Watching Star Wars for the First Time: Episode VII

The final installment of Leeann watches Star Wars is finally here!

Also, in case you missed my most recent Disney post, check out what happened during my first few days at Disney World over on my DCP tab.

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In a stunning turn of events, I accidently turned on the option "English with descriptive audio" to have someone narrate what's happening. It's hilarious, so no matter.

Even the new movie starts exactly the same...

Luke has vanished! This is the best news yet. Now if only Han was missing too.

But Leia is a general! Yes yes!

Ship covers the moon, so it must be evil.

Storm troopers! Maybe they have skills now.

A robot not quite as cute as R2 appears.

Guy who looks like Obi Wan appears with random young guy who seems evil.

Stormtroopers, much better at shooting. Not a good thing.

I like how BB8 chirps instead of whistle whistle bleep bleeps

Why storm troopers, why? Why so evil? Why why why.

Convenient blood mark on important stormtrooper.

Kylo Ren, stop trying to be Darth Vader. You're not Darth Vader.

Guy I thought was evil is actually just stupid, like Luke.

BB8 moaned softly! Oh no oh no this is so sad!

Ah yes, he is an important storm trooper!! And I see why they've been unremarkable before.

The music is incredibly improved (along with, you know, every visual effect ever).

Rey frees BB8!! Rey is British??

BB8 is so happy to have made a friend. Lol this robot is hilarious.

I wish Kylo Ren sounded like Mufasa.

Another map of the evil ship! How nice! Throwback to Episode IV.

How is the force strong with Kylo Ren if Luke is missing?

Rey and BB8, best friends for life.

Wait, Rey, don't trade him don't don't!! He's your friend.

What, no, STRANGER DANGER POE STRANGER DANGER. I mean, I know Finn's good (now, I did think he was evil) but you don't.

Poe and Finn are clearly bros.

Questions you should have asked before running away with someone: names.

Wow Kylo Ren, I mean I hate you, but you know what you're doing.

Questions you should have asked before running away with someone: where they want to run away to and why.

They just blew that ship up because they could...

Leader Snoke? Who's he?

Also of the things to ditch in the new movie, PowerPoint transitions would have been at the top of my list.

BB8 with these zaps, I love it.

Sad BB8 is so depressing oh my gosh.

Poor BB8 everyone makes him save himself. Just like my dear (missing) R2.

WAIT WHAT I KNOW WHAT THIS SHIP IS.

Rey you are a flying genius!

Did they just leave Poe behind on the planet?

Kylo Ren control yourself! Destroying the ship never solved anything.

BB8's thumbs up is great.

Also, the fact Finn knows nothing tells me that stormtroopers are in fact worthless.

CHEWIEEE. You haven't aged a day.

Ew and Han.

Harrison Ford I'm sorry but you look really really...old.

Han what are you doing with your life. Are you really stealing again.

An Irishman appears. Why.

I predict Han and Co will escape on the Millilium Falcon.

How does Rey know how to do all this?

Oh look, they're escaping on the Falcon!

This is like the first movie redone with style.

Who is this Snoke? I'm confused.

Kylo Ren is Han's son, not surprised. I can see the resemblance.

Han is shocked that a woman like Rey could be cool and know more than him. Gag.

Oh Han. Still have to teach Rey because she's a girl.

What; where are we now? Am I missing a reference because I skipped 1,2,3?

Kylo Ren feels pulled to the light! But did he not know that at the last minute Darth Vader was good?

"Leia doesn't want to see me." Well I sure hope she doesn't.

Come on Finn, BB8's chirping anxiously!

But wait, Rey, no, it is your destiny, take the light saber.

Moody shot of Rey. Rey don't be like Luke don't do it.

Wait why the Nazi reference...

Oh my gosh they destroyed the city in the clouds... And four others...oh my gosh...

Oh no you're captured. If Rey was there that wouldn't have happened.

The fighter planes! People die in those.

Can we please acknowledge how Finn has no force?

Oh hey Poe's back! What happened with him?

I've decided Rey is Luke's daughter. Meaning, the cousins are fighting! Andddd now Kylo kidnapped her.

Finn's devotion to Rey is really touching.

UGH NO WHY DID C3PO appear!

If he comes back and R2 doesn't I'm done.

Aw sweet Chewie and Leia hug.

BB8 and Poe have the most adorable reunion!

Oh Leia, you've aged.

But I'm so glad she's mad at Han.

ITS R2 ITS R2 ITS R2 AND BB8 FOUND HIM.

Kylo Ren sans mask is not threatening.

Oh but wow is he evil to Rey.

The force is with Rey, you can have nothing Kylo.

She will defeat you Kylo Ren!!

Hey, I know! Let's defeat the evil weapon in the same way we always have! Because why create your weapon in a different way?

No stop I'm never okay with Han and Leia together.

Finn, Rey is so far ahead of you you don't even know

A bunch of planes! They are bound to get shut down.

Han stop acting surprised when Rey does something

They named Kylo Ren "Ben" after Obi Wan. He's a shame to the name. YOU ARE NOT A KINDLY OLD MAN SIR.

I'm sorry I don't believe Kylo Ren is good.

I knew it.

Chewie, Chewie no. Those sounds. :(

My cat enters the room. "No no don't watch the movie watch how cute I'm being."

This destruction plan is so familiar...

Rey is doing the one thing Luke could never figure out! Focusing!

Oh sure what are the chances a huge hole went right between them...

And Chewie saves the day!!

The bombest women of all time hug. This is great.

R2 you're back!! You're back!! Just in time!

Oh Luke... Aged well you did not.

That's it! That's it?!?!

And now I have to actually wait...

Leeann

Check In and Casting!

Monday I officially moved to Disney World and find myself just one day away from becoming a cast member!

The updates I could give you could go on for hours, so, for now, I'm just going to talk about the Disney events I attended the past two days. More exciting adventures to follow (preview: Magic Kingdom, fireworks, a flooded kitchen).

Monday I drove into my new apartment complex, Chatham Square. All my roommates were placed together (yay!) but in a small, two bedroom six-person apartment (sad). Still, we adjusted pretty quickly until the crisis started (but that's another story...). Check in went so quickly and before I knew it I had a housing ID and a bed! We show that ID everywhere, so if you're doing the DCP, never forget it!

My roommates are wonderful and moving in went smoothly. I later explored Disney Springs with one roommate, Maggie, and one of her friends and her roommates. It was a good first night and I was really looking forward to finding out my job the next day.

Enter Tuesday: Casting! It's mostly paperwork but I waited (im)patiently for my job in the big atrium where Disney statues loomed large over us. So I will be in Quick Service Food and Beverage at the Wilderness Lodge in Roaring Fork! (So hit me up if you're around :)). I'm very excited, I love that resort and it's near Magic Kingdom without the crazy hours. I also got my schedule and come Friday afternoon I will be an official cast member. I have Saturday off which means- PARK TIME. Then Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I have brief training days before getting a more complete schedule.

After casting I came back to explore the apartment complex a bit more with Jenny and Emily and then our roommate adventures entered unanticipated territory.

Stay tuned...

Watching Star Wars for the First Time: Episode VI

The Star Wars streak continues with the last movie of the original trilogy. Plot twists, PowerPoint transitions, and repeat story lines abound, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it! Read on for my play-by-play, followed by thoughts on the three movies altogether.

My last Star Wars recap will be of the newest one, Episode VII (yes I'm skipping I, II, and III. Sorry not sorry). And then after that, almost all my blog posts will be over at my DCP Fall 2016 tab, so make sure you're checking it regularly! I most recently posted about the process for requesting housing/roommates and signing up for a class.

Without further ado: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

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*Words scroll on the screen* Caroline: "Oh, this part. You can't eat cheesecake and read words at the same time."

Oh, so the pizza slices did not replace the Death Star! Didn't catch that.

Oooo are we finally going to meet the emperor?

R2 R2 R2!!

R2, so fearless, so cute.

Jabba the Hutt looking much better since the first film.

What is this music? Tropical electro-dance? 

"I am Luke Skywalker, and I have a new haircut!"

Luke, you fool! Why would you give away R2?

Lol Han is Jabba's wall hanging.

"You're a feisty little one." R2 is perfect just the way he is, don't change him Jabba minions!

What is the deal with this Jabba dance scene... Like what is happening... I'm so confused. Why is Jabba having an evil dance party?

Now they're making like the Romans and fighting monsters to the death?

Chewbacca has appeared, hooray!

Festive tune picks up after a very tense scene.

Jabba's Han art is almost like a shrine. And his removal was way too easy. Just a click of the button!

YUCK LEIA WHY STOP.

For once Leia has acted incredibly foolish. Why did she release him with no plan?

Although the Han/Chewy reunion is cute.

Oh, ugh, Leia. What have they done to you.

Luke stop trying to act cool. 

Luke's such a fool, he can't beeee freeeee.

I thought you were a Jedi Knight, I thought you were fancy, Luke.

Caroline: "Monster please just eat Luke and get this over with."

Luke you're not intimidating. This is not a real plan.

Oh. Well, yes, maybe that is a real plan.

Han deserves to be digested for 1,000 years by a monster. But did Jabba's minions really deserve that fate?

Yes Leia! Kill the beast!

R2 and Leia, the dream team. Taking over Jabba's ship with style.

And finally, Jabba defeated, Luke returns to Yoda. IT'S ABOUT TIME.

Yoda is all like "I'm ready for eternal sleep. Some call it death, but not me."

"Anger, fear, aggression- the dark side are they." Yoda, please come talk to Trump.

Yoda just poofed! Caroline: "That's one way to go."

PLOT TWIST LUKE HAS A SISTER. How on earth did I miss that in my 22 years?

DOUBLE PLOT TWIST IT'S LEIA. (Embarrassing side note: I've actually read a children's book about Leia being Darth Vader's daughter. I thought it was a funny "what if...")

Defeat the ship, hit something inside it to destroy it...We've been here before, rebels.

Forest planet mostly looks like earth.

Ewok! 

Team Leia and Ewok are as great as Team Leia and R2.

3PO finally found his people- the kind that will worship him.

Luke goes outside to be moody. "I must go to face him. I'm endangering you while I'm here."

Luke takes the longest time in the world to tell Leia the truth. Her response? "I've always known." Then ew, Leia.

Han is a jerk. Always a jerk. And then Leia's all like "hold me." NO GIRL YOU DON'T NEED HIM.

Luke's like "Dad, be good!" And Darth Vader is like "Son, be evil!" I don't foresee a compromise here.

Han. You are so condescending. Dislike you I do.

Ewok attacks are like giant deadly hugs.

C3PO is constantly trying to hold R2 back and I don't approve (oh hey, much like Han and Leia...)

I cannot imagine this shield thing is going to go well.

Love, love is the answer! Not anger! That's always how these movies go.

Leia with the genius "I'm hurt! Oh but wait, GUN."

Luke your father doesn't have a light side!! Let it goooo. Let it gooo!

Luke, he can read your mind, use that to your advantage. Harry Potter did.

"Now we've both lost a hand, it's cool, we're cool."

I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING.

WHAT WHAT WHAT.

Father and son bond right as father dies. Typical.

R2 beeps in excitement!

Leia's all like, "yeah, the Force is with me, it's casual."

Han the only one who appropriately reacts to the news Leia and Luke are siblings. He's good for something.

Dramatic Luke shot- with fire!

The only thing storm troopers are good for- being drums.

And they all lived happily ever after!

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So final thoughts: Episode IV I wasn't wild about, but I can see why it was so amazing in the 70's and I think set up a really cool story. Episode V is by far my favorite. It kept my attention the whole time and I felt like the characters really got to be people; in other words, they were more complex and understandable. Episode VI does a good job of adding new things while continuing the old story. I liked the twist about Leia, that gives me something to look forward to in the next movie. And the constant "what's going to happen to Luke and Darth Vader" question kept me interested. But in terms of a wrap up, it wasn't much more than what you'd expect. Like in Harry Potter, only Luke or Darth Vader could make it to the end; not both. I also felt like the whole "save Han" beginning was unnecessary (could be because despise him I do). But I still really enjoyed it, and would rate it as my second favorite.

What's your favorite Star Wars episode? Should I eventually watch I, II, and III? And can anyone get me R2 merch?

Leeann

Roommates, Apartments, and Classes

This week is wild in terms of Disney updates, and it's only Wednesday.

On Monday my roommates and I were relieved to find out we can all request to live with each other! Not everyone can "link," as it's called, with 5 other people, so we count ourselves as lucky. So, if everything goes according to plan, Emily, Maggie, Jenny, Lilly, and Brittnee will be my roommates! We met each other on one of the DCP Facebook groups and are all recent graduates (Emily just graduated from grad school!). I got to video chat with a few of them Monday night, and it was so fun to finally get to "see" each other instead of just chatting on Facebook.

The program that runs housing and classes is called DORMS. It took me through the process of registering my car and requesting my roommates and apartment. There are four different apartment complexes you can choose: The Commons, Chatham, Patterson, and Vista Way. Within each one there are 3 bedroom/6 person, 2 bedroom/6 person, and 4 bedroom/8 person options for my group of six. 

With those options, we ranked our apartment preferences. We want that in-house washer/dryer, so The Commons is our first choice. Second is Chatham, because it has a bus stop; third is Patterson, because it's the same as Chatham but no bus stop; and finally Vista Way because it's old and loud. We should know before check-in day which complex we get.

Then today the floodgates opened and class registration began. While some people use the classes at Disney to get credit for the program, I am taking one purely for fun. The type of class I picked, called an Exploration Series Seminar, has no homework or tests. All I have to do is show up, participate, and learn!

After half an hour, I finally got the system to let me register for Disney Heritage! This class is all about Disney history. I am so happy to get it, because it's one of the most popular choices and fills up quickly. The class starts in late September and ends mid-October. I can't wait!

If you're reading this and thinking about doing the Disney College Program, let me know if you have any questions! I'd be happy to do a post explaining any of the process so far, too (it's kind of confusing and I've done a LOT of research to prepare).

Until next time- have a magical day!