The Force is Strong in This One: SWW and Celebration VI, Disney Done Differently

[lovethattink]

wow, more fun! anakin looks cool with his scar!

Thanks!

Great update! Very cool that Dave stopped by. Anakin is a friend of the stars!

I so admire artists that can draw like that.

I wanted to do the Star Wars Origami but we were busy shopping. In fact, we bought the book and got it autographed. I remember them inviting us to the event, but I knew I couldn't get DH away from the shopping. Who is the kid?

There is rarely a friend he hasn't met.

I think you were the one who said the origami would be good for us. Too bad you missed it. But now you can work on it at home!

We did get some shopping in. Got a couple event shirts before they sold out.

 

[lovethattink]

We had some free time before Anakin and I went to the bully panel at 3:30 and Grumpy and Goofy went to the Japanese Star Wars Vegetable Carving. When asked what he wanted to do, Anakin didn’t hesitate to say let’s find the 501st Shoot a Trooper!


The write up on the phone app said this was your chance to shoot a stormtrooper. It was to benefit the Peter Mayhew Foundation. It listed it at being at WB4.


The outside theater doors said WB4. We asked if this was the entrance and showed the phone app to the attendant at the door. He said this was WB4 but not the usual entrance. Someone else was entering here and she offered to take us. We were very thankful, and one again I felt lost in translation. She showed us where to go. We were behind the scenes. She pointed clear across the hall to where we should enter the next time. We thanked her for getting us there.

They got out the big guns for Anakin!

We found some cool displays as we walked back out to our panels.

These great people were guests who were happy to pose for pictures!

From here we split up. Anakin and I went to the 3:30pm Bullied- What every Parent, Teacher, and Kid Needs to Know. It was hosted by Ashley Eckstein and featured author Carrie Goldman. Her daughter was bullied over her love for Star Wars. Goofy and Grumpy went to Japanese Star Wars Vegetable Carving.

As soon as we entered the room, Anakin spotted Ashley Eckstein. He wanted to go right up to her and say hi. I could see she was busy and wouldn’t let him bother her. The panel was a very good one and helpful. It was a little too long for Anakin though. Disney shows are more his speed at 30 minutes. The hour was pushing it for him.

Afterwards, Anakin flew up to Ashley as I was collecting our belongings. She remembered him by name! He was thrilled!
We headed over to the guys at the vegetable carving. Anakin didn’t want to stay there, so we headed back to the Family Room to wait for them to finish. It was time to Build Your Own Mandalorian Armor.

Grumpy came back with a shirt in his hand. He caught one of those t-shirts they threw to the crowd. Apparently it was quite a catch because, because someone made a comment that he must be a safety.

Earlier in the day, the lines for autographs were very long. We decided to go back down and see if they were any shorter. They were! We got a pass for Peter Mayhew and for Jeremy Bulloch. They gave a fancy ticket for Peter and a plain one for Jeremy. They also gave us a wristband and said to hang on it to, but we didn’t need to wear it then.

This whole day had been going very well up to this point. Goofy had brought a special picture to have Peter Mayhew sign. Anakin started to panic. He didn’t want that picture signed. It was his special picture of Chewbacca. So we ended up getting one of the Official pics signed since Anakin insisted that would ruin the special picture. It wasn’t a battle worth fighting. And there were way more tears than were necessary.
I was so frazzled, that I didn’t think to ask him if it was ok to take his picture. Anakin chose a picture of “wampaland” of Chewbacca to have him sign.

I wasn’t sure how the autograph session with Jeremy Bulloch was going to go. For this, we had the picture of Anakin and him blown up to 8x10 from SWW to get signed.

Anakin was excited about this! We were remembered! Then Jeremy noticed he was wearing the exact same shirt again. To mix things up, he put on Anakin’s Boba Fett hatt.

He kept teasing Anakin about who was Boba Fett. Anakin got silly saying, “you are!” He spent a long time with us talking as if we’d all been friends all our lives. He was more than happy to pose with the boys for a picture.

We thanked him for his time and headed out of the Exhibition Hall, after another round of Shoot a Trooper.


(Continued)

 

[lovethattink]

With our first day of Celebration VI under our belts, we felt our expectations were exceeded! We had a wonderful day. Met some amazing people. We saw the people who face painted Anakin’s face and they told him they would look for him tomorrow.

 

[addictedtonostalgia]

WOW, what an incredible first day! I how all the stars treated Anakin and your family, it says a lot about him that people can remember who he is. I think his face painting turned out really well, it made his photo ops look really cool. Did he do that origami (or most of it)? I can't even fold paper, that would really frustrate me.

It's great that your family can all really enjoy themselves together in one place!

 

[lovethattink]

WOW, what an incredible first day! I how all the stars treated Anakin and your family, it says a lot about him that people can remember who he is. I think his face painting turned out really well, it made his photo ops look really cool. Did he do that origami (or most of it)? I can't even fold paper, that would really frustrate me.

It's great that your family can all really enjoy themselves together in one place!

We all were feeling great about the first day!

He was able to do the light saber by himself, but we all needed help on the Boba Fett helmet at least once. Dh had to make two folds for him on the helmet where he didn't understand the fold at all. There was the instructor and a helper going around helping everyone.

 

[annmarieda]

It is so neat to see all the fun stuff... and more importantly, Anakin enjoying it all. How awesome that Jeremy Bulloch was so friendly! I think I would worry about going to any signings... thinking it would be just "slide me what you want to sign" and "next"....

 

[lovethattink]

It is so neat to see all the fun stuff... and more importantly, Anakin enjoying it all. How awesome that Jeremy Bulloch was so friendly! I think I would worry about going to any signings... thinking it would be just "slide me what you want to sign" and "next"....

Only Peter Mayhew didn't stop and chat. All the others were did. One of our favorite signings was Jake Lloyd. We loved his sense of humor and he was quite a character. Anakin kept him on his toes, and his come backs were entertaining. Not sure who entertained who most. The pictures show the fun!

 

[ShortStuff]

Hi, been working and getting ready to leave for WDW Thursday, but finally got to catch up!! First off, LOVE your Rafiki pictures from AOA!!! : So cute!!!!

Wow, Celebration looks very cool!! How awesome that they have so many cool activities that are good for kids! Anakin looked so happy all day long!! Awesome!

I understand about fine straight hair. Mine was all my life, until Texas. lol. My badge has a picture from a few days after moving here. Nice, smooth, smooth, straight hair. Boy are those days long gone!

Looking forward to day two!! How cool that so many people remembered ya'll!!!!

 

[mommy2mrb]

so wonderful Anakin was remembered from previous meetings...got to love the pixie dust! looks like you all had an amazing day!

 

[lovethattink]

Hi, been working and getting ready to leave for WDW Thursday, but finally got to catch up!! First off, LOVE your Rafiki pictures from AOA!!! : So cute!!!!

Wow, Celebration looks very cool!! How awesome that they have so many cool activities that are good for kids! Anakin looked so happy all day long!! Awesome!

I understand about fine straight hair. Mine was all my life, until Texas. lol. My badge has a picture from a few days after moving here. Nice, smooth, smooth, straight hair. Boy are those days long gone!

Looking forward to day two!! How cool that so many people remembered ya'll!!!!

Will we be there at the same time? We will be there next weekend.

Can't wait 'til the next Celebration! Next year it's in Germany, so we'll be skipping that. Hoping Celebration VII will be in Florida for a third run! That would be convenient!

Very cool!

I hope you have a great vacation! You may want to ask about bounce back rates for your return trip for SWW?

so wonderful Anakin was remembered from previous meetings...got to love the pixie dust! looks like you all had an amazing day!

Yes, it added such a personal touch.

 

[ShortStuff]

I hope we run in to you!! That would be wonderful! We wil be at AKV, we traded in with out Hilton timeshare! :

 

[kaoden39]

What great fun!! I love how nice they all are. What a great group of people!

 

[englishrose47]

Loved the Face painting !!!!

 

[lovethattink]

I hope we run in to you!! That would be wonderful! We wil be at AKV, we traded in with out Hilton timeshare! :

Enjoy your vacation!!

What great fun!! I love how nice they all are. What a great group of people!

Everyone we encountered was awesome! After the media stunt pulled the other day, it's great to see how the whole Star Wars community will come together in support of each other!

Loved the Face painting !!!!

Thanks!

 

[lovethattink]

Day 2​

I post this as we sit as a family watching Cupcake Wars: Star Wars on food network. Ashley Eckstein is a guest judge!

Our Day 2 started out just like day one, except that we weren’t clueless anymore. We knew what to expect this morning. We all got ready while Anakin slept. Having two bathrooms was such a godsend. More importantly, it allowed us all to sleep longer!!

We all grabbed a bite to eat, I packed some snacks in the cooler bag, and we headed out to Day 2 of Celebration VI!! We stayed in the same parking lanes and were parked in the same general area. We knew which elevators to head to. Once we got to the convention area, people were more helpful than the day before. Everyone we encountered directed us to an elevator.

We passed right by the two face painters from the day before. We stopped to say hello, and they both began to cry. They apologized to Anakin that they wouldn’t be able spend time with him today. They weren’t able to explain to us what was going on, but they both were very sad and it looked like the person escorting them was medical personnel. I hope they are both ok! We missed you!

The first item on the agenda was to head to the panel, Vocal Stars of Star Wars: The Clone Wars at the Celebration stage. The regular entrance to this was on the 4th floor, but the special needs entrance was the floor we were on. We were informed they had already let in the special needs people, so someone directed us directly into the theater. We parked the w/c at the closest spot to the exit. We were far from the stage, but with screens projected on the walls it was easy to see everything.

I put on the 55 – 200 zoom lens. This was going to be my first experience with this lens indoors. I took some practice shots after asking if it was ok to take pictures here.

Grumpy was hoping to catch another t-shirt, but none headed our way.

I was concerned about the set and my camera. During SWW the pictures on my phone were all white and light because the backround was black and my auto was over compensating. Flash stopped that, but here I was so far away, I didn’t think flash would help. I was happy to see that I didn’t run into the same problem as at SWW. Here there was enough color, I guess, that my pictures turned out ok!

James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) was the host of this show!

Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Tom Kane (Yoda), Dee Bradley Baker (Clones, etc), and Matt Lanter (Anakin) were the panel guests.

This panel was a lot of fun! Anakin had no problem paying attention for the hour. We all enjoyed it. They always are so much fun and there’s lots of laughs for the audience.

When the show was over Anakin insisted he had to go to the Family Room. We told him that we’d go for a little bit, but today was to do other things. Goofy wanted to go get mail postmarked with the special USPS Celebration VI postmark stamp, that was available from noon to 4pm. We all wanted to see the Unseen Warwick Davis at 3pm.

The Family room was much busier than the day before. The room was loud and children were running around knocking over the tents and rough playing. Anakin quickly became over stimulated and had no problem leaving after making a craft at Starship Building Challenge with Chad.

Next stop was to find the post office area. Along the way, we found some wookies.

And some muppets too

There were so many interesting costumes.

We did find the post office! Got the postmark.

I’m not sure where we were headed, but as we were walking Anakin wanted to walk too. He promised to hold onto the handle and that he would stay with us and not run off. Dee Bradley Baker passed us then stopped and talked to Anakin!

He asked him if he was going to the Clone Wars Red Carpet event. Anakin told him he didn’t know. I said we hope to! He told Anakin a secret about the next season of Clone Wars. This was top secret and very serious. This was such a special moment for Anakin!! I love how he got down to his level to talk!

 

[petals]

Luv the face painting and the making use of the floor.. The floor is always a great place to sit!

The rest I don't really understand not being a star wars fan but I'm sure Anakin loved it all.

 

[kaoden39]

Too bad Grumpy didn't catch another t-shirt!


I love the fact that Dee Bradley Baker took the time to stop and talk to Anakin. Plus to get down to his level to talk to him.

 

[ShortStuff]

Wow, is that Wookie dust you keep experiencing? Maybe R2D2 dust?! How awesome that Anakin had so many wonderful experiences!!! :

Looking forward to more of your adventures!!

 

[jmskinner]

Do you know how many times we walked past the area with the Shoot-A-Trooper and didn't realize what it was. Makes it worse that I wanted to do it.

We got a pic of Jacob in the emperors chair too.

My boys will want to know that secret.

Very cool that Dee Bradley Baker stopped and talked to Anakin. You kept texting me people you were seeing and we didn't have a clue who they are. We know all the people in the Star Wars movies, but it seems my boys are horrible Clone War's fans and don't know anyone.

And I am so jealous that you saw all those Wookies. We saw a pic of all of them.

 

[lovethattink]

Luv the face painting and the making use of the floor.. The floor is always a great place to sit!

The rest I don't really understand not being a star wars fan but I'm sure Anakin loved it all.

Thanks for taking the time to read and post! It was a taste of heaven for him, and pretty cool for us too!

You may relate more when I tell you the man in serious conversation with Anakin is the voice of Perry the Platypus on Phinneas and Ferb! Or his voices on Ben 10, Fairly Odd Parents, Legend of Korra, etc.

Too bad Grumpy didn't catch another t-shirt!


I love the fact that Dee Bradley Baker took the time to stop and talk to Anakin. Plus to get down to his level to talk to him.

That was just a fluke the first time!

I was so impressed how he got down on the floor! That means alot!

Wow, is that Wookie dust you keep experiencing? Maybe R2D2 dust?! How awesome that Anakin had so many wonderful experiences!!! :

Looking forward to more of your adventures!!

I tell you, the force is strong in this one! It was very cool!