I love SWW and SW Celebrations...does that mean I am a geek? A PTR of a SW family.

[jmskinner]

Hi! I'm Melissa. I am a 42 year old Disneyworldaholic. Not so much a Disney fan, but love the parks. Before you read any further, hoping for a SWW PTR, we can't make SWW this year, but are making SW Celebrations in Orlando on August 25th, and if we are going to be in Orlando, it's mandatory that we go to WDW. Isn't that the rule?

Here's me!


I've always been an amusement park fan, specifically rollercoasters. But I didn't make it to WDW until I was 37 in 2006. I'll post more about that trip a little later. Besides WDW, I love taking pictures. That is why you will see a lot more of others, than of me. I am also a TV fanatic, I know I watch way too much. Oh, and I am also a military wife and mother. Don't think I listed all of that in priority order or maybe I did.

Here are the current members of the rest of the PTR cast:



That's my son, Jacob and husband, Jonas. Here is a more recent pic of them, taken this past May at SoG.


Here is another of Jonas


This was taken during our photoshoot at WL on our anniversary trip a year ago. Jonas is a member of the Air Force, almost 19 years in. That means retirement is right around the corner. All depends on a promotion if he will stay in longer than 20 years. If you don't know, promotions always seem to come at the 20 year mark, and then you are in for another 2-3 years. He loves tabletop war gaming, I think that is what it is called. Here is some of his work, he paints these and then plays a game with them.





He has other hobbies also


That big grin isn't just because he was home from a year in Iraq, I had this waiting for him in the garage when he got home


He also collects comic books and watches Scy-Fy.

And then there is my boy, Jacob.


He is 13. This will be our first trip with him as a teenager. He is in the 7th grade. He loves Legos, Transformers, and Star Wars. Also likes to watch cartoons and science programs. Even though we have thought it for years, he was just diagnosed with Aspergers. He likes WDW, but I can't say that he loves it. Enjoys hanging out at the pool, riding Star Tours, PoTC, and HM. He also M:S Orange side. That's something he and his Dad can do together. I stick with the Green side. He will spend hours in the trails at AK watching the birds and trying to get their pictures. He doesn't like some of our favorite rides, such as Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, ToT, EE, or RnRC. He doesn't care for BTMRR because of the loud noise during the climb.

I mentioned the current cast because my Mom and Stepdad may be joining us. And possibly some others.

This trip wasn't really expected. See, this past August we moved to Virginia. I was excited to be moving back to the DC area, we had previously lived here in 2000-2003 and I loved the area. So where did we move from...


FLORIDA! We had lived the past three years an hour away from the happy place. So, even though I was excited to be living in the DC area, it sure was hard to leave Mickey. It was so nice to live an hour away from him. We got to do a lot of things at WDW we never would have and I also got to meet a lot of people from the Dis there at the parks.


So you may be wondering what SW Celebrations is, I'll fill you in on that in the next installment.

 

[jmskinner]

So, what is Star Wars Celebration, here is my little photo tour of SW Celebration V:
Star Wars Celebrations Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4


We have a plan! ADR's are booked!

Memories
Our first trip!

 

[natebenma]

Hi Melissa- I'm in! Can't wait to hear about your trip to the SW Celebration and your long-awaited return to Florida and WDW.

I didn't know the backstory on the Mustang. What a great story!!! Major brownie points to you!

That's the first time I heard that about Jacob. Hopefully knowing definitively about the Asperger's will be helpful to you all.

 

[TinksThree]

Yay! I am here! Great intro!!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Hi Melissa, hooray for a new PTR and special trip.

This is the first I'm hearing about Jacobs new diagnosis too. I know he is older and might not want to wear them, but the noise reduction headphones really helped Jack with those louder rides. He wasn't concerned with noise and was just able to enjoy the motion.

Can't wait to read more about your plans

 

[jmskinner]

Hi Melissa- I'm in! Can't wait to hear about your trip to the SW Celebration and your long-awaited return to Florida and WDW.

I didn't know the backstory on the Mustang. What a great story!!! Major brownie points to you!

That's the first time I heard that about Jacob. Hopefully knowing definitively about the Asperger's will be helpful to you all.

Thanks for following me yet again. Oh, there is more to the Mustang story. Started with "We can't afford it." Me: "If you spend a year in Iraq, you should get your Mustang". Next day I had an email containing what he wanted on the car. That took a lot of persuading. I did get racing stripes painted on for him, which was suppose to be a surprise, I knew he wanted silver, but I couldn't find a silver that looked good. Did you know silver has green in it? I spent at least $40 on those little bottles of paint you use for scratches on your car. Finally told him what I was trying to do and would black be ok?

We are hoping Jacob's diagnosis will keep us here in the area, just hope it won't cause any problems with Jonas' career.

Yay! I am here! Great intro!!

Thank you, glad you followed me over!

Hi Melissa, hooray for a new PTR and special trip.

This is the first I'm hearing about Jacobs new diagnosis too. I know he is older and might not want to wear them, but the noise reduction headphones really helped Jack with those louder rides. He wasn't concerned with noise and was just able to enjoy the motion.

Can't wait to read more about your plans

We kept meaning to take Jacob's headphones and forgetting them. I have especially wanted to try them on BTMRR. We have thought Aspergers for a long time. Even 1st grade the school said he had 7 out 15 of the traits, but they wouldn't diagnose him as having Aspergers. When we moved here, the pedicatrician said I should look into it and then the child psychiatrist said I should. Now that I have these fantastic doctors for him, I realize the ones we had in FL weren't that great.

Glad you are following along, and be sure to let me know when you start your next PTR, you know how slow I can be.

 

[jmskinner]

I don't believe I went into any real details about our trip. Hope to leave VA August 18th and arrive sometime that night at POR. We will stay at POR until the 23rd to check into POP. Now, I know most people switch to a nicer resort for the end of their stay, but I don't think we will be doing Disney stuff those last 3 days.

My original plan was to spend Sunday-Wednesday at the WDW parks. Haven't decided on a day yet because I'm trying to decide if we do AM EMH or not. We never seem to get there right when the parks open if we try EMH. Now I like PM EMH, parks at night. I planned on Thursday driving over to Tampa to look at the house we have there. Don't think we can go in since it is rented out, or hope it will still be rented out, but just to take a look at it. I figured the rest of the day we could do what we want. Then Friday head over to Legoland since it opened after we moved. Saturday morning we would check out of the hotel, load the car and head to SW Celebrations for the day.

I talked to Jonas about this idea today and he thought maybe we could do the drive to Tampa and Legoland the same day. Not sure how I feel about this. And now he want's two days at Celebrations, or may want it depending on the events they have going on. That's only another $150 to get us in for another day. But I am ok with that, if we have the money.

Right now I am thinking why not drive over to Tampa, spend the morning there, head back and do Celebrations that day, leaving a full day for Legoland?

What do ya'll think. Here are the options:

1. Full day for Legoland, one day with drive over to Tampa and then take a break the rest of the day. Only one day at SW Celebrations.
2. Drive over to Tampa, then go to Legoland the same day. Two days at SW Celebrations.
3. Full day for Legoland, one day to drive over to Tampa and spend the rest of the day at SW Celebrations, and still have a full day of SW Celebrations.

Oh, and one more question, am I crazy to plan 4 days in a row at WDW?

 

[thumperjr9]

Ok...I'm in too!! I am very curious about SW Celebrations. My Star Wars crazed DS12 requested another SWW trip this year. However my DS24 is getting married June 16th, so I don't think it will work this year. So convince me that SW Celebrations is worth braving the Florida August heat!!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

I went to Legoland in California a LONG time ago, and I don't know what the Fl one is set up like, but we did not spend a full day at Legoland and still saw most if not all of the park. Seeing how much Jacob likes Legos though, he might want to spend more time in the areas where you actually get to make things out of legos and race and what not, if they have those there. which could make for a longer day for you.

As for the SW Celebrations, I've never been to anything like that, so I don't know how much time you need to really get to enjoy it and get to explore all that is offered. Sounds like that is what Jonas is really looking forward to though.

Don't know if that helps at all, but just maybe added some things for you to think about

 

[jmskinner]

Ok...I'm in too!! I am very curious about SW Celebrations. My Star Wars crazed DS12 requested another SWW trip this year. However my DS24 is getting married June 16th, so I don't think it will work this year. So convince me that SW Celebrations is worth braving the Florida August heat!!

I'm planning a post on Star Wars Celebrations, and I am sure that if you show your son any of the pictures, he will demand he get to go. Very family, friendly event.

I went to Legoland in California a LONG time ago, and I don't know what the Fl one is set up like, but we did not spend a full day at Legoland and still saw most if not all of the park. Seeing how much Jacob likes Legos though, he might want to spend more time in the areas where you actually get to make things out of legos and race and what not, if they have those there. which could make for a longer day for you.

As for the SW Celebrations, I've never been to anything like that, so I don't know how much time you need to really get to enjoy it and get to explore all that is offered. Sounds like that is what Jonas is really looking forward to though.

Don't know if that helps at all, but just maybe added some things for you to think about

Thanks for your input. I can see spending two days at Celebrations, as long as it doesn't hurt the bank account too much, I am all for it. Lots of events to attend, plus all the time to explore the merchandise.

I really appreciate the info on Legoland, even though you were in CA. I know Jacob will want to build all he can, the rides won't interest him as much as seeing all of the Lego construction. They kept the gardens close to what they were when the park was Cypress Gardens and I really want to spend time looking at them, and you know me and pics of flowers.

I think Jonas and I need to sit down and look at EMH at WDW and figure out what we want to do. Honestly, I've been thinking that at DHS we will probably only want to do Star Tours, TSMM, RnRC, and ToT. So maybe we could take a break and drive to Tampa in the heat of the afternoon. These lightbulbs keep going off.

You'd think we were first timers.

 

[natebenma]

I didn't know that Legoland was at Cypress Gardens. I haven't looked into it, although I suppose with Ben's brick-addiction, it will have to figure into the plans.

What is the admission cost for Legoland? Sounds like it is $50 pp/day for the SW Celebration.

You could make it a financial decision- go to Tampa on the less expensive day: Lego vs. SWC.

My vote is for the extra day at the SW Celebrations, since this is a limited event, unlike Legoland, which you could actually visit anytime (when you are in Florida). So I suggest you schedule Lego and Tampa on the same day.

 

[jmskinner]

I didn't know that Legoland was at Cypress Gardens. I haven't looked into it, although I suppose with Ben's brick-addiction, it will have to figure into the plans.

What is the admission cost for Legoland? Sounds like it is $50 pp/day for the SW Celebration.

You could make it a financial decision- go to Tampa on the less expensive day: Lego vs. SWC.

My vote is for the extra day at the SW Celebrations, since this is a limited event, unlike Legoland, which you could actually visit anytime (when you are in Florida). So I suggest you schedule Lego and Tampa on the same day.

They closed Cypress Gardens, which I was upset about. I kept meaning to get over there to check it out, guess it was my fault they didn't make it. Lego did keep the garden part of it so I am super excited about that. Haven't priced Legoland through the military, but online it is $75 a ticket. And a waterpark opens at Legoland this year, so not sure if it will be open by the time we get there.

You are right about SW Celebrations being a limited event. I am seriously considering Tampa on a DHS day. Ride the rides we want to ride, and then maybe have lunch at 50's Primetime, then we could head over to Tampa. We never spend much time at DHS. I'm also thinking I will wait until the Celebrations itinary comes out. So many decisions.

 

[jmskinner]

So thumperjr9 asked about Star Wars Celebration VI and if it is worth taking her DS to since they can't make SWW this year. I highly recommend this to everyone. We just went to see Star Wars Phantom Menance at the theater and there were so many little ones getting to enjoy it for the first time and so excited, I wanted to scream out "Take these kids to Star Wars Celebration!!!" Ok, to prove my point that Star Wars Celebration is a must do, I will do a photo tour.

Even the protective barriers out front were ready for the convention




One of the first we saw in costume


Everywhere you turned


And just to give you an idea of how many people were there


We were just at the DC Auto Show at their convention center and we got to discussing SW Celebrations and realized, one very large convention room was used to house the long line of people waiting to get in. And to give you a better perspective, this was the line after the many thousands of people had entered because they had gotten there early enough to be one of about 3000 to see Jon Stewart interview George Lucas, or the other 5000 or so who were able to watch in other rooms on large screens.





HUGE merchandise area




And look, even something for the Disney lovers


And of course Cartoon Network had to be there


Hasbro had a huge area


And lots of artists




And authors there signing their books


Comic book companies




Costume anyone?


Even furniture

Yes, that is a coffee table.

Weapons (ok, maybe this booth wasn't so family friendly)

 

[jmskinner]

The Florida Lego Organization had a large display, think we spent 30 minutes here









And a little something for Dad, like having all that Star Wars merchandise wasn't enough


There were R2 units everywhere






And the R2 Builders had their own room








There were at least 30 R2 units in this room.

 

[jmskinner]

And people in costume






This is the only time I have asked someone to pose for me, but gotta love a Stormtrooper in a Kilt.


















Even the young ones came in costume


And that's some Star Wars hair


Lunch


I spotted this guy before Jacob and Jonas and freaked, I knew Jacob would want his pic with him



And you can get married while there


By an Elvis Stormtrooper

 

[jmskinner]

There were all kinds of presentations, such as this one for the Star Wars Force Unleashed II which was about to come out


And for the next season of Star Wars Clone Wars


If you have been to SWW, you may recognize the man in the hat, can't remember his name, but he attends SWW often. He is the director of the Star Wars Clone Wars.



And if none of that convinced you, maybe this will. We came across a lot of people trying to get a pic of something down below. Thought maybe it was a big celebrity. I guess in a way it was, it was the 501st gathing for a group shot



And just in case that didn't convince ya, here is the website Star Wars Celebration The website doesn't have much info yet, but will soon have all of the presentations, exhibits and stars there for autographs. Yup, about 50 stars from all the movies will be there. Even Mark Hamil was there. We just didn't do any of that, but sure wish we had.


So, thumperjr9, do you think your DS will love it?

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

I am so glad that I found you. I am a huge disney fan and a huge star wars fan. In fact we are getting married at Disney in July with star wars themed aspects to our wedding. I have gone to SWW the past 2 years and I could not attend C5 because of work but I plan on being at C6.

I am actually Star Wars media I write for Fangirl Next Door which is my website and I also have a star wars podcast. In addition to that I have just become a writer for The Star Wars Report.

I will definitely be following along with your trip report and hopefully we run into each other at celebration.

may the force be with you.

TeresaD2 (that is my pen name for my blog and star wars sites i contribute to)

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

posting again to subscribe

Teresa

 

[jmskinner]

I am so glad that I found you. I am a huge disney fan and a huge star wars fan. In fact we are getting married at Disney in July with star wars themed aspects to our wedding. I have gone to SWW the past 2 years and I could not attend C5 because of work but I plan on being at C6.

I am actually Star Wars media I write for Fangirl Next Door which is my website and I also have a star wars podcast. In addition to that I have just become a writer for The Star Wars Report.

I will definitely be following along with your trip report and hopefully we run into each other at celebration.

may the force be with you.

TeresaD2 (that is my pen name for my blog and star wars sites i contribute to)

I'm excited to have a professional Star Wars fan join along. Of course, I am also a little that I won't live up to your expectations. I like Star Wars, but not like my hubby and son do. I have failed miserably at Star Wars Trivia, so badly that my DBIL asked "You've seen the movies, right?" But truely did love Star Wars Celebrations and it would be fun to meet up with someone there. Are you planning a WDW trip or just SWC6 trip?

And how exciting about the wedding. I keep hinting to DH that we could renew our vows there. He always says, "I married ya once, why do I have to do it again." Such a romantic.

Thanks for the links, I have bookmarked them and will check them out. Suppose to be cleaning house at the moment.

May the force be with you too!!!

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

1 day is not enough for a Celebration. I have been to 3 and there is so much to see.
Might be heading down from Wisconsin for this years Celebration.


Sarah