Looking for your best Star Wars Weekend Hints!

[TheBeast]

Any good hints on attending the Star War weekends? We are taking our DS and DD to the first weekend in June. This will be our first visit. I have read the shops will be very crowded any other comments, hints, or tips. Thanks and have a great night!

 

[mattsdragon]

Get there early for souviners, last year, the Darth Mickey LE plush sold out the first weekend. By the time we were there in mid-June, there were a ton of things sold out, like most of the LE pins.

So the wife is letting me go the first weekend this time.

Oh, and here's another hint. The store over by Indy also sells SWW stuff, and nobody goes in there.

 

[timandlesley]

In the "Sounds Dangerous" theatre Jedi Mickey was in there last year. I was waiting for my DS 4 and my DH to get out of Star Tours and I was just aimlessly walking around the park on a VERY crowded day. I saw the sign "Jedi Mickey" and the arrow and walked into the threatre and was AMAZED, we were the ONLY one's in there, walked right up got tons of pictures with Mickey in the Jedi uniform and had him all to ourselves, INCREDIBLE!!

 

[disneydebi]

If you see something in the stores you like, get it then - don't wait.

I was going to get the Star Wars Weekend poster last year... but figured I'd wait until the crowds thinned out a bit to go buy it. What I didn't realize is that they did not sell it EXCEPT on the actual weekends. I thought since they had them in the stores, I could buy it any day that week(since it was a week in between 2 Star Wars Weekends)- nope. Missed out on that one.

 

[LadyZolt]

I would get fast passes for the Star Wars "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" game because the questions are Star Wars related and there's always some sort of Star Wars character in the audience.

When we did this a few years ago, I remember that they had stuff for kids to sign up for, like being a Jedi. My kid was in the older age group and they got to answer trivia questions. Also, they usually have some actors who were in the films, so your kids can meet them and get signed autographs. If your kids are Star Wars fans, they will love it from the minute they get to the gate. Have a fabulous time!

-Dorothy (whose oldest Jedi son will be in boot camp and miss this years Star Wars weekends -- LOL!)

 

[coby421]

Is "who wants to be a millionaire?" the only regular mgm attraction that becomes star wars themed?

 

[Brianne]

IMHO, the best seats for the parade is near the celeb busts. If you sit on the wall, no one can stand in front of you, but you have to be sitting on the wall--no feet on the ground! It's also best to stake that spot out at least an hour before parade time.

 

[mtblujeans]

Great stuff! Bump!!

 

[daisyduck123]

Just subscribing to this post....

Please keep the hints/advice coming. Thanks!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I am also subscribing. Two years ago we went by accident to Star Wars weekend, but this year we are going because my DS has become such a fan.
He has read there is Jedi training. Is there a way to do this, or is it luck?

 

[jeankeri]

Also subscribing for tips. I heard for Jedi training they are randomly picked from the audience before the show. Being energetic seems to help, but you may have to return a few times to try and get picked. I believe the shows are hourly?

 

[Belle Amy]

On the second Saturday of SWW and it was really busy...we had never been before so we kinda did things at our own pace...The Darth Mickey plush was already sold out (or at least we couldn't find it anywhere).

We started by going straight back to where the Emperial base was set up, and it was empty. Most people had begun to line up to meet Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and we got great pictures with Darth Vader and Darth Sideous without any wait. We also found that later after the Stars and Motor Cars parade that there was only a small line to get Peter Mayhew's autograph, and the same for the scheduled time for Rob Coleman (Visual Effects Supervisor for ILM) We seemed to plan our encounters pretty well for having no plans at all.

I do suggest continuing to tour the Emperial and Rebel Bases, if only for the additional characters that seem to come out during the day. By the afternoon, Greedo, Darth Maul, and Zam Wessel, among others, had joined the Emperial Base, and Queen Amidala and Anakin joined the Rebel Base...although they were seperated a little... (On a cute sidenote, the little girl in front of me, probably about 4 or 5, walked up to get her picture taken with Amidala, and Amidala leaned down and asked the girl if she had seen Anakin. The little girl shook her head and said not yet, and Amidala told her that when she did see Anakin, to tell him that she missed him....thought it was sweet...)

Also, as mattsdragon mentioned, just past Prime Time Cafe, before Indy, there is a small store that has a lot of limited edition items, and the store never seemed busy when we walked by...great place for hard to find stuff!!

I hope you have a great time, we are going to try to make it to as many weekends as we can!!!

 

[sammielynn]

I agree with the shop early hint. We wanted t-shirts last year and by lunch the adult L and XL's were gone. They told us to come back next week-end . but alas we were back in Tennessee by then.

 

[sodaseller]

We started by going straight back to where the Emperial base was set up, and it was empty. Most people had begun to line up to meet Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and we got great pictures with Darth Vader and Darth Sideous without any wait. We also found that later after the Stars and Motor Cars parade that there was only a small line to get Peter Mayhew's autograph, and the same for the scheduled time for Rob Coleman (Visual Effects Supervisor for ILM) We seemed to plan our encounters pretty well for having no plans at all.

I do suggest continuing to tour the Emperial and Rebel Bases, if only for the additional characters that seem to come out during the day. By the afternoon, Greedo, Darth Maul, and Zam Wessel, among others, had joined the Emperial Base, and Queen Amidala and Anakin joined the Rebel Base...although they were seperated a little... (On a cute sidenote, the little girl in front of me, probably about 4 or 5, walked up to get her picture taken with Amidala, and Amidala leaned down and asked the girl if she had seen Anakin. The little girl shook her head and said not yet, and Amidala told her that when she did see Anakin, to tell him that she missed him....thought it was sweet...)

What are these bases you speak of? We have only been once, and largely gravitated around Star Tours, but I don't know of these bases you speak of - did we miss something big?

 

[becobscot]

Definitely ride or if necessary get FP's for Star Tours. As we exited the ride, Luke and Leia were in the corridor posing for photos and signing autographs!

 

[Kaybee]

We went last May for the Jedi training sessions for my nephews to do. The CM told us to arrive about 15mins before the sessions starts. There is a roped off area to wait. Someone comes out right before the show starts to pick the "students". The CM told us the most enthusiastic kids got chosen!! We were first at the ropes and nephews were hollering "pick me" and got chosen right away. They had a great time, they also got a small gift of a Star Wars lego when they were done for participating. We are going again this year so nephews can do it again.

 

[jeankeri]

Thanks for all the tips. Is there a special tour map for SWW when you get to MGM that lets you know where all the events are?

 

[bjakmom]

QuickGold's site has lots of info on SWW: http://sww.mgmstudios.org/main/
There are pictures, schedules, reviews, tips, etc from the past several years. There were no 'maps' of where the SW stuff was - there was a separate SW insert which listed all of the times and places.
Last year they separated the Rebel and Imperial forces into separate 'areas' - Rebel forces were over by Star Tours (and across from entrance to SciFi) - the Imperial forces were all over on Mickey Ave (across from WWTBAM and Backstage tour area). They had separate meet and greet areas for the characters. It kept the crowds spread out a bit.

 

[Belle Amy]

Like bjakmom said, the "bases" were two seperate areas, the Rebel being in front of Star Tours and the Empire was represented in front of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. It was, as she said, an attempt to keep the crowds thinned...and of course to keep blaster fire at a minimum!!!

 

[jeankeri]

Glad there is some kind of insert to go by. Do they tell you where you go to get the fastpasses for autographs, etc? I know this is a first thing to do and I want to be prepared.