Star Wars Weekends

Last week on the Star Wars fan podcast The Forcecast, James Arnold Taylor (the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi) let out that Ray Park (Darth Maul) would be returning as a guest to Star Wars Weekend.  The SWW Event Host, either intentionally or unintentionally, told the Star Wars enthusiast podcast that he was preparing for Ray Park's popular "A Trip to the Maul", a stage show in which Park invites kids up on to the stage and teaches them basic martial arts.

While he was not sure on the remainder of the guest list, Taylor's announcement at least provides one more name to the guest roster this year.  The specific dates of Park's attendance, however, were not revealed.

You can hear the full interview with James Arnold Taylor with the Force Cast at http://forcecast.net/

The fine folks over at theforce.net have hinted at the possibility that Star Wars creator George Lucas may be attending the first weekend of Star Wars Weekends from May 20-22, 2011.  According to the Star Wars news site, Disney cast members have been asked to cancel all vacations during that time so that everyone could prepare and ready for the Maker's arrival. 

This wouldn't be the first time the reclusive film maker has appeared at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  In August, Lucas attended the Last Tour to Endor hard-ticketed event and was in fact seen at the Indiana Jones and the Jedi Temple of Doom stunt show and was also spotted walking throughout the property. Read more

Aside from our Dark Lord of the Sith, I am perhaps looking forward to Star Wars Weekends the most out of everyone here at Studios Central.  Nothing else gets me excited like this four weekend event at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  There is nothing quite like walking through the turnstiles with John Williams' iconic music playing in the background and Imperial Stormtroopers yelling down insults at you from above.  This event is one of the major reasons why the Studios top my favorite parks list in Walt Disney World.

With that being said, it is always about this time of year that Star Wars Weekends really gets on my nerves for one particular reason: Disney's inability to announce which celebrities are going to present during which weekends. Call it bad planning, blame it on the booking of celebrities, or point fingers at Disney's desire to drag out these news items out; whatever the reason, it makes planning Star Wars Weekends difficult.Read more

I've looked and looked at the logo for this year's Star Wars Weekends.  As we reported here several months ago, the logo depicts Boba Fett, jet pack firing, shooting his arm mounted blaster at Mickey, dressed as pre-Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker.  Mickey, using his blue lightsaber, is deflecting Boba Fett's blaster fire. In my best Comic Book Guy voice I have this to say, "Worst SWW Logo Ever."

Okay, maybe that is a bit much.  I suppose I am in the minority of people who doesn't find the Boba Fett character all that appealing.  There is no doubt, he has some cool armor.  It has a missile launcher attached to it, it makes Boba Fett fly (or falling with style?), and can shoot an ineffective cable from it to ensnare his enemies.  Neat.Read more

Well, Star Wars Weekends 2009 is officially in the books.  I won't go into  my thoughts about the quality of this year's event here, as we have others way more qualified than I am on staff to wrap things up for the SWW website.  But I did want to say that I enjoyed frequenting this site for SWW info, and it was a pleasure to contribute when I had little tidbits to share.  I hope I'll have the opportunity to do so again next year as well.Read more

The content from StarWars.com continues, as a new video has premiered on the site which gives viewers some tips on how to properly prepare themselves for Star Wars Weekends.  Of course, all of that information has been covered extensively by this handy-dandy site, so there isn't too much new here in terms of tips and content.  It does, however, provide some great footage of various SWW events and even a look at the Prop Shop where our site just held its annual dinner. 

To take a look at the video, head on over to: http://starwars.com/video/view/000813.html

In time for this year's Star Wars Weekend, Studioscentral is doing another giveaway. This time, we want to hear about what you are most excited about on your next trip to Walt DisneyWorld? Are you excited about a scheduled event like Star Wars Weekendor perhaps Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival? Whatever it is, we want toread it.

To enter, please send me an email, no more than 200 words in length, discussing what you are most excited about on your next trip to the World. 

Emails can be sent to glenn@studioscentral.com and must be received by 12:00 pm Eastern Time on Monday, April 13th.  We will read all of the entries and share them in our Tuesday column on April 14.  In addition, each person who emails us will be entered into a drawing with a chance to win a Studioscentral Star Wars Weekend 2009 T-Shirt. 

Good luck!