Gallivanting through the World: Return of the Jedi: **UPDATE! 8/8**

[dreamsofdisney]

Really enjoying your trip report so far! Although it's making me really sad that I couldn't swing going during Star Wars Weekends. I'd promised DS13 after our last trip that we'd go during SWW this year, but it wasn't in the cards. We're leaving for WDW in 6 days though, so who can complain! We also are having our first split stay (aren't we brave?!) on this trip: AKL for four nights and then WL for the next four. Planning on checking out of AKL in the morning, having bell services bring our luggage to WL, heading out to AK for the day, and checking in to WL at dinnertime.

Your trip report is helping build the excitement (and pass the time) before we leave. Thanks!

 

[michygoomy]

First, for my buddy Liz (IWISHFORDISNEY) who crossed worlds from another board to post in my thread here. An “internet” cookie:

When worlds collide……it’s like when the Superfriends started, and all of a sudden Batman and Wonder Woman were in the same place—it’s jarring, but cool!

Hey there... I noticed the link in your signature from one of your posts on the photography board. I've been sitting here for the last hour or so glued to your words. You have such a great writing style... so much so, that I read the last two days of your trip report outloud to my young Padawan (DD11) and Youngling (DD6). We were reading anxiously, waiting to see what was going to happen next.... and oops, I reached the end of the thread! I can't wait to hear what will happen next... Will the Force be with you for the rest of the trip, letting you defeat any other menaces left by the Dark Side? I'm going to stay tuned...

Welcome! Come on in! Bring your young ones, sit down and have some cookies. The adventure will continue, and the more the merrier!

Really enjoying your trip report so far! Although it's making me really sad that I couldn't swing going during Star Wars Weekends. I'd promised DS13 after our last trip that we'd go during SWW this year, but it wasn't in the cards. We're leaving for WDW in 6 days though, so who can complain! We also are having our first split stay (aren't we brave?!) on this trip: AKL for four nights and then WL for the next four. Planning on checking out of AKL in the morning, having bell services bring our luggage to WL, heading out to AK for the day, and checking in to WL at dinnertime.

Your trip report is helping build the excitement (and pass the time) before we leave. Thanks!

Welcome and come on in! I never planned for SWW, but once I saw that we could swing it, I couldn’t resist. I don’t regret it one minute, it was extra-special-super magical. And I’m now a huge fan of WL (stay tuned for day 5: coming soon), so I’m very jealous of you!

And cookies for you and your DS:

_________________________________________
DAY 4: CONTINUED……

We manage to find our way to the CBR bus stop instead of the POP bus stop for the first time, and we have a bit more of a wait than I like. We head to CBR (thewheelsonthe….oh, you know the drill by now), get of the bus……….and walk five miles to our room. When we walk in, the room is HUGE, but Dazzle is a bit cranky about the walk. I knew this might happen—everyone was so enamored with our POP stay, I was afraid CBR might not go over as well as I had hoped. Dazzle goes out exploring to find a better way to and from the bus stop, then comes back to get my bell services tag for the bag o’ juice.

By the time he comes back, all has worked out well---the pack-n-play has been delivered, he rode back with bell services who has all our luggage, and there is a ton of juice to go around. On top of that, he has found a shortcut to the bus stop that is way shorter than the way we walked. Our CBR hint—the intuitive path is the opposite path you want to take. It may look like it’s going in the right direction, but it will curve and curve and you’ll end up half way across the resort. We take a strange series of rights and lefts and boom, we’re where we want to be. I would not have been able to come up with that on my own---I’d still be there going around and around in circles, singing “the wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round” like a crazy person.

Now that everything is in place, we need to head out because we have our first dining plan ADRs—at the Coral Reef in Epcot. We go to the bus stop where there are a lot of cranky people waiting for a bus to DTD. Not a good sign. An Epcot bus pulls up, with a MK bus right behind it. I can’t believe our luck! But the Epcot bus never opens its doors—Dazzle is standing right there at the back exit waiting to get on. Then it DRIVES AWAY. ***? We didn’t have any bus service issues at POP at all—we’re not off to a good start at CBR!

Dazzle goes to the MK bus and tells the driver what happened. She says, “That’s not good” and calls it in. Not good is right! I just don’t get it. And before anyone points out that maybe it was full—we could see right in the bus and about two people were on it.

Eventually another Epcot bus comes, and we’re off to Epcot. While we head to The Living Seas, Dazzle runs off to see if he can get FP for Sourin’. None were to be had, but we were brought in to the dining room quickly and it’s lovely! I had forgotten to ask for a seat by the aquarium, but it hardly matters—the view is excellent from everywhere. Our server takes our order, including our dessert order (which seems odd at the time, but we figure it has to do with the dining plan) and I pull out some goldfish crackers to feed Youngling. I turn to hide her so the fish in the tanks won’t see.

The server comes back shortly and plops down a bunch of little plastic marine animals for Youngling to play with. How nice was that? A little while later she brings a magna doodle for her to play with. Celebrity service, I’ll tell ‘ya.

Since the kids had ordered specialty drinks that aren’t on the dining plan, Dazzle gets MJ some chocolate milk for their drink order. I put some in her sippy, but she’d rather drink out of the fancy-smancy glass—she grabs the stem, and Dazzle hangs on to it while she brings it to her mouth to sip (out of a straw). It’s funny, and she does it about 10 times in a row. She wants to be like the big kids.

We have a fantastic dinner (I have a dining review for anyone who is interested) and impeccable service. When the check comes, I am so shocked I have to show everyone the bill--$271, not including the specialty drinks! I spent about $160 for the dining plan for us today, and we’ve gone way over that just for dinner. The dining plan isn’t starting to look just like a deal, it vaguely feels like we’re stealing.

We’re so impressed with our server, Jedi John writes “Thanks for the great service” on the magna doodle and leaves it for the her (his idea). I also give her a nice extra tip on the drinks bill. He watches as we leave and sees that she picks it up and reads it.

We decide to wander around the aquarium and let the Youngling loose for a little bit. She walks up to each wall of glass, points, and says, “Oh! Ook! Ish!” (Youngling to English translation: “Oh! Look! Fish!”. She seems surprised to find “ish” at every turn. It’s from one side to the other—“Oh! Ook! Ish!”, “Oh! Ook! Ish!”.

We pass Turtle Talk with Crush, but the line is pretty long so we decide to save it for another day. We head over to Test Track, and since it’s getting pretty late, the standby line isn’t too bad. We talk to the CM and get a baby fast pass. I let the others go while Youngling and I wait out front. In the meantime, I talk to a nice lady who is waiting with her niece, doing baby fast-pass, also. Just about every I have talked to this week are southerners, and I wonder if it’s because school is still in this week back home up north. They are all very sweet—the only problem is that when I talk at any length to someone with a southern accent, I start to pick it up. Then I’m afraid that they’ll think I’m making fun of them. It’s bizarre, but I just can’t help it.

They finish up and we make the switch, and we end up on the same car with my southern friend—how funny. I feel like I’ve lucked out because now it’s dark out and Test Track is more fun in the dark! It’s one of my favorite rides. (Note: I can go FAST, I just can’t go DOWN!)

We finish up just as Illuminations is starting, so we decide that since we don’t have a good spot for watching them, we’ll just head out and beat the crowds. We get back to CBR early, as we’re cutting through one of the buildings, there are a few people staring at a frog that has planted itself on their window.

“Did he forget his room key AGAIN?”

As we walk further, we see these little frogs EVERYWHERE. It’s the funniest thing. At one point, one jumps out in front of Jedi John, and he jumps and screams a little, much to our pleasure. Easily startled, this one is. On the internet, I must share this. BWAHAHAHAHA!

Stay tuned for Day 5: Mug abuse! YO! My favorite WDW ever.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Love It. Keep the report rolling. And......thanks for my cookie.

 

[Tanya90210]

Loving your trip report... can't wait for more

 

[tictoc]

I am loving your trip report! I am supposed to be writing my own, but yours keeps distracting me. My Star Wars kids and I left on June 7th form the Pop. Did you notice, we left the lights on? I have not read all of the report that you have posted, but wanted to subscribe so I get reminded to keep up! I Will Not Sleep. .. . I Will Not Sleep. . .when there are reports to read! Your rearranging after the airport scanner sounded so familiar to me. Rebag, reshoe, redress. Hey where did the kids go???? Anyway, keep writing!

 

[michygoomy]

Day 5: Mug abuse! YO! My favorite WDW ever!

WARNING: MUG ABUSE MENTIONED!!!!

The views, conclusions, findings and opinions of the author are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the owners and operators of www.disboards.com, Walt Disney World Corporation, the State of Florida, the United States Federal Government, the Catholic Pope, The Supreme Being or the author’s mother. The author does not condone, direct, or recommend, the misuse or abuse of refillable mug and/or products contained, stored, or imbibed from refillable mugs. In no event shall the author, the author’s family, friends or houseplants, be liable for any indirect, special, incidental punitive or consequential damages arising out of or related to the use, inability to use, performance or nonperformance of refillable mugs and/or products contained, stored, or imbibed from refillable mugs, even if the author was previously advised of the possibility of such damages. All rights reserved.

Our first morning at CBR, and I have a dilemma. Well, not much of one, honestly.

See, I had planned to buy two mugs at POP, then two mugs at CBR, therefore avoiding any semblance of mug abuse. However, I impulsively bought FOUR mugs at POP, and now, here we are, at CBR. I could buy four more, but then Darth Dazzle will give me that LOOK, and I’m not in the mood to pay 60 bucks for THE LOOK.

So, we’re in need of some caffeine (I hate to even call it COFFEE, based on the taste). So how best to refill my obviously illegal mugs without any embarrassing conflict? Let’s see, we’ll position Padawan Saba at one end of the food court, crying “Where’s my Mommy” to distract the CMs. At the other end, I’ll have Jedi John hold up a lime green banner to distract all the disboarders who might be out an about. I’ll sneak in and fill my mugs with the sorry-excuse-for-coffee, run out to the marina, confiscate a watermouse and speed (well, maybe putz) across Barefoot Bay to my room before anyone catches on.

Or maybe I’ll just walk in and fill my mugs.

The kids are still asleep, so I go with plan B, and nary get a wink, nudge, “tsk-tsk” or evil eye.

And look at that—I’ve been able to live with myself AND sleep at night. You’ll just have to wait for the repercussions in "TRIP REPORT: The Afterlife: Up escalator or down escalator?"

I should mention that this is not the first instance of abuse. The night before, Youngling found out that our POP mugs make a FANTASTIC sound when they are bounced on the tile floors in the sink area.

Now THAT’S mug abuse.

The PLAN says we’re going back to MGM again, but the PLAN doesn’t account for the fact that we ain’t getting on Sourin’ this trip unless we go in the morning, and the PLAN doesn’t have any Epcot mornings. Hey, I may like to plan ahead, and I like having that structure, but I’m flexible. Really. Seriously.

So we head off to Epcot and get lined up for the rope drop. There’s a cute little show with characters first, though I wouldn’t know how cute since I’m 4’11” and in a crowd. That’s just my lot in life.

The rope drops and we’re fast-walking with 500 other people right over to Sourin’. I like the fact that the queue is all inside; that’s a great idea. We ask about a baby swap FP and Dazzle and the kids head in first. I was able to go on it myself at DL (Hey, I was at a business conference; I didn’t just wantonly go to Disneyland without my brood. Of course, Saba calls my business trips “work vacations”) and I’ve been talking up this ride since, so it’s only fair they get first dibs.

The PLAN (i.e. new plan) was that I would run over to M:S to get fast-passes while they rode Sourin’, but in giving us baby swap instructions the CM tells me to go wait at the exit. Why did I listen? Seriously, would they have taken away my baby-swap pass if I left to run over to M:S? But, contrary to what you may think based on my earlier indiscretion, I am a rules-follower so I wait right there while Youngling tries to escape multiple times. Perhaps she knows the “ish” are next door and wants to go visit them?

They finally finish and the kids and I jump back in line while Dazzle takes off with the Youngling to get M:S fast-passes. Hey, Puddy is doing the briefing! Is that the same film from DL? I forget…..

We take our ride and I jump at the golf ball, even though I’ve been on this before AND Jedi John warned me about it ahead of time. I blame the coffee-like caffeinated substance.

We meet up with Dazzle at M:S. I’ve ridden this twice before the year it opened, and the first ride I thought it was my new favorite Disney ride, but the second I got really sick. So, I’ll happily stay back with the Youngling while they ride it.

The cool thing about M:S is that it has a great exit area. Youngling and I go in there, send a silly postcard to a friend, and watch the game. Next thing you know, Space Mickey and Space Goofy come out and start walking around the crowd! Youngling and I end up second in line to see them, but she likes enjoying them from a bit of a distance.

While we’re glad we’ve now hit the major Epcot attractions, Star Wars is calling to me so it’s time to get over to MGM. I go looking for a boat, but there are no boats (aren’t there boats from Epcot to MGM?) I remind my family that I don’t know everything and we hop on the bus instead.

At MGM, we stop to have one of those discussions about what everyone wants to do. Dazzle wants to see the new stunt show, and I’m still in need of a SW fix and need to go to WWtbaM. Saba wants to go with me and Jedi John is undecided. I remind him that he didn’t want to go to WWtbaM yesterday with me, so he must go with his father. Problem solved.

Youngling finds my shoulder a very comfy place to sleep while Saba and I wait in the long, crowded line for Millionaire. Now, I consider myself a pretty serious SW fan (I own four copies of the original trilogy and about 80 books), but, listening to some of the people around me, I’m seriously out of my league. What should I expect from Star Wars Weekends, I guess?

We finally get seated, and since I’m now nice and comfortable, Youngling decides to wake up from her nap. The host comes out and announces their special contestant for the day: R2-D2. Awesome! It’s a really cute show, with the final question for Artoo being something about who did all kinds of terrible things to C-3P0, and him not picking himself. Youngling enjoys it and claps and yells “Wee” and “Yea”. Saba and I do OK on the quick-fingers question, but don’t make the board at all.

A young guy gets picked who claims not to be much of a SW fan. This gets him a few boos. He does really well, though, but bombs it in the end without even “calling a stormtrooper”. It’s a Star Wars Holiday Special question, and I admit I woudn’t have gotten it right, either.

We meet up with Dazzle and Jedi, and Jedi informs me of his new planned profession—stunt motorcycle driver. Great, I will not sleep again until I’m 80.

On our way to lunch, we see quite a few lines for characters, but Saba doesn’t find them worth the wait, but we manage to catch the green army guy with no line.

We grab a bite at Pizza Planet, and my $750 pizzas and salad are free thanks to the dining plan. Too bad we don’t notice the elevator until AFTER we lug the stroller up the flight of stairs.

It’s hot again (yeah, I know, Orlando in June ) and we’ve had a pretty full morning already, so we decide to take our break and get Youngling a proper nap. We hit The Great Movie Ride on the way out, and Jedi John sits on the faaaaaaaaar end so as not to be surprised by the alien again.

Back at CBR, we are welcomed with a very nice arrangement of our Mickeys and a new addition, that I swear is a Jawa. Well, we're celebreties, dontcha 'ya know?

TO BE CONTINUED………….

 

[tictoc]

Did not try the crumb cake, darn it! Did try the Philly wraps and the ice cream sundaes! Thanks for the new post and the crumb cake. It is so cool how alike our reports are sounding. Simlar kids, Star Wars Weekends and all. I will need to go with you next SWW since I did not know any of the characters names or nuthin'. Never seen an episode. . . .

 

[tictoc]

I also went to a conference at DL in March without the family! I also rode Soarin in the single passenger line. .. Kindred Spirits? hmmmm

 

[michygoomy]

I also went to a conference at DL in March without the family! I also rode Soarin in the single passenger line. .. Kindred Spirits? hmmmm

Ha ha....maybe? I was there in September '03. I loved the Indy ride, too, they need to get that one at WDW!!

Off to check out your trip report......

 

[tictoc]

Ha ha....maybe? I was there in September '03. I loved the Indy ride, too, they need to get that one at WDW!!

Off to check out your trip report......

The Indy Ride is the same track and everything as the Dinosaur ride at AK--fyi!

 

[heaven2dc]

Wow - I am SO hooked!! Your descriptive report ranks right up there with the top and the pics are great! I have a just-turned-13-year-old son and how magically that number makes them not Mommy's little boy anymore

Your son is a real "trooper" (no pun intended ) to join you both in Playhouse and Great Movie Ride (loved the part where the alien jumped down & scared him - amazing how those preteen voices when screaming sound like their little sister's).

Can't wait for more - you're awesome!

 

[MMPC123]

Just want to say how much I am enjoying your story Love the pictures and your humor! Give me more! Give me more!

We are returning this Sept/Oct with girls 2 and 9. Loved the POP last year and see no reason to go anywhere else. (Until our wallets get fatter that is )

 

[TigerCheer2009]

What an awesome trip report. I'm LOVING all the Star Wars references-they are such a change of pace. The Youngling is adorable and reminds me of a kidlet I see when I "teach" Bible School!! Your twelve year old (Jedi John) sounds like a good kid. Tell him he gets the Jedi Award of Excellence!

You deserve one too!

Thanks so much for writing this!!!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Great report. I too am guilty of mug abuse in the past. I really didnt realize it was an issue. I mean Disney pays for all the beverages in each resort so why does it matter where you fill up the mug?? Anyway I am still lovin this report. Keep it coming, I am hanging on the edge of my seat and I know there are 5 more days to come.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Oooopps for got to add did POP have a bathtub because I too have a youngling as you know and we must have a tub. He will not do well in the shower. TIA buddy!

 

[roberrl187]

Great report.

 

[Madi100]

Okay, even though I'm not a Star Wars fan, only seen one of the movies WAY BACK WHEN, I'm loving your trip report. I can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[LilyWDW]

Now THAT’S mug abuse.

I laughed so hard my dog looked at me funny. That line was great!

Keep up the great work! I can not wait for more

 

[missj1975]

Great trip report. I can't wait for the rest.

 

[exwdwcm]

loving your report! i showed my non disney DH the SW pics in your report and he asked why i didn't book our trip during SW weekends! i guess that means another trip in the future after our upcoming august one! lol

but great report, can't wait to read the rest of your adventures!