A Star Wars Wild Weekend -- A PolyGirl40 Trip Report

5/15/04 – Day Three

More INTERCOTee sightings - Jawa Thievery
and Jeremy finally goes to Mars!

May 15, 2004 – Hot & Humid with a brief afternoon shower (88/68)

Starting Line-up:
Me: Carol
#1 Son: Jeremy

Dates: May 13-17, 2004

Mickey called us at 6AM. We were up and attem’ by 7:15 and off to the bus stop for another Star Wars morning. Our plan today was to go the opposite direction of the autograph Fast Passers.

The park was opening at 8AM for the Extra Magic Hour. Resort guests had to line up to the right and present their ID’s to get in. As yesterday, they let us into the roped off area 15 minutes before entrance time. As soon as the rope dropped we headed right to Tatooine Traders. Jeremy was hoping to find the store less crowded. He really wanted a chance to look. As luck would have it we figured things perfectly. Everyone else had high-tailed it for the Fast Passes. We went the other direction.

We browsed for quite sometime and then headed to the Great Movie Ride. When we got to the podium I asked if Jeremy was working. The young lady told me he was. We opted to wait since Jeremy had just gone out with another vehicle. We waited for his next loop.

When allowed in I introduced myself and my son. Jeremy was as charming in person, as he is on the boards in text. He showed us some of the hidden Mickey’s along the way. We were also fortunate enough to be gangstered by Calamity Jane. How cool is that? It was such a pleasure meeting Jeremy. You can tell he truly loves doing his job.

From there we headed over to the Millionaire attraction to secure Fast Passes for the first Star Wars Edition show. We had some time before the show - so we took the opportunity to see One Man’s Dream. We also took in a second viewing of Behind the Force. Jer really enjoyed it yesterday and it warranted repeating. On the way over to Mickey Avenue we were approached by 2 Jawas. One took Jeremy’s shopping bag and tried to trade it for an old used photo pickup receipt. [img]graemlins/rotfl.gif[/img] It was hysterical. I laughed so hard. The little scavengers went through everything and ran off with Jer's goodies. They finally realized that he was not going to bargain and returned the goods.

Onto Millionaire. What a hoot! Jeremy was second on the leader board the entire game. The guy knows his Star Wars facts! We wanted to stay for the next show but it was full --- so we headed over to Mama Melrose for lunch. We have never eaten here before and wanted to try it.

We were extremely pleased. We both give it 2 thumbs up! Jeremy had the 4 cheese flatbread pizza. I selected the chicken parmesan with spaghetti! (Spaghetti is one of my favorite meals.) The sauce was very good - as was the chicken. We cleaned our plates here! No appetizers and skipping breakfast made for some hungry vacationers. We will definitely be returning in the future. The service, atmosphere and food were all excellent. Total tab; $38.61

It was now 1PM. Jeremy had done everything and anything Star Wars. His trip was now complete. It was time to say goodbye to MGM. We decide to head back to the resort to check on our packages we had sent over yesterday. Then we were heading to Downtown Disney and Epcot.

After retrieving our purchases we find that one of the large hard-covered Star Wars books Jeremy had purchased was damaged. A few of the pages were stuck together. I called down to Guest Relations for some advice on how to get a new one. (We really did not feel like going back to MGM – but did not want to settle for a damaged book after paying $40.) They told me to bring it down to the Coronado Springs gift shop and they’d send over a new one. We could pick it up tomorrow afternoon. Great.That was easy enough.

Off to Downtown Disney.

Our mission here was to get some Theme Park vehicles for Shayne and Jeremy wanted to pop down to the Virgin Megastore for some Star Wars soundtracks. (They didn’t have them at MGM.) The sky opened up and it started to pour. We ducked into the Disney at Home Store. (One of my favorites.) The rain only lasted a few minutes. As we leave this store for Once Upon a Toy I hear my name. I turn around and who do I see? Flower! (Lea Ann) How cool is that? I didn’t even know she was going to be there – let alone meet up with her on this trip too. (I met her in December.) They had just arrived in Orlando and were doing some shopping. We chatted for a bit before heading out. It was great to see another INTERCOTee!

Wait – this reminds me:
In December we met a couple with their 2 children while waiting in line for the Candlelight Processional. We visited for almost an hour. Their son was a big pin enthusiast and was as cute as a button. Well – guess what?? We saw them at MGM yesterday morning and again this morning at Millionaire! How uncanny is that?

OK - enough jibber-jabber.

We picked up the rest of our Downtown Disney merchandise and headed for Epcot. I was happy to be seeing the Flower & Garden festivities. It was now 5 o’ clock.

When arriving at Epcot we headed straight for Mission: Space. Jer opted not to do the ride in December and has had the "I should-haves" every since. He LOVED it! [img]graemlins/clappy.gif[/img] We checked the times for Test Track and there was a 70 minute wait. Nope --- not waiting that long. We decided to take a trip with Ellen. After a few laughs with Stupid Judy it was nearly 7PM. We decided to start our trek over toward Japan. (Jeremy selected Teppanyaki for dinner. I called in the morning for a PS and was able to secure a 7:45PM time.) We started at Mexico and looked at the flowers along the way. The topiaries were amazing. I think my favorites were the pandas in China and the huge peacock at the park entrance.

Taking our time we arrived in Japan shortly before 8PM. We really enjoy this restaurant and have eaten here ever trip for the past 4 years. I found dinner to be much more expensive with the only difference being some pasta added to the vegetable stir-fry. Nonetheless, the food was fantastic. Jer raves about the sticky white rice every trip. [img]graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] His chose the chicken (Tori) entrée, while I had the chicken & shrimp (Hatamoto). Everything was tasty and cooked to perfection. This restaurant remains on our must do list – although I think we’ll continue to return for lunch. Total bill: $49.93

Illuminations was beginning as we exited dinner. We walked quickly to get to the entrance before the mass exodus began. Whew! We made it. We waited about 5 minutes for a bus and were on our way “home” in no time.

After placing a 6AM wake-up call, we were sleeping by 10:30.

Flower & Garden Festival Photos


Next Up:
Breakfast with Pooh – Soap Star Sighting & Singing Turtles.

[ May 21, 2004, 07:32 PM: Message edited by: PolyGirl40 ]