I am admittedly not a Star Wars fan. I’ve seen all the movies but they never moved me in the way they have many of the fans and rather than insult the fandom I just sort of stayed away from all things Star Wars. I had my first Star Wars Disney experience a couple of years ago when May the 4th was a limited time magic event and lets just say the experience was less than magical for me. It left a nasty taste in my mouth with anything Star Wars related in the theme parks and from then on I swore off Star Wars…until this past weekend. I decided to try out Star Wars Weekends. I’d never been and I kept seeing my friends posting pictures on facebook of their experiences and it looked like fun so I decided I’d give it a whirl. I only had one day off that week so I was only going to be able to go that one day but I figured one day would be enough to accomplish a lot. And boy did I accomplish a lot.
When I arrived I grabbed my map and I headed towards the back of Hollywood Studios. I knew most of the characters were meeting there and character meets are my favorite so I decided to see how many I could get. Can I mention that it felt like Tattooine and it was stupidly hot that day?! I hopped in line for Eowk Chip and Dale and I had a fun time with them, but in the 20 minutes I waited for them I think I sweated over two gallons so I headed over to One Man’s Dream to cool down. One Man’s Dream is admittedly my favorite thing in Hollywood Studios. I love all the models and the film is so moving. I’ve recently really gotten into learning about Disney history so it was the perfect place to spend about 30 minutes in the air conditioning.
After that I ventured out again and decided to wander around Pixar Place. I saw Mase Windu- his line was very long so I decided to skip it. I saw Darth Vader- his long was insanely long so I skipped it. I saw Boba Fett—his line was crazy long so I decided to skip it. All the lines were insane and admittedly I was getting discouraged. This wasn’t fun. As I headed towards the streets of New York I saw Cinderella’s Carriage was still there. I’d seen the film 4 times so of course I stood in line to get my photo with that. And then I skipped over to see Mr. Gold’s Pawn Shop window. I know this is about my Star Wars Weekend Experience but I spent a good 15 minutes looking in that window. As a fan of Once Upon A Time that display made my heart happy. I headed back up to Hollywood Blvd where I met up with a friend and we headed into the Great Movie Ride.
It was my first time riding it since the update and while there were some things I really enjoyed (the new end film) I missed the old ride a fair bit. I’m not overly fond of the new audio spiel but the Mary Poppins bit in the very beginning was still there and that is my favorite part of the whole attraction so I was happy. At this point we headed into Darth Maul and I met…a Jawa. I didn’t actually know what a Jawa was (it’s a trader) but the Jawa I met was amazing. She traded really fun items with my friend and it took a selfie with me. On a side note for my friends that SnapChat Jawa’s have the power to sign your snapchats which is pretty awesome!
I got to see the creator of Her Universe, though I didn’t get to meet her, seeing Ashley Eckstein was pretty amazing! I love her clothing line and I had no idea she came to Star Wars weekends every year. Fashion and Star Wars- this is something I can get into. My spirits were up. I headed off to my Hollywood and Vine dining for the what I thought was going to be the highlight of my day. On Star Wars day 2 years ago I REALLY wanted to meet Jedi Mickey but I didn’t get to. Fast forward two years and he was the first character I met in my dining experience. He was the perfect gentleman I might add and I had a blast. It was my first time eating at Hollywood and Vine and I really enjoyed the experience. It is buffet style dining and for the Star Wars events the food is themed with fun star wars names. My favorite was the dessert bar. I had a Yoda, Darth Vader, and Jabba the hut cupcake. All three were delicious. I had real food too, but why go with real food when you can stuff your face with as many desserts as you can handle?! In the dining experience you get to meet all the Disney Star Wars Characters- Leia Minne, Darth Goofy, Storm Trooper Donald, Ewok Chip and Dale and Jedi Mickey. To me the experience is well worth it because you are guaranteed all those characters and its in the AC. I loved the experience and I will definitely do that again next year!
After my dinner I met up with my friends again. They had gone to the Frank Oz lecture and told me they cried their eyes out at how amazing it was. I didn’t realize you could go to shows like that at star wars weekends but now I know and I’ll be trying for those next year. We wandered for a little bit before heading over for fireworks. I experienced some true Disney Magic and I got to watch from the VIP section. The view was amazing! While we were waiting for the show to start we noticed a few more people walking in. We looked over and Ray Park was there! Ray Park aka…DARTH MAUL! He was lovely. He took photos with me and my friends and wished us a great night! It got even better. We stood feet away from Frank Oz aka YODA AND ALL THE MUPPETS! I didn’t get to meet him but I was five feet away and that was more than enough for me! Then to top it all off I got to meet John Arnold Taylor the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi in the Clone Wars! What a way to end my Star Wars Weekends Experience!
So needless to say though it started off a little rocky my star wars weekends was PERFECT! I can not wait to go again next year and do all the things I didn’t get to do this year! So thank you Disney…you made a Star Wars fan out of this girl
