The day had finally come. This was to be the day I waited for in anticipation. I just could not wait to see the boys faces as they experienced Star Wars in real life!Now I guess I really did not plan this one well since we would be going on opening day! WOW opening day what was I thinking???? The crowds were expected to be HUGE!!! We wanted to make sure the boys would have a chance to do Jedi Training so that meant getting up at the crack of dawn to be at the park at least 45 minutes before rope drop. Would I really want Bill to have to go through that axiety all over again? We both decided that if we had any chance of beating the dark side it would mean Bill should meet us at the the park sometime after rope drop. I could get the boys signed up for Jedi Training and he could meet us afterwards.
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Now of all the hours of time I spent planing our trip I just did not feel ready for Star Wars Weekend. For one thing I was not sure what time we would get for Jedi Training or if we would get a time period. I had no true feel on how long lines would be or really when to make our FP+. I finally decided to arrange the FP+ for late afternoon before dinner and we would just have to let things happen naturally. I was not comfortable with this at all especially since we would be dealing with soooo many people. But this was the best iternerary I could come up with considering the cirumstances
Sign up for Jedi Training
9:10 am Sci Fi Character Breakfast
Motorcade Parade
FP+ Toy Story
FP+ Great Movie Ride
5:50 Dinner at Mama Melrose
FP+ Star Tours
Fantasmic
It would be a very basic itenerary at best and I just had the bite the bullet and go for it!
When they first let us into the park they led us down the main street to a stage where storm tropers were deciding if they should let us in or not. It was very tight and very crowded. WAY more than Magic Kingdom at rope drop. I was sooooo glad that Bill had decided to come a little later. The pre show was really cool and I did get a few pictures.
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Once the crowds were released we took the short cut straight to Jedi Trianing. I was shocked at how many people were already waiting in the line. The line just did not ever seem to end but at least it was all shaded by trees and foliage. It was actullly very pretty and made the wait a little easier to deal with. The longer we waited the more I worried the boys would not get their chance. We finally got to the front and the nice man who waited on us gave us a few choices to pick from. Since we wanted to be sure we had time for or ADR at Sci Fi and also ample time to see the parade we choose the 12:30 slot. The boys felt sweet victory as they were accepted as one of the elite to train.
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Now that we had that accomplished I had hoped to meet up with Bill who had promised he would join us. We sat down a while to look at the map and get an idea of what we should do next since we had some time to kill before our breakfast at Sci Fi. The boys started to get restless so we took a stroll at one of the special Star War gift shops. I was about to tell Jaden to wait and get a Star Wars toy at home expecting them to be way over priced but for some reason the Star Wars figures he picked out was cheaper than they would be a
Walmart. The lady working at the counter told us that she thought they had priced some of the items wrong but that until it was corrected she would sell it to us for that price. Wow how can you go wrong. Feeling pretty good about his purchase we came out of the store to find Bill sitting with the rest of the family. Can you imagine my happiness! We decided as a group to at least head over to Sci Fi and go from there. On our walk we could not believe our eyes! Star Tours was only a 10 minutes wait! Even though we had a FP+ for later in the evening it was a no brainer. The boys love the ride. I just thought it was ok. Guess I am kind of old fashion and like the real rides instead of a simualted one. We only had about 10 miuntes before our ADR but I could not help but get a shot of Chewy. I caught it right before his next customer for the meet and greet. How about that a great picture and I did not even have to wait an hour like everyone else.
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We made it to our ADR with only 5 minutes to spare. The hostess lead us inside whom we were then greeted by Darth Vader and one of the Fett boys. I got a chance to show off my Disney Bound Storm Troper outfit.
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Darth Vader and Boba did not sign autographs in person but we were given a card with their autograph already on it.
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Wow that was the best! Meeting popular guys like that and no wait was perfect! After our meet and greet time we were lead to our car. I was really glad because I thought with the size of our group we would not be able to fit in one. A Star Wars movie was playing and everyone seemed to really be into the movie.
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Here is a shot of all the cars together,
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We were given a menu to choose from.
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Shortly after the waitress took our order some really cool characters started coming around.
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We really had some intresting food there.
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This was my favorite! So cool!
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Thet told us there would be a surprise served and we found out it was this drink. It came in a glowing clinder and was smoking. I really could not capture it as well as it looking in real life. It was called Strawberry surprise. When you drank it your mouth would come across a round spongy shape that would "POP" which I assume was the surprise. Can anyone tell what that was? Our whole group tried to found out but never did get the answer.
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These guys came by with flash lights looking for trash and all the junk they could find. I tried to tell them I had a whole house full of junk if they wanted to search it.
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When we had finished our meals the waitress came back and told the boys they had passed and gave them each a drivers licence
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We had a great time and I was sooooo glad I spent my whole morning trying to get that ADR. It was sooooo worth it! Unfortunity I wanted to have at least an hour and 15 minutes to search for a great spot for the motorcade Parade but we were looking at only having 45 once we got out of Sci Fi. Would we manage to fight through the crowds and get an least a spot where we could see the parade?
I agree with you on the flowers in the park. They are all so pretty and the colors so vibrant.
