3 Young Jedi Take On SWW!(Day 3 pics and report on pg 3)

[DisneyObsessive]

Hi everyone! With just 7 1/2 days to go until my trip, I thought I'd start up a short pre-trip report of what has happened and what is to come in the next week!

First to introduce the crew

Originall it was to be only two of us.

Me (20)-

Yes, that IS my myspace photo, however did you guess? It couldnt be that arm out of the picture obviously holding the camera pose, could it?

I am a Media major (journalism specifically) English minor at hunter College, located on 68th and Lex in manhattan. I've been to Disney 4 times previously, so this would be my 5th trip. The first trip was in 88... i just turned 2 as it was thanksgiving time (my birthday is the week before). We have a rather funny and embarassing video of my pudgy little self and my then 7 year old brother cause a ruckus in the magic kingdom.

Although I havn't gone as many times as most of you I like to think of myself as a Disney expert because even in all the in between years Ive kept up to date on whats been going on in the world.

Dear friend Rob (20)- No picture as of now. Film major and complete star wars geek. I've known Rob since I was about 8 or 9 years old. I used to tease him because I am older than him and so a year ahead of him in school (I'm late in 86 and he's early in 87). Our mothers were good friends and both on the PTA at our elementary school. We spent every summer together, going to the beach every week. We lost touch jr high and high school, only catching up here and there. Suddenly college came and oddly enough, we started hanging out again. He lives with his aunt in Brooklyn and his parents and sister moved to florida. We will be staying with them when we go down.

We had plans to go since feburary, and up until last month, it was just us two in the picture. Then he said there was a 3rd party member.

Rob's DF Devin ( just turned 20 last month)- Apparently rob has known her since birth. Their mothers shared a room in a hospital when they were pregnant and traded contact info and it was all history from there. I had never met Devin until about a week ago... and that story and all will follow in the next post!

 

[DisneyObsessive]

So how did this trip even get planned?

The Beginning

It was feburary 16th. I was speaking with Rob online after viewing information on Star Wars Weekends. I casually had to said to him "man, itd be awesome to go to SWW".

"Yeah it totally would. We could stay with my family, itd be great."

"Yeah. Thatd be nice."

"yeah...you know... maybe...we could... let me call my mother."

So he does. He calls his mother in florida (they are in the Tampa area) and she says "Sure! Id love to see christine and have you guys here!" (She hasnt seen me since i was about 13).

He tells me she offered to buy florida resident passes, to make it cheaper on us, and that we could stay with her so no hotel expenses. I start to flip. I run downstairs to ask my mother... i was ready with all my reasons as to why i should go, ready for a bit of an argument as usual...

And she said yes. Without hesitation. It caught me off guard. My jaw dropped. In all of 30 minutes, i had planned to go to Disney World. I was dancing around the house, telling my mother she was the best mother in the world.

She passed away the very next day. She was sick for a while, and it turned out to be complications with pneumonia that took her from me on feburary 17th. She was only 51. Its a whole story in itself that id rather not get into right now.

The proceeding week was full of guilt. How could i go and have fun? would i be ignoring my mothers death? it felt wrong. Until my brother said to me "mom knew how happy Disney made you. She would never want you to cancel your trip because of her." I knew what he said was true. So the trip was going to happen no matter what.

So in march we booked our flight through jet blue. We decided to leave May 31st out of JFK, after school was over (though for me, i took off this semester because of my mother's passing). We would be going to Disney 4 days, spend the 5th day staying with Rob's family as I had found out his Mom has cancer and has been going through treatment. He wants to spend time with her and i totally understand that. then June 5th we'll be heading back home.

Devin is going to be flying in with us but leaving on the 4th.

Our Couple Becomes Three's Company

When Rob told me, without asking first, that a third person was coming, i was a little annoyed. I was looking forward to spending time with him and it being our trip. When i found out it was a friend of his that i hadn't even met, iw as worried. Would we get along? Id have to be living with this girl for 5 days, i hoped id like her!

We finally got to meetlike 2 weeks ago and it turned out just fine. We share the same sense of humor and she definately is fun to be around. I guess my anxiety was all for nothing. Still, ill never admit it to Rob, but i wish it was still just the 2 of us.


So things were relatively quiet since last month until the vacation starts creeping closer and my money starts to look like a problem...

Which i will continue in the next post as this one is looking a bit long!

 

[DisneyObsessive]

Money Talks... It's Especially Loud When You Don't Have Any!

So! Lucky for us because of the lack of hotel expenses and the offer for resident passes from Robs mother, the trip is only costing us about $400 a piece. (not including souvenier and other expenses). Can you believe that? $400?

Considering most of our food will be coming from Rob's moms kitchen, we are trying to keep in park eats to a minimum. WE'll just have super early breakfasts, bring in lunch, and some late dinners when we get back those evenings.

Well, the past month has been me trying to scavange more money. You see, i dont have a job right now and its been hell to find one. I do babysit and get rather good money for it ($13 an hour for the family im with) but its very sporadic. I als owrite articles online for an online public media company. It only pays about $5-8 an article but ive made over $$150 inthe past month.

But im stll cutting it close. I think my account, prior to giving rob a check for about $200 for the plane tickets, was at about $550.

So that leaves about $350. Take away $180 for the park tickets and thats $170.

And thats it. Thats all the money i have in my account, period after paying off the basics. This is before spending on food or souvys (in which the list of people to buy for has been SIGNIFICANTLY reduced!).

I do babysit the 29th and will make about $65 that night. I may need to borrow like $75 from my father, whic hi so dont want to do because he'll go off on me forever about it, but i need it as a just incase.


I am VERY frugal, trust me, i managed to spend onlyabout $100 on my last trip to disney which was 7 days, that was including food (im young i can live off one meal a day!) and a couple of trinkets for people! But the extra money will make me feel better in case of emergency or anything like that. So asking my dad... will be... interesting. I dont plan to ask him until this weekend. And im mentaly preparing myself for it!!

Im still worried more about my situation when i get home. Talk about needing to find a job FAST.

A Surprise POPS up!

Since Rob doesn't really feel like doing any planning, he left it up to me. And we are kind of, do as you please when yo uget there, no real plan in mind kind of people. But we wanted to have an idea of where we were going on what day.

Our flight comes in at 8:45 am on thursday. So we are going to spend the day at Epcot.

Friday we hit MGM bright and early for the official first day of Star Wars Weekends. We'll spend the whole day there.

Saturday we hit MGM early again, for SWW things we may have missed, celebrities we didnt get autographs from the first day, etc.

Saturday evening we head for the Magic Kingdom.

Sunday Morning we hit Animal Kingdom (which Rob hates... juuuust great... cuz i love it!). I promised him we are only there for EE, Dinosaur, and the Safari. And maybe a spin on Primeval Whirl, i love that ride!

Sunday afternoon/night, MAgic Kingdom again.


Rob's mom decided she wants to come with us to Epcot, along with his sister. But she doesnt want to have to drive back that evening. So she booked us all a night at Pop! Very cool! i have not stayed here before but have heard great things about it.

And since we will be on property, we will be able to take advantage of EMH. And it works out perfectly, because thursdays EMH is evening at epcot and AM EMH for friday is MGM! which is awesome with how dire it is for us to run for celebrity autographs for SWW in the morning. So we get an edge!

She only booked about a week ago, so this is all new to us! Makes the waiting even longer!

What Now?

Right now, I am aching to get the luggage from the attic! My dad promised sunday he'd get a bag down. Ive yet to make my checklist of stuff to bring. I also havnt flown since the whole "liquids" fiasco with airports, so i need to print out the info andmake sure i have the right things in those clear plastic bags.

I will be busy this weekend thank god, so atleast time wont go TOO slow. Of course im seeing pirates friday night and thats the only time im spending money before the trip. Saturday im going to dinner with a friend and a high school teacher (yes, i hang with my HS teachers, the alumni from my school are VERY close). And he usually treats us.Sunday im just hanging out a friends house, and thats always fun AND free!

Meanwhile, im dealing with my boyfriend being 1) quite a bit jealous as he is a huge star wars fan and 2) being sad about how he's going to miss me. We've known each other since november of last year (worked together over holiday season) but have been going out for 3 months, and this is the first time either of us will be away for more than a day. And we are one of those psycho couples who talks for hours on the phone every night heh. So i think its going to be pretty tough for him. I will def miss him but (and id never tell him this) i think im going to be so distracted by everything in disney it wont be as big a deal for me as him. Not to say i care for him any less!

Oh. And did i mention how excited i am because naturally, Rob being a film major, we are going to be TAPING our vacation (especially Star Wars WEekends)? Like i said, the only tape i have from WDW is from 1988.

And of course, we'll youtube it! So you will all get to see some of our adventure!!

Anyway, i think i ought to make my checklist tonight.

I will report more as it happens!

 

[CantWaitToGo2007]

Sounds like you are going to have a great time! I'm so jealous that you get to go in only 7 days. I still have almost 7 months

 

[DisneyObsessive]

hmm... not many people seem interested. should i bother continuing? you tell me.

Also, does anyone have a suggestion as to when we could possibly fit maybe like 2h ours at DTD somewhere in our schedule? I have no idea when to get over there...

 

[MickeyMaz]

hmm... not many people seem interested. should i bother continuing? you tell me.

Also, does anyone have a suggestion as to when we could possibly fit maybe like 2h ours at DTD somewhere in our schedule? I have no idea when to get over there...

It's tough to lose any park time, but since your in transit anyway, maybe you should hit DTD on Saturday between MGM and MK. It's almost on the way isn't it? And MK should be open pretty late on Sat.

Have a fun trip. Make sure you hit the Rope Drop for the SWW. I saw a video of the Stormtroopers putting on some kind of show at opening.

And keep up the reports. It's worth putting it all down if people are interested or not. Would you be writing this experience down if it was not for the Disboards? I posted trip reports for our last trip and I would have not done so except for posting here. And thank the gods I did. I always go back and re-read from my own trip to get some of that magic back. So keep posting you'll appreciate it later.

Sorry, one more comment. Add Everest and Finding Nemo to your EE rides for Animal Kingdom.

Maz

 

[DisneyObsessive]

THanks Maz, you have a very good point.

And yes hopefully somwhere between a transition sat or sunday we can stop by. or maybe hightail it out of MK before closing and spend the last part of any evening (sat or sun) there.

I promised rob only 2 hours, as he is a typical guy and shopping is scary for him. However, me being a not-so-typical girl, its scary for me too. I hate shopping. I go and get what i came for and get the heck out. RARELY am i in the mood to browse. But this is disney. and im sure once he returns to that lovely world of disney store he'll be ok.

We have ours here in NYC on 5th ave which is awesome, 3 floors of goodness and they have characters there! I really ought to stop by more often as its not far from campus... just a few blocks. Then i can grab some photos and ask mickey what he's in New york for this week?

Nothing else really going on right now, alls quiet on this front. Printed out the pre-trip checklist from t o u r i n g p l a n s . c o m which has taken care of most of the basics. Ive only had to add on a few. And being as, like ive said, my dad said he's not geting the luggage til sunday, i can't pack .

I am starting to make a mental checklist of what clothes im bringing though. I wish i had a place to put them off to the side in the meantime but i dont.

I assume there won't be much going on until sunday/monday. Im aching to do something though! I spend every day on the dis and listening to park audio and looking up things here and there and keeping up on any new SWW info. But right now theres only so much i can do.

Only 2 more days until i can start packing. And then ill feel im accomplishing something!

 

[prncssmel]

I say definitely keep going on with the pre and post trip report. Sometimes great things take awhile to catch on!

OMG, if I was that close to World of Disney, I would have no money at all 'cause I would be there everyday.

 

[zippyhannah]

i cant wait to read your trip report it will be nice reading ur perspective as i am 20 and going for my 21st never been before as am from liverpool uk and always wanted to go so my mum and dad are taking me and dboyf all the trippies i have read are from famileys remember to poast ur you tube link am gonna be doing the same as am a media student (more film side and advertising) hope ur having a brill time as you will be there now am now subscribing hope you have a fab time hannah

 

[DisneyObsessive]

Thank you guys for the encouragement to keep going! Zippyhannah, i know what you mean. Sometimes itd be nice to read a trip report you can relate to.
Of course, i hope you write one as well when you get back from your trip!

You are going to love disney. If you can take yourself out of the ordinary, believe in a little magic, it'll be awesome!!! So excited for you!

Yo-Ho, Yo-ho....

So i saw POTC: At World's End last night. Forget the critics, and even a couple of my friends, i LOVED it! Granted, the first one is and will always be the best. But i really enjoyed it! I never really had a problem with any of them quite frankly.

People really need to stop being so tough and just go and enjoy a movie. Not every movie needs to be this epic, oscar winning experience. Sheesh! Let loose a little!!

Without giving anything away, the monkey was great. The idea of Davy Jones' Locker? Very...weeeird.... and over all some great sword fight/battle scenes. I went with a big group (there was 7 of us) and we alll unanimously liked it.

Last night was also the last time i would see my boyfriend before I left. He was really bumming me out. He wouldnt even smile. He was acting like i was being shipped away to war!! He wont see me for about 2 weeks (i get home tuesday the 5th, but knowing how things go after vacay, prob wont see him til thursday the earliest). Considering we usually see each other twice a week and call each other every night, it IS a change. But i keep telling him it'll be fine.

He's just been in a bit of a bad situation that has really bummed him and ive been a huge support for him. So I think me leaving at this particular moment isnt ideal. And of course i will worry like crazy about him. But Im one of those people that just instinctually knows things.. and i know it'll be fine!!

Still, i will miss him and wish he could come along with me.

Rob has done a little packing since he said he just did laundry and figured he'd throw some in his bag now. Im still waiting to tomorrow to do so. Also, apparently the sling bag my dad bought in AK is MIA. So ihave to do a bit of a search. Rob said he's bringing a small backpack tho, and if i need to throw my stuff in with his i could. Id still like to find the bag though. ITs probably in the basement... and if youve seen my basement... yikes.

Today will be pretty easy going day. going to check my bank balance, work out a little bit of a budget, then relax with some friends tonight over dinner. Tomorrow will be wash/packing day! That'll definately take up a good amount of the day.

4 days, 18 hours and 44 minutes according to my little counter on my desktop. Not soon enough! Its been 3 years since my last trip, im aching for this one!

 

[ktink]

Enjoying this so far. I hope you have a wonderful trip! I'm just excited to be double digit dancing, I'm at 99 days.

 

[DisneyObsessive]

Ktink, i started my count at 110! It'll go faster than you think!!!

Things have been pretty quiet the past couple of days. I finally got my bag out of the attic and have done some packing! have most of the clothes packed. just one or two more items of clothing that need to be added.

As for the smaller stuff, and the seperate liquids/gels, ill probably get to that tomorrow. id get it all done tonight actually, but im trying to stretch out the task so i actually have something to do the next 3 days!

Other than that, we are just very excited. We've got some sort of an idea of what we will do at epcot... we should be arriving there around noon and will stay til midnight... but we figure we'll talk more details on the plane. Id talk more details NOW but i think Rob will kill me!

That's pretty much the update for now!! WE are getting closer and soon it will be off to Neverland!

 

[prncssmel]

Wow, only 2 more days for you! Good luck getting all your packing done.

 

[DisneyObsessive]

42 hours and counting until my plane takes off for Tampa (as that is where Robs family is). Though i think they will be picking us up and whisking us away to Pop ASAP.

I just got back from CVS to get some travel sized things... shampoo (as im a stickler for using herbal essences!), deodorant (a musthave in that heat!), toothpaste, and contact lense cleaner, though because i hurt my eye last week i may not even get to wear them but im not sure.

Speaking of, i needto pick up my contact lenses from the drs office today. theyve been sitting there for like 3 weeks. oops! Talk about procrastination. I guess she'll let me know for sure then if i can wear them or not.

Once I get that done I'll be set. No more running around. Ill be able to relax tomorrow and double check everything!

In the meantime i would say i am 60% packed. The excitement has really hit me and i cant concentrate on anything else!!! Ive cleaned the room already (as i hate the idea of coming home to a messy place, especially when i know ill will drop my stuff on the floor and make it worse).

What else to do? I dont even know!!! I guess finish packing! Which should only take me about 20 more minutes. And THEN what do i do the rest of the day?

and tomorrow?!?!?!

Too much time! need to go NOW!!!

Im supposed to babysit tonight but the mom hasnt called me yet. She told me like 3 weeks ago shed need me on the 29th, and shed call me that day for specific times (but she said somewhere around 7pm). Ok so its 11:35 and its a bit early but really, itd be nice if she called! I really need the extra $65 i would make tonight for this trip. If it doesnt happen, then im in a bit of a bind!

Well, we'll see what happens. in the meantime, i guess i better finish the packing!!!

 

[NewCrew42]

Have a great trip. I hope the babysitting gig comes thru for you.

SWW are the bomb. We have been every May for the past few years and were disappointed they were moved to June this year. Here a few little tips, but you may already know these things. Get there early. There is a cute little "show" as you enter the park. Ride Star Tours in order to go into the Tatooine Traders gift shop. (The gift shop at the exit of the Star Tours ride. There will be a que to go into it without riding the ride. If you are riding, just do this as you exit the ride. This way you kill two birds with one stone or one line rather.) There is a fun photo thing in the gift shop. They take your face photo and put it on a Star Wars character. Examle, your face with the hair and body of Padma. Very Cool and Very Fun as well as expensive. I think you can get fast passes for some of the Character autograph lines. Check your times guide when you enter the park. There might be a special time guide for the star wars events. There is usually a parade, check the time guide. One year my son got to see the preview for the 6th star wars movie. It was really cool. They used to play WMTBAM Star Wars edition. I wonder if they are going to replace this with something else since this show is no longer available. Just be sure to check the times guide to all the great information.

Have a great trip. May the force with you!

 

[DisneyObsessive]

Thanks so much for all the tips, NewCrew42! May the force be with you as well! Can't wait to read the rest of your trip report... guess ill have to finish it when i get home!

its almost 5 and i never got a phone call! seems like no babysitting. Ill have to borrow money from my father for sure... and asking him is a daunting task! ill leave it for tomorrow!

Down to 37 hours now! i dont even know what to do with myself! im listening to some park music and im 90% done with packing. THe last few things are my cell phone and charger, wallet, keys but i kind of need them right now! Ill be throwing them into a drawstring bag to carry on the plane with me.

Need to wake up bright and early tomorrow if im going to get to sleep by 9pm! I have that lovely sleep routine of go to bed at 1 or 2 am and sleep til 12 the next day. I decided the way to fix this is to go to bed late but wake myself up at like 7 am.

That way, im tired at 9pm and will have 6 hours of sleep before i wake up at 3am thursday to get ready! I have to be at the airport about 4:30, 4:45 (YIKES!).

I AM SO EXCITED! Can you tell? 2 MORE SLEEPS!

 

[DisneyObsessive]

Exactly 24 hours from now i will be in flight, about an hour away from my destination! I cant believe it!!! I'm up early (atleast for me) so i can try and get myself to bed at 9! Though one of my fav reality shows So You Think You Can Dance is on tonight 2 hours til 10. Eep! Ok maybe ill let myself stay up for it!

Today is going to be a very looooooooong day! I'll be back later for more of an update.

 

[DisneyObsessive]

We're off! See you tuesday!

 

[BlueBayou]

Can't wait to hear how the trip went. I hope it was a blast.

 

[prncssmel]

SWW sounds so exciting. Hope you're having fun!