Jedi Training Academy Photopass / information from 6/16

[Chiefillini]

Thanks to all who have posted their experiences and great information. I just wanted to share information that I learned and reconfirm other information from my sons Jedi Training Academy experience on Thursday.

1. Arrive early, probably around 8:15am, like others always post. We arrived at 8:30, and we were in line for JTA by 8:45am after going through security and entrance. We were about the last family under the cover at the entrance to Indiana Jones, everyone after us went up into the Indiana jones waiting area. We completed sign up at about 9:40am. I spoke with a family later that told me they signed up at about 8:20am and had limited wait.

2. If you have a 4 yr old, make sure they know they will have help fighting the dark side. . Our little Padawan had a little "Freak Out" as he thought he litteraly was going to fight the real Darth Vader by himself and said "Dad, I don't think I can do it" after we checked in at his time. Conquer the Fear.

3. Photopass. Well this dad lost the Photopass card during the day. Make sure to put in the wallet, not your pocket. With frustration running high, we stopped by the Photopass office at HS. They were able to search all the photos taken around our time frame and found our pics. So if you ever loose your Photopass card do not worry , just stop by the office on your way out of the park. However, plan for about 30 min to allow them time to recover and attach to your account. The photographer took one of my favorite pics from our trip.

4. We told our son to keep his hood down, after they gave him his Jedi cloak, which made for better pictures.

5. They had kids checkin at the signup counter due to chance of rain. I had him stand on the blue dot that was next to the rope, as advised for Darth Vader, this was the case.

 

[Mikie]

Thanks for sharing updates! I'm glad your little Padawan gathered his courage and fought the Dark Side (so cute that the poor guy thought he was all that was standing between us and Vader!)

#3 - While stressful to lose your card, that stop at Photopass was probably a good thing! Even if you retain your card, I like to recommend to people that they take it to a photopass shop and ask the CMs there to upload the photos for you. With the card, Guests CAN enter the code into MDE themselves, but then you get ALL the pictures of every participant at Jedi in your session. The Photopass site is slow and cumbersome and it really slows you down to have to scroll through literally hundreds of pictures of strangers along with your own photos. When you take the card to a shop, they can help you select and upload only your desired photos and leave out all the rest (an option you don't have when uploading yourself). If you have the time, you should at least look through all the other participants, though. We went ahead and chose a couple group shots that had a good view of one of the other kids in my son's show. We got such a huge kick out of that kid because he kept having trouble opening his light saber - it was a great memory from the show, although my actual son is barely in that photo

 

[ChloesDaddy]

I made sure to take pictures of both the receipt we got at check in and the photo pass card with the code in case we lost either.

 

[frisbeego]

I made sure to take pictures of both the receipt we got at check in and the photo pass card with the code in case we lost either.

I agree with this.

We did JTA twice two weeks ago. Both times it was (barely) organized chaos. One dad had only a picture of his receipt. The CM was adamant that he needed the actual paper receipt and made him go back to get one. So, even if you take a picture of it, don't throw it out!

The second time, they didn't tell everyone that families and friends had to be in the same line until after every kid already had a blue dot. Of course, there were 2 families that had kids in each line. The CM spent the next few minutes trying to cajole the other kids into switching lines.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

I agree with this.

We did JTA twice two weeks ago. Both times it was (barely) organized chaos. One dad had only a picture of his receipt. The CM was adamant that he needed the actual paper receipt and made him go back to get one. So, even if you take a picture of it, don't throw it out!

The second time, they didn't tell everyone that families and friends had to be in the same line until after every kid already had a blue dot. Of course, there were 2 families that had kids in each line. The CM spent the next few minutes trying to cajole the other kids into switching lines.

Yes, definitely hold onto the receipt. I took a picture of it in case we lost it and needed proof to get a replacement. Each kid holds their own receipt to hand to the CM when they get to the stage area.

As far as the "family members in the same line" thing goes, I think there are two main reasons. First, many of the kids may need help donning the robes, which they put on just before they head to the stage so the kids don't get too hot, and to help marshall the line as they walk through the crowd. Second, since the two lines end up on two different sections of the stage, one raised and one at ground level, it could be difficult to get pictures of kids that are separated. All three of our kids participated in May and each knew who they wanted to face -- 2 wanted Vader and the youngest wanted Seventh Sister. DW and I split up and put them in the lines to face the character they wanted. DW stayed near the lower stage and I stayed near the raised part. It worked fine.

 

[Pluto80]

Have never done this, but my son is desperate to do it this year. I had no idea there were photo pass photographers there. Do they get pretty good shots then?

 

[RachaelA]

Have never done this, but my son is desperate to do it this year. I had no idea there were photo pass photographers there. Do they get pretty good shots then?

Awesome shots!

 

[Pluto80]

That's well worth knowing. If that's the case, I won't bother using my camera, just let them do the hard work, and we can enjoy watching the show

 

[Chiefillini]

Good advice on taking a pic of the Photopass card, will be sure to do this from now on. We did choose several group shots as well. Our photographer did a great job as well. We did take video on our iPhone.

With the "family members in same line" I would be near your kid if you don't want them to switch lines. Here is what I noticed: they pulled a sibling from the "Lower stage" line to the Darth Vader line. Well, that meant they needed someone to go to the lower stage line to even then lines out. They asked everyone that did not have a brother, sister, or cousin with them to raise their hand. They than chose one of those kids to move to the lower stage line. I told my son "don't move lines" so that we could get him Darth Vader. Just something to watch out for if you really want Darth Vader.