More Jedi questions

[kmk1180]

Is there an age minimum to participate in the Jedi Academy?
Will my 3 year old daughter be able to participate?


If we have to get there way early to get in line, is it ok or wrong to hold a spot in line for our kids while they ride Star Tours to help kill the time while we wait?

 

[MoreMouse5]

I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think the ages are 4-12. My daughter did it a few weeks ago, and the CM signing her in DID ask her how old she was. Maybe another poster can verify the age limits.

 

[bwilcox]

My son was picked in June when he was 3. He may have passed for 4, though. We didn't have to sign anything, so I'm not sure what the PP is referring to.
Oh, after rereading I see they must have changed it now that the kids wait in line.

 

[MoreMouse5]

That's right. Kids are no longer randomly picked, but must wait in line. Unless you go there straight from rope drop to get in line, you will very likely have to wait through at least one show, which translates to at least an hour in line. Only 15 children get in for each show. And yes, the child who is going to participate MUST stay in the line, no saving spots. The CM comes by and makes that clear. That's so everybody in the line (or deciding whether or not to get in the line) can count 15 children ahead of them and know if they are "in" for the next show or not. Only one of my children wanted to participate, so I waited with her while the rest of the family rode Star Tours and did some shopping. It was well worth the wait, but you pretty much have to decide ahead of time that you are willing to give up that much touring time to do it.

I took a photo of the Jedi Training Sign (sorry, I'm sort of new here and don't know how to attach it to this post.) The sign says: "The Jedi Council welcome younglings between 4 and 12 to participate." I have no idea how strict they are on that.

 

[kmk1180]

That's right. Kids are no longer randomly picked, but must wait in line. Unless you go there straight from rope drop to get in line, you will very likely have to wait through at least one show, which translates to at least an hour in line. Only 15 children get in for each show. And yes, the child who is going to participate MUST stay in the line, no saving spots. The CM comes by and makes that clear. That's so everybody in the line (or deciding whether or not to get in the line) can count 15 children ahead of them and know if they are "in" for the next show or not. Only one of my children wanted to participate, so I waited with her while the rest of the family rode Star Tours and did some shopping. It was well worth the wait, but you pretty much have to decide ahead of time that you are willing to give up that much touring time to do it.

I took a photo of the Jedi Training Sign (sorry, I'm sort of new here and don't know how to attach it to this post.) The sign says: "The Jedi Council welcome younglings between 4 and 12 to participate." I have no idea how strict they are on that.

Thanks for the info...now I guess the question for people is...how strict are they? Do they ask age?

My problem is my daughter is very petite People have a hard time believing she's 3 much less trying to pass off on 4.
(this might have to wait till next year)

 

[SignMeUp]

From what I understand, there is a CM there talking to the children while they wait in line. The kids are asked their age and some other questions to guage whether or not they really want to participate in the show and if they might get scared when Darth Vader comes out. I'm not sure how they go about removing a child from the line that doesn't meet the age requirement or that may seem too timid to participate though.

 

[Mookie Blaylock]

From what I understand, there is a CM there talking to the children while they wait in line. The kids are asked their age and some other questions to guage whether or not they really want to participate in the show and if they might get scared when Darth Vader comes out. I'm not sure how they go about removing a child from the line that doesn't meet the age requirement or that may seem too timid to participate though.

Yes that is correct, we did this last Wednesday. A CM talks to each child and asks him/her their name and whether they are scared of the dark side. I believe the age limit is more for following directions. The padawan's learn a small fighting sequence that they use when confronting Lord Vader and are on stage for a good amount of time before taking their turn fighting.

 

[livndisney]

Thanks for the info...now I guess the question for people is...how strict are they? Do they ask age?

My problem is my daughter is very petite People have a hard time believing she's 3 much less trying to pass off on 4.
(this might have to wait till next year)

Yes, they ask the child's age.

 

[Stephandy03]

My 4 yo son did Jedi training on Wednesday. We did not have to wait in line for 1 hour. We tried to go for the 2 PM show but they were just about to start and already had 15 kids. We were in the line (only 1 kid ahead of us) and the CM ended up giving us a pass to return for the 4 pm show. We had to arrive at 3:30 PM to line up and get ready. So we went to eat and watched the parade, then came back for the Jedi training.

When we got to the front of the line, he asked "How old are you" and "Can you follow instructions" and then signed him up. DS is very small but the CM did not ask any further questions. I guess they figure kids don't lie about their ages.

The show was great.

And the sign says age 4-12

 

[Swimalie]

One of the things they are strict about there is that the child has to answer the questions. The parents can't answer themselves. If the parent answers any of the questions or the child doesn't answer, they can't participate. So, if your child is asked how old he/she is and she answers 4, they will believe her. My son was there on the 20th - 3 days before his 5th birthday. He knew it was before he turned 5 but he answered 5 anyway. The age limit is 4-12 years old.

They do only take 14-15 children per show. We got there and were 21st in line so we waited through the first show. Once they get the first set of kids, one adult can hold the place in line while others leave. My husband took my son on Star Tours. But... as soon as the previous show is over, they start to pick the kids for the next one and if a child is not there, they lose their place so you have to time it right.

It is well worth the wait. My son loves to tell his friends about fighting Darth Vader.

 

[bluebelle99]

The age is 4-12, and the CM will "interview" each child before allowing participation. However, I think it depends on the crowd level how strict they are. We went in Feb, and crowds were very low. The CM did "interview" every child and ask their age, but, I noticed that even the kids that didn't really answer and kind of stared blankly were also allowed to participate. Mind you there were only 14 kids total waiting for that show.

 

[wrighter]

My children (DS6 and DD4) both did JTA Thurdsay morning. We were at the rope 30 minutes prior to rope drop so that we would be at the front of the line. There were many other families doing the same thing. And we were all doing it because our kids were desperate to do JTA. While we were waiting we chatted with the CMs in charge of the JTA "procession." They have worked very hard to try and make it as fair as possible. One CM told us about why they don't allow parents to wait in line for their children - because they had instances where one adult would try to sign up 9 children. That clearly isn't very fair for the children who have waited long periods of time to get in - while others obviously have other priorities. Personally, I think if it is really important to the kids - then it's worth the wait in line. If they don't want to wait in line - then I have to question if it isn't more important to the parents than the kids.

I think the CMs do a wonderful job trying to "level the playing field," so to speak. And I hope parents will continue to try and do the right thing - and encourage their kids to do the same. What kind of example are you setting for your kids if you're telling them to lie about their age?

 

[Supermom3]

My children (DS6 and DD4) both did JTA Thurdsay morning. We were at the rope 30 minutes prior to rope drop so that we would be at the front of the line. There were many other families doing the same thing. And we were all doing it because our kids were desperate to do JTA. While we were waiting we chatted with the CMs in charge of the JTA "procession." They have worked very hard to try and make it as fair as possible. One CM told us about why they don't allow parents to wait in line for their children - because they had instances where one adult would try to sign up 9 children. That clearly isn't very fair for the children who have waited long periods of time to get in - while others obviously have other priorities. Personally, I think if it is really important to the kids - then it's worth the wait in line. If they don't want to wait in line - then I have to question if it isn't more important to the parents than the kids.

I think the CMs do a wonderful job trying to "level the playing field," so to speak. And I hope parents will continue to try and do the right thing - and encourage their kids to do the same. What kind of example are you setting for your kids if you're telling them to lie about their age?

Good to know. I totally agree about having kids wait in line themselves.

At rope drop is there a rope procession to Jedi Training now similar to TSM or RNR? We are going during SWW, and would really like to make the first show.

 

[djmatl]

I went today with my son after reading the threads on here about it and fearing the worst of getting to first show. This was Easter Sunday so not sure how crowds may compare to other days.

Showed up at HS at 8:00am, was first in line at the 6th turnstile from left (so overall about 25th person at park). At 8:30am they let us through turnstile, we started to run until told walk towards star tours (correct direction is take the first left possible to go through past indiana jones not all way straight up middle then left). They had it roped off with 2 star tours crew members - we arrived at ropes at 8:32, 1st at rope. They let down rope at 8:45am and one of star tour crew walked everyone behind him to the line at jedi training academy (only about 5 kids at this point) and then we waited. Although we were first in line to rope ended up 2nd in line in training academy, but because everyone in line was going to be in first show there wasn't any worrying about exact order.

For first show, the line probably wasn't totally full until about 9:15 for the 9:55 show, so if we had just showed up when park opened it would have had same result.

They said because it was busy they were doing 30 kids at time (15 on stage 15 down below, didn't seem like it mattered much to me more preference of if you wanted to fight Darth Vader (on stage first 15) or Darth Maul (on ground next 15). Said kids had to be there when they actually registered kids (about 30 minutes before), and lots of more kids showed up to join their siblings in line before that point.

I looked at lines later and it looked like pretty much all day if you had showed up at the start of one show you'd be in first 30 and would make the show for the next one an hour later.

Also said they were doing something more new and starting after 2:20 show they would be pre-registering kids for show times for rest of day so there'd be no more waiting in line after that just whoever was already there or came by to register could get a slot if one was left.

Overall, we way over-did it but it worked out great and this is must-do for any young padawan.

 

[triplejen]

My DS will be turning 4 the week AFTER we are at Disney. (We have to go home because school will be starting.)

Do you think they will give him a one-week gift and let him do it? He'll probably be wearing his birthday button (we are planning to celebrate his birthday one of the last days we are there.)

We were planning for both our boys (the older one is 7) to do it together :-(

 

[Stephandy03]

My DS will be turning 4 the week AFTER we are at Disney. (We have to go home because school will be starting.)

Do you think they will give him a one-week gift and let him do it? He'll probably be wearing his birthday button (we are planning to celebrate his birthday one of the last days we are there.)

We were planning for both our boys (the older one is 7) to do it together :-(

Yes they will probably let him if he tells them he is 4.

 

[Swimalie]

Yes they will probably let him if he tells them he is 4.

I agree. As long as he says he's 4.

 

[triplejen]

Yes they will probably let him if he tells them he is 4.

I agree. As long as he says he's 4.

Thanks guys! Now I'll just need to convince him to say he's 4 a week before the actual big day

 

[VegasK]

Extremely helpful: Traveling to WDW this summer - planning on making DHS our first stop! LOL - Have a DS6 who thinks he IS a Jedi in Training! Heading to JTA straight away at pre-opening: want to get it out of the way, so we can (hopefully) do a few other things!

Thanks for all the information