Star Wars Weekends

All right, now that I'm back home I'm finding it difficult to
remember everything that transpired over the hectic three days but I'll
do what I can.

Friday - My sister and I arrived around 5:30 shocked to see how many
people were there and how differently it was from last year. The four
lines had yet to be marked but we quickly learned the busiest lines
were for merchandise and Kenny Baker. I went into the merchandise line
while my sister waited for Kenny Baker. The merchandise line was let
into the park 30 minutes before the park opened and slowly walked to
Jabba's Hut. Once we arrived, we were given the merchandise list and
let into the store. I bypassed all of the general merchandise and
headed straight to the limited edition table. I was one of the first to
checkout and then hurried over to find my sister who had yet to reach
the fast pass machines. Thankfully those around her didn't mind
squeezing me in so we both got Kenny then hurried to the end of Jay
Laga'aia's line. We lucked out again getting a fast pass for him then
jumped in line for Bonnie Piesse, managing to get into her second
session.

Autographs for Kenny went smoothly since I had purchased an 8x10
from officialpix.com. Those who wanted Kenny to sign action figures
weren't so lucky. The disney employees made it clear that Kenny could
only sign flat surfaces. After we were done, we grabbed seats for the
parade 45 minutes ahead of time and managed to snag a lot of good
pictures. After the parade, however, we weren't so lucky. It was
incredibly packed and the lines for all of the characters were
extremely long. We managed to catch the interview at 1:00 which was
enjoyable. The intro was really funny and Jay was a great host, asking
good questions and keeping the show moving along. We then met Bonnie
who was extremely nice and willing to take a few extra pictures with
us. Jay's autograph session was unsurprisingly busy but he took the
time to joke around with everyone. He also had no problem taking a few
extra pictures.

Saturday - Figuring the worst was over, my sister and I arrived an
hour later only to find out that the worst was yet to come. Even with
the constant rain, a number of people beat us there. This time both of
us waited in Kenny's line and manged to luck out again by getting fast
passes for all three celebrities. We got a few photos with some
characters and followed the schedule that seemed to work the day
before. After getting Kenny's autograph, we waited for the parade for
another round of pictures. We then hurried over to The Writer's Stop
and met Karen Traviss who was very friendly. We then went over to stand
in line for Darth Maul and after nearly 45 minutes of waiting, we got a
few photos. Bonnie and Jay recognized us from the day before and were
happy to sign a few things for our brothers. Jay even told us he'd see
us tomorrow so who were we to disappoint him?
Sunday - This day was probably the worst as well as the most enjoyable.
Once again we arrived in time to get all three fast passes and followed
our system again. Kenny was having problems with his asthma but was
determined to sign as many autographs as possible. The parade was more
enjoyable than the previous day since there was no sudden rain shower
in the middle of it. We also caught the interview again and once again
enjoyed ourselves. We then rushed over to wait in line for 30 minutes
to get a picture with all four Jedi characters only to them hurry over
to see Bonnie again. By then, the heat was really wearing us down and
the crowds were becoming frustrating. All of that vanished, though,
when it was our time to meet Jay again. He joked on how he had waited
all day to see us and wrote some funny messages on our photos he signed
for us. After that, we hurried over to the Behind the Force special,
narrated by Jay which was a good laugh. On leaving the theater, we
lucked out by snagging photos with the Jawas and a member of the
Cantina Band. We ended the day by catching the Hyperspace Hoopla which
we waited an hour for but it was well worth the wait. I would recommend
bringing your video camera for that. It's hilarious.

A few words of wisdom for those who will be attending the later weekends.
1) Get there early and have a system worked out ahead of time. Jay only signs one session a day.
2) Find out when the characters you want pictures of will be coming out
so you can be near the front of the line. It's not an exact science and
weather does play a factor. Characters may be late or they may not come
out at all. Take whatever you can get.
3) Be patient. You do see the worst of people but don't let it get to
you. Some parents are just trying to do what they can to make their own
children happy that they don't consider others.
4) Have plenty of options for the celebrities to sign. We ran into
problems when Warwick switched with Bonnie, like many others. A
memorable option was that we printed off photos we took with her and
the next day had her sign them. I now have something completely unique
to go into my scrapbook.

Looking forward to next year already.