Any advice for us? First trip with a Star Wars obsessed 4yo?

[ercrbc]

We are taking our kids 7, 4 and 1 for a surprise trip this weekend. While we were just there in October, two big things have happened since then. First is that DS has finally hit 40 inches tall. Second and much bigger deal in his world is that he has discovered Star Wars. Star Wars video games, movies, lego sets, sticker books.... you name it, this boy loves it.

We will only be there 3 days (arrive Fri-leave Tues) and are keeping it low key as far as planning. But this new SW obsession made me think I may need some strategy to make sure we cover all the SW things that would be fun for DS.

He will be tall enough to ride the ride at HS, and old enough for Jedi Training too. We are also planning a lot of time for the lego store at DTD.

My questions are:
-what is Jedi training? I don't have any experience with it. It's not only offered during SW weekends I hope! I did read to find the line for sign-ups right at opening if you want to get in. But I don't really know more than they get to duel with Darth Vader or Darth Maul (my DS's head will explode from joy at either)

-Should we go to HS when there are EMH in the morning to increase our chances? That would be Saturday and we will be arriving 8ish Friday night. May be nice not to rush that first morning but if that is our best shot we'll do it. (my kids never sleep past 7 anyway). OR
-Should we go to HS on Monday when most of the holiday crowds are heading home?

-Any other ideas that would be fun? I am already checking next years calendar to see if we can make a trip during SW days in May/June

 

[mort1331]

either day is good as long as your there for rope drop. but not sure what the crowd calenders say, have a look and go from there. My nephew did the jedi training and loved it, cant remember what else he got to do, but he was gone for 1/2 hour. Remeber the ride has multiple senerios so you can just keep riding it. Theres the landspeeder outside to get a pic on which my daughter loved.
have a great time and ,\
May the force be with him

 

[Kidanifan08]

We have done the Jedi training a few times with my son. It's alot of fun! They get to duel with Darth Vader! My son is 6 and he likes to do it every time we go now. I think he was about 4 or 5 when he participated the first time.

It is best to get there at least 15 minutes before the park opening, since they are not really doing rope drop anymore but rather a soft opening. They start signing up the kids as soon as the park opens. Both you and the participating child need to go to the sign-up area at the ABC Sound Studio (Sounds Dangerously) to get registered.

It is a little bit of a time commitment, as the child needs to return to the sign-in area about 30 minutes prior to the show and it is about a 20 minute show. They will have a photopass photographer at each show taking photos of the kids and they will give you a photopass card loaded with all the photos. You can take that to the front of the park and purchase photos, if you desire.

I don't think it will matter which day you go, just as long as you get there early. EMH days tend to be busier, so it may be better to go on the day when there is no EMH.

 

[Greysword]

As a Star Wars obsessed person myself, I remember the first time I made it to MGM Studios, turned the corner, and a large AT-AT was right there at the end of the road. Jaw dropped and I was frozen with joy . Good times!

As for all the SW stuff to do, there really is only the two things at DHS. There is a make your own lightsaber section at World of Disney, and at Mickey Star Traders (likely one at DHS, too). Otherwise, get him R2-D2 mouse ears and just enjoy the ride LOL!

 

[wdrl]

There are 54 different ride combinations for Star Tours, so you can ride it several times and not get bored with it. See http://www.thefable.co.uk/2011/05/24/all-54-of-the-star-tours-2-ride-combinations/ for a list of the different combinations. If your son is anything like most Star Wars fans, he'll want to ride it over and over and over again. Fortunately, Star Tours is no where near as popular as Toy Story Mania, so the FastPass times and Stand By times are usually pretty reasonable.

In addition to being able to build his own light saber, Tatooine Traders also lets you build your own R2D2 unit. A four-year-old will need help building a unit, but its a lot of fun customizing your own R2D2. Here is a photo of some that we built during our trip this past August:

May the Force be with you this weekend!

 

[ercrbc]

Wow y'all are so helpful! I am so excited to ride with him the first time and the Jedi training sounds perfect. I will plan save it for another day instead of during the EMH, good tip on crowds. I have a feeling TSM won't even be on his radar this trip, it's going to be all about Star Wars that day. Saving it for the last day may enable us to make it to the MK and Epcot at all, lol.

They may be small things, but building a lightsaber and his own R2D2 unit will be a HUGE deal to him. Thanks for the great ideas!

Oh it just occurred to me there will be Star Wars pins all over too. His head really may explode

 

[wdrl]

If your family gets to attend Star Wars Weekend on a future trip, be sure to catch the Star Wars Parade. Its one of my favorite parades at WDW. Here are a few photos from the 2009 parade. But first, I've included a photo of the Jedi Academy.

And here is one of my favorite Meet & Greets:

Live Long and -- oops, wrong franchise.

 

[ercrbc]

Awesome pictures! We will absolutely have to catch the parade and events for SW weekend next year!

I did say my son was the obsessed one, but DH, DD and I also are pretty big fans

 

[tb1972]

My DS8 is Star Wars obsessed too. Last visit we rode the ride 8 times since it varies each time...he probably would've stayed all day to ride if we let him. We were lucky though in Sept. there were no lines. We'd get off and get back on again and again.

 

[living la vida mickey]

My DGS is Star Wars obsessed also. He was 6 when we took him last year. The face painters around Star Tours will paint him as Darth Maul. My DGS loved walking around like that all day.

 

[ercrbc]

Today is the big day! I wish we were leaving NOW but DH is working til 1, he is picking up DD7 at school on his way home. DS will be done with preschool by noon. The kids have no idea we are leaving today, I can't wait to see their faces. Well, I did tell DD1 yesterday, but I think the secret is safe since her only words are mama, dada, night night and meow

So in the meantime I have a lot of Mommy work to get done before we can get on the road (by 1:30 at the very latest!) I am off to get the oil changed, quick trip to the store for a couple things we will need and then I will pack it all and be ready to go when DH and DD walk in the door.

We usually leave by 7am and get there by 2, hit the grocery store in Orlando and then go check in. Today I am packing a cooler with essentials so we can skip the store and hopefully be to the resort and settled by 8 or 8:30. Fingers crossed we don't hit traffic in Jacksonville!

We will be at OKW and I requested ground floor and peninsular road area. This is our second trip to OKW, first time we stayed near HH in building 14. I am excited about trying a new area at OKW and really don't care where but ground floor would be nice. (we haul groceries and a lot of extra baby stuff). I would like to be close enough to walk to the HH, we want to take the boat to DTD for dinner one night.

Wish me luck today! I will try to update and maybe add a pic of DS painted up like Darth Maul (I may even get DH to do it, he was DM one year for Halloween, wish I could find a pic of it!)

 

[Irishmom23]

My son (28) and myself went to our first SWW last June and had a blast! My daughters (24, 20) went along for the ride and enjoyed it almost as much. It made me wish he was little again but we did everything from riding Star tours umpteen times, watching the parade, having our pictures taken with cast members, to shopping for DCV and annual pass holder specialty items. He liked it so much he took some of my points and he and a friend are staying at BWV in May for this year's SWW. Your son will not forget this experience.

 

[wdrl]

Today is the big day!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip! Hope someone in your family gets chosen to be the rebel spy on Star Tours. We'll be attending Star Wars Weekends this year and I can't wait.

 

[ercrbc]

We arrived at 8:30 last night and checked into a huge 2BR on Millers Rd. After a long drive with 3 cranky kids we were so happy to pull right up to our room to unload the van. We are very close to the pool over here and across the street from the bus stop.

I was very glad we didnt go to HS today for EMH! The bus was quite full when we loaded up for the MK this morning at 8:45. We did quite a bit before the crowds piled in but the kids were getting more and more cranky as the lines were growing. So after using our Voyage of the Little Mermaid FP (90min standby at noon) we hopped on a bus back to the room.

We are heading out to DTD for dinner and a trip to the Legostore tonight. I have a feeling we will come back with a new lightsaber and potentially some SW legos. I am hoping they sell mini-figures individually, he has a sticker book of them and loves playing with the ones he got with the Jabas palace for Christmas. He keeps asking if he can get Darth Vader and the Emporer. We may have to get a DV pin if we cant find him at the lego store. Wish me luck!

 

[LindaBabe]

Here now. I can only say one thing - BRING MONEY!

 

[ercrbc]

Here now. I can only say one thing - BRING MONEY!

I thought we were doing good to get out of the Lego store empty handed! I had to promise a SW pin in order to do it, but it worked, in fact we found a great deal on a SW set he was super excited about. Both know there is a SW store and are planning to pick something. I just hope he finds something quick that is relatively small. We'll see how that works out

Thought y'all would appreciate this....at Epcot this morning we rode Living With the Land. As we entered the Desert section DS asked if it was Tatooine.

We are planning on HS first thing in the morning. Both the big kids are excited about the SW ride, store and Jedi training. We are having such a great weekend. I am sad tomorrow is our last day but am glad we saved the best for last

 

[ercrbc]

We are home and had a fantastic time. DS can't stop talking about his new favorite ride

We were up bright and early on Monday and had the plan to head straight to sign up for JT. We arrived at 8:45 and the weather was very iffy. It kept the crowds away although it did start to pour just as we got under the ticket line cover. First good luck of the day. We got wet as we made our way in but we covered the stroller with a poncho which kept DS and DD1 dry. We got in line for JT at the perfect time. We waited 5-10 min and got signed up for the 11:50 show. Weather permitting. We crossed our fingers and went to ride Start Tours. DS loved seeing R2D2 and C3PO in the queue. He was a little nervous when we got to the load area. The CM had him check height again but his head touched the bar so we were good. I watched him when the ride started and he smiled the entire time. We were definitely in trouble when we hit the store! Both made R2D2s, DD picked a leia princess toy and a Darth Mash potato head for baby. DS made his very own double sided green lightsaber. This boy is so excited about this lightsaber:

After riding and shopping we went to do a few other things. The rain was keeping the crowds away but we were afraid it wouldn't stop by JT time. It rained right up until 11:30, we stayed busy and line were short. Thankfully the sun came out right as DH took the kids for their training. I walked the baby around and more good luck she fell asleep right as the show started and slept the entire time. Since it had rained all morning the kids were in the first show of the day. There was a big crowd but we had spots up front. All the kids had so much fun! We want to do it again when we can sign all 3 up. The photo pass pics were great, here are a few DH got:

 

[wdrl]

Those are great photos of the kids facing off against Darth Vader! Thanks for sharing. You'll definitely have to experience Star Wars Weekend. Its much, much more crowded during SWW, but well worth it.

 

[ercrbc]

Thanks wdrl! I really appreciate all the good tips and great pics on this thread. I spent the drive home yesterday trying to figure pt ideas to fit in a SWW next year