Star Wars Weekend canceled

[Msenser]

Just read in the Sentinel Online that Disney has scrapped the Star Wars Weekends set for May. That seems funny with the release of Episode 2 Attack of the Clones the same month. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Planogirl]

Aw, that's a shame. I know of a few kids who were looking forward to this. So, what's up with that?

 

[OnWithTheShow]

The latest news from the Studios is that Star Wars Weekends are still on but for only one weekend and in a slightly toned down manner.

 

[Richard Noggin]

Speaking of STAR WARS, I saw George Lucas at Pleasure Island on Tuesday night(confirmed by many autograph seekers and PI security). He was by himself walking out of 8 Traxx. Mr Lucas puts my celebrity list at PI to 5 people in the last year...Drew carey, Michael Jackson, President Carter( the former), and Britany Spears.

 

[Star Wars Guy]

I too read that article (prompted by my daily visit to http://theforce.net).

OnWithThe Show, did you call Disney or where did you hear that they are going to have a 'toned down' version? Which weekend will it be? The article leads us to believe that nothing special will be going on at all.

I know the Sentinel article says Lucasfilms is putting their focus on Celebration 2 (which I'll be at), but there's still 3 weekends in May they could address at Disney...

I based my upcoming trip around the Star Wars weekend, for what would have been my first ever Star Wars Weekend.

I'm bummed beyond belief...

 

[cindyfan]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that they had to either cancel or shorten (keep to one weekend) BECAUSE of the release of the new movie. That is that, all the stars will be engaged in promos and the premiere, etc. So they couldn't get anyone to come down to WDW.
Without haveing a clue as to when this was last year....we went to MGM on the Saturday of the Star Wars weekend.........YIKES!!!! I've never seen so many people at MGM!! We scooted out of there FAST!!!
So you know it really brings in the crowds! WDW wouldn't cancel unless they had a REALLY good reason!

 

[YoHo]

The Force.net doesn't KNOW everything. Difficult to see is the future.

 

[Safari Steve]

Disney has scrapped the Star Wars Weekends

The article had a quote from LucasFilm Ltd's VP of licensing, who said that LFL scrapped it.
(why do I hear the "Imperial Death March"?)

 

[YoHo]

Hmmm, At every turn I see more and more evidence that George may Hate Mikey.


Why oh Why WOn't George Buy Disney.

 

[Another Voice]

“Why oh why won't George Buy Disney”

Because George is much more interested in desk lamps than in rodents.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Can you imagine, a Jar Jar Spinner? Jar Jar meet and greets, Jar Jar 3D films, Jar Jar shaped cookies with your lunch, oh my, kill me now!

 

[Mickey76]

There's a copy of the article in the Orlando Sentinel on the Theme Parks Board. I'm a huge Star Wars fan and will be at WDW in May. I was looking forward to going to my first Star Wars Weekend. After reading the article and having heard from other sources the same thing, I can't really blame Lucasfilm for not wanting to be a part of any Disney ceremony. It bums me out, yes, but I'm not going to let it ruin my trip. And look on the bright side, Lucas himself sadi that Star Wars Weekends would be back at MGM as early as 2003. Kepp your fingers crossed.

Mickey76

 

[Jaypd]

Here is the article....

Walt Disney World has quietly scrubbed plans for its sixth annual "Star Wars Weekends" event in May, even though a fifth installment of George Lucas' mega-hit movie series will debut May 16.

The popular promotions, replete with autograph-signing actors from previous Star Wars movies, drew thousands of movie buffs from around the nation -- dozens of whom typically lined up before dawn outside MGM Studios' turnstiles.

But Disney may have had little choice about missing out on a chance to ride the marketing rocket of the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.

The scrub appears to be something of a snub by Lucasfilm Ltd. So intensely is the company promoting the forthcoming Star Wars that it doesn't have much reason to cooperate with Disney's four special weekends as it has in the past.

"To be honest, it's a little less important to us this year," said Howard Roffman, the San Francisco-based company's vice president of licensing.

In fact, Lucas has scheduled his own version of a Star Wars weekend, called Celebration II, in Indianapolis on the first weekend in May. Celebration I, held in Denver in early May 1999, drew 30,000 people.

Entertainment industry experts speculate that Lucas was so surprised and pleased with that attendance that he decided to beef up his promotion this year, even though it helped doom MGM's event. His reasoning, they say: Better to have a dedicated Star Wars gathering in the nation's car-accessible midsection than inside a drooping Disney theme park.

Roffman confirmed that Lucasfilm consultants picked Indianapolis for its fan gathering because of its geographic desirability. But he insisted that Lucasfilm plans to start supporting MGM's May weekends as soon as 2003.

"We really like what Disney has done with Star Wars Weekends," he said.

Disney World spokesman Craig Dezern said officials there decided against holding Star Wars Weekends to focus on its current "100 Years of Magic" promotion. That 15-monthlong offering, which ends on Dec. 31, consists of new parades, live-action shows and a museum-like display of Walt Disney artifacts.

But Alan Bromley, a New York media consultant who specializes in movie marketing tie-ins for the fashion industry, said, "Disney can't be happy to be left out of the action when a new Star Wars comes out at the same time as the company's annual event based on those movies."

Disney's decision to cancel the event disappointed some longtime fans.

Dan Rose, a San Francisco bank worker, has traveled to MGM's special weekend for the past two years.

"I was planning on going to Orlando again this year. Last year I got in line at 5:30 in the morning to get Princess Leia's [Carrie Fisher's] autograph."

With attendance still slumping because of a decline in air travel that has followed last Sept. 11's terrorism attacks, the attraction could clearly use a boost from what appears destined to be one of the spring's hottest movies. After all, the most recent release in the series, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, in 1999, sold $922 million worth of tickets worldwide.

Disney World has a ready-made setting for Star Wars Weekends: They're held just outside its Star Tours attraction at MGM Studios. Star Tours cost about $50 million to build in 1990, according to one source familiar with the facility. The "ride" combines flight-simulator technology with a 4½-minute action movie created by George Lucas. Guests exiting the ride walk through a bustling store filled with Star Wars toys, shirts and other souvenirs.

Disney World has held past Star Wars Weekends right outside the Star Tours ride. But to some knowledgeable entertainment industry sources, even the 12-year-old ride is becoming a symbol of a more distant relationship lately between Disney and Lucas, who helped create the Star Tours attraction in the late 1980s.

An MGM Studios official said in 1998 that Lucas had agreed to update the Star Wars ride's mini-film based on the then upcoming Star Wars I. But Episode I has long come and gone without a new Star Tours film. Officials at both Lucasfilm and Disney say the update is still being planned, but neither company is specific about when it may actually arrive.

One source familiar with the planning for Star Tours estimated the cost of a new short film for it to be in the range of $5 million to $10 million, to be paid by Disney.

Robert Johnson can be reached at rwjohnson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5664.

 

[airlarry!]

Because George is much more interested in desk lamps than in rodents.

LOL

Any truth to the rumor that George wishes he never would have sold his beautiful desk lamp, and wants to buy it back from his buddy?

 

[OnWithTheShow]

The desk lamp story is represented in the films by the Millennium Falcon. It was won by Han from Lando in a card game and Lando really wants it back because it was the lamp....opps I mean ship, he had been quietly upgrading for himself.

 

[airlarry!]

Mmmm, that wasn't the desk lamp I was talking about. I was lookin' for a Luxo, Jr reference.

 

[Safari Steve]

on: 02/22/2002

STAR WARS!
The Disney-MGM Studios is the center or our 100 Years of Magic Celebration, offering Guests new attractions, shows, and parades throughout all four of our theme parks. Right now, we’re keeping our focus in that park on that yearlong event.

During the weekend that Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones is released nationwide to theaters (May 17-19, 2002), we will celebrate the film’s opening. Guests will find additional Star Wars Characters in the theme park, limited-edition pins available for fans, and more Star Wars Characters in the Disney Stars and Motorcars Parade.

*More than 20 Star Wars Characters will roam the Disney-MGM Studios, greeting Guests and taking photographs with fans of all ages.
*Star Wars fans and Disney pin collectors will have the opportunity to purchase Star Wars-themed, limited-release pins. These pins will be available for purchase May 17-19 at the Disney-MGM Studios.
*More Star Wars Characters will join Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the Disney Stars and Motorcars Parade, the new parade in the theme park that debuted as part of the yearlong 100 Years of Magic Celebration.
*Guests can also have their faces painted like many of the Star Wars Characters and take a wild ride aboard "Star Tours," the flight-simulator attraction co-created by Walt Disney Imagineering and George Lucas.

 

[Star Wars Guy]

You da man, Safari Steve!

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Way to stick to the 7 guest service guidelines by providing us immediate service recovery. Also I was just kidding about the lamp thing.

 

[YoHo]

If George is so interested in Desk Lamps, then why did he get rid of his those years ago?