Who knew choking each other would earn us fastpasses?

[mickeystoontown]

I'm coming back in a bit to post replies. But, I've got a few minutes of free time so I'm going to try and write an installment. It helps that the boss is out of the office so I can actually think and type at the same time.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Today was THE day. The first time we had ever experienced Star Wars Weekends! Hunter was estatic. I wasn't so estatic except for the fact that I knew Hunter was busting at the seams to see some of the Star Wars actors, creators, etc.

I had done a bit of research and knew that we needed to get to the park early. John, Mama and I discussed it and it was decided that Hunter and I would go to the park early and they would join us later.

Hunter had no problems, whatsoever, getting up this day. He was ready to get to Hollywood Studios and see what Star Wars Weekends was all about. I don't remember what time it was but I think we were out the door around 7:15 a.m. or so. We walked over to the bus stop and were a bit surprised to see that we had it all to ourselves.

After about 10 minutes, we started getting nervous and decided we'd better just drive to the park. From what little research I had done, I knew that we would have to be at the park at least an hour early in order to get in line for the Fastpasses that they give out to meet the Star Wars stars/creators/etc.

Hunter took a few pictures as we were driving to Hollywood Studios:

It took us all of about 5 minutes to drive to Hollywood Studios. Gotta love the fact that the CBR is close to both Hollywood Studios and Epcot. We arrived and parked fairly close to the front of the park. Close enough that we just walked. A picture of the parking lot and of our row number:

And the sidewalk we took to get to the park:

One of Hunter and I at the end of that sidewalk:

You can already tell that it was hot and it was just a little after 8:00 a.m. Just look at the redness of my face already.

We made our way through security and then we saw the people already waiting in line to receive Fastpasses to see the different Star Wars people. (Okay, so they aren't just "Star Wars people" but I hate to keep saying actors, creators, etc.) I can't remember how many lines there were but I want to say 6. I could be wrong though.

I asked a castmember if I could stand in line for one and Hunter stand in line for another. I mean, I didn't give a hoot about seeing any of the people but I figured I could let Hunter have my Fastpass. They told me that I wouldn't be able to get in line to take pictures if I didn't have a Fastpasses. Well shoot!

So, Hunter had a difficult decision to make.....who did he want to meet the most? He chose the man who played Boba Fett. Forgive me for not knowing his name but I don't. I'll have it later in the report because I took a picture of the sign.

We stood out in the blazing sun and people watched. I'm going to apologize right now to all of you Star Wars fans out there. But some of you are weeeeeird! Well, ya'll are probably not weeeeeird but there were definitely some weeeeird guests standing in line with us that day. Let's just say that the people watching was kicked up a notch this day.

There wasn't anything really to do while standing in line except for taking pictures and talking:

See the guy in the robe in this picture? I have no idea how he was able to stand in the heat in that thing!

A couple of more people in their Star Wars costumes. There is, of course, the guy in the robe thingie but there's also the lady in black (wedged between other people). She was all decked out in black with lightsabers hanging from her belt. I know she had to be hot!

The lines started moving and it wasn't chaos but it was hard to keep track of which line was which since there were no ropes dividing the lines or anything. Hunter and I got our Fastpasses to see the Boba Fett guy and decided to see if we could loop back around and get more Fastpasses for someone else. Lorne Peterson's (I think that's his name) was moving pretty quickly so we hopped in it and scored two Fastpasses.

We figured by the time we looped back around, the Fastpasses for other Star Wars people would be handed out. When we looked back, they were. In less than 15 minutes, all Fastpasses were completely gone! Man, was I glad we got there early or we wouldn't have gotten Fastpasses at all.

Hunter was so excited. It made me happy to see how happy he was.

As we approached the ticket gates, we noticed the Stormtroopers on top of the buildings. They were talking to the guests. Of course, I was taking pictures and one of them pointed to me and said something that I can't remember. I do remember that Hunter thought it was funny.

To be continued!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

what a fun way to start the day...seems like some very interesting sights!
I did not know you needed passes to meet the actors/ Star Wars characters ?!? that is good to know if we ever decide to do something like that!

Connie

 

[3LittlePirates]

I remember that day it was so hot!! We stood in line to sign up our kids to fight Darth Vader!! Oh the things we do for our kids

 

[mickeystoontown]

I remember that day it was so hot!! We stood in line to sign up our kids to fight Darth Vader!! Oh the things we do for our kids

That was the day you saw us in Toy Story Pizza Planet! I think I have a picture coming up that has your youngest one it in.

what a fun way to start the day...seems like some very interesting sights!
I did not know you needed passes to meet the actors/ Star Wars characters ?!? that is good to know if we ever decide to do something like that!

Connie

Oh yeah, there were definitely some interesting sights at Star Wars Weekends. We were told that the people who had Fastpasses were the only ones guaranteed to see a Star Wars actor/creator/etc. There was a "possibility" that those without Fastpasses would get to see them. But, I wasn't taking any chances. I'm glad that we didn't because we saw castmembers turning people away left and right.

 

[johnsonmatt3]

I remeber that day quiet possibly, was it the may28-30 or june 4-6?
Either way we were there both of those weekends, but in different parks. I guess I will have to wait and see but when we were there it rained so we didnt get to see the dance off or the darth vader thing.

 

[mickeystoontown]

AAAHHHH, 6 years of being 'diagnosed' with migranes that nothing can help and now I find this out???

If you didnt notice, one of the firework pics of the yellowish orange balls had 3 of them in the shape of mickey ears... HIDDEN MICKEY!!!!

I sure hope that the lemon juice trick works for you. You have to start sipping it as soon as you start feeling the headache coming on though.

I did notice that. Even John did and he's soooo not a hidden Mickey finder.

Hi Lisa! Wow! You got some great shots of the fireworks!! I always try to take pictures of the fireworks, but they never come out! I even have a fireworks setting on my camera! I don't have a tripod though, so maybe that's it! I'll keep trying though! LOL! I love the Spectro Magic Parade!!! My favorite one in all of Disney World!!! I'm so glad they are keeping it!

Well, it looks like you have your hands full with Lacey's wedding! At least you have a lot of help! Weddings are SO super duper expensive!!! My husband and I paid for our own in 2008. My mother did buy my dress though. And his mother did give us half for the rehearsal dinner. But everything else, was all us!! Unfortuantely, we regret that now! I know, sad to say. But it's the truth. Glad we are married, but should never of had the big wedding! Should have just went away & eloped somewhere! However, I'm sure we would have regretted that as well. Looking back at pictures, it was rather beautiful! But SO NOT worth the money!!!! Well, good luck with everything!!!! Can't wait for another update!

You know where I bought the tripod? At the Dollar Tree! Of course, it's nothing fancy smancy but it works!

I paid fo rmy entire wedding too. My mother made my dress (I was smaller back them) and also the bridesmaids' dresses. I was working so I didn't see any need for my parents to pay for everything. Of couse, way back 26 years ago, things weren't as expensive as they are now.

Hey Lisa . Sorry I have been MIA; things have just been so busy around here with all the wedding planning. I have been thinking about you and your family though. I am keeping everyone in my prayers that ya'll get through these sad days with some relief.

No need to apologize. I've been busy too. As you can see, I'm just now getting around to updating from days and days ago!

Great update, Lisa!!!

I get all gooey just thinking about Wishes. I love it! We had to skip Spectro in May because of the little one. She wouldn't go to sleep in her stroller at all, so we headed back to the room pretty early each night.

This last trip, she stayed awake and enjoyed the nighttime stuff, but since it wasn't Spectro, we skipped it. I know, I know, we are bad, but I just love SpectroMagic so much that I just felt it wasn't worth battling the crowds for something else. We did watch the Boo To You Parade at MNSSHP, though.

Our favorite spot to watch the parade at MK is right across from the train station, facing away from the castle. There usually aren't a ton of people there, you get to see the floats almost immediately, and it's a quick getaway after the last float goes by.

Good luck with Lacey's wedding plans! We paid for most of our wedding by ourselves and you really get creative when you don't have much of a budget. It's good that you have a lot of people who are creative and can help out with things. And thank goodness Lacey doesn't want a $5000 big pile of dumb!

I get all teary eyed whenever I watch Disney parades and Disney fireworks. I'm a sap!

I may have to try out your favorite MK parade spot. So do you sit in front of the Emporium or on the other side?

Lacey's wedding plans are coming along. I paid for my wedding too and I was getting pretty creative myself. And, yes, I do thank my lucky stars that Lacey doesn't want a $5,000 big pile of dumb! She's such a hoot!

What a great ending to a great day! Love that viewing spot for the parade! Looks like a great one

It was truly a magical way to end the day and an unexpected one since we thought we were going to miss the parade that night.

You saw Pumpkin Man! I've seen him on more than one TR - he's a regular over at WDW and is always dressed to the hilt with the socks and beanie.

What a magical night with the bonus Spectro - and those are great seats! We watched the Christmas parade once in the area down there by the Fire House and it too was a GREAT spot, I always forget about it! Love that you can beat the crowds too.

I wish you the best with planning the wedding. It's so much work, isn't it? I planned mine in 5 months. I was EXHAUSTED by the time I got married! Sounds like you've got lots of contacts to make it easier and cheaper!!

I thought I read somewhere that was the guy's name! I even think I saw a picture of him once, just in a different outfit.

Thanks for the best wishes on the wedding planning. I think we've pretty much got everything figured out. Now we've just have to start forking out the moolah!

Great update! I love the spectro pictures! I can never seem to get my camera to take good ones!

Sounds like you have a nice wedding hookup with the invatations. Those things can be very expensive! My dad keeps telling me he will pay me 10K NOT to have a wedding, says it will save him an additional 20K lol.

John told Lacey that she should run off and get married and he'd pay for her honeymoon. I know he thinks he means it but he really does want to walk her down the aidle a I am sure your dad does too.

Great update! You had good seats for both Wishes and Spectro! We were in that vicinity when we were there too, (just in front of Tony's) and they turned out to be pretty good seats.

Good Luck with the Wedding planning! It's a lot of work but I had fun planning mine, I did it almost all myself with some help here and there. My MIL made the favors/place card holders, with mine and my SIL's help but she provided the dried flowers (we had little terra cotta pots that we painted and she put dried flowers in them, soo pretty) and my dad paid for the reception but the rest was all me. (Flowers, DJ. Limo, Photog, etc) It was done long distance, too, since I was in Roanoke, Va at the time and the wedding was in Philly. If you haven't already been on there, the message boards on the Knot.com were really helpful. Various other things on that site are good too.

Oooh, I hadn't heard of knot.com. I need to give that to Lacey so she can check it out. Your decorations sound really cute. That's the sort of theme that Lacey wants to go with.

You're not alone- those guys in Spectro are very creepy! I always thought the same thing .

They are! I can't figure out what they are supposed to be exactly.

I'm gonna have to check that spot out if we go in Dec. We usually like Liberty Square area. We did Spectro at Main Street once though and it was nice to be close to the beginning.
I'm not to excited about the Electric Parade at all though. But if we come in to MK after eating at WCC and there is a spot open in that area, I'll jump it. LOL!

We used to watch from Liberty Square too but then would have to find another place to watch the fireworks. Be sure to watch for "our" spot because it's a great one.

I am still praying for youe family. Great update. Love the parade pics.

Thank you so very much! My sister is holding up very well and I'm sure it's because of all the prayers going up for her.

Lisa I just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear your BIL passed away. I have been mia for awhile I had carpal tunnel surgery and been off the computer. What a blessing that he accepted Christ before he passed. There is comfort in that. I'll cont to pray for your family.

Thank you! I was so happy when I heard that my brother in law had accepted Christ into his life. It made his passing much easier for us.

I wondered where you have been. Are you doing well now?

What a perfect night! Great dinner, Wishes, and Spectro.....

Oh...and Lacey's wedding plans sound great. How exciting! How are you managing to contain yourself??

It was a great evening at the Magic Kingdom and I wish I was there now!

Lacey and I are pretty calm about the wedding. I think now that we know what she wants, we are in the planning mode.

I love your fireworks and parade pictures. They turned out great except for those trees. Arrrgghhhh! Those trees are always in the way.

Did you use a tripod for the parade pictures too, because they turned out really well with very little to no blur. Nice job!

Girl, my pictures are nothing compared to your's! Every single one of your pictures are fabulous.

Yep, I used a tripod. Just a little bitty one and I didn't even have a real good place to set it up. I mostly just held it steady on the fence.

I have a lot of catching up to do, but before the day gets away from me, I wanted to say that I am very sorry for the loss of your Brother-in-law.

Thank you April! I can't wait to see all of your trip pictures.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hello Lisa,
well I have sat here for most of the afternoon reading and rereading from your quick links and believe I am up to speed with most of your postings. If you mentioned things that did not make it into the links I will have missed that part (sorry).

First, thing I am really sorry to hear of the loss of your BIL. But, I know he is out of pain and your family pain of watching him suffer is over. I will continue to pray for your family while they accept his passing and for the pain that is felt in their loss. (I hope that came out right)...

Next, the camping weekend looks so relaxing and fun...I wonder if I would enjoy something like that (I know Ashton would), I don't think we would have to worry about wild animals with the noise that Danny makes at night (that would be my fear in a tent--wild animals). Love love loved the sunset pictures! Congrats on the fishing win

finally, caught up on Lacey's info!!! love the idea of a wedding and two family receptions...I really like that idea! I like Lacey's theme it can be such a serene theme when done delicately.

Happy to hear that John will be joining you and Hunter on next year's WDW visit!

great updates on the WDW visit!!! sounds like you guys were able to enjoy what you wanted even with the rain!
the food at Plaza looked yummy especially your club sandwich, John's and your mom's dessert...
GREAT Wishes photos! and how awesome to catch a second viewing of Spectro--great spot!!!

Connie

Glad that my links were of use! On my last report, I totally forgot about keeping the first post updated.

wonder why Lacey can't use her grant as needed. Gwendolyn and Dayne only have to use theirs at an accredited school; that's interesting...but, happy to hear she is staying on top of things!

Congrats! to Hunter that is very exciting to be on honor roll...Dayne has never cared for English or L.A. but always seemed to pull it togther when he needed to!

ewe...turnip greens; John can have them! my dad and mom like them I just never did care for them...

have a great evening!

I think the reason she can't use some of the grant money is because some of Lacey's courses are religion based. Such a shame!

Hunter has never liked English or Language Arts and we have to encourage him to do well in those two classes.

I don't like turnip greens at all! Yuck! I mean, who wants to eat....essentially grass?

Glad Lacey made it to Tennessee fine. Ugh, though, about the classes. What a pain in the neck! I don't understand how some higher education facilities can run with the lack of information and communication they have. Sometimes it's just crazy!

Side note story about stupid colleges: DH is currently doing his MBA at the University of Tennessee. He's in his final semester, so he requested just a partial student loan this time. Well, in August, the school emailed him and said that they received his loan, but that they overpaid by $11,000 and we were getting a refund. Wow! Great!

Fast forward to September. We've had the money for about a month in our bank account (yay! looks good!) and the school emails and says "You still owe $11,000 on your account". What? How? Yeah, mix up. So, we send in a check for the balance. (Boo. I liked having that extra in the account).

Yesterday, I looked at our bank account. The school put the money BACK in our account as an overpay! Seriously, do you want the money or not? Geez!

Luckily, Mike has to be up there this weekend for school and he's going to go get it all straightened out.


Anyway, sorry for the babbling. Your school story just made it all come out.




BIG CONGRATS TO HUNTER ON HONOR ROLL!!!!!

Woo HOOOO!!! Great job!!!

No reason to apologize for babbling. I mean, you are talking to the Queen of Babbling!

So, did you get to keep the money or have to pay it to the school?

I am finally caught up! The Lake where you guys camp looks SO awesome. You had a bunch of great photos in there!
You had a lot of fantastic photos of Wishes & Spectromagic, too!
I'm glad Lacey made it to Tennessee alright. That stinks about not being able to take the classes in Monroe- and that the most expensive one is the one that isn't covered. Why do things always happen that way?
Yay! for Hunter's GPA!!!!!!!

We love going camping at Lake Ouachita. It's a State park so it's well maintained and patroled by Park Rangers at all times of the day.

I think we may have Lacey's classes figured out and a way to keep us from being out of pocket too much money.

There is a huge thread about it on the theme park boards. That father is a total nutcase. My understanding is the driver did NOT get reprimanded because he was protecting himself.

Wow! So what was going on? The bus driver was letting others on because he hadn't folded the stroller yet? Or was it something else?

WOW!!! Glad to hear everything turned out OK, wel lfor the bus driver.
What kind of person throws there baby?

That is nuts. I think it is crazy that cast members can get fired for defending themselves, even in the slightes bit. Its not like the guest could sue if they started it.

He wasn't fired

I know he wasnt but most CMs get fired if they try to defend themselves

WOW! what a story!!! SCARY!
it is so hard to work with the public and so many people today believe that they are owed something...
I am happy to hear that there is undercover security in the parks protecting the CM's and guests! and it is interesting to hear that OCSC is on the grounds too!
and happy to hear the bus driver was not hurt and not citied in the incident...

I couldn't believe that guy! It's scary to think what could have happened.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I remeber that day quiet possibly, was it the may28-30 or june 4-6?
Either way we were there both of those weekends, but in different parks. I guess I will have to wait and see but when we were there it rained so we didnt get to see the dance off or the darth vader thing.

It was the 30th. I know that there was a lot of Star Wars stuff that we missed but we didn't know it until we got back so I guess it didn't really matter.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

People watching at Star Wars weekends would be a hoot! LOL!! Glad you knew what you were doing and got there early!

 

[johnsonmatt3]

It was the 30th. I know that there was a lot of Star Wars stuff that we missed but we didn't know it until we got back so I guess it didn't really matter.

Ugh, we were there on the same day. I Imagine all the time how many disers we pass when we are there and don't even know it. It makes me so mad.

 

[ronnmel]

I've read a few of your TR and I thought it was about that I said hello.

We too enjoyed Caribbean Beach Resort when we went last year. I'm still waiting to hear about how choking each other got you fastpasses.

Wedding planning is so much fun, but expensive. I'm kinda like Lacey, I don't like expensive things and prefer to keep my money for others. Lucky for us, we are getting married on a destination wedding and it's actually cheaper than if we got the big wedding here! I'm sure that in the end, Lacey's wedding will be beautiful and perfect for her no matter what.

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Lisa. I love that you and Hunter had some time alone...even if it was confusion and crazy and crowded getting those FP's. I've never understood the whole Star Wars craze (didn't like the movies; Mark and the kids love them) with dressing like the characters, etc. But then I never understood why people dressed like Michael Jackson either.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Ugh, we were there on the same day. I Imagine all the time how many disers we pass when we are there and don't even know it. It makes me so mad.

You'll have to look closely at my pics and see if you see yourself in any of them.

I've read a few of your TR and I thought it was about that I said hello.

We too enjoyed Caribbean Beach Resort when we went last year. I'm still waiting to hear about how choking each other got you fastpasses.

Wedding planning is so much fun, but expensive. I'm kinda like Lacey, I don't like expensive things and prefer to keep my money for others. Lucky for us, we are getting married on a destination wedding and it's actually cheaper than if we got the big wedding here! I'm sure that in the end, Lacey's wedding will be beautiful and perfect for her no matter what.

Welcome aboard! The choking part comes on this Hollywood Studios day so there won't be too much longer to wait.

Weddings can be soooo expensive. It's just crazy what things cost now-a-days. Where will you be getting married?

 

[mickeystoontown]

Great update, Lisa. I love that you and Hunter had some time alone...even if it was confusion and crazy and crowded getting those FP's. I've never understood the whole Star Wars craze (didn't like the movies; Mark and the kids love them) with dressing like the characters, etc. But then I never understood why people dressed like Michael Jackson either.

We had a good time together just the two of us. I have never understood the Star Wars craze (or Michael Jackson) either. But, then again, most peole don't understand my Disney craze either. So, to each his/her own.

 

[MEK]

Those stormtroopers must be boiling hot in those costumes!!!!! Do they have ice packs in there or something. And those star war fans and those crazy get-ups. No thanks.

Yeah for Hunter scoring all those FP's. I hope he had a great time meeting the actors.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Once the turnstiles opened, we slipped our tickets in and headed down the main street (By the way, what's the main street at HS called?) And, as you can see by this picture, so were tons of other people:

We turned to the left as soon as we could and were stopped by a wall of people who were waiting for rope-drop. Our goal was to find Boba's Bounty but we really didn't know for sure where it was despite the fact that we had looked at the map 999 thousand times. Along the way, we thought we'd stop and see if we could pick up Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania.

As soon as the rope dropped, we followed the masses.....right to Toy Story Mania. And mania it was......the Fastpass line was way down the street. Ummm, we'll skip it for now. We did what any good Diser would do, go the opposite direction that everybody else was going.

Just in case you were doubting just how "uncrowded" some parts of the park was, look at this:

We were amazed that nobody else was around, not even castmembers. We just kept looking at each other and saying "Where is everybody?" I actually was hoping we would find a castmember so we could ask where in the world was Boba's Bounty. As we rounded the MuppetVision3D building, we finally found a castmember who told us how to get to Boba's Bounty. I felt like such a dumb bunny because we are park veterans and don't even use maps to navigate the parks any more.

More pictures along the way:

***Okay, I'm having some issues with Photobucket. It keeps freezing up. I'm afraid if I don't go ahead and post this, I'm going to lose what I have written so far. Hopefully, I'll be right back.

 

[Bethislucy]

I'm getting better thanks.

Wow I know to avoid star wars weekends. I couldn't tell you a thing about star wars other than Yoda is kind of a cute little guy. lol

 

[longing2Batdisney]

(By the way, what's the main street at HS called?)

the name you are searching for "Hollywood Blvd"

 

[KatMark]

We have NEVER seen empty streets like that at the Studios; we have at MK and Epcot, but never the Studios. How neat is that? And isn't it odd...we know exactly how to get somewhere but can't read the maps because we already know where we are going (most of the time).