Star Wars Weekends

Not long ago in a theme park far, far away...

DISNEY STAR WARS WEEKENDS

Episode II: Attack of the Dave!

Hey all, HR421 here ready to tell you about the exciting two day adventure my crew had at this year's Disney Star Wars Weekends! We had been enjoying Disney for about three days but Friday was the day I was looking forward to the most! Although I had laryngitis the whole time this could easily become the best vacation I ever had. The action started very early on Friday morning, about 5 AM to be exact. My cousin Dave and I were camped out with many other die-hard Star Wars fans waiting for our fast pass ticket to meet Dave Filoni, director of the new Clone Wars movie! Dave and I both sporting Star Wars t-shirts were ready to face the day’s events! We were later accompanied by my dad and my little brothers Shawn and Jason. The wait was long but far from boring. Dave and I chatted with other Star Wars fans from all over while Shawn and Jason caught a quick nap.

When things started picking up I left my lightsabers in the care of my “padawans” Shawn and Jason who began to duel each other in the empty area near the Indiana Jones store. They were soon joined by three or four other young Jedi hopefuls and before long they had their own training academy. Although the kids had never met each other before they all jumped in the battle! Just like they had know each other for years! It was truly an amazing thing to watch as the kids soon began to be cheered on by their “Jedi Masters.” The game lasted for over an hour and even some of the adults got in on the action. It was a very heartwarming moment to see both adults and kids from so many different families playing together with no questions asked. It made me remember why I am so passionate about Star Wars in the first place. The fans are more like one big family!

The day hadn’t even started yet and you could already feel the Force in the air! While waiting, Disney sent out some Clone Troopers to keep the crowds in line! After getting our fast passes for Dave Filoni we ran light speed to Star Tours before the line got too long to get everyone in the Star Wars mood! After hopping off the ride, I got my face painted like my favorite Sith, Darth Maul. I have wanted to do this for a long time and I finally did! It looked great and stayed on all day! I was determined that next I should get my picture taken with Maul but he wouldn’t be available for photos until after the parade. After snooping around Wicket’s Warehouse and getting myself a double bladed lightsaber. We decided to grab a quick bite to eat because none of us had eaten breakfast yet and we watched the Star Wars parade. It was pretty cool to see the record number of 501st members marching down the street! I think I liked the parade better last year but I’m not complaining. I dragged everyone to go line up for Darth Maul’s line and got my picture taken. Apparently Maul has never heard the phrase “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Regardless it made for a neat pick.

Next we decided to line up for the Stars of the Saga talk show! We were able to get there early and had a nice shady spot to sit down and chill out. We talked with more fellow fans before going in! We got really close to the front of the stage and my face paint must have attracted a little special attention from one of the Stormtroopers! He said “We should turn this one in to Boba Fett; I bet they have a big bounty on their head!” It was hard to tell, but I was blushing! I was so excited that I got picked on by one of the Stormtroopers! This year’s show was fantastic! Warwick did a great job and I loved watching Dave Filoni draw Asoka Tano on the projector.

Later on we got to meet Dave Filoni and he was super nice and very down to earth. He drew clone wars characters along with his autographs! My brother Jason got Anakin, Dave and I got Clone Troopers, and my brother Shawn got Boba Fett! My boyfriend was actually at Star Wars weekends during weekend one to march in the parade and is a big Boba Fett fan however he did not get to meet Jeremy Bulloch so I asked Dave If he would care to give him an autograph with a picture of Boba on it and he happily obliged! I thought that was very sweet of him to do that. We were walking around trying to find some refuge from the heat when we ran into Aura Sing! She and I had a stare down! It was a lot of fun.

We then headed out to fulfill Jason’s dream to meet Anakin Skywalker however we got there a little too early and ended up meeting Shock Ti and Mace Windu, we found out that Anakin would be back out afterwards so Jason and I hopped back into the really long line. While waiting we saw Warwick Davis walking down the street and he said he liked my face paint! After waiting all year he FINNALY got to meet Anakin. He was very nice to Jason and I got their photo. After meeting Anakin, we headed back to meet up with the others only to be stopped by some guys from Star Wars.com who asked me if I would like to show off some lightsaber moves for the Weekend Four podcast. I was jumping up and down with excitement. I got into Maul mode and twirled my double bladed saber as best as I could trying to Imitate the awesome moves preformed by Ray Park. Everyone thought I did really well.

We still had some time before dinner so Dave and I got our picture taken with some clone troopers. We wrapped things up with Dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine in and one last spin on Star Tours! It was nice to finally get a chance to kick back in the AC. We had to leave day one a little bit early because everyone was so tired but it was well worth it. We headed back to camp to refresh and regroup for day two of the epic adventure!

Dawning my Studio Central.com shirt I headed out again, not quite as early, but early to get in line to meet Warwick Davis. It was just me, my dad, and Shawn this time because Dave and Jason were not feeling well and they would join us later. We were greeted by R2-D2 while we were waiting in line. We decided to use this day to meet characters and just play it cool. We got in line to meet Jango Fett but right before Shawn and I got to go up, Jango swapped out with Boba Fett. I loved his entrance; the Jawas came out and surveyed the crowds before BAM! The door came flying open and there stood Boba, blaster rifle at the ready. He sent the Jawas running back to the Dune Sea! He arrested Shawn and I after signing autographs! We also met Asoka that day. She was super nice to both me and Shawn! I loved her costume and makeup. They did a very good job with the new character and I hope she is there next year! Jason also got to make his own lightsaber at Tatooine Traders!

We road the Rockin’ Roller Coaster and got to meet Warwick Davis. Warwick was very nice as well. I drew him a picture of my favorite Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy character, Marvin the Paranoid Android. I gave it too him and I think he really liked it. He said he was going to put it on his website in his fan art section. He even gave me a special autograph, “depressingly yours, Warwick Davis-Marvin.” We all had a lot of fun and I hope that we can come back again next year to make more special memories. So this year’s Star Wars Weekends gets two big thumbs up! Just wish it could be a little colder.