HS (Jedi training) questions

[VAB2013]

Two questions:

For Jedi training, do kids wear Star Wars costumes or will a Star Wars tshirt be fine? My son has a Darth Vader costume but in June it would be very hot to wear the costume. I don't want him to regret not bringing it if he sees other kids in costume but it would be much easier just to have him wear a Star Wars tshirt.

Also, I think HS opens at 9am on June 2 (our planned HS day). What time do you suggest we be there in order to ensure my son a Jedi spot? Would 30 minutes early be sufficient or do we need to plan for earlier?

 

[rwdavis2]

The give the kids robes to wear. No costume needed. As to the time, no later than 8:30. Even if you are not allowed in the park yet you need to be at the front of the crowd.

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

Wear whatever you want, they will be given a Jedi Robe to wear, so no need for a costume. I would be there 45 minutes early.

 

[VAB2013]

Thank you! Good information about the robe. I didn't want to carry around the Darth Vader costume anyway!

I can't imagine getting all 5 of us to HS 45 minutes early. We have a car with us but maybe my son and I will take Disney transportation to get to HS and let the rest of the family show up a little later. Would the Disney bus run that early from AoA?

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

Yes. Disney buses run at least an hour before park opening. Keep in mind that the first people to the Experience get to sign up for the morning experiences. By afternoon it will be HOT and without any discernible shade! You want to be one of the first people to sign up so you can get a morning slot. Doing physical exertion, wearing a robe on top of your regular clothes, in the middle of the day, in June, in Florida, is not my idea of the best way to enjoy this Disney experience.

 

[Doug M]

You will want to be one of the first to sign up anyway because only around 200 kids get to do it. Last summer we hit HS 35 min prior to RD and barely got a slot. Within 5 minutes of my arrival at signup they were turning away people from the door as they had enough in line to finish the day.

 

[Mikie]

I also had no expectations of getting my whole group out that early and didn't want to be stressing if some were dragging their feet. I brought just the son and daughter who wanted to sign up for Jedi. We lined up for Pop buses at 7:15-7:30 (then realized I left something in my room! Left & came back, noticing that the same people were still in line, so I hadn't missed a bus). We were at DHS by about 8 and were just a couple families back from the tapstiles. As they opened, many people literally ran to their various destinations,which I wasn't willing to do. We were the first people in the signup line that didn't fit into the part of the zig-zag line that's still inside the building. It took us about 20 min to get through the line. By the time we reached the front, the first three shows were full, but the shows at 11:30ish and later had lots of availability. We wanted a late afternoon show anyway. Later when we reported back, the CMs mentioned they had completely filled all shows by 10am.

No one wore costumes and fewer than half even had Star Wars shirts - no big deal. My son did have a storm trooper on his shirt, which Darth Zvader pointed at once during the show.

This was all in October, with crowd level of 6-7 out of 10.

 

[VAB2013]

Thanks everyone! We have FP for Star Tours and Toy Story that morning. Hoping we can get a Jedi spot for around lunch time after we use our morning FP's.

 

[AngiTN]

Remember too, HS is a park that almost always opens 15 or so min early. Just count on the opening time as 8:45 and be there 30 min before that.

Depending on the time of year, an afternoon spot can be risky. So often showers pop up then. And even 1 drop of rain falling when you line up could cause them to cancel (I know because it happened to us, never rained fully, just a sprinkle and it was cancelled).

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Tip - we got in the line closest to the dining line. Once it got closer to 9am they had our line move over to the turnstile and we were let in first. This was in November so they didn't let us in 15 minutes early though

 

[disnut8]

Just a word on the Jedi training. The child will be required to check in before the training so one parent will need to be with him. Just one and that's fine. Have the other parent and members of the family go to the area while all that's being done. Once the check in is complete, the second parent can then join the rest of the family at the area. This way, the family can have a better spot for the entire show.

If you have a videocamera, I would also advise to have it out and ready for the entire show.

 

[VAB2013]

We have a Star Tours FP at 9:50 and a Toy Story FP at 11:25. So we will head to Jedi sign up first thing but will need to work around these two FP's in regard to our Jedi time. As this is all new to us, if anyone has tips on the best way to do Jedi and our two scheduled FP, I would appreciate it.

 

[LaurenT]

We were there over Easter week ...
They have changed the sign up location and are now signing children up outside the entrance. When you get there, ask a CM to point you toward the sign up (its right near the tapstiles) and leave one parent in line while the other takes the kids to sign up.
You can request a show time that does not interfere with your FPs.

 

[ammag]

We were there over Easter week ...
They have changed the sign up location and are now signing children up outside the entrance. When you get there, ask a CM to point you toward the sign up (its right near the tapstiles) and leave one parent in line while the other takes the kids to sign up.
You can request a show time that does not interfere with your FPs.

Do we know if this is a permanent change yet?

 

[LaurenT]

No idea. Nothing is ever a permanent change, but I don't know how long it will be this way. I'd check in with the boards the week before you leave to get the latest info

 

[AngiTN]

We were there over Easter week ...
They have changed the sign up location and are now signing children up outside the entrance. When you get there, ask a CM to point you toward the sign up (its right near the tapstiles) and leave one parent in line while the other takes the kids to sign up.
You can request a show time that does not interfere with your FPs.

You encountered that because it was Easter Week. They have been doing this during high crowds. I wouldn't count on it other times. Possible, just not likely.

 

[momtosam]

When we signed up last May we got there after park opening, I'm thinking 30 minutes. When were got in line for sign up they were announcing "you may be put on standby." We still stayed in line because DS really wanted to do it and got a spot for a later show. My point is if your child really wants to do it and they start announcing you may be standby, stick it out anyway. Lots of people left the line when they heard that but we still waited and got in.

 

[WriterGina]

We have three kids to sign up...9, 7 and almost 5. Planning to get there around 8:15 for a "9 am" rope drop. I'd really like to get them all into the same group so we're not sitting there through two shows. Any tips on that besides getting there as early as possible?

 

[AngiTN]

We have three kids to sign up...9, 7 and almost 5. Planning to get there around 8:15 for a "9 am" rope drop. I'd really like to get them all into the same group so we're not sitting there through two shows. Any tips on that besides getting there as early as possible?

I doubt you'll have a hard time getting them in 1 show. You can pick the one you want out of the openings left for the day. Just pick one they all get in

 

[VAB2013]

Any updates to Jedi training strategies? We are here now and plan to try to do Jedi training tomorrow morning. Just want to be sure the sign up process and location hasn't changed?