Narnian_Princess
Rey is my hero
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
- Messages
- 4,631
This year is a huge milestone in the Star Wars fan community; it is the 30th anniversary of the year when a small film simply called "Star Wars" was released to the public and became a worldwide sensation. So of course, what better way to celebrate than by visiting the Star Wars Weekends? Join me and together we will rule the galax-- sorry. Join me and find out one fan's opinion of this year's Star Wars Weekends! 
First of all, I wouldn't suggest sleeping in the car on your way to the park. Of course, for me it's inevitable, but it makes for a nasty neck cramp, especially if your drive is 2 hours long. Needless to say I don't remember much until we drove up to the parking ticket booth. It was 7:30 and nobody was there, interesting. As soon as we parked I hopped out and listened for the one sound that lets me know it is Star Wars Weekends; the sound of Star Wars music blaring from the sound system near the park entrance!
I must say I was shocked at the sheer amount of people waiting to get in. In previous years 7:40 was early, and we would be about the 15th party in line to get in. This year, people were packed from the turnstiles, back to the ticket booths, back to the security station! Just massive amounts of people. I was surprised to find out that the autograph and merchandise lines were starting outside of the park this year, instead of everyone going inside then lining up for whichever activity they preferred. It makes the whole system more fair, IMO, and I was pleased. So we all split up, one person in each autograph line waiting to get me an autograph FastPass (I am the only one getting autographs this year) and my mom and myself in the merchandise line.
It was a long wait, but I felt better this year knowing that the EMH people who were going in the park were not getting all the good spots in SWW event lines. My new issue of Star Wars Insider made the wait bearable, plus hearing the epic Star Wars music doesn't hurt! Finally the lines started moving and it was nearly time to go in the park. I was on the far side of the turnstile area and as a result could not hear the famous opening spiel very well... but I heard enough to know that they changed it! After 2 or 3 years of hearing the same SWW opening it was very refreshing, though I did hear Jar Jar so it couldn't have been much less painful.
My mom and I were the first people in the second batch of merchandise line that was taken back to Jabba's Hutt on Mickey Avenue. The CM that lead us was a girl named Jessica, and she was the sweetest person on planet Earth. She kept complimenting me on my pins (I was wearing all of last year's SWW pins, as well as the logo pins from several other years and my Revenge of the Sith Opening Day and DVD release pins) and asking me Star Wars questions. She also would tell us that she absolutely loved her co-worker (Laura, I think) because "she's such a hard worker, she really goes out of her way". She told us about how she came to work at Disney, and that I should try the College Program as she loved it, plus "you get 20% off of pins!"
Once we got inside Jabba's Hutt, the place was packed. The CM's gave everybody an order form for the Limited Edition items; only 2 of each item allowed per person, and you would turn in the order forms at the end of the line. But that line was long. At one point it didn't move one inch for 20 minutes. All in all, I was in there for an hour and 45 minutes. It was a long frustrating wait, but there were TV's in the area between the non-limited-edition merchandise area and the tables where you would turn your order form in and the CM's would retrieve your order, so that made the wait a little better. About 30 minutes in, my mom gave up waiting with me and took my custom photos I'd printed in case one of the guys who were waiting for the autograph FastPasses came back with one for the 10:00 session. But let me say, I watched the CM's at the Limited Edition table for quite some time, and they were all so cheerful and accommodating; in fact, one gentleman stood there from the time I got in the door until the time I got up to the table, just searching for the "perfect" pin set. He finally found the "perfect" one just as it was my turn, and the CM who tended to him took my order next, and she was such a sweetie. Those guys and gals inside Jabba's Hutt were just exceptional. Applause!
Once outside I found that we had indeed received a FastPass for the Bonnie Piesse (young Beru in SW II and III) 10:00 session and that one of the guys had gone and gotten my photo signed for me, even with my name on it.
I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to meet her, but I was getting too hungry to care as I hadn't eaten breakfast. It was 11:00 so too late for breakfast and too early for lunch... We tried to make reservations at the Sci-Fi Dine In-- nothing until 10 PM. Great... Mama Melrose's didn't have anything until 1:20 so we took that... but afterward I looked at my schedule to see that Stars of the Saga (the celebrity "talk show") was at 1:00. Awesome. We'd have to miss it.
We rode Star Tours and getting out of Tatooine Traders was a nightmare! We decided to ride The Great Movie Ride, but with a wait time of 40 minutes, it wasn't happening, so off to the Sorcerer's Hat pin shop to see if I could find the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End countdown pin series. They had all except the first one (Jack), so I bought them and some locking pin backs, and while I was in line an older gentleman began talking to me about my pins, asking me about the AWE pins I was buying, etc. He even said "look what you did; now I have to go buy that pin set!"
After lunch we went to Guest Services to upgrade my ticket from a Seasonal Pass to an Annual Pass, as I want to go to all the SWW and the Seasonal block-out dates begin during the second weekend. We also made lunch reservations for the next day at Epcot as we were going to meet some friends, then it was the quest for Captain Jack as we went to the other pin shops in the park to search for the first pin in the AWE countdown series.
(TBC)
First of all, I wouldn't suggest sleeping in the car on your way to the park. Of course, for me it's inevitable, but it makes for a nasty neck cramp, especially if your drive is 2 hours long. Needless to say I don't remember much until we drove up to the parking ticket booth. It was 7:30 and nobody was there, interesting. As soon as we parked I hopped out and listened for the one sound that lets me know it is Star Wars Weekends; the sound of Star Wars music blaring from the sound system near the park entrance!
I must say I was shocked at the sheer amount of people waiting to get in. In previous years 7:40 was early, and we would be about the 15th party in line to get in. This year, people were packed from the turnstiles, back to the ticket booths, back to the security station! Just massive amounts of people. I was surprised to find out that the autograph and merchandise lines were starting outside of the park this year, instead of everyone going inside then lining up for whichever activity they preferred. It makes the whole system more fair, IMO, and I was pleased. So we all split up, one person in each autograph line waiting to get me an autograph FastPass (I am the only one getting autographs this year) and my mom and myself in the merchandise line.
It was a long wait, but I felt better this year knowing that the EMH people who were going in the park were not getting all the good spots in SWW event lines. My new issue of Star Wars Insider made the wait bearable, plus hearing the epic Star Wars music doesn't hurt! Finally the lines started moving and it was nearly time to go in the park. I was on the far side of the turnstile area and as a result could not hear the famous opening spiel very well... but I heard enough to know that they changed it! After 2 or 3 years of hearing the same SWW opening it was very refreshing, though I did hear Jar Jar so it couldn't have been much less painful.
My mom and I were the first people in the second batch of merchandise line that was taken back to Jabba's Hutt on Mickey Avenue. The CM that lead us was a girl named Jessica, and she was the sweetest person on planet Earth. She kept complimenting me on my pins (I was wearing all of last year's SWW pins, as well as the logo pins from several other years and my Revenge of the Sith Opening Day and DVD release pins) and asking me Star Wars questions. She also would tell us that she absolutely loved her co-worker (Laura, I think) because "she's such a hard worker, she really goes out of her way". She told us about how she came to work at Disney, and that I should try the College Program as she loved it, plus "you get 20% off of pins!"
Once we got inside Jabba's Hutt, the place was packed. The CM's gave everybody an order form for the Limited Edition items; only 2 of each item allowed per person, and you would turn in the order forms at the end of the line. But that line was long. At one point it didn't move one inch for 20 minutes. All in all, I was in there for an hour and 45 minutes. It was a long frustrating wait, but there were TV's in the area between the non-limited-edition merchandise area and the tables where you would turn your order form in and the CM's would retrieve your order, so that made the wait a little better. About 30 minutes in, my mom gave up waiting with me and took my custom photos I'd printed in case one of the guys who were waiting for the autograph FastPasses came back with one for the 10:00 session. But let me say, I watched the CM's at the Limited Edition table for quite some time, and they were all so cheerful and accommodating; in fact, one gentleman stood there from the time I got in the door until the time I got up to the table, just searching for the "perfect" pin set. He finally found the "perfect" one just as it was my turn, and the CM who tended to him took my order next, and she was such a sweetie. Those guys and gals inside Jabba's Hutt were just exceptional. Applause!
Once outside I found that we had indeed received a FastPass for the Bonnie Piesse (young Beru in SW II and III) 10:00 session and that one of the guys had gone and gotten my photo signed for me, even with my name on it.
I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to meet her, but I was getting too hungry to care as I hadn't eaten breakfast. It was 11:00 so too late for breakfast and too early for lunch... We tried to make reservations at the Sci-Fi Dine In-- nothing until 10 PM. Great... Mama Melrose's didn't have anything until 1:20 so we took that... but afterward I looked at my schedule to see that Stars of the Saga (the celebrity "talk show") was at 1:00. Awesome. We'd have to miss it. We rode Star Tours and getting out of Tatooine Traders was a nightmare! We decided to ride The Great Movie Ride, but with a wait time of 40 minutes, it wasn't happening, so off to the Sorcerer's Hat pin shop to see if I could find the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End countdown pin series. They had all except the first one (Jack), so I bought them and some locking pin backs, and while I was in line an older gentleman began talking to me about my pins, asking me about the AWE pins I was buying, etc. He even said "look what you did; now I have to go buy that pin set!"
After lunch we went to Guest Services to upgrade my ticket from a Seasonal Pass to an Annual Pass, as I want to go to all the SWW and the Seasonal block-out dates begin during the second weekend. We also made lunch reservations for the next day at Epcot as we were going to meet some friends, then it was the quest for Captain Jack as we went to the other pin shops in the park to search for the first pin in the AWE countdown series.
(TBC)
I finally leaned in close to understand that he said "I like your badges" meaning my pins, and I said "thank you!" very brightly but I just felt so bad for him. 
We went to Mission: Space instead and rode the Orange side (which I love), then walked over to the World Showcase. The flowers were truly beautiful! The rain made everything look lovely and the air was cool because of the cloud cover. The wind had blown tiny purple flowers off the trees and they had gathered like snow drifts in many places. I found particular delight in scooping them up; they were so, so beautiful. 
They offered to make us some but I was so frustrated I said, "let's just go". 
It took until after we got home, and I ordered my Captain Jack pin for double-price on eBay, and we were eating dinner for my frustration to lessen, but I figured out when I sat on the couch that a lot of my frustration was because I was tired... I fell asleep! 
