AKV, here we come. June 1-8 11/15.. Finally BACK!

[Lynn5700]

Love your fantasmic pictures from last time! We didn't do Star Wars Weekend when were there cause we heard it was REALLY REALLY crowded. I kind of wish now that we would have done it because Brandon is a big Star Wars fan.

Oh man. You should have gone. I am hoping it's not insanely crowded when we go.

I'm glad I found your new trip report Lynn - you have the best pictures. Have a great trip!

Hi! Thank you very much.

Hey Lynn, we went to Star Wars Weekends back in 2005 and you basically have the gist of it. They didn't have Hyperspace Hoopla back then (or at least if they did, we didn't hang around for it), but we're looking forward to it this year.

In my PTR I'm doing a "flashback TR" of our 2005 trip, and here are links to the chapters with SWW.

Ch. 36 - Flashback '05 PChef WDW TR - Day 7 - Star Wars characters at MGM, there are
Ch. 37a- Flashback '05 PChef WDW TR - Day 7 - But Dad, what about my Jedi training?
Ch. 37b- Flashback '05 PChef WDW TR - Day 7 - But Dad, what about my Jedi training? (continuation)

I'm psyched about catching SWW again this year!

By the way, love your ToT pictures! No, scratch that, love all of your pictures really.

OOOH you rock!! Thank you. I will check those links out.

Aww, thanks, lol.

You're leaving so soon! Lucky girl!!!

I'm not a big fan of Fantasmic. The first time I saw the show, I wasn't blown away. And getting out of there is the WORST! It's better when they have EMH because at least not everyone is headed toward the exit. Idk if we'll do it this trip, depends on if my co-vacationers wants to see it!

Tim loves it, but we don't want to deal with the crowd. Oh, I know. Leaving is so annoying, lol.

Love your pic of the wicked witch's shoes My pics always come out so blurry, they never come out right

Can't believe you're leaving in less than a WEEK! How exciting!

Thanks! Lee is going to be in Disney on Monday! I am missing him by a day!

That pic was taken with my nifty fifty lens. It's still a little blurry. Hopefully, I can get a better pic this trip.

OMG I LOOOOVE that part of fantasmic!!! I CAN hear the music and now I am singing it lol

What settings did you use to take that picture? I just got a new dslr and I haven't had time to learn it really but I want to get some types of pictures that are decent.

haha, it is the best part.

I used my zoom lens...ahh I have to remember the settings. Before I go, I will post some camera settings for you.

Oh my goodness -- I love that picture of the Tower of Terror light fixture!!!

What's the Brown Derby dessert? I am partial to the grapefruit cake. Also, if you drink, the Hollywood was a very yummy concoction!

We watched Hyperspace Hoopla through the windows of the Backlot Express while we were eating dinner, and it looked like a blast!

Isn't it a pretty pic? I thought it turned out really cool. OOh the name of that dessert is Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower. It is delicious.

Have fun with SWW-- we've never been, but DBF is a huge Star Wars nerd, so I know he'd love to. Can't wait to hear all about it!
You leave so soon!! You guys must be so excited!

Thanks. We are looking forward to it! YEAH! I cannot wait.

 

[tinkgurl]

Haha, that is exactly the same entree and dessert I had at the Brown Derby in March! They were both SO good!

 

[Lynn5700]

Haha, that is exactly the same entree and dessert I had at the Brown Derby in March! They were both SO good!

Great minds think alike. They seriously are super good.

 

[tinkabella627]

Ahhh we are leaving saturday night...if you get a chance to post it that'd be great. If not, that is ok.

 

[Lynn5700]

Ahhh we are leaving saturday night...if you get a chance to post it that'd be great. If not, that is ok.

Here you go.

For Spectro...

F1.4 to 1.8, ISO 800 1/50 ps

Dark rides

1/80 ps F1.8 ISO 1600

fireworks...
ISO 100 3-6 ps, umm set F to whatever the lowest number is.

 

[tinkgurl]

Great minds think alike.

Haha, yes they do!

 

[Cat0727]

Thanks! Lee is going to be in Disney on Monday! I am missing him by a day!

Oh man!
Maybe he'll stay an extra day and you'll spot him walking around

 

[dismagiclover]

SWW is so much fun! It's crowded though and you may find that meeting all the characters takes more time than you think. I can't wait to hear all about it. We had so much fun there last year. I'm a bit sad we aren't making it there this year.

 

[twenty3curls]

I've been out of town since Saturday, so I just caught up this morning. Your plans for SWW look great. Jeff will be so jealous when I tell him about it. Maybe a late May birthday trip is in order next year!

Can't believe you leave in 4 days!

 

[Lynn5700]

Day 5​

I am really looking forward to this day. We don't really have anything planned. No specific park, but I think we will hit AK after we have breakfast and hit my favorite rides there and then go to whatever park we feel like.

Here are some pics from January.

The beautiful Christmas tree in the Lodge

and at AK

We had lunch at Yak & Yeti. What an awesome place. I had fun snapping some pictures in there. The theme is incredible in there.

I thought this was cool.

Before breakfast, I want to get out for a run. I may just go down to the gym if it is too hot out. Ooh, and I forgot to mention that I plan on running a couple of mornings, and because I am a crazy person, I will be bringing my boot camp workout dvd to do at night as well as my math homework This is going to sound silly, but I love the fire-pit inside the lobby of the AKL so much that I am looking forward to sitting and doing my math homework by the fire-pit, lol.

So, where are we having breakfast? At Boma. We ate breakfast there in October of 08 and we liked it.

I am looking forward to the juice, lol.

and dinner?

This is our new favorite restaurant. OMG, amazing! And how good is this?

YUMMY!!

This day should be a fun/relaxing day. The MK is having a special showing for the summer nightastic fireworks and parade, but we are seeing it on day 6, so IDK if we will go that night as well. Maybe after dinner we will go to DTD, go for a swim, or hit a park. Whatever happens, happens.

Coming up next- Day 6. Summer Nightastic officially begins, and in spirit of the Electrical Parade, I would like to share some spectro pics with you all, oh and some pics from the Christmas parade.

 

[tinkgurl]

I love Yak & Yeti!

 

[Lynn5700]

Haha, yes they do!

, lol.

Oh man!
Maybe he'll stay an extra day and you'll spot him walking around

I hope so!!

SWW is so much fun! It's crowded though and you may find that meeting all the characters takes more time than you think. I can't wait to hear all about it. We had so much fun there last year. I'm a bit sad we aren't making it there this year.

Yeah, I figured it will take time. I think as long as Tim sees Storm Trooper Donald, he will be fine. IDK if I want to stand around in lines all day for character pics. I was reading the tips on Allears.net on how to get character pics. Oh and I am glad I read that if you want to get the special pins, that all you have to do is tell a CM and they will escort you to a different line near the register. How is the rest of the park on SWW? Is the whole park crowded or just the sections where SWW is going on?

I've been out of town since Saturday, so I just caught up this morning. Your plans for SWW look great. Jeff will be so jealous when I tell him about it. Maybe a late May birthday trip is in order next year!

Can't believe you leave in 4 days!

I will let you know how it is. YAY for 4 days!

 

[Raecheal]

Great Plans.. we love Jiko! It's our fav., geez.. they have such good food there!

 

[Cat0727]

omg, AKL's Christmas tree is gorgeous!

Love Yak & Yeti's decor; I really want to eat there.

Haha I don't think it's silly at all, I'd probably do the same thing if I had homework to do. I never mind when we're waiting for our table at Boma to be ready- I like chillin in AKL- it's so relaxing!

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Seriously! Your pictures are really making me want to go during the holidays! It's soooo beautiful!
I'm right there with you on the working out thing! When we were there in August it was way too hot to run outside (even at 5:30am), so I just used the treadmill while watching tv.
That's awesome that you guys have a "free" day. It makes the trip a little less hectic when you have a day to do whatever!
Just a few more days!! So excited for you guys!

 

[KristinAnne]

I've been lurking a bit. So glad you're back on the boards! I am so jealous you're going back in 3 days! I almost had DH convinced into a long weekend babymoon, but we're not going. Just a bit too much money right now. I'll be living vicariously through everyone else!

 

[dismagiclover]

,
Yeah, I figured it will take time. I think as long as Tim sees Storm Trooper Donald, he will be fine. IDK if I want to stand around in lines all day for character pics. I was reading the tips on Allears.net on how to get character pics. Oh and I am glad I read that if you want to get the special pins, that all you have to do is tell a CM and they will escort you to a different line near the register. How is the rest of the park on SWW? Is the whole park crowded or just the sections where SWW is going on?

To be honest when we were there SWW we pretty much just did Star Wars stuff. We didn't even try to do anything else so I can't really say. The Disney Star Wars meet 'n greet is a bit of a pain. They rotate the characters every 15 minutes or so and the line is usually longer than 15 minutes. So you get in line with one character and by the time you make it to the front a different character is there. One time we got in line when Mickey was there. He left and Donald and Goofy came. The line was super slow when they were there because they fool around so much. So we didn't make it to them. By the time it was our turn we actually met Minnie. I guess we had a chance to see all of them though

Oh and here is a Darth Vader tip. At rope drop we went around the left side of the park back past Lights Motor Action. Most everyone else went the other way. We came around the corner by Vader's meet 'n greet right as he was walking up. There was a crowd behind him, but we were actually first in line to meet him. Worked great.

 

[klacey1]

Mmm that Jiko steak looks delicious!! Filet is my absolute favorite cut-- hope your dinner there is just as good as usual.

 

[tlhbdm]

Lynn did you see my most current facebook status, about frying my macbook pro. OMG I cried, especially since I hadn't backed up my pictures from last week yet!!! Luckily they were able to extract my hard drive.

 

[Zuzu03]

We're trying Jiko for the first time in July - can't wait! I hope my DD likes it! Have a great trip - can't wait to hear more!!!!!