My SWC history is lacking, is this the first time it will take place away from Anaheim or Orlando?
First was in Denver. 2 and 3 were in Indianapolis. 4 was in L.A. 5 and 6 were in Orlando. 7 was in Anaheim. Not counting the non-US ones.
I am... not thrilled. I didn't want Orlando again. I have nothing against Orlando, beyond Florida in general, but I would prefer to go there and spend that much time and money doing Disney and Universal and Cape Canaveral -- not try to do those
and a Celebration.
Plus... *sigh* My first Celebration was III. They were definitely still learning how to do it. IV was awesome. I still feel it was the high-water mark for these. Wednesday through Monday. Movie marathon that first day, Fan Club only that Thursday, filled the L.A. convention center, ran 24 hours a day, was the last of them to have an LFL Archives exhibit... I was there the whole time and felt like we were only halfway through by the time it ended. I wanted more.
V I missed because of school.
So then I was really looking forward to VI, cuz everyone was saying how much better V was than IV. It was... very meh. Barely filled half the Orlando convention center, shut down in the evening, and, as for content, I was done after the first day and just trying to find ways to occupy myself for the rest of it. I have not been terribly impressed with how ReedPop run their shows, and Celebration is no exception to that. If this had been announced for Anaheim, in late summer to coincide with a preview of Galaxy's Edge, totally. As it is...? Cost/benefit analysis so far is skewing toward nope. Which sucks. I've been wanting a Celebration in the US again worth getting excited about.
Which, also, the dates... The first three were in April/May because they were right before each of the Prequels were released. IV was May for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars' premiere. V and VI were later in the summer for a variety of reasons, uncoupled as they were from release date significance... So why is this one in April? Last time I checked, Episode IX was still slated for a December release -- which surprised me, actually, as I thought they were finally getting back to Memorial Day as the traditional Star Wars premiere weekend. April in Chicago tends to still be in the 40s and 50s, with a nonzero chance of a blizzard.
So I'll echo what many others are saying. Why Chicago, and why April? Bonehead move, Lucasfilm...
I, for one, am incredibly thankful for this! I don't have the funds for a yearly trip to Orlando or Anaheim, so taking place in my backyard is fantastic! I've always wanted to go! I am not missing this for anything!
Every other year, actually. Less frequently than that, earlier on. Frankly, I wish it still
were every three to four years, so it feels more special. Also, it's awesome for you and others who live there, but what with hotel and food costs for the area around the convention center, the three of us who were looking at going, and sharing a room, are looking at an outlay of well over a grand each, not counting admission. For those of us who
always have to travel to a Celebration, this is one of the fiscally-worse offerings so far.
