Jedi Master Mickey!
We got to DHS a little after 2:00pm, but we waited in the car for a while because it had started a heavy rain. As soon as it let up we booked it to the tram and got to the entrance. After picking up a times guide and realizing that none of the SWW stuff was listed, I asked where to get the SWW guide and map, which could only be found at the inside Guest Relations just to the left as you enter. The first scheduled show was "Behind The Force" at 3:35pm at the Premiere Theater (inside the backdrop of San Francisco), and we didn't want to chance missing it, so we headed straight there, but at a liesurely pace. There was no line at the entrance when we reached there, which I thought was strange, until I asked - and the line was actually hidden away across the road, alongside the Muppetvision building. They had taken a portion of the Muppetvision queue and used that a holding line for the theater. At least a portion of it was covered from the potential rain.Jedi Master Mickey!
The show was a talk and demonstration of how the voiceover work for The Clone Wars was done, hosted by Ashley Eckstein (the voice of Ahsoka Tano), with a brief introduction by SWW host Jay Laga'aia (who did not stick around). For this weekend, she was joined by Matt Lanter, the 90210 actor who also voices Anakin Skywalker. Ashley sure seems into the whole Star Wars Weekend thing - she has a backpack which has the baby Hutt which her character had to carry around for an episode, and she seems to ALWAYS be wearing it. She and Matt talked a bit about the show, did a little skit where their characters are in a high school, and did a sample voiceover. Then they did a bit of audience participation, where some guests got to imitate some characters, and one girl was chosen to go up on stage and do a voiceover of a battle droid.
After that we went over to Wicket's Warehouse, where they were doing photo ops with Darth Maul and Darth Vader inside (due to the rain), and also Queen Amidala, Boba Fett and Jango Fett just inside where Sorcerer Mickey used to be, next to Toy Story Mania. There is a single line for the last three, although they are not all out at the same time - the Fetts appear to trade off, with Amidala taking occasional breaks. It was Amidala and Boba when we got in line, but both took a break and we just waited for a bit. Jango came out, and by the time we reached him Amidala was back as well. Both were in front of simple backdrops, but Boba Fett pictures included a life-sized Han Solo in carbonite.Stormtroopers on patrol
Just outside there was a number of roaming characters - a number of stormtroopers, plus you'll also find some bounty hunters like Aurra Sing and Zam Wesell. The problem here is that everyone wants pictures with them, and a few autographs - but there are no character handlers, or lines - it is very haphazard, and when the characters are fully in character, you can't actually tell what they are going to do. Aurra Sing often made it difficult to get a picture with her, preferring to stare you down. If you want a picture, you just have to try and wait your turn and duck in, but since there is no line no one knows (and some don't care) who is next. Aurra Sing also made a little girl cry when she came up, autograph book opened and pen ready, and Aurra just stared down at her, making no indication that she would sign the book. The girl started to tear up and turned away while Aurra continued to stare. Her mother encouraged her to try again, and the girl went up to her again, only to be met by the cold stare again, until the girl started to cry and leave. At no point did Aurra make any indication of signing the book, and a lot of people in the crowd made comments like, "That's not right". Had there been a CM nearby I would have said something. We saw Zam Wesell the next day - again no handlers, but a nice line had formed and we got in it. A boy went up to her for an autograph. She took the book, but then starts walking fast while signing it - away from everyone, heading towards Wicket's Warehouse and backstage I think. I didn't even see the boy get back the book, who had to chase after her.
We went back towards Star Tours, and caught part of the Padawan Mind Challenge which is sort of a quiz show for kids done on the Jedi stage, where Ahsoka was helping judge with two "original" characters as the Emcees. We then rode Star Tours (pretty much a walk on - which was surprising), and when we got out we saw Luke and Leia next to the Fastpass kiosks. But while we were in line, Leia left, but Luke stayed. A short time later, R2-D2 came rolling by! We got pics with them together. And yes, I saw R2-D2's "handler". You might think he was just a creepy guy standing nearby if you didn't know what he was doing.R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker
We milled about a bit more, and then tried to make sure we had some space for the Hyperspace Hoopla, which is a do not miss event that closes the Star Wars events for the night.
The problem is that the Hoopla also takes place at the Jedi stage, right after a Jedi Training Academy Session. So there is already a crowd around the stage, some of which will be leaving afterwards, while an even bigger crowd gathers around in a FAR TOO SMALL area. The result is that unless the kids are in the front, or on someone's shoulders, they aren't going to see anything at all. DD#1 managed to get one of the few spots to the side where she could at least see over some people. I was very intent on being courteous but in a position so I could videotape. After the Jedi Training Academy, the CMs managed to get the crowd to move up in a very controlled manner - although it generally didn't help much. I ended up with a couple behind me with two kids, who kept telling their kids to push on up all the way to the front, but the kids were obviously reluctant to do so and be separated from their parents, but also weren't willing to wait until the start of the show to sit on their shoulders, so they were constantly moving around me in both directions as the parents kept telling them to push their way around, but in the end still ended up behind me. When it came time to start, they both took a kid on their shoulders - and I started to get bumped from behind while I was taping.
To make matters worse with the close-in crowd, Sandpeople and Jawas would walk in amongst the crowd - I had a Tusken Raider come right up to me (got a REAL closeup pic when I turned to see who was bumping in to me now!), and then moved on past in front of me towards the stage - and the couple behind me followed him, so I ended up trying to tape from right between them, limiting my field of view, and they also started swaying and swinging to the music, bumping me left and right. In addition, the dad had a non-small backpack on, and he kept turning around and hitting me with it. I was getting really aggravated and the video is all bouncy, which makes me more aggravated because I am in general a very good cameraman (I've used professional equipment many times). I eventually got all my video without causing an international incident though.
The show itself was really funny. Think Star Wars characters dancing to big hits. I understand the songs change from year to year, but this year featured Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers dancing to "U Can't Touch This".
Disney REALLY needs to reconsider the location of the Hoopla. My first thought was to use the big stage they used for the High School Musical 3 number in April right in front of the Sorcerer's Hat, which had a much greater viewing area but apparently had been removed and they were back to using the portable stage. Still, Disney may want to consider doing something there instead.Members of the 501st Legion on parade
After this, DD built her own lightsaber, and we picked up a couple items for gifts at Wicket Warehouse. DD got herself a shirt and a Jedi Mickey hat. Of course the $50 total gave her pause (it was her spending money).
Then we went for a quick (well, as quick as the standby line gets - around 60 minutes) ride on Rock'n'RollerCoaster, and then went back to POP for dinner.
From descriptions I had read, I imagined the Pop Century food court to be bigger. There was certainly lots of seats, and a nice set of choices though. For this quick dinner DD had just some nachos with cheese sauce (nothing special, but she's easy to please), while I had a cheeseteak wrap which was pretty tasty.
After the quick (and late) dinner, we decided we would take the bus over to MK for Extra Magic Hours. We arrived a little before 10pm, so that Wishes began just after we came out of Caseys where we grabbed a large Sprite (sort of an EMH tradition for DD and I). Then we just worked our way clockwise around the park, hitting the attractions we wanted to: Jungle Cruise (which, strangely, had the Fastpass machines open for EMH, but it was a walkon ride), Pirates Of The Caribbean, Splash Mountain...we skipped Big Thunder Mountain, as the "30 minute" standby line was out onto the main paths, I believe because of the large influx of post-Wishes guests. We then did Haunted Mansion (very short wait), and we would have done Peter Pan but the wait was almost an hour. It also was using Fastpass (the only other attraction that seemed to) and the return times were post-12am already. The only other attraction we did was Indy Speedway (another short wait), and then we worked our way out of the park. We stopped for ice cream at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor, and took our time going back to the bus stop.
Of course, then you remember why you don't like taking the bus...especially to a Value resort - the line. I've seen them worse, but still, it was several busloads of people, and it wasn't quite midnight yet (EMH ran until 1am). However, the Disney Transportation was smart about this, and they were doubling up the buses, loading two at a time for POP. We had to wait for the next pair, which was about 15 minutes, while we talked with another family from Massachusetts, but we were able to get on the next pair and even sit down. We got back to POP close to 12:30am (after what seemed like the longest red light ever taking the left towards POP), and DD was asleep pretty much as soon as she laid down, and I did not long after.
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