STUDIOS
-Weather hot but breezy, storms avoided, and crowds crowded but not overtly insane crazy.
-Star Wars Weekends 2015 is here! Below are thoughts.
-Start of the day was a bit of a hot mess, with wristbands being distributed for Merch and Autographs, but not both. And since the autographs are for later and the merch is for now, there was some chaos at least amongst the voices in my head.
-Merch this year takes up Prop Warehouse/Old AFI Building/and Backlot Tour prop shop. The latter has completely been stripped of all props, so as to wherever all the World of Motion pieces have been taken, I know not.
-Merch is pretty solid this year, but the standout is the awesome Force Awakens T-Shirt, and 25% of the cost goes to UNICEF and Force for Change, which makes it even more awesome.
-The waits to get into the store ranged from pretty bad, to walk right in. Waited for it a few times and it wasn't too bad. I still think I prefer the giant tent, but it's a better use for the building than Frozen, that's for sure.
-In the prop warehouse they have a LEGO building table, where you can build and keep an great Mini-Build. It's free lego so I shouldn't have to say much more to convince you that's awesome.
-Also there's a neat poster for Passholders and DVC members below the tour corridor near the Pixar Place gate, FYI.
-The autographs this year use the American Idol audition rooms, which is kind of a mixed bag. It makes it much more enjoyable if you have a fastpass, but the days of walking by and just seeing the celebrities aren't possible with this setup. I heard you can still get their fakesigned cards at the info booths, but I wasn't able to verify that. I think I'm more on the side of using the audition rooms though, since I always felt bad if your meet and greet ran long, seeing the faces out in the heat behind you in line. So I'm more on the improvement side on this one, reluctantly.
-Probably my biggest complaint with SWW this year is the one I volley across all of WDW, the relentless upcharging. The upcharged gathering event, the dining events, the hangar thing downsizing backlot express. There's so much great stuff to offer the normal guest there should be no need for such things. Not so much a problem yet, but I can see it getting annoying.
-The Boba Fett mug looked great, but was nowhere to be seen. Not in yet maybe?
-The Stormtrooper intro show is better this year with some added pizzazz. It'll never replace the amazing sight of them on the gate roof, but it's getting there.
-Inside GMR, they've added BADLY out of place chain stanchions on the Anubis statue where the gangster/cowboy grabs the gem. It's OSHA fall protection ruling same as above, and annoyingly bad looking.
-The themed overhang at the exit of GMR is done, but nothing below it yet.
-The Chinese Theater still needs some details back, but the central roof has been cleaned.
-At Star Tours...I WAS FINALLY THE REBEL SPY! Leia told me so...Heh heh heh
-In Sounds Dangerous there's a great 30 Minute recap of Star Wars Rebels to check out, though spoilers if you're already planning to watch it all. If you weren't interested or want to cool down, go see it. Pretty good for a recap episode, plus life-size Ezra and Sabine inside.
-The Echo Lake ducklings were invading the Indy outdoor cart near Backlot Express, and it was adorable.
-First time seeing the new Star Wars fireworks, and it was AMAZING. WDW Pyro pulls out all the stops. Not to mention...New Troopers. That's right...NEW TROOPERS!
OK, that's about all for the many words. Now on to the many pictures.
ENJOY!^^
https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates37TheUpdateAwakens?noredirect=1#6150034499719180258
