Photo TR: Adam goes to Star Wars Celebration V

[jedimaster1227]

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to go to Star Wars Celebration V, the "ultimate fan event" for Star Wars fans like myself. With several juicy new details on Disney/Star Wars and Indiana Jones crossovers, plus Star Tours news, there was plenty of theme park related aspects to the event.

 

Unlike most of my reports that have a lengthy writeup, I'm going to let my photos tell the story this time around (since there are so many). At the end of the report, be sure to tell me if you like my reports like this or with the more detailed writeup as well.

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=IMGP2885_7po7[/coastertube]

My first photo at Star Wars Celebration V had to be with a homemade R2-D2... It was pretty cool.

The Orange County Convention Center updated its restroom signs to show characters from the Clone Wars series.

They were broadcasting throughout the event.

 

Too bad I don't pay for radio... Yo ho! Yo ho! The FM life for me...

This has to be the coolest toy EVER. You put on a little headpiece with sensors that read your mind's beta waves. Using those waves, you control the ascent and descent of the ball in the tube by powering the fan beneath it (wirelessly).

If you haven't figured out by now, I like to take bizarre photos and share them.

I got to sit in a full size Hoth speeder recreation!

Stormtroopers on the roam... It's just like my Bar Mitzvah!

A clever ad for the Last Tour to Endor event, over by the Disney booth.

I bought my tickets the day they went online... I know, I'm cool.

Something about this diorama just made me smile.

This trip report is actually theme park-relative, as you'll see as we progress.

I waited in line at the Disney booth for nearly 25 minutes just to get the Starspeeder 1000 preview vehicle, a Last Tour to Endor shirt, a few pins, a Shadow Trooper Donald figure and some pins.

 

Just a few things.

Star V Celebration Wars

Yoda was surprised when this man did some magic.

 

His hand disappeared!

A member of the Belgian 501st legion made this mask (and the costume that went with it) by hand.

Role models.

"Why are you wearing a Lite Brite?"

This was the front of a very long line to get onto the show floor. Thanks to media badge, I walked straight in the minute it opened.

Look at the spuds!

The Star Wars Fan Film Theater played some of my favorite fan films including Pink 5 and my all-time favorite, Wampa.

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment was present at the Star Wars Family Room with some friendly creatures.

 

See, theme park related!

I want an anteater. Really.

 

Buy me one for Hannukah. Now.

A cool exhibit with a few things I hadn't seen before.

I found this humorous, though I can't exactly say why.

A year and a half too young.

To work off my frustration at not being able to see Hoth, I went and played a demo of the original Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in the LucasArts Game Room.

I was able to get a peek into the Ice Bar during its initial setup... But I don't see a Wampa here.

There he is!

Take a wild guess and tell me how many of the picture imperials are real people.

The 501st Legion had a huge exhibit displaying some of their best costumes and other creations.

Remembering a fallen soldier.

For the first time ever, Lucas ok'd the creation of multiple art pieces from a single canvas--the stormtrooper helmet. Dubbed the TK Project, the auctioning of these helmets benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation, raising over $50,000 in one day.

Seriously, I was sold at this one. And it was only the first one in the line.

How's it going Hollywood?

Simple but complex.

One of my favorites of the pack.

Supposedly, you could actually play this...

If I had the money, I would have bought this in a heartbeat.

Theme park related... I'm still proving the point here.

Though I never thought it possible, zombies actually made it into the Star Wars universe this year in the book Death Troopers.

I think that this was the most unique of the group.

Better than any "Coasters" diner at any Cedar Fair park.

Need I say anything?

Vader's Fist is growing stronger every year...

That's no moon... That's an inflatable.

Ads for the Last Tour to Endor were all over the convention center.

Star Wars has its kinks.

I just HAD to include this, for the kicks.

Apparently, a lot of people are fans of the Fett.

Clever...

Edited August 28, 2010 by jedimaster1227

[jedimaster1227]

(Continued)

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=IMGP2747_xhpp[/coastertube]

No Fetts down here...

I bought the poster for my apartment... This was far too amazing not to buy!

If I had a significant other, I'd buy this.

Do you love scoundrels?

More clever shirts for sale...

It smelled like a jerk with a failed singing career...

Not even gunna try to describe this one...

As much as I hate the guy, this was funny.

Which are you?

In my Star Wars Stories memoir (yes, I went on camera to tell my Star Wars story), I was asked who my favorite character was. The Wampa is my first, followed by Luke Skywalker.

His arm comes off! How cute is that?

See? All better!

I actually ate here two of the four days of the event, and it was delicious!

Sounds worse than it really is...

You may be surprised to know that the busiest section of the entire show floor was the section for tattoos.

I wampa. You wampa. He, she, me, it Wampas. Wampalogy. The study of Wampa. Haven't you heard of this before?

This guy was doing Clone Wars chalk art during the convention. This was the piece on Day 1.

The Lucasarts booth was incredibly busy thanks to a playable demo of The Force Unleashed II being available.

 

Oh, and the Playstation Home Mos Eisley Cantina environment? Already downloaded it!

The Lego booth was raising money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital by creating an Empire Strikes Back mural out of legos.

Here are the official "deets..."

Photo ops a plenty here on the show floor!

Some of the fan costumes were extremely impressive!

Glad to see Florida represented, but I haven't gone that far yet.

Do you see what I see? Its a credit!

"I have no idea why I'm happy in this doorway..."

Just hangin' with my main man Wampa.

GFLUG (don't ask me to tell you what that is) built several detail lego sets of memorable Star Wars scenes, including the Mustafar Duel from Revenge of the Sith.

A photo op to simulate an opening scene from Empire Strikes Back with your own camera.

They had a Star Wars Committment Chapel, complete with Star Wars/Force-inspired vows!

The Living Character C-3PO & R2D2 animatronics from the parks made their way across the convention center as well.

At the first Disney/Star Wars panel, Imagineer Jason Surrell talked about the genesis of Star Tours, the Disney/Lucas relationship and even a little about Indiana Jones and Disney.

That was a while ago.

We were shown some great concept art from the original ride...

Looks pretty close to what we got, right?

It is amazing how close the concept is to the eventual execution!

This didn't quite make the cut, at least not yet.

Notice Darth Vader in the top right hand screen?

Again, extremely close to what came to be.

The huge Death Star Trench Run set used to film the iconic sequence featured in Star Tours.

And since Jason Surrell wasn't there when Star Tours opened, he brought in a guest to talk about the ride from back then. That guest happened to be Anthony Daniels, the voice and body of C3PO!

Between Star Tours and Captain EO, Tomorrowland used to be filled with rainbow clothes!

Anthony Daniels was incredibly engaging, absolutely hilarious and unsurprisingly humble. He seemed genuinely happy to be there with us, and it was a truly incredible experience to have him at the panel.

He recited some of his lines from the queue, including ones that he recording in French for the Disneyland Paris version of the ride.

Anthony Daniels is definitely not a boring speaker, to say the least.

Then they showed us a preview for the new version of the ride...

We may go to Coruscant...

It has been confirmed that a podracing sequence on Tatooine will be including in the ride.

And then the panel wrapped up, marking the beginning of the end of my first day at Star Wars Celebration V.

It wouldn't be a Star Wars report if there weren't slave Leias.... So I got you three!

And an extra four just because I like you so much!

 

(Not you! I meant her over there!)

Edited August 28, 2010 by jedimaster1227

[paiging_jen]

This looks awesome! I was actually in Orlando for work that week but didn't know this was happening until I was set to leave. I wish I had known I would have made plans to stay.

[BarryH]

Great photos! I was there on Saturday. I wish I could have spent all 4 days there. It was a lot of fun. I'll have to post my photos of the event soon.

[Lenaapple1974]

ROPS JAW::

 

Seriously this is so cool! And I thought I was in heaven when I went to MGM, uh... Hollywood Studios during Star Wars weekends!

 

Also, can someone please agree with me that the original portion at the end of VI (Ewoks singing) changed and that it is just not right now? I agree that they should have changed Ani, but the song too? Fail. Sorry, that has just bothered me since they changed it.

[davidmorton]

Hi : Earlier today a photographer I follow on t'internet posted a link to someone else's photo's of that event.... you might get a kick out of some of their shots;

 

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2010/archives/12267

[Brandy524]

Looks awesome! Great pictures. Totally wish I could go to this one day. I don't think I would have the guts for a Slave Leia costume!

[robbalvey]

Adam! I am so glad you posted this for two reasons:

 

1. It's nice to see an enthusiast group that's nerdier than us!

 

2. I'm happy to see that there is almost no mention to those "newer" Star Wars films anywhere at the convention. Do the fans even count them?

 

--Robb

[timfreeman]

I didn't go to Celebration, but did hit the Last Tour. The line into the gift shop at times were 2 hours long. I didn't spend the money to stand in a merchandise line, so I skipped it. The t-shirts were sold out by the time I got in there. I did get the preview vehicle before the mob hit that night. Anthony Daniels was at the first showing of the Raiders of the Lost Jedi along with Warwick Davis, Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, and someone else who escapes me at the moment. All said, I was fairly disappointed in the disorganization.

[nursemelis374]

Great trip report and I am super jealous! They had that "I Love Scoundrels" shirt at Comic-Con but it sold out before I could get it.

[moinab]

1. It's nice to see an enthusiast group that's nerdier than us!

 

 

[BeemerBoy]

I can't quite figure out exactly why, but I loved this report!

[mcjaco]

2. I'm happy to see that there is almost no mention to those "newer" Star Wars films anywhere at the convention. Do the fans even count them?

 

I don't hate the prequels, but I don't like them either. One was by far the worst, with three being the best. Sounds familiar? Lucas shouldn't direct.

 

I have all six in the collection, just because I grew up on the first three (who didn't in our age group), and hope to share these with my kids eventually.

[jedimaster1227]

Adam! I am so glad you posted this for two reasons:

 

1. It's nice to see an enthusiast group that's nerdier than us!

 

2. I'm happy to see that there is almost no mention to those "newer" Star Wars films anywhere at the convention. Do the fans even count them?

 

--Robb

 

1. Yes.

 

2. Much of the focus of the event was on the original trilogy, specifically Empire Strikes Back, as it was the 35th anniversary of the film's original release. Even George Lucas admitted that the generation that grew up with the original trilogy loves the originals and hates the prequels; the kids that grew up with the prequels don't like the original trilogy and the kids that have grown up watching The Clone Wars on TV aren't interested in any of the films.

 

I didn't go to Celebration, but did hit the Last Tour. The line into the gift shop at times were 2 hours long. I didn't spend the money to stand in a merchandise line, so I skipped it. The t-shirts were sold out by the time I got in there. I did get the preview vehicle before the mob hit that night. Anthony Daniels was at the first showing of the Raiders of the Lost Jedi along with Warwick Davis, Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, and someone else who escapes me at the moment. All said, I was fairly disappointed in the disorganization.

 

I actually had an incredible time at Last Tour--it ranks up there as my second favorite Disney-run event I've had the chance to have gone to (bested only by the 25th anniversary of Epcot, although I'm a bit biased on that one).

 

So anyways... You all thought that this report was over? I still have three days worth of photos to share! Here's Day 2 (my shortest day of the convention)...

Why can't I have nice things?

There's something that caught my attention in this photo and it isn't Star Wars related.

 

It starteds with a "Fl" and ends with an "ynn's Arcade."

People were ogling over this sub all week.

"This is not the park you're looking for..."

OMG! And Ewok Jedi padawan! Greatest combo ever!

"You sir. You need to stop staring at my lite-brite."

Mosh pit on Jedi.

Since the person who got me into the event needed some photos of the merchandise panel, I went.

These guys make Disney/Star Wars merch. Fun stuff!

I'm not ashamed to say I bought one of these while there.

If they overlaid our animatronic Stitch at Magic Kingdom, Stitch's Great Escape would be so pro!

Huey, Lewis and Dewey are Jawas in an upcoming figure set.

Star Wars has made its way to Vinylmation...

They even took a few minutes to share a few Indy/Disney items coming out soon.

 

Notice that the crystal skull belongs to Stitch.

Now here's where it got really interesting. See the five extra Starspeeder 1000 designs? Those are competing companies' ships... And they WILL show up in the new ride. Plot detail? I'd like to think so.

Everyone that stayed for the end of the panel was given a free Disney/Star Wars poster. I got the one in the top middle.

And hidden in some of those free posters were vouchers for a limited edition Boba Fett diecast Disney racer. Surprisingly enough, I got one!

One last surprise came in the form of a live appearance by the living character, R2-MK, Jedi Mickey's astromech droid.

I think he's looking at me... Probably means I should leave.

"Come to Crazy Watto's Junk Shop!"

A little out of place, methinks.

I didn't know NASA existed a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.

Have I mentioned that I love Wampas?

A look at some of the Disney Celebration V exclusives...

More progress completed on the chalk drawing...

Walking into the Star Wars Laser Tag area, I could have sworn I was watching Predators.

hehe

"Oah my ghowsh! Its'h full shize!"

Now this is what I really came here for (today)!

They actually borrowed the host from the American Idol Experience to be the warm up host for all of the events that took place in the Chapin Theater (the main theater). You might have actually seen him in a Bryan and Adam Show update a while ago...

 

While we're on that topic, when will we see an update for that show?

Darth Maul gets interviewed in the pre-show, and then gives a little kid in the front row a Darth Maul action figure. It was an "aww" kind of Star Wars moment.

Jay Laga'aia (played Captain Typho in Attack of the Clones) served as the main host and moderator for all events on the Chapin Theater stage.

To start, they showed us a preview of Robot Chicken Empire (Star Wars) III.

"Get your asthmatic a$$ back here or else I'll tell everybody what a whiney ***** you were about Padamame or Panda Bear! Or whatever her name is! *whispers* Oh, he's crying!"

Since filming had begun only a few weeks before the event, they didn't have much footage to share, so they gave us an animatic of a scene from the new episode, complete with the recorded narration that will go with the eventually completed animation.

Anakin looks so happy for a destroyed human being...

The heavens shined down upon the panel, as the guys behind Robot Chicken walked in.

Notice that they are wearing the vintage Yoda hats!

Just listening to the group was a show in itself!

Seth Green = Comedic genius.

Who have we here?

Hi Elissa!

This is producer of the new Star Wars animated comedy that Seth Green and George Lucas are working on together.

I don't collect them, but here's a look at a few of the Vinyls to come from the new Star Wars collection.

That's all for Day 2!

Edited August 31, 2010 by jedimaster1227

[rollin_n_coastin]

Adam, this is awesome. I forgot how much Star Wars geek can be in all of us. I loved reading through this!

[mousch]

Reading thorough this report has made me feel like a kid again,taking me back to the summer of 77 ,

and making me wish i'd looked after those original toys better!!!

[timfreeman]

[

I didn't go to Celebration, but did hit the Last Tour. The line into the gift shop at times were 2 hours long. I didn't spend the money to stand in a merchandise line, so I skipped it. The t-shirts were sold out by the time I got in there. I did get the preview vehicle before the mob hit that night. Anthony Daniels was at the first showing of the Raiders of the Lost Jedi along with Warwick Davis, Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, and someone else who escapes me at the moment. All said, I was fairly disappointed in the disorganization.

 

I actually had an incredible time at Last Tour--it ranks up there as my second favorite Disney-run event I've had the chance to have gone to (bested only by the 25th anniversary of Epcot, although I'm a bit biased on that one).

 

It's not that we didn't have fun, it's just they didn't seem organized. I'm sure much of it was Disney trying to be secretive of things.

 

We have passes, so we were already in the park by 1pm. We asked what we needed to do since we were already there and no one could answer the question. We found a worker in front of Star Tours around 3:30 answering questions and he told us that it wasn't a problem, just come back at 4, and they would give us a bracelet. We come back at 4 and the guy is no where and the people there had no clue about anything (it's after 4, quit acting ignorant). They called a manager who told us to go the info shack. We walk there and the workers won't give us a bracelet, they say our tickets need to be "activated" to get the bracelet. We go to the gate and the worker says he can't do it, we must go through the 1 line that has 200 people waiting in it (1 line, really?). Once though, they scan our passes, not the Tour tickets and give us the bracelets, we are good to go. We never pulled the tickets out again, so that was a complete waste of more than an hour.

 

My son loves Star Wars and wanted to do 3 things, the "special" Jedi training if they had it, pictures with the characters in their costumes, and the Indy show. They are all long stories, but nothing worked out the first time we tried it. We missed Jedi Training due to the Raiders of the Lost Jedi being over an hour long, luckily there was 1 show still open. There was no line for the characters (except Jedi Mickey and R2-MK), it was a "dance party", so the Photopass people wouldn't take your picture unless you were dancing. That doesn't work as my son is very shy and doesn't dance. We ended up going back later that night after the fireworks and the place was empty so they took pictures with us. I wish I knew how the special Jedi Training worked. He's fought Vader 100's of times and it would have been nice to get him fighting the other characters, no big deal, my mistake for not researching.

 

I made it a point not to complain about any of it in front of him as it would have ruined the night. We had fun, just wish the people were more informed.

[Rastuso]

The event was definitely short on structure. I didn't even know Jedi Mickey was anywhere. Until I saw a pic of The Maker dueling with him online.

 

At least you saw teh INdy show. That was easily the saving grace of the event. I'll be posting a report soon.

 

-RO

[jedimaster1227]

Now its time for what was truly my favorite day of the convention... Let Day 3 begin!

See this giant screen? This is the "Main Event."

My cousin and I sat in the front row of the digital theater for the Main Event after waiting for nearly two hours in line (outside of the convention center starting at 5:30 am). Once in our seats, we waited in the theater for an additional 3.5 hours until the show began.

The Main Event was essentially a live interview of George Lucas done by Jon Stewart, with a few surprises thrown into the mix.

During our long wait, we were shown a documentary with this old guy...

Unfortunately, this guy was back... Singing "Day-oh. Me say Day-go-baah! Jedi come and him train in my home..."

 

It was lame the first time. It was lame even four times afterwards.

The tried getting people to dance.

 

Everybody knows Star Wars fans can't dance.

One of his talents: matrix-shifting. I swear, his name was Neo.

Then he saw the product of his trying to get the fans to dance.

Jon Stewart is here!

In case you don't know who this is...

In America, it is customary to kiss the neck of the man that made Star Wars.

 

You just can't make this stuff up.

George was taken aback by Jon's tender welcome.

Next thing you know, R2 comes rolling in carrying something that isn't a crappy Verizon iPhone wannabe.

What is it Jon? What is it?

Its a "Stu Jon" action figure in the image of Jon Stewart. It actually included two heads for the figure, one with the goatee and one without.

 

Of course, it was made by the original and best, Kenner.

"Now two people on the stage have action figures with strange names, set in their image."

You wouldn't believe who this guy is...

That used to be Mark Hamill.

"I've been avoiding American fans for years, and my career has been doing just fine, especially in front of the camera..."

"Oh, and that Batman game sequel will be the last time I do the voice of that Jacker character, or whatever his name is."

"Aren't you impressed that I showed up?"

"Why are you booing me?"

"Whassup!!!"

No comment needed.

Onstage fights are always fun...

After the Main Event, we hung around to catch the famed One Man Star Wars Trilogy.

This man has a talent that everyone/no one else wants to have.

To infinity and beyond!

The General Grevious and Starkiller costumes were definitely some of the best ones I saw all week.

This fan lives in a van down by the river on Alderaan.

Over at Disney's Hollywood Studios, it came time for my most anticipated event (I bought my tickets the minute registration opened), the Last Tour to Endor.

The event was open to anyone, even if you weren't a Celebration V attendee, which was nice.

Jason Surrell and the Imagineers actually got approval from Lucas and Spielberg to create a special mashup show, essentially bringing Star Wars and Indiana Jones together in a way that surprisingly incredible and hilarious.

That main theme around the event was the impending closure of Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios' Star Tours. So, we went in and took what is likely the last tour I will ever take to Endor.

 

Oh, and its a trap!!!

After Anthony Daniels' stories from the earlier panel, this figure meant a great deal more to me.

Rarely noticed details in the Star Tours queue.

Permanent shutdown coming soon boys!

Here they were filming the video for Starwars.com

Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom: An Fan Film of Epic Proportions starts off with a few in jokes between a Star Wars fan and an Indy fan.

 

"Two words: Lead Fridge."

"Three words: Jar Jar Binks."

Each of the three shows had a great set of guest participants...

Ours had Jeremy Bulloch (the original Boba Fett), Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok), Dee Bradley Baker (voice of a bunch of different characters in The Clone Wars), the voice of Anakin Skywalker from the Clone Wars (don't remember his name), and cutie, Ashley Eckstein (voice of Asokha on Clone Wars).

Boba Fett gets in a fight with Indy, but not before the booby trap spikes get Jar Jar Binks' head on a pike.

The special guests were "featured extras" in the show.

The living characters, C3PO and R2D2 came out for the show as well.

Although not themed to Star Wars, the nonexistant lines at Rock n' Rollercoaster were awesome.

 

Plus cast members asking "Backstage passes, how often does that happen" only to get a reply "every 60 seconds!" was awesome.

 

Oh, and at dispatch, they said "May the G-Force be with you!" See? It fits!

"I think that's a good idea!"

Death Star Disco featured the Disney/Star Wars characters dancing in the Playhouse Disney area.

It was a nice little aspect of the larger event.

The Bespin Dance Party was even more entertaining than the Death Star Disco!

Then it was time for the super-sized Hyperspace Hoopla! (More photos to come in the next update!)

[Rastuso]

You only waited 2 hours for front row? I assume you had Jedi badges?

 

-RO

[SharkTums]

Not that I mind, but why was Joey Fatone there???

 

And I'm glad to see Warwick Davis still alive and kicking! Willow was an awesome movie!

[Rastuso]

Fat one does a lot of Robot CHicken stuff, plus he lives in Orlando. Plus, he seems pretty cool. ANd not afraid to destroy his old image by jamming with the mighty Steel Panther:

 

WARNING: NOT FOR KIDS!!!!!

 

 

-RO

[jedimaster1227]

^^Joey Fatone was there because he is involved in the production of Robot Chicken (and the Robot Chicken Star Wars Specials).

 

Its time for the Hyperspace Hoopla!

Han and Chewie did Grease.

Then Luke and Leia did Flashdance...

It was playfully creepy.

Snig and Oopla stopped the 'cest from happening, thankfully.

Then the ladies of Star Wars did "Material Girl" by Madonna.

Amidala always dances alot during the Hoopla.

Then, it came time for Vader and the troops to do the famous Michael Jackson routine (this time, with all little Captain EP thrown in the mix).

Here he comes...

Notice the sequined glove Vader is wearing.

"It was all too easy..."

Following the dance off, Vader's group was given the win.

Despite the lose, Chewie had a few words to share: "Don't stop."

The Gammorean guard dances to Pitbull's "I know you want me."

Then Amidala and Vader did "Break your heart" by Taio Cruz.

It was actually a very entertaining routine!

Then the ladies did "California Girls" by Katy Perry.

 

You're welcome Tyler.

And then it came time for Snig and Oopla to wrap thing up.

Jango Fett (despite being dead) decides to crash the party, only to end up being the most talented dancer of the entire show.

To commemorate the upcoming closure of Star Tours, the park held a shutdown ceremony that included appearances by C3PO, R2-D2, Boba Fett and Darth Vader, as well as the launching of a modest collection of pyro,

That's it from the Last Tour. More photos from the fourth and last day of Celebration V to follow soon!

Edited September 5, 2010 by jedimaster1227

[triggernel]

This is a super interesting thread which prompted me to go and watch Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom on YouTube.

 

Thanks for sharing this. Can't wait for the next update!

[bgwfreak777]

Most excellent report dude.