed at around 1:30pm and went straight to baggage claim and then picked up rental car from Avis—
A brown Hyundai Elantra

After all the stress of travelling, we were finally in Orlando and our way to Walt Disney World! Yippie!

Continued in next post!

 

[Belle_373]

Saturday, June 2 - Marina Margarita

We had to make a stop at Downtown Disney before we checked in at Corondo Springs. We were given free annual pass (AP) vouchers with our Disney Fairy Tale Wedding last year and we needed to activate them in order to qualify for the room discount. The CMs at check-in do not always verify the passes, but this time they did. So we were glad we made the stop.

But before that, we needed lunch. I was starving and my blood sugar was starting to drop. This means moody Jaclyn, so Chris wanted to make sure I was fed soon.
Since we didn’t have our APs yet, we stopped at Earl of Sandwich. Normally, we would go Wolf Gang Puck Express, but I didn’t want to go there without the 10% AP discount.

For lunch, I got the Hawaiian BBQ Sandwich - roasted ham, grilled chicken, Hawaiian BBQ sauce, Aged Swiss cheese and fresh pineapple

I had been craving this since for awhile .The last time I had it was back on our engagement trip.

Chris got the The Earl's Club Sandwich - roast turkey, smoked bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce and roma tomato and sandwich sauce.

It was so busy inside even at 3:00pm in afternoon so we took our food ate by the marina. This location solved two needs:

1. A place to sit
2. A margarita for Jaclyn

I ended up getting the Marina Margarita.

It tasted just like a traditional margarita on the rocks. But I did enjoy it sitting next to a marina.

After lunch, we made the trek over to Disney Quest to exchange our vouchers. It was Downtown Disney Car Masters Weekend. And man, it was busy and HOT!

Once that was completed, we went back to the Marketplace got our car and went to Gooding’s at the Crossroads. By this point, Chris and I were both tired and water to go straight to the hotel but we knew we needed to pick up some water.

We ended up getting some water, Perrier and blueberry muffins.

At this point in time, I was starting to crave something sweet, so I made Chris stop at the McDonalds so I could get a strawberry banana smoothie.

We were back on Disney property in no time!

Continued in next post!

 

[Belle_373]

Saturday, June 2 - Check-in at Corondo Springs

We drove to Corondo Springs and parked near the lobby and checked in.

Initially, we had a room in Casitas 3. Which is my favorite area of Corondo Springs, but Chris and I had been talking about trying the Ranchos. We were looking forward to being in a new area. Luckily, our request was granted and they moved us to room 6662 in the building 6B of the Ranchos. This location ended up being perfect. It was in a quiet area, and was near the main pool and the quiet pool. And I had no idea the Ranchos were so close to the main lobby. We ended up loving the Ranchos! In the past, we always avoided this area because we took the busses, but this time we had a car and it worked perfectly for us.

Continued in next post!

 

[Belle_373]

Saturday, June 2 - “It’s the Mexican version of grilled cheese!”

After un-packing it was already closed to 6:00pm. Originally, we had planned to go to Epcot this evening but we were both too tired to make the trek over there. We also knew we’d be walking up early tomorrow for Star Wars Weekends.

We decided to head to the pool instead and then do a late dinner at the Pepper Market.

Here are some pictures of our lovely walk over to Pepper Market. We took the long way. This was before we discovered how close we really were to the main building.

Right before this bridge, there is a walkway that leads right to the Rancho section.

For dinner, I decided to have the chicken quesadillas. This is usually the only thing I ever get from the Pepper Market. It was odd, this time there were no peppers—just cheese and chicken.

Chris got the beef Fajitas and Rice:

While we were waiting for our dinner we noticed almost everyone was ordering the cheese quesadillas.

Chris asked me “Why would someone order cheese quesadillas, it’s just cheese and tortilla ”

I responded “It’s the Mexican version of grilled cheese!”

We both burst out laughing and for the rest of trip Chris would randomly yell “Grilled Cheese”!

After dinner, we walked back to our room and got ready for bed. We were asleep by 10:00pm and set the wake-up call for 6:30am the next day.

Up next: Star Wars Weekends!

 

[grandfloluver]

Great updates so far! I am right there with ya with the Disney wake up song in the mornings hehe and ditto on it being hot Saturday. I absolutely love your pics of the resort!

 

[therussells08]

Hi there! I'm joining in!

That's so awesome that you got married at Disney! My DH and I came to Disney for our honeymoon, but I can't imagine how amazing getting married there would be!

Speaking of, your wedding pictures are gorgeous!

Haha, my DH sounds a lot like yours- he LOVES Star Wars! We have been twice during SWW, and he always has a blast!

We stayed at CSR in December for the first time and loved it! It's gorgeous!

I can't wait to read more!

 

[Belle_373]

Hi there! I'm joining in!

That's so awesome that you got married at Disney! My DH and I came to Disney for our honeymoon, but I can't imagine how amazing getting married there would be!

Speaking of, your wedding pictures are gorgeous!

Haha, my DH sounds a lot like yours- he LOVES Star Wars! We have been twice during SWW, and he always has a blast!

We stayed at CSR in December for the first time and loved it! It's gorgeous!

I can't wait to read more!

Welcome and thank you!

My DH turns into a little kid again with anything Star Wars. He was in his element during SWW.

We loved CSR too! The atmosphere is amazing.

 

[Belle_373]

Sunday, June 3 – We’re late! We’re late! For a very important date.

This morning Chris and I woke up at 6:30am and got ready for the entire reason for the trip: Star Wars Weekends (SWW).

Chris was very excited this morning and was wearing his new Return of the Jedi shirt.

My goal of this morning was to be at the Disney’s Hollywood Studios (DHS) gate between 8:00am – 8:15am. I wanted to make sure we got a good spot for the open show with the storm troopers.

We saw a family running to get to their car. I laughed and said to Chris “Good thing we won’t be late today.” We knew we would have a good 45 minutes to wait before opening.

It was at this point it time, Chris checked his Disney ipod touch app and realized DHS was opening at 8:00am today. As of the week before, the park was scheduled to open at 9am. Chris was a good sport about it, but I was not a happy camper. Oh well, I knew I would have to make the best of it. After all, this was Chris’ day.

I love ABC new show “Once upon a Time”. If you haven’t seen it , stop reading this TR, and watch it.

We parked in Television row 19. I always take a picture of the name and row number in case we can’t remember where we parked at the end of the day. I tend to get strange looks from other guests when I take the photo but I’m always able to find my car.

I was so happy when I noticed the stormtroopers were still on the roof of the entrance. We were able to watch a few minutes of them bantering back and forth. It was really entertaining.

Continued in next post!

 

[Belle_373]

Sunday, June 3 – Deserted Streets

Star wars music was playing along Hollywood Boulevard.

Even though it was SWWs, we knew we should stop by Pixar Studios first and get fastpasses for Toy Story Mania.

You can see it was already an hour wait at 8:24am. Chris and I were definitely not used to these peak season wait times. Normally, we would get fastpasses and then ride it, but not this trip.

The bounty hunters photo spot.

Then the coolest thing happened…yup, Darth Vader walked by us.

The Streets of America were deserted.

Someone is excited!

Can ya’ll guess where we are headed? I’m not from the South, I just love saying ya’ll.

Continued in next post!

 

[therussells08]

Great update! Your SWW pictures are so cool!

It never fails to blow my mind how quickly the line for TSM grows! It's insanity!

That's so cool that Darth Vader just wandered by you! My DH would have flipped!

I am from the South, so I love that you say y'all!

Hmmm...I'm going to guess you were heading to Star Tours!

 

[Belle_373]

Great update! Your SWW pictures are so cool!

It never fails to blow my mind how quickly the line for TSM grows! It's insanity!

That's so cool that Darth Vader just wandered by you! My DH would have flipped!

I am from the South, so I love that you say y'all!

Hmmm...I'm going to guess you were heading to Star Tours!

Chris and I sounded like two teenage girls seeing Justin Bieber when Darth Vader walked by

You're right! We were heading to Star Tours.

 

[Belle_373]

Sunday, June 3 –At what age do toys become collectables?

That’s right! Star Tours.

You can’t see it clearly in the picture but the wait was only 5 minutes. I was so excited by short wait. I thought it would be much busier during SWW.

Creepy photo of DH’s head and start tours sign. I tend to take a lot of photos him while he is not looking.

Chris has the toy version of the Starspeeder 1000. *Cough*, sorry, collectable. After the age of 12, they’re deemed collectables.

I work in marketing for a global industrial automation supplier. So I love seeing the different actuators on these guys. I am nerd and proud of it.

We were in row 3.

I totally forgot this ride is in 3D and forgot to pick up the glasses. Good thing, Chris noticed and grabbed any extra pair for me.

The ride sequence we got was: Stormtroopers, pod race, Admiral Ackbar and, battle for coruscant.

By this point, I was so hungry. All I had so far was some water and the top of a blueberry muffin back at the CSR this morning. I really wish places only made the top of the muffins like on Seinfeld. So we made a pit stop at Starring Rolls Cafe. For some reason, I always call it Star Rollings and Chris always has to correct me.

R2D2!!! I kept trying to convince Chris to get Kids Power Pack but he wanted the R2D2 Stein instead.

DARTH VADER CUPCAKE!

Of course, we had to get one.

Chris got a cinnamon bun and orange juice, and I got a plain bagel with cream cheese. We shared the cupcake.

The seating area was really busy, so we ended up sitting in the outside area by the Hollywood Brown Derby.

Continued in next post!

 

[grandfloluver]

great pictures so far! oh and by the way, that cupcake looks yummy!