The Wicket Post

This past weekend was the start of this year’s Star Wars Weekends at MGM…er…’Hollywood’ Studios (dumb name), so Tom and I headed out to the park for Sunday. Dawn was able to once again passion some Disney ticket goodness so we could both make it out to the event which was really cool, and as always very appreciated. This year the celebrities for our weekend where Jeremy Bullock and Sam Logan who both play Boba Fett in the classic and original trilogies respectively. I met Jeremy last year (nerd proof here) so we skipped on the Fett’s in favor of the other celebrity who was there; Warwik Davis, of Wicket the Ewok fame (also Professor Flitwick in Harry Potter, and Willow amongst others). He was a pretty cool guy and rather laid back, clearly been to a few of these fan deals before. We was really pleasant and talkative though which is cool and was definitely worth going to see. Also tried our hands at the new Toy Story ride they opened up in the park a few weeks back, and have to say its pretty awesome. I’m a big fan of Toy Story in general, but branding aside it was a lot of fun and great addition to the park. We also managed to hit all the other rides in the place before we headed out. Tom hadn’t been in a few good years and was stoked to get to experience it all again before heading off to LA in a few weeks. After the park I went round Tony and Amanda’s for some obligatory Rock Band and BBQ which as cool. Nice way to end the long day.

The Star Wars Weekend Post

Each weekend this month is a ‘Star Wars Weekend’ at MGM Studios. The park plays host to a lot of Star Wars themed memorabilia, artifacts and celebrities. I had never been in Florida to catch any in the past so I jumped at the chance to go to this weeks event once I found out who the guest celebrities where (Peter Mayhew- Chewbacca, and my personal favorite Jeremy Bullock- Boba Fett). Both were available for a limited number of autographs in various sessions throughout the day. In order to get an audience with each guy you had to wait in a line to get an appointment time, at which point you go back wait in another line and get your autograph. The appointment tickets went at a ‘record pace’ according to a bewildered Disney employee I spoke to when I was announced as the absolute last ticket for Chewbacca. I was lucky enough to run (there was a stampede of nerd and sunburned parents as soon as the park opened) to the Boba line snag a pass then hop over to the Chewy line in time to get the last fast pass.

My sessions weren’t until 4:40 so I had a lot of time to kill in the park. The numerous costumed characters, Q&A sessions, Star Wars presentations and usual MGM rides where more than enough to keep me occupied however. Meeting Jeremy Bullock was fantastic. They guy is a real gentleman, who seems to really care about his fans and was clearly having a great time at the Q&A and when I met him briefly later in the day. Peter Mayhew on the other hand didn’t give off the same vibe, and seemed like he really didn’t want to be there. He reportedly was leaving his autograph sessions early as well which scared me being the last in line, and even went as far to correct a 14 year old boy who got his name wrong when asking a question during the Q&A. As you can tell from the picture I got with the guy, he wasn’t nearly as enthused about it as I was. All in all it was an awesome experience if not a strange one (I had never been to a theme park by myself before), but I had a blast getting to meet my all-time favorite Star Wars characters, trying to pose with some very uncooperative Stormtroopers (they marched past people and told you to “Move along” when you tried for a shot) and even got checked out by Zam Wessel. Fun times, I’ll definitely go back. After the park I was invited back to Carrie’s for some night swimming and leftovers with Cromar which was nice (got my sunglasses back as well!)

Nerdy Adventures of Star Wars boy!:
Zam Stormtroopers Jango Vader Shak’Ti