This turned out to be our "Star Wars Day" in such a wonderful sort of way. First, a word about the weather - this week, the temperature soared in ways that would make everyone across the nation extremely uncomfortable. But not us, not here, ironically in Florida. The weather started out as overcast with a threat of rain - in fact, there was a bit of drizzle to start out with. But in the end, it only served to keep things cool for us until the afternoon. By then, we were quite happy with all that had been done throughout the day, and what a full day it was!
Madison was dressed up like one of th newest Disney Princesses - Princess Leia. Mommy did her hair in buns and she had the white gown as well - it was adorable. She got a LOT of comments today about her look, and a lot of people wanted to take pictures with Madison, or pictures OF Madison. She was just that cute!
We went to Hollywood Studios today, and this time Daddy was determined to get Madison signed up for the Jedi Training Academy. We waited on line early to get in the park, and then we rushed with all these other parents over to the ABC Studio building there, and waited again - this time for about a half-hour. But in the end, we walked out with an appointment with desinty: our jedi training academy reservation. With a free scholarship too, I might add!
From there, we had our miracle reservation, the one Daddy had been trying to make since January. No exaggeration there at all. Since January, I've been trying to get to the Sci Fi Breakfast, where Madison could meet various characters from the Star Wars movies. At the last minute this week, I was able to snag that reservation!
Right away, Madison snapped a photo with Darth Vader and Boba Fett, the former giving Daddy a fist bump. This is the proper Sith greeting, of course. I'm not going to complain, versus having a force choke as a greeting. Anyway, the meal was wonderful, one that Mommy just loved. Madison enjoyed seeing the Jawas scurry up and try to steal stuff, or attempt to trade stuff. We didn't have anything to trade yet, so Madison did her best trying to shoo them off. We got an autograph from Greedo, what turned out to be our only autograph from the day, actually. We told him we were his biggest fans, and of course the question of who shot first came up - no answer, of course. Too soon, I think. Stormtroopers were patrolling the breakfast, and Madison was keeping an eye on them. She had the most fun interacting with them, actually. She kept goofing off with the Stormtroopers, mainly because she was Princess Leia, and they had to be extra careful around her!
After a really great breakfast, it was time to go to Star Tours, which had already an incredible line. Welcome to peak season. But once we got past a certain point in the line, we asked if we'd have time to make it through the line, given our time slot with the Jedi Academy. No, was the answer. But we had favor, because the employee put us through the VIP line, and straight to the Star Tours. Madison was smiling big as we soared through Tatooine and the pod races, and then over Coruscant. Last time we did Hoth and Geonosis, but she doesn't remember that so much.
So we did have enough time to make it to the Jedi Training Academy, and this was the thing Daddy has been waiting for a few years now. Madison was quite attentive, and ready to listen to her instructor teach her the ways of the force. It's a good thing she was listening too, because it wasn't much later that who should show up but Darth Maul himself. Darth Vader returned as well, although he was probably still a bit full from breakfast. As for Maul, he challenged each of the kids in Madison's group to a Duel of Fates, and Madison was easily able to parry his strikes and drive him back. Eventually, the group as a whole used an impressive force push to convince the Sith that there would be no victory today. And with that, the lessons were over. Madison got her training certificate, and was pretty stoked about battling a Sith lord!
As a bonus, we did a few other Star Wars related things. For one, while waiting for the training to begin, all the parents were asked various Star Wars trivia questions. On the line were Fast Pass tickets to the Star Wars ride. Yes, Daddy and Mommy easily won, as we were easily the most knowledgeable fans in the crowd. It was no contest, really! So we got our Fast Pass tickets, and just walked on the ride once again - this time also due to the fact that Madison looked so cute. Fast Pass gets you so far, and then Madison's costume got us in the VIP line. We walked right on! This time, Madison was hoping we'd go to Hoth, and guess what? We did. This was very exciting to her!
Afterwards, Madison constructed another lightsaber. This time, it was purple, unlike the red one she made a few years ago. Over time, she came to realize that red in the lightsaber world isn't exactly a jedi thing, so Daddy now has the red one, and Madison has a new purple one. The handle resembles the one Count Dooku used, so Daddy was thrilled to see her make one on her own. Now there will be plenty of official battles!
We also made a droid. Madison named him H2-D2. He's entirely purple, and is a nice standard R2 droid. Or rather, a H2 droid I guess. Other than the uniform purple color, the one thing that helps him stand out from the crowd - just in case you have a hard time spotting him - is a large sombrero. Hats are optional at the droid factory, and despite the Mickey ears being available, Madison went with a big sombrero.
So while we in that area, we did "research" for the upcoming series, "The Quest." That's an Indiana Jones-themed series, so we went to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. And as it has been since the irst time I saw it over twenty years ago, it was spectacular. Madison enjoyed it quite a lot, as did Mommy and Daddy. For one, we all got to sit in the shade. Daddy snapped awhole lot of photos to use later. We stopped at the souvenir shops afterwards, but there wasn't much we could use for the display case. We'll get sme stuff elsewhere for that.
From there, we went to see the Muppets in 3D. We had to wait in line for this, which just goes to show you how crowded th park was today. It was good as always, and the new thing we saw was nearby, the "Frozen Sing-a-Long." They did a great job with this show - of course, Madison was really singing along as Anna, Elsa and Kristoff retold the story of their adventures, with the help of the official Arrendel historians.
After that, we were ready to eat again. And Daddy had made reservations back in January for dinner with this special guy:
Jedi Mickey and all the other Disney characters were there too, all dressed up in Star Wars costumes. The food was good, although not as great as the breakfast, oddly enough. This was the most that we ever paid for dinner, by the way - it was amazingly expensive. But the memories are worth it, and the fact that we didn't have to wait in line for so long to meet with each of these characters. It was a nice meal - we took our time in there, and Madison even had a lighsaber duel with Donald Duck. Princess Minnie was happy to see Madison in her nice costume, and the Chipmunks are always fun to hang around with.
Andthat was about all we could manage with the heat. Sure, it was mostly indoors - but the Florida heat is pretty oppressive. We did have one more place to go though, one Madison really wanted to try. It was the Twlight Zone Tower of Terror.
Madison and Daddy waited for an hour on this one. It was her first time, but Daddy's fourth or fifth. Madison just read a kids book about a big drop ride like this, so she wanted to try it out. Verdict: she didn't like it very much at all. We'd hear that the rest of the vacation! But of course, it was her idea, and we were very proud of her for trying new things and being so brave.
After that, it was time for the nice leisurely stroll out of there, and a quick drive back to the condo. It was a very full day, and remarkably full of all the Star Wars things we wanted to do when planning our visit. The goal was to go to Star Wars Weekend, and do what we could on this day. In that respect, we did so much today, more than we even expected. It was a fantastic day, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...!
Madison was dressed up like one of th newest Disney Princesses - Princess Leia. Mommy did her hair in buns and she had the white gown as well - it was adorable. She got a LOT of comments today about her look, and a lot of people wanted to take pictures with Madison, or pictures OF Madison. She was just that cute!
We went to Hollywood Studios today, and this time Daddy was determined to get Madison signed up for the Jedi Training Academy. We waited on line early to get in the park, and then we rushed with all these other parents over to the ABC Studio building there, and waited again - this time for about a half-hour. But in the end, we walked out with an appointment with desinty: our jedi training academy reservation. With a free scholarship too, I might add!
From there, we had our miracle reservation, the one Daddy had been trying to make since January. No exaggeration there at all. Since January, I've been trying to get to the Sci Fi Breakfast, where Madison could meet various characters from the Star Wars movies. At the last minute this week, I was able to snag that reservation!
Right away, Madison snapped a photo with Darth Vader and Boba Fett, the former giving Daddy a fist bump. This is the proper Sith greeting, of course. I'm not going to complain, versus having a force choke as a greeting. Anyway, the meal was wonderful, one that Mommy just loved. Madison enjoyed seeing the Jawas scurry up and try to steal stuff, or attempt to trade stuff. We didn't have anything to trade yet, so Madison did her best trying to shoo them off. We got an autograph from Greedo, what turned out to be our only autograph from the day, actually. We told him we were his biggest fans, and of course the question of who shot first came up - no answer, of course. Too soon, I think. Stormtroopers were patrolling the breakfast, and Madison was keeping an eye on them. She had the most fun interacting with them, actually. She kept goofing off with the Stormtroopers, mainly because she was Princess Leia, and they had to be extra careful around her!
After a really great breakfast, it was time to go to Star Tours, which had already an incredible line. Welcome to peak season. But once we got past a certain point in the line, we asked if we'd have time to make it through the line, given our time slot with the Jedi Academy. No, was the answer. But we had favor, because the employee put us through the VIP line, and straight to the Star Tours. Madison was smiling big as we soared through Tatooine and the pod races, and then over Coruscant. Last time we did Hoth and Geonosis, but she doesn't remember that so much.
So we did have enough time to make it to the Jedi Training Academy, and this was the thing Daddy has been waiting for a few years now. Madison was quite attentive, and ready to listen to her instructor teach her the ways of the force. It's a good thing she was listening too, because it wasn't much later that who should show up but Darth Maul himself. Darth Vader returned as well, although he was probably still a bit full from breakfast. As for Maul, he challenged each of the kids in Madison's group to a Duel of Fates, and Madison was easily able to parry his strikes and drive him back. Eventually, the group as a whole used an impressive force push to convince the Sith that there would be no victory today. And with that, the lessons were over. Madison got her training certificate, and was pretty stoked about battling a Sith lord!
As a bonus, we did a few other Star Wars related things. For one, while waiting for the training to begin, all the parents were asked various Star Wars trivia questions. On the line were Fast Pass tickets to the Star Wars ride. Yes, Daddy and Mommy easily won, as we were easily the most knowledgeable fans in the crowd. It was no contest, really! So we got our Fast Pass tickets, and just walked on the ride once again - this time also due to the fact that Madison looked so cute. Fast Pass gets you so far, and then Madison's costume got us in the VIP line. We walked right on! This time, Madison was hoping we'd go to Hoth, and guess what? We did. This was very exciting to her!
Afterwards, Madison constructed another lightsaber. This time, it was purple, unlike the red one she made a few years ago. Over time, she came to realize that red in the lightsaber world isn't exactly a jedi thing, so Daddy now has the red one, and Madison has a new purple one. The handle resembles the one Count Dooku used, so Daddy was thrilled to see her make one on her own. Now there will be plenty of official battles!
We also made a droid. Madison named him H2-D2. He's entirely purple, and is a nice standard R2 droid. Or rather, a H2 droid I guess. Other than the uniform purple color, the one thing that helps him stand out from the crowd - just in case you have a hard time spotting him - is a large sombrero. Hats are optional at the droid factory, and despite the Mickey ears being available, Madison went with a big sombrero.
So while we in that area, we did "research" for the upcoming series, "The Quest." That's an Indiana Jones-themed series, so we went to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. And as it has been since the irst time I saw it over twenty years ago, it was spectacular. Madison enjoyed it quite a lot, as did Mommy and Daddy. For one, we all got to sit in the shade. Daddy snapped awhole lot of photos to use later. We stopped at the souvenir shops afterwards, but there wasn't much we could use for the display case. We'll get sme stuff elsewhere for that.
From there, we went to see the Muppets in 3D. We had to wait in line for this, which just goes to show you how crowded th park was today. It was good as always, and the new thing we saw was nearby, the "Frozen Sing-a-Long." They did a great job with this show - of course, Madison was really singing along as Anna, Elsa and Kristoff retold the story of their adventures, with the help of the official Arrendel historians.
After that, we were ready to eat again. And Daddy had made reservations back in January for dinner with this special guy:
Jedi Mickey and all the other Disney characters were there too, all dressed up in Star Wars costumes. The food was good, although not as great as the breakfast, oddly enough. This was the most that we ever paid for dinner, by the way - it was amazingly expensive. But the memories are worth it, and the fact that we didn't have to wait in line for so long to meet with each of these characters. It was a nice meal - we took our time in there, and Madison even had a lighsaber duel with Donald Duck. Princess Minnie was happy to see Madison in her nice costume, and the Chipmunks are always fun to hang around with.
Andthat was about all we could manage with the heat. Sure, it was mostly indoors - but the Florida heat is pretty oppressive. We did have one more place to go though, one Madison really wanted to try. It was the Twlight Zone Tower of Terror.
Madison and Daddy waited for an hour on this one. It was her first time, but Daddy's fourth or fifth. Madison just read a kids book about a big drop ride like this, so she wanted to try it out. Verdict: she didn't like it very much at all. We'd hear that the rest of the vacation! But of course, it was her idea, and we were very proud of her for trying new things and being so brave.
After that, it was time for the nice leisurely stroll out of there, and a quick drive back to the condo. It was a very full day, and remarkably full of all the Star Wars things we wanted to do when planning our visit. The goal was to go to Star Wars Weekend, and do what we could on this day. In that respect, we did so much today, more than we even expected. It was a fantastic day, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...!
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