A Disney fan blog about the good things in life.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Star Wars Weekend 2014 - A Newbie Retrospective


Last year we had the good fortune of being at Disney during the Limited Time Magic, May the 4th Be With You. It was amazing. The characters, the dance party, the fireworks. It psyched us up so much we naturally thought, "we need to be there for the real deal". So we planned on a weekend in 2014 to visit during Star Wars weekend.

Let me begin by saying that it was fun. We all enjoyed ourselves-- I mean how can you not? But it was different from the Limited Time Magic and I can't figure out if the unexpected spontaneity of the May The 4th weekend has some extra pixie dust, or Disney needs to adjust a few things. Here are my thoughts on what worked (and what didn't) as a Star Wars weekend newbie. 

WORKED - The excitement. It's hard to describe the nerdy tingles that run through your body when you hear the Cantina theme song playing as you walk into the park. While Hollywood Studios could still be enjoyed by those not into Star Wars during Star Wars Weekend, it would take some serious Force to ignore the movie theme at every turn.

just try to ignore the Storm Troopers on pedestals 
Storm Troopers take over the main stage

Oh Han. 

DID NOT WORK - Crowds.  I know, I know. Disney gets crowded. But Hollywood Studios is already on the small side. Couple that with a parade route the length of my kitchen and eager 40 year old nerds (I am married to one, so I can say this without pause) trying to catch a glimpse of one of the celebs in the motorcade-- well, your kids aren't going to see much. We tried to watch the parade and maybe caught a glimpse of the top of Mickey Mouse's ears-- maybe. We still aren't sure. I'm just not into throwing elbows to wave to the guy who played Jar Jar. I have no photo proof of the crowds as I think I went and bought a cocktail. Or some popcorn. Or maybe both. 

WORKED - Happy accidents. Here's a tip for next year. Skip the parade and head to the back of the Mouse hat. When the parade ends the characters have to go somewhere and if you position it right, you will have an AMAZING vantage point for all your favs. We just pulled over to tie some shoes, and then the pictures below happened.

Not planned at all
An unplanned side-eye
Glamour Droid Shot!
Slow down Boba Fett!
There were more photos, but as you can see from the above, it was just us watching the characters walk by. No crowds, and an impromptu parade of sorts. Even the droids spun around and beeped for us for a bit. Way more fun than standing in a line of people 10 deep waiting for a parade you never get to see.

WORKED, and at the same time DID NOT WORK - VIP access. So there is this new trend at Disney where if you would like to pay a boat load of money you can get pretty much whatever you want. I say this is new because in all my years of traveling to Disney I have not seen the have and have nots divided so blatantly. 

Let me explain.

I knew from blog posts and the like that getting character autographs Star Wars weekend was a lesson in patience and sometimes futility. So when I saw that Disney was offering a dining option with the characters I was all in. There were two choices. One was with the Disney characters dressed up like Star Wars characters. The other was the Star Wars characters themselves. We opted for straight up Star Wars characters. It was breakfast and we got to see Darth Vadar, Boba Fett, Storm Troopers, Greedo, and Jawas. I'm not even going to go into how much my French Toast cost me. It was slightly ridiculous at $49 per adult and $29 per child, but hey-- nobody was forcing me to do this. I was considering this an investment in time saving. It was fast, but good. We had some themed breakfast items:

C3PO breakfast pastry anyone?

Enjoy Yoda yogurt parfait you will
 And we got to meet all the mentioned characters:

We traded Jawas some JetBlue pins for gold coins. 
set your blasters to "look at the wrong camera"
Greedo swagger

my husband is the side-eye master

Breakfast was at the Sci-Fi Drive In, so we sat in a car and watched clips of the various Star Wars movies as we ate our overpriced meals. Overall, a really good time. One could argue that we were paying to get to the front of the character line. True. But at least we got some pastries in the process. What I didn't expect, were all the people who paid to get to the front on every line. All day. And also into the evening.

Disney also offered front of the line options for the parade, the fireworks, and around Star Wars weekend in general. It felt like one velvet rope add on after another. When my 6-year old asked me to hold him up so he could get a glimpse of James Arnold Taylor at the end of the day finale,  at first I was like "who?" and then I held him up as high as I could and glared at the ropes that separated the audience into various categories.

VIP offerings are a slippery slope. One thing that was always nice about Disney is that we all have pretty much the same access and definitely the same treatment. Sure, the celebs skip the lines-- but you kind of expect that and it happened quietly. What I don't love is this new trend of creating visible class systems that make me feel like my price of admission is somehow worth less. Shouldn't we all have a shot at the best parade route spot or fireworks view? The fact I'm pretty good about carving out good spots and that my family just didn't have a chance made me feel a little bleh. And who wants to be at Disney and feel bleh? My advice, if there is something you know to be a priority for your upcoming trip, check and see if Disney offers an upgrade experience.  Even if you decide not to go that route, at the very least you will know/understand the situation when you see the ropes that divide.

WORKED - Shopping. I heard horror stories about lines for days at Darths Mall. Apparently that was just the first weekend. The weekend we went was pretty quiet and totally manageable. It was like the Christmas Tree Shop for Star Wars stuff. Those of your from the New England area will totally get that reference. Everything you think you want but have no idea where to put it when you get home.

It's a trap! Don't buy it. 
Refer to photo caption above
Here's a fun fact. I asked the cashier at Darth's Mall what the hot items were. He paused, thought about it and said, "well, whatever they were, they were long gone the first weekend." And there you have it.

Would we do it again? Probably. Yes we made some newbie mistakes, but all-in-all we had a great time and I really can't complain. I mean, I can. I can always find something to complain about, but Star Wars Weekend is a tough, hard core nerd-out weekend and so long as you go prepared, the entire experience is out of this world (pun intended). 

Do you have some tips for navigating this inter-galactic weekend? We would love to hear them. Feel free to comment and let us know what we should have done differently. 

May the force be with you. Always.

~Davina


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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

My Name Is Karen And I'm Addicted To Mouse Ears

 For months I have been stalking custom Disney mouse ear sellers on Instagram for one of their auctions or flash sales to open up so I could buy a pair of custom Ariel ears I had my eye on. I'd leave my email for an invoice, only to find out I was 20th to do so . I'd bid in an auction only to be outbid in 3 seconds and watch the bidding go to over $100 . I love you Ariel ears... but not that much.

Then one day while searching, between bidding and swearing I discovered cutebowdaddyo on etsy
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CuteBowDaddyO?ref=l2-shopheader-name

And Instagram... http://instagram.com/cutebowdaddyo

On a whim I emailed her to see if she could make two pairs of ears for my daughter. I say they're for my daughter but let's be honest... you know who will be wearing them as well.  And just like that she emailed back and said "sure"!  Seriously ???? That's all it took to get the ears I've been hunting for for months? Well I feverishly ordered a pair of Tinkerbell and Ariel ones and the results are below

Ah mazing...and a dinglehopper



My daughter lost it over these..the pom poms like the ones on Tinks shoes are just too much


Once these arrived in super speedy time, we ooohed and ahhed over them for hours. My daughter put a pair on and declared them the most comfortable pair of ears ever. They don't tighten too much by your ears and feel super lightweight. The quality is amazing as well, which is why when we saw these Summer time Olaf ears on Instagram, we knew we needed to have them as well. My girls love affair with Olaf is strong...



I mean just look  at him and his beach chair...

The sellers name is Leah and from start to finish she has been a gem. She also sells bows so I kept adding to my order and she very patiently kept my invoice going so everything shipped for a low price. She even sent a bonus bow for my daughter which she wears almost every day... so no picture to show you. We at Best Friends like to share the love when we find something great and handmade so how does a giveaway sound? Its easy! Just use rafflecopter below to let us know you follow us, tweet about our giveaway and you're entered! The prize will be this gorgeous Elsa bow from cutebowdaddyo that I had to hide from my daughter... or else it may have gone right to her hair.

Attached to an alligator clip with a shimmery blue lace its really just the cutest thing ever.
Don't let this bow go...enter now!
Enter Here!



Good luck and happy entering!

~ Karen
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