How Would You Rate CV Compared to the Other Celebrations?

This was my first Celebration event and I loved it. My sister and I had a blast even though we only got to experience one day of the festivities.

For those who have been to more than one Celebration; how would you compare CV to the others? I know there are pros and cons to each event but I am curious to know how CV ranks up there with the others.

 

I've gone to 4 of the 5 American Celebrations (skipped the first because of school).

I'd rate them like this:

1) C3
2) C5
3) C2
4) C4

I think C3 was probably the best because of it coinciding with Revenge of the Sith, and some of the mistakes from C2 were learned from to make C3 a little better. Just a great feeling all around, and lots of excitement. Plus, Indianapolis still has been the best host town of all 3 I've been to: Indianapolis, Orlando, and LA in that order.

 

Indianapolis was definitely the best host city. I've only been to three Celebrations (3, 4, 5), but each has been better than the last, due largely to the people I got to spend it with. The excitement of Revenge of the Sith was great, but drinking Celebrations with Hatters beats that any day.

 

I have only been to CIII and now CV and I've been trying to figure out the answer to this question.

I TOTALLY agree that CIII has an upper hand for the "buzz" factor since it was a month before Episode III hit the screen. That will always be tough to top, no matter what special guests they get in the future.

But for me, personally, I did more "extra" stuff at CV by going to parties and stuff afterwards. I didn't even know about any of that at CIII.

I also think I saw more and waited in lines less at CV than I did at CIII. Yet I also found myself just wandering around aimlessly at times if there was chunk of time where there were no sessions I was interested in.

Another big factor for me is that I went solo this time. Last time I hung with some work acquaintances. While not best friends, it is always cool to experience and talk about what you are doing with someone. Sure, you can meet new people when you are solo, but it's just not the same. I've vowed to not go alone next time.

But I keep coming back to that "buzz" factor. CIII had it because of the new movie and I don't think we'll ever buzz like that again so that will always push it slightly above any others.

 

Yes, I agree that it's tough to top the anticipation of any of the first three Celebrations for that reason. There was just that extreme excitement of a whole new Star Wars movie right on the horizon, which was pretty amazing.

That being said, I think CV was the best Celebration for me in some ways because ignoring the hype factor, which is pretty big, I got to do a ton of stuff, got to see Lucas, met and got pictures with a lot of the Star Wars celebrities, and generally had a great time. My personal state of mind at the time of CIV wasn't very good, I had just quit film school and was trying to figure out what to do with myself, so it wasn't much fun for me and I was kind of listless. It was also the only one where I was kind of alone. My dad came down and hung out a little bit, but it wasn't his thing and he basically isn't into Star Wars. My mom had went to the first three, but she passed away so it was pretty depressing to have the first Celebration without her. This time I went with my longest-time friend, who has been a fan since we were both in grade school, and that made it a lot of fun. I also missed Day 1 of Celebration I, because of school, so that lowers my personal rating of the event, along with the dampening rain. But at the same time somehow it was still the one I'll remember most fondly in some ways because I had been looking forward to TPM for so long.

So maybe...

CV
CIII
CII
CI
CIV

Although I think the 5 days for CIV was a good idea, they should go back to that, and back to Los Angeles, that'd be nice Indy was good but you can't beat LA where it's two blocks from me, and plus it's easier to get stars here for the most part, you could get some drop-ins from Hollywood, rather than having to make people fly in.

 

1) V
2) II
3) IV
4) III

NUFF SAID

 

C5 was probably the best outside of con...rooming with a bunch of JCers is a great experience.

C4 is a nice middle, because I attended more panels at the con and did more stuff in general at the con, but I didn't spend as much time with JCers as C5...mostly because I wasn't 21.

C3 was just...overwhelming. I was only 16, it was my first con ever and my first real experience meeting JCers. I had a great time, but the experiences just keep getting better and better.

 

This was my second celebration...with IV being the previous. I've been to Indy for gencon so I know how that place works and I've gone to the past two SDCC's. In saying all that I have to believe that CV was probably the most fun I've had. I got to do everything that I wanted to do and get most of the exclusives that I had planned on getting. I saw more people this time around, more panels, and more parties. I think...when compared to just one other celebration...that this one was head and shoulders above CIV. I think the locale is better as well...I know that with CVI it'll be in another city I'm sure...but there were just more options for things to do in Orlando than LA. The weather...well...I'm from the south so it doesn't bother me...but I agree it was warm. The food prices though were much better...and ya gotta hand it to Reed or Lucasfilm or whomever it was that gave all con goers the 20% discount on food vendors. Muy bueno.

CV > CIV (by quite a bit)

 

I liked C-V the best while indoors. Unfortunately, the weather was a serious negative since this was my first time wearing a costume at a Celebration, and it was a mile walk from the Hilton. Once I got inside, I thought C-V was great, reasonably well organized, and the indoor waiting lines in the morning were definitely good.

One of the things I liked a lot about C-III were the more prominent corporate partners that were not just in booths in the dealers room. Cingular Wireless had promotions, Star Wars ring tones, staff in costumes in the hall interacting with the crowd, commercials on TV outside the con, etc. M&M/Mars Candy had giant M&Ms roaming the halls. I think Cingular also raffled off the awesome Vader Dodge Viper, and I got my picture taken in it. Walden Books had Star Wars ads and promotions in the stores, away from the con. The hotels had C-III themed key cards that you took home at the end. It just seemed that the Celebration extended into the community and wasn't just at the convention center.

I think C-III also had more variety in the shows. Both "One Man Star Wars" and "Star Wars In 30 Minutes" were playing.

C-IV had the real jet pack Boba Fett, and that was awesome.

 

I have been to C3, C4, & C5 and I really can't rank any one of them as being any better or worse than the others. I think of C3 as it was my first Celebration and how awesome it was simply being there and doing all of these things I had only read about other people doing. I also roomed with some guys in the 501st so that made things all the more interesting. C4 was fun too in that I spent more time with my fellow JCers there than I had at C3 but I also did a lot of wandering about and took a bunch of neat photos and also roomed with some pretty neat folks with whom I had a lot of fun with over those few days in LA. C5 was fun in that there was a greater social element with my fellow JCers, I volunteered more, there was a life size TIE Fighter there and things weren't as tight as some of the previous Celebrations were due to the size of the OCCC. These are just a few elements of the now three Celebrations that I have attended and I really can't pick just one that I would rate any better than the others I attended simply because they're all incredibly awesome in their own ways.

I will admit to liking the weather for C3 a bit more because it is easier to warm up than it is to cool down and I was sweating buckets at C4 & C5 due to the weather.

 

My order of preference:

C3, C2, C4, and C5. Why in this order? C3 and C2 were held in Indianapolis, and were my first two Celebrations. C2 was put on by Suncoast and Wizards of the Coast. They were horribly crowded, but still fun! There were many activities that were continued from C2. C3 and C4 were put on by GENCON, who learned from C2 and improved the organization and added to the fun. Yes, there were still long lines and some of those lines were fun. C3, however, had the added surprise of the last minute announcement that George Lucas was going to appear on a Saturday. That's when the overnight camping started, and I was a part of it!

Indianapolis also (I believe) had the highest fan turnout because it was held in the Midwest (centrally located) which made it more accessible to prople from around the world. C4 was held in Los Angeles by GENCON; many people attended this one, also. It was convenient for me because of its location relative to Washington State. There were many activities there, as well--but unfortunately GENCON can no longer do Celebrations.

Reed Entertainment (the ones who put on C5) did a good job for their first Celebration. There are, however, some possible lessons to be learned. There was a meeting on Sunday morning with fans who were invited. These fans gave their opinions concerning the Convention. I unfortunately missed this opportunity; I do hope that they take the advice of the fans at that meeting and apply it to C6, if Reed Entertainment is going to promote and put on the show again. One thing that made C2, C3, and C4 more enjoyable was that there were no packages separating fans into groups--which only serve to interrupt the flow of good will and fun for the entire fan community at the Celebration.

 

I've been to CIII, CIV and CV. For me, they just get better and better. And yet, at the same time, each had aspects that were better than the others.

I do hope, however, that CVI will be in Orlando again. The city is easy to navigate and having the major theme park attractions around was a big plus. I also really enjoyed staying on International Drive more than any other location we stayed at.

Of course, they should have it earlier in the year though since August is just to hot out.

 

For me, based on my experience, weather, crowds, things to do/see, etc. :

CV

CII

CIV

CIII

CI

 

Having been to every Celebration, I can say that each had its own unique experiences and issues and Ill cherish them all for different reasons. I hope Reed gets it again because the benefits of improoving opon what went wrong before are HUGE. Also for this reason I hope it is in Orlando again, OCC inside was definitely the most comfortable and user friendly.

CV=CIV>CI>CIII>CII>CE>CJ

 

When rated based on the total overall experience of my past Celebrations, I would list them as such:

CV
CIV
CIII

They just keep getting better and better for my wife and I.

 

Just received an e-mail containing a survey link for CV.

Check your Inbox and fill 'er out.

 

I filled out the post-con survey.

In the section about possible future Celebrations in countries other than the US, I voted emphatically for London to have CE2.

 

Voting for Celebration Australia on that survey

 

it will 100% be Germany....

 

Wonder why the e-mail asked to complete the survey by Sept. 12th...

 

Unsurprisingly I did the same.

 

Of the three Celebrations I've been to, I would rate them:

- CV
- CIV
- CIII

Sure, CIII had the buzz factor of Revenge of the Sith coming out, but it was an organizational disgrace. The lines were appalling, the programming lacking and the store was a near catastrophe. Who cares if there's a lot of buzz if you're stuck in line for three hours?

CV has by far been the best run Celebration, the fan displays were the best and it was more fun.

 

For me CV was by far the best, and had the best possible location.

Ratings wise?

1. CV
2. CIII (but the venue was horrible)
3. CE
4. CIV (just lacked atmosphere)