lazypadawan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lazypadawan) wrote2010-08-17 11:17 pm
lazypadawan) wrote2010-08-17 11:17 pm
Entry tags:
The lazypadawan Celebration V Report Part Un
Wednesday August 11
I was up at 4 a.m. to make a 6:45 a.m. flight. The problem with the West Coast is that most of the flights heading east are really early and you end up getting there late in the day. Having lived in Florida and having traveled to the tropics many times in life, you always want to fly in and out as early as possible to avoid bad weather. The earliest I could get in was 4:55 p.m., which is right in that window of when summertime cloudbursts and thunderstorms happen. Yay.
Flight #1 to Houston was pretty uneventful, which is the way I like my flights. The cool thing is when I checked in online 24 hours beforehand, I was offered the option to upgrade to first class on either leg, or both. The leg to Houston was expensive but the upgrade for Houston to Orlando was a mere $79. I've flown first class three times before and if you can swing it, it's worth every penny. You get more (and better) food, nice big seats, and your suitcase is the first one off the plane. It's especially worth it on long flights. Anyway, I got a sandwich at the Houston airport and hopped on the 757 to Orlando. As I somewhat expected but much to my chagrin, it was a bumpity-dumpity flight almost the whole way. It wasn't the scary kind of turbulence, just constant annoying movement. I did however get a good-sized bowl of fruit, a mini brownie, crackers, and a cheese and summer sausage plate as a "snack." As the plane landed in Orlando, we mananged to touch down just as blowing rain dumped on the airport. As I was waiting to get off the plane, I noticed a guy two rows behind me who looked like Daniel Logan who was accompanied by some big guy who wore sunglasses, a cap, and a towel around his neck. "Hmm, he kinda looks like Daniel Logan," I thought. Then I noticed he was wearing an Air New Zealand t-shirt and when he spoke, I knew it was him. I didn't want to bug him or anything. I wasn't wearing my "colors" and I figured he was going to have a whole four days' worth of fan gushing. I made my way on the tram from the gates to baggage claim only to find out baggage delivery was going to be delayed because of the weather. Since you know, it never rains in Orlando or anything. I figured it had to be some kind of union rule. So I'm forced to call my friend Debbie, who drove down with mutual friend Marie from Maryland, and told her to wait in the satellite lot until I got my bag. I passed the time complaining about the delay on Facebook and chatting with other fans waiting for their luggage. Finally, the bags got delivered and mine was the first one down the chute. It's a Celebration miracle!
Debbie and Marie picked me up and off we went to the luxurious Econo Lodge Inn and Suites. Well, not quite luxurious but it was cheap and close to the convention center. It even had a stop on the shuttle bus route. The sign flashed "WELCOME STAR WARS FANS! ROOMS AVAILABLE!" After dumping off my suitcase and carry on, I distributed freebies picked up at Comic Con (what few I got anyway) and Debbie and Marie showed me all of the cool stuff they bought on the road and at Downtown Disney. We then headed for a Friendly's next door for dinner, came back to the room, and vegged in the high powered AC until going to bed around 10 p.m. (well, I unpacked). I'd forgotten that Florida motel rooms are often colder than an igloo and I sat shivering in my bed. Good thing I brought my extra blankie for the trip but my feet were still cold.
Thursday, August 12
We were up at 5 and by the time we all showered and dressed, it was around 6 a.m.. Debbie was shocked that it was still pitch black at that time. Florida's further down and sunrise happens later than in the Northeast. So off we went in the dark to the only place nearby open at that unholy hour, Denny's. Denny's was all decorated with Star Wars stuff. Somebody must have told them about our little convention. Fortunately, we were not the only loons up at that time though it wasn't real busy. Our friendly trainee waitress tried to get our orders all right, even going the extra mile for crispy bacon. I was pleasantly surprised that not everything on the menu was 12,000 calorie extravaganzas with piles of bacon, sausage, pancakes with stuff slopped all over them, fried potatoes, and a henhouse's worth of eggs. How about that? After going back to the room to brush our teeth and pick up our con bags, we waited with a small group of other fans for the bus.
I put on sunblock and everything, expecting to have to wait hours outside in the hot sun and enduring the unforgivingly high humidity. The bus pulled up, we got on, and a very short ride later, we were let off at the massive (and I mean massive) convention center. We were guided inside the air conditioned convention center and led to a large hall to wait it out another two hours. Thanks, guys! That was the first thing the con organizers did right.
People were really excited and the buzz grew as the 10 o'clock hour drew near. We talked to a young couple behind us from Portland, OR about past Celebrations and costumes. They were both dressed as Imperial officers. The young woman said she made a Victorian-style outfit with vintage SW sheets and was planning to wear it the next day. Anthony Daniels made a brief visit to the lines, shaking hands with fans, and taking pictures, but I was on the other side of the barrier.
At 10, we all streamed into the convention hall, herded by staff into the main exhibition hall. My objectives were to 1) visit the Her Universe booth first to get a crack at the exclusive necklace, limited to 150 then 2) visit the art show to buy prints then 3) visit the Celebration Store. I memorized where the HU booth was located (#1111!), so I looked up at the banners to find row 1100. I dashed over there and quickly found the booth. There were maybe five people ahead of me, so I figured I had a good chance to get the necklace. Sure enough, I managed to snag one a few minutes later. I didn't look until later to see that I got #112…crew, volunteers, and exhibitors got first crack at every exclusive which IMO sucks, especially with so many of these limited to very small numbers.
With that success behind me, I hustled over to the art show and saw that it was already a freakin' mess. People were in a long line to pay, weaving through the booths in a way that made it hard to get around. Still, I wanted my prints. Acme had the same system it used at Celebration IV: you get a receipt from the artist, you pay for the print, then you pick it up from the artist. I didn't like the system then and I liked it a lot less now. So I got receipts from Jerry Vanderstelt and one from another guy whose print was only 16 bucks. I went to get a receipt from Erik Maell but he told me that the prints he had were damaged and he had to get them re-done and they should be available on Friday. Grrr. So I got into the pay line and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. I saw that the problem was there was only one guy to check out all of these people and it wasn't as simple as handing him your cash or plastic (boo for that extra 4% fee for using a credit card). He and his assistant had to scan the work you were buying, print up a second receipt, etc. on top of the payment transaction. And some customers had *several* receipts. I wondered why they simply couldn't let you pay the artist and you walk off with the art, as it works at every other convention in the world. I was told that Acme wanted to make sure the artists weren't skimming more than their cut, so they come up with this stupid system.
Two and a half agonizing hours later, I paid for my artwork and picked up my prints. And I had to come back the next freakin' day. The only reason why I stuck it out was because I knew that it would only get worse and by then, the line stretched off into eternity. All I wanted out of life by the time I got out of there was to go to the bathroom and eat lunch.
Once those tasks were accomplished, I went to the Celebration Store. Thankfully, it was as accessible as the store at Celebration IV. The aurebesh dog tags were already sold out and I decided to pass on the beach blanket. I bought the Slave Leia perfume, the postcard set, the commemorative guide, a kids' Clone Wars tee designed by Katie Cook, the I Am Not A Committee t-shirt, some bumper stickers, and a CV pin. I think that's all I bought, heh heh. From there I decided to head over to Official Pix to buy autograph tickets. I decided to buy 5 $20 tickets...I already have the big draws' autographs save for Anthony Daniels. On the way out of the line, they slapped me with the first of several arm bands I'd have to use over the course of the con.
The first autograph I got was Daniel Logan's. Logan was practically bouncing off the walls. He had a lot more energy than I did, that's for sure. When I got there, he was taking his time chatting with and taking pictures with a small group of attractive teenage girls. He had to go for a bathroom break and when he got up, he said, "I promise to wash my hands!" Heh heh, what a trip.
From there I went to Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator for the prequels. I'm all about the behind-the-scenes people who made their own contributions to the awesomeness of the saga. That's why I went to the line for Ben Burtt next. The Official Pix volunteer tried to chase me away because my wristband number wasn't high enough but there were only a few people ahead of me and no one waiting behind me. I stood my ground though and I got to stay in the line. What was really funny was some redneck guy walking up to a volunteer near Ben Burtt's booth, pointing at Burtt, and asking, "What character is he?" Here you are at a Star Wars convention and you have no idea who Ben Burtt is? Security! Escort this guy out! Sheesh. Burtt couldn't have been nicer. I asked him if he was still at Pixar and he said no, he was working independently now and was working on a new animation project. Cool. Next I got Matthew Wood's autograph. He smiled when he saw that I had Burtt's autograph in hand and said, "That's my mentor."
The only other person I wanted to get was Jaime King, but she wasn't signing that day. I tried to find out from Official Pix's people if there was a schedule for when people were supposed to sign but there wasn't one and nobody seemed to have any idea about anything. It was frustrating.
From there, I wandered around a bit. I picked up my party wristband and raffle ticket from the 501st's booth. I went and checked out the Hoth Ice Bar. It was a room with low lighting, white carpeting, dry ice, and ice sculptures of a wampa and a tauntaun. A t.v. playing G4, which sponsored the Ice Bar, was off on one side of the room and the sound system pumped out "Cocktails In the Cantina," an album full of old-style lounge-y Star Wars covers that came out in 1997. I took a look at the menu and along with snacks like The Nachosen One, you can get cocktails with names like Death Stick or Tatooine Sunburn that had real live alcohol in it. That's right...Celebration V is the world's first convention where fans can slam down hard liquor in the middle of the day. Star Wars pioneers yet another innovation.
After wandering around a bit more, it was suddenly 5 p.m. and I was ready to head back to the hotel. In the gift shop I picked up a pair of socks and my room key then got demagnetized, which meant I had to walk all of the way back to the lobby for a new one. Shortly after I got my new key, Debbie and Marie returned from a long busy day of running to buy exclusives and attending collectors' panels. Debbie was on a mission to get all of those cereal boxes.
From there we tried to walk to Pizzeria Uno, which seemed so close on the bus, but turned out to be a longer hike than we thought. We gave up and just went to Ponderosa. The grilled shrimp wasn't too bad...you got a lot of shrimp but everything was a tad bit saltier than I would have liked. We went back to the room, did show and tell with our collectible takes, and collapsed into our beds by 10 p.m..
I was up at 4 a.m. to make a 6:45 a.m. flight. The problem with the West Coast is that most of the flights heading east are really early and you end up getting there late in the day. Having lived in Florida and having traveled to the tropics many times in life, you always want to fly in and out as early as possible to avoid bad weather. The earliest I could get in was 4:55 p.m., which is right in that window of when summertime cloudbursts and thunderstorms happen. Yay.
Flight #1 to Houston was pretty uneventful, which is the way I like my flights. The cool thing is when I checked in online 24 hours beforehand, I was offered the option to upgrade to first class on either leg, or both. The leg to Houston was expensive but the upgrade for Houston to Orlando was a mere $79. I've flown first class three times before and if you can swing it, it's worth every penny. You get more (and better) food, nice big seats, and your suitcase is the first one off the plane. It's especially worth it on long flights. Anyway, I got a sandwich at the Houston airport and hopped on the 757 to Orlando. As I somewhat expected but much to my chagrin, it was a bumpity-dumpity flight almost the whole way. It wasn't the scary kind of turbulence, just constant annoying movement. I did however get a good-sized bowl of fruit, a mini brownie, crackers, and a cheese and summer sausage plate as a "snack." As the plane landed in Orlando, we mananged to touch down just as blowing rain dumped on the airport. As I was waiting to get off the plane, I noticed a guy two rows behind me who looked like Daniel Logan who was accompanied by some big guy who wore sunglasses, a cap, and a towel around his neck. "Hmm, he kinda looks like Daniel Logan," I thought. Then I noticed he was wearing an Air New Zealand t-shirt and when he spoke, I knew it was him. I didn't want to bug him or anything. I wasn't wearing my "colors" and I figured he was going to have a whole four days' worth of fan gushing. I made my way on the tram from the gates to baggage claim only to find out baggage delivery was going to be delayed because of the weather. Since you know, it never rains in Orlando or anything. I figured it had to be some kind of union rule. So I'm forced to call my friend Debbie, who drove down with mutual friend Marie from Maryland, and told her to wait in the satellite lot until I got my bag. I passed the time complaining about the delay on Facebook and chatting with other fans waiting for their luggage. Finally, the bags got delivered and mine was the first one down the chute. It's a Celebration miracle!
Debbie and Marie picked me up and off we went to the luxurious Econo Lodge Inn and Suites. Well, not quite luxurious but it was cheap and close to the convention center. It even had a stop on the shuttle bus route. The sign flashed "WELCOME STAR WARS FANS! ROOMS AVAILABLE!" After dumping off my suitcase and carry on, I distributed freebies picked up at Comic Con (what few I got anyway) and Debbie and Marie showed me all of the cool stuff they bought on the road and at Downtown Disney. We then headed for a Friendly's next door for dinner, came back to the room, and vegged in the high powered AC until going to bed around 10 p.m. (well, I unpacked). I'd forgotten that Florida motel rooms are often colder than an igloo and I sat shivering in my bed. Good thing I brought my extra blankie for the trip but my feet were still cold.
Thursday, August 12
We were up at 5 and by the time we all showered and dressed, it was around 6 a.m.. Debbie was shocked that it was still pitch black at that time. Florida's further down and sunrise happens later than in the Northeast. So off we went in the dark to the only place nearby open at that unholy hour, Denny's. Denny's was all decorated with Star Wars stuff. Somebody must have told them about our little convention. Fortunately, we were not the only loons up at that time though it wasn't real busy. Our friendly trainee waitress tried to get our orders all right, even going the extra mile for crispy bacon. I was pleasantly surprised that not everything on the menu was 12,000 calorie extravaganzas with piles of bacon, sausage, pancakes with stuff slopped all over them, fried potatoes, and a henhouse's worth of eggs. How about that? After going back to the room to brush our teeth and pick up our con bags, we waited with a small group of other fans for the bus.
I put on sunblock and everything, expecting to have to wait hours outside in the hot sun and enduring the unforgivingly high humidity. The bus pulled up, we got on, and a very short ride later, we were let off at the massive (and I mean massive) convention center. We were guided inside the air conditioned convention center and led to a large hall to wait it out another two hours. Thanks, guys! That was the first thing the con organizers did right.
People were really excited and the buzz grew as the 10 o'clock hour drew near. We talked to a young couple behind us from Portland, OR about past Celebrations and costumes. They were both dressed as Imperial officers. The young woman said she made a Victorian-style outfit with vintage SW sheets and was planning to wear it the next day. Anthony Daniels made a brief visit to the lines, shaking hands with fans, and taking pictures, but I was on the other side of the barrier.
At 10, we all streamed into the convention hall, herded by staff into the main exhibition hall. My objectives were to 1) visit the Her Universe booth first to get a crack at the exclusive necklace, limited to 150 then 2) visit the art show to buy prints then 3) visit the Celebration Store. I memorized where the HU booth was located (#1111!), so I looked up at the banners to find row 1100. I dashed over there and quickly found the booth. There were maybe five people ahead of me, so I figured I had a good chance to get the necklace. Sure enough, I managed to snag one a few minutes later. I didn't look until later to see that I got #112…crew, volunteers, and exhibitors got first crack at every exclusive which IMO sucks, especially with so many of these limited to very small numbers.
With that success behind me, I hustled over to the art show and saw that it was already a freakin' mess. People were in a long line to pay, weaving through the booths in a way that made it hard to get around. Still, I wanted my prints. Acme had the same system it used at Celebration IV: you get a receipt from the artist, you pay for the print, then you pick it up from the artist. I didn't like the system then and I liked it a lot less now. So I got receipts from Jerry Vanderstelt and one from another guy whose print was only 16 bucks. I went to get a receipt from Erik Maell but he told me that the prints he had were damaged and he had to get them re-done and they should be available on Friday. Grrr. So I got into the pay line and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. I saw that the problem was there was only one guy to check out all of these people and it wasn't as simple as handing him your cash or plastic (boo for that extra 4% fee for using a credit card). He and his assistant had to scan the work you were buying, print up a second receipt, etc. on top of the payment transaction. And some customers had *several* receipts. I wondered why they simply couldn't let you pay the artist and you walk off with the art, as it works at every other convention in the world. I was told that Acme wanted to make sure the artists weren't skimming more than their cut, so they come up with this stupid system.
Two and a half agonizing hours later, I paid for my artwork and picked up my prints. And I had to come back the next freakin' day. The only reason why I stuck it out was because I knew that it would only get worse and by then, the line stretched off into eternity. All I wanted out of life by the time I got out of there was to go to the bathroom and eat lunch.
Once those tasks were accomplished, I went to the Celebration Store. Thankfully, it was as accessible as the store at Celebration IV. The aurebesh dog tags were already sold out and I decided to pass on the beach blanket. I bought the Slave Leia perfume, the postcard set, the commemorative guide, a kids' Clone Wars tee designed by Katie Cook, the I Am Not A Committee t-shirt, some bumper stickers, and a CV pin. I think that's all I bought, heh heh. From there I decided to head over to Official Pix to buy autograph tickets. I decided to buy 5 $20 tickets...I already have the big draws' autographs save for Anthony Daniels. On the way out of the line, they slapped me with the first of several arm bands I'd have to use over the course of the con.
The first autograph I got was Daniel Logan's. Logan was practically bouncing off the walls. He had a lot more energy than I did, that's for sure. When I got there, he was taking his time chatting with and taking pictures with a small group of attractive teenage girls. He had to go for a bathroom break and when he got up, he said, "I promise to wash my hands!" Heh heh, what a trip.
From there I went to Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator for the prequels. I'm all about the behind-the-scenes people who made their own contributions to the awesomeness of the saga. That's why I went to the line for Ben Burtt next. The Official Pix volunteer tried to chase me away because my wristband number wasn't high enough but there were only a few people ahead of me and no one waiting behind me. I stood my ground though and I got to stay in the line. What was really funny was some redneck guy walking up to a volunteer near Ben Burtt's booth, pointing at Burtt, and asking, "What character is he?" Here you are at a Star Wars convention and you have no idea who Ben Burtt is? Security! Escort this guy out! Sheesh. Burtt couldn't have been nicer. I asked him if he was still at Pixar and he said no, he was working independently now and was working on a new animation project. Cool. Next I got Matthew Wood's autograph. He smiled when he saw that I had Burtt's autograph in hand and said, "That's my mentor."
The only other person I wanted to get was Jaime King, but she wasn't signing that day. I tried to find out from Official Pix's people if there was a schedule for when people were supposed to sign but there wasn't one and nobody seemed to have any idea about anything. It was frustrating.
From there, I wandered around a bit. I picked up my party wristband and raffle ticket from the 501st's booth. I went and checked out the Hoth Ice Bar. It was a room with low lighting, white carpeting, dry ice, and ice sculptures of a wampa and a tauntaun. A t.v. playing G4, which sponsored the Ice Bar, was off on one side of the room and the sound system pumped out "Cocktails In the Cantina," an album full of old-style lounge-y Star Wars covers that came out in 1997. I took a look at the menu and along with snacks like The Nachosen One, you can get cocktails with names like Death Stick or Tatooine Sunburn that had real live alcohol in it. That's right...Celebration V is the world's first convention where fans can slam down hard liquor in the middle of the day. Star Wars pioneers yet another innovation.
After wandering around a bit more, it was suddenly 5 p.m. and I was ready to head back to the hotel. In the gift shop I picked up a pair of socks and my room key then got demagnetized, which meant I had to walk all of the way back to the lobby for a new one. Shortly after I got my new key, Debbie and Marie returned from a long busy day of running to buy exclusives and attending collectors' panels. Debbie was on a mission to get all of those cereal boxes.
From there we tried to walk to Pizzeria Uno, which seemed so close on the bus, but turned out to be a longer hike than we thought. We gave up and just went to Ponderosa. The grilled shrimp wasn't too bad...you got a lot of shrimp but everything was a tad bit saltier than I would have liked. We went back to the room, did show and tell with our collectible takes, and collapsed into our beds by 10 p.m..