Day 6: Star Wars Day at Sea
We were pretty excited about some of the new enhancements to SWDAS compared to two years ago. We had loved the day, though felt that it wasn't something we would have to do again - it was fun, but not worth a mark up. But since we ended up having to go over spring break again, and the dates were the same, here we were. As three of us are fans (and J will be, I'm sure, she's just too little), it's not like we minded!
The kids were, naturally, up early and very excited. We had a complicated and packed schedule for the day, and I'd been a little worried about how some of the timing would work out. It ended up fine, but it was a little tight in some moments.
The morning, however, started in a familiar way - to Cabanas right about when it opened, and then to shuffleboard. We picked up the things we needed to do the "Porgs on Board" scavenger hunt, which we did throughout the day. Someone had told us this would be in the mystery detective game, but it was not -- there were pictures of porg nests "hidden" (usually pretty obviously) all over the boat, and you had to find them and mark it off on the back of a porg mask. It was fun, but not quite as sophisticated or involved as we would have hoped.
at 9am D had his BBB makeover. He got the Poe shirt and look. It was...fine. I don't think they do nearly as good a job with the adults as the kids, and I don't think we'd do it again for a grownup. The kids were scheduled for 9:15, but we arrived only a little after D -- they had 10am Jedi Training, and I didn't want to be late for that, so I didn't want to be late to start at BBB. They let the kids pick out costumes (including trying them on to make sure they were the right size) with me, so they could be in the actual chairs at 9:15. This made the timing work out perfectly.
P chose Kylo Ren:
As you can sort of see, the BBB fairy godmothers were transformed into imperial officers for the day. The conceit of SWDAS (similar to pirate night) is that the Fantasy has been conscripted by the First Order (or possibly the Empire -- there was some timeline mixing up, obviously, as characters from all the movies and tv shows were out and about in ways that weren't really consistent with the day being in the timeline of the Last Jedi, but, um, I don't think anyone cared).
You can't see it, of course, but under the mask our little Kylo has a great scar and some funky hair. I wish I could share more full photos -- he spent the whole day in character, making mean/angsty faces.
J decided to be Princess Leia "because I already have a Rey costume" (it's too small, but no matter). She further insisted that she had to have the wig, even though the fairy godmothers were clear it was going to be way too big (and we saw several older Princess Leias with their own hair up in buns). She is, however, a very persuasive little thing, and with the careful application of about 700 bobby pins (in the wig, in her hair, between her wig and hair) it was made to work, and hilariously adorable.
The children got little backpacks with some stateroom magnets, a name badge (with their name spelled in Star Wars letters) and a couple other things, I think. We ended up putting a bunch of stuff in those bags, so I can't totally remember what came from BBB. They also got certificates for having completed Jedi Training, later.
We headed down to Jedi Training, passing some BB8 races in the lobby on the way.
There was a large group of children, split into two groups, one on each side, led by CMs in costume as non-specific Jedi. All the kids were given robes and lightsabers and then brought on stage as a group. They first went through several exercises together, learning from the "Jedi" how to do certain moves.
They put the whole combination together as a big group - ready position, cut left, cut right, duck, stand, cut to the head. Then Darth Vader and Kylo Ren showed up (together, so, as I said, what timeline are we even in). The grown up Jedi told the kids they would have to fight.
The kids were led down off the stage while there was some grown up taunting, and then the kids went up one at a time, first to one side (Vader) then the other (Kylo). Vader and Kylo each had a few lines they would say to the kids "I will show you how to embrace your true power" "embrace the dark side" and the like. Both our kids had Kylo.
J was the smallest kid on stage, and I thought she might be too scared to go up -- but then the child in front of her in line got scared and bailed out, so J stepped up in her place without really having time, I think, to get nervous. Of course it was very funny - she was being told to "duck" when she barely came up to Kylo's waist and hardly needed to duck.
Jedi training was clearly a huge success. If I had to do it over, I think I'd want to do Jedi Training very first and BBB after, but I'm not sure that was an option when we signed up for activities -- we were silver, so we didn't have a problem getting all of the activities when we booked (midnight the day our window opened), but some times were already sold out.
After Jedi training we went to "Pool Patrol" - -D remembered this as having involved some kind of show last time, but this year it was just storm troopers wandering around, and it was really hot (especially for those in costume).
We next had a series of character meet ups, both scheduled and un. Boba Fett was mostly guarding the Han Solo in carbonite in the atrium (which had been roped off much of the week)
Later in the day there were official photographers set up at the carbonite, as well as with the SWDAS backdrop, so we got official portraits.
I can't remember the exact timing, but all the following happened between the end of Jedi Training and 2:30pm-
Chewbacca meet up--this was GREAT. He was really in character - gave J-as-Leia huge hugs (making up for the end of TFA?) and wouldn't talk to P-as-Kylo--pushed him away, growled at him, etc. P thought it was HILARIOUS (which is good, it totally could have gone another way! though I suspect Chewie would have adapted).
Darth Vader meet up -- also very good, though the line was really really long. The tickets are timed, but there's still a lot of waiting.
Droid meet up - R2D2 and C3PO. Again, long lines, but they were really good droids, a great interaction.
We had lunch as well- quick serve food and ice cream, per usual.
We went to the costume celebration at 12:45 in the atrium (though we were up above, looking down), and were really impressed by many of the costumes. We ran into lots of people from Rebels and some gamorrean guards. We did not see any jawas, however, which was a big disappointment as we had brought plastic gems to trade with them (supposedly they will trade for anything small and shiny that isn't real money).
We finished the porg hunt around 2, and J was starting to show signs of an imminent sensory overload meltdown. The Last Jedi was showing in the Buena Vista at 2:15 and P really wanted to see it again -- as did I. D had already seen it 3 times (with me on opening night, a week later with some guy friends, and then a third time with P) so it was definitely my turn. He took J back to the cabin for some quiet time and I got to go to the movie. We got good seats, despite arriving only a couple minutes before start time. It was even better the second time, and I had loved it the first.
After the movie we met up with the others and decided to do one last search for characters, and stop at the gift store for souvenirs - there was still some money on D's $100 GC from the focus group, and we'd told each kid they could choose one thing. J got a stuffed animal Pua (the pig from Moana), which she insisted on bringing everywhere we went for the rest of the trip and, well, most everywhere for the months since. P got a SWDAS t-shirt (and now I remember what he got when J and I were doing the princess tea -- he got Ezra's lightsaber and some pins for his lanyard).
P wanted to change into his Luke Skywalker costume for dinner, so that we could be a whole family of Jedi. D and I agreed and wore our Jedi robes (purchased for the first SWDAS-- they're pretty hilariously cheap, but do the trick) and J was still Leia, though she took the wig off. I ended up carrying P's robe most of the time, it was too hot.
Dinner was in Animator's again, and there were some Star Wars stills up, which was cool, but there wasn't a show or anything at dinner. Dinner itself was uneventful, and fun. The family at the table next door once again showed up in waves, disrupting the flow of service. This time our server visibly rolled his eyes when it happened (which we found amusing, and they didn't see).
Walking back from Animator's, with Pua:
We went to the beginning of "Celebrate the Saga" (715 in the lobby) but the kids were too tired to stay up for the costume celebration and dance party. We didn't even make it to the Porg mask photo op at 7:30, despite having done the whole Porg scavenger hunt. We saw a few more wandering characters and headed up to put them to bed. It was my turn to go out, but I was completely exhausted from waking up at the crack of dawn every morning. I knew D really wanted to go to Summon the Force (10:15, deck 11), so while I went out for a bit, I was back by 930 so he could go get a good spot. It was also cold that evening, and I was glad not to be outside.
I did a little pre-packing organizing, and was about to fall asleep when the fireworks started. P woke up again, so we watched them from the verandah again, and then both went right back to sleep.
It was hard to believe, but the vacation was almost over!!