The Sith Lord and the Jedi
I was excited as a little kid for Star Wars Weekend. Slowing down the day before (which I will write about in my next entry) did lots of good to my disposition. Of course, I had been to MGM on the day of my arrival, but I was so exhausted from the plane trip that I barely enjoyed anything but the pleasure of being able to meet my friends again amid the general mayhem. This time, I was ready to take in as much as possible. As Dayna, Lisa and I left the boat and approached the gates, I was singing and conducting the theme song fanfarre enthusiastically. The fun began even before the park opened, as a couple of stormtroopers appeared at the top of the walls and started treating us, the crowd, as potential threats to the Rebellion. As I waited, I thought about what I wanted to do: buy a pin, get t-shirts for my kids, take pictures with some characters and just walk around imbibing the atmosphere. I didn't have to do any ride at all.
When the gates opened, I ran to a line for Star Wars merchandising. When I was inside the store, I hear a voice call my name. Good lord. That was no one but a certain Diser whom I had been stumbling into daily during my December trip. "Hey, do you live here?", he asked. "No, do you?", I counterattacked. "This is a small world after all", he concluded rather originally. At this point, I couldn't possibly have contradicted him. The incident raised some smiles from my friends, that kind that only comes with cumplicity.
After shopping, Dayna, Lisa and I went roaming around to look for the characters. I have to say that I was blessed with two companions who were much in the same mood I was, that is, wanting to enjoy the atmosphere more than ride the rides. We stopped for photos everywhere, looked attentively at the guests in costumes (there was an amazing pair of father and son all dressed in full Anakkin robes, and a lady carefully dressed as Anakkin's mom, with hair do and all). Dayna was feeling the heat, so we retreated to Writer's Corner, which was fine by me. The secret of enduring hot days is really cooling down regularly, and drinking lots of fluids. And of course, sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen. At that nice little shop, we met Frank and Corinne. As Star Wars fans they both had pretty much their own agenda of things to do (and shop, of course ;-) ), and dutifully eyerolled at us when we mentioned that our plans included star autographs, photos with the Ewoks and other triffling plans.;-)
We went on. As I walked around looking at everything I started musing. I had seen "Batman Begins" on the day before and "The Revenge of the Sith" on Sunday. It occurred to me that the Anakkin saga was like an opera libretto, highly exaggerated and sometimes melodramatic, but enjoyable all the same. Batman is more like a greek tragedy, in which the main antagonist is not the bad guy, but the protagonist's own demons, which are at least tamed in the end. Anakkin is pretty much his own demon. That what I find interesting in the Star Wars story. He becomes Darth Vader not because he is manipulated by the emperor or bewitched. He goes into the dark side of his own freewill. The presence of his new mentor merely reinforces the worst in him. He might be used by the emperor in his quest for control of the galaxy, but he mainly agrees meekly with that.You cannot even say that Episode 3 has an unhappy ending. If this is the story of Anakkin, he ends without his loved one, it is true, but he rises to unimaginable power which rewards his ambitions.
Lunch was at the Brown Derby with Lisa and Dayna. Then there was pool time and an amazing dinner at Jiko's, with the girls and Bob. This is definitely one of my favorite places to eat. I like the atmosphere, the food, the service. If my word as a food writer may be taken into account, I give this place two thumbs up. I had a Malaysian curried shrimp which was very savoury and very spice (some like it hot, they say, and I am one of them), and then pistacchio creme brulee, with a thin layer of dark chocolate at the bottom. Believe it or not, we did not call it a day. We decided to go to Magic Kingdom. We ended up watching Wishes by 10 pm, and then going to the hotel. The park was jammed, and it was the hottest night I had there. What a fun day that was.
2 Comments:
Fun stuff Livia - I am soo sooo jealous of your piccy with the Ewoks they are my fav - I wish for one as a pet ;-)
I'm so sad that I wasn't there to experience it also. How cool too that you did HBD and Jiko's all in one day - perfection - I know how you love Jiko's so.
Yup it sounded like a very fun day indeed.
I love Jiko's. There was a funny incident there. Though it is quite an upscale place, suddenly there comes in a lady wearing nothing but a bikini top. I was so surprised at the sight that I couldn't help my comment. Then she went out of the restaurant and returned in a strapless top that was almost like nothing on, and there she stayed. I think people sometimes take the "resort casual" recommendation too far. ;-)
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