Day 2 - A Wish come true

So Friday, our first day at the park, was Joshua's big day (funny thing is - they were all big days)! It was the day he was to attend the Jedi Training Academy, as well as meet and greet several different actors and characters.  We spent the day with a VIP tour guide, Debbie, who got us where we needed to be & kept us entertained!

The day started out beautifully & we were all so excited for the events of the day! And then the rain started!!!

Which didn't dampen our spirits actually because we knew we were in for an amazing day. The nice thing about Florida is that it's warm when it rains, however, it was a little chilly when we were drenched & went inside to ice cold A/C!

But really, we didn't even care...a little (or a lot in this case) of rain wasn't gonna ruin our day!

Unfortunately, the Jedi Training was cancelled for the day, but instead we got to spend extra time with the characters & actors. They were all so incredibly nice & took so much time with us. They gave Josh gifts & they called him by his first name.  His little face just lit up & he thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone.

We also got to see a few shows through out the first day...our favorite was the Storm Trooper show. They are seriously hilarious....I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time!

But the meet & greets weren't over yet! We got to visit "the dark side"....which turned out to be down right terrifying, even for the worlds biggest Star Wars fan! These guys NEVER go out of character, that's important to note. So Darth Maul for instance, it's his job to scare the pants off of people, not shake hands and share pleasantries.

Did I mention Darth Vader is seriously like 7' 8"??? And he's a total mouth breather.

By now, surely you've noticed Josh is nowhere to be found in any of these pictures. Well that would be thanks to Darth Maul!! As soon as Josh laid eyes on him in the distance he was FREAKED!! We tried desperately to convince him that he should go meet him, but he was NOT about to get near him. I have no idea why.

Perhaps it was the way he stood staring Josh down for 5 straight minutes?? I was laughing so hard. Darth Maul knew this was Josh's wish, so he made it memorable. SO FUNNY!
The people at Disney came up with an ingenious plan to get a picture of Josh with Darth Maul...

So we got our picture, but not without a little creativity! As we walked away, Darth Maul continued staring at Josh & pointed at him as we exited the area. I am quite certain Joshua will never forget a second of it!

The lead Star Wars guy at Disney was with us at this point and asked Josh if there was anyone else he really wanted to meet. Wiping the last of his tears away he said, "Luke Skywalker."
We were then escorted to the other side of the park to a holding area right next to the meet & greet for Princess Leia, R2D2 & C3PO!!! And wouldn't you know it, this guy snuck up behind us to say hello:

This was the absolute highlight of our already spectacular day! Luke was so nice to Josh & spent the longest time talking with him.  I cried. I shed a lot of happy tears on the trip....especially during this part of the experience.

The kids had a blast meeting all of the characters, and I have to say, Sam & Leia sure hit it off.

He's still talking about his Leia.  

After all that we were ready to eat! Debbie reserved us a spot at this indoor Drive-In movie diner:

It was both delicious and fun! We also rode some rides and had some other adventures:

Finally we said goodbye to our new friend Debbie. We were sad to say bye because she was so helpful to us, but she gave us a ton of tips to help us on the rest of our trip! She even gave me her cell # and told me to call her any time with any questions during our stay. 

What a wonderful day it turned out to be...and we still had 4 more days of fun!!!