I'm going back! Figured I'd start a thread for it.

It was a very nice event last time. The best convention I ever went to. I'm hoping for the same this time around.

Not expecting George Lucas to make another appearance but you never know. I'm sure there will be other surprises.

They need to do another one of these on the West Coast and they need to do it in July rather than August. School starts in August out here and I'm always super busy during that month.

I'd really like to go to a Celebration one of these days.

The timing of this convention actually conflicts with the start of school down here. My girlfriend is a teacher (and I used to be) so I sympathize. I'm not sure if Reed realized that when they scheduled it (they might've had no choice) but I do anticipate it to affect attendance this time around. It's a very family friendly event and I know a couple of families who won't be showing up until the weekend, or not at all, this time around.

I'll be there all four days though. No such restrictions for me anymore.

Guess I'll update this with some more information.

The hosts were announced a while ago:

http://www.starwarscelebration.com/Whos-Coming/Hosts/

The hosts will be:

Pablo Hidalgo, who's kind of become the Lucasfilm fan ambassador of sorts.

James Arnold Taylor, who has voiced Obi-Wan Kenobi in a variety of media but currently the Clone Wars cartoon.

David Collins, a video game voice director/actor/designer who has worked on a variety of Star Wars games, I take it

Chris Hardwick, founder of the Nerdist.

Jay Laga'aia (Captain Typho) hosted Celebration V and did a marvelous job. Good interviews on the main stage, very friendly, and he was all over the place. A true host. He even serenaded the die hards who lined for George Lucas the day before with his singing and guitar playing. I went to some panels with Pablo which were great but I've never been around any of the others. It's going to be different.

I am 95% sure I will be there--

And this convention will probably be in Florida for the rest of time-- Disney will make sure of that..

Huge news last week. Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine) will be at Celebration 6! He'll be on stage and signing autographs.

He does not make many appearances so this is a great get for the convention. I'm already looking forward to his interview on stage!

http://www.starwarscelebration.com/Whos-Coming/Guests/#spot

Yeah, I'm looking for someone, anyone who can help me out with one or two Celebration VI things...PM me if you can.

The whole Ian McDiarmid appearance news is truly awesome. His autograph line will be an absolute madhouse. I hope it is handled with plenty of foresight.

Any word on possible Hasbro exclusives yet? It's not as if they didn't have enough lead time to get something ready for the convention, y'know?

I've been to two Celebrations(II and III) and they were really cool! But August in Florida is not in the cards for me. I'll be down there in mid-September, but I doubt that the festivities will still be happening by then

Had to cut my convention experience short by a day due to hurricane Isaac (luckily only a minor event down here) but the convention was great. I've never been to another convention run by Reed but they do a fantastic job with these Celebrations. Everything is extremely organized, pleasant, and all of the panels are run in an exceptional fashion with production value and consideration for the fans. So unlike San Diego or most other conventions I've been to.

The con was very much like Celebration 5. A lot of the booths and dealers were even in the same locations on the floor. I was able to get most of the vintage series figures that never showed up in stores and even a couple of actual vintage items. I think I spent more at this con than I have at any convention.

The panels were great. Most memorably Ian McDiarmid, who was surprisingly warm and funny. I didn't know if he was one of those who looked down upon the whole Star Wars thing or not but he was a joy and told great stories. Carrie Fisher was also great as the woman doesn't hold back. Not really kid friendly and I felt for some of the parents at her panel but, hey, you gotta know you're going to get that with her.

Any panel with Dave Filoni, the show runner for Clone Wars, is a treat. He has great insight into Star Wars lore and it's a pleasure to hear him speak about anything. Star Wars is in good hands with him. He did reveal that bringing Darth Maul back on the show was George Lucas' idea and that he (Filoni) initially opposed it. Go figure! I came away with the impression that Lucas is much more hands on with the Star Wars properties that are out right now than you would think.

I also attended some panels with Tem Morrison, who was gabby and fun, and Dennis Muren and John Knoll who talked and demoed ATOC in 3D. Looks great but 3D bugs me after a few minutes. At least they talked a bit about their experiences on the "shows."

There was a lot of fanfare for "Star Wars 1313," the new video game, which can best be described as Gears of War meets Star Wars. The visuals and game engine look spectacular. Details on the story were sparse and they warned us that a character we saw in the demo was a stand-in for a character they don't want to reveal yet (strong hints it might be Boba Fett). It takes place closer to Episode IV than Episode III, it's a linear story to play through, and about 9 hours of gameplay. The cut scenes and gameplay will blend seamlessly together which was a nice touch. Overall, while it looked spectacular, I wasn't grabbed enough by anything I saw to want to buy the game just yet. It all was too anonymous and un-Star Wars-like at the moment.

A major highlight was the Super Secret Panel hosted by Seth Green and Robot Chicken guys on Saturday. They introduced Star Wars: Detours which looks amazing and hilarious. The best part of it though was that George Lucas appeared on stage by surprise at the end. He supports the project fully and is shepherding it.

Oh, how could I forget, an Evening with Kevin Smith was hilarious. He's perfected this one man show Q & A thing, hasn't he? Highly recommend going to see him if you can; even if you don't like his movies.

The con was a great experience overall. I hope Reed continues their partnership with Lucasfilm and keeps running these cons. I hope it's back in Orlando for a third time as the venue is great and the location is convenient for me personally but you gotta figure it'll be somewhere else next time. I have such a good time at these things, I think I'll go no matter where it is. It continues to be the most pleasant con experience I've had.

Sorry you all couldn't make it.

Any news on the live action TV show?

I believe this is the final season for Clone Wars, so I'm hoping the next show is ramping up.

No news on the live action show, other than Ian McDiarmid knowing a lot about it surprisingly. It was reiterated that it would be too expensive at this time to do a show and that George is not keen on doing it right now for that reason. Nothing beyond that.

It was never mentioned in any of the Clone Wars panels I attended that this was the last season. Matt Lanter and Ashley Eckstein both hinted that something significant is going to happen this season in the lives of Anakin and Ahsoka but that's about it. No hints that this is the end.

Cool. I thought for sure this year was it.

Bummer about the live action show, though.

How about a mini-series instead? That'd be cool.

Probably not what you'd want but Star Wars: Detours looks great! Check out the footage online. I'm sure someone has posted it.

As for Clone Wars, I'm sure you read somewhere about them moving timeslots and possibly changing how they structure the series in case a decision to cancel came down, fueling some speculation, but there was no talk of any of that. Everything seemed business as usual and all were excited about Season 5 which premiered at the con. I wasn't able to attend but lots of positive vibes. I would think the end is near no matter what, which is fine with me so I can buy the complete series on Blu-ray. I've been avoiding the single season releases. My own guess is that it'll end within a couple of years.

I viewed it as a positive that Ian McDiarmid knew quite a bit about where it all stood. Makes me think Lucas has spoken to him about it in anticipation of his involvement. McDiarmid did say that he would not want someone else to take over his role.