They can hardly be called "Star Wars Weekends" as we know them today, but Walt Disney World did stage two events in 1977 and again in 1980 that included at least one denizen from that galaxy far, far away -- Darth Vader.
After recently discovering a rare 1980 poster touting a weekend appearance by Vader at Walt Disney World Village, we decided to do a bit of digging online to see if we could find out anything more about the event. While we could find no mention of the 1980 appearance, we were surprised to find out that Vader (actually played by actor Kermit Eller for the event) had appeared there in the Fall immediately following Star Wars' release in 1977!
Thanks to website Walt Dated World, we found a few snapshots of the 1977 appearance at WDW sent by fan Scott Santmyer (scroll halfway down the page to see the Star Wars post). Tapping our sources at Disney, we were also able to discover a brief mention of the first event in the September 30, 1977 issue of Eyes & Ears, the Disney employee newsletter:
STAR WARS STARS PROVE STARTLING
If the sound of heavy breathing followed by the words ... "you are a member of the rebel alliance" sends shivers up your spine, we suggest you steer clear of the Village on October 14, 15 and 16, because on those days the guest of "honor" will be Darth Vader ... the arch villain from Star Wars!
Darth (we are on a first name basis, remember) will be in the Village for guest appearances with Don Post, creator of many fabulous monster masks. Don will bring with him his latest line of masks ... Darth Vader, C-3PO, Chewbacca the Wookiee, and the Stormtrooper. All of these masks will be available through Toys Fantastique.
There will also be a local radio tie-in with Star Wars tote bags, buttons, posters and a trivia contest.
From the description on the 1980 poster, Vader appeared for one weekend in early August, promoting the recently released Empire Strikes Back along with the masks, buttons, posters and other merchandise (and let's hope anyone happening by the poster who hadn't yet seen Empire wasn't spoiled by the "Come Meet Luke Skywalker's Dad" headliner in bold print!).
These days, Vader has been joined by a stellar cast of characters and original actors from the saga for the annual Star Wars Weekends, a far cry from those modest meet and greets with the Dark Lord under the Captain's Tower at Walt Disney World Village.
Many thanks to Alison Dasso of the Walt Dated World website and Cid Stoll at Disney for providing information for this story.
