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

[cj9200]

I like the way you and Fran roll. If I want to do it, the bills are paid and I can otherwise afford it, I am going to do it. And there is no such thing as overbooking.

Great update and until now, I never had any interest in the show.

Hey Kate. Most of my board time is the Dads' forum. Need to spend more time over here.

 

[ACDSNY]

A little late to the party, but the Star Wars package looks fun. I also enjoyed seeing the GFV pics. I don't know how people handle the heat and humidity in the summer, it's way to hot for me.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Strange question. Have you guys got a Ford Fairlane?

 

[Pinkocto]

That bit with the Stormtroopers must have been laugh out loud funny. Its fabulous the stuff they come up with.

Lunch looked quite tasty. You're right, plenty of options for mom.

 

[franandaj]

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

I'm only on the second full day, so it shouldn't be that bad!

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.

Thanks! It was all a lot of fun!

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!

Thanks! You can find anything on YouTube!

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!

I wanted to use the tubs, buy the pool, but they were so far. I just used my non-spa tub.

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

It was so much fun listening to their stories. The things that the guests ask of them were just crazy, some they could pull off and others were just impossible! Makes me and Fran sound boring some of the stuff other people do.

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

I love these little Q&A type thing where you get to hear the stars talk in their own words. Especially when they are someone whose work I enjoy so much.

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

We're looking forward to meeting you too!

I know, I mean who would do something like that?

Check your email....

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'm usually not a parade person either, but with the Star Wars characters and Disney characters as Star Wars characters it was really cool. Actually I think on this trip I watched more parades than I have ever watched in my entire life!

And I had no idea what the Stormtrooper show was going to be about, but we laughed our a$$es off!

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.

Also another LMAO moment, I swear we came out of that theater tired just from all the laughing that we did.

I didn't know who a lot of those characters were, Google Images is my friend. And I became my parents almost a decade ago.

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.

It was a highlight of the day, everyone was candid. It was a little strange, I think WDW CMs aren't quite as guarded as the DLR CMs, not that they said anything bad about the company, but they just seemed more open about what they talked about. DL CMs even when you have them in a non work situation are still very guarded even when they are giving you the dish.

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.

I think I will quote a T-shirt that I own. Darth Vader is riding the MK Carousel with Stormtroopers and it reads, "This will be a day long remembered."

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

I'm definitely putting Mama Melrose on the go back list. Even if we do have good Italian places at home. I think it would be nice for a walk up if we're visiting at a slow time of year.

 

[franandaj]

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.

The stormtroopers were a lot of fun. They didn't talk about how he got in with Pixar, just that he had been in every film.

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!

The shows were available through FP+, but I think they were Tier 1 offerings. I hope that they continue to offer it. For us it was still cheaper than hiring guides for six hours. What a cute Minnie Plaid figure!

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.

Thanks for identifying who one of the unknown singers to me was. I haven't paid much attention to popular music since the 70s and only know a handful of songs from the 80s & 90s. What made the tour worth it for us, was everything all wrapped up into one package. We could have easily done one or two of these things without a guide, but we got everything on our list knocked off in one day, leaving the rest of our trip to enjoy the other parks and stuff to do.

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

Yeah, my car weekend is almost over (I'll post a short update here) and then begins my Disney immersement week!

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.[?QUOTE]

The parade was AWESOME! So much fun for me and I'm not a parade person, the characters were very responsive and Fran took most of those really good ones with the characters looking right back at her.

I would totally recommend it for lunch. When you're going, you might even be able to do it as a walk up. If you couldn't there's still the other CSs you were thinking of. We usually end up at Backlot Express for a Burger and a Hot Dog or Grilled Turkey Melt. This was better by far.

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!"

We were literally laughing so hard that we were crying during that bit. It was so unexpected and absolutely hilarious. That was great too. I had totally forgotten we saw that clip after the Cliff Clavin overdub. If James Arnold Taylor produced those, he's quite a funny and sharp guy. I enjoyed him hosting that event.

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

Fran tends to wonder why I'm so interested in DIS stuff and you're right, with how long we have all been reading and writing each other's reports, it is like old friends. Even with folks I haven't met in person. I was so glad to hear from CJ since it's been a couple years, and most everyone reading along, I care about what's happening in your 3D lives. Especially with those who I know are experiencing difficult times.

I'm glad I could give your spouse something new to look forward to at WDW!

I like the way you and Fran roll. If I want to do it, the bills are paid and I can otherwise afford it, I am going to do it. And there is no such thing as overbooking.

Great update and until now, I never had any interest in the show.

Hey Kate. Most of my board time is the Dads' forum. Need to spend more time over here.

We have been very fortunate in the past couple years. All her medical maladies are healed or under control. We've had a couple financial winfalls so that I'm not having to scrape for every penny to make ends meet like we did while her father needed 24/7 caregivers. We're not getting any younger, so if we can afford it, we're going for it. Too many years of waiting for people to die and wounds to heal, we're healthy enough so we might as well enjoy it!

A little late to the party, but the Star Wars package looks fun. I also enjoyed seeing the GFV pics. I don't know how people handle the heat and humidity in the summer, it's way to hot for me.

If we didn't have these shows in the afternoon we would have been back in the room much sooner. One really needs to plan for early mornings and late evenings in the parks and back at the hotel or air conditioned shows for mid day. Florida heat is brutal! I'll take our dry heat any day!

Strange question. Have you guys got a Ford Fairlane?

Not strange. If my FB posts have not answered your question, no we do not have a Ford Fairlane. BUT our Ranchero is styled after the Ford Fairlane. It was the last year they used that body style. After 1959 they switched to the Ford Falcon for the body style of the Ranchero.

That bit with the Stormtroopers must have been laugh out loud funny. Its fabulous the stuff they come up with.

Lunch looked quite tasty. You're right, plenty of options for mom.

Oh my gosh! Everyone in the theater was laughing so hard! It was great, one of those times when your cheeks hurt afterwards!

Yes, your mom would have plenty to choose from. They even have an Eggplant Parmesan as well. She definitely wouldn't go hungry there.

 

[franandaj]

After an uneventful bus ride back to the resort, we headed up to the room. Fran most definitely needed a nap, I would love to take a nap, but history tells me that I lie in bed tossing and turning and finally end up taking a bath or something because I just don’t fall asleep. So today, I decided to go on a photo journalism spree at the hotel.

We were on the 5th floor of the resort and this is a shot looking down of the chandeliers in the lobby.



And then from the lobby, looking up at the chandelier.



Everyone loves the penguin fountain. You really just can’t get enough pictures of this.









The carousel horse is just adorable!



And then I decided to get creative with the chandelier.



These are just some photos of the more business end of the lobby.



I never needed these concierge types, but it’s nice to know they are there if you need them. Though I haven’t actually heard many stories of them actually being able to help folks out, most of the time they send them back to the main lobby for things.



The Port Cochere, which most people don’t use because the back entrance is more convenient unless you have your own car.



Here’s looking up at the balcony for our room.



And this is said back entrance. The path leads to the front entrance of the Grand Floridian. It’s a lot more convenient for people that are using Disney transportation.



When you come out the back entrance you see this fountain. I think it is just beautiful.







There is a small beach area adjacent to the pool and pool bar.



The main pool area for the Villas.



The kid’s splash area.



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[franandaj]

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And then moving on to the main building.



Another creative chandelier shot.







I always have to take a picture of this saxophone. It boggles my mind why they leave it out here when the band isn’t playing.



A look back at the atrium.



Across to the other pool.



Not so creative chandelier shot.



And looking forward to the atrium.





I’m not sure why I like this hallway so much.



And the construction at the Poly.



I went back to the room and enjoyed this little beauty that we had picked up at the MK the day before.



And then I either tried to take a nap or I took a bath. Usually I find that the bath refreshes me more than the attempted nap. I don’t remember now what time we were supposed to be back at the viewing area, but it was somewhere around 8 or 8:30PM. And we started heading back to DHS around 6PM. We were hungry and since the buffet was only desserts, we decided to split one of these.



Then we headed over to the special viewing area. The CM who was working the gate to get into the area was less than magical. She told us to go wait behind the 50 something folks who had purchased the “Feel the Force” package, when our guides had told us that we would be entering through the other half of the entrance and could line up separately.

It wasn’t so much the fact that we had to wait behind the other people, but the way that she said it. But I wasn’t ready to get all puffed up and throw a hissy fit. Everything would turn out to be fine.

We had no idea where to get seated, so we just took a table. It turns out that there were special HA tables at the front of the viewing area, and one of the helpful CMs brought us to that location so we would be able to see. This is what we had to enjoy in all you could eat quantities.









In addition to the sweet treats, there were libations which were free flowing as well. The Dark Side mix never quite came together that night and they never served any, although they kept mixing batches up behind the bar and I guess they just never quite got it right. I particularly enjoyed my share of Jedi Mind Tricks while Fran rather preferred “The Force”.



These were some of the tasty treats we enjoyed at our table.



These are the famed Yoda and Darth Vader Mini Cupcakes.



Not sure what the sweets were, but you can see both a Jedi Mind Trick and a Force. They let you have two beverages at a time when you went to the bar.



A look around at our area.





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[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

They were playing music and images on the screen were dancing in time with the music.



I think by the end of the evening, this is what Fran looked like to me.



The hat was to be our backdrop for the fireworks this evening.



The fireworks were launched to the music of Star Wars, and they had a lot of it to work with.



















After less than five minutes, I gave up taking photos of the fireworks. They just weren’t coming out nearly as well as I was seeing them and I decided just to sit back and enjoy the show rather than try and document it. These were some of the best fireworks that I have ever seen. Or it could have been the great music.











Or the drinks.














Either way we had a terrific evening and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The fireworks were over a little after 10PM and we headed back to the resort. It was midnight before we actually made it to the room, and any sleep that we had caught up on was lost again. We had enjoyed our visit to Tatooine that day, but if we didn’t slow down the pace Sleepy and Grumpy would be back to haunt us very soon!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice pictures of the hotel and the chandeliers. Seems like you're starting to get bitten by the photography bug again.


That dessert party/special viewing area looks wonderful! The treats look delicious. I think I would have definitely forked out money for that position.

I did see the entire fireworks show on YouTube. The music was amazing! It definitely was the best show/music I've experienced in a long time as well. Glad to see your pictures of it and read your take on it.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[rentayenta]

That is the coolest fireworks experience ever! The booze alone is awesome. Add in all of those desserts and wow! The pics of the fireworks are good.


Thank you for the photo tour of the villas. The pool area looks awesome. I am very interested in the Poly construction so thanks for those too. I agree with PIO, seems like the photography bug has bit you. Between you, PIO, and Bret, I'm in heaven!

 

[ACDSNY]

Cool fireworks and dessert viewing area, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Your pics of the GF are making me want to stay there on our next trip, whenever that might be.

 

[mvf-m11c]

It is so nice to see you able to take a lot of pictures at the GF. That is good for you to take a lot of pictures during your trips. It looks so amazing to stay there. The new expansion for the Polynesian Resort looks good from your picture and so much has been added since I last visited.

The dessert viewing area looks very nice and great to be able to watch the fireworks without having to stake out a spot. I would have no problem waiting to stake out a spot for the fireworks at DHS but the dessert package looks very nice.

Your pictures of Symphony in the Stars fireworks are very nice and the location was nice as well. I also checked out Symphony in the Stars firework show on YouTube and it is very nice firework show. It was shorter than I have expected. But overall it was a very nice theme for Star Wars Weekend.

Very nice updates.

 

[jedijill]

The desserts look awesome and I would love the booze! Your photos are great! I wonder if the fireworks were the same as I saw last year on May The Fourth Be With You....if they were they were amazing!

Jill in CO

 

[wdrl]

Love looking at your VGF and GF photos! We had our first stay at the Grand Floridian in May and we really enjoyed our all-too-brief stay. The CMs were friendly and we liked the generally quiet, laid-back atmosphere of the entire resort. For years, we dreamt about staying at the Grand Floridian, but the room prices always scared us away. The Grand Floridian is still very pricy, but now that we are DVC members we can afford to stay in the villas.

We discovered there is a CM whose duties include removing coins from the Penguin fountain in the VGF lobby. The coins start to corrode and can stain and discolor the fountain, so every few days the coins are removed and the stains cleaned. I guess its human nature to toss coins in a fountain.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Good Grief I only realized 11 pages in that you started this report Boy I have catching up to do

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Great photo's of VGF and main hotel plenty of eye candy! The fireworks and desert party look great! Nice you got handicap area also. Glad you enjoyed your day and hope you slept soundly!

 

[DenLo]

Love VGF. Sort wish we owned there too, but we could always use more BLT points. We found the concierge check in folks at VGF to be quite helpful. Since we drove that is where we checked into VGF and they were quick and friendly. But you are right that we usually went out the side door unless we were driving somewhere.

I know what you mean about how hard it is to photograph the fireworks and sometimes you need to just stop taking photos and enjoy the show. We could hear the SWW fireworks as we were staying at AKV Jambo House. They sounded pretty impressive.

Thanks again for taking the time to report all this stuff.

 

[Pinkocto]

Very nice pictures around VGF and GF. I'm going to have to sit down and figure out the next time I'll get to stay there, right now there's no plans do you remember where the lion statues were? I can't recall seeing those before.


What a fabulous evening at HS! Did you ever report that awful CM? We caught the fireworks twice while walking back to BC, that was very cool. The desserts look mighty tasty.

 

[eandesmom]

I am caught up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GF Cafe is a great idea for lunch. We ate their on our last trip. The food was quite good but I struggled a bit with the ambiance and there was a LOT of little ones. Which is fine, but the combo of the 2 for an adult trip just wasn't ideal for me for dinner. Lunch though would be prefect since it is so nice and airy n there

I bought some Maleficent Kitchen towels and a coffee mug to use

I almost always buy a mug for use in the room, it makes such a difference. Interestingly I didn't on the last 2 WDW trips but came home with 3 from DL! If I like the F&W one, I will get it, if not hopefully there will be something on DCL as I actually don't have a DCL one at all unless you count my beat to heck to go mug from Alaska. Which seems wrong

I want to stay in one of the 1B's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad just so I can use that kitchen! I don't see it happening but oh I want! Just beyond gorgeous.

I had used the same strategy for FP+ as Cynthia (eandesmom), but her trip was over NYE and mine was during the blazing hot time of year. Most of our FP+ were for the middle of the day, the time when you want to be back at your resort in the pool or taking a nap. Earlier I had moved all of our FP+ but the Seven Dwarves Mine Train (no other times available) to the late evening.

I hear you there, while we used the strategy in May, honestly on several of the days we used it for evening FP's, not afternoon. And I know we simply blew off some afternoon ones!

Then came the fireworks. I will add a disclaimer, since I have only been back at really trying to take quality pictures (rather than documentation pictures) for a month (at the time of these pictures), I didn’t have a tripod, nor did I even think I might be taking fireworks pictures. I know that these are nothing in comparison to Bret’s or PIO’s fireworks pictures, but perhaps you will all come with me on my journey as I learn to improve upon my long exposure nighttime photography.

You got some really really lovely ones!

The next morning Olaf called us bright and early at about 4:30AM or maybe it was 5AM. Either way it was much earlier than I wanted to hear from anyone, but we had a cab coming for us at 6:15 so we had to be up and atem. There was no way we were missing THIS day! I’m pretty sure that we snoozed the first call and got a second one, and that we slept for at least another 10-15 minutes before getting up and ready. I’m pretty sure that I set the coffee maker the night before so all I had to do was hit “start” and I could have at least one cup of coffee before we were on our way. I remember thinking that I should have bought a togo mug, but I think I still had my paper coffee cup from day before so I used that.

But what was even more interesting was this sort of interactive app that you could download on your phone to take character pictures with a smartphone. Once the app was open you could focus on the background, certain character options would become available and the floor was marked as to where to stand for which character that you wanted a picture with. There were quite a few of these, but we got a little bored after the first two, plus it was our time to go into the main shopping area.

That is SO early for vacation! I could not get the app to download and I was in that line for a solid 30 min. About when I got to the entry to the mall, it was ready and I said...forget it! LOL.

So after our virtual character meets, we went into the shopping area. Fran was again in rare form. I try to be restrained when we go to these places. I look at the T-shirts, knowing I won’t wear black T-shirts, I don’t buy them. I look carefully at the jewelry, I have enough pretty jewelry, I don’t need to buy stuff just cause it’s there. Paintings, we have more than we have wall space for, unless it TOTALLY speaks to me and I know where it’s going, I don’t buy it. I think I had one bin of stuff. I know I got a dress, the T-shirt for the year, a pint glass, a shot glass and a couple other things that we collect and will go in our display case. Fran went kinda nuts.

I would expect nothing less of Fran. I do kind of wish I'd bought the coffee mug, I was afraid of the decal coming off in the dishwasher but now I wish I had it. Fun dress!

Really great calvalcade pics! I absolutely LOVED that parade but my viewing psot was less than ideal for decent pics.