Poncho Up, Find a Plug and Keep On Havin' Fun Trip Report

Hello, everybody! I guess I’ll start my report. Just to recap from my pre-trip report, I’m Jennifer. My hubby is Lance and two boys are Cameron and Wyatt. Our trip started on Wednesday, June 5th, the last day of school, and we got back on Thursday, June 13th.



I guess I’ll start on Tuesday the 4th. Although I normally get to bed before 10p, I was up ‘til 11 and woke up on the 5th at 3a. My mind wouldn’t calm down. So, we dropped Annabelle off at the Happy Mailman, got the kids off to school and ran a couple last minute errands.

Lance and I packed and ended up needing our really large suitcase and a normal sized suitcase, making sure our super duper sized suitcase was less than 50 lbs. without forgetting anything (ha!). We cleaned, since our neighbor was cat sitting, and left the house to pick up the boys 2.5 hours before the final bell. They were OK missing out on their last little bit of class time. We picked up our older son lunch and made it to the FastPark lot.

We got to the airport, through security and waited for the plane.


Our flight was good


but a little turbulent on the way down.

We got our bags and headed to Magical Express. We quickly got on our bus. Coronado Springs was the first stop – whooo hooo! We were checked in by a CM from France (I kept getting him to talk.) and were placed in Casitas. We wanted to be near the Dig Site and were relocated to Ranchos 7A.



Since it was past dinner time, we dropped off our bags and walked back for a chicken caesar wrap for me, hot dogs for the boys and a burger for Lance at Café Rix (no pics).

We mulled over our plans with the tropical storm and decided to make a final decision in the morning when we saw what they expected the effects to be.

I hope the pictures look OK and are sized well and hope you enjoy reading.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

First off...LOVE this picture...


And I will repeat it with you...BEAUJOLAIS!!! OK, I think I kind of screamed it, but that's not such a bad thing when drinking is involved.

I was looking at your score on Buzz and I'll be honest, you'd beat me. I'm awful! I think I even asked for advice on here one time...didn't help.

I know there were other things I wanted to comment on...but now I can't remember. Oh well, can't wait to read more!

Glad you like the pic. How about we take French lessons just so we can order more wines?

That was the only time playing Buzz that we had respectable scores. I don't hit the targets well and can't figure it out, either.

Thanks! Holler if you think of your comment. I hope to have more tomorrow. Saturday was a long, eventful day!

 

[Sumrdog]

So happy to see you started your trip report! Your boys are so cute. I can't wait to hear about Star Wars Weekend.

You had me laughing with the Beaujolais...Foreign words and alcohol are so much fun!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

So happy to see you started your trip report! Your boys are so cute. I can't wait to hear about Star Wars Weekend.

SWW is coming up next, the good and the bad.

You had me laughing with the Beaujolais...Foreign words and alcohol are so much fun!

Yes, yes they are!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Oh, silly me! I forgot to add that sometime in the heat of the afternoon we stopped by Club Cool. I liked the ginger ale and the watermelon. I don't remember what the Mexico drink was, but I told the guys don't try the Beverly. "I've heard it tastes awful." The hubby tried it; he's an adventurous person.



"It's not too bad."

 

[englanddg]

"Not too bad" Bwahahahaha

 

[King Panda 77]

SWW is coming up next, the good and the bad.

Hope you had as much fun as us at SWW

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Hope you had as much fun as us at SWW

Thanks! We had a pretty good time before the rain put a damper on the character meet & greets around 4 pm.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Saturday, June 8th – A VERY eventful day.

It was finally our Star Wars Weekend day. I communicated effectively to everyone well in advance that we needed to be up early to get there early. Also, we had our birthday surprise for Lance. Before we walked out the door, we gave him his birthday card telling him he would be getting his D-Tech Me Star Wars carbonite or storm trooper (his decision) present. He was very surprised and happy.


We were all compliant and got out to the bus stop. The bus took 20 minutes to get to our stop, making me a nervous wreck. We got to DHS at 7:30am and were shocked at the hordes of people already in line. I hoped it wouldn’t be a bad omen to how our day would go. Plus the grey clouds were looming.


They started letting us in, and we got to see the Storm Troopers conversing about the itty bitty little rope that prevented all the people from running up the street. They were cute, but the boys couldn’t see them very well.

They dropped the rope. Lance ran to RNRC for Fastpasses while I took the boys to sign up for Jedi Training. Oh, the humanity! At least CMs were there directing traffic. We waited and waited but finally made it to the scheduling people. Of course, I was behind the slowest people in the World. The CM told me that they were already scheduling for their first afternoon show. We knew there would be afternoon showers, so trying to pick a good, I said we’d like a 5pm time. We got it – be at the ABC studio at 4:30 for the 5 pm show. Lance had the Fastpasses and took advantage of the low wait at TSMM!. If I had been thinking properly, I would have told him to get in line for a SWW character. D’oh!

We stood in the already long line for Chewbacca while waiting for Lance. A line that didn’t move quickly. Lance finally called me, so we met up for Tower of Terror, my only feared attraction. It was so fun! I screamed when we dropped and laughed immediately afterwards. I can’t believe I was scared to ride it. The boys loved it, too. We walked over RNRC, but it was down. We continued on to Darth’s Mall. Lance and the boys got the Magic Shot fighting Darth Vader. The photographer handed me back our photopass card, which surprised me. I guess she didn’t think I wanted to fight Vader. I should have said something.

We walked into the Mall and saw the long line for whichever character was there. We didn’t want to wait, so we looked around. The boys made their droids (They were out of blue right legs. Why did they run out of blue right legs but have so many blue left legs? So, that was a pain in the behind trying to get matching legs with the other parts, but I digress.)


and I showed Lance where he’d come back at 1pm for his D-Tech Me Experience. I got quick pics of the rancor and C3PO and R2D2.



As we walked by RNRC, we saw it was up and running, so Cameron and I ran it to watch. I pointed out Steven Tyler and told Cam that he is Arwen’s dad. So, we got through the short line, and Cameron LOVED it. He then took his turn with Lance, while Wyatt and I made our way back to SWW for some character interaction.


I quickly realized that there weren’t enough hours in the day to do half of what we wanted. We got in line for Darth Maul. Lance and Cameron met up with us with time to spare. Maul freaked me out. Those yellow and red contacts he put in his eyes – totally freaky. Maul is not the warm and fuzzy kinda guy, so I think the boys were not sure what to do. I’m glad we got his autograph, though.


It was already 10:45, so we found a spot to the left of the stage for the parade. We didn’t get to see the big stars who got out at the stage, but we did get to see the rest.



We found Pizza Planet for lunch. Lance and I split a meatball sub and salad and the boys got pizza. We found a table upstairs with a plug by it. BUT I FORGOT TO TELL LANCE TO GET CUPCAKES!! Where was my thinking cap?!?!


Which is a good segue to the detail that I left my visor in the room, and the sun was really beating down on us. Having fair skin that burns easily, I stopped into a store for a cap. I got the soft olive green cap with Mickey on it. I like that cap. Lance didn’t find one he liked, and I offered him mine but more on that later.

We got back out to the streets to enjoy the day. Again, we missed quite a few characters like trading with the Jawas, with whom Cameron really wanted to trade. We first met Queen Amidala since she had just come out and a short line.

I stood in line for Ahsoka and Commander Cody while Lance took the boys to see who else was wandering around. Cody took a break and Rex came out. Sweet! We were in line for Ahsoka and Captain Rex, but they both went on break (D’oh!) while Ventress came out in their place. Ventress took one look at the boys’ custom autograph books with each character’s separate page. She held it up and said to the boys, “I approve.”

I will have to upload a pic of their meet and greet.

While I stood in line for Boba Fett, the boys caught up to a Gammorean Guard. We then saw Zam Wesell with whom Cameron had some really good interaction. We only have it on video since I was still in line, though. She stared him down and walked around him. He kept laughing and backing up. She backed him into a trashcan, so he had nowhere to go. He somehow tripped on the curb and was on his back on the sidewalk. At this point, a nice sized crowd had accumulated. Then, Aurra Sing stopped by to back Zam up. They let him off the hook and signed the boys’ books. Fun was had by all.

Boba was up next.


We meandered our way around and met Stormtroopers


and a Tuscan Raider who was also quite honored he had his own page to sign.


We got TSMM! Fastpasses while there.

Then we needed to make our way back to Darth’s Maul for Lance’s D-Tech Me birthday face scan.



We ended up buying a Jedi Mickey plush for me and two sets of Chip and Dale Ewoks for the boys. We asked for them to be sent up to the Park entrance for us to pick up at the end of the day. Great decision.

There were long lines everywhere for the popular characters, so we walked back to the Streets to see if we could catch any more characters there. That’s when we started to see grey clouds come back and felt sprinkles. The CMs let everybody know that they had no problems pulling the characters and they would in a heartbeat if it started to rain. Great! At least we got to say hi to Chewie.



We ended up riding Star Tours and loved it. Wyatt started complaining of a tummy ache and looked tired, but we pressed on. I thought he was just not used to the activity since he has allergies at home and isn't an outside loving kid. He seemed tired and I told him that after today, we’d take it easy for a day. So we found where we were supposed to go for Jedi Training Academy. They told us there was a chance that the show would be cancelled and already another before us had been nixed. They got lined up and given their robes. That’s when the dark grey clouds came rolling in, accompanied by thunder and lightning. It rained. It rained hard. Thunder was loud, and it wasn’t just the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. We did strike up a conversation with a nice man from Georgia whose four year-old daughter was with our group. He and Lance bonded over their mutual dislike for Nick Sabin and Alabama, but again, I digress.

Yes, they called the show. I kicked myself for scheduling our show for so late in the afternoon. And Wyatt was looking worse. We thought it was just because so many people were in such a small area to get out of the rain. Lance took him out from under the overhang to get some fresh air. That didn’t help. I also spoke with an extremely nice CM, Aaron, who was nice enough to get us rescheduled for Jedi Training for Monday, the 10th at 5:30pm. I thanked him profusely.

Well, Wyatt was crying by that point saying his head hurt. A nice CM supervisor gave us directions to First Aid where the nurses took his temperature – 102 point something. They gave him Motrin, and we camped out at First Aid for an hour. I found an electrical plug. He was in good spirits quickly but still had a high temp when the nurse took it again.

The rain was down to a minor fall, so we ventured out to Studio Catering for dinner. Wyatt had a pb&j (He ate, which was a good sign.), Lance had the buffalo chicken sandwich,

and I had the turkey club. Cameron had a little of both sandwiches. All was good. The CMs said the sloppy joes didn’t set right, so they couldn’t serve it. Lance and Cameron were bummed. One of the nurses raved about it.


We used our TSMM! Fastpasses. Cameron’s and my scores:
Nothing to see here. Move along.

It was still lightly raining. Heavy enough to make it not pleasant but light enough for people to still be in the Park. We saw Hyperspace Hoopla starting but had already had enough for the day. I wanted to go into Guest Relations to rave about Aaron, but there was a line out the door. We picked up our plush. We didn’t have a long bus wait which made up for the morning bus situation. Baths/showers and bedtime for all. Wyatt felt warm overnight, but I reminded Lance that fevers run high overnight and fevers fight infections. He was sleeping, so we let him be. He felt better Sunday morning, but I preemptively gave him Motrin again before we left out on our Sunday excursion.

All in all, we had a great day. Yes, we got rained out of characters and left before we could have, but we look at the glass as half full.

 

[bethymouse]

I love it! Your boys are so cute! They look like they're having a blast!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

I love it! Your boys are so cute! They look like they're having a blast!

Thanks, Beth!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Like a total dufus again, I forgot to include that on our way back to the SWW characters after our D-Tech Me Experience, we stopped off at Starring Rolls and got these two babies.





and almost gone.

 

[bethymouse]

I am so craving one of those cupcakes right now!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Glad you like the pic. How about we take French lessons just so we can order more wines?

That was the only time playing Buzz that we had respectable scores. I don't hit the targets well and can't figure it out, either.

Thanks! Holler if you think of your comment. I hope to have more tomorrow. Saturday was a long, eventful day!

It's funny...I don't know if it's all of the bad things I drank in college, but I've never been able to develop a taste for wine. Oh, I'll drink it! It's just funny, my parents are doing the wine train through Napa at some point this week and I'd be soooo clueless. Although, I did make a wine cake back in early May. I used the Cupcake's angel food variety and made a wine & honey cake.

I am hoping to catch up on reports tonight.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Excited that they got to meet Chewbacca! Darth Maul freaks us out too! And I've never even seen him in person! I saw Chewy's pics on the M&G info and I was like "I would sooooooo wait in that long line." I'm glad you enjoyed ToT! I still can't get past the dropping part. I love roller coasters with huge drops, but free fall rides...not so much. I don't know why, but I cracked up over the RnR description on it being Arwen's dad Poor Wyatt being sick at WDW I'm not a happy camper just walking around with congestion and a sore throat...can't imagine how yucky he must have felt with a full blown fever. At least the first aid spots in the parks are really good, at least from everything we've experienced and heard.

Now, let's talk cupcakes. One of my supervisors was there either that same weekend or the weekend before... can't remember and he had the Vader cuppycake- b/c I told him to. Now, he said it was overly chocolaty...which I'm thinking - THERE'S NO SUCH THING! Your verdict?

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

It's funny...I don't know if it's all of the bad things I drank in college, but I've never been able to develop a taste for wine. Oh, I'll drink it! It's just funny, my parents are doing the wine train through Napa at some point this week and I'd be soooo clueless. Although, I did make a wine cake back in early May. I used the Cupcake's angel food variety and made a wine & honey cake.

I am hoping to catch up on reports tonight.

Oh, how neat for your parents. Lance and I have done the Hill Country Wine Trail (we drove to the wineries over two weekends). A wine and honey cake sounds good.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Excited that they got to meet Chewbacca! Darth Maul freaks us out too! And I've never even seen him in person! I saw Chewy's pics on the M&G info and I was like "I would sooooooo wait in that long line." I'm glad you enjoyed ToT! I still can't get past the dropping part. I love roller coasters with huge drops, but free fall rides...not so much. I don't know why, but I cracked up over the RnR description on it being Arwen's dad Poor Wyatt being sick at WDW I'm not a happy camper just walking around with congestion and a sore throat...can't imagine how yucky he must have felt with a full blown fever. At least the first aid spots in the parks are really good, at least from everything we've experienced and heard.

My tummy gets butterflies when I'm too high and look down, so I was really excited that ToT was fun. Lance got a kick out of it when I told him that I mentioned to Cameron about the Arwen connection.

Wyatt is our little actor, so I wasn't sure how serious he was. When the nurse said his temp was 102, I felt like the worst mother in the world. But Motrin is like liquid gold.

Now, let's talk cupcakes. One of my supervisors was there either that same weekend or the weekend before... can't remember and he had the Vader cuppycake- b/c I told him to. Now, he said it was overly chocolaty...which I'm thinking - THERE'S NO SUCH THING! Your verdict?

There is no such thing as overly chocolaty, but that's just me. The peanut butter frosting complemented it well, so no, I think there was a good balance. We also had the red velvet cupcake which I think was better, but just not chocolate. Now, we also (a couple days later) had the butterfinger cupcake, and THAT was a good cupcake. Comparing those two, the butterfinger cupcake was moister. Maybe it was just the ones we had, but votes were for the butterfinger as the best of the three.

 

[KLeigh]

Your boys are so photogenic!! Looks like they were having an absolute blast!

Those cupcakes look AMAZING - definitely adding them to my "must try list" for our trip this fall.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[journ116]

As usual, I am enjoying the read and pictures! I am also enjoying finding out how you spent your days...for example, on Sat., 6/8, you were obviously partaking in SWW, while we were sloshing thru EP!

 

[Sumrdog]

I love the autograph books! It is the best idea ever...And you got to meet Ventress, she is my daughter's favorite. My Wyatt would be in some kind of Star Ward induced euphoria if we ever get to go, I can't believe how many awesome characters were out. I completely agree about Darth Maul, during Jedi Training he kept stalking past me and it was really freaking me out...It's definitely those eyes. That's great that they rescheduled your Jedi Training.

So sorry your son got sick...It's never fun when someone goes down on vacation. It's nice to know they are helpful at first aid.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Your boys are so photogenic!! Looks like they were having an absolute blast!

Those cupcakes look AMAZING - definitely adding them to my "must try list" for our trip this fall.

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you! Wyatt, when he's in the mood for his close up, is ON. He's going to be a politician. Cameron is usually uncomfortable in front of the camera, but we found his element - WDW.

Yes! Have a cupcake list ready to go - highly advised.

I will try to work on our Sunday this morning.

As usual, I am enjoying the read and pictures! I am also enjoying finding out how you spent your days...for example, on Sat., 6/8, you were obviously partaking in SWW, while we were sloshing thru EP!

And I am enjoying reading about your days, Sara. It looks like Andrea Thursday, we took different paths at MK, and maybe it's the power of suggestion, but I have this strong feeling we must have crossed paths that day at some point.

I love the autograph books! It is the best idea ever...And you got to meet Ventress, she is my daughter's favorite. My Wyatt would be in some kind of Star Ward induced euphoria if we ever get to go, I can't believe how many awesome characters were out. I completely agree about Darth Maul, during Jedi Training he kept stalking past me and it was really freaking me out...It's definitely those eyes. That's great that they rescheduled your Jedi Training.

So sorry your son got sick...It's never fun when someone goes down on vacation. It's nice to know they are helpful at first aid.

The autograph books were a good idea. I almost told her that I thought she was getting a bad rap on SW: The Clone Wars, but she made me feel a little intimidated. The characters were everywhere. We missed out on the forementioned, as well as Kit Fisto, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, and Mickey, et al. it their garb, but maybe someday.

Thanks! Yes, First Aid was good for the Motrin and others came in for band aids (R).

I'll try to get more up today.