Come to the Dark Side...4 Weekends of Fun with the Force(Updated 11/12)

[lovethattink]

Fun with the Force!​

We are huge Star Wars fans. But the biggest fan of us all is our 9 year old son. He eat, sleeps, and breaths Star Wars! His enthusiasm and excitement is contagious. He lives for his favorite season of the year, "Star Wars Season" aka Star Wars Weekends.

If you are a Star Wars fan, you’ll fit right in. If not, no worries, you’re on the DISboards so you’re probably a Disney fan. We are too! There will be some theater and dining thrown in the report too.

We are a family of four, but our oldest chose to work instead of joining us for the fun. He lived vicariously through our nightly reports and souvenirs.

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I’ll start with the biggest fan. His favorite Star Wars saga character is Yoda. His favorite Clone Wars character is Ahsoka. He loves dressing in costume and cosplay. He has spent countless hours working on as many DK Ultimate Star Wars Sticker books as he can get his hands on. He also loves putting together Star Wars Lego sets . His favorite movie of the saga is Epsode 2. He is a member of the Galactic Academy and is so excited that some of his patches arrived a couple weeks ago. Since I’ve called him both Anakin or JJ in the other TR’s/PTR’s I will continue as before.

DH is quickly becoming a huge fan of the expanded universe. He loves reading Star Wars books any chance he gets. He is working on a costume to hopefully be a member of the 501st by next year’s SWW. He is creative and artistic. He and JJ designed a couple of the shirts they wore for SWW. He enjoyed preparing for SWW by getting his costumes in order, purchasing pictures for autographs, finding fun Star Wars shirts to wear. Continuing as the other TR’s, I’ll call him Goofy.

I’m the last member of our SWW trio. My favorite movie of the saga is Episode 4. The original Star Wars movie. I remember sitting in the movie theater totally in awe of the special effects the first time I saw it as a child. I’ve seen all the movies countless times as my kids have watched them. However, I am a fairly new Star Wars fan. Last year we went to our first Star Wars Celebration and I got the bug. I admit it, I'm a geek. I got my first Star Wars t-shirt last year at SWW. But now I have more Star Wars shirts than regular shirts thanks to some great styles from Her Universe. R2-D2 is my favorite character. My role for SWW was that of practicality. Making sure we had ample measures in place to keep Anakin cool, resort reservations, ADRs, packing the suitcases, etc. Most of my DIS friends call me Tink.

Index

 

[Moodyzblu]

Following along !! Hopefully I can keep up with this one !

 

[ChristineOH]

Sounds fun! We've been twice during SWW, but have avoided them. We have Star Wars fans in the family, though none are truly die hard. Eventually, once we've seen enough of the "regular" park stuff, we may brave a SWW, since we plan to continue going the same time of year. Looking forward to hearing about it!

 

[lovethattink]

Day 1: Part 1: Dreams Come True

Day 1: Part 2: Queen Amidala and Dee Bradley Baker M&G

Day 1: Part 3: Posts 34 to 37: Legends of the Force Motorcade and Celebrity Welcome

Day 1: Part 4: Special bond of friendship and Stars of the Saga

July 6th at the MK (Lunch at the Plaza, Pirate's Adventure, Tink M&G

Limited Time Magic Patriotic Pre-Parade

Day 2: Everyone Has a Date

Day 3: Jedi or Bantha?

Day 3: Part 2: JTA

Day 3: Part 3: JAT M&G, 50's PTC, Character M&G

Breakfast at 1900PF & Limited Time Magic Long Lost Friends

Day 3: Part 4: Jawa Fun & Leia M&G & Rancor

Sea World DIS M&G

Day 4: A Celebrity M&G, A DIS Meet, A Blast to the Past, and a Short Story

Day 5: Part 1: Warwick Davis M&G and more pixie dust

Day 5: Part 2: Pixie Dust: Legends of the Force Motorcade

I Believe it Happened for a Reason and Why are so Many Children Crying? We're at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Day 5: Part 3: Aren't you a Little Small for a Stormtrooper?

Day 6: Part 1: Keeping an Eye on the World

Day 6: Part 2: Aren't you a Little Small for a Stormtrooper, Take 2

Day 7: Part 1: 501st and Rebel Legion

Day 7: Part 2: Rebel Legion, Lunch, Droids, and Pixie Dust

Day 8: It's a Trap

Day 9: Ups and Downs, Animation, Characters, and 50's PTC

Day 10: GKTW, Trev's MAW, SWW Parade and Celebrity Welcome

Surprised by Chewbacca! Day 10: Part 2

Day 10: Part 3: Trev's MAW JTA and Modal Nodes

Day 11: The Best Day Ever

 

[lsenquiz]

I'll be following along.

 

[lovethattink]

Following along !! Hopefully I can keep up with this one !

No worries, I usually go pretty fast once I get started. Just pick up wherever you can. Did you and the boys get over to SWW?

Sounds fun! We've been twice during SWW, but have avoided them. We have Star Wars fans in the family, though none are truly die hard. Eventually, once we've seen enough of the "regular" park stuff, we may brave a SWW, since we plan to continue going the same time of year. Looking forward to hearing about it!

You've been able to avoid it with fans in the family? Just kidding. Back in 2004 we stumbled upon SWW not realizing it was going on. We've been going every year since!

There's plenty to do during SWW. If you want to get your feet wet without all the crowds. Just encountering the characters that roam is a pretty fun experience. They stay in character so beware if you go on the dark side! (That's between TSM and Streets of America.)

 

[lovethattink]

I'll be following along.

Glad to have you here!

 

[lovethattink]

Day 1: Part 1: Dreams Come True​

Dreams come true. Dreams come true. Oh wait. We aren’t at the Magic Kingdom, we’re at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before a dream came true, 6 AM to be precise, the alarm went off. Goofy, who is NOT a morning person, stumbled to get ready and headed off to DHS without us. His goal was to get a FP for either Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) or Dee Bradley Baker (voice actor of all the clones among many, many other cartoon characters). He went with the shortest line and that was Dee Bradley Baker’s. He returned back to the resort with his FP and wristband.

We were excited about the FP. At Star Wars Celebration VI, Dee Bradley Baker stopped to talk to JJ in the hallway. He asked JJ if he was going to the Red Carpet Event for Clone Wars Series 5. We weren’t sure if we’d get out of Warwick Davis’ panel in time or not, but we wanted to be there. Dee got down on his knees and asked if he could tell JJ a secret. We gave permission. I asked if it was ok to take a picture of the two of them in conference. It was and he told JJ the secret. From that day in August until previews appeared on TV for the 100th episode, JJ kept that secret. As soon as he saw the previews he knew that was the episode about the secret. He figured then it was ok to share.

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Goofy explained to JJ that we’d take the picture to SWW, but probably Daddy would be the one getting the autograph since he had the wristband on. Goofy changed clothing into his Obi-Wan costume and JJ wore his Luke costume top, but “just shorts”, as he put it, for the bottoms. He wanted to go in full costume, but we knew there was no way he could handle the heat dressed like that.

We arrived at DHS around 9am. We were shocked not to see Stormtroopers on the roof. Every year we’ve been greeted by them. We figured we must have arrived too late to see them. This is what we expected to see…

We entered the park. We found the Stormtroopers! They were perched on these large platforms.

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Once we got passed them, somebody stopped dh and asked him about his costume. While he was talking to them, JJ was busy asking me if I took a picture of this or that. His enthusiasm couldn’t be missed as he was bouncing with excitement.

Have you ever gone on a Disney cruise? You know how they tell you during the excursion meeting to be leery of talking trees. You know the ones, that tell say pssst, over here. Well, what happened next reminding me of those talking trees. A cm, came up to JJ and I. Started talking and asked us if we could move over this way to talk in private. I thought of two things, those talking trees and during one of Disney’s celebrations my mom, JJ and I were invited to a private M&G with Mickey Mouse in a secret room at Guest Services. This time we were given a slip of paper and two wristbands. JJ was being invited to be in the motorcade!!

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This was amazing!! We didn’t think we’d get to see the full parade this year. Yulillin3 had told us about being able to find a spot in the shade to see the 501st part of the parade after they pass by the hat. But we never in a million years thought JJ would be in the parade!

 

[kaoden39]

Oh how fun!! I am in!!

 

[lovethattink]

Oh how fun!! I am in!!

Yay! Let the good times roll.

 

[pwdebbie]

Great start! I'm not a SW fan (don't even know who most of the characters you mention are) but I'm a JJ fan and love reading about the things that make him happy.

 

[PlutoJenn]

How unbelievably awesome!! We had Disney bus service problems on our SWW day and got there late to see them on the roof.

 

[ladylyons]

I'm here! Now off to read since Jeremy is up from his nap!!

 

[ladylyons]

What a fun start!! The magic is already starting with an invite to be in the parade!!

 

[sl_underwood]

I'm here.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Joining in and looking forward to following along. I would love to go for SWW one year. It looks like such fun. How cool to be part of the motorcade!!!!

 

[lovethattink]

Great start! I'm not a SW fan (don't even know who most of the characters you mention are) but I'm a JJ fan and love reading about the things that make him happy.

Deb, You are so sweet and I really do appreciate you being here for JJ.

How unbelievably awesome!! We had Disney bus service problems on our SWW day and got there late to see them on the roof.

I'm so sorry about your bus problems on your SWW day. This year they didn't show on the roof at all. They were inside the park on those moving platform thingies. I'm sure there is a more appropriate sophisticated name for the platform, but I have no idea what it was called. At a certain time, they roped off that area and the troopers and platforms moved back stage.

We've been to SWW every year since 2004. ONCE my oldest was asked. That was back when the entire parade ended at Star Tours. It was really a big privilege, honor and blessing for JJ to be asked to be in the motorcade.

I'm here! Now off to read since Jeremy is up from his nap!!

What a fun start!! The magic is already starting with an invite to be in the parade!!

Sandra, Yes!! It was a fun start. The magic didn't stop there. We were there 11 of the 12 days of SWW. Every day was a blast! Sure there were some kinks along the way, photopass pictures missing, some rude comments, etc. But those things were few and far between.

I'm here.

Lora, I'm so glad you are here!

Joining in and looking forward to following along. I would love to go for SWW one year. It looks like such fun. How cool to be part of the motorcade!!!!

Christine, thanks for joining in and following along! I hope you get your chance to go to SWW one year. It's so much fun. The motorcade invitation was something we never expected. It was a huge sprinkling of pixie dust.

 

[lovethattink]

Previous update. Day 1: Part 1: Dreams Come True

Queen Amidala and Dee Bradley Baker M&G​

I left off with the parade invite and a fast pass to see Dee Bradley Baker. We had some time on our hands before either. We decided to check out the event merchandise between Idol and Sounds Dangerous. We walked around Echo Lake in front of Hollywood and Vine. I saw a manager and decided to ask her about the celebrity fast pass. Dh took JJ away and sidetracked him with something else. I asked if it would be allowed for JJ to see the celebrity instead of dh. She said she was sure something could be arranged, and she called over another cm and it was arranged. (More pixie dust!)

There was still some time left. We walked over to the merchandise and checked it out. For the first year, there was an autograph book especially made for SWW! This was a must get. We decided to wait on any other purchases for later. Grumpy always wants the glass and mug for his collection.

With autograph book in hand, we walked over to Queen Amidala’s line and got in it. JJ talked to the child in line behind us. He liked JJ’s autograph book. The parents asked where we got it. The dad headed over there and got one too. They are very nice. There is a place for an autograph on one page and a picture on the other page. I apologize, I did not take any pictures of the autograph book.

It was our turn. JJ went right up there and he and Queen Amidala talked up a storm. I asked him what they talked about. He said they were talking about Anakin. He told her that Anakin had a lightsaber and she said she remembered when Anakin was a boy like him.

Speaking of lightsabers, there’s an interesting story how JJ got his. As a surprise we had bought him an R2-D2 at Walmart. When we had opened it, it didn’t work. Dh called the Hasbro phone number and the employee was unable to help him. He apologized and said that it was a limited time thing at Walmart and there are no more of those available. He said that he would mail out a complimentary gift and a credit for a future purchase. He asked what theme would be best for the complimentary gift. Dh said Star Wars. A week or so later, a little package arrived. It was this lightsaber. JJ was so excited because it is the exact same kind of blue lightsaber that they give the kids to use at JTA and the parade!! There was no credit mailed with it. So dh called Hasbro back. They apologized and said it may have been sent separately but it was definitely mailed. Dh thanked them and hung up. Much to our surprise the person he talked to on the phone sent out ANOTHER complimentary gift. This one was a Star Wars Trouble game!! Double the pixie dust from Hasbro and the credit came too. Hasbro’s costumer service was more than excellent.

DH got in on the action…



Then so did I…

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It still wasn’t time for the celebrity M&G. We knew JJ needed to cool off so we headed to Tattoine Traders. The store was crowded. It took some time to navigate to the back of it. JJ begged to make a droid, but he has done that on other occasions and the line was long. You could see in his eyes that he was disappointed.

Every weekend there was a special SWW giftcard. Dh brought cash to get a few of these to use then save as souvenirs afterwards. Weekend 1 it was a Jedi Mickey on the gift card.

Celebrity FP time arrived. We walked over to Echo Lake and got JJ in line. JJ was so excited to see Dee Bradley Baker again. He spoke in different voices to him. He thought it was great that JJ had the picture of the secret telling. There was also another picture of him with the other Clone War characters from Celebration VI that Grumpy took during one of the panels. He laughed when he saw the picture and said something about how fun that was. (It’s the same picture mentioned in my PTR that was signed by Ashley Eckstein at the Orlando Science Center during that event.)

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JJ was thrilled to have seen him again. Thanked him and JJ said he was going to be in the motorcade. The reply back was something like so am I. JJ answered back, “cool”.

His "secret" picture was signed and included this personal message, "You are a true fan and a great keeper of secrets!"

We were off to hydrate and cool JJ before the motorcade. At 10:30 we headed over to Sounds Dangerous. Dh and JJ went inside a gated area and I was sent over to the hat to find the special viewing area for family.

 

[jojosam]

Sounds awesome so far!!! So much pixie dust!!

 

[Restrasz]

I can't wait! JJ is such a special child!