Nash, TN Star Wars Weekend Report

I just typed a really long post about this, but I wasn't signed in and it was lost. Fortunately, I do still have the first half:

I've been meaning to post this since I got back on Monday night. I'm not going to get as detailed as I could because I want to leave something to discuss at the picnic.

I got to the park just after 9 o'clock when it opened and trekked to the back of the park to get FastPass for autographs. The Anthony Daniels (AD) line was way too long, so I got one for Andy Secombe (Watto) and didn't bother to wait for AD. At that time, I didn't have anything for him to sign anyway.

I signed up for the trivia contest and then went to the shop (Tatooine Traders) to check out this year's merchandise. I saw a couple of overpriced, matted photos of Watto and several of C-3PO, w/ and w/o R2-D2. I picked up the 2 new pins for the week, the framed coin set, the poster, and the Jedi Mickey beanie. I then decided to get the Watto photo anyway, but they were gone. After a long search, during which the coin sets sold out, it was determined that the FOUR pictures they had in stock had been sold.

Next up was the special Star Wars Edition of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. In the line, I found myself behind the man who had bought the last 2 pictures of Watto. The game starts out with a returning contestant, a Jawa, whose brother has been sitting in the audience. The third question is about who sold the droids to the Lars family. The Jawa picks Tusken Raider and is carried off the stage by stormtroopers. His brother puts on a poor Leia disguise and then runs out.

Now, it's time for the fastest finger contest and some woman's guess ends up being correct. With the help of her family whispering the answers to her, she gets 9 questions right. After 5 questions, I had been in 10th place; after 9 I was in first, so I was the next contestant. I quickly and easily reached the first plateau guaranteeing myself the first 5 pins, the 1000 point hat, and a SW Unleashed figure. As the show was running long and I expected to go further than the first contestant, I was trying to go really quickly. This was my undoing. A tricky question and temporary confusion led to a wrong answer and an early exit. I went to the office to collect my prizes and found out I couldn't play again for a month. I went back for the second millionaire game which started with Greedo in the hot seat and a Gammorean Guard in the audience. I think the first contestant missed the fifth question and got nothing while the second ended up with the same prizes as I did.

I was on my way to Star Tours when I realized it was my time for Andy Secombe. After a brief wait, he signed an autograph and took a picture with me and the Watto standee. I then got my picture taken with Jedi Mickey.

The afternoon started with an "Stars of the Saga Talk Show". While last year's host was bad, they made things worse by giving him a female partner. They asked a good question about how he got the part, but didn't delve any deeper into what work he had done previously or since, except to reveal that he had two boys who were out enjoying the parks. They took some audience questions which mainly had him do the Watto voice, then followed it up with an "Ask Watto" section which used the interviewers questions instead and more of the Watto voice. Anthony Daniels came out next and was his usual self. The male interviewer, to the embarassment of everyone but AD, stood up, walked to the front of the stage, and raised his hands screaming "C-3PO" a couple of times. The interview itself was slightly better, but only because I had seen AD before. He told more stories about making the movies and took a few audience questions.

"Behind the Force: The Saga Continues" was a behind the scenes movie. Unfortunately, it was just the Episode I teaser, Episode II teaser or trailer, and a couple of the Hyperspace documentaries on EIII. Nothing I hadn't seen before.

I went to the 3 o'clock Indiana Jones stunt show and picked up a set of the new Action Figures, just making i

 

Sounds like a very cool weekend Glenn. Did you ever get on Star Tours?

 

Nice report, Glenn! I loved SW weekends when I went last year. Hearing your report makes me wanna go back soooo bad...oh well, maybe next year when I won't be getting ready to buy a house.

 

I did make it on Star Tours once. After riding it 30 times in a row as part of winning the Ride-a-Thon in 2000, I am a little bored with the repetitiveness of the ride. I was really hoping for the re-tool based on podracing, but that has still not yet come.

The only other attractions I saw were the Indy Stunt show and the Muppetvision 3-D. I wanted to get on Tower of Terror, but the lines were too long.