Thursday, June 12, 2014

Star Wars Weekends 2014

Tomorrow begins the final Star Wars Weekend for the year, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorite character shots from our two trips out there so far:


Beware standing in groups on this street: the Tuskan Raiders WILL find you, and they WILL ignore your personal space. Ha!

You might recognize this as the same Anakin whose photo with that adorable little Padmé went viral last week. (You have seen that photo, right? I mean, SO CUTE.) (And the little girl's adorable, too!) (HEYOOO.)

Every year I have to get a new beauty shot of Zam Wesell, of course:

Her photos need the most adjusting, since the visor puts her eyes in heavy shadow. I kind of like the over exposed look, though.


Also on Bounty Hunter row, Aurra Sing was getting down right frisky with her photo ops:



In that photo on the right she's beckoning to a group of giggling college boys. One of them approached, and after she slowly put her long-fingered hand on his shoulder and stared him down for the photo, he said, loudly, "Dude. THAT'S HOT."


 
Posting for that epic side-eye. Who wants to caption this one? :D


Of course, with Disney encouraging guests to dress up more, I find that seeing the guests' costumes is even more fun than the official ones half the time:

 That kid in the middle was having a REALLY good time.

I just missed the guy who was dressed as Zam (drat!), but here they are walking away: 


There was plenty of Disney/Star Wars Bounding, and lots and LOTS of Her Universe dresses and shirts.

You'd be forgiven for thinking this Luminara Unduli was a cast member, her costume was so impressive: 
 
Not to mention hot, I'm sure! It was in the 90s with about a billion percent humidity that day - and we saw several other guests in heavy robes, tunics, and even leather bracers and pants. YIKES.
I kept missing my favorite guest costumes - they scooted past me before I could grab a photo - but happily my friend and reader Jennifer sent me this photo of them with her daughter Emily:


Your eyes do not deceive you: that IS a Jedi Elsa on the left, and a Jedi Rapunzel with a Flynn/Solo on the right! BRILLIANT.
 

This year Disney took away the Hyperspace Hoopla, on account of it not being dignified enough for the franchise. (Purists have long objected to the Hoopla for being wildly out of character, which is a perfectly valid point - but I'm still going to miss seeing Vader dance. Heh.)

In the Hoopla's place there's a somber presentation of all the park's characters, which is a little boring but quick, and THEN we get some pretty epic fireworks:




The fireworks' finale is on par with Illuminations' special holiday tag at Epcot, which is to say you'll think the world is ending, but you'll be laughing too much like a delighted five-year-old to care. (Or is that just me and John?)

K, that's all for me! Although John and I are hoping to make it out tomorrow for one final Star Wars day & fireworks show, so feel free to tweet me if you're there & would like to say hi!

15 comments:

  1. Miles away from DW but thanks for sharing the great photos. I love enjoying the geeky-ness without having to brave the heat.

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  2. There is only one Anakin and Leia. I was there the first weekend and it is the same people. They rotate another character into the mix when they have Jedi meetings.

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  3. Oh weird. I had a dream last night I was trying to meet up with you at a "generic" theme park, but the gift shop we were at was all Star Wars.

    *insert Twilight Zone music*

    But with me being here in the Midwest, I'm thinking that won't be happening in real life all that soon.

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  4. I loved Hoopla! :(

    That Flynn Solo is super epic.

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  5. Those Sand People don't just focus on groups for victims, uh, I mean, making friends. I was standing by myself trying to get a shot of Aura Sing or Jedi Tinkerbell when I felt foreign body heat behind me. They really have very few boundaries!
    Also, it's worth pointing out that Darth Maryn has already expressed a desire to be Hallowe'en'd up as a Jedi Princess, like Rapunzel, but with a red sword like Vader.

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  6. I laugh like a kid during fireworks too. :) Not just at Disney parks (although those are my favorites), but any fireworks' display. They're too awesome not to!!

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  7. Try using flash during the day to help with harsh shadows on the face. A tip from my photography teacher

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  8. I didn't think you were allowed to dress up at Disney! I remember a girl making a fuss a while ago because she wasn't allowed inside in her Tinkerbell costume; Disney didn't want anyone mistaking her for a real cast member in case she messed up and misrepresented the company (swearing around the children for example). I know they have a dress-up day especially to let people break that rule, but I'm surprised that those beautiful amateur costumes were allowed it at all!

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    1. I remember that case, too - which was odd since she didn't look THAT much like the "official" Tinkerbell. She was attending on a regular day, though, which I'd guess was the problem. Disney makes exceptions for special events like these and the Halloween parties, but I think they may be getting a little more lax over all, given how they encouraged Disney Bounding for the last 24-hour day.

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  9. The Hoopla was the whole reason why I was looking forward to planning my trip for Star Wars days. If they're not doing it, I'm not going to bother.

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  10. We just got back from WDW, and we caught the fireworks both Saturday and Sunday from the balcony of our hotel. I don't know how they looked from the ground, but from our view, many looked like planets with rings around them, or planets that changed colors on a wave. Completely awesome, and the finale was breathtaking.Best part? We could turn around after it was over and walk right back to the room- no crowd!
    Patty N.

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  11. yes, i can understand why they'd want to preserve the dignity of the series that spawned jar jar binks.

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  12. I am so sad that they got rid of the Hoopla, I looked forward to it every year! As a Star War fan it was awesome seeing my favourite characters dance and just be silly.

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