May the Fourth: Lightsabers, Merch, and Chaos

Anyone remember Star Wars Weekends? For four or five glorious weeks, Hollywood Studios was the mecca for everything Star Wars. There was a parade with the 501st, celebrity meet and greets, and just a ton of SW special treats.

Since Galaxy’s Edge was announced, Star Wars Weekends was put out to pasture in 2016. Now we get May the Fourth which is kinda a shell of this former greatness.

Nonetheless, we grab reservations in January. And since it was on a Saturday, we already knew HS was going to be packed.

Right at 8AM, there was already a crowd.

So I have an irrational fear of Ewoks. Of course, I stood next to a guy dressed as one.

Since we’re waiting, might as well try to snap a pic of Mickey.

These crowds have that old Star Wars Weekend feel. Everyone running through the park.

I had a mission of grabbing a Ronto Breakfast Wrap. Just getting to mobile pickup was a chore. There was already a line for Kat Sata and the stormtrooper popcorn bucket.

So getting through the marketplace for a Ronto was a challenge. Not to mention that people were just trying to order in the mobile lane, picking up orders in the exit, etc. Yep, pandemonium…

But I grab my wrap for a picture near the Falcon.

Going to be busy…

Chopper (from Star Wars Rebels) was roaming around, but the CMs were real coy about whether he was coming back or not.

This has been one of my pet peeves lately. Like the Easter parade. No one can confirm or deny whether something is going to happen. It’s annoying when you’re trying to plan your day.

Say hi to the best Boba.

A Cantina photo op in the Launching Bay.

Like any merch event, there was another virtual queue. This one actually closed by 8AM. By 11:15AM, we were walking through the store.

We have Clone Trooper helmets..

Special Edition pin with Boba Fett…

Action figures of Mace Windu and a Clone Trooper

Wishables. Is that still a thing?

Shirts and hats…

And this is where everything went to hell. So even with the VQ, the store was packed. Like you couldn’t move around. I wanted to check out the Boba pin again, and I was trapped between two ECVs, and people were pushing in every direction. It was to the point that no one could move.

I handle crowds pretty well, but that almost gave me a panic attack.

I did manage to get back the glassware.

Star Wars inspired watches.

And this is Darth Maul’s lightsaber hilt. The case lights up and plays “Duel of the Fates.” The only problem is the price: $400 and that doesn’t include the blades. But you could purchase them for an additional $100 each.

This was our haul for the day. You have to get a shirt for the day. Yes, I’m a sucker for dated merch.

So at this point, it was super crazy. Everything was over an hour, including snack and drink lines.

We made the decision to take a break at one of the Skyliner resorts. So off to Art of Animation.

Now I’m thinking it would have a little lounge area where you could sit and chill. Nope, not here. There were padded benches in the lobby, and that’s was bustling with activity.

I did snap a few pictures of the artwork.

There was a place that’s usually super quiet: Beach Club Villas. Yes, it’s a DVC area, but I’ve sat in these spaces and no one has bothered me. It’s like if you keep to yourself, no one will kick you out.

I ended up taking a 2 hour nap in the chair. But I was refreshed, cooled down, and ready for the evening.

We took the Skyliner back to Hollywood, but as we passed the backstage of Epcot, I saw a few familiar pieces.

Those are the set pieces for all of Epcot’s festivals. Any Figment or Remy displays seemed to be hanging out here. That’s weird right? You would think they should be in a warehouse, not back parking lot. 

Hollywood Studios’ parking lot was packed on both sides. I have never seen it like that… even on the holidays.

While there was a VQ for general merch, you had to get into another line for Phantom Menace 25yh merch.

Dinner time: We had the pork carnitas tacos, a Buffalo chicken sandwich, and the chocolate mint cake.

After the VQ was finished, you could walk right into the store. Ahhh, no pushing people.

Finally, we were able to move in the marketplace area. It was nice to take in some of the atmosphere.

Checking out the new creatures…

And the new toys…

More of the Sabbac players.

We just kinda hung back by the Millennium Falcon and people watched.

Rey and Vai checking out the crowd.

Everyone was grouping up according to color.

Lightsabers at dusk.

Some people are really into the Jedi life. There was one guy showing off his saber skills.

Lightsabers of every color. 

And then the bottom fell out again. Let’s get a backstory here. There’s a group Galaxy Edge Discord that sets up monthly lightsaber meets in the park. They wanted to meet (like every year) on May the 4th. Disney told them no because people would be here for the 35th Anniversary (really?) and it would be too crowded to host everyone. So they held their lightsaber meet up the week before.

Well guess what happened? Most people in the group were meeting up anyway, people who didn’t even know about the group were meeting up, casual fans were meeting up.

Anyone with a half of a brain knows that everyone who has a lightsaber will want to get a photo at night in front of the Falcon.

It’s Star Wars Day and even someone who doesn’t really follow the movies, TV, etc. is going o bring their lightsaber.

So Disney, instead of having a well organized event where everyone gets a chance to wave their lightsabers in front of Falcon, now had a “security problem” on their hands. Managers were panicking, security was holding off crowds, and even the poor custodial CM was dragged into crowd control.

It was a TOTAL 💩SHOW!

Good job Disney!

I wanted to get a photo op with Mom down by Oga’s Cantina with the lightsabers props. We could even move, and we were stuck between the crowd and a wall. People coming out of Oga’s couldn’t get out. The crowds of lightsaber wielding people stretched all the way back to Kylo Ren’s Ship. It was something.

The CMs were trying to clear the area. But it was a jammed for a good 40 minutes. We were finally able to get out and just decided to head to the front.

But when in Muppets Courtyard, get a lightsaber churro. Apparently, this came with chocolate dipping sauce. Not that I needed it though.

After what I experienced, I felt like force choking someone, or just grabbing a red lightsaber churro.

And it actually tasted fresh. Sometimes, the churros here are like eating cardboard.

We finally saw Phantom Menace merch…

Or what was leftover, which was this shirt.

While I love Star Wars, this day was a bit of a disappointment. I notice that Disney is really disorganized at these events.

What could be something cool like unique character meet and greets or photo ops, turns into a Lord of Fly merch grab. And there was really no excuse for the lightsaber fiasco by the Falcon. It was a disaster, and thankfully, Star Wars people are a pretty chill group (at least in person). The lack of foresight that people will get a picture regardless whether it’s a group or not is shocking.

Disney really needs to do better.

So next year, May 4th is on a Sunday. 😑 Better start mentally preparing now.

Until next time…