Doing Jedi? How do you plan your DHS morning?

[HatboxHaint]

For those with experience with Jedi Training Academy at DHS.....How do you plan your morning when you have the variable of the showtime? You can only guess as to which show your child will be placed in, right?

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

I am travelling in two weeks. I planned to rope drop hs and sign up first. Fp are all in the morning and cancelled my adr for lunch so I can get an early afternoon slot, hopefully.

 

[gypsicat]

I am travelling in two weeks. I planned to rope drop hs and sign up first. Fp are all in the morning and cancelled my adr for lunch so I can get an early afternoon slot, hopefully.

This is pretty much our plan also. My fast passes are all done by noon (roughly 9-10, 10-11, 11-12). We plan to rope drop, sign up for an early afternoon show. I have no ADRs that day, so I will plan for a long lunch before the show to give us a time cushion (and to feed the cranky inner beast in DD)

Anyway, that is my current plan. Depending on what times are available, I'll adjust our afternoon plans to accommodate.

 

[Tbella]

I would like to throw a question in as well regarding this topic. We have a trip planned in late August. My family doesn't want to rope drop Studios but instead get fastpasses for later in the afternoon, 2 pm and on. Will it be too late to sign up for a late time slot at that point?

 

[HatboxHaint]

Where's @Robo when you need him?

 

[gwb]

took our randaughter to Jedi a few monthd back, we had our pick of times it depends on how busy the day is and how fast you get to register

 

[KLK622]

Related to this topic, if it is an EMH morning do I still need to get there 45 minutes before rope drop to get a spot?? Disney added EMH to the day we had our DHS FastPasses scheduled, however I don't really want to drag my 4 year old out of bed at 6 am and have him not enjoy the day. If we could get there right around 8 am that would be ideal. We are going next week Tuesday.

 

[Minnie222]

We just did Jedi this March Break.

Park opens at 9am and we arrived at 8am.
Went to the far left entrance lines destined for Jedi-signup. Being 1 hour early, we were about the 10th set of people in those Jedi lines.

Around 8:35am, they allowed us in, to get to the sign-up place. People ran and form a line again to sign up.
You can choose from the available time slots for what you want (they will tell you if it's available or not).

We chose a 10:40am Jedi training. We like it early because it is not so hot!!
After we have finished the sign-up, we were hanging around at the lake area. They don't allow us to run anywhere. The majority of the park is not opened yet.
Around 8:50am, they walked everyone slowly towards the Toy Story Mania.

We used the morning "free time" to meet Woody, Buzz, Minnie, Sofia, and go to Launch Bay.

Then we did the Jedi Training 10:40am.
Followed by a quick lunch.

After that, we had our fast pass things when crowds are high, and waits are long.
12-1pm FP+ Toy Story
1-2pm FP+ Star Tours
watch show: Frozen
Great Movie Ride
5-6pm FP+ Tower of Terror

~~~~~~~~~~~
So, to answer your question, we save the morning free for Jedi.
It is because during the morning hours, you can do "minor things" with minimal wait. We didn't want to burn the FP+ in the morning.

 

[Crystal824]

We just did Jedi this March Break.

Park opens at 9am and we arrived at 8am.
Went to the far left entrance lines destined for Jedi-signup. Being 1 hour early, we were about the 10th set of people in those Jedi lines.

Around 8:35am, they allowed us in, to get to the sign-up place. People ran and form a line again to sign up.
You can choose from the available time slots for what you want (they will tell you if it's available or not).

We chose a 10:40am Jedi training. We like it early because it is not so hot!!
After we have finished the sign-up, we were hanging around at the lake area. They don't allow us to run anywhere. The majority of the park is not opened yet.
Around 8:50am, they walked everyone slowly towards the Toy Story Mania.

We used the morning "free time" to meet Woody, Buzz, Minnie, Sofia, and go to Launch Bay.

Then we did the Jedi Training 10:40am.
Followed by a quick lunch.

After that, we had our fast pass things when crowds are high, and waits are long.
12-1pm FP+ Toy Story
1-2pm FP+ Star Tours
watch show: Frozen
Great Movie Ride
5-6pm FP+ Tower of Terror

~~~~~~~~~~~
So, to answer your question, we save the morning free for Jedi.
It is because during the morning hours, you can do "minor things" with minimal wait. We didn't want to burn the FP+ in the morning.[/QUOTE

We had a similar touring plan with JTA. We made an 8:05 ADR at H&V. We went and signed up for JTA we choose the 11:40 show. They will let you choose which show you want subject to availability. We had breakfast and went to TSMM. The line was already crazy there so we met Woody and Buzz. We did the Little Mermaid show. Then we went to Star Wars Launch Bay. We had to be back at 11:10 for the show. Then we went back to the show. After the show, we saw Frozen. Then we walked over to Epcot where we had our FPs all scheduled in the afternoon starting at 2:00. Of course we had park hoppers but you could do something similar scheduling FP later in the day at DHS.

 

[LSUfan4444]

For those with experience with Jedi Training Academy at DHS.....How do you plan your morning when you have the variable of the showtime? You can only guess as to which show your child will be placed in, right?

Your show time will depend on ho early you register. If you plan on arriving to HS at 8:30 and casually walking over to JTA when the park opens you will have a later show time. If you arrive at 8 am you will have a much earlier show time. Each time we have registered we've been asked "is this time okay" but just consider how you will go about registration and plan your day accordingly. If you have to move a FP+, move it but for the most you shoukd be able to catch anything at the start or end of the FP+ window and have it not effect JTA. Now, if you plan on hopping to another park in the afternoon I would make being there at 8 am(or earler) a top priority.

I would like to throw a question in as well regarding this topic. We have a trip planned in late August. My family doesn't want to rope drop Studios but instead get fastpasses for later in the afternoon, 2 pm and on. Will it be too late to sign up for a late time slot at that point?

Depends on day/crowd level but likely not.

 

[Shellyb84]

It must be so much busier now that the new movie is out than last July. We got there at rope drop on July 4th. Went to sign up first thing and we ended up being the first people there and got our pick of showtimes. This is good to know we'll need to be there an hour or so early since we're planning on it again this July.

 

[keepswimming76]

We had a similar touring plan with JTA. We made an 8:05 ADR at H&V. The line was already crazy there so we met Woody and Buzz. .

Sorry to be off topic here, but are Woody and Buzz ready to meet right at park opening? Their lines get so crazy and I'm wondering if that would be our best bet first thing before heading to Launch Bay.

 

[Mikie]

Reports are that the re-themed show has made many more spots per show and more shows per day. Getting there an hour before rope drop, especially on an EMH morning is not necessary to get *a* spot, but the more particular you are about *what* spot, the more important early arrival is. The first few shows do fill fast, but if you actually want a later spot, you can have your pick of times. Another reason some people are early and run is simply that the sign-up line itself gets long and they want to be done with it and out playing vs waiting in the signup line. The CMs st signup will help you rearrange FPs if necessary, but availability of times to rearrange may be limited too.

Don't forget when planning that you need the child with you at signups and you report back with them 30 min prior to showtime (be sure you've had your bathroom break!) then 20 min show.

 

[Minnie222]

Sorry to be off topic here, but are Woody and Buzz ready to meet right at park opening? Their lines get so crazy and I'm wondering if that would be our best bet first thing before heading to Launch Bay.

Yes. They started meeting right away, and lines are short or non-existent.

On the day we went, when the CM walks the morning crowd to Toy Story, Woody stands in the middle of the road to wave to the crowd. It was so fun!!

 

[Pesky]

Don't forget when planning that you need the child with you at signups and you report back with them 30 min prior to showtime (be sure you've had your bathroom break!) then 20 min show.

Great to know! I'll have to make sure to allot the full 50 minutes and maybe we'll make that a snack time adventure. Do you have to hang out the full 30 minutes prior with the kids or can the kids check in and go with DH to a nearby gift or snack shop?

 

[Mikie]

Great to know! I'll have to make sure to allot the full 50 minutes and maybe we'll make that a snack time adventure. Do you have to hang out the full 30 minutes prior with the kids or can the kids check in and go with DH to a nearby gift or snack shop?

Good question, I happened to be pooped, and the waiting/gathering area was air-conditioned with benches, so I didn't try to go anywhere

It seemed like if your child would be comfortable with it, you could probably leave. I think some parents walked away to go grab their viewing spot by the stage.

 

[Crystal824]

Sorry to be off topic here, but are Woody and Buzz ready to meet right at park opening? Their lines get so crazy and I'm wondering if that would be our best bet first thing before heading to Launch Bay.

Yes, we walked over to try to ride TSMM about 10 minutes after the park opened. My 5 year old was disappointed that the line was already 50 min. (don't feel bad for her, we had a FP for later in the week the evening we saw Fantasmic and the fireworks). Instead of doing TSMM, we met Buzz and Woody, which we had never done previously due to the crazy lines. It was only about a 5-7 min. wait. A good alternative to TSMM.

 

[Crystal824]

Great to know! I'll have to make sure to allot the full 50 minutes and maybe we'll make that a snack time adventure. Do you have to hang out the full 30 minutes prior with the kids or can the kids check in and go with DH to a nearby gift or snack shop?

You could probably leave if you child is ok with it. I didn't, but my daughter is only 5. I did send my husband and other daughter over to stand by the stage to wait for the show. I walked over when the kids walked over for the show.

 

[Minnie222]

Good question, I happened to be pooped, and the waiting/gathering area was air-conditioned with benches, so I didn't try to go anywhere

It seemed like if your child would be comfortable with it, you could probably leave. I think some parents walked away to go grab their viewing spot by the stage.

The waiting area now is outdoor. It is not air-conditioned now.

 

[jbish]

I just made my FP selections last night and went with an afternoon TSMM FP+ thinking we'll go to JTA signup first, then head over to RNR, which DD really really wants to ride. Then we have FP+ for TOT. We have our next FP+ at Star Tours.

My question is, which JTA signup would be optimal? I've heard people suggest the early morning ones before it gets super hot (we are going second week of June). But then I'm also wondering if the later ones might be better (last one scheduled for that day is 7:40 pm) - I think I read somewhere that the light sabres will show up better? But then my kids will have to wait all day long to do it. I definitely don't want to do it in the blazing sun of the day - especially if the wait area is outdoors???