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Disney Vacation (5 Viewers)

glvsav37 said:
from what I know: 

Entertainment is great, but its disney, so you will get variety shows with popular songs and dances from the movies. They do a lot of on-deck night entertainment stuff, so 1 night will be a "Pirate Night" where you are encouraged to dress like a pirate and all the characters are dressed accordingly. EAch ship also has the most current disney movie playing on-board for free. 

There are amazing kids clubs for all ages. They do crafts, scavenger hunts, character visits, watch movies, etc. It even goes well into the night with pajama parties and stuff. Parents get a wristband and pager to keep in touch if needed. I hear that the kids never want to leave. 

There is the private Disney island which is a blast from what I hear. Honestly I would prefer a cruise that just stops there. But there is also a challenge, even on the ship, that Disney rewards their multiple-cruise guests. They have tiers, where the more you have cruised, the earlier you have access to amenities and tours. So like 'Gold members' can reserve cabanas on the boat of island earlier then 1st timers.  So things get sold out quick sometimes. 

The price is no joke though. As Capella said, there is no casino, so I think that + the Disney name makes them much pricer then the rest of the cruise lines. So if you are planning a large group keep that in mind. Plus, they work on a system where the more the boats fill, the more a cabin costs. So the earlier you can book the better. If you get an inside room, they actually have digital portholes, where they broadcast on the wall a live video of what you would see if you had a real porthole, plus they add Nemo and stuff swimming by once in a while.

thats what I have heard, take it for what it is worth bc I've never been, but I follow a lot of Disney information
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Thanks.  We are booking for next summer. Hopefully enough lead time.  Probably getting a few verandas and some inside ones for the kids.   

Sounds like excursions are booked on the cruise (?) so we will just have to see when we get there.  Good advice.  

 
Book excursions in advance. Think we can do ours in two weeks for the December cruise. They do it after everybody is paid off. 

 
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Ahhhhh! 24 days until we arrive.

It's a mix of excitement and the dread of the unknown, as this will be our first trip to Disney with kids. 

 
GStrot said:
We are about to book a cruise for my parents 50th wedding anniversary.   Grandkids (10 total) range from 3 to 18.  We figured this would be a good option to entertain the kids mostly.  

Are we way off on this?

How is the entertainment for kids?

how is the entertainment for adults?

do you need excursions at the islands or can you find things to do?  

I am sure I’ll come up with more.  Thanks in advance.  
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Entertainment is good. The live shows were good for both kids and adults. There are a lot of activities for kids of all ages and adults. For example, they had tastings of beer, wine, chocolate, whiskeys and bourbons during our cruise. They showed the live action Aladdin and Lion King movies and Toy Story 2 and 4. There are kids clubs too that have activities all day long. 

The excursions give you some highlights at the destinations, but you can find things to do on your own as well. We went on our own in St Thomas. We did some sight seeing and some shopping. There were plenty of taxis available off the ship, with some just to take you somewhere while others offered a tour. 

We did dine at Remy one evening. The starting cost was $125/person. The menu has a French side and an American side, but you are not limited to one side and can substitute. Note that they generally do not have tables for more than 6 people. It was a fantastic meal!

 The three regular dining rooms are themed and have good food. We had chateaubriand one night and lobster a couple of other nights. 

The spa is nice too. They offer a variety of massages, accupuncture treatments, facials, etc. We had day passes for the rainforest room, which included 4 showers with different programs for water flow and temperature, a wet sauna, a dry sauna, heated ceramic lounges and two 2 person hot tubs.

 
Capella said:
Oh yea castaway cay is amazing. Best part of the trip imo. 

Shocked glsav has never been on one. 
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My wife hates cruising....not so much the overall entertainment and amenities, just being out in the vast ocean, motion/sea sickness, etc. I love cruising, been going since I was a kid. 

She went on 1 and only 1 cruise. It was NYC to Bermuda on a small'ish boat, we left the day after we found out we were preggo with baby #1. My whole family there, meanwhile she cant drink booze or coffee —we were actually hiding it, so we had a system where I would drink and then secretly switch glasses with her and drink her's.....and we hit a hurricane, so no dramamine or other sea sick pills.  Yea, not a fun trip. 

 
prosopis said:
That is insane and to the point of making me angry. This is the kind of thing that will get me to stay away from Disney. To much greed
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Some things in life are more expensive than others. There won’t be many rooms in there, if it’s cheap nobody will ever get to reserve a room. 

 
prosopis said:
That is insane and to the point of making me angry. This is the kind of thing that will get me to stay away from Disney. To much greed
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I saw people #####ing about this on FB.  On the surface, $480/person/day looks like sticker shock, especially if you have a larger family.  BUT....when I think about what it costs to bring a family of 4 to a concert or a football game...this actually looks like a good deal considering it's a 3 day all immersive experience.  

Now I hate Star Wars, so I'll never do it...but if I did, it would be pretty freaking sweet.

 
GStrot said:
We are about to book a cruise for my parents 50th wedding anniversary.   Grandkids (10 total) range from 3 to 18.  We figured this would be a good option to entertain the kids mostly.  

Are we way off on this?

How is the entertainment for kids?

how is the entertainment for adults?

do you need excursions at the islands or can you find things to do?  

I am sure I’ll come up with more.  Thanks in advance.  
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The Disney cruise that I was on was for my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary.  I think it ended up being a good option for all.  Grandkids ranged same ages.  18 year old was able to find some kids his own age and made some friends.

My son was 3.  It was still a good option for him, but I thought the kids' club area (the Oceaneer Club) was geared to a little bit older.  He was intimidated by it, and did not want to be left alone.  They throw kids aged from 3-12 in the same rooms.  I have some nieces and nephews who are around 5-7 and they had a better time in there.  Still a good time, but harder for my wife to take advantage of some of the adult activities.  But still some open house type stuff down there we were able to do.  We also took him to the pool and game area on the ship.  Also movies, including current theatrical releases play in the movie theatre.

But we could not sign up for some of the adult activities anyway -- because it was our first Disney cruise, we were at the bottom of the list for signing up for activities.  Some of the more interesting adult stuff (like the cocktail classes) were full before it even got eligible for us to sign up.  Some of the family went down to guest services on sailing day and stood in line for an hour-plus to sign up for the waiting list, and they were able to get into some of that.  But I did not get the time to do that.

On the islands, what cruise itinerary are you looking at?  My cruise stopped at Nassau and Castaway Cay.  Enough to do at Castaway Cay.  In Nassau, we did a gardens/zoo tour type thing.

 
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Tiger Fan said:
I saw people #####ing about this on FB.  On the surface, $480/person/day looks like sticker shock, especially if you have a larger family.  BUT....when I think about what it costs to bring a family of 4 to a concert or a football game...this actually looks like a good deal considering it's a 3 day all immersive experience.  

Now I hate Star Wars, so I'll never do it...but if I did, it would be pretty freaking sweet.
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I get why people are upset — the price is super steep. But what were people expecting? Disney’s high-end hotels fetch up to a thousand a night — it was pretty easy to see that a themed Star Wars hotel would get 2-3x that. I honestly figured it would be like 7500 to take a family of 3. 

 
D23 is beginning today and I saw this on facebook. 

seems the have a mural wall of Epcot posters (which I love BTW, I dig old poster design), and while the standard attractions and countries are there, there are some curious ones

Blue Box are new attractions not open yet, Ratatouille and the new Mission Space Restaurant 

Yellow box is old and closed attractions: Horizons, World of Motion, etc

And the Red box is something on one has ever heard of: Journey of Water (and its hard to read) Featuring Moana  :eek:

Also there are 2 blank spaces with a simple sign saying "Revealing Sunday" so safe to assume there will be at least 2 major Epcot announcements Sunday.  

• Brazil? 
• Re-theme of Imagination?
• A second Starbucks? 

There has been somewhat quiet chatter of a classic carrousel themed around Mary Poppins going into the UK Pavilion, so I would not be surprised if one of those blanks was that. 

 
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Capella said:
I get why people are upset — the price is super steep. But what were people expecting? Disney’s high-end hotels fetch up to a thousand a night — it was pretty easy to see that a themed Star Wars hotel would get 2-3x that. I honestly figured it would be like 7500 to take a family of 3. 
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When we started going to Disney regularly in 2013-14 we kind of figured out that a trip that had all the bells and whistlers (Poly or Contemporary kinda hotel, the nice meal plan, park hopper, a special event)  would run about $1000 per day.  

The bar for what $1000 a day gets you have started moving way too fast.  I'm sure Star Wars is awesome, but I don't think I could ever justify it.  Get the fully immersive SW experience for $7500 for 2-3 days, or stay at the Poly and live like a king for 7 days.   Thats just my mindset though.  I don't mind forking over a good chunk for a fun vacation, but I just don't think SW is worth it.  

 
jb1020 said:
When we started going to Disney regularly in 2013-14 we kind of figured out that a trip that had all the bells and whistlers (Poly or Contemporary kinda hotel, the nice meal plan, park hopper, a special event)  would run about $1000 per day.  

The bar for what $1000 a day gets you have started moving way too fast.  I'm sure Star Wars is awesome, but I don't think I could ever justify it.  Get the fully immersive SW experience for $7500 for 2-3 days, or stay at the Poly and live like a king for 7 days.   Thats just my mindset though.  I don't mind forking over a good chunk for a fun vacation, but I just don't think SW is worth it.  
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I think for 3 (our family) it will be between 5-6k. Now that’s totally insane, but as a one-time thing I think we’ll end up doing it. My cousin is as big a SW nerd as I am so we’ll probably end up doing it together when our sons are a little older. 

 
glvsav37 said:
D23 is beginning today and I saw this on facebook. 

seems the have a mural wall of Epcot posters (which I love BTW, I dig old poster design), and while the standard attractions and countries are there, there are some curious ones

Blue Box are new attractions not open yet, Ratatouille and the new Mission Space Restaurant 

Yellow box is old and closed attractions: Horizons, World of Motion, etc

And the Red box is something on one has ever heard of: Journey of Water (and its hard to read) Featuring Moana  :eek:

Also there are 2 blank spaces with a simple sign saying "Revealing Sunday" so safe to assume there will be at least 2 major Epcot announcements Sunday.  

• Brazil? 
• Re-theme of Imagination?
• A second Starbucks? 

There has been somewhat quiet chatter of a classic carrousel themed around Mary Poppins going into the UK Pavilion, so I would not be surprised if one of those blanks was that. 
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I saw some speculation of the Moana attraction to be more or less a splash pad/playground.   Not sure Epcot needs another Boat ride.  

The carousel would be nice though.  

 
this is not going to be your typical hotel experience. Apparently, everyone will have sort of storyline given to them and all the CMs and staff will have almost acting roles throughout your stay. In order for that to work, they have to keep you inclosed in the hotel and so all of your meals and events will be included and choreographed so that the 'traveler' gets the full SW immersive experience. All of that does not come cheap. Plus in order to pull this off, they need to keep the resort small. Regular hotels work on volume, not this one. 

I also expect there to be some sort of special area inside Galaxy's Edge that regular park guests cannot enter in order to keep up the charade. Likewise, I don't think they want you leaving Galaxy's edge, so your typical 'park pass package' is not part of this. You'll have free reign to explore GE and then 'back on the ship!"

 
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jb1020 said:
I saw some speculation of the Moana attraction to be more or less a splash pad/playground.   Not sure Epcot needs another Boat ride.  

The carousel would be nice though.  
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I remember back in the day one of the most amazing things to me (as a kid) were those fountain that jumped water from spot to spot outside of Imagination. We could hang there forever and watch them. 

 
glvsav37 said:
this is not going to be your typical hotel experience. Apparently, everyone will have sort of storyline given to them and all the CMs and staff will have almost acting roles throughout your stay. In order for that to work, they have to keep you inclosed in the hotel and so all of your meals and events will be included and choreographed so that the 'travel' gets the full SW immersive experience. All of that does not come cheap. Plus in order to pull this off, they need to keep the resort small. Regular hotels work on volume, not this one. 

I also expect there to be some sort of special area inside Galaxy's Edge that regular park guests cannot enter in order to keep up the charade. Likewise, I don't think they want you leaving Galaxy's edge, so your typical 'park pass package' is not part of this. You'll have free reign to explore GE and then 'back on the ship!"
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The more I post about disliking it that more I think I should really try it haha. 

 
glvsav37 said:
I remember back in the day one of the most amazing things to me (as a kid) were those fountain that jumped water from spot to spot outside of Imagination. We could hang there forever and watch them. 
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yep.  I was the same.  That plus Captain EO and I couldn't me happier as a kid.  

 
jb1020 said:
The more I post about disliking it that more I think I should really try it haha. 
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plus don't forget, exclusivity comes at a price. I hate to say it, but its true. If this was priced anywhere near what a deluxe resort would be, based on its size, there would be a waiting list years long. It almost HAS to be expensive. 

I'm just  really interested in how they are going to handle this. I love Disney's ideas but I question them at scale. What are they going to do when some rich foreign guy checks in b/c his kids wanted to come and they hand him a Jedi looking robe to wear for the week and he's like "huh, I no put deed on?!" 

 
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Don Quixote said:
The Disney cruise that I was on was for my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary.  I think it ended up being a good option for all.  Grandkids ranged same ages.  18 year old was able to find some kids his own age and made some friends.

My son was 3.  It was still a good option for him, but I thought the kids' club area (the Oceaneer Club) was geared to a little bit older.  He was intimidated by it, and did not want to be left alone.  They throw kids aged from 3-12 in the same rooms.  I have some nieces and nephews who are around 5-7 and they had a better time in there.  Still a good time, but harder for my wife to take advantage of some of the adult activities.  But still some open house type stuff down there we were able to do.  We also took him to the pool and game area on the ship.  Also movies, including current theatrical releases play in the movie theatre.

But we could not sign up for some of the adult activities anyway -- because it was our first Disney cruise, we were at the bottom of the list for signing up for activities.  Some of the more interesting adult stuff (like the cocktail classes) were full before it even got eligible for us to sign up.  Some of the family went down to guest services on sailing day and stood in line for an hour-plus to sign up for the waiting list, and they were able to get into some of that.  But I did not get the time to do that.

On the islands, what cruise itinerary are you looking at?  My cruise stopped at Nassau and Castaway Cay.  Enough to do at Castaway Cay.  In Nassau, we did a gardens/zoo tour type thing.
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Good stuff. Thanks!

that is a pretty wide age range for the younger kids.  But, it will keep most of them together.  So, I guess that is good.  

Disappointed to hear some of the options won’t be available as we are also newbs.  

We are looking at 5 night Bahamian cruise out of Port Canaveral. I think that is two stops at Castaway Cay.  That may be the same as you. 

I guess I’ll ask, how are drink prices?

 
GStrot said:
Good stuff. Thanks!

that is a pretty wide age range for the younger kids.  But, it will keep most of them together.  So, I guess that is good.  

Disappointed to hear some of the options won’t be available as we are also newbs.  

We are looking at 5 night Bahamian cruise out of Port Canaveral. I think that is two stops at Castaway Cay.  That may be the same as you. 

I guess I’ll ask, how are drink prices?
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That does sound same as me.  We did two days in Castaway Cay, and 1 day in Nassau.

I think if you actually can get down to guest services to get on the waitlist, you have decent odds for some of the activities.  I think a lot of the repeat travelers just sign up for everything to reserve it, and then cancel before they charged for it to free up spots.  

Drink prices were decently reasonable; closer to a local bar than a ballpark price.  ETA: And you can bring up to 6 beers or 2 bottles of wine per adult.

 
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so a lot happened this weekend at D23, and simultaneously nothing happened. Lots of announcements, some we expected, things we expected didn't happen (no Brazil or new WS pavilion again), and a few huh's?

I'm still playing catch up, unfortunately  I was away most of the weekend with family events os I could not keep up with the news as it happened. 

The Big features was the reimagining of Epcot. 
• The park will be divided into 4 neighborhoods.
—World Celebration will be the entrance through the middle of the park, including SSE, what will be left of Innoventions, and a new crazy architectural pavilion/garden thing where the fountain is now. 
—World Discovery is the west side where the Guardians coaster is, Mission Space and Test Track. 
—World Nature where Land, Living Seas and a new Moana inspired experience. I'm not sure how imagination fits into this. 
—World Showcase

• The UK will get a Mary Poppins attraction, not a lot of details yet, but people are speculating that it will be similar to the Enchanted Tales with Belle at MK. 

• Illuminations will end in September, a new temporary show "Epcot Forever" will be followed by "HarmonioUS"  will be the largest nighttime spectacular ever created for a Disney park. It will have the music of Disney by a diverse group of artists from around the globe. It will feature massive floating set pieces, custom-built LED panels, choreographed moving fountains, lights, pyrotechnics, lasers and more.

• Ratatouille will open in Summer 2020

• Canada and China are getting brans new movies

• Space Ship Earth will be closing for a 2 year refurb. However instead of telling the tale of historic communication, it will focus on the power of storytelling to unite the human experience. There will be a new narration and score. You will follow a magical “story light” that brings the entire experience to life in dynamic ways, giving each scene energy and beauty that ties the entire journey together. At the end, you will exit to a huge sculpture celebrating Walt Disney. 

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is the name of the new coaster. The ride will feature a coaster car that rotates 360 degrees to focus your attention on the action, and will be the first reverse launch on a Disney coaster.

• One of the new cruise ships will be named the Disney Wish

• Lighthouse Pointe will be the second Disney owned cruise ship port and be completed in 2022/23.

• A new digital experience called "Disney Genie" will be a planning tool to help give you customized experiences and plans based around themes. 

• Cirque du Soleil will be ready with a new show for the Disney Springs theater in 2020. WDW and CdS have teamed up the brand new show. Disney characters will be a central element combined with the CdS acrobatic artistry.

 
  I'm thinking about driving down for a Christmas trip.  I would arrive and check in on Saturday Dec 21st, and probably Check out on Sunday December 29th.  I have only gone (flights) during April Vacation and in August previously.  We have previously stayed at the Poly, Contemporary, and the Wilderness Lodge.  We need to go a little more budget this time around.  Kids are 14 and 10 now, so the monorail isn't so important anymore.  We always did the park hopper plus tickets in the past, but we will possibly just get straight tickets this time.  We love Typoon Lagoon and will hit that once or twice hopefully.  Without park hoppers will we be SOL for parks after 5pm?  Would we need two tickets that day?

  I was looking at Disney's site online and the park tickets vary obviously.  We had previously used AAA to book hotel and tickets.  Do they actually save me money, or should I just do it myself.  Is this a bad time to go?  Do we need to buy any Christmas event tickets like at Halloween?  Should I just wait until April vacation and fly?  Are the lines going to be bad?  Any advice is much appreciated.  I used to be an expert on Disney but it's been a while.  Thanks

 
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I saw on FB that people began lining up at 3:30 am. They must have expected it b/c they let them through bag check and 4 and then walked them to the land at 5. Apparently the land opened at 5:30. 

Yea, thats a hard nope for me. 

 
Hurricane is scaring everyone off....we are doing an impromptu weekend....just about any fast pass we want, except Avatar of course...and slinky dog :lol:  

 
The Commish said:
Hurricane is scaring everyone off....we are doing an impromptu weekend....just about any fast pass we want, except Avatar of course...and slinky dog :lol:  
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Awesome. I love cold weather days too when everyone’s afraid to go outside and the parks are dead until 10 am

 
Capella said:
My wife is worried about filling up gas-wise when we get back but I think we aren’t in the cone of danger. 
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We fueled up at 4am this morning at a Wawa in Riverview before heading to the airport. There were a couple of other folks there filling up gas cans and it was very chill. I think you’ll be fine for gas. Just go at a weird time and you’ll avoid the panic. I got gas at a Sam’s Club the other day bc I had less than an 1/8th of a tank and seemed like most people were maybe filling up a half tank or less. Just a lot of paranoia and hype feeding this. Be safe and enjoy the parks for me.

 
Osaurus said:
We fueled up at 4am this morning at a Wawa in Riverview before heading to the airport. There were a couple of other folks there filling up gas cans and it was very chill. I think you’ll be fine for gas. Just go at a weird time and you’ll avoid the panic. I got gas at a Sam’s Club the other day bc I had less than an 1/8th of a tank and seemed like most people were maybe filling up a half tank or less. Just a lot of paranoia and hype feeding this. Be safe and enjoy the parks for me.
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:hifive:  

 
glvsav37 said:
I saw on FB that people began lining up at 3:30 am. They must have expected it b/c they let them through bag check and 4 and then walked them to the land at 5. Apparently the land opened at 5:30. 

Yea, thats a hard nope for me. 
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Damn - that would be perfect for me.  I frequently wake up at 4 or 5 and would love to go ride a SW ride instead of staring at a clock trying to decide if I should piss or sleep for 10 more minutes before I wake up again and do it all over.

 
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Decent ride. But of course we had two little kids as drivers. Doesn't let them go too off course. 

THANKS DORIAN!!!!!

didn't think I'd ride this for a couple years!!

 
PIK95 said:
  I'm thinking about driving down for a Christmas trip.  I would arrive and check in on Saturday Dec 21st, and probably Check out on Sunday December 29th.  I have only gone (flights) during April Vacation and in August previously.  We have previously stayed at the Poly, Contemporary, and the Wilderness Lodge.  We need to go a little more budget this time around.  Kids are 14 and 10 now, so the monorail isn't so important anymore.  We always did the park hopper plus tickets in the past, but we will possibly just get straight tickets this time.  We love Typoon Lagoon and will hit that once or twice hopefully.  Without park hoppers will we be SOL for parks after 5pm?  Would we need two tickets that day?

  I was looking at Disney's site online and the park tickets vary obviously.  We had previously used AAA to book hotel and tickets.  Do they actually save me money, or should I just do it myself.  Is this a bad time to go?  Do we need to buy any Christmas event tickets like at Halloween?  Should I just wait until April vacation and fly?  Are the lines going to be bad?  Any advice is much appreciated.  I used to be an expert on Disney but it's been a while.  Thanks
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Bump?  TIA.

 
Trying to talk the wife into traveling to a galaxy far, far away tomorrow.

Her objections, “it’s too hot. It’s gonna rain.”

I try to explain that we’ll never have a better scenario for low crowd pressure.

I may have to fly in the solo line. Han Solo that is. I’m just itching to blast a Tie Fighter and say, “get out of here Wedge!”

 
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