Unfortunately our efforts were not enough to grab fast passes for Anthony Daniels because his line was already cut off :( We were both incredibly disappointed. We got in line for Ashley Eckstein instead. We struck up some conversations with the surrounding nerds so the time passed pretty quickly.
They opened the gates around 6:15AM and herded us backstage where we stood in line some more.
I’m an Annual Passholder!
We were in the park by 6:30AM. It was pretty packed already. We were greeted by some Storm Troopers and Bobo Fett.
I tried to get Jason and a Storm Trooper but this was the best I could do:
As we walked up the street I shot a little video of the experience. We were luckily some of the first in the park because we were in the top 10 for Ashley Eckstein. Just imagine all the hundreds who piled in after us. It was a madhouse!
We were herded to Star Tours and I didn’t even stand in line for 10 minutes before I got our fast passes for our first tour to endor! Excited! We were guaranteed to ride Star Tours 2.0 on opening day! EPIC!
We hung around a bit in the area for some photo opps:
After that the crowd scattered and the rides were actually open. We were starving because we forgot to bring our snacks so we went to sunset blvd to get some breakfast sandwiches at Fairfax Faire. Best idea ever! It was so good. I had scoped it out using the free Disney dining app on my iPhone. I love that app, it lists every restaurant including their menu and prices! It’s incredibly useful.
We passed by the stage and OMG there was George Lucas! The rumors were true! SQUEE!!!!!!! Then I heard people saying that Bob Iger was going to be there too! Pinch me I must be dreaming….
We walked around for a bit and saw a short line for pictures of the dark lord of the sith himself.
This made me happy because I was wearing my Vader and Leia shirt titled "Daddy's Little Girl". I got this shirt from Ashley Eckstein’s website, HerUniverse.com. It made for a cute picture!
We walked some more and saw the ridiculous line extension they had in place for Star Tours 2.0. Good thing we had our fastpasses!
It was after 8AM by that point so we decided to scope out a spot for the ribbon cutting ceremony. We found a nice bench over near dockside diner and plopped down. We sat there for 2 hrs only to be overrun by rude people just minutes before the show. We were upset but we could still see the middle of the stage so I guess it wasn’t so bad.
The show was awesome and we were in awe of George Lucas and Bob Iger. I wish we had gotten a spot so we could take pictures. Those spots were already taken by 8AM though. Some people staked their spots right when the park opened at 6:30AM. Now that’s hardcore.
The best part of the show was definitely Bog Iger and George Lucas coming out with lightsabers to battle the darkside. I think I may have teared up a bit :) It was the most epic thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. I found a great video of it on YouTube and I’m sure I’ll collect more for my playlist!
I got a picture of the programming behind the first mini animatronic. I’m a software developer so for me this was true Geekdom!!
I was a bit hungry by then so I decided my lunch would be a carrot cake cookie :)
We got Jason a turkey leg a bit later.
There was a startours2live.com meetup @1PM so we decided to check that out. We got to meet and chat with Matt Hochberg which was awesome. He’s very nice and introduced himself to us. We were sort of standing off to the side awkwardly because we really didn’t know what to do. It was our very first meet. We took a group picture which I will cherish forever. I wish we could’ve stayed longer but it was time to go cash in our fast passes for Star Tours 2.0!
We struck up a conversation with a father and son in line behind us at Star Tours 2.0. The dad was a collector and was totally geeking out over the pins he got. I told him and the Cast Member that we planned our entire trip around this ride and this moment. I got picked to be the rebel spy! It was magical :) The ride was awesome and the 3d effects were great. Unfortunately this was the only ride for this trip. The crowds were too much on the other days and there was so much else to experience! We’ll be back in September though!
We had our fast passes for Ashley Eckstein @3pm so we walked around for a bit on the streets of america and watched mulch sweat and shears. They’re awesome!
I took some pictures of the San Francisco façade because I was there just a few weeks ago for a job interview. It was my first time crossing the golden gate bridge and I get to go back for training next month! You all know what else is in San Francisco right? The Walt Disney Family Museum! I start the new job next week and while we were on our trip I negotiated the contract. I’m such a grown up!
We got in line to meet Ashley and she was so sweet! She said she liked my shirt and I told her how much I appreciated her clothing line and accessories HerUniverse.com. I get compliments on them all the time! We took a picture and I told her that she was a wonderful positive role model for girls. She said that she takes being a role model very seriously especially with young girls.
Then it was Jason’s turn and he told Ashley that we were having a Disney Wedding and she said she had a Disney Wedding too. I actually knew that already from a WDWRadio interview. She got married at the Yacht Club and she had a churro cart at the reception.
That was the end of our day, we were pretty tired by then so we went back to nap. We had been @ Hollywood Studios for 12 hours! This was the longest I had ever stayed in a park and the earliest I’ve ever been to a park. We needed sleep.
We got up around 6PM and went to the Magic Kingdom to catch The Magic, The Memories, and You (furthermore known as MMY) and Wishes.
First we ate @ Columbia Harbor House, yum!
My dinner was great but unfortunately Jason did not like his shrimp. He said it was mushy. We were not having luck with Quick Service locations on this trip so far.
MMY is so much better in person! I cried like a baby! We noticed so many more things that we couldn’t see on YouTube! We stood behind a very dear older couple and struck up a conversation. They were getting ready to drive to MA so they were driving through Baltimore. They said they would think of us when they drove through :)
We skipped Main Street Electrical Parade and rode rides instead. We did Pirates (had to do this on the opening day of the movie), Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion (sweet queue and hitchhiking ghosts updates), It’s A Small World (never again), Peter Pan’s Flight (we kissed as we flew over London…awwww), and Winnie The Pooh.
That was it for the night. The park was closing so we got a popcorn bucket and coke and relaxed for a minute at our favorite yellow and white tables near the ice cream parlor. By happy accident, we ended up seeing the kiss goodnight! It was the first time for both of us. If you don't know what I'm talking about, the kiss goodnight is Disney's way of saying "The Magic Kingdom is closed. GET OUT!"
It was the perfect end to a magical day!
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