Today was Star Wars day. Most of our activities revolved around attractions with a Star Wars theme. We had to take the bus to Hollywood Studios this morning, in contrast to the monorail we've been taking to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Now I remember why I paid extra to stay at a hotel located on the Monorail line. The monorails run fairly regularly and there are several cars and lots of seating. The bus ran late this morning, and it took extra time for people on wheelchairs to get on and off. We wanted to get to Hollywood Studios by 9am (or earlier if possible) so we could sign Eric up for the Jedi Training Academy.
We did get there a few minutes after 9am, but there were enough people in front of us that it took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the front of the line. By that time, eight of the twenty shows had been filled, and the first available show (and the one we signed up for) was at 2:10pm. That meant that we had to be there by 1:40pm so that they could make sure the kids were all there and ready for the 2:10pm show. We already had a Fast Pass for 1:10pm at Toy Story Mania, one of our most favorite attractions/rides, so that was going to be tight.
While waiting in line, I took pictures to post on Facebook, of course. There wasn't anything else to do. I even called Patrick at home, since we didn't really have a chance to talk yesterday. When he could, Eric started climbing some of the rock walls that surrounded the line--I took a picture of that. Natalie also made a comment that if she were a Sith, she would be a "fashionable Sith". "There's no reason to just wear all black when you can look good with your pink outfit and your color-coordinated lightsaber." That girl cracks me up! Of course, I had to take a picture of her fashionable color-coordinated pink outfit.
After we signed Eric up, we headed to Star Tours, because it was a simulation-based ride that takes you through the Star Wars Universe, and he didn't remember taking it before. He loved it, of course, because he loves all things Star Wars. After that ride, Natalie took off running for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror roller coaster ride. Eric wasn't interested, but we had already reserved a Fast Pass for 11:20 and it was already around 11:30. Eric and I headed to Star Wars Launch Bay, where they had character meet and greets with Chewbacca and Kylo Ren.
Eric chose Kylo Ren, and interestingly, the posted wait time to "encounter Kylo Ren" was only 10 minutes (which ended up closer to 20 minutes) whereas the posted wait time for Chewbacca was 40 minutes. While waiting, Eric entertained himself with trying to answer Star Wars trivia questions that were posted on TV screens there. There was a girl that came out after meeting Kylo Ren and saying, "He was so rude." Eric just laughed when he heard that, and okay, now we knew what to expect.
I took a video of Eric during the "encounter", which was fairly short. Kylo Ren paced around grandiosely and told the Photopass photographer exactly when it was okay to take pictures, and at the end, he told Eric, "Out of my way." Eric was smiling the whole time, trying not to laugh. Eric kept looking at him even when the photographer was taking pictures. I had to prompt him to look towards the camera. When Kylo Ren told him to get out of his way, Eric turned and headed out the door with a smile but without a word.
Natalie met us while Eric was exploring some of the Star Wars themed video games, and we went to have lunch. After lunch we only had a little time before our Toy Story Mania Fast Pass at 1:10pm, so we had some ice cream. The Toy Story Mania ride line went a little slower than we had hoped. Eric and I didn't have a great time either, because we weren't able to aim our "guns". Mine only shot directly in the middle of the screen and his only shot up almost out of the screen area, even if we tried pointing them in different directions. Eric was getting very frustrated, and we complained when we got off. They gave us free passes to use at another time because we were already late to the 1:40pm check in time for the Jedi Training Academy.
When we got to the Jedi Training Academy check-in, Eric got lined up with the other kids (only kids 4-12 are able to participate), and then they got robes to wear. We waited around quite a bit, actually, probably built in extra time so they could call kids on standby when the designated kids didn't check in and so they would have everyone ready for show time. We then had a little procession to the "Jedi Temple". They got lightsabers right after the show started. One of the kids asked earlier why they didn't get lightsabers when they got their robes. I couldn't hear exactly what the cast member told him, but I'm sure it had something to do with little kids waving giant pointy sticks around while in close proximity to each other.
It was tough to get good pictures of Eric during the show because I'm so short and there were a lot of people there also trying to see and take pictures. They had two Photopass photographers there, but I did try to take some video and some photos. Eric got to duel Darth Vader (or as Eric put it, "someone dressed in a Darth Vader costume") as did the kids in his line or group. The kids in the other line/group dueled against one of the Inquisitors from the Star Wars Rebels show. I can't seem to post those Photopass photos on this blog right now, so I'll have to settle for one of my own photos. Doesn't Eric look intense?
After the show, we were able to see some of the Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away show, which involved live actors dressed in costumes that included Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, Captain Phasma, and Chewbacca as well as some stormtroopers. After that, we saw the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular that we've seen pretty much every time we go to Hollywood Studios. It's still a great show, even if they really haven't changed anything in it.
Our last activity was going back to Toy Story Mania for Eric to get a chance to do better on the shooting game. I let Natalie take my ticket while I went to get some Starbucks and get the Photopass pictures from the Jedi Training Academy placed in my account. We went back to the hotel and mostly stayed in our room. The kids were once again not interested in doing anything else at the parks or even watching fireworks downstairs from the window in one of the public areas.
My last photo for this post is a photo from one of the Photopass photographers. Natalie actually liked this picture, which is unusual. I love it because it's of me with my "favorite daughter". We had dinner together in the Contempt Cafe at the Contemporary Resort where we're staying. We had the same grilled salmon entree that we had on Tuesday, but we both still enjoyed sharing it. Eric wasn't interested in coming downstairs to eat, so we got him a kids' pepperoni flatbread to go. Natalie and I got to spend some mother-daughter time and it was a good time. Later, she watched Eric in our room and I got to go to the gym again.
Tomorrow, we're going to the last theme park, Animal Kingdom. Hopefully we'll get to go back to Magic Kingdom also.
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