Star Wars Weekends 2013 – Opening Day Photos and Video

Hi everyone!

We spent most of opening day of Star Wars Weekends 2013 in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, from the Legends of the Force Celebrity Motorcade until the end of the Hyperspace Hoopla. We have plenty of photos and videos to share! This is the 7th year that Mousesteps has covered Star Wars Weekends. It really is hard to do everything in one day, we didn’t – but we enjoyed everything we did do.

 

Jedi Mickey always leads the Legends of the Force Celebrity Motorcade. You can see Chip and Dale as Ewoks behind him, for the first time ever. This is my favorite location for viewing the parade.

Darth Goofy always dons his heart-shaped boxers!

Princess Leia Minnie strikes a pose.

Young Padawans are led along the motorcade route.

 

The 501st is always part of the motorcade.

Stormtroopers march down Hollywood Blvd. toward the Sorcerer Hat stage, stopping in front of us along the way.

Chewbacca was really getting into the groove with his dance moves during the parade!

Actor Ray Park (Darth Maul) was the first celebrity out of the gate, with R2D2 in front of him.

Darth Maul character, with actor Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) in the car behind.

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Dee Bradley Baker (Clone Wars) is next.

Actress Ashley Eckstein (Clone Wars) heads our way.

 

James Arnold Taylor, who has been a terrific host for several years!

Darth Vader.

The Stormtroopers are on a moving platform this year.

Here is our video of the Legends of the Force Celebrity Motorcade:

We always follow directly behind the motorcade to watch the Celebrity Welcome.

Ashley Eckstein and Ahsoka Tano, her alter ego.

Actor Ray Park with James Arnold Taylor.

Our Celebrity Welcome video:

After the welcome, Jedi Mickey travels back, followed by the celebrities.

We always enjoy the Behind the Force show, but it had some technical glitches and Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor and Dee Bradley Baker told everyone to please come back to the second show instead.

The line for Stars of the Saga was longer than I ever remember it being an hour before the show. We were fortunate to still get a good seat.

This one one of my favorite Stormtrooper skits ever!

This Stormtrooper always bites the dust in the end – this time it was by Ewok.

Check out the full Stormtrooper skit video:

James Arnold Taylor showed off his impressive range of voices, and then interviewed Jeremy Bulloch and Ray Park.

I hadn’t realized that Jeremy Bulloch also played an Imperial Officer in The Empire Strikes Back.

Usually there is a question and answer session – this time, it was more of a triva game for the actors: Prequels or Sequels?

Everyone on stage dons Mickey Mouse ears at the end, and even Jedi Mickey joined in!

Here is video of the sing-a-long:

One of our favorite parts of the day was meeting Chip and Dale dressed as Ewoks. We enjoy unique characters, and it was fun to see so much enthusiasm from guests.

 

We had lunch at Mama Melrose. The park was crowded and I didn’t really want to brave the Backlot Express – I was able to make a reservation in the morning. We have the Tables in Wonderland card, and two flatbread pizzas (along with rolls) was just a few dollars more than having a couple of burgers in a counter service location. It was a nice reprieve!

One of my favorite places to take photos is on the dark side, where characters interact with guests. I didn’t have a lot of time here, but I’ll be back!

The line for Darth’s Mall was still at least a half hour when I stopped by, so I waited another hour before going in.

Villains in Vogue has some Star Wars merchandise on sale.

Ashley Eckstein poses during an autograph session.

When I went back to Darth’s Mall, it was a 15-20 minute wait. Merchandise was displayed for guests.

Darth Duck keeps watch over the store.

Near the cash registers, snacks and drinks are for sale. There were plenty of Darth Vader cupcakes still available.

 

I was told that the morning line for merchandise was 3-4 hours. I was happy with 15 minutes!

On the way back from Darth’s Mall, I noticed Orange Bird cups for sale – I hadn’t ever seen them here before.

Clouds were a bit gloomy and I thought it was going to rain – I was glad it didn’t, since Jeff had waited with friends already 2 hours for the Hyperspace Hoopla (they lined up before 5pm and it was at 8pm).

Darth Maul walks the Dark Side.

Aurra Sing heads backstage to get ready for the Hyperspace Hoopla.

While Jeff videotaped the Hyperspace Hoopla from the front, I wanted to capture the characters in back.

Before the Hyperspace Hoopla, I had some time to look at the handprints at the Chinese Theater. It has been a very long time since I’ve done this – I always just walk past. Harrison Ford, George Lucas, C3PO with R2D2 and Mark Hamill are here.

Aurra Sing makes her way to the back of the Sorcerer Hat stage. I really like this area, even though not all the characters are available for photos.

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Ewoks, Greedo, and many other characters passed through here.

Kit Fisto came out, and posed for photos!

A jawa wields a lightsaber.

Darth Maul made the rounds.

C3PO said he was glad to see me again. I didn’t think he’d remember us!

Greedo is about to take the stage here!

The Stormtroopers spent a lot of time acting out.

This is the view looking up toward the stage.

One of the surprises of this year’s Hyperspace Hoopla was Jedi Mickey. He walked past me backstage.

R2D2 brought up the rear.

Jeff gave me some screen caps of the Hyperspace Hoopla, but you can see the whole video below! He had a front row spot for it, and did a great job with the recording. Jeff recently bought a new video camera with stabilization, and the video looks great!

We always have a lot of fun at Star Wars Weekends. In the past, we’ve been able to interview some of the actors at Star Wars Celebration (Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor), so it is great to see them here again! Here is the 2013 schedule for Star Wars Weekends – we are looking forward to seeing Warwick Davis’s show “An Ewok’s Tale”, which is new this year! We’ve become a bigger fan of his due to UK shows like Life’s Too Short.

 

Weekend I (May 17–19)
Ray Park (Darth Maul – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett – Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi)
Dee Bradley Baker (voice of Captain Rex – Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Weekend II (May 24-26)
Ray Park (Darth Maul – Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace)
Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok – Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi)
Jim Cummings (voice of Hondo Ohnaka – Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Weekend III (May 31 – June 2)
Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok – Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi)
Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar – Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi)
Sam Witwer (voice of Darth Maul – Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Weekend IV(June 7-9)
Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian – Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi)
Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca – Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
Tom Kane (voice of Yoda – Star Wars: The Clone Wars)