SWC17 Seriously Disappointed

So I have seen three separate mentions of an encounter at Celebration where someone with Disney connections was attending and something happened at the Jedi Training that cause the individual to call an execs about it. They investigated, saw the complaints from attendees, came down and spoke to Reedpop, who told them "to stay out of it". A screaming match happened which ended with Disney execs telling RP that they will never again run Celebrations because of how the attendees were handled.

I mean I didn't personally see it so it's hearsay but 3 separate people confirm it so there might be some truth to it.

 

For once I'm glad to hear about a "screaming match" since it means Disney cares

 

From my experience at Disney 2 times the last week, Disney def cares. The galactic nights survey had 4-5 question solely on crowd size, lines etc. I'm not saying my SWC experience wasn't fun, it was fun. But for me it's hard to get over the big and blatant F u to the fans who travel from all over the world in the way the merch store was handled, and the thurs entry line. Not that I even wanted a lot of anything from there. But it's the principle here. By comparison the Coachella music festival attendance was pushed to 125k people this yr, each weekend. My cousins said they never saw what looked like more than a 20 min wait at the booth, and it's only 1 merch booth, with a counter that runs about 80-100 ft. I'm convinced RP doesn't care because it's king of throwing conventions for all types of American corporations...( look it up) hence the cold and crappy service.

 

I surely will

 

Has anyone been to D23? I keep hearing it's worse

 

Two groups of people arguing over who can handle something better is still a long way off from one taking it over from the other. I can also see what would prompt the Disney people to step in when it comes the Jedi Training specifically, as that is a major draw and hugely popular thing in their parks, and should anything happen during it, an injury or something, even if it's not on Disney property, it can cause that whole thing to get shut down. Either way, I think it's good that it's getting out there the potential for an organization other than ReedPop to run Celebration.

Never been, but I know people who go and a lot about it since I live close by and attend the park fairly often. From what I've gathered there aren't any major complaints that arise from it in terms of how it is handled. Maybe crowd and demand wise it could be worse since you have several different franchises colliding in one space all at the same time. But in terms of how it is organized and run by Disney I haven't heard anything blatantly negative like in the manner you see about Celebration.

 

It' sounds like a perfect time for a small start up company to make the pitch to the right people...

Btw what happened with their "lightspeed lane checkout" did they forget to bypass the compressor or was it a dipsh*+ in charge of it all in the first place?

 

There's too many established companies who can take this over that a startup really wouldn't have much of a chance.

The lightspeed pass worked. It's just, nobody told people about the checkout. From what I read, I thought there was going to also be a lightspeed checkout lane. But there wasn't. I had one, went in, grabbed a few things, went to the checkout line, and was told it would be an hour and a half to two hours to check out. I literally thought the guy was joking, and I kept telling him that. But he said no, it's actually reduced an hour from the previous day. So I left. Fortunately enough I got my pass back for any time any day. But figured I had already gotten some stuff that my brother purchased earlier on, and didn't even try again. I ended up giving it to someone.

Speaking of which, Padme501st, did you or your friend up using it?

 

I went to the store on Wednesday night for the VIP shopping party and even then, the checkout took forever. The biggest problem was how long it took to process credit cards. Their readers literally took like a minute to process your card. Personally, I don't get what the big deal about the store is and if I didn't have early access, I wouldn't have bothered. There are way too many other things to do.

 

A lot of people like to have keepsakes from the events they attend. Especially for an event this unique. But I agree it's not worth spending a good chunk of the day getting them. They really need to make it more like a big concert, where there are store booths at a few different locations selling the same items. And one person in charge to sort of go back and forth monitoring them.

 

Well we were heading that way but got distracted by the Disney Parks booth who was handling the lines well. After $100 each, we decided it was in our best interest not to. I did buy their TLJ Force for Change exclusive shirt among other exclusives so it wasn't that bad.

I really don't get why the Celebration store has so many issues with checkout when vendors like Disney or even Lego got through their customers fast

 

That's an excellent idea actually!

 

Padme501st: Cool beans. Either way, I figured I'd rather give it to someone who I know deserved at least having the option to go, as opposed to giving it to just some random person.

 

We appreciated it! Heard you checked on my friend when she was in line for Hamill. Meant a lot.

 

Has anybody heard about the cashiers at the Celebration Store--I heard that they were Disney employees, pulled from Disney stores. When I went to pay for my merchandise at the Celebration Store...after FOUR AND ONE HALF HOURS....I was dealt with quickly and politely, even with a credit card.

 

Celebration satisfaction survey are being sent out through email. My friend got hers already


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I can't take any survey as credible that RP sends out sorry.i say this because it doesn't seem like they improve upon any of the same complaints from previous SWC or cons in general. Although I'll still fill it out.
On another note, is the streaming of panels available only in low quality, I'm streaming thru Xbox 1s and 4K and the quality is pretty bad. Another question for fans that were in the main cosplay contest room, where there any screens showing the up close of the costumes?

Just answered my survey. Funny, one of the first questions outta the gate, if you came with any of your children please list their age, then the age only goes to 18.
Second, seriously asking about knowing about or seen all the SW movies? I can only laugh at this survey. I'm sorry, it's just too easily to flame on RP at this point. Even coming home and watching the panels, everything with the production is subpar in my book. I'm normally a very positive person, my apologies for coming across so totally neg about this situation.

 

Reedpop failed. Had fun despite their mismanagement. Posted an open letter to Reedpop, Lucasfilm and Disney. Will post here in a bit.

 

Are you the writer of the one on Tumblr? (If so, it was GREAT, I immediately reposted/liked)

 

Yes. Just reposted it in the main Celebration thread.

 

I spent the better part of an hour filling out a detailed response to the survey. I had also proposed the multiple SWC store locations in there (didn't know it had been mentioned here until now) and I made certain to let them know as much as they could about my experience and how it could have been made better.

My primary points were:

- Lack of overflow halls/theaters for the large panels - not all of us are going to camp out or have gobs of money to blow, we shouldn't have to resort to the exhibition floor.
- Lack of planning with regard to the SWC store.
- A chaotic and confusing experience with purchasing autographs.
- The mess with the lines and metal detectors.

I know ReedPop can do better than this. I'm not looking to crucify somebody for this, but I would like to know that the issues I had will be addressed in the future to give me an experience that is worth my time and money.

 

I gave them a limited pre-order idea for the Celebration store to anyone who pre-orders their badge. who knows if they will even read anything I wrote

 

Dude, Thanks! Anyone who feels likewise, please share, repost, show to fellow attendees or Star Wars fans. Would be a shame if they have not been replaced or have not fixed their problems in 2 years. I have made the decision not to travel to a Reedpop Celebration.