Disney World May 2012 Trip Report Pt 2

After Tower of Terror, we decided that it’d be a good time to grab breakfast. Naturally, we planned on eating the breakfast of champions: cupcakes. We first headed to Starring Rolls, where we saw the coveted Darth Vader cupcake! Obviously, we had to get that. After we grabbed that, I had a sudden burst of (dredded) maturity, and suggested that maybe we should split that along with a breakfast sandwich from Fairfax Faire instead of getting two cupcakes. Even though I’m almost positive that cupcakes are high in protein and contain all of your daily vitamins and stuff, it still seemed like a good idea to get something from the non-cupcakes side of the food pyramid.

As we finished breakfast, it was around 8:30, meaning we still had a bit of time until the Star Wars meet and greets started. We debated Sarah doing another ride on Tower of Terror while I did Rock ‘N’ Rollercoaster, but I balked when I saw the 30 minute posted wait for RnRC. It probably wasn’t actually that long, but even if it was 15 minutes, that didn’t give us much time to get the characters before the lines got out of control.

Instead, we headed right over to the character meet & greet areas. Jedi Mickey and Leia Minnie’s spot already had a pretty decent line, so it looks like we made the right call. Sarah waited in it while I wandered around taking pictures, and then I came back and waited in it while Sarah went out to do some (Insta)grammin’. The line moved slowly once it opened, and we didn’t end up meeting Minnie until around 9:20 am. We enjoy meeting characters, but if I knew in advance that we’d be waiting in line 40 minutes, I think we probably would have skipped it.

After meeting Minnie, we wandered deeper into Star Wars territory, seeing some pretty absurd lines for Darth Vader and Chewbacca. I suspect these lines were well over an hour long each. Way too long for us. Neither of us had seen any of the Star Wars films in around a decade–suffice to say, we’re not huge fans well-versed in the Star Wars mythos. I enjoyed the original trilogy when I last saw it, but I didn’t feel in any way emotionally invested. I’ve only seen the first of the new trilogy. While I didn’t think it was awful, it didn’t do a whole lot for me. I love science fiction films, but I prefer it for the dystopian themes explored in films like Blade Runner. I have since watched the original (first made) Star Wars, and really enjoyed it and am awaiting Netflix to deliver the next installment. So maybe there’s hope yet for me to become a Star Wars geek. I doubt my attachment to the films will ever rise to that level, though.

While in the midst of the chaotic Star Tours area, we bumped into Lou Mongello, Scott Otis, and some other friends. Lou was recording live, so we chatted with him for a bit. I think he and Sarah compared notes on the olloclip, too. The area was so crowded, though, that we quickly headed on our way.

The rest of the morning was spent wandering around the Studios, soaking up the Star Wars atmosphere. We saw Stormtroppers, met a character who looked similar to Boba Fett (I think his name was also “Boba” something…you call tell we’re not Star Wars fans!), and marveled at all of the fans who were in incredibly detailed costumes.

We probably could have spent the entire day just wandering around, people watching. That may sound creepy, but it was incredibly fascinating to watch the Disney and Star Wars worlds collide. It was also cool to see how they intersected. Both Disney theme parks and Star Wars have intense followings and legions of super fans who follow their respective interest very closely, fixating on its every detail. The thousands of Disney theme parks-fan blogs and websites (this one included) are proof-positive that Disney theme parks have this type of following. I think the following of Star Wars is one of those things that’s patently obvious. Star Wars fanboys have long been the stereotypical subject of ridicule as an example of “fans taking things too seriously.”

I think it’s a fair statement to say that Disney and Star Wars fans fixate on details concerning their respective interests. To critique or ridicule that as taking things too seriously seems, to me, to be a bit much. Everyone has their hobbies, interests, etc., that they take more seriously than the general public. I know people who have a staggering expertise concerning the history of cars, California wines, and the gardening of daylilies. I don’t mock these folks; yet when the tables are turned and someone has an intense interest in Disney or Star Wars, the circumstances are deemed “different” because Disney and Star Wars are “childish fantasy.” Not only is this not true, but what do other people care if it is? I say let people fixate on what interests them. I could describe an interest in something “serious” such as politics with equally pejorative terms. But instead of knocking down the interests of others, I focus on my own interests.

Anyway, it was fun walking around and seeing Star Wars fans engage one another and their universe in general. Enjoying the ambiance and palpable energy while walking around Disney’s Hollywood Studios was rather odd–it was a feeling I hadn’t had since being there when I was a young child. I delve more into this later since this segment of the report is already tangent after tangent.

After a bit more wandering, we met up with a friend who was taking his son to his first Star Wars Weekend. Our first stop after meeting them was grabbing some ice cream from Dinosaur Gertie, which was open for the first visit of ours in recent memory. It was regular soft serve ice cream that you can get at a myriad of Disney locations, but it tasted so much better because it was from Gertie!

We then headed to Hollywood Boulevard to stake out our parade spots. It was well over an hour until the parade, but we had heard that parade spots filled up quickly, and this was our one shot at seeing it, so we figured what the heck. Pretty much anything we did that day related to Star Wars Weekends was going to involve a long wait, so we might as well wait for this.

There are multiple pages in this Walt Disney World trip report installment. Navigate to the next page below!