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

[Moodyzblu]

Awesome pics !! Looks like such a wonderful time. Anakin looks like he enjoyed himself so much. Glad it all worked out for him so he could do it !

 

[HoliPoli]

Here from the June FB group. Love your pics!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I couldn't tell you who any of those SW characters were from the man in the moon. Wait, I do know Chewie and R2 but that's about it. Buuuuuuut, I do know that fine little man of your's! He looks so happy to have participated in the parade. What a neat memory for him!

 

[Belle1997]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report. Wonderful memories created for JJ and the whole family. Thanks for sharing. Glad he got to be in the parade with Goofy

 

[lovethattink]

Great photos!!

Thank you!

Great photos! you got some wonderful shots Tink!
love that Ashley came up to see JJ, she does sound like a wonderful lady!
you can just see the happiness in JJ's face...Goofy's too! those are two happy guys
I even recognize some of the characters from the original movies...Ewoks were always my favorite, they are so cute!

Thanks.

She is so personable.

I'm not sure who was happier.

Ewoks are adorable. There were plenty of ewoks at this year's SWW because the movie theme was for the anniversary of Return of the Jedi.

Awesome pics!

Thank you!

Awesome pics !! Looks like such a wonderful time. Anakin looks like he enjoyed himself so much. Glad it all worked out for him so he could do it !

Thanks, Michelle. It had been a couple years since we saw the parade last. It was great fun.

Here from the June FB group. Love your pics!!

So glad you followed the link over here! Thanks!

I couldn't tell you who any of those SW characters were from the man in the moon. Wait, I do know Chewie and R2 but that's about it. Buuuuuuut, I do know that fine little man of your's! He looks so happy to have participated in the parade. What a neat memory for him!

LOL. I think everyone has to know Chewie and R2! Do you know Boba Fett? Hunter told JJ at lunch that's his favorite character.

He was on cloud 9 for days!

I really enjoyed reading your trip report. Wonderful memories created for JJ and the whole family. Thanks for sharing. Glad he got to be in the parade with Goofy

Wow, littlebelle and Tink on a DIS thread! It's been a long time! Thanks for joining in! The parade was a dream come true for both my "boys". Hopefully next year Goofy will be in the Florida Garrison and a part of the parade. He is working on a stormtrooper costume. He finally got all the parts and now he has to figure out how to put it together. Unless he goes with the officer's suit he has. That just needs some tweaking here and there, more than likely. We love that the 501st is so active with philanthropy and bringing joy to so many kids.

 

[annmarieda]

I absolutely love the motorcade pictures. I imagine for SW fans, it is just amazing to see all those characters. Although in the heat I can't imagine that some of them are very comfortable. Chewy...or the ewoks...those look to be very hot costumes.

I am glad JJ was able to preserve and participate. What a memory for him!!

I am sad though about the choking happening again. That poor boy! He is definitely in my prayers!

 

[blessedmom4]

So happy you told me about the new update/pics, JJ looks so happy and I agree, must have been a dream come true for such a faithful SW fan! I am so happy he had the opportunity to be a part of such a special parade! What a fabulous memory!!

​

 

[mommy2mrb]

enjoy your 4th!

 

[WDWRids]

I'm here!!! Gotta catch up then I'll be back.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Wow!! The parade looks amazing. So many costumes! So glad he got to participate. What a thrill!! He looks absolutely adorable in the pictures. Definitely in his element!

 

[lovethattink]

I absolutely love the motorcade pictures. I imagine for SW fans, it is just amazing to see all those characters. Although in the heat I can't imagine that some of them are very comfortable. Chewy...or the ewoks...those look to be very hot costumes.

I am glad JJ was able to preserve and participate. What a memory for him!!

I am sad though about the choking happening again. That poor boy! He is definitely in my prayers!

Thanks. All the pictures with the SWW borders are from the photopass, the other's I took. The motorcade and Hyperspace Hoopla are the places to see most of the characters, but there is no M&G opportunity at either.

The characters had to be hot. I know how the kids were sweating jellybeans, and the spectators too. Can't even imagine being in a full head to toe costume.

For JJ, it seems like SWW had something magical everywhere we turned. At the end of SWW, I asked him if he was tired of it. He said, "no way!". I was growing tired, and ready when it was over.

The choking is really frustrating for all of us. My natural instinct is to want to do the Heimlich, but he's not choking on food. It's like a spasm in his throat. We just have to wait it out. I was told to talk soothingly to him and reassure him everything is ok. So I act like it's no big deal. Talk calmly and soothingly to him. He likes his back rubbed when it happens so I rub his back. His medicine has been increased. Don't see much change though. He had four choking episodes yesterday after we found a backsack he had made us search for for hours. Seems like once he relaxes from stress, that's when they set in. We stopped gluten and that didn't help, though it did help his nightly twitching to stop.

So happy you told me about the new update/pics, JJ looks so happy and I agree, must have been a dream come true for such a faithful SW fan! I am so happy he had the opportunity to be a part of such a special parade! What a fabulous memory!!

It was a dream come true for sure. He says being in the parades was his favorite part of SWW. Happy Independence day too!

enjoy your 4th!

Thank you, you too.

I'm here!!! Gotta catch up then I'll be back.

Great to have you here, Alyson!

Wow!! The parade looks amazing. So many costumes! So glad he got to participate. What a thrill!! He looks absolutely adorable in the pictures. Definitely in his element!

The parade is definitely a great place to see all the characters, Hyperspace Hoopla is too. The parade on Saturday of the last weekend definitely had more characters than any of the other parades. Thanks, that's sweet of you to say. No doubt he was in his element almost every step of the way. There were a few times things got a hairy with him, but the majority of time he was in 7th heaven. His brain condition seems to flip the switch to 100% emotional with whatever emotion he is feeling. Thankfully there are more positive emotions for him than negative.

 

[lovethattink]

 

[lovethattink]

A special bond of friendship and Stars of the Saga​

Some time between JJ’s arrival at Sounds Dangerous and the end of the parade a special bond formed between JJ and a cm named Joy. I’m not sure Joy had any idea that she made such an impression on him. He wanted a picture with her and I asked if she minded if I’d take a picture of the two of them. She was more than happy to oblige.

​

We had an ADR for Sci-Fi at 1:20. We were debating whether or not to keep the ADR. I was hungry. JJ was hungry and hot. He was so hot he had to get out of the heat NOW! So we went over to One Man’s Dream to decide what to do.

We have our own “spot” there. Another family was in “our spot”. So we had to find another. We parked JJ’s wheel chair and we sat on the floor as we tried to decide if we were keeping the ADR or ditching it. OH!! This spot was so much better. This spot was like an arctic zone. Cold air was blasting! We were cooling off quickly. So quickly in fact, it was like the old days at Disney. Remember when you needed a sweater in the summer because indoors it was freezing?

Cooled off and now all three of us hungry, we headed to ABC Commissary for lunch. Surprisingly there was not much of a line, and many tables were available. I got the fish and chips as did dh. JJ got chicken nuggets, yogurt and fries.

We don’t normally eat fried food at home. I wasn’t sure if it was the fish and the heat or the fried food. But my stomach was horrible. The pain was excruciating. Dh ordered the same meal as me, and he was fine. The pain I was having was almost as bad as when I had gall stones and needed my gall bladder removed. It was bad. However, I did not feel sick. Keep this in mind. We’ll come back to this in a weekend or two.

During lunch, we decided to go see Stars of the Saga. We had time on our hands before the 3pm show. We were going to see some characters. We stepped outside of the commissary and saw the Fab 4 M&G. We were going to do this, but my stomach sent some sharp pains and there was no way I could stand the heat anymore. I was going go back inside the commissary and wait for them. But neither of them was game for that. Somehow we ended up back at One Man’s Dream. We walked through it slowly and got to the waiting area for the movie. There was 12 minutes on the countdown clock. OUCH!! My stomach got worse. I couldn’t sit or stand there. I had to leave. They stayed, I grabbed a water bottle out of the cooler bag and walked out. Didn’t have a plan, but I walked and drank my water. My pain began to subside. I guess that should have been a hint to tell me what was going on, but I was oblivious to it. Feeling better, I sat down near the exit of the attraction by the store there and waited for them.

Once they got out, we still had time left. We walked around Tatooine Traders, the store near Mama Melrose that has the muppet merchandise, and stopped at Writer’s Stop. These are all great places to stay cool. Closer to show time, we headed over to get in line for Stars of the Saga.

Usually the parts of the queue that have shade, now had sun due to it being overhead. As we got in line we heard someone shouting JJ’s name. We looked over and someone opened rope in the queue and was pointing to a shady spot for us to park him. It was our friends from last year’s SWW and Celebration VI. They saw JJ in the parade and they had a feeling he’d be there for Stars of the Saga. They had already informed everyone around them that they were saving a spot for 3 people. And introduced us to the people in front and behind them as the people they told them about. We got JJ in the shade. Dh and I were in the sun. I pulled out the umbrellas, then we were in the shade too! Sort of. The shade for JJ was a nice surprise. Pixie dust from friends.

Both last year after SWW and this year before SWW I had called and talked to someone at Disney about the queue for the Premiere Theater. It’s a really bad spot to wait for anyone who is heat sensitive. There are spots in the queue where there is little to no air flowing. When the sun hits and everyone is packed in like sardines it becomes a bake oven. This even happens in the shade on a hot and humid day, it’s just amplified more in the sun.

The most obvious answer is to have one person wait and the other take JJ out of line. This works ok if he is on foot and not using the w/c. The queue is too narrow to squeeze the w/c around all the people to get in and out. The other obstacle is traffic flow. Close to the time they are going to allow the queue to move across the street and into the theater, they block 2 areas of traffic so the people in queue can walk. So if you are too late getting back, you can’t get in line til they re-open the traffic once everyone is inside the theater. By then there may or may not be seats left inside as there is no saving seats in the theater.

I had asked guest experience services if JJ could wait inside the doors of the theater until the theater was opened. The cm I spoke with said it sounded like a reasonable accommodation, but he didn’t have the authority to give the ok. So he contacted the appropriate person and called me back once he had an answer. The answer was no, that it would take away from the magic of the experience as they practice beforehand. We understand Disney magic. However, while this was not ok for JJ, it was ok for other people we noticed. About 20 minutes or so before show time, we saw cm allow certain people who were not VIPs enter the building. One of these people was another disabled friend we’ve known for years through Star Wars events. While it was only 20 minutes or so before everyone else was allowed in that could have helped. It was then that the queue we were in was asked to fill in all available area and we ended up in the hot sun for that time. Of course, we had two air conditioners and frozen water surrounding JJ’s body to keep his body temp down. That was also on him in the shade too. Something really needs to be done about this queue. Ok, getting off my soap box and now heading into the theater.

Our favorite part of the show is the pre-show with the stormtroopers. It’s always corny and makes us laugh. This year the show changed. It included ewoks!!









This weekend, Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) and Ray Park (Darth Maul) were the guests. James Arnold Taylor was the host.



Notice how this w/c in front of me, made a shadow that looks a little like Boba Fett’s hat.



At this point the battery on my camera suddenly died. So I switched over to my little point and click lumix camera.



The show ends with the Mickey Mouse Club song and a special guest appearance by the big cheese himself.

​

This ends our time at SWW for day 1! It was a fabulous day!! We accomplished:

1. 1 Character M&G – Queen Amidala
2. 1 Parade – But not just viewing it!!
3. 1 Show – Stars of the Saga

JJ had tried out for a play a few weeks prior to SWW. It was his first time going to a real audition. He had to sing 16 bars, learn a dance, and whatever else they had him do. He is in a special needs theater troupe where they have months to learn everything. But this was the real deal. He was cast as a dog which had one scene plus the finale. This evening was the first practice for choreography of the song and scene. We had taken two cars to DHS. Here is where things get a bit bizarre. JJ and I headed home. Dh headed to the resort.

As soon as we got home, I quick whipped up some leftovers for dinner. While I did this, JJ insisted he had to make soap for Joy. It’s a hobby he loves and can do on his own with supervision. So in between hurrying to get dinner together I had to supervise his soap making. He was so happy to be making these for Joy. Unfortunately, there was only enough time to melt, scent, color, and pour a few. He had to let them set while at practice.

Practice was an hour. JJ was on such a high doing the two things he loves the most, Star Wars and theater. When practice was over, he talked about how much harder this play was than his other plays. He said he had to sing and do the choreography at the same time. In his other troupe, he either sang or did choreography, but never both at the same time. His brain was getting a good challenge for him. At first they had him as a line leader, but he had too much trouble remembering when to start. So they put someone else in front of him so he’d have someone to watch. He felt like he left them down not being able to remember. I assured him they understood and were not disappointed in him.

He was exhausted after the hour of play practice. We headed home instead of to the resort. He headed straight to bed after his shower. Dh got a good night’s sleep at the resort. Our plan became to meet at DHS. This would give dh time to explore SWW on his own.

 

[annmarieda]

I am sorry you too were not feeling so well. Heat is hard for everyone... but that queue sounds like it does need to be changed.... and I just don't understand why they didn't let JJ in... but let others?

 

[lovethattink]

I am sorry you too were not feeling so well. Heat is hard for everyone... but that queue sounds like it does need to be changed.... and I just don't understand why they didn't let JJ in... but let others?

Ann, you nailed it dead on. It was the heat. But I was too oblivious to figure it out. I thought it was the food.

Yes, that queue needs some work. They pump in air conditioning to other outdoor areas, wonder if something could be rigged up. Of course, they only use that queue for SWW so that wouldn't be too cost effective. But something needs to be done.

I don't understand either. It didn't make sense why it didn't spoil the magic for them, but it would for JJ?

As I'll get to on the last day of SWW, DH went that day without us. It was hot as blazes and he was in line for the voices show. He was in a somewhat shady spot. Behind him was a girl who obviously was a chemo patient. The family asked the cm if something could be done to get her out of the heat. The best advice they could offer them was to see if someone would let her wheelchair in the shade. Of course dh overheard and was more than happy to oblige. But as soon as he moved to let her in, someone else stood in his spot. He politely but firmly told that person that he was moving to make way for her and that this person needed to let her in. For almost an hour this girl was in the shady spot before the queue moved into the building. She was very obviously uncomfortable in the heat.

 

[WDWRids]

All caught up ! Got up this am, made coffee and went straight to the computer so I could catch up. What a great first day at SWW!! The motorcade was fantastic - so thrilled JJ got to be part of it. All of your photos of the characters bought back memories when I saw some of the first characters (from the 80's). I have not seen any of the newer movies but love the originals. I am amazed and some of the costumes (especially Queen Amidala). The meet and greet with Dee Bradley Baker seemed as awesome as it was last year and loved how he commented on JJ keeping secrets. How cool! That was very nice of Ashley Eckstein to stop and talk with JJ. He has obviously made a huge impression on her - which is totally understandable! Oh, the Ewoks are so cute!!! I think I still have on off the stuffed ones I got after the movie came out. So sorry about your stomach. As soon as I read about it I immediately wondered if you were dehydrated and having muscle cramps. The humidity this year has been horrible - makes the heat worse but just takes your breathe away.

Cant wait to hear more!! As always - great TR!

 

[lovethattink]

All caught up ! Got up this am, made coffee and went straight to the computer so I could catch up. What a great first day at SWW!! The motorcade was fantastic - so thrilled JJ got to be part of it. All of your photos of the characters bought back memories when I saw some of the first characters (from the 80's). I have not seen any of the newer movies but love the originals. I am amazed and some of the costumes (especially Queen Amidala). The meet and greet with Dee Bradley Baker seemed as awesome as it was last year and loved how he commented on JJ keeping secrets. How cool! That was very nice of Ashley Eckstein to stop and talk with JJ. He has obviously made a huge impression on her - which is totally understandable! Oh, the Ewoks are so cute!!! I think I still have on off the stuffed ones I got after the movie came out. So sorry about your stomach. As soon as I read about it I immediately wondered if you were dehydrated and having muscle cramps. The humidity this year has been horrible - makes the heat worse but just takes your breathe away.

Cant wait to hear more!! As always - great TR!

I read this in the car yesterday. We headed to the MK. JJ's first outing in over 2 weeks. He did very well, there were no choking episodes yesterday!

The costumes can get very elaborate. Imagine walking with her headpiece on?!

There is something very special about the Star Wars community.

I agree, I think the ewoks are cute. We have a bunch of ewok DVDs at home. Some are from a cartoon series, and two are movies. Warwick Davis played Wicket in each.

It was heat and dehydration. I didn't head the warning signs, and eventually it caught up with me.

I still have 5 more hours of CE training to do. I was hoping to finish in June, but missed 2 hours last Saturday taking JJ to the doctor. Hopefully this week I'll get that done.

 

[annmarieda]

But as soon as he moved to let her in, someone else stood in his spot. He politely but firmly told that person that he was moving to make way for her and that this person needed to let her in. For almost an hour this girl was in the shady spot before the queue moved into the building. She was very obviously uncomfortable in the heat.

 

[lovethattink]

Would it disappoint you all if I throw in some Disney updates that are not Star Wars related. We ventured out yesterday for the first time in a couple weeks. We went to a Disney park for lunch and to get a new Duffy accessory. I'd love to share our adventure if you're all game.

I know.

 

[lsenquiz]

We were also surprised when we did not see the Storm Troopers on the roof this year. We got there very early and thought we might be too early so we waited and waited but they never showed up. We were glad to see them when we finally got through the entrances but I prefer them on the roof

Awesome to be invited into the Parade .

You got some really great parade pictures it must have been an amazing experience for JJ to be in it.

I hate that JJ had to wait in the heat. I think sometimes it is better to ask the CMs when you get there rather than call ahead because the people you talk to when you call do not have a good idea of how things really work.