Weekend 1 - Tyler

Ok so myself, my brother, and roommate decided to go up to the first
weekend of the star wars events this year. We decided to get a room at
Pop Century since it is the closest hotel to mgm studios that is priced
reasonably, if you can afford it I would stay at the boardwalk or one
of the other hotels on the mgm to epcot river there as you could walk
to mgm if you dont have a car allowing you to get there early. We
luckily had a car with us though. We go to MGM around 530 am on Friday
Morning and were surprised to find we were not the only people already
in line for the events to follow. Disney Cast members were already out
handing out the star wars maps and telling people where to line up for
the celebrities for the day. Not surprisingly the line for Kenny Baker
was the longest followed by the merchandise line. I got in the line for
merchandise and was about ten people back from the front of the line.
My brother and roommate got in Kenny Bakers line. Then we waited and
talked to the other star wars nerds like ourselves that got up early
just to do something star wars related. A lot of people had flown
directly from celebration IV to orlando just for more star wars. Got to
meet a lot of cool people who had attended that and saw some cool
pictures from there that made what star wars weekends was look like a
kids birthday party. At about 845 am they started letting the
merchandise in and started heading back to Jabbas Hutt. Which was
really great they way they did this instead of the star wars marathon
of last year. We got back to where the shop was and saw a line of
people who were trying to be sneaky by going in the early entry, if
they just would of asked a cast member they would have found out that
the people on the outside gate were going to be let in first. Then I
got into Jabbas Hutt and was handed a list of the limited edition
merchandise, and the first thught that went through my mind was man the
Hutt's really are gangsters with these prices. However I was not going
to miss my chance to get the x-wing fighter mickey big fig like I did
last year with jedi mickey. I was able to get the big fig along with
the bobble heads that are all four miniature big figs plus jedi mickey
from last year, which is really cool for people who wont be able to
afford an actual big fig. Plus I got the limited edition pins for the
weekend and the bounty hunter set, the gold coing, and a poster. Even
though the store is much smaller than last year because of Toy story
mania being built I think disney handled the crowds fairly well. Since
I was so close to the front of the merchandise line I was able to go
back to see if there were any fastpasses left for autographs and there
actually still was, Kennys were all gone but I was able to get one for
Bonnie and Jay still. Then I met back up with my brother and roommate
who had autograph fastpasses for the first Kenny Baker Signing. They
got in line for that and got the weekend poster signed and a Droids
comic book they brought with them. Kenny was not signing any toys, any
thing you wanted signed had to be flat due to the fact that he was
having problems with his hands. By that time it was time for the parade
so we went and got good spots near the hall of fame statues. The parade
was interesting with the 501st marching in various costumes(video
coming soon to you tube). Then we went and at the worst restaurant I
have ever ate at on Disney property the ABC commisary, DO NOT EAT HERE
unless you like burnt burgers and cold fries. After lunch we went and
got in line for the stars of the saga talk show(video coming to you
tube soon) but was disappointed in Fridays show as there were no
preshow stormtroopers and Jay Did not seem to be in top form yet. After
the show we went and got characters pictures near star tours and mickey
ave. After that it was time for Bonnies autograph session so we went
and got autographs on the weekend poster and pictures with her. Then we
just kind of walked around the park and people watched for a while.
Then it was time for Jays session, He is the friendliest celebrity I
have ever met at a star wars weekend, not only will he answer questions
for you he actually will talk to you for a few minutes and still stay
long enough to sign autographs for people who didnt even have standby
passes, Me and the other guy who were in line told him he needed to
loosen up a bit in the talk show and try to have a little more fun with
it. After the autograph session was over we were all beat so we went
back to the hotel and crashed.

Saturday we arrived again about 530 to find the same bunch of
scoundrels waiting in line yet again. Got in Kenny Bakers line this
time since I had all the merchandise I needed, and then waited and
talked with people for the three hours before they slowly walked us to
the fast pass machines. Got a fastpass for the first session and got
another picture signed. My brother asked nicely if he would sign a toy
for him today and Kenny was very nice and signed it for him. After this
we went over to Epcot and Had lunch at Germany since we needed
something better than a burnt burger. Then went back to MGM and got a
signed copy of Sacrafice by Karen Traviss who was very nice and talked
to for a little bit. Then we decided there really wasnt much stuff left
to see that we had not already seen so we went back to the hotel to get
some sleep.

Sunday morning got to MGM at about 530 yet again and found the same
people in line yet again, very nice people to talk to. I got in Kennys
line again since I bought the picture of R2 from the post office truck
outside of MGM with the canceled first day envelope on it. Got first
session fastpasses again so went and rode star tours then came back for
the autograph session. Kenny was very nice signing just about anything
people brought for him. Then we went and watched the making of film
hoping to get out in time to catch the parade. However we were
unsuccessful and only saw the very end were they end up at the star
tours stage. Then we went character picture hunting and actually found
a Gammorean Gurard walking around finally, who was having fun
interacting with the crowd. Then it was about 1230 so we decided to go
check out the talk show again. Thankfully they brought back the
stormtroopers and added some lines that i dont remember from last year
involving the donnie and marie talk show. Sundays talk show was much
better, it seemed Jay had loosened up and was starting to interact a
bit more with everyone(video coming to youtube soon) After that we had
to start heading home as it was getting late in the day. Overall the
star wars weekends were great, just wish they still would have had the
Trivia Trials, Oh well maybe next year.