May the Force Be with Us PTR. UPDATED Plans 3/1

[yulilin3]

@soniam Saturday my son will be at Diagon Alley, stage hand for the Celestina/Tales of Beedle the Bard show. I'll tell him you'll be around.

 

[soniam]

@soniam Saturday my son will be at Diagon Alley, stage hand for the Celestina/Tales of Beedle the Bard show. I'll tell him you'll be around.

On Saturday, we will probably be at Diagon Alley in the morning, but I will keep an eye out for the shows. We might head back later that night after dinner too. Is he working Sunday or Monday morning? Is his band playing at Disney Springs next week?

 

[LinderInWonderland]

I am super late to the pre-trip party, but am all caught up now! I hope you have an amazing time!

 

[LinderInWonderland]

LOL... I am so excited for you that I double posted!

 

[yulilin3]

On Saturday, we will probably be at Diagon Alley in the morning, but I will keep an eye out for the shows. We might head back later that night after dinner too. Is he working Sunday or Monday morning? Is his band playing at Disney Springs next week?

He works Saturday and Monday 9 until 5:15pm I think the first show is at 10:30am
He's probably playing Splitsville Thursday 17th, they start at 8pm, I say probably cause he's not here so I can't ask. They have been also playing inside the Boathouse but not sure if they have a gig next week there.
EDIT TO ADD: Splitsville on the 17th and Boathouse on the 19th

 

[soniam]

He works Saturday and Monday 9 until 5:15pm I think the first show is at 10:30am
He's probably playing Splitsville Thursday 17th, they start at 8pm, I say probably cause he's not here so I can't ask. They have been also playing inside the Boathouse but not sure if they have a gig next week there.
EDIT TO ADD: Splitsville on the 17th and Boathouse on the 19th

I think we should be in Diagon Alley at one of those times, so we will try to stop by and say hi. Maybe we'll get to make it to Disney Springs on one of those nights.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip! Here's some feedback on our trip:

Kylo Ren's M & G is quite intimidating. For some reason sometime he talks and sometimes he doesn't. I think it depends on the actor inside. I tried to stump him once too. Wait times were always around 20 minutes for both meet n greets, but chewie's seemed a little longer. For the Visa M & G, if you show up right at 11am, the line is a few people deep. We went one time at 4pm and there was no one there.
Chewie is all hugs, it's great!!

Don't forget Watto's Grotto! HUGE area where the Backstage lot tour used to be...and ALL Star Wars merchandise. Better selection than Tatooine Traders and practically empty every time we went (people seem to forget it's there).
You're gonna have an amazing time at the Star Wars fireworks! They are sooo awesome, we saw them 3 times! Only once with the dessert party though. Hehe. I forget that we got chewbacca steins with the dessert party but that makes it really worth it. Chewie has a bit of a scary expression on it though. My nieces are scared of the cups!

I'd like to hear what you think of Skipper Canteen. I give it 3 stars out of 5...I enjoyed the atmosphere but the food was hit or miss. The shu mai dumpling appetizer is great, as is the fish collar (but the sauce it comes with is terrible). The bread service is just plain weird. I did not like the flavors at all. Our entrees were pretty good but not great. I don't know if they are just throwing in random spices to try to make things more "exotic" - but they are not working well together. They should get an idea from Sanaa, which we went to on a whim on our last day and we LOVED. Flavors were spot on and delicious. However, I will be willing to give it another try and order different things. The mango drink they have though is really good! I got the slushie with the bursting pearls and that was quite good but after I tried DH's mango one, I really liked that one more!

Epcot was actually quite relaxing with Soarin' closed. There was no mad rush into the park as there usually is. Most of the crowds will obviously be at TT. The line at Baymax can get long. But he is worth it. He's just so adorable. No Hiro though

The F and G booths were great! Loved eating everything. Tried some very interesting things including a beer bubble tea at the China kiosk. I actually liked it! France had a La Vie en Rose slushie which is like the grey goose one but pink. It's delicious! I missed getting a margarita but that's because I was a little toasted by the time I got to Mexico

We did not make it to AK...we used that day to finish up all that we did not do in DHS the day before. I'm not sure what people are talking about but DHS is definitely not a half-day kind of park. There's plenty to do, especially when you want to ride TSM, Star Tours and RnRC more than once! Also exploring SWLB takes up some time and it's definitely not to be missed.

Hope you have an amazing trip!!!!

 

[soniam]

@chunkymonkey

Wow! Thanks so much for tips and feedback. I will definitely try that. I think DHS is only a half day park if you don't like Star Wars or shows. Maybe then it's only a 2 hour park. I had completely forgotten about Watto's too. We are going to hit the SW store and World of Disney at Disney Springs before our first WDW park day. So hopefully, we won't be caught in the Tatooine Traders mess.

 

[soniam]

2 Days until Universal
5 Days until WDW

Someone posted a thread asking what people were excited about for their trip. Here's my list:
- First stay at CBR and Hard Rock Hotel at Universal
- First time to ride Space & Splash Mountains
- The new Star Wars stuff at DHS, including the fireworks dessert party, and DS doing Jedi Training for the first time
- Getting my own R2D2 earhat & a BB8 one for DS
- Eating at Marrakesh, Skipper Canteen, Morimoto Asia, Jock Lindsey's, Trader Sam's, Earl of Sandwich, and Cow Fish at Citywalk
- Shopping at the new stores at Disney Springs
- Meeting a new DIS friend in person
- Eating/drinking at the Flower & Garden booths
- Getting my own interactive wand at Universal
- Doing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom for the first time
- Getting to use our new camera
- Finally getting an AP

 

[chunkymonkey]

You're gonna have so much fun! I've heard many good things about Cow Fish! You're lucky to visit all the new HP attractions at Universal. I always want to go back there but I get totally distracted by Disney and have only so many days for vacation.

Safe travels and hopefully we'll hear all about it when you get back!

 

[soniam]

You're gonna have so much fun! I've heard many good things about Cow Fish! You're lucky to visit all the new HP attractions at Universal. I always want to go back there but I get totally distracted by Disney and have only so many days for vacation.

Safe travels and hopefully we'll hear all about it when you get back!

We did Universal for the first time last year and loved it. It would be hard to go to Orlando and not visit. However, WDW is home

 

[yulilin3]

We did Universal for the first time last year and loved it. It would be hard to go to Orlando and not visit. However, WDW is home

Disney is where the magic lives and Universal is where adventure happens
You'll have an awesome trip

 

[soniam]

I have been meaning to make a list of alcoholic drinks and treats that I want to have at Epcot. This seems like a good place. I think I might have to rent a wheelchair if I really drink all of this, especially since we will only be at Epcot one day. A scooter might get me a DWI I will probably have to share with DH if I want to make it out on my own feet

Drinks:
Margarita from La Cava
Canto Loopy from Joy of Tea
Sake from Mitsukoshi
Apfel Shot from Sommerfest
Tropical juice drink from La Isla Fresca booth
Kung Fu punch from Lotus House booth
Yuzu Plum Wine Slushy from Hanami booth
Key Lime Sparkling Wine from Florida Fresh booth
Black Cherry Hard Cider from Cider House booth


Treats:
Schoolbread (love this stuff)
Kakigori in Japan
Dole Whip from Pineapple Promenade booth (hopefully with rum to kill two birds with one stone )
Anything from Les Halles
Lemon soft-serve with Grey Goose vodka at Refreshment Cool Post (1 stone = 2 birds)
Black Forest Cake from Sommerfest
Anything from Karamel Kuche
Guava turnover from Sunshine Seasons
Grilled cheese from Taste Track
Chocolate raspberry macaron from Fleur de Lys booth
Tres Leches with guava from La Isla Fresca booth
Warm Chocolate Cake from Smokehouse booth

 

[soniam]

WE ARE LEAVING

i guess this is the end of the pre-trip report. We are at the airport. Luckily, we weren't affected by Obamageddon Whenever a president comes to town, the airport and traffic become terrible. There were a bunch of flights delayed when he landed and roads closed. He landed before we had to leave for the airport, and he's not leaving until after we take off. Security wasn't even terribly slow. Plus, since Obama was in town, the schools were excusing absences for early pickup. We took advantage of that. So our flight was not affected, and we leave for Orlando in about an hour See you in the trip report.

 

[rteetz]

WE ARE LEAVING

i guess this is the end of the pre-trip report. We are at the airport. Luckily, we weren't affected by Obamageddon Whenever a president comes to town, the airport and traffic become terrible. There were a bunch of flights delayed when he landed and roads closed. He landed before we had to leave for the airport, and he's not leaving until after we take off. Security wasn't even terribly slow. Plus, since Obama was in town, the schools were excusing absences for early pickup. We took advantage of that. So our flight was not affected, and we leave for Orlando in about an hour See you in the trip report.

Have fun!

 

[yulilin3]

WE ARE LEAVING

i guess this is the end of the pre-trip report. We are at the airport. Luckily, we weren't affected by Obamageddon Whenever a president comes to town, the airport and traffic become terrible. There were a bunch of flights delayed when he landed and roads closed. He landed before we had to leave for the airport, and he's not leaving until after we take off. Security wasn't even terribly slow. Plus, since Obama was in town, the schools were excusing absences for early pickup. We took advantage of that. So our flight was not affected, and we leave for Orlando in about an hour See you in the trip report.

Have a great flight, can't wait to meet you and your family Tuesday

 

[soniam]

Have a great flight, can't wait to meet you and your family Tuesday

We are excited too. I will PM you.

We got to see inside Forbidden Journey today with the lights on!!!! We were stuck in the Dementor room. No evac though.

 

[yulilin3]

We are excited too. I will PM you.

We got to see inside Forbidden Journey today with the lights on!!!! We were stuck in the Dementor room. No evac though.

That sounds interesting, how long?

 

[soniam]

That sounds interesting, how long?

It seemed like forever. It shut down twice during our round, and DS and I were stuck on our backs the second time. We did single rider, so DH was in a different car. I think it was only 5-10 minutes, but I didn't have my phone or a watch. I am always paranoid of losing stuff on FJ, so I empty my pockets.

 

[soniam]

I have started the trip report.