Melissa, Don't Blind the Jawa! (Day 2)
Sunday morning, we were up & at 'em so we could get to EMH at Hollywood Studios. Here's the original plan:
Sunday: Back at DHS for EMH am. Still making a beeline to ride ToT and RnRC while it's not crowded. FPs:
9:20a Star Tours
10:20a TSMM
11:30a Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Lunch at Mama Melrose. Mid-day break at the resort, head to Disney Springs for shopping and Raglan Road Dinner.
Quite a bit of deviation from our plans today - not the least of which was booking the Symphony in the Stars Dessert Party, which we decided on a little less than a month before we left. But let's get on with the day!
Well-rested and content from a night in AC, our steps were springy and we made our way to DHS. It was beautiful out - nice and cool so early in the morning. We stopped for some Photopass photos:
You will note that we are all wearing Star Wars Mickey Ear shirts that Melissa made for us. I was pretty stoked that one of the 'grab bag' skirts I ordered from
Amazon (a bag of 5 skirts for $35) ended up with a gold side so I could more fully Disneybound my C3PO shirt.
After our photo, we diligently made our way to RnRC and ToT. I am not kidding when I say I was feeling a bit jumpy as the screams from ToT started wafting our way. I don't know that it was the BEST idea I've ever had, waiting outside RnRC while Melissa and D rode. Every time I heard ToT screams I flinched a little bit, so I decided to call my mom and fill her in on the journey thus far. While I talked to her, I watched the PhotoPass photographer set up for the day and flinched every time I heard screams.
D and Melissa came off the ride, exhilarated as always. It's Melissa's 2nd favorite ride in Disney Parks. We decided to get our own pictures taken with my friend (unknown to him), the PhotoPass guy.
One of us (I don't remember who) realized that our lunch reservation wasn't for hours yet and needed to get something to eat. We wandered over to Starring Rolls (another first) and grabbed some munchies. I laid eyes on the famous Butterfinger cupcake - I am about to say something controversial, so grab your smelling salts or avert your eyes - but I did not find it the least bit appealing. I enjoy Butterfingers immensely, but that was probably the most unappetizing form of Butterfinger ever.
You can look back now.
It was time to do what Derrick had been aching to do for months:
LAUNCH BAY!!
First, I am going to interrupt this trip report to tell you a bit about my husband. When I first moved out to Washington, it was shortly before Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith opened. D and I went to see Sin City and during the previews, the Lucasfilm logo shone across the screen and he almost jumped out of his seat. It was our first time getting to see the preview. He couldn't contain himself and was hooting and hollering all through it until, "You were the Chosen One!" and he's wiping away tears, sniffling "That's right - he was the Chosen One." And that, friends, is one of the many reasons my husband delights me.
Sorry for the distraction. Anyway, we checked the wait times and decided to meet Kylo Ren first. SO WEIRD that there's never as long a wait to meet Kylo as there is to meet Chewie. /sarcasm
I know. I am a grown adult. I am fully aware that this is a cast member in a costume with pre-recorded responses. Like pretty much everyone else who has met him has said, it's weirdly intimidating to meet him. He zeroed in on Melissa while I made sure Derrick was between me and him at all times.
You'll notice how far away we're standing from him.
Acting tough, but notice - still not standing that close.
After finishing up with Kylo, we checked out more of the props and costumes around the Launch Bay. We saw a lone Jawa over by the holo-chess set. Melissa asked the cast member nearest us if she could take a picture with the Jawa. The cast member told her she could ask for a picture, but it would help if she had something to trade. "He'd probably take your landspeeder..." referring to Melissa's
ECV. Miss starts digging through her bag to find something to trade with. She pulls out a Wet One and a Band-Aid. D refused to offer either of them to the Jawa, so Melissa was going to. We moved over closer to the Jawa and Melissa started to haggle. The Jawa reaches over and pulls the key out of her ECV and starts dancing around the room in delight. Miss was wearing a couple of Seahawks bracelets she'd made, so she tugged one off and held it out, "Here! I will trade you this for my key!"
The Jawa comes back over to check out the bracelet and Miss grabbed her key back while shoving the bracelet in his hand. The Jawa examined it and I guess he liked it, so he gave her a Build-A-droid body. Then she asked for a photo. The Jawa was about to pose, but unfortunately Melissa didn't realize her flash was still on. She didn't even get a photo - the flash went off full in his face. The CM handling the Jawa and Derrick both gasped at the same time, "No flash!" while the Jawa wandered around blindly.
No one can make you feel worse about accidentally blinding a Jawa than your Star Wars nerd younger brother. Oh, the guilt trips he laid on her! Melissa apologized profusely. The CM handler said it was okay and asked, "Seriously though - you got your key back, right?"
Everyone had everything they were supposed to, so we finished this visit to Launch Bay. We'd spent a lot of time at Launch Bay and had already decided to skip our FP for Star Tours (honestly, it was pretty easy to walk on Star Tours every time we were at DHS), but we didn't want to miss our TSMM FP. HOWEVER, as we were leaving the Launch Bay we saw everyone staking out their spots for the March of the First Order. This a pretty cool stage show, brief but stunning. We were along the exit route and therefore had a little bit of shade, but another show in blinding hot sun (yech). Still, Captain Phasma and her garrison looked fantastic!
We hustled on over to TSMM. This time, we got a car that where the two middle seats were broken, so it was just the three of us playing against each other. It doesn't matter who wins or loses (I won), just that we all had fun! (Did you catch that I won?)
Next up, One Man's Dream. I hadn't seen this attraction before, but I really enjoyed all the models and memorabilia. I was especially delighted that some of my favorite Epcot memories were present.
Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit!
The trailer showing when we went was 'Through the Looking Glass'. Gorgeous, but I would rather watch old Disney short films or news reels or bits from the old Walt Disney Presents. I don't need to see more ads in my life.
We tried booking it over for our Indiana Jones FP, but by the time we got over there it was standing room only. I was melting, so we went to Backlot Express and got frozen cherry slushes. Those slushes are magical at cooling you off. We still had a fair amount of time before our lunch reservation, so we decided to do the Muppets 3D. I freaking love the Muppets and never get tired of them, but I seem to have blocked out that weird little 3D character. Bleargh. I do hope Disney can keep the Muppets alive, but I don't think that attraction serves them in the best way.
We had a nice lunch at Mama Melrose, then headed back to the resort for swimming and naps - or any combination thereof.
Late that afternoon, we headed back to DHS for more Launch Bay and the Symphony in the Stars Dessert Party. D's Magic Band/fingerprint didn't work for him, so they pulled him aside to ask him if it was the first time he'd used the band (no) and if it was his first time using his band at this park (also no). He said we'd been at the park earlier in the day. She asked, "Why did you leave?" "Because we were hot?" She seem to be surprised by that answer, but then took his photo and we were on our way. (I'm assuming they do this to make sure people aren't sharing tickets.)
It was off to meet Chewbacca! It's easy to see why Chewbacca always had the longer waits. He's a big ol' cuddly Wookiee! After we took our photos, he pointed at my Jawa pendant and shook his head. I apologized - I know he doesn't like them. He made a point to have a little moment with each of us. It was a great character meet - right up there with meeting Mike & Sulley last trip.
Melissa meets Chewie!
Chewie and my Wookiee!
At this point, Miss was getting hungry and wanted to make sure she had real food before the dessert party (protein vs. sweets, you know). As we walked over to Min & Bill's, I saw a woman with a stroller flipping out on a cast member. I don't know what set her off, but she snapped, "I guess that's just Disney as usual!" and stormed off. I did not laugh out loud at her, but it was a struggle.
We noticed that folks were already checking in for the dessert party, so we did as well. There was no line yet, so we continued over to Min & Bill's - another first for us. D and I split a chili dog and Melissa had the pulled pork mac&cheese (more about both will appear in my dining report). I noticed the line for the dessert party table gauntlet starting to form, so we joined the line when we were done eating.
Even though the initial line seemed long, it really wasn't. The party didn't fill up until later, We easily got to a table right up front and then D and I went to photograph the food tables. Again, I will go more into the food in the dining report, but man - was there a ton of food! The CMs were really on top of keeping the trays filled and fresh.
A couple of Stormtroopers came over to harass one of the party attendees. They made her get her ID. The whole interaction was pretty cute.
At last it was time to settle in for the show. D and I copied the kids next to us and sat on the pavement. I really could not get over literally everyone sitting down in front of the stage. I feel like that only happened at fireworks shows in the small towns where I grew up, so it was lovely to be able to sit and watch. What an epic show! Hands down, my favorite fireworks show ever! The music was gorgeous, the lines chosen were so touching and it was beautifully choreographed. I pretty much always get choked up watching any fireworks and D usually gets choked up when he sees new Star Wars things, so the two of us were kind of a mess.
After the show, we were able to duck out under the ropes and head over for one last ride on Star Tours before we headed back to the resort. It is a true testament to our Star Wars fan status that we could ride so many times even though the first part of the ride was exactly the same. We made a game of finding all the tiny variations they'd added in the older scenes. (Also, it was surprising that we'd remembered the old scenes so well, since it had been 2 years since we last rode Star Tours.)
Of all the parks, I always felt like it took the least amount of time to get back to our resort from DHS. The nights we went, it seemed like there were always massive lines for ASMusic and short ones for ASMovies. Epcot had the best dispatch managers, MK had the friendliest. We'll talk more about DAK buses in the next installment:
Day 3: Is this bus EVER coming?
Welcome back! Can't wait to hear about your trip 
Yup that's right, I'm now a hands-in-the-air TOT girl 
