Jedi Academy questions?

[Teki]

Alright so I haven't had the opportunity to see this show yet. This time I thought I would, My younger sister loves star wars (as does my bf and I) were were hoping to try and get her into the show. Our plan was to arrive an hour to an hour and a half early and have our lunch there. That way shed get a good seat near the front. I have been given the advice to make sure shes wearing bright colors, shell be wearing a red shirt and has red hair. She will also be wearing my birthday button. I wonder however, is she to old? We have had disappointing experiences in other places where they thought she looked to old to pick for these types of thing, she will have just turned 12 when were on our trip. Anyways do you guys have any advice do you think its worth it?

 

[MichaelColey]

"Jedi Training Academy Tips" by Hound 109 www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1478699

In a nutshell: Wear a Jedi outffit or Star Wars shirt and bring a sign made out of a file folder. Stand on the Nemo side (or whichever side has fewer kids). 15 minutes early should be fine.

 

[ballarinamom]

Depending on when you go they will pick either 15 or 30 kids. 15 if there is just Darth Vadar and 30 if they have Vadar and Darth Mall. The "teacher" comes out and picks the kids rather quickly and there seemed no rhyme or reason with the exception of a little boy dressed like Peter Pan and my DD7 who was dressed like Amadala. I can tell you a grandmother was standing next to us and her grandchild was not pick 3 times. They kept coming back and still was not picked. No one had signs when we were there but it would definately help differentiate your sister from the rest and she needs to really jump up and down. They may not pick her if she looks way older than 12. If she is not picked, the show is pretty lame just to watch one kid after the other take 5 swings at Darth. But it is fun if your kid is training.

 

[bumbershoot]

There always seems to be a wide variety of ages chosen...the older children tend to go up against Darth Maul, while the littles go up against Vader...gosh who would have thought there would ever be a bad guy scarier-looking than Vader????!!!!!! But Maul scared ME when he stalked the sidelines, and made a 9-ish year old kid leap back off the railing. Scary dude.

I think that they wouldn't have chosen ME at 12, but I was in a full-on bra at that time...but many of my friends weren't as "adult" in appearance and would have had a great time.

And we LOVE just watching that show. The guy is HILARIOUS. Watching them practice is boring in a way, but once everyone starts having their turns, listening to his quick jokes is extremely fun and funny.

 

[Dizneydaz]

My DD9 has been picked twice so far and we have only tried twice. First time was Jan. 7th. She was the last kid picked. I just kept telling her to jump up and down. (since then I've been told by a CM that they pick the "high energy" kids.) I think she was jumping and waving her hand for a good five minutes. She was so happy to be picked. She was the last kid jumping up and down, by the way. She battled Darth Vadar. She's only about 60 lbs., petite, wear glasses, and stands about 4'1". She was wearing black and white. They picked 30 kids that day. It was a Wed. and the show was pretty busy. It was the 12:30 one (lunch time) Here's a few pictures from that show.

Second time she got picked again. We went to the 1st show. There weren't many kids there. They only seemed to pick about 15, or so. They were actually picking older and younger kids than normal to get enough kids. One girl was 14 and another was a very small 4. (they asked their ages) This time she fought Dark Maul. I actually wanted her to fight Darth since one of my fav. PP photogs was shooting Darth but it didn't work out. She was wearing a cape (one I made her to be Hermoine Granger for Halloween-she had to take it off to fight) This was Jan. 28th, again a Wed. 10:30 a.m. Here are a few from that show.

Dark Maul and Darth were at both shows. I think they based the amount chosen on how many kids were there. There weren't 30 kids to pick from on the 28th. I didn't see any signs at either show but we were there during a slower time. If you are there during busy season maybe a sign would help.

Based on our experiences, I would try to get there for the first show, before the parks get busy, mid week is good. Have your child jump up and down as much as possible, waving their hands-tell them not to stop. They identify them by what they are wearing so bright colors are a little easier to spot, or a funny hat, or glasses, or????

FYI, for the parents, if you are seated on the floor behind the blue line, especially on to the right of the main aisle (facing the stage) be prepared for Dark Maul to get in your face. He did this to us both times-he's pretty impressive!

One more thing, getting a table early won't get your kid picked. They pick form the kids on the floor area which is about 4 feet below the table/seating area. The open up the floor prior to the show for kids and parents to seat/stand in. Once a kid is chosen they go stand on one of the blue circles in front of the stage. Once they have a kid for each circle, they are done picking.

Look away if you are scared easily!

 

[disneyfan4ever54]

Alright so I haven't had the opportunity to see this show yet. This time I thought I would, My younger sister loves star wars (as does my bf and I) were were hoping to try and get her into the show. Our plan was to arrive an hour to an hour and a half early and have our lunch there. That way shed get a good seat near the front. I have been given the advice to make sure shes wearing bright colors, shell be wearing a red shirt and has red hair. She will also be wearing my birthday button. I wonder however, is she to old? We have had disappointing experiences in other places where they thought she looked to old to pick for these types of thing, she will have just turned 12 when were on our trip. Anyways do you guys have any advice do you think its worth it?

My DS was chosen when we were there for his 12th birthday. Our family is petite though, so he did look younger that other kids that same age. I agree with the above posts.....It all depends on the size, etc. of the 12 year old and how old they appear. Good Luck!

 

[S. S. Columbia]

When I was at DHS last year I saw a young boy, around the age of 12, use his light saber to practically "clobber" Darth Vader on the head! The CMs were not amused. That might be one reason why they shy away from picking 12-year-olds.

I would want the 12-year-old to have realistic expectations about getting selected, but it's still worth a try. And like others have said, it's definitely a fun show to see at least once.

Using a sign is a great idea!

Without a sign, we're 0 for 2. (B.D. = Before DIS)

With signs, we're 3 for 3. (A.D. = After DIS)

May the Force Be With You!

HTH

 

[bumbershoot]

Hey, that's a different host/academy headmaster guy than we've seen! I can't imagine he's anywhere near as fun/ny as the guy we've seen.

But it sure is the same Darth Maul!


I've seen littles try to clobber the two Darths' bits and pieces... Maul and Vader are in danger from everyone.

 

[Teki]

Heres a pretty resent picture of her (few weeks ago) does she look to old? She was disappointed when she attended the pirates adventure dinner and they didn't ask her to be a red coat. So Im trying not to set her up for disappointment on her Disneyland birthday trip.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Hey, that's a different host/academy headmaster guy than we've seen! I can't imagine he's anywhere near as funny as the guy we've seen.

But it sure is the same Darth Maul!

This guy was pretty good. From his accent I'd say he's from Australia. All I know is I loved his accent.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

Heres a pretty resent picture of her (few weeks ago) does she look to old? She was disappointed when she attended the pirates adventure dinner and they didn't ask her to be a red coat. So Im trying not to set her up for disappointment on her Disneyland birthday trip.

I think she has a pretty good chance of being selected for JTA.

There are usually more boys than girls attending the show, so they will be more likely to choose a Padawan Princess.

The DL web-site says the ages for JTA are four to 12, and I have only heard success stories with Guests using signs at DL's JTA.

 

[ballarinamom]

She looks like the perfect age to have fun with Jedi Training! Just make sure she is very energetis and maybe have a roll up type sign that says something Star Wars ish- "The force is strong with this one" or the likes

 

[Brady's Mom]

Hey, that's a different host/academy headmaster guy than we've seen! I can't imagine he's anywhere near as fun/ny as the guy we've seen.

But it sure is the same Darth Maul!


I've seen littles try to clobber the two Darths' bits and pieces... Maul and Vader are in danger from everyone.

Actually, Molly, I've seen both Hosts before and they are both very funny. The guy in the previous post has an Australian accent (maybe) - def. not an American accent and he talks just a little slower than the other Host. It makes it easier to follow his jokes sometimes. But - I love, love both hosts.

To the PP's - Just make sure that your sign does NOT look like a sign of any kind. They will NOT be allowed into the park. When we went last March DS 12 brought a sign and it wasn't "hidden" and he was not allowed into the park (through security) until it was thrown away. DLR has a serious no sign policy. I felt bad for him at the time - but he was a trooper about it and a really good sport - and he got picked anyway!

 

[WannaBeAPrincess]

My three boys love this show so we have been to it too many times to count. It's been my experience that the most enthusiastic kids get chosen. We've never done a sign or special clothing, but my oldest son will place my youngest on his shoulders and that always gets him picked right away. It is true that older kids, or kids that appear older usually don't get picked, but they can still have fun. My oldest doesnt try to get picked anymore. He's 11 years old but probably looks closer to 13. He just wants to help his brothers try to get up there.

 

[Teki]

I started being like that at his age unfortunatly its just her and she still feels like the baby of the family and doesnt like beign told other wise. Its probably my fault

 

[Bluestars]

We went there with my son and my brother's family. There were 4 kids in all and only three of them wanted to do it. We got there early and sat on the floor right up front until the show started. The kids got up and started waving their arms and acting enthusiastic. I also helped by waving my hands and pointing at the kids. All three got picked and had a great time.

Good luck. It's a lot of fun for the kids.

 

[jessica52877]

We have done it 2x and both times DS5 was picked. I had a mickey jedi shirt on him that I made.

I just made princess leia minnie for a friend that went to DHS. I am not sure if her daughter got picked or not. There was a big group of them, 5 boys with jedi mickeys and then 2 girls with Minnie Leia's.

At DL they seem to pick first based on clothing items, atleast in my experience. They actually usually say something about the clothing.

Good Luck to her! We did see an older boy get picked when we were there, they guy made a comment about maybe he has eaten too many vegetables or something funny like that but they still picked him.

Come join us on the disboutiquers thread on the family board if you want to learn to sew!