North American Invasion

Meri loves the UK Jairen! I used to be over there 3-4 times a year a few years back. I miss it terribly so it will be great to be back! Now I have to get Tim to take me to Wagamama Noodle Bar LOL.

 

Argh, me and Tim were at Wagamammas Saturday just gone

Looking forward to meeting you Meriwyn and congratz on getting the hotel booked. One step closer

 

Thanks Lord-Tice, I look forward to meeting you as well I'll be flying over the weekend before the Celebration so that I can bum around London and the area for a week. Let me know if any of you want to get together beforehand.

 

Cool Anne!! We'll have to do something

 

You gonna manage to visit your beloved Scotland this trip, Meriwyn?

 

Oh god I would love to. I just might

 

Well, I will be there from the Welsh Contingent....
We are prob 2 - 2 1/2 hrs up the M4 Corridor from the event. If people are flying in (and it's cheaper or nearer) to travel (and then stay) at our house first, and then want to travel up with me (and whichever of the Welsh contingent we got going from here) then you are more than welcome. I will be staying up in London for the event, so you will have to sort this bit out as well.
My Wife and Daughter (and the bump on the way!) were more than expecting me to be going to LA, so they are just chuffed it is "home" here in blighty (Shame it's not in Taff-Land though).
By the way - you can only stay at ours IF you are a SW Geek....

 

*sigh* I wanted to go. I even convinced a good friend of mine this would be an excellent excuse for a trip to the UK, since neither of us has ever been. But then I started to seriously plan the trip and realized exactly how much it would cost us. And since I already am committed to CIV and DragonCon, I just couldn't afford CE also.


Ah, well. Perhaps there will be a CE II.

 

London and Star Wars together - I so wish I could be there! I already have C4 and another trip planned next year so financially I can't swing it, but if I come into some extra cash via the Atlantic City casinos or a sudden inheritance - I am there, people. Have a blast and may the Force be with you!

 

I'm planning on coming the week before also, if I can swing it.

 

Good idea.

 

Just make sure that we Europeans can get tickets

 

I was just a guest at a convention at the Excel Center with my partner Adam Hughes this past year. We are really looking forward to coming back again for CE. We both plan to have prints unique to the show, and not repeats for what we will have for C4.

See everyone soon!
Allison Sohn

 

Hi guys, had to cancel plans for CIV because I just buried my Mom today, I was thinking of attending CE, I really need to get away but am concerned about the cost which would most likely run twice as much, also checking the web site there isn't much info yet on the event.

 

The airfare is probably the only thing that would be significantly more expensive. I guess there are exchange rates to think about too, but meh.

 

Very sorry to hear of your loss jaklits. News and announcements for CE have been very quiet, which we think is due to Lucasfilm wanting to firmly concentrate on C4 which is understandable but very unfair and frustrating for us, I can tell ya
But we hope to have some announcements coming very soon, and hopefully the news will be both big and impressive.

The pound is very strong at the moment, making it an expensive trip and with less then 7 weeks to go, flights might be expensive too, but if you do make the plunge, I hope it'll be worth it and would be great to have you here

 

We are a family from Maine who will be in London during CE. I just found out about CE and I have two young sons who are Star Wars obsessed. They are ages 5 and 7. I have never been to a fan event and I would be so grateful if someone would share their opinion as to whether it would be appropriate and fun for children as young as mine. Thank you.

 

I'm not a parent but I have been to a few collecting and memorabilia shows that featured signings by Star Wars (and other) actors. Quite a few parents had young kids. I think there would be plenty there to keep them excited. My concern with kids that young would be more of them getting lost than getting bored. ExCel is quite a large place, from what I understand. You might want to consider 'reins' for the younger one to keep him from straying.
Normally these shows have costume events, signings (see our Guests of CE thread for news on who is attending), plenty of merchandise vendors, chances to get photographed with 501st troopers and other members in costume - in short, I think they'd love it!

Also, there is a Star Wars exhibit at County Hall (near Waterloo Station). It is a bit expensive to get in but it's pretty good. I went in early May. It's costumes, ships (life-size Naboo Starfighter), a 'Jedi Training' area - in short, they'd probably love it. You can see our thread on it here along with a link to some pics I took. The exhibit is also near the London Eye and London Aquarium so there's a day out right there!

 

Thank you for the helpful reply. I did not know there was a Star Wars exhibit. It looks like it may be more manageable, closer to our apartment, and cheaper than CE. It is great to have two to choose from!

 

The exhibit won't be nearly as exciting as CE, however! And the 'gift shop' is pretty bad - just a bunch of T-shirts and stuff like that. (No action figures). I'd recommend both if the kids are real fans. CE is over 3 days (Friday-Sunday) and it might be worth considering going on the Friday as it might be a bit less crowded. I do recommend seeing the SW exhibit on a weekday. I went on a Monday morning and pretty much had the place to myself. The weekends can be packed.

I hear what you're saying about ExCel being a long haul - I live out near Heathrow Airport and I will be coming in by train/Tube all 3 days of CE!

 

I'm mostly unhappy about the costs; the exchange rate is pretty unfavorable for Americans right now. Four years ago it was .7, one year ago it was .6, and now it's .5 . Oh well.

 

Bad for you, good for us

 

Well, everything worked out for me and I'm able to go to Celebration Europe too! Yeah, the exchange rate was keeping me on the fence about this trip, even though I pre-bought the CE badge at Celebration 4, but another Celebration in the same year is too good to pass up. Plus, this will be my first trip to England (actually, first trip outside North America), which makes this a doubly exciting trip for me. My air reservation is all set; I just need to make hotel reservations ASAP. I hope to see you all there.

 

Yeah, that was my feeling also. I'm not sure CE will compare too favorably to C4 because it's shorter, the crowds will be a lot smaller, there's no big event like the 30th anniversary or a new book release, and it doesn't sound like we'll get as many celebs and high-profile events at this one. But the fact that it's in London made it pretty much impossible for me to pass up. I knew I had to go if there was any way I could possibly afford it because who knows how long it'll be before I get another good excuse to go to London. And I'm taking the train across and visiting Paris too, which makes it doubly exciting.