chunkymonkey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 27, 2009
All caught up now!!
Those rider swap passes were awesome! I'm going to borrow a kid next time we go, LOL. We got them for FoP, Soarin, TT, and even Frozen!
Haha that's funny since my DH does NOT like Figment. Actually he is indifferent about it but he'd rather not ride as he doesn't like the skunk part.
LOL that is the opposite of my DH who rides it at least 3 times on every trip!
So sad about this. They might as well change the name of DHS to something else as there is nothing Hollywood about this!
OMG this is awesome! What great pixie dust! So happy for you guys!!
I can see how your boys would be bored with the dessert party. I ended up cancelling this because it was too late, and no one was interested except just a few people in our party.
And yes, Kylo continues to be a whiny brat!
I agree the drinks are too sweet. The margarita was probably the best one. I'm really happy to hear about the beer and wine option though! That is more my taste!
I do love the cheese and olive skewers they have there. I can make a meal from this dessert party!
That is soooo cool!!
Thank you for this! I will remember to do so!! What a special moment for all of you!!
I agree, not as good as the original fireworks. It used to be all about the music and the fireworks and now it's a little too distracting. But the projections are cool. I love the Darth Vader part and the very end montage.
I get chills just from hearing any Star Wars music! I'm so excited this fall because I get to see the Star Wars films being "performed" live with the NY Philharmonic.
Ugh we had the same issue when we were leaving the park. We went to catch the Fantasmic and then some of the SW fireworks with my friend and her two girls, and it took us forever to get back to the Poly and the girls were so tired and cranky. I felt so bad for them. They were huge lines, it was crowded, and there were no seats. I'm glad you got some good samaritans to help you out though.
We had split our TT and Soarin FPs because Will is too short to ride, so we knew we could get Child Swap passes for those and we were coming back on Thursday to do Frozen.
Those rider swap passes were awesome! I'm going to borrow a kid next time we go, LOL. We got them for FoP, Soarin, TT, and even Frozen!
Anyway, we got to the pavilion in a somewhat timely manner and headed in to ride Journey Into Imagination. Before I go any further I will tell you that DH says Figment is one of his favorite characters - I may be repeating myself from the intros, so I apologize if I am. The last time he was at Disney, was right after Epcot opened so he says he thinks he just latched onto Figment as his favorite character because maybe they were really promoting him. Regardless, the ride is kind of blah, but I think we all enjoyed it somewhat and (all three of) the boys probably really liked it.
Haha that's funny since my DH does NOT like Figment. Actually he is indifferent about it but he'd rather not ride as he doesn't like the skunk part.
I figured I would just ride after breakfast and the boys could all do Living with the Land. Not that I think LwtL is a bad ride, but I do not have to ride it every trip...lol.
LOL that is the opposite of my DH who rides it at least 3 times on every trip!
After that we headed to ride GMR with our FP. Mom had ridden this in 2016 when the rest of us did TSMM, but the boys and I missed it. So I'm glad we did it this time. One - because DH had never ridden it before and two - it is now closed. I had been reading rumors before the trip so I knew it was a possibility this could be the last trip with it open. It's never been a huge favorite of mine and I am looking forward to something new, but my mom really loved it and I know lots of others did too.
So sad about this. They might as well change the name of DHS to something else as there is nothing Hollywood about this!
I had been conversing with a Special Events CM on the Star Wars thread and he was going to be working the dessert party, so I was excited to finally meet him. When we checked in, he informed us that we would have a special role that evening. We were to lead the Stormtroopers and party guests out to the special viewing area for the fireworks at the party's conclusion! We totally were not expecting that, but it was a wonderful surprise. We had some photos taken and were issued a certificate:
OMG this is awesome! What great pixie dust! So happy for you guys!!
We made our way into the party. We found a low table to put our stuff on and then we took turns getting some treats and drinks. I am going to preface this by saying that we really were not prepared for the party, since we had not done it before, so things didn't go incredibly smooth. I enjoyed it, as did DH but I think it would've worked better if we had been without the boys or they had been older. There wasn't much to do other than drink and eat and the boys really weren't into doing that. I had things for them to color and my phone for them to play with but this might have been a night I should have brought their ipads. Also, we were afraid to leave our table because we didn't really want to give it up but in retrospect, we probably should have done all our eating and drinking and then abandon that area and have a look around Launch Bay and meet the characters. But instead, Chad took Will to meet Chewbacca however once they were almost at the front, Will had a meltdown and they had to leave the line. Chad did end up going to meet Kylo Ren, whom I wasn't interested in because we had done the meet last year and I think his character is kind of a whiny brat, on his own and got some good photos:
I can see how your boys would be bored with the dessert party. I ended up cancelling this because it was too late, and no one was interested except just a few people in our party.
And yes, Kylo continues to be a whiny brat!
As far as the drinks at the party, most were really too sweet, though I think I stuck with the margarita most of the night which was fine. I'm excited to hear they are adding beer and wine to the menu, though. The food seemed wonderful and plentiful but I didn't get to enjoy because our early dinner just wasn't early enough.
I agree the drinks are too sweet. The margarita was probably the best one. I'm really happy to hear about the beer and wine option though! That is more my taste!
I do love the cheese and olive skewers they have there. I can make a meal from this dessert party!
After coming back from attempting the BB-8 meet...by the way, for those keeping count, I didn't meet any of the SW characters...it was time to gather to lead the Stormtroopers out:
That is soooo cool!!
The Special Events CMs gave the boys lender lightsabers and announced that our family would be leading out the crowd! How exciting! It truly was a magical moment that we will treasure for many years to come! Later on that night, we made sure to tweet to @WDWToday about Lou, the truly wonderful CM that had created that magical moment for us. I then heard that the tweet was read out in one of his CM meetings and it went into his file. So, if you guys ever run into a CM that goes above and beyond, and have a Twitter acct, I encourage you to do the same as I think it really means something to the CMs to be recognized for their great work.
Thank you for this! I will remember to do so!! What a special moment for all of you!!
Walking out to the reserved area was fast and furious but it was such a cool experience. Once we arrived, we grabbed a great spot, along with our souvenir Chewy mugs and some waters. The reserved viewing area had really been one of the main reasons for booking the party, just like the HEA one...so we didn't have to stake out a spot an hour or more in advance. Now, I will fully admit, this was not as good as the original Star Wars fireworks show that was playing in 2016, but it was still great, in its own right.
I agree, not as good as the original fireworks. It used to be all about the music and the fireworks and now it's a little too distracting. But the projections are cool. I love the Darth Vader part and the very end montage.
I did get chills from watching this show. I'm a fairly big Star Wars fan and grew up on the movies, so I really enjoyed the projections a lot. The boys managed to fall asleep in the stroller but when it was finally over, AJ woke up and clapped a bunch then immediately went back to sleep.It really was quite funny!
I get chills just from hearing any Star Wars music! I'm so excited this fall because I get to see the Star Wars films being "performed" live with the NY Philharmonic.
After this, there was a mass exodus out of the park and getting to the buses was a nightmare. There were just people pouring by and we couldn't even cut across the crowd to get in line for the WL bus. Not that it mattered because the line was out of the little waiting area anyway. So we just waited it out and eventually after about maybe 15-20 minutes, the crowd slowed a bit and we were able to cross over and into the line. It was fine after that, though we did have to wait for a bus or two. In the end though, that worked out because we were one of the first to board so we had seats. It still was uncomfortable though because the boys were dead asleep and the stroller had to be folded up. Chad was holding the stroller and all the stuff and I had Will in my lap and AJ lying up against me in the seat next to me. Some of the people around us took pity on us and helped us to hold all of our stuff because it was getting hard to keep it all together. They even helped us get all our stuff off the bus. It was a really nice gesture that we were so very thankful for. However, all I will say is we never took another bus to any other park but MK again and I doubt we ever will. So at least it served that purpose!
Ugh we had the same issue when we were leaving the park. We went to catch the Fantasmic and then some of the SW fireworks with my friend and her two girls, and it took us forever to get back to the Poly and the girls were so tired and cranky. I felt so bad for them. They were huge lines, it was crowded, and there were no seats. I'm glad you got some good samaritans to help you out though.