Preparation and Tips - Getting the Most Out of Your Celebration

Star Wars Celebration is just around the corner! It's going to be five amazing days of all out Star Wars, from the latest trailers to cosplay so good it could have come from the movie set, from TV premieres to an insane amount of Funko Pops, with The Star Wars Show filming live all weekend. It's going to be Star Wars heaven.

Sounds pretty amazing right? It probably also seems pretty intimidating. With over 70,000 people in attendance, Star Wars Celebration is one of the largest pop culture conventions in America.

So whether you're going for just one day or the whole extravaganza, here's my guide to getting the most out of your Celebration!

Make a Plan

Star Wars Celebration is massive and even if you managed to snag a VIP ticket you simply can't do everything. So over the next three months, as autographs and photo ops go on sale, and as panels and exclusives are announced, pick out your priorities. Pick that one thing a day that you simply have to do, whether it's the Clone Wars panel, trying for the Funko Pop exclusives, or meeting your childhood hero or heroine for a photo op.

Use Thursday to your advantage. There are no panels. Make this your autograph day, or the day you run all around the show floor to grab those exclusives. Or simply the day you brave the queue for the official Celebration Store.

Plan your days. Look at past Celebrations for a guide. Whilst the full panel schedule won't be released until shortly before the event, we can see from recent Celebrations that the biggest panel of the weekend is generally the opening panel (so expect the Episode IX panel on Friday), animation and EA Games tend to be Saturday, etc. So if two of your "must do" events of the weekend are a photo op and the IX panel, schedule your photo for a day other than Friday so you can be sure the times won't clash.

Of course the past is no guarantee. Remember when we all through Celebration would be announced on May 4th last year? Yeah, that didn't happen. And with Thursday now being a preview day, the Clone Wars returning, the first ever live action TV series, plus who knows what else, it really is anyone's guess how they're going to structure things this year. The past is simply a rough guide, a best guess. Which leads nicely on to...

Be Flexible

Made your plan? Great! Now be prepared to throw it out.

Have back up options planned out in case your first choice doesn't work out. With three main stages, the podcast stage, collector's track, and hundreds of exhibitors on the show floor there will always be something that takes your interest. If your first choice doesn't pan out, go with your second, or third, or just wherever the flow takes you.

Look at the Live Stream Schedule

The Star Wars Show will be streaming live from Celebration from Friday to Monday, bringing the biggest moments of the convention direct to the show floor and to the rest of the galaxy.

All of the biggest panels will be streamed live, with the full schedule usually announced a few days before Celebration. So if two panels you want to see clash, have a look if either of them is being streamed. The big panels and celebrity Q&As will almost always be streamed, whilst the smaller panels from the Behind the Scenes and fan stages are often not. Just keep in mind that if any full episodes are screened then they will not be streamed (the rest of the panel will be). If you want to see the episodes early you have to be in the room

Photo from Park Journey

Use Lightspeed Pass for the Celebration Store

You may have heard the horror stories of the queue to get into the Celebration Store. In the words of Han Solo "It's true, all of it." The wait time just to get into the store can be 3 hours long. But you don't have to wait in it!

If you want to get into the store the best thing is to be at Celebration when it opens and head straight there. Then, depending on the queue, either get in line or grab a Lightspeed Lane pass. You'll be given a time to go back with no queue, simple as that! Check out this YouTube video from Orlando, about 6 minutes in they get their Lightspeed passes at 10:22am with an entry time of 11:10am, whilst the main line is 2 hours long. No queue and earlier entry!

This is something that was introduced in Europe in 2016 and I think people are becoming more aware of it every Celebration, so the earlier you can get your passes the better as there's only a limited number for each day.

Sadly there's no pass for getting through the checkouts, so make sure you allow at least an hour for that.

The over night queue in Orlando, Photo by WDW Info

Embrace the Queue

Whether it's an overnight wait for Episode IX, the queue for the store, or just waiting for the show floor to open in the morning, enjoy the queue. Maybe that seems a little silly to say, after all no one pays thousands of dollar and flies across the country or around the world to stand in a queue, and that's true, but I promise, if you embrace it, some of your best memories of Celebration will come from just hanging out with other fans in line, especially in the over night line.

Star Wars Celebration is the only event of this size that is completely dedicated to one thing. Everyone you meet at Celebration is there because they love Star Wars. Share memories, share stories. Your line buddies could become your new best friends. It was amazing to be in the room for the exclusive Rogue One trailer and to have a photo with Mark Hamill, but it was equally as awesome to make new friends from around the world. Some of my favourite Celebration memories are from that over night queue and I'm already looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones in Chicago.

If You Can Afford It, Go for It

My advice on spending at Celebration would always be to focus on things you can only buy at Celebration. There's so many exclusives and, last day bargains aside, Celebration isn't the best place for picking up great deals on Star Wars merchandise.

Specifically though, I want to talk about autographs. I've told this story before in my piece on budgeting for Celebration, in London I decided to get a photo op with Mark Hamill that year and get one with Carrie Fisher next time because I didn't think I could justify the expense of two photo ops at the time. Honestly, I had the money, I was just being precautious, in the grand scheme of what I spent at that Celebration I could have done the photo op. Now I can't and it's something I will always regret.

I would never tell anyone to spend what they can't afford, nothing at Celebration is worth that, but if you can afford something, especially something like a photo op, then I would always advise going for it.

Watch Out for Unannounced Surprises

Sometimes Celebration can surprise you with unexpected guests and signings. In London Sam Witwer was one of the special guests at the Rebels panel. He wasn't, as far as I can recall, an announced guest and certainly wasn't scheduled to be signing, but after the panel on Saturday he signed for the rest of the weekend. Gareth Edwards also had an unannounced signing in the Art Show area, signing a special print. I believe the only announcement was on Twitter. So it pays to keep an eye out and an ear to the ground whilst you're at Celebration, you never know who might pop up or where!

Concentrate on the Moment

As Qui-Gon says, be mindful of the here and now. Five days may seem like this epic, long event, but I promise it will be over before you know it. Celebration is full of so many amazing and wonderful distractions that it can be overwhelming. There's always something to see and do. So as you race from panel to panel, every now and then just try to step back and enjoy the moment. Take in the atmosphere of being surrounded by thousands of others who share your passion for Star Wars. It's an amazing feeling.

May the Force be with you.