Sarasotarockstar's SW Weekends Autograph Report

[Sarasotarockstr]

Hello everyone!

I'm back from the first weekend of Star Wars Weekends at MGM Studios @ Walt Disney World Resort so I thought I'd post a little report to let you know how it went.

I got thrown a curve ball as they switched guests about 48 hours before I left. Due to a scheduling conflict, Davis and Piesse switched weekends...so I had to do some last minute screencapping and scrambling the night before we left to find things for Piesse to sign.

We got there at around 7:20 am to get in line for autograph fast passes (park opened at 9). I got in Kenny's line, while Kel got in Bonnie's. This was new this year - usually everyone waited in normal lines and then we all chose a line once inside the park.

This year they had four lines - Kenny, Bonnie, Jay and Merchandise - outside the gates. The merch line was insane as you'd imagine.

Park opens with the usual Stormtrooper skits,etc. and we're marched over to the lines INSIDE the park. Then we wait to get our fast pass. I'm hoping that they reconsider this and march the fast pass people in prior to park opening to get them "set" in their lines. Seemed silly to make everyone wait until the park opens to shuffle them through a line, plus I'm sure some folks "cut" into the line while it was moving through the onslaught of the park opening.

Even getting there at 7:20, I didn't get the auto pass time until late in the second session, 2:25PM. I was pretty surprised as it didn't seem like there were THAT many people ahead of me. Perhaps Kenny allowed fewer signatures for health reasons? Kel got one of the first 5 spots for Bonnie so that was a 10AM ticket. She then got back in line and got a 4:20 ticket for Jay, who only was signing during the last session.

I met Bonnie first who was incredibly kind (then again, I was only the second person she'd signed for that day...lol). She signed two photos for me and we talked about music as I was a musician and I knew she sang. Turns out that's why she switched weekends - she was going to be in the recording studio for the last weekend.

She posed for a nice photo and then Kel & I left MGM to grab some brunch. If you didn't see, we had a tropical storm come through so I was praying the rain would stay away the whole time while planning my afternoon return to the park.

I returned to MGM at 2:15 to get Kenny. It was my first time meeting him - he was pretty quiet but gracious when I told him I'd been saving the photo for ten years to have him sign when I finally met him (it was previously signed by Mayhew and Daniels so there was no way I was sending it TTM).

Having not seen him in person I don't know how he looked health-wise compared to normal - but he seemed winded a bit and was very red. He was pleasant, posed for a photo, etc. But he wrote VERY slowly so I only had him sign one photo (to be fair to the people behind) and he just looked strained. A great experience to meet him regardless!

On the way out of the park I was allowed by the Disney personnel to slip into Bonnie's standby line (there were only a few people) and get an additional autograph and photo. She remembered me, even remembering I spell my name with one "t". I told myself it was due to my good looks.

Unfortunately as it began raining I ended up skipping Jay (I also knew he'd be there every weekend) so I gave my ticket to a kid in a SW shirt I heard whining to his mom that he wanted to meet "a Star Wars". He was thrilled.

All told I got one sig from Kenny and three from Bonnie. We were going to go back on Saturday, but the couple we were with who were from out of town are NOT morning people, so I decided I was all set for that weekend.

Overall notes...

Disney seems to do a good job of line control among those with fast passes. If there weren't many people they let you mingle a bit and get more than one item signed. If there were a lot, then they rushed you through - but you didn't feel rushed. This weekend and the next (with Park & Logan) I think will be pretty one sided among autograph seekers. I imagine the final two weekends will be a little more evenly split. People just walking into the park at 9 I imagine were able to get tickets for Bonnie and Jay.

The merch lines were chaos - mostly for the pins. I saw people walking out with Big Figs late in the afternoon on Friday so they didn't seem to sell out ASAP (they're only doing 600 per piece).

I missed Jay's Q&A session with the guests but I imagine they were great as he's such a good entertainer.

Finally - for those with kids, you may be disappointed as Disney really seems to have cut back on the random characters wandering around the park. In years past you could stroll the street back by "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and you'd always run into stormtroopers, jawas, etc. This year aside from 5-6 distinct locations with backdrops where you wait in line for a photo with Boba Fett, Darth, etc., I only saw a couple other characters either day walking around - two sand people, Zam Wessel and a Gamorrean Guard. Didn't bother me ALL that much, but I've always enjoyed the random interaction with characters as most are usually pretty comedic.

This weekend we're planning to go both Saturday and Sunday and to get there about 1/2 hour earlier. We'll be with another couple so we'll probably do two in one line and two in another the first day, and perhaps 3 for Park and 1 for Logan or Jay the second. According to a few castmembers, people started lining up at 5 AM on Friday for merch and Baker, and some said they'd be going even earlier for Ray Park.

It was Gay Days this weekend @ Disney, so all of the parks were extra busy. Next weekend should be a better barometer of crowds and how the whole thing will be working out.

Until then, MTFBWY and happy collecting.

Bret

 

[Borsk]

From last year, I remember seeing the sand people, zam and the gamorrean guard walking around. In addition, there was: queen amidala, greedo and stormtroopers. BUT, Zam and Greedo were on their way to the "bounty hunter backdrop" (they did stop for photos on the way though).

Other than that, the only other characters I saw were either in the parade or at one of the backdrop locations (with long lines).

So, I'd say there weren't just a ton of characters walking around last year either.

 

[gmess]

Thanks for the informative report rockstar. I'd like to see your screencaps you took and your new triple-signed piece. Got any scans?

Thanks

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

My pleasure. I may even do some more writing for TBS in the future (up to Skel & Amshak).

Unfortunately my scanner remains down due to the MS Vista upgrade. They haven't released Vista-compatible drivers yet sadly for my scanner. If I can't fix it this week, I may revert back to photographing the photos with my digital camera and uploading those.

I'm planning to write a report each weekend btw.

B

 

[gmess]

That would be cool...I've made it to all 4 Celebrations so far but have never made it to SW Weekends. It sounds pretty fun!

Peace

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

A quick head's up about this weekend.

A friend of mine went yesterday to get Ray Park's autograph. She got to MGM at 6:45...and there were already over 100 people in line for him!

She ended up getting a standby ticket.

So...if you're gunning for Ray Park this year, make sure to get there EARLY!!!!!

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

WEEKEND TWO REPORT

Hello fellow Bothans! I'm exhausted, damp and just got back from our day at SW Weekends this week.

We headed up to Orlando last night to facilitate an early departure to MGM. Knowing of our friend's experience with the lines, we got to MGM at 4:30...and were STILL about 25-30 people back. We were shocked to say the least.

Only one of us slept - the others (including myself so be gentle when you critique this) downed some Red Bulls and settled in for the morning. They let the lines in around 8:15 and lined us up as they did last week. Once we cycled through the LONG Ray Park line, we were also able to snag second session Daniel Logan passes and I got one for Jay as well. Passes in hand, we headed over to Jabba's Hutt to take in some merchandise window shopping then were off to see Ray.

He was his usually jovial self. SUCH a nice guy. I was wearing an England soccer jersey my buddy Neil in London had sent me and his eyes lit up when he saw it. He signed and personalized my Maul headshot and thankfully honored me with my request of personalizing with the phrase "Sith Happens". I whispered it to him being Disney and all, and he cracked up and said of course. He then asked if I wanted him to sign my jersey - I said yes of course. I mentioned meeting him at f/x and he apologized for not recognizing us. I told him he meets "a few" people and said he's off the hook. Got a photo and we were off.

In all the years I've been attending, I'd never actually seen the Q&A. It was a good time and Jay proved to be the engaging host I'd always heard he was. Some funny trooper skits to keep us busy while waiting.

Next up was Daniel. He's really come out of his shell since the first time I met him and he was great to talk to. He too remarked on my jersey and while he signed my photo he mentioned being more of a rugby guy. I told him I should have worn my Rugby World Cup jersey and he was off to the races. We must have talked for quite some time about the rugby world, Australia's team and their ups and downs, etc. Really funny to see him light up - I actually was trying to hurry him along as I felt the eyes behind me burning into me. He signed my shot of him holding Jango's helmet in the arena with "To Bret - don't lose your head! Watch out!" and his name and character. Very good time and he also signed the jersey on the opposite arm that Park did.

Momentum began to slow as the "no sleep" factor began to take a toll. We decide to take our signed items to the car, then head back to Rock N Roller Coaster for our fast pass at 4. We felt a few light drops - a usual summer occurance.

We ride RNRC and emerge energized and ready for Jay at 4:50. We walk out - and it's POURING. I've never seen it rain so hard at Disney. Tons of lightning, rain going sideways and HAIL! I couldn't believe it was hailing at Disney.

We finally said what the hell and made a run for it. We got soaked, but my photo for Jay to sign didn't. After a mad dash across to the ABC theater I walked up, drenched and gave my pass to the Disney lady.

Jay offered me a towel, signed my pic and told me that since I'd suffered so to get to him for the autograph, he'd tell me the story of my photo. Apparently his stance was an "incorrect" stance (it's the shot of him with the Naboo cruiser to his left) due to him having a knee surgery. He saw the jersey and offered to sign it, adding "go socceroos!" on it.

So a HUGE thanks to Ray Park for christening my jersey as my newest autograph project. Naturally I'll be wearing it for the next two weekends as well since all of the guests remaining are English.

The last order of business was a special show @6PM Ray did called "A Visit to the Maul". He came out with Jay and talked about his martial arts training, showing off some great moves on his own and also with a MR double bladed lightsaber which was just a phenomenal thing to see in person. Then he brought up a bunch of kids...and Daniel Logan...and taught them some basic kung fu moves, then providing them all with lightsabers.

I had more than one Disney employee tell me they expect him to be back, maybe even as host. I think he'd do a great job.

6:30 or so the show was over and we headed home.

Everybody seemed to be in great spirits. I frequently saw them sign multiple items for people and they even signed some extras for people waiting out the rain with them.

Line was crazy as the demand was pretty mismatched. I'll be curious to see how the Mayhew-Bulloch lines play out next week.

Finally - the Cantina figs are $14.99 so if anyone wants some, PM me or email at bret@effort.com.

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

Here's some photos from this weekend. The autograph you see me admiring was my favorite that he inscribed "Sith Happens". You can see the England jersey they signed too (though I will have to take a picture that shows the autographs).

I also had to share photos of Kel misbehaving around the AFI Star Wars props. Sigh...can't take her anywhere...

(she had a shirt on under and there wasn't anyone else around)

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

DOH! Here's the shot of me and my Maul auto. One last one - the Tower of Terror during the rain/hail downpour. I took this shot because the sign for "Scoops" was obscured and I liked that it said "oops".

 

[darthskellington]

Great reports and pics Bret! Keep em coming. That presentation with Ray Park and Jay Lagaia is virtually the same thing we attended at C4.

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

Ok, I sent the treasures from weekends 1 & 2 with my lady to scan at her work, and can now share what I've got signed thus far.

Here's the first weekend autographs. Kenny signed a photo previously signed by Mayhew and Daniels. I'd hoped to get him more than once, but at the end of the day I knew he signs TTM and Piesse doesn't. Bonnie I got a few times - such a nice girl and very gracious.

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

And here's weekend 2.

Unfortunately either the metallic paint pens the guests used weren't that good or the photo paper I used for the prints just didn't like them. I'd hoped to have Official Pix for everyone, but hadn't realized they shut down during C4 which made getting them in time for the first two weekends impossible. I do have them for the next two weekends thankfully.

I'll upload some shots of the jersey later. The "Sith Happens" auto has to be my favorite so far, and I'm thrilled to get Logan's on that great shot with the helmet. I had Logan on the tiny SW Weekends black & white freebie photo from last year plus a theater wide from Official Pix, but this was the image I really wanted signed from him. Nice inscription too. Kelly got the shot of the clone Logans working on the computers and he inscribed it "To Kelly, don't be a clone".

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

Hello Bothans!

Back from Week 3 of Star Wars Weekends with Peter Mayhew & Jeremy Bulloch and I'm feeling the drain a bit. This was the first weekend I went more than one day - and it really takes a lot out of you! Nice to get back to work for some relaxation.

This was the best weekend yet - a lot of credit for that goes to the weather, as it was the first time that it didn't rain. Nice to not have to dodge storm clouds! I also got to know a lot of the "regulars" that I'd seen for years but never really has much interaction with. It was nice to put personalities with the faces.

We went up to our friends' house in Tampa Friday night to stay over, then three of us headed up to Disney around 5AM. We got a later start than we'd wanted to, but it worked out in the end ok. We all got in Mayhew's line. Even getting there at 6AM, we still managed to get autograph Fast Passes for the end of Mayhew's AM session. We then hightailed it into Bulloch's line (which seemed to have more people than Mayhew's throughout the weekend, a bit of a surprise to me). Our old friend "Tim" from Disney told us we had about a 50-50 shot at fastpasses.

The three of us got the final three given out. I gave one to the people behind us as it was her birthday and they were getting the poster signed for a Father's Day gift for her dad. We then went through Jay's line as our friend had a photo she wanted signed and I wanted him to sign my Ep. 2 DVD cover that Bonnie signed weekend 1.

I'd met Mayhew once years ago at DragonCon. He was as described back then - kind, a little grumpy, a little awkward. I remember it being a good experience. Nevertheless, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the three of us were a little curious to see how his mood would be. I'm happy to report that he was the most pleasant I'd ever seen him. Big smile, very friendly, talked to me about my item being signed (it was a print of him that is from the same artist as some I've posted in other threads. He did a whole series of ILMers, plus Mayhew, Daniels and others) and was a joy to meet again. Even smiled in my photo.

Of course he saved a bigger smile for Kelly.

We then grabbed lunch off property and got back for the end of Bulloch's 2nd session. I was hopeful to get in with standby, but it became apparently quickly that wasn't going to happen. BUT much to my surprise, I wandered over to Mayhew's area and the line was small enough they let me through! I got the jersey signed then (took it off for him), and we chatted about Team England.

Peter doesn't personalize at SW Weekends...but he will occasionally add "Chewbacca" after his name, which to me is what I hoped for. As luck would have it, both times we were chatting away and both times I got the "Chewbacca" as well. Awesome.

We did get Jeremy at the end of the last session with our standbys. I LOVE Jeremy to death - but he seemed a bit off. Maybe too much travelling, but he just wasn't as chatty as usual. He was kind of course, but he seemed a bit tired and I'd never got that vibe from him before. I chalked it up to it being the end of the day, but I got him at 10AM the next day (I was 4th in line) and he seemed the same way. Maybe he doesn't love me anymore. He posed for photos and we headed off to see Jay. He was HILARIOUS! His main guest relations guy is friends with Kelly, so he "warned" Jay about us. He signed the DVD cover and then posed for photos...moving Kelly closer to him since "she's beautiful and you're ugly". LOL.

I'd actually helped Jay out earlier in the day. I saw him in front of the sorcerer's hat taking a photo of his son. I asked him if he'd like a photo of both of them and he lit up and I took it for them. He then gave me a hard time about my England jersey...again. I pointed at his "Go socceroos!" inscription from the previous weekend. He laughed and said "Sorry, I didn't recognize you without all the water", referencing my being SOAKED from rain last weekend. I smiled and said "see you at 4:30".

Sunday we split up our couples, two in Mayhew's line and two in Bulloch's. Thus, we had two 10AM tickets for each guest. Peter was again in a good mood, signing a SW Weekends poster for a friend of mine. Jeremy signed the same poster and then signed my jersey! He added an inscription of "Up the Spurs!" which was awesome. Nice to get the soccer...errr...football-centric inscription.

The merch area this weekend wasn't that bad at all - Tatooine Traders has been consistently MUCH busier. Jabba's Hutt was subdued in comparison. We picked up the Mickey/Minnie beanie set (which I noticed are now available at Tatooine Traders as well) and the 2007 poster print. It also seemed like there were more characters wandering around. When we were in line for Jedi Mickey, a jawa wandered in, pumped up the crowd, and then hit the stage and he and Mickey had a pseudo-dance off! It was hilarious and a nice little bonus moment.

I missed the Q&As unfortunately. We were only there until 10:40 or so on Sunday as we got there in line at 4AM and by that time we were starving and headed out for food. Our friends had to get back to Tampa, so we left.

The final weekend should be crazy. Everyone I spoke to talked about getting there for Daniels. Lines will be insane for him I'm sure - which is why we're getting there early. I may do all three days there if I can get Friday off as I've got a lot of neat things I'd love to have him sign.

Stay tuned! I'll upload photos later today. Thanks for reading!

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

Ok here are my personal successes from this weekend. I didn't take pictures of the print that I'm having signed for my friend...might show it next week after Daniels & Davis sign. I also got an Official Pix shot of Boba signed, but I forgot to send it with Kel to scan.

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

Wonder if anyone actually reads all this...lol.

Just in case - here are photos I took of the autographs on the jersey thus far. Kinda cool - I literally wore the jersey because it's white and I thought it'd be comfy in the sun, and now thanks to Ray Park's offer to sign it, it's now one of my favorite collectibles.

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

...and here's a shot of the chest showing the layout of the autos a little better. Park signed on the left sleeve, while Logan signed on the right.

 

[Darth Boru]

Ya gotta hand it to Jeremey Bulloch - sticking by Spurs all these years of being hammered by all and sundry

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

LOL! My favorite inscription is Jeremy's, though Jay's made a comment every time he's seen me in the it.

I know Davis will happily sign it since he's a big soccer fan, but not sure about Daniels...

 

[gmess]

Wonder if anyone actually reads all this...lol.

I'm reading! Keep up the great work, it's fun to read for those of us that have never made it to SW Weekends before.

 

[Sarasotarockstr]

Star Wars Weekends has come to an end. While I'm quite excited to regain some sanity due to actually sleeping, it was pretty sad walking out of MGM yesterday knowing that it's going to be another year until the fun begins again.

On to the report...

This was the first weekend I went all three days. We drove up EARLY on Friday, getting there around 4am. The line was already about 20 people deep at that point - which confirmed my suspicions that Anthony Daniels' line was going to be packed all weekend. We said hello to all the regulars and then waited until we were let in. On a personal note - we'd seen many of these folks for years but never really got the nerve up to chat with people. Huge mistake. We finally opened our mouths last weekend (Mayhew/Bulloch) and it was great. It really is a family of folks that go early every weekend and it was wonderful to be accepted into it.

We were let in around 7:30 as it was Extra Magic Hours. Because of this fact, the lines were VERY full before the park even opened at 9AM. We got our passes for Daniels and managed to score standbys for Warwick.

I was excited and terrified to meet Anthony. He's the biggest major character I hadn't ever met in person (aside from the Big 3 of Carrie, Harrison and Mark) and I'd heard many stories, both good and bad. We set into line, each with a photo and ready to go.

One thing some complained about that I'll give him HUGE credit for is his maticulous signing routine. He will sign ONLY one item, and after signing he immediately gave it to the Disney guest relations person. Then he posed for the photo, smiled, and was on to the next. Well some folks could be heard grumbling about either getting a hard time when not wanting personalization (with Daniels usually mentioning eBAY) and about him not taking a photo with him and the item, I'm sure for the same reason. I think that 90% of the people that complained were just eBAYers with sour grapes.

I get to the front and I'm wearing the England soccer jersey with all the signatures. Before I even get up to him (while he's signing for my friend Courtney) he looks at me and says "I don't sign clothing...unless it's on a pretty girl". I smiled and replied, "Ok, I'll have Kelly wear it next time".

I walked up when it was my turn, gave him the Official Pix shot, which he personalized to me. We chatted a bit, posed for the photo and I mentioned I found it interesting that someone who got their start as an accomplished mime now has one of the most famous voices on the planet. I don't know if that's what did it, but after I'd shaken his hand and walked to the side to watch Kel go through, he says, "Ok, come here". I walk up, he says "well I suppose you want black since the others are black". I said, "totally up to you sir!" and he signed in blue right below the England patch after telling me "don't breath"! You could almost hear a gasp when people saw him do it.

It was the only time all weekend I saw him sign two things, so I felt incredibly blessed. Kelly asked if he'd personalize her photo to me as well (she doesn't collect autographs) and he kidded with her, saying, "No. He already got his, I want YOU to have this one". He was smiling so that was a relief. She had planned to get one signed to her anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

We then left the park to grab some lunch, coming back at the tail end of Warwick's session to try to get standby. No luck, so we went and saw a friend who works at the park, killed some time in the Prime Time Lounge and then got in for Warwick's third session. Again, I walked up in the jersey, gave him a photo to sign & personalize, we posed for a photo and I thanked him and walked away. He asked if I'd like him to sign my jersey as well, so I said "thank you, that'd be great". He goes to sign under the patch on the right, on my chest and hesitates a bit. I said, "you've never signed a boob before?" and he cracked up. He said we should talk about "manly" things while he did it so we did the whole "England's got a good shot this year. Oh yeah. Hell of a team! Crouch & Beckham" routine. Funny stuff. He then said "and I'll write Wicket right across your nipple" Ha. It was a real pleasure to meet him. After he signed for Kelly he asked her if she'd like HER shirt signed with a grin. She said she'd wear the low cut one the next day, to which Warwick replied "I'm over at Boardwalk". Nice.

Happy to have the jersey completed the first day, we left around 5, grabbed dinner, checked into the hotel, and went to bed at 7PM.

Saturday we get to MGM at 3:40. Still about the same place in line. We make it into Daniels' second session (first fastpasses for it), standby for Warwick and standby for Jay.

We got Anthony no problem - he signed the classic shot of the droids in the desert and we talked about the fact that there used to be a very visible cigarette butt in the photo that's since been airbrushed out. He signed a poster that we've been getting signed for a friend for Kelly. We watched the talk show which was hilarious. Jay & Warwick had no hope in containing Anthony. He was funny as hell but completely overbearing. Shatner-esque. He also did the photo thing that he did at C4 (posing and then asking for no photos) and he insisted on the crowd doing the ewok worship chant before he came out.

Warwick signed my photo for me and our friend's poster for Kelly with no problems, again asking if Kelly would like her shirt signed. Always nice to be remembered.

The highlight of Saturday was Jay. I'd asked him last weekend if he'd sign my guitar and he said he would so I brought it. He had cancelled his 6PM show that day - I guess he had an accident backstage and hurt his back. I tuned the guitar and walked up to him giving it to him. He immediately checks the tuning, then proceeds to serenade me and the rest of the people around with the first verse & chorus of "The Saga Begins"!! It was awesome - we all sang along. We all applauded and then he asked where I wanted him to sign. I told him wherever - it was HIS to sign and only his. He filled up the entire left side with a really nice inscription. Such a class guy. Kelly used to work with the guest relations guy that helped him all month so we had got to chat him up throughout the weeks quite a bit. It was really a great gesture and one of those "wow" moments.

Sunday was the early day - 1AM we got there because our friends had to make sure they got all 3. The regulars were all a lot more chatty, knowing I'm sure that this was it. We again got Daniels no problem and I thanked him for his hospitality throughout the weekend. He shook my hand and said thanks for all the nice comments and conversation. He signed a photo for me and my McQuarrie R2/C3PO for Kelly.

The regulars then did a group photo by Warwick's booth with some of the Disney employees...and Warwick got in the shot! Really cool of him to do. We then watched the parade from ABC theater, generally raising Hell and getting some great reactions from the celebs as well as the 501st folks we knew. After the parade one of the Disney castmembers who ran the Weekends marched us over and got about 15 of us onto Rock N Roller Coaster w/no wait. It was a really nice thing for him to do and a fun way to help celebrate our last day.

We watched the interview Q&A and Anthony was even more out of control. We were all laughing like crazy. The highlight - he said "bullsh*t". To hear him say that and hear C-3PO essentially say it was classic. Warwick and Jay's eyes were big as saucers! Sure the P.C. police will cry foul, saying there were children present. But a lot of the actors had made quasi-adult comments throughout and Anthony just took it a bit further. He said it rather quickly so I'm not sure how many kids caught it.

We killed time until 4ish when we had passes for Warwick and Jay. I got Warwick first, thanking him for the group photo appearance and how good he'd been to the fans and us personally all weekend. Right before we pose for the photo I tell him that I bet he wished he was host again so he could "get his claws into Anthony". He laughed and said he'd love to. I then tell him that I taped the Q&A and was going to turn Anthony's curseword into my new cell phone ring tone. Warwick lost it laughing - the resulting photo of the two of us is classic.

Finally it's on to Jay one last time. As I walked up to him I sang "a long, long time ago" and he sang "in a galaxy far away", smiled and we talked about how much fun that was yesterday. He actually thanked me again for taking the photo of him and his son the previous week and I thanked him for what a good guy he has been. For the photo we did the Samoan intimidation pose, tongues out, eyes wide. It's pretty much my favorite photo with a celeb ever.

Finally the regulars regrouped and we watched Jay's show from the third row. Jay brought up the lights and mentioned that it was one of our group's birthday that day. I thought this was really cool of him as he'd already sang happy birthday to him when the guy (Paul) went up for an autograph. Jay then got the whole crowd to sing happy birthday and then he did his show.

It was awesome. Story telling, a funny bit about how Michael Jackson sings, learning to sing based on Elvis, etc. He also sang a song he'd written about Star Wars Weekends, the chorus being all of us singing "Na Na" to the Star Wars theme. He capped off the show with the first verse & chorus of "The Saga Begins" mentioning that it was "for a friend". My ego told me it was me (and I did get a rather large smile from him while he sang it) but I think it was actually for his guest relations guy.

Regardless after some hugs and goodbyes, we all went our seperate ways and SW Weekends were over. Of course we all hit the gift shop on the way out...