May The Fort Be With You- A TCD SWW Trip Report!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Star Wars Weekends for 2012 began this past weekend at Hollywood Studios.

These have been going on for years.

The TCD gang has never had much interest.

But, last year, we visted during a Star Wars weekend so we could ride the new Star Tours attraction.

We ended up liking that a lot.

That led to us watching Hyperspace Hoopla a couple of times.

And, we liked that too.

The only problem was that the TCD twins had not seen a single Star Wars movie.

And, I had missed a few as well.

So, we vowed that before Star Wars weekends rolled around in 2012, we would watch all the movies and we would return for the opening weekend.

And so we did.

The TCD twins ended up liking the movies.

And, armed with our new knowledge, we set out to the opening weekend on Friday May 18.

The girls had school that day, and with the end of the school year so close, they couldn't skip.

So, we left after school.

Because of other things on our schedules, we could only stay one night.

So camping was out.

It's too much trouble to haul the camper, set it up, and break it down for just one night.

So, I booked the cheapest WDW room I could.

That put us in All Star Sports.

Which we like just fine.

Now you know the plan.

We headed East at about 3:30. That meant we would probably catch the beginning of rush hour traffic in Tampa. And that we did. But, it wasn't too bad, and we made it to WDW by 5:30.

Hollywood Studios was open until 10, and we knew that we wanted to at least see Hyperspace Hoopla at 8.

But, the girls also wanted to pick up some new Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards at the MK. So, we didn't even bother checking in at the hotel, and headed straight to the MK. We got the cards fine.

And then we wanted to head right to Hollywood Studios. That meant we would have to head over to the TTC and catch a bus.

We decided to go another way.

We walked to the Contemporary and caught the bus from there.

I wanted to get a photo of something I had seen on a previous visit.

It was something posted on the little bus driver's shack over there:

That shack:

It looks like there is a map of something familiar posted on the wall over there:

Do you recognize it?

How about now:

That's a map of Fort Wilderness!

An old one, too.

It has Musket Mickey on it.

What is that doing there?

I don't know.

If anyone sees Lou, please ask him.

I know he won't answer the question here, because he doesn't read trip reports.

So, we have all seen the Avengers monorail by now.

But that didn't stop TCD twin #1 from taking a few pics:

I haven't seen that movie yet.

And, based on how well it has done, I guess I am only one of a few who haven't.

The bus for Hollywood Studios from the Contemporary stops at the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian on the way out.

Isn't it funny that us scummy campers get better service than the deluxe folks?

Our long trip was worth it, though, as we got to see Cinderella's coach drive by:

Sorry for the photo quality, but we were on a moving bus. I missed the photo op all together. Twin #1 was able to snap that photo.

We finally made it to Hollywood Studios and found it to be pretty much a madhouse.

Which is what we expected.

Our main objective was to see Hyperspace Hoopla at 8, and then maybe do some looking around and possibly ride a couple of attractions if it wasn't too busy later in the night.

As soon as we entered the park, we tried to get one of the special Star Wars Weekends maps.

But, they were all out.

That wasn't a good sign.

But, as often happens, I found some pixie dust. It was right there in one of the empty map racks.

Somebody had left some Fastpasses.

For Toy Story!

Look! :

And they were for a perfect time.

We could head over there after Hyperspace Hoopla.

it is good to be TCD.

We decided to stop by the tip board to see how the waits were for everything. And, we thought maybe we could get a SWW map there.

On the way, we saw the first of many interesting guests that we would see over the next two days.

Check out this young lady:

We thought that was a C3P0 costume.

My momma always said that if I couldn't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all.

So, we will move right along.

Here's the tip board:

The wait for Toy Story was 80 minutes.

Not for us.

This also told us that there were still Fastpasses available for Rock N Roller Coaster.

So we headed right there.

And we got Fastpasses.

So, we were no holding Fastpasses for two rides.

Awesome.

And, since we were here, we headed over to something that they set up just for SWW.

It's a big tent.

Last year it was called Jabba's Hut.

This year it's called:

Disney has some clever people working for it, no?

Last year, we didn't know what half of what we saw in Jabba's Hut was.

But, now that we are Star Wars experts, we found it all very interesting.

The had some costumes for sale in there:

Yes, those were for sale.

How much do you think they were asking for those costumes?

Go ahead, guess.

Well, Chewbacca was $650:

You think that's a lot?

Well, Darth Vader was $1300!

You think that's a lot?

Well, check this out:

How much do you think the stormtrooper costume was?

Look:

Makes the Chewbacca costume look cheap, huh?

These Disney people are smart.

They had a display here next to those costumes for something new that they are selling this year:

How awesome is that?

You can have your image frozen in a block of carbon.

Just like Han.

Only smaller:

How much, you ask?

$99.

But, wait.

You get one of those wristbands with it, too.

And, please don't notice that everybody's hands and bodies are the same.

What do you want for such a cheap price?

This Watto was hanging up here next to the costumes:

I didn't see any sign saying how much he cost.

Maybe they were afraid to say.

But, there was a bunch of other stuff for sale here in Darth's Mall.

We will take a look at some of it in the next post.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Yea! I'm first! Now I gotta go back and read it.

Okay, I'm back. We've never been to SWW and look forward to learning about it.

Can't believe you found those TSM fastpasses ... yes, it must be good to be TCD!

Those costume prices are insane. Does anyone actually buy them?

And the FW map ... that's an odd location for it. I'd like to hear what Lou says about it too.

[We4mickey 6]

Woohoo, I'm in! My grandson is a huge Star Wars fan. He's only 8, but knows way too much about it, lol.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

Yeah another TCD trip report. Now how on earth am I going to keep myself disciplined enough to finish up my girls' school year? Must focus on school...Must focus on school...if I keep telling myself that it should work right? Oh who am I kidding.

Oh and we haven't seen the Avengers movie yet either. My son really wants to see it, but we have told him he has to wait until he finishes all his exams this week. Yeah were mean like that, but it helps keep him focused.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I'm in!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I'm in !!

[Disneyzombie-Brenda 10]

Me too! May the force be with us!

[4Brians.....Todd 103]

Look at me...first page of a TCD report!

With two little girls, Star Wars is not a real big draw for us. Can't wait to hear about it though .. Always seems to be an interesting crowd ...

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

Great! Thanks for the trip reports TCD, it is really appreciated by those of us living a little further away!

BTW....3 TSM fast pass just sitting there?!!? That is WBI kind of luck right there.

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Awesome start TCD!

I'm looking forward to the report, it looks like we're not going to make the SWW this year.

I'm ready for more!

WBI

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Very nice.

We have some folks already on board for the ride.

We are still on page one.

So, I will hold off on my comments on the comments and press on with the report.

We are still in Darth's Mall (such a clever name!).

Maybe you were shocked by those costume prices.

Perhaps that was the point.

Because right next to the costumes is the art.

And it was for sale.

The first thing that caught my eye was this lovely painting:

Cute.

Looks like a page out of a coloring book.

I never knew that wookies had pets.

Well, apparently they have cats in space.

So, how much do you think they wanted for that nice family portrait?

Check it out:

In case you can't read the price on that blurry photo (sorry) it says $3500.

Yes, as in Three Thosand Five Hundred.

Dollars.

American.

You would think for that price they could have come up with a more original name than "Wookie Family Portrait."

But, then again, that title is pretty much perfect.

Let's looks at another painting:

This one did have a clever name.

It's called "Easy Being Green it is Not."

You see what they did there?

The Yoda thing.

That's pretty clever.

So, how much?

Look:

Only $495!

Wait.

How come that's so much less than the wookie painting?

Don't you know anything?

Sheez.

The wookie painting is an original.

The Kermit painting is a print.

But a limited edition.

So, $495 is a bargain!

This here painting is called Replica:

That guy in the painting is named Bobba Fett.

A year ago, I wouldn't have been able to tell you that.

But now I know who he is.

He is the bounty hunter who brought Han to Jabba. And his origins are explained in Episode 1-the Phantom Menace.

People really like him for some reason.

So, his print will set you back $495 too:

I thought this stormtrooper painting was pretty cool:

But, not this cool:

This painting is called See Threepio:

I reckon that the artist thought if he spelled it fancy, he could get more for it:

Hey, it's still cheaper than the family portrait!

Continuing on with the wacky spelling, this painting is called Artoo:

This one is a print, so he is way cheaper than his fellow droid:

I think this was just a prop, and not for sale:

So, this is all crazy, right?

Well, look at this line:

Those people are lined up to buy stuff.

It isn't just art that they have for sale in the tent, I mean mall.

They have t-shirts and hats and stuff.

I used to think Star Wars fans were geeks.

But, as you can see from these photos, they are just normal people who like a movie:

Again, since my momma said if I can't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all, so with regard to that last photo, I would just like to point out the lady's hat and Princess Leia hairdo. Also, I believe that she is wearing a Princess Leia as a slave t-shirt. And, that is all I can say about it.

The TCD twins were like Jawas in a junkyard here in Darth's Mall. ( I think that is a good SW reference-somebody correct me if I got it wrong).

Twin #1 need a new bathrobe.

And her birthday is coming up . . .

These R2D2 backpacks are cute:

I think Twin #2 looks pretty cute in this Ewok hat:

It is times like this that make me wish I had the girls' Facebook passwords:

This is the official poster for the Star Wars Weekends:

Darth's Mall is actually set up in a parking lot next to Rock-N-Roller coaster.

Guests aren't normally allowed back here.

So, that gave me a chance to get a unique photo of Tower of Terror:

Here's the parking lot:

By now, it was time for us to get a place for Hyperspace Hoopla.

We also needed to get our dinner.

We had agreed to try something new for that.

I'll tell you about it in our next post.

Also, you may have noticed that it was getting cloudy.

It started to rain while we were back at Darth's Mall.

I don't know if Hyperspace Hoopla gets performed in the rain.

I suspect that it doesn't.

We will see what happens next.

TCD

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

BTW....3 TSM fast pass just sitting there?!!? That is WBI kind of luck right there.

Haha

That's true! I'm glad TCD is getting some, cause we used all of our luck up in those two trips! lol

WBI

[fortpartyof4 108]

How funny, I jump on here to read another page or 2 of your New Year's report that I've slowly been enjoying the last week or so, and end up on page one of your brand new report! Not bad for a rookie!!

With 2 boys, I've been to SWW weekend more than once. My favorite part is seeing all of the "overly enthusiastic" SW fans (kind of like the old "Trekies"). Not a huge fan myself, but do know a good bit about the characters by proxy. Ask me to name a Disney princess, and I'd be stumped.

Nice score on those FP's!!!

FP4

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

I'm in. Did I make it in time for page 1?

Edited to add. Yes...Yes I did...woohoo

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

Wait for me!!! (i'm in too)

I think Twin #2 looks pretty cute in this Ewok hat:

It is times like this that make me wish I had the girls' Facebook passwords:

You have to talk to a FB specialist but I think you can Tag someone with a picture of them. :)

[we3peas 12]

We were there this weekend as well for my birthday on Thursday, but avoided HS like the plague. Can't stand sci-fi junk, and saw enough of it when I was growing up with a sci-fi older brother. People dress up as the craziest things during these times.

[stefa70 205]

I'm sure you know I've been looking forward to this all weekend!

I'm not a huge SW geek fan, but I'm happy to suffer through for a TCD report.

Very nice scoring the fast passes for TSM, and what a clever idea of sticking any leftovers in the map holders.

Even though I don't love SW, I do love the picture of Kermit and Yoda! "It's not easy being green" was one of my favorite songs as a young'n.

At the price of $495, I think I'll just admire your replica of the print.

I've only seen that backside of RnR open when they had Super Soap weekend. They had a stage set up back there for one of the Q&A sessions. I never did go back there because it was always a cast from a soap that I didn't watch.

(In case you were wondering, I only follow General Hospital for as long as I can remember) :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yea! I'm first! Now I gotta go back and read it.

Okay, I'm back. We've never been to SWW and look forward to learning about it.

Can't believe you found those TSM fastpasses ... yes, it must be good to be TCD!

Those costume prices are insane. Does anyone actually buy them?

And the FW map ... that's an odd location for it. I'd like to hear what Lou says about it too.

I asked myself the same question about those costumes. After thinking about it, and seeing all the other stuff they had for sale, I would say, yes, people must buy costumes and some of that artwork must sell.

Woohoo, I'm in! My grandson is a huge Star Wars fan. He's only 8, but knows way too much about it, lol.

This is something that amazes me.

Mrs. TCD is a pre-school teacher, and four year olds love Star Wars too.

How can that be?

Yeah another TCD trip report. Now how on earth am I going to keep myself disciplined enough to finish up my girls' school year? Must focus on school...Must focus on school...if I keep telling myself that it should work right? Oh who am I kidding.

Oh and we haven't seen the Avengers movie yet either. My son really wants to see it, but we have told him he has to wait until he finishes all his exams this week. Yeah were mean like that, but it helps keep him focused.

Alright, look.

School is important.

So get that done, and then come back here to read.

This report will probably still be under construction for at least that long.

Look at me...first page of a TCD report!

With two little girls, Star Wars is not a real big draw for us. Can't wait to hear about it though .. Always seems to be an interesting crowd ...

Yes on the interesting crowd.

I once had three little girls.

And none of them had a thing to do with Star Wars.

So, I wasn't interested either.

I never saw the new movies that came out in the 90's and beyond.

But, Star Wars Weekends last year changed all of that.

So, you never know.

Great! Thanks for the trip reports TCD, it is really appreciated by those of us living a little further away!

BTW....3 TSM fast pass just sitting there?!!? That is WBI kind of luck right there.

Well. technically, WBI had TCD kind of luck.

I always manage to run into pixie dust on my trips.

It is kind of amazing that there were exactly three fastpasses just sitting there.

And that they were for the exact time that we would be able to use them.

Awesome start TCD!

I'm looking forward to the report, it looks like we're not going to make the SWW this year.

I'm ready for more!

WBI

Ah, man.

I'm sorry to hear that you won't make it to SWW this year.

This is the best year yet.

How funny, I jump on here to read another page or 2 of your New Year's report that I've slowly been enjoying the last week or so, and end up on page one of your brand new report! Not bad for a rookie!!

With 2 boys, I've been to SWW weekend more than once. My favorite part is seeing all of the "overly enthusiastic" SW fans (kind of like the old "Trekies"). Not a huge fan myself, but do know a good bit about the characters by proxy. Ask me to name a Disney princess, and I'd be stumped.

Nice score on those FP's!!!

FP4

Yes, the people watching was great. I will be sharing more on that throughout this report.

Wait for me!!! (i'm in too)

You have to talk to a FB specialist but I think you can Tag someone with a picture of them. :)

Well, to do that, I would need to have a FB account.

And, I don't see that happening.

We were there this weekend as well for my birthday on Thursday, but avoided HS like the plague. Can't stand sci-fi junk, and saw enough of it when I was growing up with a sci-fi older brother. People dress up as the craziest things during these times.

Sci-fi, junk?

Bite your tongue!

J/K. I am not really that much of a Star Wars fan. After rewatching the original movie, I was kind of amazed that this movie started the craze that still continues to this day.

I'm sure you know I've been looking forward to this all weekend!

I'm not a huge SW geek fan, but I'm happy to suffer through for a TCD report.

Very nice scoring the fast passes for TSM, and what a clever idea of sticking any leftovers in the map holders.

Even though I don't love SW, I do love the picture of Kermit and Yoda! "It's not easy being green" was one of my favorite songs as a young'n.

At the price of $495, I think I'll just admire your replica of the print.

I've only seen that backside of RnR open when they had Super Soap weekend. They had a stage set up back there for one of the Q&A sessions. I never did go back there because it was always a cast from a soap that I didn't watch.

(In case you were wondering, I only follow General Hospital for as long as I can remember) :)

At the prices those paintings are selling for, I am thinking of starting my own series of purple crayon sketches of Star Wars characters.

Do they still have the Soap weekends?

I don't think they do.

And, they stopped the ESPN weekend this year.

If they ever stopped Star Wars weekends, they would be in trouble.

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Well, in 2006, it was Star Wars "days" or something, a full couple of weeks worth, cause I remember going to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire every morning that week, and all shows were Star Wars themed. I saw the original movies dozens of times, but have only watched the new movies on Blu-Ray once each.

So anyway, they have cut it back some, and like just about everything else, it's probably not immune to the chopping block

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, in 2006, it was Star Wars "days" or something, a full couple of weeks worth, cause I remember going to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire every morning that week, and all shows were Star Wars themed. I saw the original movies dozens of times, but have only watched the new movies on Blu-Ray once each.

So anyway, they have cut it back some, and like just about everything else, it's probably not immune to the chopping block

I remember being at Hollywood Studios when they had a Star Wars edititon of Who Want to be a Millionaire, too.

And, you're right, nothing is immune from the chopping block.

It's all about the bottom line.

When they started having the special weekends, they would schedule them during "slow" times as an incentive to get people to come to the parks.

The way things are goint lately, I'm not sure that there are "slow" times anymore.

ESPN the weekend was a cool event. But, it got the axe. I'm sure they figured it cost them too much and that they didn't need to try to attract people with it.

Star Wars Weekends could very well suffer the same fate.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Well, to do that, I would need to have a FB account.

And, I don't see that happening.

Hmmm ... with the twins going off to college next year, you might think about getting one and befriending them. It's a great way to keep up with what your kids are doing. Of course, there's always the possibility that they won't accept your friend request. But, seriously, that's how I keep up with my children.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, here we are on page 2 already.

You snooze. You lose.

Things move quick around here.

So, we had to attend to our evening dining arrangements.

As I mentioned, we had a plan.

On the way to dinner, we walked past the stage. This is where Hyperspace Hoopla would be performed in just a bit.

The rain kept the crowds down:

Here we are at our restaurant of choice for the evening:

I know it doesn't look like much.

But, this is what we were going for:

I had spotted these beauties on a previous trip.

And, now was the time to go for it.

That's a hot dog in a pretzel roll.

They have something like this that they serve in Germany at Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival.

I would post a photo of me enjoying my dinner, but I know DaveInTn is bothered by that type of thing.

So, I will spare him.

We ate our hot dogs under one of these umbrellas:

I've got to tell you that those things are good.

They squirt spicy mustard in there with the hot dog.

That is some good stuff!

One of my new favorite WDW meals!

After our gastronomic delight, we made our way over to the big stage.

And here's where we ended up:

The only thing that was bad is that is was raining.

Do you see the umbrellas and ponchos?

But, there was some blue in the sky:

So we waited.

Some people hung out under the umbrellas set up in the back:

Make sure that you don't miss the guy in the Ewok hat and painted face in that photo above. This is not the last we will see of him.

This being Florida and all, the rain stopped as quickly as it had started, and we were entertained by the crew sent out to dry the stage:

Once the rain stopped, folks flocked to the stage.

All of these people were behind us:

And these folks were all off to the side:

I figured that once the umbrellas went down, we would have a good view of the stage.

But, what I didn't figure on was that people in front of us would put their kids up on their shoulders:

That wasn't too bad.

But, the guy next to me also put his kid up on his shoulders.

And his kid had a load in his pants.

And, his pants were level with my nose.

That wasn't so great.

I did a lot of mouth breathing during the show.

The rain caused about a 15 minute delay in the show starting.

But then it started.

They set up this year's show with an introduction straight out of the Star Wars textbook:

This year's show was almost completely different from last years. The hosts were the same. As were most of the performers. But the songs and skits were different.

Last year, the Cantina band came out and payed stump the band with the audience. This year, they were introduced the same way:

But they changed it up.

They had the band play some of their songs from their new album:

The song "My Sebulba" goes to the tune of "My Sharona."

Now, that is a good song.

Then the guys in the band did some dancing:

After a bit, the Emperor came out and issued a challenge:

There was going to be a dance off:

The Emperor kicked things off:

And then the good guys came out:

This is where I found out how old and out of touch with pop culture I am.

The TCD twins were cracking up at this part of the show.

And so was the rest of the audience.

I had no idea what was going on.

I just thought Chewie was dressed up as a guy in an afro and sunglasses.

It turns out this was all a very good spoof of a band called LMFAO.

Did you know that there is a band called LMFAO?

Well there is.

And they have a robot in the band named Shufflebot.

C3P0 is dressed like him:

This all was a huge hit with people who know popular music.

And, I found out that I am officially old.

After the good guys, the bad guys came out.

Here is Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers:

And then Bobba Fett came out:

The audience was asked to vote by apple sauce applause:

And then there was some more dancing and pyrotechnics:

For no apparent reason, other than this guy had a cool costume and some sweet moves, Darth Maul came out to perform the final number:

And that was it.

I took several videos of the show.

But, after watching them, they pretty much consist of a the backs of a bunch of kids sitting on their parents shoulders.

So, I am going to refer you to this very good video, which was shot the same night we were there. It shows the whole show. It's over 20 minutes long, but if you like Star Wars, you will love this video:

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsrbQK9kgQg

So, there you have it.

Hyperspace Hoopla.

Next up, we use those Fastpasses.

And go to check in to our room.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

LFMAO ... never heard of them ... showing my age ... but you know what? I don't care!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

LFMAO ... never heard of them ... showing my age ... but you know what? I don't care!

Gwen-

It's LMFAO.

And, I was just reminded that they performed during halftime at the Super Bowl this year with Madonna.

TCD

[caveat lector 181]

Very excited to be along for the ride I am.

Off to a very good start you are. :)