ARTOODETOO Travels to Orlando, Florida To Experience Disney-MGM's "Star Wars Weekends"

Stormtroopers on the gatehouse roof keep watch for rebel scum as the crowd of fans passes below.

To Dagobah go, you must. Artoodetoo.com was fortunate enough to be able to attend Disney/MGM Star Wars Weekends near Orlando, FLorida this year. The trip had been planned for some time. We even had polo shirts and caps embroidered with our site logo (we had to modify it a little) to wear to the park. It was our entire advertising budget. We wanted to get our name in front of Star Wars fans, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. We could have fun and get our name out there.

While Florida isn't as swampy as Dagobah, it has a semi-tropical climate that can be hard to deal with at certain times of the year because of heat and humidity. The month of May typically isn't too bad, but this year temperatures had climbed faster, and we were getting into summertime temps earlier than usual. Fortunately, the humidity wasn't too bad, and the temperatures climbed to the high 80's - low 90's. Yeah, we were hot alright, but it was worth it.

We went on Saturday of the opening weekend of May 16th, 17th and 18th. While Disney/MGM is a fun place to visit at any time, is was especially exciting this particular weekend because much of the activity throughout the park was related to Star Wars.

You know something is different as soon as you approach the ticket booths to the park: As you stand in line, you are surrounded by Star Wars music that it seems to emanate from the trees. There are even sound effects. Every few minutes, you'll hear Tie and X-Wing fighters fly past while you wait to get your tickets. The effect is so good that you'll instinctively want to look up to see them buzz overhead.

I have a bad feeling about this... As soon as we had our tickets we headed for the gate. We could hear Imperial Stormtroopers talking to one another about the people coming in. I looked around and finally realized they were standing on top of the gatehouse! Looking a little further, I saw Bobba Fett standing on the roof as well, weapons drawn and eyeing all us suspicious characters. Being part of the Rebel Alliance, I was concerned that we may have gotten stopped. Fortunately, my Jedi powers helped out and we were allowed to pass through unnoticed.

Buying is brisk at Tatooine Trader's. There was a special line formed that extended a good distance out of the store for the limited edition Star Wars Weekend Pins

Just some of the cool merchandise available at the Tatooine Trader. Pictured are pewter figurines, Custom Star Wars watches, A special edition pin set, and well made replica lightsabers.

The Tatooine Trader was packed with Star Wars Fans looking over a wide array of special Star Wars souvenirs and exclusive collectibles.

Are there any fans here? We arrived at the park a little before 9:00am - before the gates opened. I wanted to pack in as much as we could so that I would have something to write about when we got back to our base. One of the things I wanted to do have a chance to talk to the actors that were there that day, namely Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, and Michonne Bourriague. After we entered through the gates, one of the crew had to make a quick pit stop, and then we headed straight to where the stars would be signing autographs later in the day. There was already a line of fans of immeasurable length for each of the actors.

As I approached the line for Anthony Daniels, I heard a Disney cast member (what they call their employees) announce that all of the "guaranteed" wristbands for each of had already been handed out, and that they would be handing out some "standby" wristbands. The "standby" meant that there was no guarantee that you would get in front of the featured actor, but that you were welcomed to stand in line. I was stunned. What really amazed me was that the status of the necessary wristbands for each of the actors was the same: they were gone. There was no chance of anyone getting to all of the stars, because the wristbands were handed out in different lines, but at the same time.

While I was disappointed that I didn't get a wristband to anyone, I was amazed that so many people in the park were Star Wars fans. And, I could see that even though I might not get to ask any questions, I would be able to get some pretty good pictures of all the actors since the rope that cordoned off the crowd wasn't more than about 12 feet away from where the actor would be sitting. And even if I couldn't tete-a-tete with the actors, there were plenty of other things to do.

Maybe we can get some goodies. One of the things I hoped to get was one of the limited edition coins that had been made for the weekend. While they don't have anything at all to do with R2-D2, I thought it would be cool to have. So we headed over to the "Tatooine Trader". That's the name of the gift shop next to the Star Tours ride. As with the actors, there was already a line of considerable length waiting to get the pins and coins exclusive to the weekend. We got in line as a cast member came by, and I asked, just to be sure, what the line was for. She told me it was for pins. I asked her if it was for the coins as well, and she said yes. But alas, when I got to the counter to place my order, the clerk there told me that the coins had sold out a long time ago. Yikes! It was maybe 10 am at that point. Then I realized that Friday was also a Star Wars Weekend day, and that the coins had most likely sold out then. Even though the coins were gone, there was still plenty of Weekend exclusive pins to choose from, as well as tons of Star Wars merchandise.

Among the shirts, hats, lightsabers, magnets, pictures key rings, etc. are some action figures that are only available at Disney/MGM. Now before you get all crazy to get them, let me explain that all of them are droids that are featured in the Star Tours ride there. None of them were in any of the films, and as far as I know, there are no plans for any of them to appear in EP III. But if you're a droid collector like me, you might want to get a few, if not all of them.

On to Endor. I purchased a few of the pins, and then we decided that since we were so close to the Star Tours ride, we may as well avail ourselves of it. If you've never ridden it, the premise of the ride is that you are boarding a shuttle to the moon of Endor. You step into a large "shuttle" that looks like a rather boxy transport. Inside are rows of seats that you strap yourself into. When ready to launch, all doors are closed, leaving no view of the outside. Then a panel at the front opens to reveal the pilot, who is a droid, and the front and only "window". What you see out the front window, and what you feel are coordinated very well, giving the passengers a strong sense of flight. It's a lot of fun, and for those who haven't ridden it yet, I won't go into any more detail. For those who have ridden it, you can be thankful for those who haven't.