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

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Pics with Chewie and Boba Fett were cool. I think getting those are great but waiting/camping to meet the old guy who voiced Watto would be another story. I have been there during SWW about ten years ago and I enjoyed the stormtroopers at the entrance as well. I am not looking forward to the DVC building at the Fort. The Fort is fine the way it is. If they start building the Fort DVC....one us will get up, then we'll all get up...it'll be anarchy! Ok, so maybe it won't be anarchy but there will be a bunch of upset Fiends!

Can't wait to see what else you can squeeze into this jam packed day.

If some of the things I have heard and seen recently are accurate, anyone who has a special place for Fort Wilderness in his heart will be very, very upset with the new construction. The new DVC resort will be nice, but I had no idea of the scope of the place or how drastically it will change the Settlement area.

This was a jam-packed day, and there was much more squeezed in, as you will soon see.

Both of the twins drawings are very good, but are you sure that you're their dad. You're drawing is terrible. Did you loose an eye or something?

From your vantage point it doesn't look like much is going on at the GF, but there is if you get closer.

I can see over the walls from the bus and things are moving along quite well.

Ah, now that's the Lou I know and love.

Go ahead and mock me now.

You'll be sorry once I perfect my Wookie painting skills and become rich from selling Wookie Family Portraits.

See if I buzz you in to my McMansion at Golden Oak.

I know they have been working non-stop on the GF project, I am just surprised that nothing has gone vertical yet. The Four Seasons hotel, which had its groundbreaking after the GF DVC, is already steadily rising.

TCD you can't take him seriously as a critic, he voted for my wife's drawing which was clearly inferior to mine. However your dog reminds me of Astro from the Jetson's more than Bolt. Maybe they are related?

So is Merida's hair real or a wig?

You know, it does look a bit like Astro. Maybe I can make him more like a space dog and include him in my Wookie Family Portraits. I could maybe have a $250 upcharge for the dog instead of the cat.

Merida's hair was definitely a wig. Twin #1 has an impressive mane, but it was nothing compared to Merida's.

I think all of those princesses wear wigs. The twins' have a friend whose older sister is BFF's with a "friend of Rapunzel." The girl looks nothing like Rapunzel in real life. But, after some Disney magic, that girl becomes a spot on Rapunzel.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

To re-cap our Saturday- We started at 8 am at Hollywood Studios, headed to Coronado Springs for lunch, then to the MK where we met Merida, then to Wilderness Lodge for ice cream, and now we were heading back to Hollywood Studios.

Is everybody with me?

If that sounds like a lot, it is. But, it is typical for us to begin a day in one park and head out by lunch time. As I mentioned earlier, there was quite a crowd coming in to Hollywood Studios when we left right before noon.

We arrived back at Hollywood Studios at around 5. We didn't have a firm plan-as we didn't know how busy things would be. We had Toy Story Fastpasses which were good from 6:15-7:15, and we planned to find a place for Hyperspace Hoopla at around 7. We also needed to eat dinner.

There was no crowd waiting to get in to Hollywood Studios when we arrived. That was good.

We checked the tip board, and saw that there were still Fastpasses available for RNR and TOT. We headed over to RNR and got some Fastpasses. They were good for 8:50-9:50. We would use those after Hyperspace Hoopla.

We had some time to kill before we could use the Toy Story Fastpasses.

The girls said they wanted to meet an Ewok.

Sounded like fun to me.

We got the Ewok info earlier that day. You meet an Ewok where you meet Chewbacca. The Ewoks come out at around 1 pm. If I am remembering what we were told correctly, for the first hour, there are two Ewoks. And no Chewbacca. And then from 2 pm on, you get Chewbacca and an Ewok.

So, we headed off to meet an Ewok.

It was understood that if things were too crazy we wouldn't wait.

But when we got there, the line was no longer than it had been that morning, so we got on line.

I don't know why the line was that short for us, because right after that, a lot of people got on line behind us.

You can see them here:

Hang on a minute.

Do you see somebody familiar there in line?

Remember, back at the beginning of the report, I told you to remember the guy in the Ewok hat.

You know, this guy:

We saw him there under the umbrella on Friday night.

It was now Saturday, and it looks like the same guy is here with the same hat and same painted face.

That's the same guy, isn't it? :

While we were waiting on line, some people came by with a big video camera and filmed the people waiting on line. I think the were Disney castmembers, but they might not have been. Here is the Ewok-guy waving at the camera:

Twin #1 took that photo.

After she took it, she zoomed in on that face and showed it to us as we were waiting on line:

OMG, we about busted a gut laughing.

Good times.

In case there is any doubt that this is the same guy, here's a zoom on the photo from the day before:

What a player.

Does this guy have game, or what?

That was worth the price of admission.

As we waited on line, the girls saw some of the guys from the Figrin D'an and the Modal Notes band milling around the crowd.

Since they are big fans, they headed out to try to get photos.

Winning:

In case you aren't able to tell, we had fun waiting on line.

And that made the time pass quickly.

I think maybe we waited 20 minutes.

And, then it was our turn to meet an Ewok:

Once again, the Chewbacca and the Ewok insisted that I join them for a photo:

Fun times!

The girls loved meeting an Ewok.

And twin #2 was relieved to learn that she was taller than the Ewok.

We pointed out that she wasn't by much.

To which she replied "Size Matters Not."

True.

As we were standing in line, the folks in front of us told us that they had been to some of the presentations that day in the Premier theater, and that they were planning to head over to the 6 pm presentation by the guy who played Darth Maul in the movie. I asked them if they thought they would get in. They said that the theater was big, and that there were empty seats in the earlier shows, so they thought they would. We really didn't plan to see this show, but we decided we would walk by there to check things out.

That is where we will be heading next.

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I really thought from watching the movies that ewoks were shorter. Live and learn.

(Smilie added to appease my 5yo) :bus-047:

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

I really thought from watching the movies that ewoks were shorter. Live and learn.

(Smilie added to appease my 5yo) :bus-047:

Yeah, they probably were in the movie, cause they could hire true little people. I'm sure Disney can't get enough little people to be friends of the Little People cause they can get a whole lot more money in Hollywood. (Yes, I'm in a caustic mood this morning).

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Looks like they are having a lot of fun meeting the characters.....Ray Park is the guy who played Darth Maul and he also played Toad in X-Men and Snake Eyes in GI Joe. He started as a stunt man/martial artist and therefore does all his own stunts instead of the hollywood pansies that get others to do there dirty work for them.....that makes him cool in my book....not that my book matters much!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

how tall is twin #2?

My mom is twin #2 as well. She was always proud of the 1/2 in her 5 ft 1 inch and a 1/2. She has since lost at least the 1/2 inch but more likely the 1 inch.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I really thought from watching the movies that ewoks were shorter. Live and learn.

(Smilie added to appease my 5yo) :bus-047:

Tell your 5 yo thanks for the smiley!

Yeah, they probably were in the movie, cause they could hire true little people. I'm sure Disney can't get enough little people to be friends of the Little People cause they can get a whole lot more money in Hollywood. (Yes, I'm in a caustic mood this morning).

Probably true.

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but there was a much shorter ewok who was out before we met this ewok. When the characters take breaks the ones who come back out are not the ones who left for break- sneaky.

Looks like they are having a lot of fun meeting the characters.....Ray Park is the guy who played Darth Maul and he also played Toad in X-Men and Snake Eyes in GI Joe. He started as a stunt man/martial artist and therefore does all his own stunts instead of the hollywood pansies that get others to do there dirty work for them.....that makes him cool in my book....not that my book matters much!

Yes, Ray was the one who people were going to meet.

We will be heading that way in the next post.

how tall is twin #2?

My mom is twin #2 as well. She was always proud of the 1/2 in her 5 ft 1 inch and a 1/2. She has since lost at least the 1/2 inch but more likely the 1 inch.

I don't know exactly- I would say twin #2 is 5' even, and twin #1 is 5'2" or so.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

After our ewok meet and greet, we were on our way over to use our Toy Story Fastpasses.

Just as we were heading that way, somebody walked by:

That's Queen Amidala, right?

In fact it was. She was on her way to her meet and greet.

So, the best we could do for a photo was this:

This was something that confused me in episode 1- why was this dingbat the queen of a whole planet. And why did she act so weird? Or was that her double acting weird? And she was way too old for Anakin. Creepy.

We headed down the New York Street toward Toy Story.

There was a big line here for something:

Somebody in front of us asked a person on line what the line was for.

The person on line said this was the line to get in the theater for the Ray Parks/Darth Maul event. That was down the street and around the corner. That was a very long line!

I can't remember what these guys are called- they aren't stormtroopers, right? :

This was what the line looked like around the corner:

The theater where these people were all heading is down there underneath the Golden Gate bridge.

This is the theater where they used to perform the Pocahontas show, and then the Hunchback show. It was not enclosed then. It is now. I haven't been in it since they enclosed it, but I didn't think it was that big. Certainly not big enough to hold all of the people that I saw on this line. But, maybe I'm wrong about that. We didn't stick around to find out.

We headed on toward Toy Story.

On the way, we ran into some Jawas:

I'm not sure who the parents of this baby were, but I assume it was the lady standing by and letting these things get up in the baby's face and even poke at the baby:

Personally, if that was my baby I wouldn't have allowed that.

Then again, I wouldn't have brought a baby to a theme park to begin with.

Why do people do that?

Do you think that baby was having fun?

We got out of there when the Jawa came after Twin #1:

We used our Toy Story Fastpasses.

We still had some time before we needed to get our place for Hyperspace Hoopla.

One of the twins said let's go to the Animation Academy.

It's air conditioned. And you get to sit.

Sounded good.

So, here we are again.

Twice in the same day.

This time we had a young lady animator.

She let the audience call out names of characters.

Some people called out for Star Wars characters.

She said no.

Can't do those.

I thought it would be funny to call out Sponge Bob.

The twins gave me a dirty look.

And so did some other people.

Eventually it was put to a vote.

Dopey won.

Yes, Dopey.

I didn't vote for him.

It's not the first time that's happened to me.

So here's Twin #1's drawing of Dopey:

And Twin #2's:

And mine:

Here are all three together, mine is on top, then twin #1's then twin #2's:

Mine might not be great, but it's better than my Bolt drawing.

I don't know what went on with Twin #2- she really made her guidelines dark, which they tell you over and over not to do.

Now, it was time for us to get something for dinner and find a place for Hyperspace Hoopla.

Yes, we watched it two nights in a row.

If I could, I would have watched all three nights, and come back for the next weekend too.

Take that you HHH's.

We will pick it back up for HH in the next post.

TCD

[Lou... 3,118]

I bet his parents are really proud.

I don't have a problem with people dressing up in costumes, but out of all the SW characters, why would you ever pick that one? I have to wonder what's going on inside that pea size brain of his?

I noticed that his makeup was much better on the 2nd day.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I can't remember what these guys are called- they aren't stormtroopers, right? :

My sons agree that this is a clone trooper.

[dvccamper 32]

I don't know, what's with the inside of your Dopey's mouth? I think I like Bolt with the crazy eye.

Like the ewok. The ewok kid is a little creepy though.

I just read that if you go over to Star Tours around sunset and listen closely you can hear Ewok chatter and see the lights from their little campfires up in the trees. Is that true?

[We4mickey 6]

I was thinking your Bolt looked a bit like scooby doo. Just an FYI for anyone interested in the Brave merchandise, just about everything you show in your pics is available at the Disney stores too.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I bet his parents are really proud.

I don't have a problem with people dressing up in costumes, but out of all the SW characters, why would you ever pick that one? I have to wonder what's going on inside that pea size brain of his?

I noticed that his makeup was much better on the 2nd day.

I agree- that's why I found this guy to be so funny.

Of all the things he could choose to dress as, he decides he should be an ewok. And he has some kind of little ewok strapped to himself there too.

I had two regrets on this trip.

The first was that we didn't wait around and watch what happened when this guy got to meet an ewok.

My sons agree that this is a clone trooper.

Yes, of course.

That's what they are.

There were a million of them there in one of those movies.

It was a secret army that the emperor had built without telling the Jedi counsel.

How could I have forgotten?

My nerd cred is going way down here.

I don't know, what's with the inside of your Dopey's mouth? I think I like Bolt with the crazy eye.

I don't even know why I should take the time to answer your question, because you clearly know nothing about fine art.

What you see inside Dopey's mouth is what we artists call shading. I was in a bit of a rush to get finished, and I didn't quite get it right. OK, I was actually tired of drawing Dopey, who for the record, I didn't want to draw in the first place.

Like the ewok. The ewok kid is a little creepy though.

A little?

I just read that if you go over to Star Tours around sunset and listen closely you can hear Ewok chatter and see the lights from their little campfires up in the trees. Is that true?

Could be. Depends on how many beers you've had before heading over there.

Actually, I don't know. I've never noticed the little campfires up in the trees. But there are trees there. So, there may be campfires. And it would be easy enough to pipe in some ewok chatter. So my unequivocal answer is maybe.

I was thinking your Bolt looked a bit like scooby doo. Just an FYI for anyone interested in the Brave merchandise, just about everything you show in your pics is available at the Disney stores too.

I see some Scooby Doo there. But mostly I see a demented llama.

I have no doubt that they have all of that Brave merchandise, and then some, at the Disney Stores.

Disney knows how to make a buck.

TCD

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

On the way, we ran into some Jawas:

I know i am going to regret showing my scifi geekdom but...thats not a jawa. That is a Tusken Raider. Jawas are the little guys in brown robes with glowing yellow eyes. Now back to your regularly scheduled TCD trip report.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I know i am going to regret showing my scifi geekdom but...thats not a jawa. That is a Tusken Raider. Jawas are the little guys in brown robes with glowing yellow eyes. Now back to your regularly scheduled TCD trip report.

Crap!

My geek cred is really slipping here!

Now that you mention it, you're right. The Jawas were the guys who sold C3P0 and R2D2 to Luke in Episode IV.

I know I have seen these Tusken Raiders somewhere- where do they show up in the movies?

I'll bet they were ticked at me for calling them Jawas.

TCD

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

I know I have seen these Tusken Raiders somewhere- where do they show up in the movies?

TCD

They are in 2 of the movies I believe. In episode IV they are the creatures that attack Luke and Threepio when they are tracking Artoo just before they meet Obi-Wan.

And in episode II they are the ones who captured Anakins mother.

Wow I am a geek.

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

I am thinking the Twins got their artistic talent from their mother (as will my kids if they have artistic talent, ok not from the Twins mother but their mother (do you ever feel like you should just stop typing? yep I think this is one of those)).

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

They are in 2 of the movies I believe. In episode IV they are the creatures that attack Luke and Threepio when they are tracking Artoo just before they meet Obi-Wan.

And in episode II they are the ones who captured Anakins mother.

Wow I am a geek.

OK- thanks- I remember them now. But weren't the people who attacked Luke and C3P0 sand people? Are they the same thing?

And, yes, you are a geek.

But, what's wrong with that?

I am going to need your expertise when I get to my next post. I have some photos from our second night at Hypespace Hoopla of some characters I don't know. I thought after seeing all the movies, I would know who everyone was in HH, but there are still a few I don't know.

I am thinking the Twins got their artistic talent from their mother (as will my kids if they have artistic talent, ok not from the Twins mother but their mother (do you ever feel like you should just stop typing? yep I think this is one of those)).

You are absolutely right on all counts.

TCD

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

OK- thanks- I remember them now. But weren't the people who attacked Luke and C3P0 sand people? Are they the same thing?

TCD

Yes they are the same thing. I will help as much as I am able but I know they include characters from the Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon on the Cartoon Network and I have yet to watch that.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

My self-proclaimed nerdy sons will be happy to identify any Star Wars charcters for you or anyone else who even looks curious.

Here they are dressed for Star Wars day a few years ago.

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

They are the same thing. They are also in Episode 1 too, they take shots at the pod race drivers.

Oh, and the clone troopers are cloned from Jango Fett.

Best Regards,

Norm

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

They are the same thing. They are also in Episode 1 too, they take shots at the pod race drivers.

Best Regards,

Norm

I knew i was forgetting an appearance. Thanks Norm.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yes they are the same thing. I will help as much as I am able but I know they include characters from the Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon on the Cartoon Network and I have yet to watch that.

Oh, you might not be able to help, then.

I know for sure one of them is from the Clone Wars cartoon. The young lady who provides her voice is all over the place for SWW. I think the real fans don't like her. I think it's funny.

My self-proclaimed nerdy sons will be happy to identify any Star Wars charcters for you or anyone else who even looks curious.

Here they are dressed for Star Wars day a few years ago.

That's an awesome photo, Marty.

So who is the blue faced person supposed to be?

They are the same thing. They are also in Episode 1 too, they take shots at the pod race drivers.

Best Regards,

Norm

I knew i was forgetting an appearance. Thanks Norm.

Oh boy.

The geeks are going at it now.

I knew that this was going to happen.

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

So who is the blue faced person supposed to be?

Aayla Secura http://starwars.wiki...ki/Aayla_Secura

Howeverr, her mean old mom (me) wouldn't let her wear a shirt that shows her belly or paint her whole body blue. Mean old mom.

[Just Beachy 18]

Wow!! I'm learning so much about SW!! This may be the only way to get my Disney-hating Star-Wars-loving husband to go with me...take him to SWW. I wouldn't mind getting a pic with Chewie or an ewok. I like them the best. Now, if Harrison Ford still looked like he did when SW first came out, I wouldn't mind going to sneak a peek at HIM! :rofl3:

And, dont' worry...your drawings look just fine to this non-artistic person! Yes, I have even trouble with stick figure people.