Any Star Wars WE experts?

[ltuggle]

We are taking our sons (7 & 3 1/2) to Star Wars WE over Memorial Day. I want to make the most of the day, and I am a planner! I am curious about a few items:

Where will the SW characters be? How does it work? Is it like regular ones- line up, get a photo, get autograph, etc? What time do they start? What about Jedi Mickey- is he somewhere else?

The parade- I saw pictures of last year with a parade of SW characters. Is that just a part of the regular parade or a different one?

As for Star Tours- can anyone compare it to Back to the Future at Universal? BTTF is so jerky and we couldn't wait to get off.

What will the chances be that they will still have some Jedi Mickeys for sale- didn't they run out last year?

 

[Belle Amy]

They had two seperate areas, the rebel area and the empire area...the good characters stayed in and around the rebel area (in front of Star Tours) and the bad characters stayed in around the empire "camp" (in front of Who wants to be a millionaire on Mickey Ave.) We got there when the gates first opened and saw many of the characters as they first came out. There are many characters out first thing in the morning.

Throughout the day, they changed the characters and new ones would appear, so we walked through several times so we didn't miss any...

Most characters are set up just like regular characters, with a CM close by and a photopass photographer taking pictures. Towards the end of the day, more characters were walking around randomly, but more around the empires "base", coming up next to people for picture opportunities...

There are two Star Wars editions of Who wants to be a millionaire, last year they were the first two showings of the day.

There is a seperate parade just for Star Wars characters, and the special guests for the weekend riding in the back of a car being driven through the area.

They also have a jedi training for kids which is ADORABLE, but they are doing this every day about 6 to 8 times. The kids get to go up on stage and learn how to use their "training lightsabers" and wear their jedi robes, both of with they get to keep...I got a great pic of a little boy using his "force powers" today....it really is sweet and any little jedi will love to get up on stage and show their stuff...eventually a dark side character comes out and they get to battle on stage with the character.

Star Tours is slightly bumpy, but compared to BTTF, it's much better. I didn't enjoy BTTF much, but love Star Tours...but I might be a bit biased! But I do believe the story is better and it's much smoother than both BTTF and Body Wars if you've ever been on that...

Last year it was the Darth Mickeys that sold out, as of today they had TONS of the Jedi Mickeys, and last year they didn't run out of them either.

As for Jedi Mickey, he was in the auditorium next to Sounds Dangerous. He still takes breaks every once in a while and we didn't manage to time it right to ever get his pic, but we got a couple with Darth Vader, who is in the room next to Millionaire.

We always have an amazing time, hope you and your kids have fun!

 

[ltuggle]

Thanks for all the info! If the regular parade is at 5:30 that day, then when would the SW parade be? Same route?

Just curious if Darth Maul is near Darth Vader in the Millionaire building- those two will be a must for our little guy. "Dark Bader" is his main man!

Thanks again!

 

[Belle Amy]

Last year, Darth Maul was in his own area across from WWTBAM...also, it's possible that they could change the areas around, I haven't heard where things will be this year...but last year Vader had his own area...

I want to say that the parade was earlier in the day, before noon...but I'd suggest getting there early...it's much more crowded than a regular day...we got there at 830 that morning and the area outside the gates was PACKED...after we got through the gates, hpeople rushed to get in line to meet the special guest of the day, but we skipped this in order to get to the empire area before everyone else...

Awe, Darth Bader...that's so cute...

Also, last year, the kids that went through jedi training before the parade got to march in the parade...there were about 30 younglings marching at the very end of the parade and it was the sweetest, cutest thing...If they don't mind being the center of attention, they might like this as well...

 

[QuickGold]

The Star Wars character parade was at 11am last year.

You may find this page useful: http://sww.mgmstudios.org/main

Belle Amy: I hope you'll come to my SWW planning chat this Sunday at 9pm EST. Check http://sww.mgmstudios.org/main for the details. I'd always enjoy some extra help as it seems like you know what you're talking about as well.

Darth Maul should be near Vader since last year they seperated the Empire and Rebel characters (Empire was on Mickey Ave and Jedi/Rebel area was near Star Tours)

 

[ltuggle]

Thanks so much for the info. My little SW fans are going to love this. Thanks for the link to the website- that has some great info, and I had not found that one before. Just curious- when they say there are fastpasses to get autographs, they mean for REAL celebrities, correct. I am assuming they won't be giving fastpasses for Darth Vader and Darth Maul. Is that right? My kids are only interested in the "fake" celebrities!! Also, it sounds like these guys (the Darths, etc.) start seeing people right at 9:00 when the park opens- does that sound right? I imagine the lines get pretty long. I am one of those people who has an itinerary of what we do step-by-step. I am wondering if this should be first. I also wanted to get to TOT since I have never ridden that before.

Thanks for your time!
Lisa- mom to 2 little SW fans

 

[Belle Amy]

You do not have to have fast passes for the fake celebrities, only the real ones. The weekend we went the big draw was Peter Mayhew (Chewie) and the lines were very long, but we passed him by and went to the Imperial base. Later in the day, we walked by Rob Coleman (the other real celeb, one of the visual effect guys I think) and he was standing around looking bored, waiting for someone to give his autograph to...

Yes, Vader and Sidious were available immediately, with little to no wait...Sidious was actually walking down the street towards us with his imperial guards flanking him...made for a great picture...I'll see if I can pull it up if you are interested...Vader had only a few people in line. Darth Maul didn't come out until later in the day, or at least that is when we saw him, after the parade, but the line was minimal when he did arrive.

Like QuickGold said, it's packed with Star Wars fans...Tatooine Traders was a mad house and lines for characters like Anakin seemed pretty long, but I guess it depended on the time of day...we hung around with the bad guys during the beginning of the day...

I'm really not sure what the rides are like during SWW as I didn't ride any when I went...sorry!


QuickGold -- I'll absolutely try to make it to your chat, I just went over to the website and signed up to be a reporter...we'll be going at least one day every weekend and I'd love to take some pics and report back to everyone...

I can't wait!!!

 

[coby421]

I was wondering where the "real" celebrities will be located and do they sign autographs all day except the parade time or just at specific times in the day? Also when's the best time to get some star wars shopping done? I hear the store gets pretty crowded, and what are some of the special items you reccomend getting? We only have one day of the first star wars weekend so we want to get in all the important stuff. Thanks for any info!!

 

[Belle Amy]

Last year, as far as I can remember, the line for fastpasses for the real celebs started just after keystone clothiers..and I think they had specific times that the autographs started, but don't quote me on that...I know Rob Coleman was set up on Mickey Ave. in front of where Vader was positioned...just past WWTBAM... and I think they seperate the signings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon...with three special guests this year, I can only guess how the set up will be...

As for the best time to do some shopping, the whole day is going to be packed merchandise wise...especially the first weekend when many limited edition merch is released...last year darth mickey sold out I believe the first day or two...

We did find that there was a store just past Hollywood and Vine, walking towards Indiana Jones that normally sells Indiana Jones merch, but was stocked with some limited edition coins and pins...it was never busy when we walked by....Tatooine Traders on the other hand was packed...I couldn't tell you the best time to avoid a crowd..It may not be possible...


As for merchandise, we grabbed a poster, the limited edition coins, which come in gold, bronze, and silver and each color only 1000 were made, and a couple of t-shirts. I think my fiancee is trying to break the Guiness Book of World Records for how many Star Wars shirts a human can own....

This year however, we will be getting the Jedi Mickey figurine and the Jedi Mickey cell....both are limited edition, to be signed by the artists....I think they will be available after SWW, but will not include a stamp signifying they are limited...they are $150 and $200 respectively...you can check them out over at disneygallery.com.

But then, we are diehard Star Wars fans, and it may be a bit much for the average SWW goer... It's a bit of an obsession!

 

[coby421]

Thanks that definetly helps, my brother is 24 and has been collecting everything star wars since as far back as i remember so i'm sure anything we can get will be great. thanks for your tips!

 

[QuickGold]

We did find that there was a store just past Hollywood and Vine, walking towards Indiana Jones that normally sells Indiana Jones merch, but was stocked with some limited edition coins and pins...it was never busy when we walked by....Tatooine Traders on the other hand was packed...I couldn't tell you the best time to avoid a crowd..It may not be possible...

That store is the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost. Another good and not-so-crowded place that sells SWW merchandise is next to Sounds Dangerous and it's called "Golden Age Souvenirs".

As for beating the crowd to Tatooine Traders, go early in the morning. I would sign up for the trivia if you're interested first, get fastpass for celebrities and then go to Tatooine Traders to get your shopping out of the way.

 

[momshark]

As for beating the crowd to Tatooine Traders, go early in the morning. I would sign up for the trivia if you're interested first, get fastpass for celebrities and then go to Tatooine Traders to get your shopping out of the way.

Hey, QuickGold, that sounds like a great plan. But, I thought it was our little secret.

Seriously, are the plushes only sold at Tatooine Traders? There is no way we can afford the LE pins, etc. We would love the Darth and Jedi Mickeys. BUT, I don't really feel like waiting in line for an hour for stuffies.

 

[Madhatter266]

Where do you go to sign up for the trivia?

 

[Baloo]

To sign up for the Trivia,I think...correct me if I'm wrong...there was a table sort of between Indy and Star Tours.

I'm hoping this year they have a seperate place for the merchandise.Tatooine Traders was NUTS! People shopping.waiting in the line to check out that went around and up and down and through the entire store plus all the people exiting off ST!!! OY!

I'll tell you what we did to get in to Tatooine Traders.We got a FP for ST rode it and then viola we were in the shop and not standing in that line.

I only saw Darth and Jedi Mickey in TT.

 

[QuickGold]

Hey, QuickGold, that sounds like a great plan. But, I thought it was our little secret.

Sorry, it was too good to keep to myself

Where do you go to sign up for the trivia?

Like Baloo said, there's a table right between Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Star Tours. You can sign up there.

 

[coby421]

Now what trivia are you guys refering to? Is this the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Star Wars edition or another trivia?

 

[sodaseller]

The merchandise is out and is at Link

Darth Goofy!

And the poster

Don't know how to make them into images

 

[coby421]

Yay!!! Thank you for those links they're great! Anyone have any idea how much these items tend to be, I know some of them are a little expensive.

 

[sodaseller]

The pin sets are expensive, plus you have to wait in line hours. Otherwise, I'd love them. But the other stuff is not usually too exhorbitant

 

[rlovew]

For those not interested in the real celebs- we entered the park and went imeadiately over to the WWTBAM area and took tons of pictures with the characters- many of them walked up to us as there was almost no one there. For your information Jedi Mickey's are avaiable year round at Tantoone Traders.

Also for the Darth lover there was Darth Tater outside the MGM enterance when we took a midday break.

Lines for the rides and shows other than Star Tours seemed to be a little shorter over the weekend.

The Jedi Mickey Cell is available beginning May 5th when it comes out (we have already preordered ours).