Day 1145: I Love That Wookiee

When my friend Allie asked if I wanted to go to Build-A-Bear, of course the answer was yes!

Disney, and especially Star Wars, is literally everywhere these days, which is a far cry from what it used to be. Now, even adults can find constant merchandise right in their backyard, which is great for those of us who live far enough away from the Disney Parks that we tend to go a bit overboard if we do manage to find a Disney store...or anything Disney related for that matter. Build-A-Bear has had connections with Disney for a long time, but now that Star Wars has come into the mix, we figured that a trip to the store would be the perfect way to get rid of some stress after a long week of college.

Being the Star Wars fans we are, we just had to make a Chewbacca and a Han Solo, and because they're the coolest duo in the galaxy, they obviously needed sunglasses too. They're all set to go with their Star Wars sounds and blasters and outfits...unless they happen across Kylo Ren. That could be a problem.

Long story short, we spent a lot of money going to Build-A-Bear at age 20 and we loved every second of it...because we all need a bit more Star Wars and a lot more Disney in our lives. 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1107: A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Star Wars has gotten me through the last month and a half in more ways than one. It gave me something to look forward to during finals week, and it was a constant as everything else in my life changed without warning. I connected to the characters in The Force Awakens as they struggled with some of the same emotions I was dealing with, and I grew more and more excited about the thought of once again getting a hug from my favorite Wookiee while in Florida. 

Last June I was fortunate enough to experience what would ultimately be one of the last Star Wars Weekends as Disney Parks and Resorts prepare us for the addition of a whole new land at both Disneyland and Hollywood Studios in Florida focused on the franchise. However, in the seven months since I was last at Hollywood Studios things have changed more than a little bit, and where I once met Baymax I now met Chewie and Darth Vader. Chewie I met back in June, but Vader was a new experience for all of us...and while you can't say I didn't put up a fight, it was still pretty frightening. 

The Star Wars Launch Bay, which took up the space left by the old Walt Disney Animation Pavilion, is certainly well themed for the short turn around from the old setup. Inside you have the chance to met either Chewbacca or Darth Vader (although it sounds like Darth will be moving out for his Grandson, Kylo Ren), visit the Cantina Bar, check out film props (including Rey's Speeder that's seen below), try your hand at Star Wars video games such as Disney Infinity, and shop around for select Star Wars merchandise. 

Also included in Star Wars Launch Bay is a short film that celebrates the entire Star Wars Saga. I loved this behind-the-scenes production that looks into not only the original trilogy, but the other four films that now make up the franchise while also looking to the future films waiting for us in the upcoming years. There's another film, called Path of the Jedi, that shows in the theater next to Echo Lake, although I found this one a bit confusing even for the most avid Star Wars fan. It attempts to explain the Star Wars Saga in about 10 minutes and, if you have no prior knowledge of what Star Wars is all about, I'm sure you'd get a bit lost due to the fast pace and constant information overload that is all of Star Wars. Regardless, I still thought both films were a nice tribute to the characters and stories we've come to know and love. 

The new additions to Hollywood Studios don't stop there though! Star Tours: The Adventures Continue has been updated once again to feature a new adventure on the planet of Jakku with some of your favorite characters from The Force Awakens. I knew going into it that we were headed to Jakku (why does everyone want to keep going back to Jakku?), but I was surprised and thrilled to find Finn and BB-8 a part of the new adventure. It's not my absolute favorite experience on Star Tours, but it's definitely a great addition to the attraction! 

And finally, going into the entire experience I knew there was one piece of merchandise that just had to come home with me: the BB-8 Beverage Cup. I was never really a fan of the specialty cups until I found the Dinoco Oil Cans at Carsland, and now I can have my favorite droid as a part of my collection too! Frank got one for herself and we brought home one for Shovell as well, so we certainly continue to match in that portion of our Disney collections. 

We also had another chance to see the beautiful Symphony in the Stars with the additional benefit of the Dessert Party, which we also attended in June. It's pricey, but you get a great view of the fireworks and can certainly eat and drink your weight of the specialty desserts, beverages, and other snacks. We were also given the Chewbacca Steins as a special gift, so we left with plenty of new additions to bring home. 

Overall I do believe Hollywood Studios would be hardly more than an empty shell of a park without the Star Wars features currently holding guests over until construction is completed on the two new themed lands that will call the park home. That being said, I'm sure to return to Star Wars launch bay for many more visits with Sith Lords and Wookiees, but also eagerly look forward to the expansions taking place elsewhere...although you probably shouldn't get me started on the latest batch of closures that were announced. 

What Star Wars character would you want to meet most if given the opportunity? Let me know in the comments below! My answer? Obviously Han Solo! 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on January 22 due to travel).

Day 1088: The Star Wars Holiday Special

With all the talk about Star Wars these days, plus the holiday season that's definitely upon us, I couldn't help but be reminded of a certain video that came out a while back...

That's right, it's time for the Star Wars Holiday special, staring all of our favorite Star Wars characters! With the likes of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, James Earl Jones, and R2-D2 as R2-D2! Oh, and you can't forget Chewie's family and a boatload of guest stars! 

I remember when I watched this for the first time a couple of years ago with no idea of what I was about to get myself into, and if I'm being honest, I may have just watched it for the Han Solo content. After all, the fact that they somehow got Harrison Ford to do this seriously amazes me. I mean, really? Life Day? And don't even get me started on the weird cartoon and singing segments. 

If you're feeling ambitious, you can watch the entire special on YouTube, because I know you want to: 

Wow I just can't get over this. I'm just going to watch it while I work on blog stuff because it's way more interesting than anything else going on right about now! 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on December 31).

Day 1066: For the First Time in...Two Years?

It's sort of a shame when you're really into something one year, and by the same time the next year it's fallen out of favor. I suppose that's simply the way of life, of course, because as time goes on your interests change, especially due to the influence of those around you. When I left high school, Star Wars was pretty much my entire life, and by the time I made it to college, I was surrounded by people more interested in Once Upon A Time than Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. So I went along with it, and the more I got into OUAT, the more Star Wars fell out of favor, and suddenly I woke up and realized I hadn't even watched the films in a couple of years.

I used to watch The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi almost daily. Since I had both the VHS and DVD copies (and later BluRay as well), it was easy to watch them over and over again. In fact, I got so used to them playing in the background, I just let them go while I was doing homework. They were my background noise that, over time, made it easier to do homework (especially Empire, because I'd work during the Luke parts and watch during the Han parts). I had almost every line memorized, and even my cat came to like the films and would join me whenever they were on.

So with the new film coming out this Christmas, I knew that I had to do something. While I still know the films incredibly well, I needed a refresher. Like so many of my fellow Star Wars fans, I set out to watch the entire trilogy before heading to the theater to see the new film, and somehow, I managed to accomplish this task. I watched all six films before going to see The Force Awakens.

I did, however, watch them in an incredibly strange order. Because I prefer the original trilogy (and I've seen the entire saga so many times before), I decided to start with Episode I to see the more chronological version of the series, and I managed to watch I and II in the same night. I was working on a music analysis project and a paper at the same time, which meant I was probably more focused on Carnival of the Animals than I was Star Wars, but I still watched them!

Then, when I returned home for a weekend, my brother and his friends decided to watch Episode IV, which led to a really late, midnight watch of V that same night (I unfortunately fell asleep part way through and JUST MISSED the carbonate scene. I woke up at "is he alive Calrissian?" and I was oh so angry), but I still counted it. I've seen that one more than any of the others anyways. Then a couple of days later I ended up going back to watch Episode III because my brother didn't want to watch on that night because he had work to get done (he ended up watching the end anyways). And finally, the night before heading to see The Force Awakens we finished up with Episode VI. So by the end I watched it in the order of I, II, IV, V, III, VI. Strange, I know.

But now, somehow, Star Wars has infiltrated my life once again, and I find myself more excited about Han Solo and Chewbacca than most other things. It's sort of nice, going back to such familiar territory so I can celebrate the release of a new film with my fellow Star Wars fans, and don't even get me started about how excited I am to attend Season of the Force at Hollywood Studios in a few weeks!

In summary...Star Wars is awesome.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 25).

Day 888: That Time I Met A Wookiee

If there was one thing I was excited for going into this trip, it was getting to attend my very first Star Wars Weekend. And if there was one thing about SWW that I was excited about, it was meeting Chewbacca.

Unfortunately meeting Chewbacca didn't happen...at least not right away.

Star Wars Weekends, on the other hand, was absolutely amazing, so we'll start there!

Considering the fact that it was my very first time at Star Wars Weekends, I didn't really know what to expect, but I have to say I was blown away by the magical things that happen on these weekends. In fact, by the time we got to the fireworks, which I'll talk about later, I was so blown away that I didn't even have words anymore.

To start things off, we made it to the park fairly early, but because we had a VIP package didn't want to get there right away, especially since the night before had been late and most of what we wanted to do was included in the package anyway (I'll talk more about that in a moment). With special viewing for the Motorcade, we had a pretty good spot, although getting in a few minutes earlier probably would have meant front row. As you can see though, we by no means had a bad view. I personally loved the motorcade, allowing for everyone to see the stars of the Saga without heading into an autograph signing or specific show. Plus, it was pretty great to see all your favorite characters...even if some were a bit...frozen. 

Also a part of our package was prime seating for one of the day's shows. We chose the Stars of the Saga "talk show," featuring the special guests of the weekend. Of course, each weekend has different stars, and we were fortunate enough to have Ray Park (yes that's him with the tail), the actor behind Darth Maul, and Jeremy Bulloch, the guy behind Boba Fett's mask. James Arnold Taylor, the voice of Obi Wan Kenobi in the Clone Wars hosted the weekend, and was honestly a joy to watch throughout the day. 

I can't leave without mentioning the Stormtroopers though. As one of the most underrated characters of the saga, despite the fact that there's more of them than the other characters combined, I think Disney has done a wonderful job bringing them to the forefront in a humerous way. The Stormtroopers show up throughout the day, including in their own preshow to the theater shows such as Stars of the Saga. I think I laughed harder watching them than I recently did at a comedy show. 

Of course, we did things here and there throughout the day, but the next part of our package was the dessert party with special fireworks viewing. We didn't get the largest package, but got the moderately priced one (I believe it was around $70 per person), but it was completely worth it. In your pacakge, you had the prime viewing for the parade (including free unlimited beverages, popcorn and ice cream!), the special seating for a show of your choice, prints of each actor for the weekend AND the dessert party with unlimited desserts and beverages as well as that prime fireworks viewing. We all quickly agreed that it was well worth the price. The desserts were amazing, and I definitely enjoyed the chance to try each of the specialty Star Wars Weekend Cupcakes in Mini Form. Personally, I think the Yoda was my favorite. Of course, there were plenty of other treats too, all of which we enjoyed while rocking out to the end of the dance party! 

Finally, to round the day out, there's the absolutely magical Summon the Force and Symphony in the Stars. During Summon the Force, just about every Star Wars character you can image appeared on stage. Our view was a bit blocked by parts of the stage, but it didn't stop me from seeing my personal favorite character: HAN SOLO! 

And then we come to Symphony in the Stars, which is by far one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. I had a video camera in one hand and my phone in the other, meaning I'm not sure how much of the show I actually watched, but it was obviously enough for me to be left speechless. There's just something extra magical when the music of Star Wars is timed to fireworks, all in front of the Chinese Theatre, and I can't wait to return and see it again someday. 

Of course, in my usual style, I just HAD to DisneyBound for the day, coming up with an R2-D2 DisneyBound that felt the most real when I found this Lego version of our favorite droid! 

But wait, there's more! While we couldn't get a reservation on Sunday for the Rebel Hangar, luckily they were serving all week long, so we headed back to Hollywood Studios the following day for dinner with the rebels! Now, as you all know, I was really, really, REALLY excited about meeting Chewbacca on this trip, and when it didn't happen on Sunday I was fairly dissapointed. So you can imagine my excitement when Chewie walked into the hangar, right past our table. The characters at the meal are different from your regular character experience, only staying for a few minutes, and you have to grab them more than they stop at individual tables. The Stormtroopers came by a few times, and I had the chance to trade with one of the Jawas, but Chewie took a while. In fact, he came and went twice before we managed to catch him, because when he was coming up the ramp that last time, I was all over getting a picture with him. And so, I finally got to meet Chewbacca, and it was the greatest moment of the entire trip to be honest. 

You can also see the pictures of our meal, which was great! They serve it more in an appetizer style, so it's a great opportunity to go with friends and try just about everything on the menu, which is all themed to Star Wars. The entire thing was pretty makeshift, but I'd put some money on the idea that this was a test run for possible Star Wars dining experiences of the future, and boy do I ever hope they happen. 

Overall, Star Wars Weekends was amazing. Hot and crowded, yes, but amazing. I can't wait for more Star Wars Weekend experiences in the future, because really, when else can you casually follow members of your favorite band around Hollywood Studios? 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 23 due to travel).