May the Force be with who? A May 2013 PTR

[kwitcherkicken99]

Just browsed the page and found this:

I MUST have this tee for DD!!!

 

[JimShockz]

Just browsed the page and found this:

I MUST have this tee for DD!!!

That is a cute tee,I have a nine yr old daughter it would nice on her.

-JS

 

[mom2rtk]

That's adorable!

You're gonna have a ball planning!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

That is a cute tee,I have a nine yr old daughter it would nice on her.

-JS

There are several super cute shirts on her site. I'm loving the Princess Leia hoodie as well.

The force is DEFINITELY strong there!!!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

That's adorable!

You're gonna have a ball planning!

It's getting bad and I still have a year to go!

DH is bent on doing Tuesday to Tuesday and taking a rest day in the middle of our trip, kind of like what we did in 2010, though our "rest" day was only a rest 1/2 day.

He even threw around the idea of spending 7 days in WDW and then asking a family member who is planning to relocate to Florida soon to drive us over to Legoland for a day.

I need to run the numbers but my points renting friend is out of town until next week.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Star Wars Weekends
COMPREHENSIVE SITE: http://sww.studioscentral.com/main/
MAP: http://www.studioscentral.com/sites/default/files/matt/blog/SWW_0518-202012.pdf

General Tips

• SWW information desk is at the defunct Sounds Dangerous! attraction
• It's SUPER hot, so be prepared. Drink LOTS of fluids!
• It's SUPER crowded, so be prepared. Lots of people. For the shows, get in line early for the choice of seats.
• Arrive early. Sure there is a fun Storm Trooper skit before the park opens and lots of other fans to talk with but the reality is you need to arrive early to Disney's Hollywood Studios so you can get a spot in line
• If you don't care about autographs, arrive 60 minutes before park opening.
• If you can, do Fantasmic! a non-SWW night, it's very crowded and if your not going to see the show, it's a great time to ride rides, like TSMM or RRC or ToT
• There is a lot of crossing the park back and forth - autographs are near Echo Lake, the event merchandise is behind RnRC, Star Tours is back towards the other side, behind Indy, and the costumed character meet & greets are all over the place.
• Otherwise, do not count on doing everything on each day, as you might do on a day that is not a high peak time. Patience and preparation are the best tools you can have handy.
• Of course, I would handle things a little differently with a larger crowd and take into account what everyone wants to do. It really comes down to planning what you want to do and checking around for the times
• Be prepared to wait for EVERYTHING
• Learn the map. Don't waste time trying to figure out where you are or where the event is being held. Familiarize yourself with the map of Disney's Hollywood Studios and refer to the map that has a listing of where Star Wars Weekend events will take place.

Jedi Training Academy

• Be there BEFORE the gates open. During SWW, they ran twice as many Academies, and twice as many kids in each academy. The slots were all taken 45 minutes after the gates opened
• Sign up for Jedi Training Academy ASAP
• JTA sign up is at the entrance for Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, NOT it’s normal spot.
• Rumor that kids that get into FIRST JTA of the day will be in the parade
• Get (your child) chosen for Jedi Training Academy. For the best results to get chosen for Jedi Training Academy, show up for the earlier shows in the day, arrive 20-30 minutes early for the event, have your child be VERY enthusiastic when asking for volunteers and dressing up in a costume helps get chosen. Disney wants enthusiasm with the kids, not shy and timid ones.

TWEET FROM WEEKEND 1: Jedi training completely full before 9a Padawan Mind Challenge by 8:10a


Padawan Mind Challenge

• Guests 12 and under can test their Star Wars knowledge when they appear in front of the Jedi Council at the Padawan Mind Challenge.
• Sign up your kids early. If your child wants to participate in the kids trivia (Padawan Mind Challenge) and go to the table between Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Star Tours to sign up.
• Remember that you MUST have your child(ren) in line with you to sign up; they will NOT give you a wrist band to participate as the bands go right onto the child(ren)'s arms when they write their name(s) on the list.
• There are ONLY 20 spots per show and ONLY 2 shows per day.
• You can pick for which show to be on, one is all about Star Wars The Clone Wars (animated series) the other is on Classic Star Wars. The questions start easy but get difficult as they go on, at the end everyone gets the same prize.

The Parade

• In the past, parade started at 12:40 from the entrance to the Hat, the route is very short
• Assuming the SW parade route stays the same, (from entrance to hat stage), if you want better pictures, get on the left side of the street (looking at the hat). The sun will work better for you. Near Uptown Jewelers in the street MAY work… Streets usually fill up later than the sidewalks.
• Ask a CM if you go around 45-60 minutes out and they may direct you to a great spot – it has worked for me in the past. A CM set us up as the first family to take up residence IN THE ROAD and then people began to fill in around us. Just make sure to stay back of the edge of the sidewalk.
• This means that you should grab a spot 1 1/2 hours before the parade.
• For SW parade at least 30 minutes ahead of time if you want front row. Possibly even 45 minutes ahead of time.
• If you want your child in the parade, go near the Star Wars Weekend Information Desk at opening, and look for a Disney employee handing out wristbands for the parade. If you don't immediately spot this Cast Member, ask one of the Cast Members at the desk.
• Disney invites kids to be part of the parade and dresses them up as Jedis. If your child(ren) wants to be in the parade, right when the park opens head over to a special table that is located between Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Star Tours and ask about the parade. You can't sign up directly for it, but certainly asking about it may get your child(ren) a invite into it.
• Also heard you can get good shots near the AI Experience

Meet and Greets/Autographs

• If you want an autograph from a celebrity, show up at least 90-120 minutes before park opening. Fastpasses are distributed for celeb autos and if you don’t have one, don’t even bother trying to get in.
• C3PO wasn't doing M&Gs after 2pm, but I don't know if that will apply next year. (Many characters don’t meet much after 4p in all the parks except for the dedicated character “spots”
• The biggest character lines are for Darth Vader and Chewbacca. You may want to knock those out early.
• Fastpass - for autographs - show up WAY early. Reports: “I got there at 7:15 for Anthony Daniels on Friday and got #10 standby.”
• If actor autographs are important to you, I'd show up even earlier... there was quite a line waiting for the autograph FPs when we got there at 7.
• Ashley Eckstein and James Arnold Taylor are the slowest
• If you get FP for autos, EVERYONE must be there and no leaving and re-meeting
• Meet the characters. Some people write off the character meet-n-greets as for kids but they are a lot of fun. Generally speaking, the "bad guys" (Storm troopers, bounty hunters, Gamorrean Guard, etc) are the most entertaining.
• Characters have been spotted roaming around the Streets of America. It has generally been Storm Troopers.

Shows

• If that is not terribly critical, then don't worry too much about it. The shows repeat each day - that is, Friday, Saturday, and SUnday are carbon(ite) copies of each other. We planned to space things out so that we could see it all, get the autographs we wanted, and cover all the shows.
• Autograph lines will be the worst, followed by regularly scheduled events. Remember, patience is a virtue.
• Don't be fooled by the large crowd level, regular attractions will more than likely be running at normal capacity or even under due to everyone participating at the events. Take advantage of scheduled events, especially the parade to experience your favorite attraction with less wait.
• See the two shows you might skip. There are two events most guests skip either out of ignorance or choice but they are highly entertaining. First, see the Storm Troopers skit that takes place on top of the entrance to the Studios before the park opens. The second show worth seeing is the Hyperspace Hoopla, which is held at the end of the day and wraps up the day and it's like a closing ceremonies for Star Wars Weekends and it's worth your time even if you are hot, sweaty and tired.
• Keep an eye out for special shows by people from the Star Wars franchise. They aren’t widely published but heard they were not to be missed! One of the guys has done a martial arts presentation in the past.

Hyperspace Hoopla

• Hyper Space Hoopla the year before was at least a 60+ min line up before time to get anywhere near glancing at the stage.
• Line up for event shows early - like an hour early or so, we didn't go last year but last year looked better but for kiddos to see you will need to be closer up.
• Parents will still lift their kids and put them on their shoulders. You may not be able to see the stage well. For information, if you can't get there early and be close enough to the stage to see, then the show was "simulcast" on the big screen outside American Idol.
• Hyperspace Hoopla was great! Unless you are in the first ~5 rows, kids won't be able to see. Even if you get there and everyone is sitting down, they will stand up. I had to put DS on my shoulders for 45 minutes so he could see... we were ~12 rows back.

Food

• Kids power pack meals (in an R2-D2 tub) available at Backlot Express, Studio Catering Company, ABC Commissary, Catalina Eddy’s, Fairfax Fare, and Rosie’s All American
• Be sure to make reservations for lunch & dinner ahead of time at the sit down restaurants as you'll not want to have to compete with everyone for somewhere to sit and be in the air conditioning.
• There are special Darth Vader cupcakes available all over the park.

Merchandise

• Carbonite experience MUST HAVE reservations. (407) 939-8324. The pictures are taken, the souvenir is made, and it’s shipped directly to your house. Carbonite experience is also taking place at Sounds Dangerous! attraction.
• The American Idol Experience gift shop has been set up as a SWW gift shop
• Visit the SW mechandise tent (Darth Mall). Even if you don't plan on buying anything it's worth a look around.
• Merchandise can get sold out quickly so buy early in the day and if you can, attend the first or second weekend of the event. If there is something you want to buy, buy it.
• A lot of the same merchandise found at Tatooine Traders can be found near the exit to Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Golden Age Souvenirs (near exit to Sounds Dangerous)
• Buy anything you want as soon as you can. Star Wars Weekends merchandise tends to sell out fast so don't wait around and gamble that it won’t.
• Buy it as soon as you can and if you don't want to lug it around the park with you, you can have anything you buy sent to the front of the park for Disney to hold until you are ready to leave or if you are a Disney resort guest, have it sent to your resort for you.
• Avoid the merchandise line. Lots of people think the only place to get Star Wars Weekend merchandise is at the gift shop at the exit to Star Tours (Tattooine Traders) but there are places around the park to pick up both limited and not limited edition merchandise.
• You can have your name written in the official Star Wars language put on a Star Tours nametag (for an unknown cost) at Darth Mall

Special consideration

• Dressing up can be fun and can add to the experience of Star Wars Weekends. If you have kids and have Star Wars costumes, dress them up, or yourself, for that matter! Kids in costumes get treated almost like celebrities and they're great picture ops when standing next to their favorite SW character. Just remember, yes, it'll be hot, so if wearing that Chewbacca outfit, bring a change of clothing if it becomes unbearable.

• If SWW is important to only some of your group, split up.
• Speaking of gates opening... the PUBLISHED time for the gates to open was 9am. I had read on DIS that they opened early the first two weekends. Reports they were on the move around 7a this morning (5-18-12)
• I've also read that Fridays are generally a tad less crowded for the same reason (less locals)
• Check the park map for the day to confirm select times for events as they are subject to change.

Pre-plan as much as possible and remember "siemper Gumby" ​

(always flexible)​

 

[PrincessInOz]

How the heck do you remember it all?

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

It takes the human brain 7 times to remember something.

We prioritize and then I re-read my notes.

Eventually it sticks.

It's kind of like my friend who's down there now... she was completely lacking the confidence that she knew how to survive WDW. I started to go over things and she started repeating information back that I'd already told her months ago.

It's an odd system, but it sticks. I like to have contingency plans.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

P.S. - Disney stinks!

The price increase takes effect on Sunday.

I was online chatting with a CM around 3p today and pointedly asked him about the ticket increase and in true phone CM style, denied, denied, DENIED...

 

[PrincessInOz]

P.S. - Disney stinks!

The price increase takes effect on Sunday.

I was online chatting with a CM around 3p today and pointedly asked him about the ticket increase and in true phone CM style, denied, denied, DENIED...

 

[annmarieda]

It's something that DH wants her to do and she wants to get her nails done in the castle (of all things...) We decided a while back that we were going to wait to have it until she's older - we couldn't see spending the money when she was 3.

The only thing that stinks is that we know we don't want to use two DDP credits on CRT and frankly DH wants to go back to Akershus because the character interaction was just SO GOOD. I know we'll do BBB in the castle, not at DTD. So now, I wrestle with to hop or not. That's an extra $200-250 that I don't necessarily want to spend.

KWIM?

I do know what you mean... all of it. We have gone to a Disney park every year once dd was 1 and we did not chose to do BBB until she was just about to turn 7. I just couldnt justify the cost. Course... I think all those times I thought it would be a $200 plus expense...which it wasn't. I had a year to plan it and so had lots of time to collect dress options (both through, ebay and the disney store as well as second hand stores) When finally doing bbb... it think the total was about $60. (with my fdm I can say only $60 cause the dresses were purchased NOT on vacation )

AND the park hopper... that is what I face this next trip. We decided BBB again, only this time in the castle. We plan to eat at Akershus... so hopping is going to happen. I have NEVER hopped before cause I didn't want to spend the extra. Since it is just dd and I that I am paying the extra for though... not quite as bad.

Just browsed the page and found this:

I MUST have this tee for DD!!!

super cute!!!

P.S. - Disney stinks!

The price increase takes effect on Sunday.

I was online chatting with a CM around 3p today and pointedly asked him about the ticket increase and in true phone CM style, denied, denied, DENIED...

Why do the prices have to go up. So let me ask you a question... I have a package booked. Those tickets are locked in at that price... I added a night yesterday, but am pretty sure I am taking it back off. If I do that AFTER tomorrow... will my original package be more than it was prior to making all the changes? I think it will be. I should take it off today, shouldn't I.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just browsed the page and found this:

I MUST have this tee for DD!!!

I think I want this tee for myself!!


FANTASTIC!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Why do the prices have to go up. So let me ask you a question... I have a package booked. Those tickets are locked in at that price... I added a night yesterday, but am pretty sure I am taking it back off. If I do that AFTER tomorrow... will my original package be more than it was prior to making all the changes? I think it will be. I should take it off today, shouldn't I.

They're only locked if you are PIF...

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I think I want this tee for myself!!


FANTASTIC!

They have that tee in adult and it's currently on sale...

 

[PrincessInOz]

 

[PrincessInOz]

Shipping only to US, Can and UK. Not to Oz.

 

[annmarieda]

They're only locked if you are PIF...

What is PIF?

In any case, I called was on the phone (with everyone else) for nearly an hour...and got the one day removed. Sad that we wont have that extra night, but I just couldn't justify the expense when we have so many other things planned.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Paid in full.sucks that you lost a day.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Shipping only to US, Can and UK. Not to Oz.

Boo!

 

[mom2rtk]

What is PIF?

In any case, I called was on the phone (with everyone else) for nearly an hour...and got the one day removed. Sad that we wont have that extra night, but I just couldn't justify the expense when we have so many other things planned.

Hey annmarieda!

After hanging out on a bunch of those threads anticipating the price increase....... I think I'm fully convinced that package ticket prices did NOT change for 2012. They set thse for Jan to Jan when the package prices are released. Soooo....... even if you want to add a day back on....... or make some sort of other change.......... I THINK you can still do that up until you are paid in full.

Of course, I didn't put THAT info together until after I called my friend and got her to call and add her days and be on hold for over an hour.........

Glad you got your plans worked out and that you're doing BBB!