Star Wars Weekend Tips ~ 2011 Update

[Cinderumbrella]

Getting ready for weekend 3

Yulilin, did you go to weekend 2 as well? How did you feel the crowds were in comparison to weekend 1?

We are also going for weekend 3 (and 4)

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

I think they are referring to character autographs not celebrity autographs. There are no fastpasses for characters, just celebrities.

But they are confused on how JTA works since there is no getting picked, you sign up immediately at rope drop at the Drew Carey Sounds Dangerous area at the Info desk or else your child doesn't get to do it.

ahhh i see yes I understand now yeah that would be awesome if they did FP for characters that would help so much. I cant wait for weekend 4 it is going to be a blast. If anyone is going to be there I will be there on Friday dressed as Padme from the battle of geonosis...well at least for a while until I get too hot. Being from texas though humid sticky heat is a norm and Im used to 100+ days of straight 101 or higher heat so it's whatever.

TD

 

[delmar411]

Yulilin, did you go to weekend 2 as well? How did you feel the crowds were in comparison to weekend 1?

We are also going for weekend 3 (and 4)

I'm not Yulilin (obviously! LOL) but weekend 2 crowds, esp on Friday were so much less than weekend 1. And I saw a lot more guests dressed up in really amazing costumes on weekend 2, maybe just because I could see through the crowds better!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I'm not Yulilin (obviously! LOL) but weekend 2 crowds, esp on Friday were so much less than weekend 1. And I saw a lot more guests dressed up in really amazing costumes on weekend 2, maybe just because I could see through the crowds better!

Let's hope weekend 3 is lower too!!! (although I am doing Sunday for both weekend 3 & 4)

 

[yulilin3]

Yulilin, did you go to weekend 2 as well? How did you feel the crowds were in comparison to weekend 1?

We are also going for weekend 3 (and 4)

Yes I went on Saturday and the crowds were less than the first weekend, also like the PP said alot more people were dressed up, still the lines for characters were long...we met Anakin (because my DD9 had her blue Padme dress and wanted a pic with him). IMO this Anakin is way to pretty to pass of the real one but he was very nice and talked to my DD about the hardships of being a polititian..also met Asajj Ventress and she was soooo cool. Got in line for celeb autographs at 5:30am, ended up having a FP for Matthew Wood, Lorne Peterson and Tom Kane for the first session. Saw both shows and then at 5pm it started to rain so no hoopla but we did meet C3PO and OMG was that the highlight of the day, so cool that he talks back and says your name and everything...Ok geeky moment over..not really looking forward to the crowds on Saturday, it's bound to be more crowded because of Billy Dee Williams.
Anyways I'll be there with my blue studios central shirt, my daughter has decided no to wear her dress this weekend because she wants to take her lightsaber and play around.

 

[TDC Nala]

I did all day Friday, May 28. It was not all that crowded. Not sure if this was partially because the celebrities featured that weekend were all behind-the-scenes folks, no actors. I am betting there will be more crowds for Billy Dee Williams and Ray Park. Character lines were pretty long and a pretty good crowd showed up for the hoopla. C3PO made his debut that day and lots of folks were waiting to see him. Went to purchase merchandise on Sunday and while there were more people in the park than there were on Friday, there was no line to get into the store and practically no one inside. Completely avoided Saturday.

It's also possible that more locals will come on Saturday or Sunday.

 

[RmrJmrGrl]

Why not give the camera to your 13 yr old. They have a special area on the steps of AIE for the family of the kids that are in the parade, so he can sit there and you go with your son. I'm not sure if they will let the 13 yr old be in charge of the 9 yr old...you can always ask the CM. Also after the kids walk in the parade they exit by Backlot Express and the have a small area reserved so that the kids and parents that walked in the parade can watch it too. You have plenty of time to get the jedi robes off, get your toy and go watch the parade.
Getting ready for weekend 3

How do you get chosen to be in the parade? My DS would love that!!!

 

[yulilin3]

How do you get chosen to be in the parade? My DS would love that!!!

It's completely random, but you can always ask the CM at the info desk

 

[GrandMum]

I think I saw somewhere in all these pages that the Clone Troopers do not come out if the park opens early but can't find it now. Can anyone answer that?

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

I've just gotten back from WDW. The crowds for Weekend 2 were so bearable. The character interactions were wonderful and had 2 characters at the same time in some places. I also found that sitting right by where the parade starts allows you to sit in the shade and get some good interaction.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Just wanted to report back that on Sat am EMH 5/22 the Storm Troopers were NOT on the roof doing thier show at opening for EMH and were still not there at 830 when we finally got thru the turnstiles (had to wait on GAD exchange and it was slow moving line).

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

We had no trouble doing this on 5/21, 5/22, 5/28 & today 5/30. Lots of people were doing it as well, the CMs were even telling people it was fine. It's how we managed to get all the autographs. We all did the first 3 dates and then today I went for just the one last picture we were missing and 2 families let me go in front of them since they were waiting for a different character. You must of ran into some grouchy CMs. After 3 full park days of standing in lines the handlers knew our family by sight. With 4 kids and a DH who's never met a stranger, we're kind of unforgettable! One handler even went out of her way to take the kids stuff off stage to get the one roaming character's autograph we missed.

We ran into this at Boba Fett (sp?) line, Jango came out and no one wanted to see him, we had already waited over 35 minutes (in the hot sun) and only needed a few more till Boba came out and the CM was going to make us all leave (probably 5 sets of people waiting for Boba) we started passing it back thru the line and begging people to see Jango, we got 3-5 lined up for him and skipped them thru the line and the CM let us keep standing there.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

It may be a bit early to ask this... but for anyone who was at SWW any day last weekend and was also there today, how did today's crowd compare? Same, less, more/worse?

We leave in the morning for WDW and will be at DHS on Sunday. I am expecting the worst crowd-wise (predicted to be a 10 ) but hoping for the best. Thanks!

We were there Sat/Sun weekend 1 and it was almost unbearable, were there Fri weekend 2 (5/28) and it was better but still crowded IMO. I would say about an 8 or so out of 10 on that friday, the charecter lines got long quickly and if you have kids you can't really get to see Hoopla without waiting an hour and half or more before the show b/c all the adults crowding in and standing in front of them. We wasted time trying to see the show with getting a spot an hour before hand and it was just that, wasted time.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

no offense folks I am a die hard star wars fan and if i saw darth vader giving a a kid or an adult a high five I would be like "ummm what the heck is that?!?" I can totally understand your kid being upset but that is when we as adults have to explain the deal. when i was a kid I would have expected him to not give me a high five. My nephew is 9 and I asked him if he would be upset if vader did not high five him and he said no he would rather he force choke him instead so maybe it is just your expectations going in. Now if jedi mickey or C3P0 did not high five i would be shocked


I was reading the age of the child on the original post for this and there is no way he could have known this so with that in mind the handler should have said something or stepped in and darth should not have pointed to leave that was un called for he could have just said no. I can see your reasoning with a child so little. Not sure what I would do as a parent but I might have stepped in and said something to my child and then said something to the CM right then.

Disappointing yes, but they were staying true to charecter, if DV had started cheering and high fiving then other fans would have been upset. You can't please everyone. My kids weren't happy when the roaming charecters roamed away while they waited thier turn to see them but unfortunately that was what the charecters were supposed to do (I won't comment on the 'adults' that kept jumping to the charecters to get pics and such in front of the kids which caused the more roaming). I also wasn't happy when the girl w/ the long fingernails stared at my timid DS4 in his stroller inches from his face and scared him but I as the parent should know that scary charecters will be scary and I can't expect them to change thier job to accomidate my snowflake.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

I'm confused about how things work on EMH mornings????

So even though HS will opens at 8am, none of the Star Wars things start until 9am? Is that correct? If so, then you basically are just standing in line an extra hour even though HS is open?

By attending am EMH you can do the non SWW attractiosn at HS like TSM, RnR and ToT, then go get in line for the SWW events/charecters.

 

[delmar411]

Disappointing yes, but they were staying true to charecter, if DV had started cheering and high fiving then other fans would have been upset. You can't please everyone. My kids weren't happy when the roaming charecters roamed away while they waited thier turn to see them but unfortunately that was what the charecters were supposed to do (I won't comment on the 'adults' that kept jumping to the charecters to get pics and such in front of the kids which caused the more roaming). I also wasn't happy when the girl w/ the long fingernails stared at my timid DS4 in his stroller inches from his face and scared him but I as the parent should know that scary charecters will be scary and I can't expect them to change thier job to accomidate my snowflake.

DH loves that white creepy lady w/ the long fingernails. The roaming characters used to interact a lot more than they did this time which is neat to see and unfortunate that for whatever reason they don't now.

Here's a pic of her and DS (then 2.5yrs old) at DS's first SWW.

The kids really enjoyed the character interaction they did get though, even if they were scared at times. But my kids are weird like that! Although when that lady got near DS in his stroller, he took off running! Not so brave when he's awake! LOL

 

[therannj]

Where is the beginning of the parade? Is it better to sit at the beginning of the parade route or at the end?

 

[LilGMom]

Where is the beginning of the parade? Is it better to sit at the beginning of the parade route or at the end?

The parade starts at the front, turns by the hat, passes in front of AIE and end somewhere near ST. I've heard/read that if you can get a seat on the AIE steps that is a great spot to sit - shaded and elevated. We stood right by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame Plaza and it was a great spot. I stood to the left of the busts (where there were a few steps) and had a great spot to take tons of pictures.

 

[Supermom3]

Just back! We were at SWW on Friday 5/28. Crowds were not so bad. We were able to get both my boys in Jedi Training and Padawan Mind Challenge. We were at RD at around 8:00, and at the rope for RD. We took the middle left path (not the hard left by Indiana Jones) right next to the boat in the lake in front of AIE. Of the three groups heading to JTA sign up, ours made it there first. There were a few people trying to run, but overall everyone followed the rules and walked (very very fast). We got in line at Sounds Dangerous/SWW info area. My boys were given FPs to return for the 10:20 show, and were asked to be there 20 min. early.

We then went directly to sign up for Padawan Mind Challenge. We requested the 5:45 show because I knew that we'd be claiming our parade spots during the 11:00 show. At that point, around 9:10-9:15, both shows seemed to be about 1/2 full.

Jedi Training was awesome. We walked over to the stage together from the SWW info area. There was a separate parent viewing area, and a photopass photographer. The boys got a certificate and an action figure for participating. Padawan Mind Challenge seemed a little less organized. There was no parent viewing area, and by the time I walked over with them from the SWW info area the stage area was so full with people staking out spots for the Hoopla that most of the parents were stuck watching off to the side. There was also no Photopass photographer. They ended up cancelling the show 1/2 way into it due to thunder, and declared all of the kids winners. They each got an action figure for participating.

Overall, a really great day!

 

[Supermom3]

Yulilin3,
I wanted to thank you for encouraging us to make time for the Behind the Force show/talk. I thought that my kids might be bored, but they loved it. We saw the Behind the Force show 2nd weekend with Ashley Eckstein and the guy who does Yoda's voice for the Clone Wars. They were both awesome. He can do any voice under the sun. At the end of the show they showed a preview to Clone Wars Season 3, which was a real treat. Not to mention the comfy seats and A/C!

All of your advice was spot on, and so helpful in planning a great SWW day!