You mean I DO get to go to WDW in 2014?? - Link to TR in post #523

[Fairy Floss]

Bummer. I will be in WDW then. I hope you have fun!

Thanks for the thought anyway
I know you'll have an awesome time in WDW - can't wait to read about it

 

[franandaj]

Girl, I've been in the red since after our first trip. With no official Disney on the books this year, I may actually receive the 21 points I haven't borrowed into for 2014. LOL!

I guess I’m lucky. Even when we only had 248 points, I was able to keep it within my UY. This is the only time that I’ve gotten ahead of myself needing to borrow, but I’m sort of all over the place. I have points I need to bank because I need the 11 month window at VWL, but I had to borrow for my VGF trip. For the VWL trip, I’ll be using banked, current and borrowed points. We need 350 points for a 2 bedroom at the VWL!

I hear ya. Most of my 3D friends don't get it but I have a few who do. I feel lucky to have made many of my 2D friends, 3D friends.

Me too!

The Plaza Inn is our favorite too, hands down. The chicken is so good. We didn't have any leftover from our last trip. The five of us shared 4 meals and scarfed it all down. Even the green beans. Not a bean left. So good.

I know, the green beans are really good! How often do you say that about theme park food?

I'll have to look for the Yeti on the Matterhorn next time.

That was the first time that I noticed that.

Slumber party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love your staycation! It is sad to see the Club with the canvas/tarp over it. Hopefully they will get it done soon! Sometimes sleeping in a hotel is better than sleeping at home! It's the only time I get the whole bed to myself! (How does a 13 pound dog take up a queen size bed?)

Jill in CO

Same way eight cats take up a King Size bed!

You girls will have to post pics. I'll be sad to miss this one.

What happens in the Grand Villa stays in the Villa!

I agree about Club 33 all tarped up. I feel so lucky that I got to enjoy it before the expansion/refurb.

I know an entire era is completely gone. Even though a new one is coming, it’s sad to see the old one gone.

Sounds like a very fun shindig indeed.

Great update. Shame that you finished up as tired as you began. I vote that you head back for a more chill-ax staycation.

Sad to see the tarps up.

I’ll take another trip to the VGC, I need another chillax staycation!

How nice you let your kittys enjoy the fun with some chicken. Huey adores chicken The Plaza inn is a very nice place. No wonder Walt liked it.

When he created the park, he wanted that restaurant to be special. It was refurbed about 15 years ago with a new menu, and actually that chicken isn’t fried, they use (at least state of the art then) air baking to get the crispy texture without the added fat. Fried Chicken was one of Walt’s favorite meals.

Cool re Star Wars lol re you joining the rebel alliance. Love the Matterhorn!

Oh my the Frozen meet and greet! It's every snowflake parent for themselves at EPCOT...

I wasn’t the rebel spy tho’ I’m not waiting almost 2 hours, just to meet Anna and Elsa!

I know right re that HM bag. They are going for mega bucks on ebay why not just make more! The same thing is now occurring with the NB Disney sneaker. It's like they made two purses and two pairs of sneakers...

Wake up the factory it's called supply and demand! I would not walk around wearing those sneakers and carrying that purse whilst scoring a front line position in the frozen meet and greet line. You won't get out alive lol...

LOL! No one really even seems to know what the purse is. I’ve only had one person recognize it since I’ve been carrying it. They were supposed to have them at the Disney store online.

Carpe diem indeed! What a great weekend hopefully you got some rest at home. Your birthday extravaganza sounds like it'll be a blast

Thanks, I think I'm finally getting some rest. I hope that by the time the birthday comes around I'll be all rested up!

I think it's a great weekend if you come back more tired than you left!

But when you spend 75% of your time in the hotel room sleeping and still come home exhausted, I have to wonder!

Thanks for all of the DL shots. I loved your line about one park being a 5-minute walk from the other. That must be so cool.

That’s one thing that WDW will never have over DL, the attraction saturation component. WDW has space and as a result they spread everything out to get maximum guest attendance at each park. At DL I am constantly amazed at how they fit the attractions in underneath the parking lots. Your inner transportation geek would totally geek out at how they handle the foot traffic like a well-oiled machine, and how attractions are seamlessly placed hundreds of yards outside the park and deep underground.

Mmm, the Plaza Inn is definitely delicious. Good choice! I too, always find myself going to the same places. I've been trying to get my booty back to Cafe Orleans - it's been at least 6 years since i've eaten there!

Café Orleans is another favorite of ours, we usually make that a “let’s go to the park for lunch today” kind of meal. We just haven’t had that much time lately.

Cute that you noticed the Yeti in the window!

That’s the first time I’ve seen that, I wonder how long it’s been there!

One of my friends went to the new Frozen meet and said later that the line was up to 1 hour and 45 minutes!? Uh i'll pass on that.

Uh yeah, I don’t have that kind of time.

What a cute bag you got!

I think you had an excellent weekend and got a lot done!

Thanks! It was definitely a much needed get away, and I had been looking at that purse for quite a while. I’m glad I finally got one!

That sounds great. All going well, I should be able to finalize that trip before we are flying out for the Panama Canal cruise. This is still evolving all the time.

Your birthday plans sound great.

I’m glad you started your Panama Canal report! We can talk about meeting up after you get back, but I think we can have a really fun time!

The Plaza Inn has never really been on my radar, but it is such a beautiful space. I think that needs to go on the to do list for November. I also finally need to try Carnation Cafe.

While I’ve eaten at the Plaza Inn quite a few times, I’ve never done the Carnation Café and they have so many items that look awesome, I think the fact that you need a reservation has kept me from it, but I bet walk ups aren’t as bad as some places, especially with the refurb. I want to try the potato cheese soup!

I am not very good at Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters either, but I so love this ride. I much prefer it at Disneyland where you can take the laser guns out of the holster.

I think we only ever have done the right side of Matterhorn. I really need to try the other side.

I don’t think we’ve tried it at WDW, only DL. Perhaps we’ll try it and see how we don’t like being able to take the guns out of the holsters! I’ve done both sides many times BEFORE the refurb and I much prefer the older cars. The new ones really restrict your space, but I guess the whole “two people riding together with one person leaning up against the other’s crotch” was not Disney like!

I love the It's A Small World purse. I better get saving as I really want one of the Aulani purses, but I want this one as well.

Corinna

I glad that I could help feed your addiction!

I finally got to read your latest update at DL.

Very nice pictures inside the Plaza Inn. I do enjoy eating at the Plaza Inn. I got to eat there one day during lunch. You did quite a lot of rides that day.

Very nice day at the park.

We NEVER go on that many rides, well unless we are with PIO! That’s why I was so exhausted!

Major catch up for me. Your VGC sounded like a great much needed break and I agree all the little details make it so beautiful. I was drooling over the scone and chocolate strawberries.

Yeah, well after you spent two weeks on the Wonder! I bet you had much better than the chocolate strawberries and scones!

Congrats on booking the Dream cruise.

Thanks! Even though it’s a short one, I’m looking forward to checking out the bigger ships and trying Remy!

Your plans for WDW are coming alone nicely, you'll have a fun trip with your friends. .

It’s kind of sad that all my 2014 trips are planned and I’m already working on 2015!

That's right the big one is coming next year, I'm sure you plan out a spectacular party weekend.

Well Fran threw me an incredible 40th, I’m hoping for a different kind for this milestone, but I hope it’s nearly as memorable!

Thanks for the thought anyway
I know you'll have an awesome time in WDW - can't wait to read about it

I’m sorry I’ll miss you. I always like meeting DIS folks in 3D when I have the opportunity. To obad I’ll miss you!

 

[ACDSNY]

Yeah, well after you spent two weeks on the Wonder! I bet you had much better than the chocolate strawberries and scones!

The two weeks on the Wonder in 2011 were awesome compared to the two week last month on the Island Princess. The second week was a complete bust with DH medical issue and the food was nowhere near as good as DCL.

 

[franandaj]

A couple weeks back we visited my parents up in San Jose. It was a quick trip and besides the extra bonus of seeing my folks we had another reason for the trip. It had to do with “homework” for this vacation that I’m writing this PTR.

There is an exhibit that has been traveling around the country, evidently it has been over nine years that it has been traveling from city to city, and San Jose is the last stop on the tour.





The Exhibit?






Yes, only in the heart of Silicon Valley will they have an entire museum devoted to Technology.



There are still a few days left for anyone close enough to make it there!





It was sort of a maze to actually find the entrance to this particular exhibit.



But eventually we did find it!



Featured in this exhibit were all sorts of models that were used in the first three Star Wars movies (episodes 4, 5, & 6). There were not nearly as many props from the second three movies as many of the effects and robots were CGI. There were neat little screens placed at nearly every exhibit with footage of the creators talking about their models, the way that they made sounds happen and all sorts of other fascinating things. As with most museums that we visit with my parents, they were done with the exhibit long before Fran and I.

These first planes were based on WWII planes. George Lucas felt that to make the Star Wars universe believable, he needed to rely on things that we were familiar with on our world. They studied the footage of WWII pilots and “flew” these starfighters in the same manner.







They also had costumes for various characters on display as well.



Notice this Millennium Falcon, it is just a little larger than my fist I think that this was the model used for the first movie.



I know you can’t really tell the difference in the pictures, but this model was required for either the second or third movie. It is at least 10 times larger. In the screen at this model, they talked about how the Falcon maneuvered very differently in the later movies. In the first movie it just basically jumped to hyperspace and got them from place to place. Later it was navigating asteroid belts and other precarious situations.



Look at the detail on this model. Another thing that they mentioned here at this model was Lucas’s concept of the Star Wars universe being a “used” universe. The Rebel Alliance was a rag tag bunch of folks thrown together in this war. They didn’t have cool new ships like the Galactic Empire. Han Solo pieced the Falcon together using “stone knives and bear skins” (to quote another of my favorite series!) Remember the scene where Princess Leia calls the ship a “tin can”? Lucas liked the idea of this ship being Han’s “fixer upper in the garage.” Again something that we can relate to.



Moving on to the next gallery, this one was about the people, places and creatures. We started off with Hoth and some of the creatures and conditions found there. They likened Hoth to Antarctica and based this creature on the Polar Bear.





Because they couldn’t use the mechanical transportation they had to tame and harness these creatures.



There was a film about cold climates and surviving in them, but I didn’t listen to it very long as I was more interested in the actual Star Wars information and not how it applied to our world. Next we moved on to Luke’s landspeeder.



They talked about how to make it believeable in it’s technology, and how it really should not be able to cross large chasms, and could only stay close to the ground. The sound that it made was actually from a recording of LA Freeway traffic.



Again note the “used universe” part of this. This was a beat up old junker. It was supposed to be like the VW bug that your parents handed down to you when you were old enough to drive. That’s exactly what the guy said.



I’m sure everyone remembers these little creatures. I know back when I was a young teen, everyone wanted to don a hoody and have little beedy glowing eyes for their Halloween costume! I’m not sure why I only took a picture of their vehicle, but the actual model of it was pretty small, it just looked huge in the movie.



These people were a nasty lot. They had a little video on them and why they dressed like they do and how dangerous they were.



Then they had a little demo of the “hovercraft” technology. You could drive this thing and see how well it actually steered. I was spinning this wheel like crazy and couldn’t get it to go anywhere that I wanted!







[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Here is one of the few models from the second set of episodes. Annakin’s Pod Racer.





A look back at the last room.



The next room was about the Medicine of Star Wars. This was Darth Vader’s costume from Episode #5.



Here is his collar.



Model for General Grievous



I believe this is the robotic nurse.



Medical Droid



Star Wars Prosthetics



Storm Trooper Costume



What I found really interesting about this costume was that even though the stormtroopers seem so “plastic” the shoes were made out of leather.



On the other end of the medical situation are weapons that cause medical maladies.





The next room was devoted to the various characters. Here we have some wookie suits.



And me with the wookie suits. In this section they had video which talked about the wookies and their language. While they can understand many languages, they can only speak wookie. They sampled the sound of a grizzly bear (I think that’s what they said) for the voice of the wookies.



[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

And more costumes.





In this section they had a video with four different character options (which kind of caused a backlog at this station). They showed C3PO in costume off camera and boy did he have a challenge. They had to lift him up and down any steps. He really had a hard time walking in the suit, quite a challenge for filming! I can’t even imagine potty breaks! They must have limited his water intake and he probably suffered dehydration!



This is “naked”C3PO” as he appears in Episode 1. They actually realized that he needed to be done in CGI since they couldn’t get Anthony Daniels inside this suit.



R2D2 actually had a guy inside that droid! Well not all the time, but sometimes it was human controlled and sometimes via remote. Like the times that he fell over, no human inside.



They had a lot to say about these droids. There was no question as to whether or not to do them in CGI. As a three legged creature they just didn’t work really well in the real world. It was difficult to even get them to move appropriately in CGI, but the animators made it work.

I don’t remember which screen we were watching when they talked about the first “no brainer” of creating the Clone Wars army in CGI. There were thousands of them, and as a result there were no models to show or costumes, but they mentioned them at some point prior to us seeing the video on these guys. These were even more problematic to design since they had to “roll out” and then become standing, walking creatures that only had three legs. You never think about this stuff watching the movies, but it’s great when the creators share their thoughts on how they actually have to make us believe it!



This droid, I’m drawing a blank although I remember watching the video on it. This was the one that found them on the Planet Hoth, it was a Galactic Empire remote droid that sent back data. I think it was somewhat indestructible in that it could defend itself when felt threatened.



And then there’s this guy.



This model was only about 2-2½ feet tall. It just goes to show how great camera work can create illusions, we all thought they were as big a skyscrapers!



Another amazing model. By this time, I was starting to glaze over with information overload. Good thing we were almost at the end of the exhibit.



By the time Fran and I had reached this point, my parents were sitting down near the gift shop. Disney has influenced all future rides, exhibits, whatever, you always spill out in the gift shop! My mom hadn’t realized that the last character video had four different videos, so she came back and watched most of them with us. Once we finished the exhibit Fran went through the gift shop taking pictures of the many books available on the Star Wars Universe and then we got in line for the last part of our experience. They had a replica of the bridge of the Millennium Falcon.

This experience cost and extra 5 bucks. I think the total cost per person for this whole day was like $30 with the extra thing. Not exactly sure, but it was pretty cheap. We could have even got it a 50% off with entry after 2PM through Goldstar, but Fran wanted to make sure we had enough time. We didn’t know how long we would be enthralled by this experience.

After we waited about 20-25 minutes to go inside we were able to experience a trip through space in the Falcon. They used “Soarin’ like technology” to project images on the horizon in front of the ship and Anthony Daniels narrated a piece about space travel and our “responsibility as humans” and how we can better the universe and other stuff. It was kind of cool going to hyperspace and was definitely worth the extra $5 to do this part of the experience.









After this we all decided that we were more interested in a good meal than eating at the museum café. Across the street was a McCormick and Schmick’s and we ended up there after walking all over downtown San Jose checking out the other options.

It was a great meal, but I didn’t take any pictures since this trip wasn’t about becoming a TR. The whole visit did inspire us to watch the first episode in the trilogy at my parents house that night. We have a tradition of watching movies since at their previous house they practically had a theater size movie screen in their living room. My dad is adjusting to his only 50 inch TV screen, but we still enjoy the movies there.

Now we need to catch up on the rest of the five movies. But there you have it, we are getting our Star Wars fix on!

 

[ACDSNY]

Cool exhibit, I've never heard anything about it. Now you'll be ready for the Star Wars weekend.

 

[franandaj]

Well except that we still Haven't seen episodes 2 & 3 web are good.

 

[ACDSNY]

I don't think I've seen the full length of all of them either. I've gotten bits and pieces when my kids were younger.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Omg how much would I love to see that! But thanks so much for posting the photos and narrative are like being there. As a fan of the original 3 movies I would have savoured every detail with Jo tapping her toes for hours at the gift shop! Were you able to take your scooters inside? All that reading oh my how would you stand!

Isn't it so great to get into the Star Wars mood. All those models! I was really scared of the Sand people when I first watched SW lol. I love the Landspeeder I have never seen the model it is my favourite machine in SW movies. Cool they had the pod racer although I wasn't a big fan of the newer movies I did like the Pod racing!

Thanks again for this. I am going to read it all again!

 

[PrincessInOz]

OMG! I love that exhibition. The displays are great and I would love to have that Millennium Falcon experience.

Thanks for sharing. You better get moving on the other 5 movies.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I’m glad you started your Panama Canal report! We can talk about meeting up after you get back, but I think we can have a really fun time!



While I’ve eaten at the Plaza Inn quite a few times, I’ve never done the Carnation Café and they have so many items that look awesome, I think the fact that you need a reservation has kept me from it, but I bet walk ups aren’t as bad as some places, especially with the refurb. I want to try the potato cheese soup!



I don’t think we’ve tried it at WDW, only DL. Perhaps we’ll try it and see how we don’t like being able to take the guns out of the holsters! I’ve done both sides many times BEFORE the refurb and I much prefer the older cars. The new ones really restrict your space, but I guess the whole “two people riding together with one person leaning up against the other’s crotch” was not Disney like!



I glad that I could help feed your addiction!

I have been itching for a while to get the Panama Canal pre-trip report started.
Yes, there will be plenty of time to discuss the November trip when I get back. I am sure that a lot of fun is to be had on that trip.

I also really want to try the potato cheese soup at Carnation Cafe and the meatloaf is also calling my name.

I don't think I have done Matterhorn since the refurbishment.

I need very little encouragement to feed by addiction. At least there is no Dooney and Bourke bag on the cruise that calls my name this time round unless they release something new between now and then.

The Star Wars exhibition looks amazing and the extra experience definitely sounded worth the small upcharge.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

What an amazing exhibit! Thanks so much for all the photos

 

[jedijill]

I am seriously geeking out! I love Star Wars and that exhibition looked so cool!

Jill in CO

 

[scottny]

Those bugs were certainly hungry. LOL. It looked cute but it does look once is enough.
Food looks good.
It looked like a fun day.
I loved the Frozen area.
Love all the Star Wars stuff. I would love to see that. Kenny Baker played R2-D2 and one of the Ewoks.
I would love that. Thanks for the pics.
I recorded Star wars original trilogy yesterday on Spike. My blu rays are in storage and I needed a fix. LOl.

 

[rentayenta]

Ok, wow! What a cool exhibit. Now I want to watch Star Wars. I see a marathon in my future. I can't believe they had people in R2D2. I knew about C3PO but didn't realize they'd be close to imobile.

 

[Leshaface]

Oh what a cool exhibit! I wish there was a way to go over to SJ and see it...but now DH has Baseball tournaments on the weekends and we're getting ready for our Vegas trip, there's really no time This would have been fun though.

 

[dgbg100106]

All caught up again...

The shooting games, David always beats me, and the last time I did not even play, I just took so photos...

The train ride, I have never been on, but again I have only been there once so I guess something for the next time.

Lunch looked great, fried chicken is always something we go for.

The exhibit looked wonderful, and fun, and a learning experience, my Star Wars knowledge is really lacking...

 

[franandaj]

I don't think I've seen the full length of all of them either. I've gotten bits and pieces when my kids were younger.

Yeah, we need to take care of that before we go.

Omg how much would I love to see that! But thanks so much for posting the photos and narrative are like being there. As a fan of the original 3 movies I would have savoured every detail with Jo tapping her toes for hours at the gift shop! Were you able to take your scooters inside? All that reading oh my how would you stand!

Isn't it so great to get into the Star Wars mood. All those models! I was really scared of the Sand people when I first watched SW lol. I love the Landspeeder I have never seen the model it is my favourite machine in SW movies. Cool they had the pod racer although I wasn't a big fan of the newer movies I did like the Pod racing!

Thanks again for this. I am going to read it all again!

It was very cool. Yes we could use our scooters, another reason that we could take our time. If either of us had to stand through the exhibit we both would have been done in about 20 minutes!

OMG! I love that exhibition. The displays are great and I would love to have that Millennium Falcon experience.

Thanks for sharing. You better get moving on the other 5 movies.

It was really cool. I'm glad we made the effort to go up there and see it before it closed. Once it closes all the pieces go back to their owners never to be reunited again.

I have been itching for a while to get the Panama Canal pre-trip report started.
Yes, there will be plenty of time to discuss the November trip when I get back. I am sure that a lot of fun is to be had on that trip.

I also really want to try the potato cheese soup at Carnation Cafe and the meatloaf is also calling my name.

I don't think I have done Matterhorn since the refurbishment.

I need very little encouragement to feed by addiction. At least there is no Dooney and Bourke bag on the cruise that calls my name this time round unless they release something new between now and then.

The Star Wars exhibition looks amazing and the extra experience definitely sounded worth the small upcharge.

Corinna

I really want to try the Potato Cheese soup as well. We are planning on going out there this week and eating at the Carnation Café. I hope it works out! You would remember if you did the Matterhorn since, it's very cramped and difficult to get in and out of. At least you don't have to worry about a D&B on your next trip. I have to figure out how to use all of my purses. Two are still new in their bags!

What an amazing exhibit! Thanks so much for all the photos

You're Welcome!

I am seriously geeking out! I love Star Wars and that exhibition looked so cool!

Jill in CO

It was really cool! So glad I got to do it!

Those bugs were certainly hungry. LOL. It looked cute but it does look once is enough.
Food looks good.
It looked like a fun day.
I loved the Frozen area.
Love all the Star Wars stuff. I would love to see that. Kenny Baker played R2-D2 and one of the Ewoks.
I would love that. Thanks for the pics.
I recorded Star wars original trilogy yesterday on Spike. My blu rays are in storage and I needed a fix. LOl.

That was all Heimlich doing the eating! And he goes back to do it again right away!

I hope you enjoyed your Star Wars trilogy. We need to get on watching them!

Ok, wow! What a cool exhibit. Now I want to watch Star Wars. I see a marathon in my future. I can't believe they had people in R2D2. I knew about C3PO but didn't realize they'd be close to imobile.

The footage of him off camera was fascinating! You wouldn't believe some of the droids that had people in them, talk about compromising positions!

Oh what a cool exhibit! I wish there was a way to go over to SJ and see it...but now DH has Baseball tournaments on the weekends and we're getting ready for our Vegas trip, there's really no time This would have been fun though.

I'm sorry you can't sneak away to see it, it was so totally worth it!

All caught up again...

The shooting games, David always beats me, and the last time I did not even play, I just took so photos...

The train ride, I have never been on, but again I have only been there once so I guess something for the next time.

Lunch looked great, fried chicken is always something we go for.

The exhibit looked wonderful, and fun, and a learning experience, my Star Wars knowledge is really lacking...

I'm horrible at the shooting games, but I keep trying. You're not missing much with the bugsland rides, they're mostly for kiddies which is why I never did any of them. I figure I might as well try them once!

I'm realizing too as I read the Star Wars Tips and Tricks thread that I don't know who half the Star Wars folks are, we need to see those next two movies!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Alison - Did you see the "live stream" of the new Festival of Fantasy parade on the Dis? It looks great. There's an amazing Maleficent float. I hope you'll go to MK and see the parade and take pictures.