Celebrating STAR WARS

If you're heading to Celebration from the UK and you haven't booked your flights yet, make sure you check out United ASAP! I just got return flights (including baggage - important to watch for since this new "Basic Economy" has been added and most of the cheap flights no longer include a hold bag) direct from London Heathrow to Chicago O'Hara for less than £370!! I was planning on flying from Manchester but the savings (especially for a group of 4) far outweighed the extra cost of flying from London. No idea how long this rate will last for so make sure you check it out now! I know I've not done a Preparation post for a few weeks now (sorry, life got a little crazy) but I'll make sure I get back on those soon. May the Force be with you.

It's hard to believe that Celebration Europe was only 2 years ago! It feels like so much has happened since that incredible weekend. I'm blessed to have an amazing wife who shares my crazy passion for that galaxy far, far away, and today is our wedding anniversary. Two years ago, we celebrated our anniversary by taking part in that fantastic Celebration tradition - the over night queue! I couldn't resist the card, it was too perfect! We made new friends, share stories with our line buddies, and had an amazing first day at Celebration. So, yeah, I've not had time to write a full post today but I just wanted to share this. I have the best wife in the world, and we're both looking forward to being back at Celebration next year! May the Force be with you all.

This week's Celebration preparation post is all about one thing - money! If it feels a bit like this is just doubling down on one of the golden rules in my first preparation post (start saving now), it is! I'm going to assume that a lot of people bought their Celebration tickets on credit card (like I did) when they went on sale last month. In which case you've no doubt received that same lovely reminder from your bank that I did last week - awesome, you're going to Celebration, time to pay up! Celebration is many, many things. Cheap isn't one of them. Before evening stepping through the door you have your badge costs, hotel costs and your transport costs. Now, your badge costs and transport costs are likely to be paid off this year, unless you're travelling locally or waiting really last minute for a flight. So they are things you can pay now and then put out of your mind, knowing you're covered. The hotel costs are the important one to keep i...

Yesterday Star Wars Celebration announced that Thursday tickets are 85% gone! Going by 5-Day and Saturday tickets I'd be willing to bet that Thursday will be sold out by the end of this weekend, so if you're wanting to attend Celebration's Bounty Hunter Preview and haven't got tickets yet, this is your last chance! Remember Thursday will be a preview day with no panels. The focus will be on shopping, guest autographs and photo ops. This will be the best time to try and hit the Celebration Store or grab an exclusive as you don't have to worry about how long you're in the store queue or what time your photo op is clashing with a panel you want to see. It will also be a (slightly) less crowded day as there's a more limited number of tickets available. So this will be the perfect day to explore the show floor, meet the Droid Builders and Prop Makers, take some photos, and just experience what Celebration has to offer!

So you want to cosplay at Star Wars Celebration. That's awesome! One of the best things at Star Wars Celebration is seeing so many fans in absolutely amazing costumes! So where do you start? Firstly decide what you want to be. Do you want to be a Jedi Knight or a Sith Lord? A hero of the Rebellion or the Empire's greatest enforcer? Do you want to be a character from the movies, the expanded universe, or maybe a character of your own creation? Heck, why not mash it up a bit! At previous Celebration's I've seen a Jedi Joker, a Captain America Stormtrooper, and a Pikachu inspired Mandalorian. Be what you want to be! Set a budget! Cosplay be done on any budget, and you will never find a more welcoming environment than Star Wars Celebration. Seriously, no one cares if your costume is home made or bought from a Halloween store, if your Jedi robe is an old karate gi or if you look like you just walked off a movie set. They will just appreciate that you've d...

We are less than 300 days from the greatest Celebration in the galaxy! You've got your tickets, you've got your hotel room booked. Maybe you've even sorted out your travel arrangements. So what's next? Planning and Preparation! With that in mind I've added a new 'Preparation and Tips' tab to the top of this blog and over the next 42 weeks to Celebration I'll be adding weekly posts with all the Celebration advice I can think of! To start things off - TWO GOLDEN RULES 1 - Accept you can't do everything. This is the golden rule of any convention. If you try to do it all, you'll end up exhausted, frustrated and probably won't have a great time. Even Jedi Masters will have to wait in some queues and you will always find two panels you'd love to see that clash. When the schedule is released, make a plan. Be realistic about it (the bigger panels and more popular guests will have longer lines). Pick one or two top priorities ...

The demand for next year's Star Wars Celebration is through the roof! Adult and Kid 5-Day tickets have officially sold out in less than 48 hours! This is a record sell out for the event. Last year's Celebration Orlando took seven months to sell out of 4-Day badges and I believe Europe 2016 held the previous sell out record of 3 months. My first thought was that ReedPOP had limited the number of 5-Day badges along with the number of single day Thursday badges to help ensure that the Bounty Hunter Preview day was more limited. But according to replies by the official Celebration Twitter and Facebook pages, the number of badges on sale is the same as last Celebration so it really is just demand that is driving this record breaking sell out. If you want to attend everyday of Star Wars Celebration (and believe me, you do!) then there are currently still single day tickets available for everyday of the convention. But hurry because it looks like they won't last long! Adu...