May Star Wars Mayhem

[Alice&theMadHatter]

Does anyone have any idea how things will be at MGM during the Star Wars weekend. Meaning, does it get INCREDIBLY packed?!?!?


THanks!

Sandy

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

and how about the last weekend? June 10-12 ??

We may be going then.

 

[Shells9]

We've been there the last two years in May, just by chance, and it hasn't been bad at all. MGM is the only park affected and like I said, it is very manageable. DD is not a Star Wars fan by any means and even she enjoyed it.

 

[Snoopygirl]

We will be at MGM May 22 and I can't wait!!! My brother is soooo jealous...he is a HUGE Star Wars Nut! I didn't even realize it was Star Wars Weekend until after we booked our trip. WOOOHOOO!!!!

 

[wendy1974]

We were there last May during Star Wars Weekend and it was not bad at all. The longest wait was for Rock 'n Roller Coaster and that was like 20 minutes. We rode TOT twice in a row without a wait, waited like 5 minutes for Star Tours, Muppets...anyway it was not bad at all and they had ALOT of Star Wars characters and extra things to do

 

[QuickGold]

It's only busy around Star Tours (where most of the SWW events take place). Non-SWW related events are normally at their normal attendence levels, perhaps even lower. It also depends when you go. First weekend will be least crowded, the memorial day weekend will be very crowded and the weekend following it will be less crowded, but more crowded than the first (hope that made sense).

 

[bjakmom]

So, Matt, where does that leave the last weekend on the 'crowded' scale? We'll be there from the 10th - 12th.

 

[dixipixi]

We have been twice to SWW. The first time was the very first weekend of June and the second was over Memorial Day weekend. I didn't notice much difference in the crowds betweeen the two. It seemed to be really crowded at the gates in the morning (BTW...Don't miss the opening ceremonies!!).
But once the park opened, I didn't think it was too crowded at all. Like some of the other posters have mentioned, it only gets really crowded around Star Tours. We were still able to ride it twice that day (basically walk on...small to non existent line). Although we are SW fans, we don't stand in lines for autographs, etc. We just roam around the park and enjoy the atmosphere. We enjoy it so much we're going back this year!!!

 

[QuickGold]

So, Matt, where does that leave the last weekend on the 'crowded' scale? We'll be there from the 10th - 12th.

All the weekends in June are in the same boat of being "crowded" because schools start to get out, so the last weekend will be bad but not as bad as Memorial Day Weekend.

Here's my ranking (to make everything nice and simple to understand from least to most crowded):
May 20-22
June 3-5
June 10-12
May 27-29

 

[ktglads]

I would also say that Fridays are less busy than the Saturdays and Sundays since many people are locals and come out on the weekends. The biggest crowds will be waiting for the fastpasses for the celebrity autographs and WWTBAM. The discussion sessions inside the ABC theater were never super full (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 full at most). The adult trivia usually filled by 11 AM but they only took 25 people for this and it was only once a day.

 

[kyirish25]

Another question:
Are the Star Wars characters part of the Stars & Car parade or just have their own little parade early in the day?

 

[ktglads]

There is an additional parade (roughly 11AM) that features only the characters and sometimes the 501st. They are looking at the first and last weekends so that would add anywhere between 30 and 100 extra troopers to the parade. The characters walk, Jedi Mickey gets a car and the celebrities each have a car as well. They do a little skit/introduction thing on the stage afterwards. The parade's length depends on how many people are in it but it only about 10 minutes long.

 

[Mellie0119]

When we were at SWW in 03, during the opening ceremonies, they had Storm Troopers walking on the top of the entrance stalls (I hope that makes sense) talking about the crowd- they were pretty funny.

 

[Mykelogan]

Knowing that the final Star Wars film will be released on May 19th (I think!), I am wondering if the crowds will be up a bit at these events in commemoration? any thoughts?

Mike

 

[dturner]

You know, I orginally planned to attend SWW the first weekend - May 20th and then decided against it since it was coinciding with the last Star Wars movie coming out - I'm now going in September as usual when I know it won't be too crowded. DS(8) was disappointed, he's such a Star Wars freek but I don't want to spend that kind of money going to WDW and be there when it's too crowded.

Told DS we will go next year in May IF they have SWW again.

Oh well!!!

 

[froggieos1]

I am curious to if it will be more crowded because of the movie coming out the first week of it. That is when we plan to go.

Ondy

 

[ktglads]

The crowd will depend significantly on the celebrity as well. If it is someone who is big or does not sign ofter, then it will be a bigger draw than someone who is a little more readily available. When Carrie Fischer was there in 2001, it was a madhouse. Jake Lloyd had a decent line since he hadn't signed much before due to his age. Right now, we only know Daniel Logan. He didn't have a huge part so I really don't foresee him having a huge draw. Now if they were to announce Hayden or Ewan or Harrison or someone of that caliber, I would garuntee huge crowds in the parks. A lot of the celebrites have held minor roles and they tend to attend the other conventions, so the hard-core fans would already have their signatures.

 

[ptrbryant]

All I can say is that I am SO excited about this whole thing! DS9, the HUGE SW fan in the family, still thinks we're going in October...though, I've told him I'll see if we could try to do a May trip---won't tell him till 1-2 days before we leave.
We'll be staying at Saratogoa Springs on May 19th---opening day of the final SW movie--and plan on buying tickets earlier online, then just walking from Saratoga Springs to the AMC in Downtown Disney for the movie! I keep looking at pictures of SWW online and it is going to be so much fun, I don't care if crowd levels are up. We'll be at WDW from May 16 - 23!!!

Karla B.

 

[EEyorelover22]

We were there last Juen for the last weekend, it wasn't that bad. I would suggest a ps seating though if you want to eat a sit down dinner. Sci Fi didn't take any walk-ins the last Sunday of SWW.

 

[QuickGold]

Another question:
Are the Star Wars characters part of the Stars & Car parade or just have their own little parade early in the day?

The afternoon parade has a Star Wars overlay to it, so there'll be plenty of Star Wars characters to see during the parade (and throughout the day).

The movie itself coming out won't have that much of an effect. The real movie-centered stuff will be going on at the official Star Wars celebration going on in the midwest (I want to say Indianapolis). The first weekend will be the best weekend. And if you need to pick a day to go, Friday would be best followed by Saturday. Sundays tend to be a busier day at the Studios.