Wait, do we have a Fast Pass for that? Final Update, Final Thoughts and Favs 1/26

[ashleymrush]

Looks like a great start to your DHS morning. I think that woman freaking out in front of me would have annoyed me as well. Glad to see you were able to get a spot at a good time. My oldest son is too shy and wouldn't do well with it right now but I know that next time we go it'll be sure to be on our must do list. DH is a huge Star Wars fan. I can't wait to see the photos of the experience!

 

[amberg93]

Sorry I fell a little behind again, but I'm all caught up.

Congrats on booking for 2015! Sounds like it'll be great.

Oh goodness that JTA sign up story. Holy crap, I can't even imagine. Eek. At least you got in the slot you wanted.

Aww Lorelai was the rebel spy! Of course that cheered her up. How awesome.

And good that it worked out that E wasn't too upset about missing out after all.

 

[FancyNancy]

Yay for booking 2015! I was there the last week in January this year the discount that came out for Jan/Feb and I think part of March was "Stay, Play, and Dine". It's room and park ticket discount and for dining the adults eat for kid prices with the dining plan.

I cannot wait to see Lorelai at JTA! Love that she was the rebel spy.

 

[PrncessA]

Boy, I thought that finishing school for the summer would slow things down… not so much! School is finally finished and I got both of my grades back on Sunday and they were both A’s!! It was a very close call on one of the classes, I was only 20 points away from a B and I was completely stressed over getting an A.

Erik and Lorelai spent most of last week sick. Lorelai missed most of her first official week of cheerleading practice because of a 102 temperature. She rallied on Friday to make it to the end of the summer talent show that she was singing in, but by that night she had a fever again and kept it all day Saturday. She finally seems to feel better now, but she is not a complainer when she is sick, so you never know. Here she is in the talent show: click here


We started the week with an extended family crisis, which the kids thankfully know nothing about. But is stressful on Erik and I none-the-less. I keep thinking that if we hadn’t changed our trip to June we would be leaving in a little over a week! I am glad we decided to move our trip to June, because this summer has been so exhausting that I think we would have slept through WDW! The kids and I are heading to the Wisconsin Dells on August 17 for three days with friends (Erik couldn’t take off work) and I am planning on sleeping in and relaxing the entire time, since the kids and I both start school the next week.

Lastly, our trip planning for February is underway, kind of…. I am thinking of creating a PTR soon for it, since I can make ADR’s in 5 days and I don’t even know where we want to eat yet! I ask the kids and their response was that they really wanted to go to T-Rex again. Ethan added in Ye-Haw Bob and Tusker House and Erik and I want HoopDeeDoo. I was surprised that Lorelai didn’t mention CRT or Akershus, but we will probably do at least one of them. Or maybe 1900 Park Fare dinner, that would be fun!

Finally, I really need to find time to catch up on all my TR reading as well! But first on with our story! I had to increase my photobucket bandwith to post as well!

When last we left off Ethan and I were waiting on Erik and Lorelai to start Jedi Training. Ethan was actually really excited for her, but still had no interest in being involved. We grabbed front row spots to wait as it got closer to time and received some instructions from the Photopass Photographer about how he would be moving and not to step over the yellow line. Before we knew it the Jedi parade was on its way and Erik joined E and me. Lorelai looked adorable in her Jedi robe!!



Lorelai was the only girl Jedi, which was kind of surprising to us. We ended up with a boatload of photopass photos and I took video so I will let the photos and video do the talking.




























The first video is 10 minutes and Lorelai is at 9:30 if you are interested, but the entire video is worth a watch. The CM who plays the Jedi Master is HILARIOUS!!
Video One
Video Two

The verdict on the JTA was that it was a huge success and has to be done again. I don’t think Ethan will do it even after watching Lorelai do it. It is just too much for him I think. But it was a lot of fun and one of Lorelai’s favorite moments from the trip.

When we finished up JTA we popped into StarTours to do one last adventure! Star Tours was definitely a huge favorite of our family! We stopped and got a few photopass pictures taken as we headed toward lunch.







We were really excited about lunch at Sci-Fi Diner and when we arrived to check in it looked like there were a lot of excited people waiting to eat as well. We checked in and joined the wait.



I can see in the last few photos that Ethan is looking a little off, which I should have noticed as a warning sign for what happened after lunch, but I didn't and it took us all by surprise.

I took Lorelai down to the restroom and that is when I noticed that the entire dining room was empty and it hit me that we were in the first seating for lunch. As soon as they began seating people we were one of the first families called. We were seated in a car toward the back and no one ever joined us in the back seat.







We were greeted by our server, Ida, quickly and she was wonderful! She explained that the kids could order appetizers off of the kids menu or the adults menu on the DxDDP, which was a surprise to me and that we could get shakes as our drinks if we wanted as well. YUMM


With the kids ordering adult appetizers we ended up with a buffet at our table! We had onion rings, fried pickles, buffalo popcorn chicken and spinach artichoke dip. I was full by the time our entrees came! I unfortunately didn’t look at the description of my meal that well and ordered the picnic burger, which was delicious after I took the hot dog off of the burger. Not my cup of tea! I only managed to eat half of it! Erik had the Reuben and he thought it was great as well. The kids picked at their food, not because it wasn’t good, but because it was a lot of food!

The kids were not interested in any dessert at all and since they had milkshakes as their drinks we didn’t push it. Instead, Ida gave us bottles of water to take with us, which I thought was very nice of her. Erik had the cheese cake and I had the Sci-Fi candy bar, which was very good, but very rich. I managed to eat half of it before I was about to go into a sugar coma!

All in all the entire meal was a hit. The theme is amazing and really sells the restaurant. The kids could have done with fewer monsters, but we thought it was great! We paid our tip and by 1:30 we were on our way out and headed toward the front of the park!

Next up:
An Ethan melt down turns into a family melt down. Becoming a pirate and a princess!

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry I got behind Sara (we were in Vegas for a long weekend).

I read on FB that DD was ill and hope she is 100% better by now.

It's too bad you didn't enjoy Starring Rolls. We have always enjoyed their sweet treats there.

Love the photopass pics...especially the one with Olaf.

So glad that DD got chosen to be the Rebel Spy (Cayley was ours).

It looks like DD really enjoyed her jedi training (they never had that when my boys were small )

I am so delighted you enjoyed Sci Fi. It's definitely not gourmet, but my hubby loves the reuben and I love the burgers and onion rings.

Uh oh...I don't like the sounds of a meltdown.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Sorry to hear about the sickness in your house! Summer colds and especially summer flus are TERRIBLE. They seem so much worse than winter ones.

The Jedi training looks so neat! It looks like Lorelai's having a great time; does she talk about it at all now that you're home? What does the certificate say?

You CAN see Ethan looking a little off if you know about it - I looked back at your pictures and he doesn't look as happy as he has in your other pictures!

I really liked Sci-Fi but I didn't have a good experience there. They had something break in the audio system after I ordered, and the whole time until my food arrived there was a high-pitched screeching sound in the entire restaurant! It gave me a headache. I was getting up to leave when they set my food in front of me and I couldn't leave - and then my food was VERY wrong (it was just a bacon sandwich. A sandwich with about a pound of bacon on it. ). But once the screeching stopped and the food was corrected, I just really enjoyed the ambiance there and my server was good as well. I would go back and try it again!

Uh oh on the meltdown!!

 

[ashleymrush]

So happy to hear about your A's! Great job!

Lorelai's JTA experience looks like it was so much fun. I hope my boys want to do it next time we go. They'll be 5 and 8 which I think are the perfect ages. All the Memory Maker photos are making me consider getting it for our next trip. I thought the price tag was a bit pricey for a few photos taken in front of signature spots in the parks and ride pictures. I didn't realize how many photo pass opportunities are. I really think I might splurge on it our next trip.

Your lunch at Sci-Fi seems like it went well. That is a lot of food to eat!

I hope the meltdown in your next post isn't too bad. We had our fair share of those too. They are never fun.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Sorry you didn't like Starring Rolls, we love it, just because we love to grab the quick pastries/bagels. Plus of course the cupcakes

Love all the PP pictures, so fun.

Glad you all had fun at Sci-Fi it's one of our favorites. Yummy milkshakes

Lorelai looks so cute in the Jedi robe. We had our first JTA experience in May during SWW, we had a blast too. I don't know if my son had more fun waiting to become a Jedi with the trivia or the actual event. You got some great PP pictures. Did E try any of the moves after the event (like in the comfort of your home or hotel room)? My little one that decided not to participate still memorized the moves and still does them.

uh oh meltdown coming I know those all to well. Hope it isn't too bad.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Congratulations on the A's! Way to go girl!

Poor Lorelai. That was one heck of a fever for a tiny little girl like her. I sure hope that things have settled down for your family. At least you have another Disney trip to plan to help keep your mind busy.

The pictures of Lorelai at the Jedi Training Academy are great. There's even one where she's either on her tippy toes or actually off the ground.

It's been several years since we've eaten at Sci-Fi but are considering it for our next trip. All depends on whether or not we want to book a Fantasmic package at Mama Melrose's. I sure hope that Ethan's meltdown isn't as bad as it sounds like it's going to be.

 

[petals]

Luvin the tye dye t-shirts you got and the Olaf Magic Shot

 

[ddstratton]

Sounds like Jedi Training was a hit! And oh, my - that's a lotta food! Sounds yummy, though.

 

[amberg93]

Sorry to hear that Erik and Lorelai were sick Hope they're feeling better.

That photobucket bandwith is annoying, no doubt.

Way to go Lorelai. And you're right, the Jedi Master is hilarious.

And wow, so much food. I just had the buffalo chicken last time I was there and that was enough to fill me up so I can imagine that the kids would have picked at their food.

 

[MarbleBob]

Catching up... I love how the photos of JTA turned out. You ended up with quite a few "keepers"! Lunch looked like a lot of fun too!

Sorry to hear that a meltdown is coming next. Hopefully it wasn't too bad.

 

[PrncessA]

I realized I missed all of my responses before!

Looks like a great start to your DHS morning. I think that woman freaking out in front of me would have annoyed me as well. Glad to see you were able to get a spot at a good time. My oldest son is too shy and wouldn't do well with it right now but I know that next time we go it'll be sure to be on our must do list. DH is a huge Star Wars fan. I can't wait to see the photos of the experience!

I was exhausted watching her!!

I am not sure that Ethan will be ready for the JTA next time either. It is a little intense for shy kids or kids that are unsure of the unknown. It is definitely worth it though if your child wants to do it!

Sorry I fell a little behind again, but I'm all caught up.

Congrats on booking for 2015! Sounds like it'll be great.

Oh goodness that JTA sign up story. Holy crap, I can't even imagine. Eek. At least you got in the slot you wanted.

Aww Lorelai was the rebel spy! Of course that cheered her up. How awesome.

And good that it worked out that E wasn't too upset about missing out after all.

I am so behind on all of my TR reading, I completely understand!!

I am able to make my ADR's tomorrow and I am not prepared at all!!!

Lorelai was so excited to be the rebel spy!!

Yay for booking 2015! I was there the last week in January this year the discount that came out for Jan/Feb and I think part of March was "Stay, Play, and Dine". It's room and park ticket discount and for dining the adults eat for kid prices with the dining plan.

I cannot wait to see Lorelai at JTA! Love that she was the rebel spy.

Erik and I had a long discussion this morning about whether we should do the dining plan or not! I think it will definitely depend on what discount comes out for that time! The DxDDP was SOOOO much food and we are thinking that our next trip might be fun if we don't have as strict of a schedule.

 

[PrncessA]

I'm sorry I got behind Sara (we were in Vegas for a long weekend).

I hope you had a blast in Vegas! I was watching your Facebook page and it looked like so much fun!

I read on FB that DD was ill and hope she is 100% better by now.

Thank you! She is feeling much better now!

It's too bad you didn't enjoy Starring Rolls. We have always enjoyed their sweet treats there.

It was good, but not great. I definitely think it is worth another trip!

Love the photopass pics...especially the one with Olaf.

I really loved photopass! It is a must do on every trip now!

So glad that DD got chosen to be the Rebel Spy (Cayley was ours).

They must have picked the cutest kids around!!
I'm not biased or anything!

It looks like DD really enjoyed her jedi training (they never had that when my boys were small )

Grandkids! I think it is such a great idea!


I am so delighted you enjoyed Sci Fi. It's definitely not gourmet, but my hubby loves the reuben and I love the burgers and onion rings.

Uh oh...I don't like the sounds of a meltdown.

Sci-Fi was so much fun and simple good food. It felt like counter service with a kick and a great theme!

It was a melt down of epic proportions! It actually was the only bad melt down the entire trip, which is a miracle! Coming up soon!

Sorry to hear about the sickness in your house! Summer colds and especially summer flus are TERRIBLE. They seem so much worse than winter ones.

I agree! I am ready for some non-sick relaxation time!

The Jedi training looks so neat! It looks like Lorelai's having a great time; does she talk about it at all now that you're home? What does the certificate say?

You just reminded me that I have no idea what happened to the certificate! I need to find it, we missing a few things that I know we brought home there is proably a bag that I didn't unpack and it got put away like it was... I should look for that!

You CAN see Ethan looking a little off if you know about it - I looked back at your pictures and he doesn't look as happy as he has in your other pictures!

I really liked Sci-Fi but I didn't have a good experience there. They had something break in the audio system after I ordered, and the whole time until my food arrived there was a high-pitched screeching sound in the entire restaurant! It gave me a headache. I was getting up to leave when they set my food in front of me and I couldn't leave - and then my food was VERY wrong (it was just a bacon sandwich. A sandwich with about a pound of bacon on it. ). But once the screeching stopped and the food was corrected, I just really enjoyed the ambiance there and my server was good as well. I would go back and try it again!

Yikes that would turn me off as well!

Uh oh on the meltdown!!

Coming up soon!

So happy to hear about your A's! Great job!

Thank you, I honestly didn't think dividing my time between life and school would be this hard!

Lorelai's JTA experience looks like it was so much fun. I hope my boys want to do it next time we go. They'll be 5 and 8 which I think are the perfect ages. All the Memory Maker photos are making me consider getting it for our next trip. I thought the price tag was a bit pricey for a few photos taken in front of signature spots in the parks and ride pictures. I didn't realize how many photo pass opportunities are. I really think I might splurge on it our next trip.

Memory Maker was a huge success for our family. They have photographers in so many places I didn't think of like most character interactions, Bruce in Epcot, Belle's Enchanted Tales, BBB, Jedi Training and all around the Showcase in different places at different times, as well as all the "normal" spots. We loved it! I would say for the entire trip we only spent a total of 10 minutes waiting in line for any photographer at the "normal" spots.

Your lunch at Sci-Fi seems like it went well. That is a lot of food to eat!

I hope the meltdown in your next post isn't too bad. We had our fair share of those too. They are never fun.

It was ton of food!

It was not fun at all! Oh the world of being a parent...

Sorry you didn't like Starring Rolls, we love it, just because we love to grab the quick pastries/bagels. Plus of course the cupcakes

Love all the PP pictures, so fun.

Thanks!!

Glad you all had fun at Sci-Fi it's one of our favorites. Yummy milkshakes

Lorelai looks so cute in the Jedi robe. We had our first JTA experience in May during SWW, we had a blast too. I don't know if my son had more fun waiting to become a Jedi with the trivia or the actual event. You got some great PP pictures. Did E try any of the moves after the event (like in the comfort of your home or hotel room)? My little one that decided not to participate still memorized the moves and still does them.

Erik didn't mention any of the trivia in the warm up... I will have to ask them about it! That is so cute that your son memorized the moves! E and Lorelai are obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right now, so there are a lot of ninja moves in our house right now.

uh oh meltdown coming I know those all to well. Hope it isn't too bad.

Congratulations on the A's! Way to go girl!

Thanks!

Poor Lorelai. That was one heck of a fever for a tiny little girl like her. I sure hope that things have settled down for your family. At least you have another Disney trip to plan to help keep your mind busy.

She doesn't complain so when she does I know she is SICK! Even with the fever all weekend I wouldn't have known it if I didn't take her temp, she was acting fine, just a little "off".

The pictures of Lorelai at the Jedi Training Academy are great. There's even one where she's either on her tippy toes or actually off the ground.

I love that photo, it captures how in to it she was!

It's been several years since we've eaten at Sci-Fi but are considering it for our next trip. All depends on whether or not we want to book a Fantasmic package at Mama Melrose's. I sure hope that Ethan's meltdown isn't as bad as it sounds like it's going to be.

The themeing is just so much fun!! And the food was pretty good too!

Luvin the tye dye t-shirts you got and the Olaf Magic Shot

Thanks! I love magic shots, although we had to ask for nearly every one that we got, it was worth it!

Sounds like Jedi Training was a hit! And oh, my - that's a lotta food! Sounds yummy, though.

JTA will be a must do in February!

Sorry to hear that Erik and Lorelai were sick Hope they're feeling better.

Both are much better, thanks!!

That photobucket bandwith is annoying, no doubt.

Way to go Lorelai. And you're right, the Jedi Master is hilarious.

He was great with the kids, but had the adults cracking up!

And wow, so much food. I just had the buffalo chicken last time I was there and that was enough to fill me up so I can imagine that the kids would have picked at their food.

Too much food was our theme for the trip!

Catching up... I love how the photos of JTA turned out. You ended up with quite a few "keepers"! Lunch looked like a lot of fun too!

Sorry to hear that a meltdown is coming next. Hopefully it wasn't too bad.

Melt down coming up next!

 

[azarine]

Loving your TR, thanks for sharing!!!

 

[mommajo143]

... had asked the kids if they wanted to get a surrey bike or their own and they were in no way interested in a surrey bike. This was good since we found out that surrey bike cannot bike to POFQ and regular bikes can.

Did wdw provide helmets?

... I bet the Velcro went to pads they can add as needed to make the helmet fit a smaller head?

We loved POFQ & POR as we'll. we are from Louisiana and found both areas of the PO resort reasonably similar to southern part of the state. DH prefer POFQ due to one bus stop, smaller, quieter.... But I really liked both overall.

 

[mommajo143]

Interesting about the kid at breakfast. I never saw "stupid" as a bad word, though some kids use it that way. I've never heard it referred to as bad, though I've reprimanded nieces and nephews that used it to refer to other people.

Ill admit that I naively told my DS as a toddler after a "stupid" incident that it wasn't nice blah blah and something to the effect of "that's ugly, we don't say that" which unfortunately morphed into "stupid is a bad word"... I do not think stupid is a bad word anymore than fat or ugly is, just that the way you use it can me it unkind. However, the immature logic of my son and my lack of full explanation took this into the "bad word" category for him which has caused us endless grief for a few years ...he scolded his brother whenever he called someThING (not someONE stupid / dumb)...which inevitably led to arguments and fussing a few times.

 

[PrncessA]

Loving your TR, thanks for sharing!!!

Did wdw provide helmets?

... I bet the Velcro went to pads they can add as needed to make the helmet fit a smaller head?

We loved POFQ & POR as we'll. we are from Louisiana and found both areas of the PO resort reasonably similar to southern part of the state. DH prefer POFQ due to one bus stop, smaller, quieter.... But I really liked both overall.

Yes, WDW provided helmets. They are required for kids, adults can choose if they want them or not. Your right, it was probably for sizing foam, but Lorelai was not a fan!

We can't wait to stay there again in February!

Ill admit that I naively told my DS as a toddler after a "stupid" incident that it wasn't nice blah blah and something to the effect of "that's ugly, we don't say that" which unfortunately morphed into "stupid is a bad word"... I do not think stupid is a bad word anymore than fat or ugly is, just that the way you use it can me it unkind. However, the immature logic of my son and my lack of full explanation took this into the "bad word" category for him which has caused us endless grief for a few years ...he scolded his brother whenever he called someThING (not someONE stupid / dumb)...which inevitably led to arguments and fussing a few times.

I can see how that could easily happen. There are phrases and words that we don't like to hear or use in our house, that aren't "bad" words but we just don't like them. They easily become "bad" words and he said/she said fights ensue!

 

[mommajo143]

We can't wait to stay there again in February!

Do you have a PTR on your Feb trip / Will u be doing one? I've really enjoyed this TR so far, even though I got behind a little. I'm caught up now & getting even more excited for our next family trip reading about yours!