HAN SOLO1138 | PRINCESS LEIAORSO

HAN SOLO 1138- Well my Star Wars day started about 5:00 in the morning of May 12, 2001. My best friend (Stefanie) woke me up telling me that I needed to get ready and to help her get her hair ready. So I got up, showered, put on my Darth Vader shirt and started helping Stefanie put her hair up in Princess Leia's signature cinnamon-bun style. We ate and left for MGM. We got to MGM and met Sir Steve (of Sir Steve's Star Wars Guide) and got our reporter passes, then stood in line. The line was for a chance to meet Carrie Fisher. The wristbands were handed out at 8:30 and even though we got there one and a half hours early I got standby number 44.

Much to the dismay of Stefanie and myself, they opened the gates half an hour early. We arranged to have someone that Stefanie knew to pre-buy our tickets and then get them to us that morning……he was late. After waiting a while, we got in and had a ball watching the Staormtroopers guarding the gate! While walking all the way back to the Star Wars section, every now and then you would bump into another fan in a shirt or dressed up like their favorite character, but once we got to the Ewok Village, we were in Star Wars heaven. There were Star Wars characters EVEYWHERE! There was Darth Maul, Han Solo, Chewbacca, a few Jawas, a couple Ewoks, Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia (who looked just like Carrie Fisher!), Sand People, The Cantina Band, Emperor Palpatine with his Royal Guards, Queen Amidala, Obi-Wan, Greedo, Darth Vader, a Bespin Guard, a Gammorean Guard and Admiral Ackbar to name a few.

After being blown away by what we saw, we figured we needed to go on the Star Wars 'Star Tours' Ride. I have been on that ride quite a few times but this was without any doubt the best, I think because I knew what lied ahead in the day. We exited the ride and went shopping in The Tatooine Traders Shop. I didn't have anything for Carrie or Peter to sign so I picked up a Princess Leia postcard and a Chewbacca postcard. It took at least half an hour to stand in the line to get to the check out register! We decided to walk around a bit and bumped into the people handing out wristbands for Peter Mayhew, it's a good thing we found them or else we would have missed our chance to meet everyone's favorite walking carpet (I got number 125).

We went on the non-Star Wars stuff and while in line for the Aerosmith (I love Aerosmith and Steve's daughter, Liv) ride, we found out that it was 11:10, 5 MINUTES TILL THE STAR WARS PARADE!!!!!! So we RAN out of line and into the 'street' to see the parade. The parade was well worth it, we got to see all our favorite characters walking around and it was pretty fun (Chewie had Threepio on his back and the Jawas kept on trying to 'steal' him). Then coming down the road in his bright red convertible was Peter Mayhew, he had a Star Wars weekends shirt on and was waving at everybody (at that time I was really camera happy) then came Carrie. Princess Leia has ALWAYS been my favorite person in the Star Wars movies so this was a big thing for me. She was going down the street, waiving at people, but when she saw Stefanie's hair, she rolled her eyes and made a "ohh my gosh, that girl is crazy" look (I of course took a lot of pictures). We stood where the parade started so when it was orver we RAN across the park to get close to the stage.

Carrie and Peter were interviewed, I found out that Peter was a REALLY nice guy and Carrie, well she is HILARIOUS to say the least (to anyone that was there "they don't wear bras in space"). I took plenty of pictures there, they placed their hands in cement and they left. When that was finished we went on The Great Movie Ride. In front of The Great Movie Ride, they had the Chess Table used on the Falcon in A New Hope, very cool. The ride was the same as always but Stefanie and I got strange looks from the lady next to us when we cheered when they showed clips from the Star Wars movies.

After the ride, we wandered around a bit and were watching the cute little kids fight with Darth Vader when we decited that it was time to fufill my life-long dream of meeting Carrie Fisher. What happened with the Carrie line was that she would sign 100 autographs and then after that, she would sign as many as she wanted (so I was hoping for my dear life, that she would sign at least 44 autographs after she was 'finished'). Whenever a Disney cast-member walked by, I was so scared that they would end the line that I would wet my pants. Then…it was my turn. There not 5 feet in front of me was Carrie Fisher. The Princess Leia Organa of Star Wars, the cinnamon-bun, I'd just as soon kiss a wookiee, metal bikini Leia. I went up to her said hi and asked her how she is doing (she replied with a sarcastic laugh), she signed my post-card, got a picture and I left. After we were done, Stefanie and I stood there and watched Carrie, still in disbelief that we met Carrie Fisher (the highlight of my life!).

We wandered around a bit after that, took pictures of people in costume, signed up for the Tatooine Trivia Trials, went on Star Tours (yet again) then went on other rides around the park. At 3:15 we went to get in the Peter Mayhew line. His line went quicker than Carrie's (well I was closer and they were rushing people). When he was signing the post-card I noticed that he had the coolest ring ever…a big Chewie head. We took a picture with him, told him I loved his ring and left (still in shock that we met Carrie Fisher AND Peter Mayhew)

At 4:30 we went to go see the 'Behind the Force: The Saga Continues' sneak peak at Episode 2 (it is the thing at the beginning of the re-re-re-released trilogy). Nothing was givin away but there was a lot of eye-candy, I was satisfied. We walked around a bit, went on Star Tours again and stood in line for the Tatooine Trivia Trials. While we were waiting to get in line (isn't that a Disney thing to do?!) we met this lady in a really cool 'Skywalker Ranch' shirt that had a custom Attack of the Clones Anakin doll (it really did look like Hayden). Well we got in line and met yet another cool Star Wars fan Britany who was right next to Stefanie and me in the Trivia thing.

The very first question was "Who said Endor was pretty?" of course it is R2-D2, after that it was, "what was Anakin's medichlorian count?", I didn't know, but I guessed right. The question I (and more than half of the other people got out on) was "what type of weapon do the Naboo Royal Guards use?", I had no clue, so I guessed and guessed wrong. Ohh well, every participant got the new (well it was at the time) Star Wars RPG. After going on Star Tours and the Rock-n-Rollercoaster once again, we walked around till 9:30. Whew, almost 15 hours of pure Star Wars…..what an experience! I hope that next year MGM and Lucasfilm got together and do these again! (and maybe I will be able to meet Natalie Portman).

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PRINCESS LEIAORSO- We, my friend Steven and I, got up early so that I could do my hair like Princess Leia. Even though we got to the park at 7am, the Carrie Fisher line was already 100+. Unfortunately, for us, there was no guarantee that we would meet her, and as we got standby wristbands, I was so frustrated that I swore I would camp out the next year. We had to wait for a guy to come with our tickets (he got us in free) and he was late so we had to wait until 9:30am, even though they actually opened MGM at 8:30am (half an hour earlier than usual). We finally got in and admired the stormtroopers at the gate (while plotting on how to beat them up for their costumes).

We ran into the park and went on Star Tours. It was only like a 10 minute wait since it was so early in the morning. We had a blast on the ride (BTW you should ride in the back row) and then went to Tattooine Traders (the Star Wars Store). There, we admired the awsome memorabilia and the outrageous prices...even so we got some stuff and had to wait about 1/2 hour to check out.

We left to walk around and got our wristbands to meet Peter Mayhew. We went on other rides around MGM (like the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith ride). Then we went to the Motorcade Parade. We got a great spot and watched everyone go by. Then, came the red corvettes with Peter and Carrie!!! We were so excited that we almost peed our pants. THE PRINCESS LEIA was going by us in a car and she even noticed me with my hair! She looked at me as if I were crazy and after they went by, we RAN to the stage area.

Peter and Carrie got interviewed and had the handprint ceremony. Both shared great Star Wars memories and the updates on their lives. Ms. Fisher has been writing books and done small roles in films (BTW, she's now got her on show on OXYGEN). We had our laughs and couldn't wait to meet the two actors.

We walked around and I decided to go to the bathroom. When I came out, they were escorting Carrie Fisher to the bathroom and I practically RAN INTO HER! I was so stunned that I ran to tell Steven. Afterwards, we went on the Great Movie Ride. The ride itself is ok, but the end is the best when they show the Star Wars clips. We cheered and got funny looks, but it was all worth it. We also checked out the cool chessboard from the Millenium Falcon and took pictures. After the ride we watched the Padawan trainees and their lightsaber duels with Vader. Then, we were ready to meet Princess Leia.

We got in line pretty early, but we had a "reserved" spot with our wristbands. We were so worried that she would not meet the standbys and prayed to God that she would. Finally, we got close enough to see her and could not believe it. When it was my turn to go up, I just about died since SHE was feet in front of me. The person who protrayed one of my favorites in Star Wars and whom I'd only watched trhough a TV/Movie screen was actually real. She mentioned my hair and how I should never do it up unless I got paid for it (I still do it up all the time). I took a picture with her and thanked her, then waited for Steven. My eyes were watering when he came over and we started yelling like hooligans since we had just fulfilled our dream.

We walked around afterwards, still dumbfounded and insane. I kept looking at her autograph, not believing it was her... We went on Star Tours and signed for the Trials, which would prove to be more challenging than I'd imagined. Then we went to meet the wookie. While in line to meet him, we did not expect that he was so awsome. He came out and we found out that he actually walked like Chewbacca, it wasn't just part of the character. We went up to meet him and I shook his hand...He was soooo awesome and down to earth, definately a star.

We went to Behind the Force: The Saga Continues, a documentary on the making of AOTC. It was just a shorter version of the clip before the re-released ANH, but I enjoyed it. Outside the auditorium, this guy was selling pics in which you could stick your face into famous Star Wars poses. Me and Steven took it and got our faces put into a Han and Leia standstill. It was really scary looking, so we decided to pitch it.

We went on Star Tours again and were ready to take the Trials. While in line, we met a lady who had made an Anakin 12 inch doll from some Ken or something. It was really creative. She also helped us get prepped by asking us questions from the previous Trivia Trials. We also met Brittany, who was another Star Wars Fanatic and took the Trials with her. I got out on the 3rd question, along with Brittany and we walked to get our prize (a Star Wars RPG). While waiting for Steven, I noticed that this was one of the greatest days of my life!!!

He finally got out and we walked around and ate. We played video games and pitched in together what we had left to get some chicken strips and a drink (we wer completely broke). The crowd began to die down in the Star Wars area so we decided to go to Indiana Jones. Afterwards, we rode Star Tours again and chatted with some of the people that worked at the ride (they had NO CLUE what was going on!) Then, we decided to bail.

We walked out of the park and watched Fantasmic from the outside. We reminisced on the days events and how we'd PAY to come again (no pun intended.)

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