SWW, BCR & Technically, we were literally on Mars! New - 8/31 - Final Update

[mommytothreeboys]

Holy Cow! I have missed most of your report!! I haven't read yet, but wanted to let you know I was here.

Going to read now!

 

[indimom]

Uh oh, a mommy meltdown. The worst kind.
Been there, done that.
It's great that they took your "constructive criticism" to heart and did a little something to make it better. It really is a shame that people who follow the rules get punished.

Now, I have to ask... it looks like you might have picked up some baggage on this day. What is that critter hanging on to Gabriel's back?? I'm guessing ewok or baby chewy?

All in all, it sounds like your day is going fairly well. Looking forward to the rest!

 

[natebenma]

Interesting update!

What a perfect demonstration that advanced research and knowing what you are doing really pays off. That's awesome that Gabriel got to do the Jedi Mind Training, even if it was a short show.

Please tell me that after everyone cleared out of your line to go to JTA someone said "These are not the lines you are looking for!"

You also demonstrated that doing the right thing, obeying rules and not ignoring them can really pay off.

Sorry to hear about the melt-down. So much goes into a Disney trip- vast amounts of planning, loss of sleep, anxiety about whether everything will work out. Meltdowns Happen!

Awesome pictures with Chewy, Donald, Minnie & Mickey and the parade!

 

[lsenquiz]

Holy Cow! I have missed most of your report!! I haven't read yet, but wanted to let you know I was here.

Going to read now!

Glad to see you back on. I hope everything went well with Dan's big day and the party after.

 

[lsenquiz]

Uh oh, a mommy meltdown. The worst kind.
Been there, done that.
It's great that they took your "constructive criticism" to heart and did a little something to make it better. It really is a shame that people who follow the rules get punished.

I did so appreciate what the CM did. I really really wish they would change the way they handle character interactions at SWW. It is diffferent then the way they handle it for the regular character interactions and I just don't know why. However, I was still mad at myself because I knew how it was going into it and I still let myself get frustrated

Now, I have to ask... it looks like you might have picked up some baggage on this day. What is that critter hanging on to Gabriel's back?? I'm guessing ewok or baby chewy?

All in all, it sounds like your day is going fairly well. Looking forward to the rest!

That is an Ewok that Gabriel named Cricket. He was with us the rest of the trip. It is actually a backpack but the backpack part is so small that it is basically useless IMO. However, Gabriel loves him so you will see him in alot of pictures going forward

 

[lsenquiz]

Interesting update!

What a perfect demonstration that advanced research and knowing what you are doing really pays off. That's awesome that Gabriel got to do the Jedi Mind Training, even if it was a short show.

You are so right about the planning. I saw many parents come up to the place where you sign up and ask to get their child in a Jedi training or Padawan Mind challange class way after the slots were full. They had no idea that it had to be done first thing in the morning and I am sure they had disappointed children as a result.

Please tell me that after everyone cleared out of your line to go to JTA someone said "These are not the lines you are looking for!"

Sadly no

You also demonstrated that doing the right thing, obeying rules and not ignoring them can really pay off.

Sorry to hear about the melt-down. So much goes into a Disney trip- vast amounts of planning, loss of sleep, anxiety about whether everything will work out. Meltdowns Happen!

You are so right but I still hate that it happened. We definitely plan to go back for SWW next year but I will not put the same emphasis on the character meet and greets as I did this trip.

Awesome pictures with Chewy, Donald, Minnie & Mickey and the parade!

Thanks I do love my character meet and greets. We had so many awesome interactions this trip

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[lsenquiz]

Great update!

 

[lsenquiz]

Today = Friday May 31st

Day 8 2nd SWW Day  Part 2​

When I left off last we had just finished Padawan Mind Challenge so we headed over and rode Star Tours again. Good thing we are not one of those people that get motion sick on this ride because we rode it a bunch of times this trip!


DSC03825 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After that we headed back over to try to meet Kit Fisto. We had already seen the other 3 in his group so he was all we had left. I knew the time that Kit was supposed to come out (thanks again Kenny the Pirate) so I asked the CM working that line when I should get in to have the best chance of seeing Kit. I was determined not to get upset if we did not see Kit but wanted to have the best chance possible. He told me to wait about 15 minutes then get in the line. I did exactly that. However, no sooner had I gotten in line when I had everyone in front of me asking if I wanted to go ahead of them. I said no because I was waiting on Kit. Well it turns out that every single person in front of me was waiting on Anakin who was scheduled to come out with Kit or they were waiting on Kit himself. So the people in front of me started going to the people behind me to see if they wanted to go ahead and I was quickly moved so far back in the line that I did not think there was a chance I would see Kit.

I debated for a minute and decided to chat with the character handler about it. I told him I thought the rule was no moving back in the line? He said there was no way he was enforcing that rule for fear of a riot. I totally did not blame him but did tell him that I was a little frustrated since I had attempted to follow the rules by waiting to join the line until I had a good chance of seeing Kit and now I probably would not see him. At that point, another man in line made a snotty comment about my happiness being all that mattered which was just what I needed to hear to convince myself that this was so not worth it. I started to just get out of the line but the CM was so sweet and told me to stay in line and he would make sure I saw Kit not matter what


Photo0152FourBySix by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After Kit we got to get a quick picture with this roamer:


DSC03828 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

He was really cute and kept trying to trade things with people. He was very picky and would not just take anything. However, if you were will to give him something he wanted then he would give you a FP.

The FPs that Kenny had gotten earlier (when I was in the middle of my melt down) were open by then so we headed over and rode TSM:


DSC03834 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

And then because the line was not too bad we stopped to see Queen Amidala:


Photo0155FourBySix by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After that we decided to head over and see Disney Jr live. Even though Gabriel is 8 he still loves this show and was looking forward to the addition of Doc McStuffin.


DSC03845 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

It was time for our dinner reservations at 50s Prime Time by the time we finished at Disney Jr. so we headed over there. I was a little worried about this meal and almost cancelled it because Gabriel is a very sensitive child and would not react well if he thought someone was scolding him. So when I checked in I told them that we did not want the experience just the meal. I did manage to get some pictures of our food:


DSC03847 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03849 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03848 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Kenny and I got the same thing - roast beef and it was delicious. It actually ended up being the best meal we had of the entire trip.

I also got a picture of my drink (a little after I had started drinking it) a Bloody Mary:


DSC03851 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After dinner we went over and managed to get a picture with Greedo. He is new to SWW this year and only comes out for a couple of hours in the evenings:


DSC03853 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

And finally we were able to see Jango Fett:


Photo0159FourBySix by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We debated about leaving at that point as it had already been a really long day but decided to stay for Hyper Space Hoopla. We watched it on the American Idol screen because the crowd around the hat was just too much. Some people had started pulling benches over from the little tables that sit outside the boat by Echo Lake so we got on board and grabbed a bench.


DSC03858 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Hyper Space Hoopla is a really cute show and Gabriel really got into it. He was up and dancing most of the show.


DSC03873 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03860 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03863 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03869 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We were done, done, done by the time the show was over so we put our bench back (something I was shocked to see most people did not do) and headed towards the boat. We caught a boat within 5 minutes of exiting the park and were back in our room and in bed by 10pm.

Up next; Our first official EPCOT day

 

[natebenma]

You certainly made the most of your second SWW day! Once again you got some really spectacular meets.

So glad you enjoyed your meal at Prime Time. The food always looks so good there, but we haven't been since 2008 because the boys keep insisting on Sci Fi.

 

[lsenquiz]

You certainly made the most of your second SWW day! Once again you got some really spectacular meets.

I was feeling pretty good at this point because we were way ahead of the schedule I had set to get all the characters.

So glad you enjoyed your meal at Prime Time. The food always looks so good there, but we haven't been since 2008 because the boys keep insisting on Sci Fi.

We really loved it. The portion was just right and the food was really delicous. However, I will say that our meal at Sci-Fi was my second favorite of our trip. I got a scrimp pasta dish and it was really good also.

 

[lovethattink]

Is it too late to join in? I just saw the SWW in your title, but I see I am very tardy for the party.

 

[lsenquiz]

Is it too late to join in? I just saw the SWW in your title, but I see I am very tardy for the party.

Absolutely not. Love having you

 

[indimom]

Ugh, they really need to stop doing the Star Wars character lines that way. It really doesn't work well and just gets people angry/upset. I remember getting frustrated with it on our trip.

And, can I just say, that might be the worst Anakin character I've seen. On our first trip, they had an awesome Anakin. I wanted a picture with him, he was such a cutie. On our second trip, our Anakin looked a lot like yours. Just strange. I think it's the hair. It's just too fake.

But, your Amidala is great. Very realistic. I'm bummed, we never caught her on our trip.

We really enjoyed bartering with the trader roaming characters. I forget what those people are called. lol. He was trying to get Matt to swap his camera for a bag of chips. Matt tried to give him boy instead, but he wouldn't take him. I've got a picture of that somewhere.

We also ate at Prime Time on our last trip, and I have to agree, the Pot Roast was excellent. I really enjoyed it. And Matt was disappointed he didn't listen to me when I told him the Dis gave it very high marks. I forget what he got, but it was only half as good as my meal. ha ha.
We didn't get the "show" at Prime Time either. I'm not sure why. We were really tired when we got there that day, so maybe we didn't look like we were up for a good time.

Sounds like an all-around great day for Star Wars weekend even with the line fiascos. At least after reading about your second line experience, I can now understand why they didn't want people letting others in front of them. (I couldn't really figure out why that mattered so much during your earlier post. Now it makes sense.) It seems like this is as much a headache for CMs as it is for guests.

Maybe some day they'll come up with a better plan. Or just let the less popular characters roam more while the really popular ones stay out all day with no character change-ups. We had a great time with all the roaming ones and they didn't seem to get crazy mobbed or anything.

Really enjoying your TR!

 

[lsenquiz]

Ugh, they really need to stop doing the Star Wars character lines that way. It really doesn't work well and just gets people angry/upset. I remember getting frustrated with it on our trip.

I was definitely not he only frustrated guest there.

And, can I just say, that might be the worst Anakin character I've seen. On our first trip, they had an awesome Anakin. I wanted a picture with him, he was such a cutie. On our second trip, our Anakin looked a lot like yours. Just strange. I think it's the hair. It's just too fake.

I know what you mean. The one in the parade was even worse.

But, your Amidala is great. Very realistic. I'm bummed, we never caught her on our trip.

I thought alot of the characters were very realistic. Aurra Sing is my favorite

We really enjoyed bartering with the trader roaming characters. I forget what those people are called. lol. He was trying to get Matt to swap his camera for a bag of chips. Matt tried to give him boy instead, but he wouldn't take him. I've got a picture of that somewhere.

The Jawas were so cute. They definitely tried to get people to trade some very interesting items.

We also ate at Prime Time on our last trip, and I have to agree, the Pot Roast was excellent. I really enjoyed it. And Matt was disappointed he didn't listen to me when I told him the Dis gave it very high marks. I forget what he got, but it was only half as good as my meal. ha ha.
We didn't get the "show" at Prime Time either. I'm not sure why. We were really tired when we got there that day, so maybe we didn't look like we were up for a good time.

I think we would have gotten the show if I had not said something at the front desk. Our waiter was definitely in character for all his other tables.

Sounds like an all-around great day for Star Wars weekend even with the line fiascos. At least after reading about your second line experience, I can now understand why they didn't want people letting others in front of them. (I couldn't really figure out why that mattered so much during your earlier post. Now it makes sense.) It seems like this is as much a headache for CMs as it is for guests.

Every CM I spoke with said they did not like how the characters were handled. I expect it can be a very frustrating month for them.

Maybe some day they'll come up with a better plan. Or just let the less popular characters roam more while the really popular ones stay out all day with no character change-ups. We had a great time with all the roaming ones and they didn't seem to get crazy mobbed or anything.

Really enjoying your TR!

I suggested that they simply rope off sections of the line that identify who you will see. Similar to the way they do it with other characters when the CM gets at the end of the line to let people know that they line is cut off. So when you get in line they will tell you that your section is waiting for Mickey & Minnie or Donald or Goofy etc...

I don't think people mind waiting they just need to know who they are waiting for.

 

[lovethattink]

I was able to read your SWW reports, but haven't gotten to the other days yet. Your family met a lot of characters. We were unable to M&G with Ahsoka and you got her! Way to go. We did see her in passing and she acknowledged my son with a nod and a smile each time so that's gotta count for something. You also saw Anakin who we missed. Hurray for the CMs who spread some character magic your way! Love that you got a private M&G with Mickey.

Your story about the two moms and the GAC card really got my goat. It's abuse like that which makes things bad for people, like my son, who need one.

We must have walked right behind you when you were sitting on the bench in front of Hoopla. We didn't watch the show that night, my son had other plans. But I remember seeing benches for the first time ever at Hoopla. That was considerate of you to put it back. Doesn't surprise me about the people who left them behind.

Like you, we experienced some really rude guests who freely let snide comments fly. Totally different than the Star Wars fans we encountered at Star Wars Celebration VI last year. Not sure why SWW seems to bring out the dark side in some people Also like you experienced, we encountered cm who overheard or witnessed and sprinkled some pixie dust.

 

[lsenquiz]

I was able to read your SWW reports, but haven't gotten to the other days yet. Your family met a lot of characters. We were unable to M&G with Ahsoka and you got her! Way to go. We did see her in passing and she acknowledged my son with a nod and a smile each time so that's gotta count for something. You also saw Anakin who we missed. Hurray for the CMs who spread some character magic your way! Love that you got a private M&G with Mickey.

I am going to hold up on posting an update for a few days to give anyone reading along a chance to catch up

My goal when planning the trip was to get a picture with every SW character. We still have one more SWW day planned for this trip so we will see if I met the goal!

Your story about the two moms and the GAC card really got my goat. It's abuse like that which makes things bad for people, like my son, who need one.

I still regret to this day not saying something to both moms. I am not usually one to keep quiet and regretted later making this a time that I did.

We must have walked right behind you when you were sitting on the bench in front of Hoopla. We didn't watch the show that night, my son had other plans. But I remember seeing benches for the first time ever at Hoopla. That was considerate of you to put it back. Doesn't surprise me about the people who left them behind.

This is also the first time I have seen benches at Hoopla but I was completely on board with the idea! We will definitely be pulling one over next year!

Like you, we experienced some really rude guests who freely let snide comments fly. Totally different than the Star Wars fans we encountered at Star Wars Celebration VI last year. Not sure why SWW seems to bring out the dark side in some people Also like you experienced, we encountered cm who overheard or witnessed and sprinkled some pixie dust.

We had so many incredible CM experiences this trip. Many that I have not reported on. This trip was filled with more then we have ever experienced before. I truely can not image what the CMs go through during SWW. I think it must be very challanging.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm reading along! I have to admit, I'm pretty clueless about Star Wars but your pictures of SWW make it look awesome! I'm gonna have to finally commit to sitting down and watching the movies!

 

[lsenquiz]

I'm reading along! I have to admit, I'm pretty clueless about Star Wars but your pictures of SWW make it look awesome! I'm gonna have to finally commit to sitting down and watching the movies!

The funny thing is I am also clueless about Star Wars. I have never watched a single movie the whole way through. I continued to have to ask Gabriel who was who the entire week. However, I am a character hunter and there is just something about getting pictures with them that makes me happy

 

[lsenquiz]

Today = Saturday June 1st

Day 9 EPCOT​

So the original plan for this day was to be at the World Show case entry by 8:45am. We were only an hour late and made it by 9:45am . We headed immediately to Test Track to get FPs. We ended up with a window between 12:00 - 1pm.

Next we spent some time in the innoventions buildings. Gabriel actually loves these areas.


DSC03875 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We got in line to do Habitat Heros and right before it was our turn to go in Kenny had to go to the bathroom so Gabriel and I went in by ourselves:


DSC03876 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We had never done it before. Gabriel enjoyed it so much that him and Kenny went in and did it again when we came out.


DSC03878 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After that we headed to Mission Space:


DSC03882 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

This is a ride I pushed Gabriel to ride last year. He was absolutely petrified the entire time we were in line but said he loved it when he got off. So I was a little surprised when he was hesitant to go on this year. However, I knew he would regret not riding so I pushed him again and he agreed to get into line.

Now I need to give you a little bit of history on Gabriel to understand what I am going to tell you about our conversation while we waited in line. Gabriel is very much a worrier. If he senses at all that something could go wrong he will worry it to death. To give you an example, if we are driving down the road and Kenny says we need to stop and get gas soon Gabriel will immediately think we are going to run out of gas and will not let up on the subject until we indeed stop and get gas (we now have a code word that means we need to stop for gas).

So as we waited in line Gabriel started worrying. First he worried that there were only three of us and there are actually 4 jobs that must be performed while you are on the ride. He then worried that he was the pilot last time and was just not sure he was up to doing that again since he had no real training at piloting a spaceship to Mars and was actually unsure how we even managed to survive our last ride. This is when I realized that he truly genuinely believed that we were going to Mars.

Now I was faced with a dilemma. Did I tell him the truth about how the ride worked and ruin the magic but probably ease his fears or did I let him keep thinking we were going to Mars and hope we boarded before he chickened out? Well I went with preserving the magic. So the rest of the time in line was us strategizing how we were going to make it to Mars and back alive. Let me just say that people were giving us the weirdest looks but thank goodness no one chimed in to correct us. I agreed to be the pilot and Kenny agreed to handle two positions to make up for our lack of 4 so I think Gabriel felt a little better when we got in the spaceship.

The ride was a lot of fun but you have to be on your toes with Gabriel in the spaceship. He memorized all the jobs and was listening to the instructions very closely so when it was your turn to push a button you better push that button!! He really thought our life was on the line if we screwed up but he was so relieved when we landed safely. That is when he looked at me and said Technically, we were literally on Mars!!! hence the title of my TR.

After the ride Gabriel wanted to spend some time in here:


DSC03884 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03888 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Then we stopped for a quick picture:


DSC03899 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Next we headed over to ride Test Track.


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


47794580008 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Gabriel had never been on this ride so he was nervous about it but ended up having a lot of fun. I was glad that we still got to build our own vehicle even though we went through the FP line because I think that was a lot of the experience for Gabriel. Especially since his car won 2 of the times through the ride.

We spent some time in the exit area of TT after we finished the ride:


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Then headed over to ride another attraction we had never made time for in the past - Maelstrom.


DSC03905 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03907 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We thought the ride was ok. We actually enjoyed Grand Fiesta much more. Gabriel was very offended when people skipped the movie at the end. After seeing the movie I was wishing we had skipped it also .

After that we just started meandering through the world showcase heading toward France from Norway. We stopped for a few pictures along the way:


DSC03910 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03912 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03913 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

I thought this was very cool and wondered where you were supposed to put your maps to make sure they got recycled but could not figure it out and always forgot to ask.


DSC03914 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

By the time we got to France it was extremely hot. I know lots of people say that Animal Kingdom is the hottest park but to me there is nothing hotter than the World Showcase. So we decided to go back to the room for a little rest. One of the nicest things about staying at an EPCOT resort is the short walk to your room from EPCOT. We definitely used the first available entry to Beach Club to get out of the heat.

We ordered room service for lunch while we were in the room and I have no memory or pictures of what we got. Then we decided to head down to the pool for a while. I did not take a lot of pictures because I did not want to bring my camera but did get a photo with my phone of a mama duck and her babies that swam with us for a while.


ducks by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

It was pretty comical as 50+ people most of them under the age of 10 tried to help the babies out of the pool without touching them. The babies were too small to make it up over the ledge so people were building ramps out of towels to try to help. Finally the babies made their way out, everyone cheered and the mama promptly walked them over to one of the other pools and they all jumped in .


photo6 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Kenny and Gabriel decided to go down the slide a few times so I went over to Hannahs and grabbed a cocktail and found a chair to relax in. Kenny and Gabriel eventually came back and we talked Gabriel into swimming in one area for a while so Kenny could relax for a minute too. While we were sitting there we watched a life guard tell two girls to get down off some rocks they were standing on. The girls got down and the mom told them to get back up there. The life guard told them to get down again but the mother told them not to listen. I guess she needed a picture of them on those rocks regardless of the fact that she was endangering her children's life. .

Kenny and I both looked at each other and wondered how the CMs do it? Do they go to a special class? Take a special medication? Honestly, how do they keep from just killing some guests? We commented that the postal service has nothing on the CMs from Disney!

We eventually headed back to the room because we were going to have to do some laundry that night. Kenny offered to do it himself and I immediately accepted because laundry was just the last thing I wanted to do. Kenny had quite a time because he was first sent to a laundry room where all the washers were broken. Unfortunately he did not realize that until he put all his quarters in. When he went to the front desk to get a refund they had no quarters to give him. Since we had not eaten yet he ended up walking over to Boardwalk Pizza (our go to dinner) and paying cash so he would get some change. Then he brought us pizza and headed to the laundry room in the villas where there were working machines.

Gabriel and I were in bed asleep before Kenny came back from the laundry.

A Mom Story:

When my two older children (DS25 & DD21) were very young (DS4 & DD-3mths) my husband got an opportunity to work in Chili with the international division of the company we both still work for. The assignment would be for 6 months and he would only be able to come home twice during that time. The money he would make was so significant that we made the decision that he should go.

I have always considered myself an very strong independent person so I had absolutely no doubt I would do fine while he was gone and I did right up until about three weeks before he was scheduled to come home for good. Lots went wrong in the first week of those last three weeks and I found myself completely unraveling between the Monday and Saturday of that week.

At that time, my parents were living in Ohio and we were in Atlanta where we still live today. It was very expensive to call long distance so I was only able to talk with my mom on Saturdays. I had spoken with her the previous Saturday and everything had been fine. It was my turn to call the following Saturday and I can remember sitting at my kitchen table bawling my eyes out wondering if I would make it two more weeks on my own and just trying to pull myself together enough to pick up the phone and dial. As I sat there the phone rang. I picked it up and said hello and my mom was on the other end. All she said was, "We are getting in the car now and will be there by dinner time and we plan to stay until Kenny gets home".

Up next; A deviation from our PTR and some really awesome pixie dust!!!