Sleepy and Grumpy visit Tatooine–A SWW TR! - The End - All done and Link to new TR

[franandaj]

What fantastic parade pictures! Love it!


That person on the other side of the ropes must have had some kind of karma following him. I can't imagine the CM NOT saying anything; but it obviously was the case. It takes all sorts!


ps. Have a great couple of weeks away. Sounds like your real life is going to be a lot of fun!

I can’t take credit for all of them. I was using the regular lens while Fran took the pictures with the telephoto lens. I think between the two of us, we got some nice and varied coverage.

Yeah, the CMs this trip seemed a little more lax on following the rules. There were a few other occasions where they let things slide, but this was the most annoying.

When viewed with the Aurasma app, the image on the SWW t-shirt comes alive. Mickey's X-Wing fighter dodges explosions and the Tie Fighters chasing him. The scene lasts for about 10-15 seconds.

The Aurasma app works on any item that has the same 2014 SWW image as the t-shirts. We bought a puzzle and a couple of coffee mugs with the image and it works on them as well.

For those who want the app, its free and available at the iTunes Store. I'm sure its available for Android as well.

That’s cool! I’m going to have to try it with my shirt. I wonder if it works on the pint glass! Yes, we have Android phones and the app works with them as well.

The Star Wars parade looks amazing and what a nice touch that they served you Mickey bars and sodas. What a shame that for both Paula and you people not obeying the rules caused some trouble.

When are you heading for F&G next year? Looks like I will finally get to see this next year.

Corinna

It was nice having the sweets available to us. We could have had fruit bars as well. We are at WDW from April 13-20 and then we have a 4 day Dream cruise.

That is an awesome parade!!!! I'm so impressed by the 501st, they really go all out.


Have fun with all your extras going on

I couldn’t believe the amount of gear they were wearing in that heat. They must be very dedicated!

Thanks! I hope that I don’t wear myself out on the week of Disney stuff! And that I get some relaxing in during the other parts!

I finally came by to check out this TR as my DH, wdrl, has been talking about it for 3 or 4 days and showing me photos from time to time. Wow this wonderful and fabulous photos! Thanks for taking the time to post everything.

I have to admit I thought we bought a lot at Darth Mall, but when we picked up our large sack others were picking up large boxes like yours but Fran (and you) still purchased more. We are definitely not in Fran's league for shopping.

We might have to check out the Feel the Force event next year. I think your VIP event is too pricey for us. (I found out about these tours on All Ears.)

Have fun at your Star Trek Convention and I think one of you should wear a yellow and the other a blue uniform then you'd be like Kirk and Spock, BFFs forever.

to the TR. I’m glad your DH convinced you to come over and check it out. I’m not sure that many people are in Fran’s league for shopping, or would want to be! Between Feel the Force and FP+ a lot of what we did could be easily accomplished at less of a price, however, with Fran’s disability, it’s nice to have people looking after us. We also had Disney gift cards to use for the cost of the tour, so it almost felt like we didn’t have to spend anything, if that makes sense.

Wow, what a fabulous parade!

It was definitely one of the highlights of the day!

I could say life could not be better but that would be a slight exaggeration. Things are good. Doing a fair amont of traveling including a trip to visit a friend in the UK last year. A will begin her Junior year in the fall (two years and 4 tuition payments to go) and academically is, shall we say, doing a lot better than her father did.

I also want to add my applause on the great pictures of the parade! Wow.

PS. Don’t pay attention to Mark, he tends to stir the pot a bit.

I’m glad to hear things are well with you. After your ordeal, I get concerned when you are away from the boards, but then again I don’t want to be a stalker. I know that life also gets in the way of online fun. Good for A! But then again, she has always been a hard worker and good student.

I do have to give half the credit for the parade pictures to Fran, she did a good job as well.

Yeah and Mark…I’m looking forward to meeting him and his family in 3D in just a few weeks.

Seriously, you guys really need to get out once in a while. Hopefully you will post some pics of the upcoming adventures here. Have a blast and Carpe Diem.

Best to both of you.

Thanks! 2014 is the first year since 2004 that we have not been plagued with parental responsibility or medical maladies. Just when Fran’s parents were laid to rest and were finally out of their misery, Fran took a downward spiral . Between knee and hip replacements, and venal ulcers (not a fun process) we practically lost another five years of fun and traveling.

So this year she kind of went overboard in booking fun things to do. I questioned the sanity of throwing in the Disneyana convention a week or two ago, but hey, you only live once and we aren’t getting any younger!

I’ll post some highlights, but probably not a full blown report.

Fantastic photos from the parade. Your report is making me want to get to my first SWW - maybe next year.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, it is definitely great fun! We already have made plans to go back in 2016!

Very nice pictures from the parade. That is a parade that I would love to see during Star Wars weekend. It was a good thing that you did that package. After reading your trip report and seeing your pictures, I am now considering going during SWW and I don't care about the weather as long as I get to experience it.

Great pictures Alison.

It was definitely a great parade and having the guides to take us everywhere was a big time saver and also we had no worries. That’s important too, especially when I worry about Fran and her tiredness levels.

Yeah the parade! Great photos! So disappointing CM did not police the lines! Sorry about that guy in your way. Able bodied boy who's Dad insisted remained in handicap viewing spent the entire parade waving a lightsaber in front of us all and was super annoying as it was in 99% of our photos!

You got some lovely photos there though looking forward to reading about your firework desert party!

Isn’t it too bad that some rude people make experiences not as wonderful as we would like. We made the best of it, and luckily we were able to keep that guy out of most of our pictures.

 

[jedijill]

The parade looks awesome! You and Fran did a great job of getting pictures. I'm glad you guys are taking advantage of all the fun stuff! Life is too short...get out and enjoy it!

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

The parade looks awesome! You and Fran did a great job of getting pictures. I'm glad you guys are taking advantage of all the fun stuff! Life is too short...get out and enjoy it!

Jill in CO

Thanks, we have become pretty adept at taking pictures in tandem. For quite a few years, I have watched fun events happen in my backyard and we haven't been able to partake. Now we're doing stuff all over the country! And in our backyard!

 

[franandaj]

We left off at the end of the parade, and I know that it seems like we have been stopping for snacks throughout our day, but it was definitely time for lunch. It had been five hours since we greeted our guides and while they filled us with fruit, pastries and Mickey bars, it was time for something hearty and much more substantial. We were headed here.



The restaurant was not very busy at all. I’m sure that they could have even taken walk ins.





Before heading over to Darth’s Mall that morning, we had preordered our lunches to speed up service. As usual, Fran and I decided to split both our appetizers and entrees so we made sure to order different things. She started with the Minestrone Soup.



I had the Caprese Salad.



Both of these were very tasty options and we polished them off rather quickly. For my entrée, I had the Chicken Parmagiana. While it was not Palo’s Chicken Parm, it was very tasty and I actually ate the entire thing, giving Fran only a couple bites.



She had ordered the mushroom flatbread, which was also tasty, but this was a lot of food, and we took some of the flatbread with us. Unfortunately there was so much food this trip, we never ate the leftovers.



I don’t really remember the timing here, but I know we had about half an hour to kill and we could have gone out and had a look around at the shops (which the family of three did). Instead we sat around the table with the other pair on the tour and the guides and talked about Disney wedding proposals, and the sorts of things that the guides had been hired to pull off.

The gentleman who “created” the tour had recently proposed to his SO on the Haunted Mansion ride at DL. A CM friend had helped him work out a private ride on a recent trip there and when they stepped out of the stretching room into the corridor was when he popped the question. It was a fun little moment full of happy tears as they told all kinds of heartwarming and funny stories.

After that we headed off to the Star Wars Rebels presentation. Star Wars Rebels is a CGI animated series set five years before Star Wars IV: A New Hope and will premiere in the Fall of 2014. We waited about 10 minutes outside the back of the theater before going in to take our seats in the second row. It was great, we were seated before they even opened the doors to the folks with FP+ or the ones who had waited in line.





Here is JJ Abrams again….



It was cute that they staged the opening of the show with stormtroopers looking for a rebel spy.







A commander came on the screen and told them to stay at their posts as there was word a rebel spy was on the loose.



Notice the Jedi sneaking around in back.



The Jedi mind tricks them into thinking they should search the front. And look! It’s Ashley Eckstein!



She was interviewing Taylor Gray, who is the voice of one of the Rebels in the New animated series.



They talked about what it was like being a part of the Star Wars family. How different doing voice over work was from live action, and talked a little bit about the show and it’s story line.



Then we met one of the droids from the show.



It seems each weekend (when there is a different actor/actress from the presnew series present.) this little droid brings a clip from the director’s computer to share with the audience and it features the star that is present that week. We were asked to put away our cameras during the showing of the clip.



That pretty much wrapped up the presentation and we were dismissed from the theater. Our guides took us over to Star Tours and we went in a back door, up two or three flights of steps and right to the boarding area for our star speeder. We had a ride on Star Tours with like only six people, and I still wasn’t chosen as the rebel spy! (Fran and a couple others declined to ride, but some of the guides did ride).

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[franandaj]

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Then we stopped for a potty break, and after that we were brought some refreshments, I had a water and a frozen strawberry lemonade. I think Fran might have had another Mickey Bar and a Diet Soda. Then we headed back over to the theater for the Stars of the Saga Show. This would feature Ray Park and John Ratzenberger being interviewed by James Arnold Taylor.





But first came the Stormtrooper show. The leader came out complaining about his team and how they were the laughing stock of the Stormtrooper fleet.



They didn’t seem to understand what was wrong, so he began to point out to them their shortcomings. Notice the Magic Bands.



It seems that they were staying at a Disney Resort and trying “take in” the native population, by holding up the Bellman at the Beach Club where they were staying.



Enjoying the local delicacies.



Assuming the local customs.





The leader of the squadron told them that they were the laughing stock of the universe and played some clips showing what morons they were. You’ll have to check out the video links at the end of this post for the whole thing. To “lighten” the mood he had the sound guy play something to change the tone in the room. He played The Death March of Darth Vader. “Come one everyone sing along,” said the squad Captain, “it’s really a catchy tune!” And the entire audience sang. Dun, dun, dun, dun de dun, dun de dun. Etc, we went through the entire chorus of the song, even the dah, dun, do, de, dit, dadidowit, etc.



They even started to learn the musical favorites of the humans. This first stormtrooper had a playlist stored and pressed buttons on his waistbelt to share his favorite songs with us. It played “Back in the Saddle” and he began rockin’ out.

They played a couple snippets from other tunes and they had a dance routine prepared.







He had another couple songs where everyone rocked out. I did know the last of his three tunes which was “What does the Fox say?”







The last stormtrooper stated he had a little different taste than the others, and pressed a button on his belt to play Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” (I only know this song because it was played on the Entertainment report of my local news because of it’s ridiculouness). He played another song which I didn’t recognize. The other troopers commented on his love of the “power ballad” to which he said that the last song was his most favorite. And “Let It Go” blared over the PA system. The troopers again did a choreographed dance.





They had a number of clips showing why the Empire was it’s own worst enemy, see link below. After wrapping up his presentation, he declares that the rebels have even given him a gift after he hung out with them at the Cantina.





They opened the present and it turned out to be an “ornament” which they tossed around onstage before tossing backstage.



The leader said he had a bad feeling about this and dimmed the lights to run some footage and this was revealed regarding the trooper who had spent the evening in the Cantina with the Rebels.



He went backstage to clean up his armor.



And with that, the remaining troopers left the stage.



Link to the skit, this one had about the same view that I had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcEo2q80nkg

Another link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOakPvY5uPM

Here is a link to another view, more centered, but slightly blocked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8EA00q4qE4


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[franandaj]

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Next James Arnold Taylor and Ray Park took the stage.



They talked about Ray Park’s experiences while portraying Darth Maul. How he trained, the background of his experience and all sorts of other facets of his career. They discussed some of the other roles that he has played and a lot of other stuff. I didn’t take notes like I do at the D23 conventions and now that it is over a month later, I don’t remember a lot of the details. His portion of the show was enjoyable.

They took 4-5 child volunteers on stage who thought that they could “outscary” Ray Park. So each child got a chance to make a really scary face at the audience, and we voted via applause on whether or not we thought the kid was scarier than Ray Park. One kid did stand out, but most of them were just really funny.

One of the funnier highlights was they showed a clip of how Darth Maul really wanted the scene to end. I found some clips on YouTube, I’ve put links at the bottom of this post, they’re worth watching.



Then John Ratzenberger was welcomed to the stage. If you can’t tell by my pictures and reporting, as nice a guy as Ray Park is/was, we were really there to see John Ratzenberger.



Not only did I enjoy him in Cheers, but as Pixar’s “Lucky Charm” he has voiced some great roles in their films. He said that the favorite character that he has played so far has been PT Flea, “he’d sell his grandmother for a nickel.”



They talked about his involvement with Pixar and how he has been in every Pixar film to date. It was exciting for me to see this picture as only two weeks earlier, we were lucky enough to visit Pixar Studios for a benefit. If I find time to write about it, I’ll post a link to the pictures and report here.



Sorry about the blurry picture here.



They played a short clip of his roles in the Pixar films, here are some stills.













In the movie Cars, Ratzenberger’s father was a truck driver and he drove a Mac Truck, hence the name of the truck being Mack.



Then there was some discussion about his role on Cheers.



He auditioned for a completely different role on the show, and didn’t get it. In a sort of “self recovering” gesture, as he was leaving the audition, he made a very bold move. He asked the Producer or Director, “Do you have someone to play the bar know-it-all? You know the guy who spouts off facts like…” and I guess he sort of launched into the role of Cliff Clavin. They liked the idea of a crazy know-it-all guy and that’s how he got the gig.







They talked about some of his other shows like “Made in America”.



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[franandaj]

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And then finally got around to his role in The Empire Strikes Back.



They played a clip and there were arrows over Ratzenberger’s head so that you could see which one was him in the clip. This picture illustrated that a guy who sort of looked like him was not, in fact, him.





Then they played another clip, which you can find around 17:00 into this clip. James Arnold Taylor has overlayed Cliff Clavin’s voice over Ratzenberger’s Character in The Empire Strikes Back and changes up the dialogue. Hilarious!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5oLHvKMpGQ

This YouTube clip is from another day, either Saturday or Sunday because they follow a slightly different dialogue and course, but they cover similar ground as Friday’s show.

This one might be from the same day, but edited differently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0lW3F5mqs4

Because we were there on his first day, this is the first time that he is seeing this clip. You can tell he is enthralled.



And he finds it so hilarious that he can’t keep from crying a little bit. In the videos, he holds it together a little bit better.





That pretty much concluded the performance, but we had more thing to close it out properly Disney style.



Jedi Mickey!







And our stars got Mickey Ears.



And sang us a goodbye song.







M – O – U – S – E









And with that, we bid adieu to our guides. Their day with us was over, but we had the fireworks show in the sky that night. However, it was almost 4PM and we had several hours until we had to be back for the show. We had seen this earlier in the day and now was the time.



We got one of each drink and tried them both. It turns out that I preferred “The Force” and Fran preferred “The Dark Side”.



Drinks finished, we headed out of the park and back to the resort. Looking at the sky, I’m glad we didn’t stick around in the park.

 

[eandesmom]

marking my spot, 2 weeks late, so I can go get caught up!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice updates from the presentations. The Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano food looks very nice and so quiet just as you said from the pictures. The presentations with the Stormtroopers is very nice and it was great. That was neat that John Ratzenberger was there during the presentation and talk about his role in all the different Pixar movies. I enjoyed his voice as Mack from the Cars movies.

Great updates.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great update. I always enjoy seeing John Ratzenberger. I love him in Cheers and I love the various voices he plays on the Pixar movies.

You did good with the pictures and the clips!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Loving it! I love Ray Parks. Love the way he interacts with the children on stage. Cute! Him and James Arnold T work well I think. Lovely photos looks like a nice peaceful lunch compared to outside! Nice good call to rest back at resort I bet that was nice. In the absence of the spa tub in room did you use hot tubs by pool? I can't use these because of my immune system but they look very inviting!

 

[jedijill]

Lunch looks great...I love talking with the CMs and getting their stories. So much better than shopping.

The presentation looks awesome...I would be there for John Ratzenberger too! Love the story of how he got the part in Cheers.

Jill in CO

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

What isn't listed there, is the trip to San Luis Obispo with the Classic Car Club next week, my DISmeet the following Monday, the Disneyana Convention that week, and another DISmeet a week after that.

Can you believe the nerve of these people, making all these demands on your time like that?!

Yeah and Mark…I’m looking forward to meeting him and his family in 3D in just a few weeks.

We're looking forward to meeting you too!

Too much to multi-quote in these updates, but I'm geeking out over all the Star Wars stuff. I'm not much of a parade person at all, but the Star Wars characters definitely made it more interesting for me over the standard Disney parades.

The stormtrooper bits at the show looked hysterical. Why is it that goofy stormtrooper bits never get old?

I love the idea of someone dubbing Cliff Claven over Star Wars as well. I'll have to go back and check out the clips when I'm not at work. Great stuff, and it seems like it was a cool experience!

I also realized I have no idea who any of the newer Clone Wars characters are. I think I qualify for Grumpy Old Man status now.

 

[afwdwfan]

Took me a while to get caught up, but wow. What a cool day with your tour guides. Definitely not cheap, but I think you got a great service for the price. I'm sure one of the highlights of it was getting to sit around and just hear some stories from them after lunch.

The Star Wars stuff though... just looks awesome! The parade and everything looked great, but the show with the "vacationing" Storm Troopers looks like it would have been a riot. Following that up with Cliff... yep, very entertaining.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Lunch looked delicious and I love the look of those drinks. I had to laugh of all those photos of the Stormtroopers checking out the resort.

Corinna

 

[rentayenta]

Great update! Love Stormtroopers with a sense of humor.


Did they ever say how John Ratzenberger got involved with Pixar? Someone must have loved Cliff Claven.

 

[wdrl]

Love the shows with the Stormtroopers! I'm beginning to warm to the idea of spending $499 for the tour just to see these shows! Knowing my luck I'll get all excited to do the tour next year only to find they won't offer it.

I would have enjoyed hearing the Guides talk about some of their experiences with guests. One item on my bucket list is to do the Premium VIP Tour Service where you have a private Guide for the day. The last time I checked, the Tour can accommodate up to 10 guests, but the cost is still $315 an hour with a minimum requirement of 6 hours. In the meantime, this is about as close as I'll come to having my own "plaid", who we now have near our front door of our home:

Thanks for posting the videos, AJ!

 

[DenLo]

I loved the stormtroopers having a good time at the YC/BC. And the one guy loving Katy Perry. LOL It was great. Thanks for including these photos. This part of your tour sounds like it made the whole thing worth while IMO.

I also enjoyed one of the videos, but seeing your photos of the TVs makes it even better.

 

[Leshaface]

PHew! What a crazy month for you. But it's filled with such awesome things

The parade is AMAZING! You even got some great shots where some of the characters are looking at you.

Would you recommend Mama Melrose for lunch? We were originally thinking of just doing a CS at Starring Rolls or something, because we'll be dining at Sci-fi for dinner while at DHS..

The stormtroopers eating ice cream and going down the water slide is hilarious! What fun clips!

I loved the second scene where the abominable snowman pops out and says to Luke, "Welcome to the Himalayas!"

 

[kid-at-heart]

You are so entertaining with your trip reports. Every time I read a trip report I feel like I am visiting old friends. I have not “seen” CJ in a couple of years, “Hi CJ”, the same with LisaMarie, “Hi LisaMarie”.

I tend to read trip reports in my wind-down time before sleep, last night I was cruising through your parade report when my spouse glanced over. I am not a Star Wars fan but Rob and Sarah are, so I had to back up for Rob to see the parade. You made his night. Now he wants to go to a Star Wars parade.

Thanks again,
Kate