Disney

Star Wars Weekends is an annual event, occurring each weekend in late spring (May-June) for several weeks at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. Hollywood Studios is filled with Costumes Star Wars characters and special Star Wars themed events, not to mention all the guests that dress up in costume too.

To be honest, I can’t remember if we have actually been to Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekends before, but Brett was pretty excited about it now that he shares his photos online with more than just our family.

One thing he really wanted us to do was one of the new Star Wars character meals. They were a new offering for this year and people kinda went a little berserk for them…I water on the phone over an hour on the first morning reservations opened up! We debated on which to reserve and ultimately decided on Jedi Mickey’s Star Wars Dinner at Hollywood and Vine for a few reasons. We thought it would be fun to see the Disney characters in Star Wars attire. We also thought Trent would like it better since he would still know who the characters were.

Also, the lighting in Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater is terrible. It provides great ambiance, but is a nightmare to take photos in, especially character photos. Since we had never been to Hollywood & Vine, we were a bit excited about that choice because we could experience a new place. Plus, it’s a buffet and Trent eats free!

However, as exciting as it seems that Trent eats free, the price of the meal was no joke…$55.99 for adults and $33.99 for kids ages 3-9. You are definitely paying a premium to meet the characters without standing in line. You also get a keepsake photo download.

We headed to Hollywood Studios just in time to make our 7:05 pm reservation. With dark clouds overhead, we knew it would storm at any moment…and with our luck, that moment would be when we pulled the car into our parking spot. So we had to quickly get our stuff together, put Trent in the stroller and walk as fast as we could inside the park. Needless to say, we were hot, exhausted and covered in sweat and rain by the time we got there…pretty nice right?

We parked the stroller, covered it with a poncho and then checked in…baking in the humidity and overabundance of people standing in the small area. Once you give the hostess your name, you stand in a short line to wait to have your photo taken with Chip and Dale. The photo set-up is right in the front as you enter Hollywood & Vine. I didn’t care where it was, as long as it was in the air-conditioning. I would have taken the photo in the bathroom if they made me.

Another cast member takes your bags and waits while you take the photo. Of course, she questioned what the heck Brett was carrying in his camera bag for it to be so heavy. I don’t know how he carries that thing all day.

You are given a special Photopass card with Jedi Mickey on it so you can view/download your photo online later.

We were pretty much expecting to look terrible in the photo, especially since Trent hasn’t been the best at posing for photos lately, but when I looked online afterward, I was surprised at how great it turned out. I am happy it was a free download, so Brett could Photoshop it to perfection…we may actually have a decent family photo!

We requested a booth and they were able to give us one thankfully. From check in to sit down took us no more than 10 minutes, including the time it took for the photo. Not bad.

Within a few minutes of being seated, our waitress took our drink order and then Brett went to fix Trent’s plate. Always bring the baby his food first (even though he’ll only eat 1/10 of it!)!

We took turns going up to the buffet and we enjoyed many of the options. My favorite choices were the Skywalker Ranch Chicken and the C3PO’s Cream Corn Spoon Bread.

I like how they named each food item with a Star Wars Theme…here are a bunch of photos from the buffet area.

Breads and rolls. Just to the right of this photo, they had butter and apple butter. I combined both on one piece of bread and it was delicious. I’m not one to fill my stomach with bread before a buffet, but I had to have two pieces with the apple butter.

Soups.

Salad and fruit salad.

Now I’ll let the signs do that talking. The photos of the signs are before each photo of the corresponding foods.

Create your own pasta.

Kids station.

So while we enjoyed our dinner, we also waited for each character to come around! Luckily, we were in a spot that we could see the characters coming to us, so I could pick Trent up and prepare for the interaction and photo.

Jedi Mickey!

Him and Minnie were perhaps the least interactive out of the 4 characters. They didn’t stay very long and immediately posed for the photo as soon as they got to us. Donald and Goofy interacted for at least a few seconds before turning for the photo.

Stormtrooper Donald!

Darth Goofy!

Princess Minnie!

As you can see, Trent would not turn to the camera for us. He just wanted to look at the characters, even with Brett yelling “Trent!” and making weird whistling sounds and all. Stubborn toddler - good thing we didn’t wait in a line for any of these!

But we can not forget about Dessert! There was a large dessert station with various small desserts, some themed towards the Darks Side (Red) or the Light Side (Blue).

Which side would you choose?

When we first sat down, our table had paper lightsabers that had blue on one side and red on the other, so you could roll them up and have a fun lightsaber to play with. At $55.99 a person, I would have liked to see something a little more useful, as these didn’t stay rolled up if you weren’t holding them.

But, since Trent had already chosen his side with his shirt, we rolled his up to create a red lightsaber…Dark Side it is!

So I chose the blue lightsaber and we battled it out until the death!

Watch as Mommy and Trent fight each other - see who wins!

Of course, in this scenario, death equals eventual sharing of C3PO-shaped cookies.

I wonder if that’s an alternate ending to the movies…

Overall, this was a fun event that was nice to say we did once. At this price, we won’t go rushing back and would probably opt to try one of the other special Star Wars character meals just to experience something different. I always like buffets, since we have 2 picky eaters in the family (not I!), so it was nice to get out of the rain and humidity and enjoy a themed buffet dinner with fun characters!

 

Stay tuned for our full trip report from this trip! In the meantime, if you’d like to enjoy our other Disney Trip Reports, you can find them here!

 

Remember the last time I did a pre-trip report before Trent’s first Disney World trip and how 90% of it got changed once we were there due to weather?

I even said I wouldn’t make another pre-trip report at the fear of jinxing ourselves again.

But isn’t the planning and anticipation half the fun?!

So I’m going to be brave and give a little bit of a pre-trip report for our trip that starts tomorrow…as much as one can give knowing that a toddler is coming along, I’m pregnant and things can change at any moment due to naps, hunger, tantrums, swollen feet, and of course, weather.

After how sick I felt during our January trip, I can honestly say I wasn’t itching to go back on a trip any time during this pregnancy. But Brett couldn’t let a special event or our passes expire without another visit to the house of mouse. So as soon as he heard about the 24 hour event, he immediately started pressuring for us to book a hotel.

We also plan on doing some maternity photos like we did with Trent. I won’t be as far along as I was with him, but I will probably look just as large

At first, we debated doing it big for our last trip on these annual passes (we probably won’t go again until December) and looked at renting points to stay at Bay Lake Tower. But Brett preferred a longer trip over a more expensive hotel, so we opted for Pop Century…

…especially after we discussed how I wanted to relax with Trent at the pool a few times and seeing this little splash pad/pool area that we think Trent will love. How had we never even known this was there?

Source

However, after hearing Brett wish that he were closer to Magic Kingdom so he wouldn’t have to wake up so early to get to the 24 hour event at 6 am, I switched the first 2 nights to the Contemporary.

I told him Happy Birthday and sent him the confirmation email.

We were a little disappointed that we would be missing out on the Flower & Garden Festival, which ended last weekend, but I had to be at work at that time and didn’t want to extend the trip that long…saving for maternity leave is a PITA.

One exciting note for this trip is I now have 1) a new camera and 2) a new phone with a good camera…so I will TRY to take more photos myself in order to create most of the trip report myself and hopefully get that to you much sooner. Brett plans on taking a ton of photos still, but I think it will be a nice change to share a trip report with photos from me this time. You might actually see Brett in a photo at WDW!

Given that I will be taking more photos, I will also try to share more on Facebook and Instagram in real time. Of course, this is all dependent on Trent letting me!

So here is a little bit of a schedule…as always, there will be a trip report when we get back, so we’ll be able to compare what plans we actually stick to!

 

Thursday: Leave early in the morning, start at Animal Kingdom, then check in at the Contemporary at some point and then hop on the monorail over to Epcot for the rest of the evening.

Friday: The 24 hour event starts at 6 am at Magic Kingdom, so Brett will be getting up super early to be there before it starts and will stay there all the way to 6 am Saturday morning. I’ve been saying this since he decided to do it, but he is crazy. Trent and I will wake up at a normal person time, eat breakfast, play in the pool area and then meet Brett a little later - probably mid-afternoon or so.

Saturday: Brett will be recuperating from getting back to the hotel after the 24 hour event, so we’ll see if he eats breakfast with us or not. We may go to the pool if he decides to sleep late, then Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekend events.

Sunday: We have breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace at 8:15am (we finally snagged one last night!). It is way super early, but we wanted at least one opportunity to get into the park early for some photos. We’ll spend some time at MK after breakfast, then the rest of the day at Hollywood Studios, where we’ll end the night with a Star Wars buffet dinner at Hollywood & Vine (our first time there) and the special Star Wars fireworks.

Monday: Magic Kingdom at night. We haven’t decided whether to hang out at the hotel in the morning, go to MK and take a break, or start out at another park.

Tuesday: Animal Kingdom and then maybe Epcot at night.

Wednesday: Opening day of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom! We originally thought we’d take it easy this last day, but we now have Fastpasses for the Mine Train at 930am, so an early wake-up will be necessary. We’ll make a trip to IKEA to pick up a toddler bed for Trent (so exciting!) and then drive home.

Thursday: I’ll be asleep at my desk at work while Brett and Trent get to sleep in.

Note: Even over the past few days while writing this, we have changed our plans a few times….this ought to be interesting! Stay Tuned!

 

Be sure to follow along on my social media (mostly Facebook and Instagram) as I will post live (or close to it) during our trip. If you want to see EVEN MORE Disney fun, follow Brett’s Facebook and Instagram, as he will probably post even more than I will!

 

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One of our favorite places to eat in Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World is 50′s Prime Time Cafe. They serve “mom’s old-fashioned cooking” and the servers are your family that tell you to take your elbows off the table and no dessert until you clean your plate.

Luckily for me, when we went last year, I had my dessert at the same time as dinner…with their delicious Peanut Butter & Jelly Milkshake! It’s like having a peanut butter & jelly sandwich without the crust and with ice cream instead. Sounds like a good replacement to me!

Well, you don’t need a reservation at 50’s Prime Time Café to enjoy this treat (although I would highly recommend one if you haven’t been before)…you don’t even need to be in WDW (although that would sure be nice too!). This recipe is super easy and I bet you already have all the ingredients to make it – especially if you have kids.

Ingredients (makes 1 shake):

2 cups Vanilla Ice Cream

1/4 cup Milk

2 tbs. Peanut Butter

2 tbs. Jelly (we used grape, but you could probably use strawberry too!)

Are you ready for these super difficult instructions?

You might want to write this down…

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy…that’s it!

For added deliciousness, top it with some whipped cream and a fun straw…a cherry too if you have them.

We thought this would be something Trent would enjoy…he has his picky moments (a.k.a. every moment) and he won’t always eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Trent got his served in a little kid cup with a fun straw. He was a happy camper and drank the entire thing!

This one will definitely be a regular treat in our house and your kids may not look at peanut butter & jelly sandwiches the same after enjoying it!

 

This recipe was featured in the April issue of WDW Magazine (Look who’s on the cover!!). Click here to learn more about WDW Magazine!

 

One drink our extended family likes more than anything is coffee! If you also have a love for coffee, check out Coffee Corner Club, the best coffee club online for coffee, family & friends, and a perfect blend. Who says wine-lovers are the only ones that can get together to discuss their shared love? Step inside Coffee Corner Club’s community and feel the charm. Coffee is not just coffee, and everyone is invited to come interact and discuss your favorite blends, techniques, recipes (like a chocolate smoothie with coffee…yum!) and, most of all, have fun!

 

Here is a fun craft with some beautiful flowers to enjoy and even display your love for Mickey. When it came time to contribute to WDW Magazine recently, we took inspiration from our baby shower 2 years ago, which was Mickey-themed, and decided to recreate a Mickey Flower Pot that was the centerpiece of the food table.

 

Here is what you’ll need to get started:

1 flowerpot

Acrylic paint

Paintbrush

2 White Buttons

Hot Glue Gun / Glue

Skewer Stick

3 Styrofoam Balls (1 medium, 2 small)

Pretty flowers

I was lucky enough to find a red flowerpot, so I didn’t have to paint it, but you can use any flowerpot you have or find and just paint it red using acrylic paint or spray paint.

To make the flowerpot look like Mickey’s shorts, just hot glue the 2 white buttons on the front of the flowerpot towards the top.

Place the flowers into the pot, adding additional dirt if necessary. Viola…you’re done with that part!

Poke the skewer stick into the medium Styrofoam ball then remove it, put some hot glue in the hole and then reinsert the stick. This will help the Styrofoam ball stay in place. Then, make the Mickey ears by attaching the two smaller balls to the medium ball using hot glue. By using hot glue, it allows the two balls to mesh together.

Paint the Mickey head and the stick black.

Then, finish up by sticking the skewer stick with the Mickey head into the dirt.

Place in a spot to enjoy your own little Flower & Garden Festival at home!

 

This article was included in the March Issue of WDW Magazine. You can find out more about WDW Magazine, including all the fun stuff in each month’s issue and how to subscribe, by going here!

 

 

For this trip, we decided to split up our trip into 2 videos…1 for the WDW portion and 1 for the cruise portion.

I wanted to record so much more (as I always do) but between it being cold in WDW, an umbrella stroller that required two hands to push, feeling icky and carrying a toddler…I felt like I would have needed about 3 more arms in order to accomplish any more video recording.

However, we got over 17 minutes worth of video for you after making some cuts….and that’s in addition to the Snorkeling Video I already posted. Not too bad!

 

As always, thanks so much for watching and following along on our adventures. I hope you enjoyed this trip report (except for that last day…yuck!) and if you haven’t already, you can read our trip report starting at Day 1 here!

Stay tuned for our May trip…Brett will be tackling the 24 hour event at Magic Kingdom and we’ll be attending Star Wars Weekend!