Official Star Wars Weekends 2013 Tips and Tricks

[yulilin3]

My general impressions of today's event:
Always fun to walk into DHS with SW being played. Stormtroopers marched around several areas of DHS during the day.
Star Tours was closed for most of the morning, I grabbed a fp as as soon as we go there and were able to ride, rode it 3 times and didn't see any characters in there
Lines for characters were what they usually are during SWW, but they forgot to put out some umbrellas for the DIsney SW characters, and it got hot pretty fast in the afternoon when the sun finally broke thru.
JTA with adults, the 2 shows I saw the adults didn't have any robes on, not sure of they were provided robes in the later shows. A lot of adults seemed very into it, happier than the kids fighting Vader.
Ahsoka and Assaj came out for the lower tier of JTA, not sure if Darth Maul came out
I hope people going in the evening report back about their experiences...now I really need to stop focusing on Vader and focus on that Yeti and get ready for the race.

 

[Dikran]

So if I understand correctly, I shouldn't expect to find any limited edition stuff in the parks on the second weekend

 

[jtowntoflorida]

OK, so my daughter was looking over my shoulder as I was looking at Kenny's Twitter feed, and she was all OMG, WHAT IS THAT? I'd kicked around the idea of doing a surprise mommy-daughter trip for one SWWs, but then time got away from me and I have a busy business travel schedule in May. The only date that works is the last SWW...so now I'm crazily considering booking a last minute trip. Would that be totally nuts? We'd leave Friday, come back Monday, and just visit the parks Saturday and Sunday. Has anyone else ever caught the bug and done something relatively crazy like that?

 

[obx_mama]

...
I hope people going in the evening report back about their experiences...now I really need to stop focusing on Vader and focus on that Yeti and get ready for the race.

Thanks for the updates and pics! Good luck with the Yeti! Thumbsup:

 

[AquaDame]

OK, so my daughter was looking over my shoulder as I was looking at Kenny's Twitter feed, and she was all OMG, WHAT IS THAT? I'd kicked around the idea of doing a surprise mommy-daughter trip for one SWWs, but then time got away from me and I have a busy business travel schedule in May. The only date that works is the last SWW...so now I'm crazily considering booking a last minute trip. Would that be totally nuts? We'd leave Friday, come back Monday, and just visit the parks Saturday and Sunday. Has anyone else ever caught the bug and done something relatively crazy like that?

Lots of people do! The only difference is ADRs, right? Harder to find this close in, but everything else is fair game! Plus, Disney themselves haven't even fully meshed everything out, so its still early by that standard - they have to plan and do it all, you just have to show up!

 

[MelissathePooh]

OK, so my daughter was looking over my shoulder as I was looking at Kenny's Twitter feed, and she was all OMG, WHAT IS THAT? I'd kicked around the idea of doing a surprise mommy-daughter trip for one SWWs, but then time got away from me and I have a busy business travel schedule in May. The only date that works is the last SWW...so now I'm crazily considering booking a last minute trip. Would that be totally nuts? We'd leave Friday, come back Monday, and just visit the parks Saturday and Sunday. Has anyone else ever caught the bug and done something relatively crazy like that?

We had planned on driving in last night and coming home tomorrow just to catch the 4th activities today. We were all set, but the weather front that moved in has soaked all of Chattanooga and most of North GA. We realized that if we had gone we would have issues getting home - driving in the rain and possible flooding.

So no my family would not think its crazy! We fully support drop in trips if you can swing it!

 

[yulilin3]

Had to check one last time on the HUB and, alas, the full list of celebs is up:

MAY 17-19
Ray Park – (Darth Maul)
Jeremy Bullock (Bobba Fett)
Dee Bradley Baker (voice of Clones on CW)

MAY 24-26
Ray Park (Darth Maul )
Warwick Davis ( Wicket)
Jim Cummings (voice of Hondo Ohnaka-Star Wars Clone Wars)

MAY 31 - JUNE 2
Warwick Davis ( Wicket)
Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)
Sam Witwer (Voice of Darth Maul - Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

JUNE 7-9
Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian)
Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca)
Tom Kane (Voice of Yoda in Star Wars Clone Wars)

 

[shelbyf31]

Yulilin3 good luck tonight! Thanks for the info

 

[Brit_Jude]

OK, so my daughter was looking over my shoulder as I was looking at Kenny's Twitter feed, and she was all OMG, WHAT IS THAT? I'd kicked around the idea of doing a surprise mommy-daughter trip for one SWWs, but then time got away from me and I have a busy business travel schedule in May. The only date that works is the last SWW...so now I'm crazily considering booking a last minute trip. Would that be totally nuts? We'd leave Friday, come back Monday, and just visit the parks Saturday and Sunday. Has anyone else ever caught the bug and done something relatively crazy like that?

No not crazy at all I would go......just beware that once you start you'll want to go every year......

 

[Brit_Jude]

My general impressions of today's event:
Always fun to walk into DHS with SW being played. Stormtroopers marched around several areas of DHS during the day.
Star Tours was closed for most of the morning, I grabbed a fp as as soon as we go there and were able to ride, rode it 3 times and didn't see any characters in there
Lines for characters were what they usually are during SWW, but they forgot to put out some umbrellas for the DIsney SW characters, and it got hot pretty fast in the afternoon when the sun finally broke thru.
JTA with adults, the 2 shows I saw the adults didn't have any robes on, not sure of they were provided robes in the later shows. A lot of adults seemed very into it, happier than the kids fighting Vader.
Ahsoka and Assaj came out for the lower tier of JTA, not sure if Darth Maul came out
I hope people going in the evening report back about their experiences...now I really need to stop focusing on Vader and focus on that Yeti and get ready for the race.

Thanks for the photos......really wets my appetite for SWW.....

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Lots of people do! The only difference is ADRs, right? Harder to find this close in, but everything else is fair game! Plus, Disney themselves haven't even fully meshed everything out, so its still early by that standard - they have to plan and do it all, you just have to show up!

My daughter barely eats anyway, so TS is wasted on her! LOL. We wouldn't need ADRs if it's just the two of us.

Flights are not cheap, but not outrageous, either. They're just sorta average. And we'd stay in a Value since we won't be in the room at all anyway, and again, it would be just the two of us. She'd have to miss the last day of school, but she's only in kindergarten so that shouldn't be a big deal. I already purchased tickets through UT for our regular fall trip, and I'm thinking that it might be worth it just to upgrade ours to APs instead of buying a two day ticket for each of us. That would also be a way to justify a trip over her spring break (which is very late--in April past Easter) next year. So I'm justifying in my head that this will be a "cheap" trip.

 

[obx_mama]

My daughter barely eats anyway, so TS is wasted on her! LOL. We wouldn't need ADRs if it's just the two of us.

Flights are not cheap, but not outrageous, either. They're just sorta average. And we'd stay in a Value since we won't be in the room at all anyway, and again, it would be just the two of us. She'd have to miss the last day of school, but she's only in kindergarten so that shouldn't be a big deal. I already purchased tickets through UT for our regular fall trip, and I'm thinking that it might be worth it just to upgrade ours to APs instead of buying a two day ticket for each of us. That would also be a way to justify a trip over her spring break (which is very late--in April past Easter) next year. So I'm justifying in my head that this will be a "cheap" trip.

Sounds like you have a good plan! If you are looking for folks to talk you out of it you're probably on the wrong thread! LOL

 

[Berlioz70]

I also attended the event today and focused on characters (that Merch line looked crazy all day). Characters were nearly identical to SWW, but there were a couple differences:

NO Appearances by: Amidala, Anakin, Shaak Ti, Sing
Only JTA Appearances, no M&Gs: Maul, Asajj, Ashoka

Bonus appearances by Greedo - I've never met him at SWW before, only from the Parade Route.

Additionally, the VIPs overlapped some of their sets today, which was amazing!!

I started with Vader at 9:00 and had them all by 4:30, 28 in total. 9 hours is long for a 7 month pregnant woman, so I didn't stick around for the Dance Party tonight. Here is a Facebook album of photos, with 2 highlights below: LIMITED TIME MAGIC

 

[bjakmom]

What awesome pics!! thanks! So jealous of your Fab4+ pic - that's a lucky photo! You did good for 7 months - LOL!
DGrD9 and I spent the evening designing her Boba Fett and R2D2 sundresses for SWW - so seeing all these great pics and waiting right now livestream for the special 4th fireworks is just what we needed - sure wish we were there!!

 

[CentralFloridian99]

Full celebrity lineup!!!!:

http://www.studioscentral.com/blog/2013/05/05/full-list-star-wars-weekends-2013-celebrities

 

[yulilin3]

Berlioz...I knew you looked familiar, you were 2 groups in front of me waiting for Chewbacca... you're a CM right? I saw you with the list of characters

Now that we know the full list of celebs I think that Billy Dee Williams and Tim Rose will be the most popular ones.

 

[ajh88]

I'm just going to be bold and say I think this might be the best line-up of Star Wars celebrities I've ever seen for SWW. I'm not sure there is a weekend where you can go wrong as far as celebrity M&G's go!

We were excited about Ray Park and Warwick Davis, but Jim Cummings is awesome! Not such a huge player in the Star Wars Universe by comparison, but he was DARKWING DUCK!! We love us some DW. Very excited to get to meet him too.

Only a little bummed I'm missing Sam Witwer...he was great as Darth Maul in the Clone Wars but I remember him more from Smallville - he was Doomsday. He is on Being Human too, but I haven't watched it.

Usually I feel like I'm envious of the celebs on "other" weekends, but this year, I'm happy with my own and would be happy with any of them!

I see some early morning autograph lines in my future...

 

[TygerHawks]

Is that a difficult pic to get? Would love to get this one during SWW!!!!

 

[lovethattink]

Is that a difficult pic to get? Would love to get this one during SWW!!!!

During SWW it's nearly impossible to get them all together. The most we ever got were 2 at a time. Last year this particular astromech didn't make an appearance. R2D2 did, in the merchandise tent.

 

[kmcdougan]

Hey, gang. Just found out this morning, I have been approved to march with the 501st Legion in the parade on Saturday, May 25. Hope to hear lots of cheering for the Imperial officer in the white jacket!

Ash