Packing Up the Princess of Alderaan
When you work for a company like Maritime Fun Group, a company that operates the largest selection of attractions in Atlantic Canada, no two days are ever the same.
The list of attractions include large parks like Shining Waters Family Fun Park, Magic Mountain and Sandspit; family attractions like Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, Wax World of the Stars, The Hangar Laser Tag Arena; and other fun attractions like a haunted house, mini golf courses and others, including Mariner’s Cove Boardwalk.
With such varied list of attractions, often we find ourselves taking on a task, accepting a delivery, or planning a project that is so completely unique, so odd, that sometimes we just have to take a step back and document what is happening.
Such was the case when we shipped a wax figure of Princess Leia® (and Matt Damon’s head) to Niagara Falls in May 2018.
The events leading up to the shipment of Organa were as follows:
Ripley Entertainment made the winning bid for Luke Skywalker®’s original Lightsaber® that was used in The Empire Strikes Back®. The Lightsaber was going on tour to different Ripley’s locations across North America, and was headed to the Niagara Falls location in May.
The managers of our two Ripley’s struck a deal: we will send our Princess Leia wax figure to Niagara, in exchange, we would receive a few weeks with the Lightsaber display, and they will also fix a broken ear on our Matt Damon wax head.
And so we packed up Princess Leia to ship to Niagara Falls.
How We Shipped the Princess of Alderaan across the Country
To the uninitiated, wax figures aren’t entirely made of wax. The heads and hands are wax, but the body is a regular mannequin.
Since we are a seasonal operation, and heat changes can result in the wax melting or cracking, during the off-season wax heads and hands must be stored in a temperature controlled room. This makes for some interesting storage rooms.
We found Princess Leia’s head, identified by her signature side-buns, donned our gloves that must be worn when handling wax, and ever so carefully wrapped the wax head in thick bubble wrap.
The wrapped head was then placed in an insulated box, lined with styrofoam and packed with shipping peanuts to further protect the wax from temperature change and damage.
With the head ready for shipment, we set to pack up the body.
The mannequin had to be removed from the original display (pictured), and detached from the stand.
Leia then made the trip from Wax World over to one of our facilities to be packed.
Once we found a box an appropriate size (five feet tall – the exact height of our office manager, Julie, which made measurement convenient and fun!) we had to wrap the body in bubble wrap as well.
Next we had pack the box with shipping peanuts, styrofoam and whatever packing materials we could find to fill a five foot tall box with a very slim mannequin inside.
And that was it! The day we packed up Princess Leia and shipped her (and Matt Damon’s head) across the country.
Special thanks to the crew at Ripley’s in Niagara Falls!
Be sure to check out Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber when it’s in Cavendish! It will be on display at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Cavendish for a limited time this June 2018.
(Please note that Star Wars®, Luke Skywalker® and Lightsaber® are registered trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. Lucasfilm does not endorse, sponsor nor is it in any way associated with this article.)
