A Most Epic Fantasy DISmeet Cruise-The bitter end 3/21, Bonus Feature, Completed Star Wars Galaxy's Edge 6/20

[Steppesister]

I would love to hear your thoughts on SW:GE. I think you will find the right balance of giving us an overview and not spoiling every detail. I also want to know what your impressions are.

AGREED!!! Pretty please!

Me, too. At first I didn’t want to pay the money, but it is a great product and is so easy to use. It’s also great for all other photo sharing needs! I like that it’s really easy to adjust privacy settings for each album.

I didn't even think it was that expensive. No clue what I paid, but do remembering, that's reasonable and certainly BETTTER than what PB was (not) offering!

I like that too! I also have on occasion used the primitive edit tools in a pinch.

 

[rentayenta]

Trader Sam's = good drinks, bad service. Great company!

 

[franandaj]

Amazing!! I can't wait to see pictures and hear your take on GE!
I will no doubt have incredible FOMO but I am ok with that because I think I also have even more fear of insane crowds so I guess I will be ok just reading about everyone else's experiences (but very jealous too!)

Actually the crowds were not nearly as bad. Only because of the restrictions they have put in place. I hope they keep it somewhat restricted though, it could be absolutely nuts. I know Carsland was when it opened.

Wow both of these look so yummy!

They were! I hope both of them come back next year!

LOL I can take or leave yams but my sister Chunkysis would die for this.

She can have all the yams!

Wow this looks amazing.

Oh yum, I would totally get both of these!
I know Adobo is a Filipino dish made with a sauce of soy sauce, garlic and vinegar. So if you get the sauce right you can probably do it with a lot of different meats.

I need to get a recipe. I've got Pork Belly in the freezer that needs eating!

Yum, I love yorkshire pudding and don't get to see it enough on menus!

The only place I know of that it is on the menu is Lawry's Prime Rib.

YES!! I'd much rather hear it from someone I know rather than read blogs and videos posted by the you tubers and podcasters.

I'll try and get it together to post it. It has been a crazy crazy crazy last couple weeks!

LOL what is that white sauce? I thought this was some sort of dessert when you first posted it until I read that it was...mac and cheese? Why is the sauce so...white?

I don't know why it was so white, I wanted it cheesier!

I've been using imgur and it worked fine with copying the bbcode link and putting it in word in advance! I tried switching to Google Photos, but realized it was going to be a PITA to have to copy each image when I'm about to post. Um, nope! I still haven't figure out how to rearrange Imgur photos in an album though, so I've just had to work around it!

I'm fine with going back to Photobucket. I paid for a year just to keep my photos alive, and now with all the problems trying to host from my own website, I'll just stick with PB now that their pricing has calmed down.

Hmm, that's weird they are strict? You'd think they could just count it as 2 drinks. Like if they cut you off after 3 drinks, you could get that one and 1 other solo drink?

I don't know. But you know Disney, always rules.

Almost certainly.

TBH, I haven't decided. I will go in September... but... if I'm hearing the crowds are insane... I may avoid it for another time. We'll see.

I'm hearing that WDW will not be doing reservations and Virtual Queues so it could be INSANE!

I am not one of those people!

You definitely are not!

What are you having trouble with?

It didn't want to post photos hosted on my website. It just showed the URL and not the picture, no matter what I tried.

Well, that certainly sucks.

Hi, Jenny!

Oh, dear. That doesn't sound particularly fun.

Yes it does. Remember she works in Behavioral Health.

This is a first for you, no?

Certainly!

That sounds less than "OK".

Yeah, it pretty much was less than OK, but I guess we were hungry enough to live with it.

Yum! Perfect!

Very tasty!

Very nice! Your own little fireworks dessert party!

Well, us and about 30 others or so.

 

[franandaj]

In the meantime, I switched out to Smugmug and love it. So EASY!

Huh. I'm OK with PB, it works and I don't have to do a new learning curve. I couldn't take that right ow.

I want these super bad!! I NEED to go to TS's!!

Maybe we can go in the afternoon when you come in September, and go out for dinner in the evening

I would love to hear your thoughts on SW:GE. I think you will find the right balance of giving us an overview and not spoiling every detail. I also want to know what your impressions are.

I'll try and start putting my thoughts down before I forget.

Me, too. At first I didn’t want to pay the money, but it is a great product and is so easy to use. It’s also great for all other photo sharing needs! I like that it’s really easy to adjust privacy settings for each album.

Nice to know, but I pretty much only use picture hosting for the DIS.

AGREED!!! Pretty please!

OK! I'll start working on it!

I didn't even think it was that expensive. No clue what I paid, but do remembering, that's reasonable and certainly BETTTER than what PB was (not) offering!

I like that too! I also have on occasion used the primitive edit tools in a pinch.

My photobucket plan is only like $50 per year, that's good enough for me.

Trader Sam's = good drinks, bad service. Great company!

Pretty much! Tomorrow we have a Trader Sams event!

 

[franandaj]

We're back at the second Day of DCA's Food & Wine Festival with Jenny and Jill staying in our room at the VGC.....

Saturday brought rain rain rain, but first we had a light breakfast.

We braved the elements and tried the LA Style Booth this morning, notice the wet ground. They had Asian-Style Beef Barbacoa Tacos with Pickled Ginger – $8.00
BLT Chicharron Duro with Ranch Crema – $7.00

The tacos were OK, but the BLT Chicharron thingy was really tasty! Nice big pieces of bacon lardons.
The Tiki Cocktail: Aged Rum, Falernum, Bitter, Lime and Grapefruit Juices, with a Mint Sprig and Luxardo Cherry Garnish – $13.50 was good, but when we stirred it up and mixed in the bitters it wasn’t quite as good as it was upon pouring.
All morning as we were running around, we had Southern California rain. For anyone who has lived anywhere else, rain comes down in sheets, or buckets. For the most part in So Cal, we get mist, droplets, and sometimes full on rain, but on this day, we had mist. Jenny and Jill kept hassling me about it being mist as opposed to rain. At one point (later) they asked me to define the difference between the two, so I thought it was interesting to include it here, where the whole discussion began.
Rain is made from heavy droplets that make a "plop" when they hit the ground. If a body of water is nearby you can see distinct droplets hit the water and radiate outward in circles.
Mist is very fine droplets which may or may not hit the ground. Mist mainly hovers in the air and gets your glasses all covered in tiny little pin points of water.
We still had about an hour until our wine demos that afternoon and we wanted to get out of the mist so we stopped in for a drink.

While talking with our server about the weather, he talks about how annoying it was “since it wasn’t a real rain and more of an annoying mist.”
Jenny and Jill swore that I had put him up to this!

We had two wine demos booked that afternoon. Wine demos this year were scheduled to be in the Sonoma Terrace, which is an outdoor patio with only a covering from trees and maybe an Arbor. Luckily the Disney folks had a back up plan and instead of having the tastings there, we were in the Vineyard room upstairs. I was thrilled with this change as I love the Vineyard room and anytime I can be in that space it’s great.


1:15 was Bonny Doon and the speaker was kind of a snoozer. He mostly talked about the minerality of the soil, and the complex aspects of blending wines and their PH balance, etc. I would have rathered of heard stories and such, and he didn’t even start us drinking the wine until the last five minutes of his session, while of course most everyone had already finished their glasses.

I was sad to hear that the wines of theirs that I liked and brought me to the seminar were sold off a few years ago to pursue the wines that we tasted that day.


2:45 was Fess Parker and we loved all their wines, and had a fun time.





I’ve decided to drop my subscription to Lasseter Winery and go back to Fess Parker.
Before the tasting, we met up with Marla who I met on the DIS probably six years ago. Her friend joined us and we had a great time with a lot in common!

After our wine tastings Jill, Jenny and I rode Guardians a couple times, seems I only have one picture.

We had some dessert and I hit a preverbial wall, and boom! I pretty much fell into bed and was asleep until 2AM, then I had that kind of uncomfortable sort of sleep until I decided to take a tub around 6:30AM.

Jill had a morning flight, so she got picked up from the hotel fairly early. Jenny, Fran, Jenny’s hubby, and I all went to breakfast together and then Fran and I packed up and checked out. We got me a couple dresses and returned a shirt I had bought Friday and exchanged it for a shirt two sizes smaller.
Then we got a bread bowl with soup at Nuts about Cheese. This was very tasty!

Next we had a Berry Pie from Berry Patch, and I was done. Put a fork in me done.


We had done so many stairs on Saturday and there were several times that it was raining somewhat hard that we were trying to walk fast that I exhausted myself, as a result, my shin splints had come back with a vengeance. If I had any question of whether or not I should bring my scooter to WDW in 10 days, this was the sign.

When I got home I slathered my legs in Voltaren Gel and iced my shins. They still hurt even as the sun was setting, so much so that I took yet another one of my homeopathic pain pills.
I’ll wrap this up for now and be back with our last “weekend” at F&W.

 

[franandaj]

So I really hadn’t planned on a second weekend at F&W but while I was at my parents house over the Christmas week, I was playing around with my DVC points. I rented out nearly all my points for this current year, because we have been tight on cash, and it seemed a quick and easy way to make money. We had 104 points left between three of my four home resorts, and just for kicks and giggles, I was looking at availability at the VGC and lo and behold there was a Sunday and Monday night available March 31- Apr 2. I figured why not and guess how many points it took? 104! I wouldn’t have to worry about banking points or anything!


It was just going to be the two of us this time and we got out really late, like 6PM because we had eBays to ship, file cabinets to drop off and just general life stuff to deal with.


Obviously our room was ready, we got checked in had our bags delivered and went to get some grub. We were so tired, no pictures, but we just ate some basic food, I had some basic wine, and then we went back to the room. I took a bath and got a second wind. So I went out and got some dessert and watched the DL fireworks from the 6th floor of the hotel. When I came back to the room, World of Color was playing off the balcony. Sweet. Twofer!


The next morning when I woke up, took anther bath, droughts over folks! I scrounged up some breakfast, and came back to the room. We weren't in a hurry to get anywhere as the food booths didn't open until 11AM. Our first stop was Golden Dreams.



We had Anaheim Chile Relleno bites. Very good, but a little kick.



Teriyaki Chicken musubi deconstructed. Tasty, but would have preferred the rice not formed into a patty.



Peanut butter chocolate parfait, very tasty!



Then we went to the Corn kiosk.



We had shrimp boil and Andouille sausage tacos. I picked the cilantro off mine. It was too spicy for Fran.



I didn't care for the corn nuggets, but I did eat all the bacon lardons.



I wanted to try more booths, but I was getting full, so instead we went through the stores and looked for stuff to buy. It wasn't really feasible to try any rides this was Spring Break and the lines for almost everything was over an hour. The line for Ariel's ride was probably at least 45 minutes long, so any good ride would have been nuts.

We went over to Disneyland for a bit, but again the lines for the rides were much too long, so we just looked around in the Disneyana shop and the Jack Skellington/HM shop in New Orleans Square. Somewhere along the way Fran picked up this nifty hat.



Back in DCA Fran wanted to try this Strawberry Float from the Strawberry patch.



I couldn’t handle it, the drink was so sweet.



She loved it!



A little later once I was hungry again, I used my little tab on the lanyard for some fish and chips. It was a smaller portion than the $11.95 version, but it was the perfect size! And very tasty.



Then we went back to the room via the cats and changed to go to Trader Sam's.



We got a Krakatoa and a shrunken zombie head.





We shared a pupu platter.



She got a Piranha Pool, and I got a Mosquito Mojito.



Then we went back to the hotel, I had a couple glasses of wine and then took a tub. I was asleep before 9PM.







The next day we got up, packed up and went home. It was band night.

 

[Lesley Wake]

All morning as we were running around, we had Southern California rain. For anyone who has lived anywhere else, rain comes down in sheets, or buckets. For the most part in So Cal, we get mist, droplets, and sometimes full on rain, but on this day, we had mist. Jenny and Jill kept hassling me about it being mist as opposed to rain. At one point (later) they asked me to define the difference between the two, so I thought it was interesting to include it here, where the whole discussion began.
Rain is made from heavy droplets that make a "plop" when they hit the ground. If a body of water is nearby you can see distinct droplets hit the water and radiate outward in circles.
Mist is very fine droplets which may or may not hit the ground. Mist mainly hovers in the air and gets your glasses all covered in tiny little pin points of water.
We still had about an hour until our wine demos that afternoon and we wanted to get out of the mist so we stopped in for a drink.

While talking with our server about the weather, he talks about how annoying it was “since it wasn’t a real rain and more of an annoying mist.”
Jenny and Jill swore that I had put him up to this!

You explained it perfectly! I will often describe it as "misting" not raining, and my family totally understands what that means!

 

[pkondz]

I'm hearing that WDW will not be doing reservations and Virtual Queues so it could be INSANE!

But rope drop is at 6am... 3 hours early. I expect I'll do that at least once.

It didn't want to post photos hosted on my website. It just showed the URL and not the picture, no matter what I tried.

Well... poop.

Yes it does. Remember she works in Behavioral Health.

Wait... so it was a good day?

Well, us and about 30 others or so.

See? Very intimate!

 

[pkondz]

Brown sugar on the oatmeal.
Doing it right.

Rain is made from heavy droplets that make a "plop" when they hit the ground. If a body of water is nearby you can see distinct droplets hit the water and radiate outward in circles.
Mist is very fine droplets which may or may not hit the ground. Mist mainly hovers in the air and gets your glasses all covered in tiny little pin points of water.

Now... try to figure out the difference between mist and drizzle.

We had to do that when I did the weather. Eventually, we switched from the North American model to the International model of weather reporting. There isn't a category for drizzle in it.

While talking with our server about the weather, he talks about how annoying it was “since it wasn’t a real rain and more of an annoying mist.”
Jenny and Jill swore that I had put him up to this!

He mostly talked about the minerality of the soil, and the complex aspects of blending wines and their PH balance, etc.

I’ve decided to drop my subscription to Lasseter Winery and go back to Fess Parker.

Why? Just prefer the taste? Or...

Good looking group!

So... bottom/first row. 3/4 from the left.... just what is that woman doing... and why is he smiling so much?
Also the three in the front row on the right hand side... They look so bored! And of course there's the goofballs behind them.

We had done so many stairs on Saturday and there were several times that it was raining somewhat hard that we were trying to walk fast that I exhausted myself, as a result, my shin splints had come back with a vengeance.

Awww... poor Alison.

 

[pkondz]

I figured why not and guess how many points it took? 104! I wouldn’t have to worry about banking points or anything!

It was obviously meant to be!

we just ate some basic food, I had some basic wine, and then we went back to the room.

So basically, you had a basic dinner.

So I went out and got some dessert and watched the DL fireworks from the 6th floor of the hotel. When I came back to the room, World of Color was playing off the balcony. Sweet. Twofer!

Niiiice. Your own little dessert party.

The next morning when I woke up, took anther bath, droughts over folks!

Good!

Teriyaki Chicken musubi

That sounds interesting. Too bad about the rice, though.

Peanut butter chocolate parfait, very tasty!

I bet!

this was Spring Break and the lines for almost everything was over an hour.

Nope!

The line for Ariel's ride was probably at least 45 minutes long, so any good ride would have been nuts.

45 minutes... for that ride????

Looking good, Fran!

Back in DCA Fran wanted to try this Strawberry Float from the Strawberry patch.

I couldn’t handle it, the drink was so sweet.

She loved it!

I'm thinking I would too, then.

Happy lady!

Hey! I remember them! (Or relatives of them...)

Like the Zombie head mug.

 

[Flossbolna]

Looks like you had lots of fun at the festival! I am happy for you that it finally returned! I remember how disappointed you were when they cancelled it!

I am impressed at all the walking you did that first weekend. Sorry you were in pain afterwards, but maybe with better shoes things will improve even more!

Fran‘s hat is hilarious and she looks so happy in it!

 

[Steppesister]

Huh. I'm OK with PB, it works and I don't have to do a new learning curve. I couldn't take that right ow.

Maybe we can go in the afternoon when you come in September, and go out for dinner in the evening

Rain is made from heavy droplets that make a "plop" when they hit the ground. If a body of water is nearby you can see distinct droplets hit the water and radiate outward in circles.
Mist is very fine droplets which may or may not hit the ground. Mist mainly hovers in the air and gets your glasses all covered in tiny little pin points of water.

While talking with our server about the weather, he talks about how annoying it was “since it wasn’t a real rain and more of an annoying mist.”
Jenny and Jill swore that I had put him up to this!

So I really hadn’t planned on a second weekend at F&W but while I was at my parents house over the Christmas week, I was playing around with my DVC points. I rented out nearly all my points for this current year, because we have been tight on cash, and it seemed a quick and easy way to make money. We had 104 points left between three of my four home resorts, and just for kicks and giggles, I was looking at availability at the VGC and lo and behold there was a Sunday and Monday night available March 31- Apr 2. I figured why not and guess how many points it took? 104! I wouldn’t have to worry about banking points or anything!

Nice!! You got a perfect win-win from that.

When I came back to the room, World of Color was playing off the balcony. Sweet. Twofer!

What a great evening!

I couldn’t handle it, the drink was so sweet.

Yeah, looked and sounded a bit cloying. Glad Fran liked it- you can tell by her smile.

We got a Krakatoa and a shrunken zombie head.

She got a Piranha Pool,

I was hoping to get BOTH of those cups on a trip soon.

 

[franandaj]

You explained it perfectly! I will often describe it as "misting" not raining, and my family totally understands what that means!

See! And Jill and Jenny think I'm nuts.

But rope drop is at 6am... 3 hours early. I expect I'll do that at least once.

Yikes! I may want to see how it compares to the DL version, but I imagine that I will have had my fill of the land by October. I know of four more times I'll be going there, including this afternoon.

Wait... so it was a good day?

Did I mention that she just didnt have the strength to face the parks? You decide.

See? Very intimate!

I often say "let's have an intimate dinner party, let's invite 30 random strangers over!"

Brown sugar on the oatmeal.
Doing it right.

Is there any other way? Although Fran adds butter to that mix.

Now... try to figure out the difference between mist and drizzle.

Well drizzle is a heavier mist, but not quite rain.

We had to do that when I did the weather. Eventually, we switched from the North American model to the International model of weather reporting. There isn't a category for drizzle in it.

Well, why not?

Why? Just prefer the taste? Or...

Less expensive, better varietals.

So... bottom/first row. 3/4 from the left.... just what is that woman doing...

I think she fell asleep.

and why is he smiling so much

I'm not gonna go there!

Also the three in the front row on the right hand side... They look so bored!

I think they tried to do that.

And of course there's the goofballs behind them.

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Awww... poor Alison.

I know. Even today I'll need my scooter. Don't know what I did to my knee.

It was obviously meant to be!

Kismet.

So basically, you had a basic dinner.

On a basic level.

Niiiice. Your own little dessert party.

I'm having a lot of those lately....

That sounds interesting. Too bad about the rice, though.

The rice was a little weird.

Nope!
45 minutes... for that ride????

Ridiculous!

I'm thinking I would too, then.

Probably.

Happy lady!

How often do you see her with a big grin like that?

Hey! I remember them! (Or relatives of them...)

Same ones....they weren't there on Friday.

Like the Zombie head mug.

You wouldn't like the drink, it's mostly rum. I have several of them in both white and black. They're white on the west coast and black on the east coast.

 

[franandaj]

Nice!! You got a perfect win-win from that.

Worked out just great!

What a great evening!

I was very pleased!

Yeah, looked and sounded a bit cloying. Glad Fran liked it- you can tell by her smile.

You don't see her smile like that often.

I was hoping to get BOTH of those cups on a trip soon.

It's always easy to convince Fran to go to Trader Sam's!

 

[Steppesister]

You don't see her smile like that often.

But when she does, she lights up the world!

It's always easy to convince Fran to go to Trader Sam's!

Then... I shall.

 

[pkondz]

Did I mention that she just didnt have the strength to face the parks? You decide.

That'd be a no, then.

I often say "let's have an intimate dinner party, let's invite 30 random strangers over!"

We did that once. We were living up in Churchill, and they didn't have any Chinese food up there.
We thought we'd invite a few friends over, you know... maybe 6? 10 at the outside?
A few days beforehand, I asked how many she'd invited so I could shop for enough food.
We started counting... Neither one of us thought to talk to the other about who was invited.
We had about 40 people over.

Went well, though.
But boy I was busy in the kitchen.

Is there any other way?

Nope.

Well drizzle is a heavier mist, but not quite rain.

Pretty much!

Well, why not?

I don't think there's a French word for drizzle.

Less expensive, better varietals.

ah

I think she fell asleep.

Must be it. That ride is conducive to slumber.

I'm not gonna go there!

Hey! I resemble that remark!

How often do you see her with a big grin like that?

You wouldn't like the drink, it's mostly rum.

Nope. And I figured as much.

I have several of them in both white and black. They're white on the west coast and black on the east coast.

Oh really! Huh.

 

[franandaj]

I know that I have a couple of comments to reply to, but I want to try and get this up quickly since as of today there is less than a week left of the reservation system. On June 24th, SWGE switches from 4 hour reservation blocks to a virtual queue. That means that as soon as you get into the park, you can "get in line" on the app or at a kiosk. There will be no limits on your time, but there are no in and out privileges. Once you're in you stay until you leave and then you can't get back in unless you virtually queue up again, and I'm not sure if you can do that more than once in a day. So with that in mind here are my thoughts so far. There will be more updates coming, cause I can't process all the pictures and information of yesterday and post it. I'll need some time for the things that were truly new. Without further adieu…



SWGE Preview & subsequent reservations


So by the time you're reading this I will have visited Galaxy's Edge three different times. Rather than give you a trip by trip description I'm going to sort of blend all the trips together to give you an overview. I'm going to post pictures where I see them fitting best and not necessarily chronologically. If I didn’t do it this way, the first part of the update would be really boring because that first visit was six days prior to opening day. They made us seal our phones up in little opaque gray baggies so that we wouldn't spill the beans. In fact on that visit when we were sealing our phones away, the CM even suggested that we get a case of amnesia for the next few days.

The drag about seeing the land during the previews was that no maps were available. Our phones were locked up so we couldn't check the app, and as a result on that visit we missed out on one section of the land entirely. Also the line for the Cantina was over an hour long if not more. We didn't want to spend half the time we had in the land waiting in line so we decided that would be our priority for the next trip. Of course by then they had changed the process, and we missed out again.

Our second trip was during the reservation period and we were on Jenny's reservation. People start lining up well before their entrance time which are in four hour slots. (8:00-12:00, 11:00-3:00, 2:00-6:00, 5:00-9:00, and if the park is open that late 8:00-midnight).

These people were waiting for the 8PM entrance time, when we were exiting on our second night.



You'll notice in the time schedules that there are two hours of overlap in each time slot, except for the first and last times. So you're best off to do the things with high demand and a long queue in the two hours your group is the only one in SWGE (which is basically the build a droid workshop and the Falcon ride). Wrist bands are available for pick up at the Launch Bay two hours before your entrance.





The area where they are currently letting folks in is next to the Hungry Bear Restaurant. By our third visit we had developed a plan to go from Launch Bay directly there and stalk it until they let you in the queue area. And I'll tell you why.

By the time our second visit to Batuu (that's the name of the planet) rolled around, they had changed all the procedures that we learned in the previews. Since people waiting in line can't spend money, the two most popular items, (the Cantina, and the build a light saber experience) were switched to virtual queues. The key here is that there were limited spots available in both locations, and if you didn’t get there in the first 15 minutes, all the spots were taken. So those folks at the beginning of that line I showed you above were making a beeline to one of the two headliners for sure. In a moment you'll see where I'm going with this.

We had the 5-9 period, and Jenny has an actual job that goes until 4:30, and due to staffing issues there was no way she could get off early. Plus it ended up that her day was just nuts to start with. So it was 5PM when we were entering the queue for picking up our wrist bands. We were scanning our wrist bands at the check point at 5:36, and quarter to 6 before we even got to the Cantina, so we didn't have a chance at a spot. We vowed that our next visit with Jenny and crew we would get our wrist bands 2 hours ahead of entry and be at the front of that long queue.

But Fran and I had another visit the following Sunday, so we had our own opportunity to try this strategy.

For our third visit, I had managed to somehow screw up my right knee, so both of us were on scooters this time. We were late getting out of Dodge (as usual), and it was 12:55 when we entered the Launch Bay to get our wrist bands. We hightailed it over to Critter Country and Fran noticed the line that had formed snaking across the front of Splash Mountain, we entered the line just between the exit of HM and Splash. This was at 1:10.



Around 1:25 the line started to move and they scanned our wristbands at the entrance near the downstairs seating of Hungry Bear. At first they held us way far back on the pathway, but right at 1:30 we moved up to the waiting point, I could see the Rebel Supply area where we entered Monday, so we were not too far back in the overall queue.



As soon as they let us in, I headed for the Cantina reservations. Fran and I had traded scooters because hers has more power and goes faster, since I weigh less, well because physics.

It was a crazy haul to get there, worse than any other rope drop "run" I've done, and I've been there for RSR, Guardians, and other various rides that used to be on Paradise Pier. The line went curvy out one of the the back entrances (which isn't currently in use) and then came back to the section where the First Order square is set up.



It took about 20 minutes but I was given an approximate return time of about 2 hours.

My motto that morning was "Cantina or Bust!". But I'll have to tell you all about that in a later update, I had most of this update ready to go and actually wrote most of this last part waiting in lines for various locations, or while Fran shopped!

Since we were unable to get into the Cantina the first two times in SWGE, we went right to the Millennium Falcon ride. The area for the ride is pretty cool. You have the Falcon parked in the Courtyard area as if it's ready to take off.



I'm not sure this was the best use of our time because on both occasions we were riding within the overlap period. During the preview, it took an hour in the queue, and I think the ride broke down because we were waiting in practically one spot for a good 20-25 minutes. After the first ride there was a 5 minute posted wait and I went right back on. When we were there with Jenny & crew it was about a 45 minute wait, just like was posted when we entered.

The queue takes you both under and above the ship itself and gives you some cool views, but I get ahead of myself. Let's get in line.

The first part of the line goes underneath the Falcon.







Evidently when the crowd control measures are lifted they have made arrangements to open doors (which currently lead backstage) to an overflow queue area which will accommodate guests willing to wait up to 5 hours. They didn't have to open that for us, but they did open an additional queue area outside as we were passing through.

Once reaching the inside queue area, it's like an abandoned workshop.









Eventually the queue begins to slope upwards until you get up to the second story. This ship is hanging from the ceiling.



Here’s a look at the ground floor and a ship under repair that you can see from up above.



Announcements are played over the loudspeaker to help build the ambience. People are obviously willing to throw coins in almost any place!



So more views from the upper level.





As long as the ride is working, the line moves quickly, it's a very long queue, eventually you leave the workshop and you have a view of the top of the falcon.









Eventually you are placed in a room with Hondo, the mastermind of this smugglers ring. He gives you a brief overview on your potential jobs and sends you off to be sorted into teams.







He sends you down tunnels where you are sorted into teams.





There are six per team, two pilots, two gunners, and two engineers. Having done all three, the pilot was too much stress for me. The right pilot controls up and down, the left pilot controls side to side motion.

Once you receive your color coded team assignments you're let out into what I've heard called "the chess room". On our first visit we were held in this room for quite a long time. We weren't sure if this was due to Fran's scooter, but we sat at the table for a bit. The CM came over to us and asked if any of us were engineers, cause the table had been broken for quite a while and they really wanted to see it fixed!









The ride itself was fun, at least I thought so. I preferred being the Gunner or the Engineer, and Jenny felt the same. I'll try pilot again some day, but later, it was a little too much pressure, the one time I tried it.

The ride was like a combination of Star Tours (smaller scale) and Mission Space. For me it's quite an adrenaline rush. Not something that I can ride and then just jump back in line.

 

[franandaj]

On to other subjects, our first visit to Batuu I really wanted to try the QS place, but nothing really floated our boats. Earlier we had eaten at the Plaza Inn and shared a Fried Chicken Dinner so that may have affected our appetites. As a result we ended up at Ronto Roasters. Outside the restaurant (if you call it that) is a giant pod racer engine roasting the meats being turned on a spit by a droid.







This is the equivalent of SWGE's hot dog stand.





It's a roasted sausage in a pita with some lettuce, and roasted pork. Since our phones were tied up in plastic this photo is courtesy of Lesley Wake.



It was OK, but for $14, I'll fill up somewhere else or just wait until I'm back in DL proper. Now Docking Bay 7 didn't appeal to us on our first visit, but the second time with Jenny and Fam, they ordered some things which looked pretty tasty.

Our third visit, we ended up back there for lunch. Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo.















It was actually breakfast for us since the only folks in my household who got anything to eat that morning were the cats!

We ordered the Fried Endorian Tip-Yip. Which was basically a giant pressed chicken tender with mashed potatoes and gravy.



The only problem was that they had peas and carrots in the mash. So I picked them all out of my half and let Fran eat them.

We also got an Oi-Oi Puff which was a raspberry cream puff. It was very good.





And a Batuu Bon, Chocolate Cake, White chocolate Mousse, and Coffee Custard. It was also very good!






I'm going to wrap up this update here. I'll be back with more about the Marketplace, Photopass pictures, the Cantina, and just some ambience photos.

 

[pkondz]

Once you're in you stay until you leave and then you can't get back in unless you virtually queue up again, and I'm not sure if you can do that more than once in a day.

Huh. So a virtual prisoner if you want to leave and return.

Rather than give you a trip by trip description I'm going to sort of blend all the trips together to give you an overview.

Works for me.

the CM even suggested that we get a case of amnesia for the next few days.

Now I'm wondering if I went? But just don't remember?

People start lining up well before their entrance time which are in four hour slots.

I wondered why, but... you explained it.

My motto that morning was "Cantina or Bust!".

Go Alison!

I had most of this update ready to go and actually wrote most of this last part waiting in lines for various locations, or while Fran shopped!

I'm not a bit surprised.

You have the Falcon parked in the Courtyard area as if it's ready to take off.

What do you mean "as if"???

an overflow queue area which will accommodate guests willing to wait up to 5 hours.

Nope. Nope. Noppity, nope.

People are obviously willing to throw coins in almost any place!

Apparently. I wonder why, there?
Probably some poor sod accidentally dropped his/her change.

The right pilot controls up and down, the left pilot controls side to side motion.

Oh! Didn't know that.

The CM came over to us and asked if any of us were engineers, cause the table had been broken for quite a while and they really wanted to see it fixed!

I'll try pilot again some day, but later, it was a little too much pressure, the one time I tried it.

Oh really. Why too much pressure? I mean, if you don't do well, does it really matter? I mean yes your score is lower, but... what's the consequence? (Not making fun of you, I really don't know.)

The ride was like a combination of Star Tours (smaller scale) and Mission Space. For me it's quite an adrenaline rush. Not something that I can ride and then just jump back in line.

Ah! So there's some spinning involved. I wondered about that.

our first visit to Batuu I really wanted to try the QS place, but nothing really floated our boats.

Needs anti-gravity then.

Earlier we had eaten at the Plaza Inn and shared a Fried Chicken Dinner

yummmm…. Want!

Outside the restaurant (if you call it that) is a giant pod racer engine roasting the meats being turned on a spit by a droid.

I'd heard of it, now I got to see it.

It was OK, but for $14,

Wait... $14? $14 for that????

The only problem was that they had peas and carrots in the mash. So I picked them all out of my half and let Fran eat them.

Can't have that!

Batuu Bon, Chocolate Cake, White chocolate Mousse, and Coffee Custard. It was also very good!

Looks really good, too!

 

[Lesley Wake]

They made us seal our phones up in little opaque gray baggies so that we wouldn't spill the beans. In fact on that visit when we were sealing our phones away, the CM even suggested that we get a case of amnesia for the next few days.

Haha - I was so jealous everytime I passed by and saw people being able to enter! Oh well - at least I've gotten to experience it fully by now!

Of course by then they had changed the process, and we missed out again.

Oh no! I hope you did get a chance to visit! I promised the people whose reservation I'm on for Sunday that I will try to get us a Cantina spot. (They have a little kid and also the mom can't be waiting in the front of the pack, so we figure with a solo adult I should be able to theme-park-walk and slide my way forward!)

It was a crazy haul to get there, worse than any other rope drop "run" I've done, and I've been there for RSR, Guardians, and other various rides that used to be on Paradise Pier. The line went curvy out one of the the back entrances (which isn't currently in use) and then came back to the section where the First Order square is set up.

I can't even imagine making that haul with a scooter! At least it doesn't seem to be too "violent" - like nobody pushing you out of the way, but still people are willing to jockey for position.

Evidently when the crowd control measures are lifted they have made arrangements to open doors (which currently lead backstage) to an overflow queue area which will accommodate guests willing to wait up to 5 hours.

Oh boy! At least I have no plans to ever wait in that 5-hr line! I've gotten to ride it 14 times now, so I can stick to Single Rider or wait for FPs.

People are obviously willing to throw coins in almost any place!

Had people already started during the previews? I saw a handful on opening morning, but it has progressively gotten more and more.

The CM came over to us and asked if any of us were engineers, cause the table had been broken for quite a while and they really wanted to see it fixed!

Haha! I overheard one guy who wanted to buy the figures from the Toydarian Toy Store and take a photo in the Chess Room with them!

We also got an Oi-Oi Puff which was a raspberry cream puff. It was very good.





And a Batuu Bon, Chocolate Cake, White chocolate Mousse, and Coffee Custard. It was also very good!

What was the green spongy cake part? Was it just dyed green or a pistachio flavor? I didn't bother to try just in case it was pistachio!