Here are my impressions from this weekend (this might get long, Sorry in Advance)
People that have gone to SWW before on the first Friday know that Friday is the iffy day, meaning the CM don't have the system down, are a little bit lost, etc. Walking toward the entrance Friday morning I could see this was clearly the case. I arrived at 6:50 am and went to check out the autograph lines, still no writbands yet...I saw some CM friends that have worked the event before and when asked they just shook their heads and said "they are getting the wristbands now"...merchandise line was long and still outside the park but shortly after the wristbands arrived and the merch line went in...I counted 6 managers outside trying to get things organized...people got their celeb fp's and the park opened around 7:45am.
The stormtrooper show actually started before they let us in so we missed most of it, this was a problem that was fixed on Saturday
Walked with the line of people signing up for JTA, this part seemed organized and speedy
Went straight to Chip and Dale Ewoks line, the rope was set but no one was there, the Chewie line was almost to the DVC booth by the AIE audition entrance. People started asking me what was I in line for, when told, they looked at me like I was crazy but shortly after some people started joining me. Chip and Dale came out around 8:20am, they are the cutest...Chewie's line was loooong, later I learned that the "friend of Chewbacca" called in sick and they had to wait for the second "friend" to arrive...
After my pic with Chip and Dale I walked toward Premiere Theater, no characters in site, this was close to 9 am, went to Vaders area, packed already but Darth Maul was not out yet. I decided to check out the merchandise line at this point...all the way out on the RnRC courtyar, managers were estimating 5 hour wait to get inside.
Grabbed a shady spot for the parade and was happy I did, the sun was beating down strongly already...I cannot over emphasize, if you want to watch the motorcade grab your spot on the left side facing the stage as you'll get shade, I saw a poor kids almost fainting when he waited on the other side for an hour. Grab your spot at 9:30am at the latest, I'm not exagerating, it's a long wait but you'll be thankful in the end. Parade is about the same, with the addition of the new characters and the 2 new floats that carry the stormtroopers.
Lunch time, and this is another tip, grab your lunch after the parade, when I got to Backlot Express it was fairly empty, within 20 minutes it was a madhouse.
After lunch I walked around some more and the character lines were all long, the shortest was maybe 30 minutes...went to the merch tent around 2pm I had promised my daughter to get the Her Universe necklace, waited 30 min, to get inside and another 45min to get the necklace and pay, once inside you don't mind the wait that much because the A/C feels awesome.
On Saturday it was character day for us, straight to Vader at opening, then got Darth Goofy and Chip and Dale again, saw Behind the Force and Stars of the Saga (the pre show is the best, with the stormtroopers, get in line for Stars of the Saga by 3pm so you don't miss it) and wait for Hoopla.
So now here are my issues:
If it ain't broken don't fix it!!
Merchandise line in the morning: people arrived at the park at the wee hours of the morning to stand in line outside for merchandise, once the got in they had to wait some more to go inside the tent, this was expected from all, but...after the people waited some 8 hours (outside and inside ) if you wanted LE things you had to pay for them right there and then if you wanted things from the general area you had to go outside and make the line again?!?!? not smart, in the past you picked up your LE merchandise and you could go browse the general area and then pay.
Character lines: first of all don't put on the map that characters are out from 8am to 7:30pm when most of them don't come out until 9am and go their lines close before 7pm, people don't get that you have to close the line earlier so they have time to meet the families in line and go get ready for Hoopla
Second this issue with the rotating characters, all new CM manning the characters lines that don't understand the concept of letting a family go in front of you doesn't create a double line...when I asked a CM she said: we don;t have space to create a double line, if it's your turn you have to meet whoever is there...no, it's not a double line if I let a family go infront of me...
Hoopla spot: This one is just for those who knew about my "secret" awesome spot next to the Sound Tent from last year...You could sit on the ledge there (so you're not waiting for 4 hour standing up os sitting on the floor) it's shady and when Hoopla started you could stand on the ledge and watch without blocking anyone behind because behind you was just trees and grass. On Friday I wasn't weatching Hoopla but I did walk thru the area around 7pm and saw my spot deserted and a CM standing there, I asked and she said this was a VIP section now, that's fine. t's an awesome spot and VIP didn't really have an area since the show moved to the Hat Stage. On Saturday my daughter and I decided to grab the other side of the ledge, a little closer to the stage so it was a more obstructed view but still afterstanding up you could see fairly well, we went at 4:30pm and there was people holding spots on the VIP ledge, I had seen these ladies during many SWW, they are regulars to the event, so I politely approached them and told them what the CM told me the day before, they were surprised because, as I did, that was their favorite spot and CMs and magaers had walked by them and not told them anything...I said that I just wanted to let them know in case they wanted to find another spot. They said Thank you but they were staying there.....hours passed, around 6:30pm CM started taping the place, they placed the white tape along with red tape in that area, saw the ladies obviously holding spots and didn't say anything...around 7pm all the CM in charge of Hoopla area met in the corner and I saw them pointing to the ladies and the VIP spot, one of them approached them, at 7pm after they had been in that spot since 3pm and told them they had to move...the ladies very politely stood their ground, the CM said, no they had to movem after a lot of back and forth they were allowed to stay but only for that day...now, I'm very happy for them but if you're going to have a VIP spot why not have a CM there from early in the afternoon letting people know, they know that people grab spots for hoopla hours in advance why go thru that?
Hoopla was about 3 minutes to start, everyone sitting on the ledge (VIP and my side as well) was standing up on the ledge to watch, what's the point of grabbing a spot 4 hours in advance to not be able to see right? yo think the CM would figure that one out...a CM approached me, 3 minutes to the show and told me I can't stand on the ledge, I explained to her that this was done last year and that's the hold point of getting there that early, she was fessed up, she just did a hand gesture, like, I'm done with all you crazy SW people and left me still trying to explain to her why...everyone on the ledge thanked me.
Now, this is not your first SWW Disney, please don't try to change things that are working fine...now the story about the wristbands and giving them to your child, this has happened in the past, you're not adding a person to the autograph line, it's a mom or dad that are giving it to their child...the world will not end and the line won't get longer because of it...chillax Disney.
I'm posting videos of lines, merchandis and parade shortly and also my photos of weekend one....again sorry for the long rant.
It has been so great living vicariously through you all that took the time to post. I feel like we have the info now to make the most of our Friday and Saturday at our FIRST SWW!!!
and had about 4 families in front of us, Vader come out at 8am sharp.
Maybe because y'all have more informative information than I and I'd rather not just add posts that are less informative.
) will want to get at least one. Are they only sold inside Darth Mall? Or can we get them at any of the other shops?
