CE16 Star Wars celebration questions

Hey guys,

So I'm going to Star Wars celebration this year and this is my first time. But I have some questions:

1. If I arrive the first day at 6 in the morning, do you think I will make the main panel?
2. I would really like autographs and photos from Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver etc. but how long do you have to wait in line for autographs and photos?
And my last one: 3. What would you recommend: autograph or photo? Can I talk to them after taking the photo?

I would really appreciate it if you guys help me!

Matt

 

1) Panel times haven't been announced yet, nor have guests, so that kinda renders most of the questions premature. However if I remember right panel times at the last Celebration here in 2007 started around 10-10:30 AM. Where are you arriving to at 6AM - airport, train station, or other? If it's an airport and you're coming from overseas you'll have to factor transit time through customs and immigration into things, as well as the trip from the airport into London. London City Airport is very close to the venue, followed by Heathrow and Gatwick in terms of nearness.. Both of these have train links. If you're further out you'll have to check to see what transportation links there are for London. Don't forget you'll need to pick up your tickets as they aren't being mailed.

2) How long is a piece of string? We don't know yet who is attending, and ep VIII is currently shooting, so they may or may not be there. However I'd imagine you won't have time for talking if the lines are very long. I didn't bother with the autograph lines at the 2007 Celebration.

 

Six in the morning might be cutting it a little close, especially since Europe Celebrations happen less frequently, and Star Wars fervor is at an all time high right now.

At Celebration Anaheim I lined up at 9pm the night before, and by the wee hours there were at least a couple thousand people there already with even more coming in every hour. Granted, people filing in at 6 or 7 am still got in to the panel, but they were the last. And consider this was all still prior to any major TFA marketing, with Celebration Anaheim serving as the launching point for that. I mean, I was able to buy my four day pass the weekend before when I finally got confirmation from work that I could take the days off. I barely even stumbled on knowing about it two weeks prior when I happened to randomly search when tickets for the movie go on sale, and low and behold, I see Star Wars Celebration happening right down the street from me (I live in Los Angeles). So I got lucky there, four day passes sold out the day after I bought mine. But it still didn't seem like the big obvious draw that a Star Wars Celebration would have now after the movie has been released. Most people I met were from out of town and specifically knew about Celebration, others seemed to be well versed in the "Con" circuit in general with Celebration being one of many that they regularly attend. But for the average person in the area, not everybody was as tuned in to all things Star Wars as they are now. Mind you, once the even kicked off, everybody knew about it and wanted to see it for themselves. But this was not the case in the weeks and days leading up to it.

With London, it's a different story. Tickets are selling out and everybody is tuned in. And that will certainly be the case for all Celebrations in the future. Don't underestimate that Day 1 crowd, or the Saturday crowd.

As far as autographs and pictures go, if you are trying to get one of the major actors you are probably going to have to dedicate at least half a day, if not the majority of a day, waiting for it. And that would pretty much eliminate your opportunity to get in line for anything else that day.

Personally, I would skip out on the meet and greets for your first time and just walk around and take it all in. Even being in the store will take up half a day or more. Also, skip the major actor panels, because again, you'll be dedicating an entire day to it, and you can always youtube it at night in your hotel room and have some sense of being there.

I would recommend this: Get into that first panel to kick things off. All the major actors will probably make an appearance like they did in Anaheim (they probably are contracted to appear now while the movies come out). But then spend the rest of your time going to the less crowded panels. I saw amazing stuff from Ian Mcdiarmid (at one point doing a monologue of Shakespeare Star Wars in his Palpatine voice), Ray Park, and Anthony Daniels. I also went to a few smaller panels, one about villains, another one called Cantinarcheology that went over all things Cantina, saw a props panel. Slipped in to the The Force Awakens props display (before the wait time got to be 3-4 hours and stayed that way throughout). Watched the movie screenings at night. Just saw where I could get in and did it. Spent the rest of the time walking around the show floor, talking to people, and taking pictures of everything (including many cosplayers who were all very kind and willing to allow themselves to be photographed). There's plenty to do and see there, especially if it's your first Celebration. On Saturday, which I mentioned above, when it was wall to wall people, I just decided to relax and not stress out and spent most of the day on the show floor because I knew trying to do any one thing would have been all I could do that day. I was by myself, which allowed me to do whatever whenever. Overall I had a great time and didn't feel like I missed out on anything.

And now that I've been to a Celebration and have seen it all, maybe next time I go to one I won't mind waiting for something like a major actor panel or to meet one of the actors.

So all in all, I'd say don't stress out, do what you can, you won't make it to everything you want to so just pick one and go, and skip the popular stuff.

Trust me, there will literally be lines to get in lines.

Anyways, sorry for the long winded rant. It was truly one of the most memorable experiences of my life, and I always enjoy reflecting on and writing about it.

 

Thank you so much for your great advice!!

 

This will be my first official Celebration as well, so thanks for the info. I live up around Cambridge and the wife and I are only going on Friday. If I am reading and understanding you think the best plan of attack would be to just roam around and take in as much as we can? I hate that we have to get the tickets from WILL CALL. Just how horrid will the wait be just to get our tickets Friday morning, since you've been to one in London your opinion would be great to hear about what time we should arrive on the day.

 

I think the last one in London the tickets were mailed. I don't remember having to get in line to get them.

 

KendallByrd

I didn't go to London, I'm just reflecting on my experience from last year in Anaheim.

As I recall, the people who went for only one day seemed particularly annoyed at how little they could actually do. Especially those who attended on Saturday, which was by far the busiest day and had wall to wall people at certain points. Even some of the four day pass holders left and went to Disneyland that day because of how crowded it was. I remember a couple guys in particular while waiting in line for the screening of ESB were extremely frustrated that they barely did anything because of the insanely long lines. The only reason they decided to watch the movie, which was the only thing somebody could attend after closing time, was so they didn't feel ripped off. One of the biggest draws last year was the TFA props exhibit, but by the second day it had a 3-4 hour wait time that did not dissipate for the remainder of the weekend. The store took 3-4 hours. I met a number of parents who had to split from their family so they could buy things in the store while the rest of the family went about doing things. Even the special promotions, such as the Hallmark and Hot Wheels booths, took up the majority of a day for people who really wanted them. The Battlefront presentations literally had a line to get into the line. As for the major panels, if you didn't line up at the start of the day you weren't going to get in, which obviously ate up the entire day if you did want to wait. I kept hearing from people that they only got to do one maybe two things if they were lucky for the entire day. Admittedly, it was kind of a mess at times, and there was quite a bit of frustration in regards to the crowds and the inability to do really much.

If you're only going for one day, make sure to line up early. Like 5/6 am early for that day. That will ensure you could at least do something for the morning. Try a couple of smaller panels you might be interested in. Maybe see if you can pop your head in somewhere else that isn't too crowded as the day moves along into the afternoon, like an exhibit or a lesser known panel or something, but only if you can get in and out quick. There might even be bigger panels open that you can just walk right into. Like for me, I walked right into Ray Park, Anthony Daniels, and Ian Mcdiarmid's panels without waiting in line at all. Simple reason being they were held in the big main hall but just weren't as popular as Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia in the flesh. So that's another option to consider, if one of the lesser popular actors is holding a panel in a bigger hall, you'll get in easily. Also, make sure to ask the staff what the likelihood of getting into something will be once a line gets to a certain density. That was another major frustration I heard, was that people would stand in line for up to 2 and 3 hours with no warning as to the likelihood of them getting in somewhere. Literally hours wasted standing in line when the people never had a chance of getting into whatever it was in the first place. They got better at it as complaints came in, but it was definitely an issue throughout the weekend.

But for the most part, yea, you'll have plenty to see and do just by walking around and taking it in if that is all you choose to do. And definitely skip the obvious popular stuff.

I don't know. These are just suggestions based on my own first time experience last year. Maybe I'm wrong, and London will be different and not so oversold like Anaheim was and you might be able to do more things. I would hate for you to come back at me and be mad that you did something based on my suggestion but could have had ample opportunity to do things had you not. And sorry if my points seem redundant, I just want to paint the best picture I can.

I would just say if you find yourself with the prospect of waiting for something for over an hour or two, just bail, especially if you're only there for the one day. Go find something else, even if all it leads to is walking around. There is enough to take in just by doing that where it's not worth it to give up a decent portion of your day waiting in line for something. And like I said, if you get a panel in in the morning, and/or later on in the day maybe one of the lesser popular actors in a big panel hall that allows easy access and no waiting, then you're good, you did better than most. Cuz I guarantee by the afternoon everything else will be filled up pretty quick. Don't stress or let the feeling that you might be missing something take hold. Just chill out, walk around, take it in at your own pace, and see what you can do.

 

Thank you for the well though out reply! I am starting to think this may be my first and ONLY Celebration. I mean I am a huge fan but as much as I love it there are few things I'll stand in line for hours for........OK........I can't think of anything I've ever stood in line HOURS for. It should be a fun day (fingers crossed) if nothing else I'll be like "OK remember to NEVER do that again". Still wish they would release some info on who will be there.

 

Are you nuts? They opend up to the sale of (as I hear it) 10.000 more tickets than they initially thought to have room for. I fully expect this to be jam packed with people - though I hope I am wrong as I hope to see actors and props/sets from the new movies. But as you say yourself; just one or two of those lines may take all day.

 

Yeah - if it's like the last London one the Saturday will probably be mobbed. You could barely move in the vendor area.

 

Just wish they would be more forthcoming with some details.........four months out and all we know FOR SURE is that we have a host!

 

I just have a day ticket for the Friday, should that be a little quieter?

This will be my first Celebration, I wasn't really planning on trying to get into panels as I guessed they would be busy but if lesser characters/actors are easier to get into then I might try. And from reading what people have said, I think I'll hit the store asap and any exhibits then just take it all in. All the advice is much appreciated, keep up the good work!

 

Usually is. It's logical too I guess. Saturday and Sunday are days people (usually) are of work. Celebration store has the biggest queue on fridays for the same reason you say. Stuff might get sold out. As for panels, depends on the people. In Essen there were no problems getting into the big panels (although you might get a really bad seat if you got late and basically skipped the queue) but in Anaheim the story was very different.
If you are only going to be there on friday, I guess it would be better to run around at the event. As the panels usually wound up on youtube. (altough the live expereince is better!)