Official Star Wars Weekends 2014 Tips and Tricks

[The Sunrise Student]

Thanks so much for the detailed answer If it's true DBF will be tickled pink! He loves Star Wars and I convinced him to go by playing the SWW card That'd be nice though to get in a little earlier especially cuz I'm the ride freak and need to get those in too!

You are welcome, have a wonderful time!

 

[yulilin3]

Hi, This is our first starwars weekend and I have a question. Can you take strollers into the character lines that are outside while waiting? Like Chewbacca or Mickey and gang. Just wondering so I don't do the wrong thing. I know I can't take it to sign up for jedi training.

Thanks
Tammy

That's a good question, I had to go back and look at my videos from previous years. For most of them, no you can't, I didn't see any strollers in Vaders, Chewies or Mickey and the gang but I did see a stroller in line for Jango Fett. I guess the more popular lines they want to cram people in as much as possible.

 

[yulilin3]

Does anyone know when the actors/actresses were announced in years before? I'm getting really excited about SWW but I want to know who is coming this year.

I am one of those crazy people who used to go to the conventions when they were in Indy, so I already have quite a few autographs and I'm hoping that some people will show up who I don't have

You can keep an eye on this site: http://starwarsactorappearances.blogspot.com/
I wouldn't have high hopes for Anthony Daniels, though. His last appearance during SWW brought lots of angry people since he only decided to sign his black and white photo that was provided. A lot of people waited all night with different items for him to sign only to be told that he wouldn't at the last second. He didn't even say anything to the Disney people until that very first morning...needless to say he hasn't appeared since.
We should know soon on the hosts, I hope

 

[BrianL]

SWW is definitely laid back compared to the conventions. They are more like Star Wars Weekends on steroids.

If you do decide on a SWW day, Friday would be your best bet.

No doubt, you will encounter larger crowds on the weekend vs the weekday during SWW.

If you can't decide, toss a coin, lol.

Thanks. I've never been a "Con" person, and while I like some of what SWW has to offer, I still think it'd be better to avoid the crowds (especially for my friend). We'd be going at the end of April/early May, so no SWW days at all. But it's cheaper and less crowded, and my friend's birthday. I think if I had gotten more of my friends to want to go, the push for SWW would be greater. We'll be discussing it this weekend.

 

[lovethattink]

THanks. I've never been a "Con" person, and while I like some of what SWW has to offer, I still think it'd be better to avoid the crowds (especially for my friend). We'd be going at the end of April/early May, so no SWW days at all. But it's cheaper and less crowded, and my friend's birthday. I think if I had gotten more of my friends to want to go, the push for SWW would be greater. We'll be discussing it this weekend.

As long as you're still going to Disney, that's what counts!

 

[disney mom of 6]

I know for a fact that for the character meets inside Darth's Mall, the answer is no. Strollers are not allowed. There is stroller parking outside of the tent.

I can't remember about the other lines.

I know for the Premiere Theater that strollers were fine in line, but had to be parked outside prior to entering the theater.

Thank you for the info. I'm looking forward to the meets inside Darth's Mall just for the air conditioning. We were watching you tube videos and my dd4 said look its the robot from "Meet the Robinsons" it was c3po. I guess we have more starwars training to do. I know we won't be doing any of the shows. I don't think my youngest would be interested enough.

 

[disney mom of 6]

No you can't bring the stroller in the lines...at least not the vast majority of them.

That's a good question, I had to go back and look at my videos from previous years. For most of them, no you can't, I didn't see any strollers in Vaders, Chewies or Mickey and the gang but I did see a stroller in line for Jango Fett. I guess the more popular lines they want to cram people in as much as possible.

Sorry I forgot how to multi quote ha ha! Thank you both for the info. I really am trying to be as prepared as possible. We are really looking forward to enjoying starwars weekends and I know being prepared is important. I followed along last year since I knew we would be coming this year. Always great info around here!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

You can keep an eye on this site: http://starwarsactorappearances.blogspot.com/
I wouldn't have high hopes for Anthony Daniels, though. His last appearance during SWW brought lots of angry people since he only decided to sign his black and white photo that was provided. A lot of people waited all night with different items for him to sign only to be told that he wouldn't at the last second. He didn't even say anything to the Disney people until that very first morning...needless to say he hasn't appeared since.
We should know soon on the hosts, I hope

Thanks for the site!

That is a shame about Anthony Daniels, I wonder if something just got lost in translation there. I never heard any other stories about fans having problems with him.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

You can keep an eye on this site: http://starwarsactorappearances.blogspot.com/
I wouldn't have high hopes for Anthony Daniels, though. His last appearance during SWW brought lots of angry people since he only decided to sign his black and white photo that was provided. A lot of people waited all night with different items for him to sign only to be told that he wouldn't at the last second. He didn't even say anything to the Disney people until that very first morning...needless to say he hasn't appeared since.
We should know soon on the hosts, I hope

We went to Star wars convention last year and saw Anthony Daniels there. We did not go to get an autograph but we saw him walking to his booth and he stopped for photos on the way and chatted with people, he was really pleasant. The next day we went to DHS and he was there on the Star Tours Ride. It was really cool to see him in the ride. We stopped him to talk to him and again he was really pleasant, he spent about 10 min talking to us and took photos with us. He was really, really nice.

 

[Reizo]

We went to Star wars convention last year and saw Anthony Daniels there. We did not go to get an autograph but we saw him walking to his booth and he stopped for photos on the way and chatted with people, he was really pleasant. The next day we went to DHS and he was there on the Star Tours Ride. It was really cool to see him in the ride. We stopped him to talk to him and again he was really pleasant, he spent about 10 min talking to us and took photos with us. He was really, really nice.

Now THAT is a very cool story

 

[yulilin3]

Thanks for the site!

That is a shame about Anthony Daniels, I wonder if something just got lost in translation there. I never heard any other stories about fans having problems with him.

Not sure what happened, we met him when he came in 2007 and he wasn't very chatty but he did sign our calendar. We also went for the Q&A show and as he was walking out on stage, he stopped, told everyone to get his picture because he didn't want any more flashes during the show
This site also keeps up to date on everything SWW, here's the direct link to the celebrities that have visited in the past: http://sww.studioscentral.com/main/content/scheduled-celebrities-guests

 

[FreeThinker]

We want to do the SWW again. Last time we arrived at 7AM so we could sign the kids up for JTA, and by 2PM we were beat and left. This time we want to see the Hyperspace Hoopla, which is at 8PM. This time my plan is to sleep in, not do much and arrive around 2-3PM. I have a ressie for 5:30 at Sci-Fi, then go get in line for HsH around 7PM (Is this early enough?). Afterwards, there is a F! at 9PM, but we watched it last year, so thought we would ride rides w/ shorter lines. It says closes at 10PM. Do you think we will really get to ride much? Or will the lines still be really long? Do the rides still stay open during F!?
Also, will they still do the character meet and greets at 4:30-ish with the villians in the Streets of America on SWW? We just barely got ther ein time last year and didn't get any autographs, but did see Hook, Pocahontas, ect. Anyone know if they still do this on SWW?
Also, how long do the meet and greets go on? We'd really like to have our pics w/ Chewy and Princess Leia.

We do have another HS day planned to do JTA and ride rides in the middle of the week w/o the crazy SWW crowds We are off-site, so no FP+ to pre-schedule (boo!), and we plan to go Sunday, May 18.

 

[aprincessatlast]

We have changed our plans to be there for the first weekend for our kids. My kids are so excited. Priorities are JTA and Parade and Mickey in costume. Then maybe a few souvenirs. The rest would be regular DHS stuff. I normally would skip this park but Star Wars has a huge draw for my kids and figured this would be a one time shot for them, since I doubt we will make it back during this time frame let alone DW with all the changes.

According to another site they recommend Sunday over Friday on the first weekend. I really wanted to go the Friday due to being able to get to bed earlier on Thursday. So we could arrive by 7:30 at the gates. Is there that big a difference between those days besides people buying collectables?

 

[yulilin3]

We want to do the SWW again. Last time we arrived at 7AM so we could sign the kids up for JTA, and by 2PM we were beat and left. This time we want to see the Hyperspace Hoopla, which is at 8PM. This time my plan is to sleep in, not do much and arrive around 2-3PM. I have a ressie for 5:30 at Sci-Fi, then go get in line for HsH around 7PM (Is this early enough?). Afterwards, there is a F! at 9PM, but we watched it last year, so thought we would ride rides w/ shorter lines. It says closes at 10PM. Do you think we will really get to ride much? Or will the lines still be really long? Do the rides still stay open during F!?
Also, will they still do the character meet and greets at 4:30-ish with the villians in the Streets of America on SWW? We just barely got ther ein time last year and didn't get any autographs, but did see Hook, Pocahontas, ect. Anyone know if they still do this on SWW?
Also, how long do the meet and greets go on? We'd really like to have our pics w/ Chewy and Princess Leia.

We do have another HS day planned to do JTA and ride rides in the middle of the week w/o the crazy SWW crowds We are off-site, so no FP+ to pre-schedule (boo!), and we plan to go Sunday, May 18.

First it depends from where do you want to watch Hoopla, if it's in front of the stage getting a spot at 7pm is really late and you'll probably be far away. If you want to watch fron the American Idol Jumbotron then 7pm is a good time to get a spot.
Second the SW characters meet up until 6pm, some of them stay until 7pm but that's the latest....Characterpalooza (the one where different characters come out on Streets of America) does not take place there during SWW, maybe they'll move that back inside the Animation Bldg.
Third you can get in lines for any rides up until 9:50pm. TSMM will still have long lines but others like Star Tours, Movie Ride, Muppets will not. ToT and RnRC probably will have lines of about 45min. to an hour as well. All rides stay open during Fantasmic.
If you have any other questions let us know...happy planning

We have changed our plans to be there for the first weekend for our kids. My kids are so excited. Priorities are JTA and Parade and Mickey in costume. Then maybe a few souvenirs. The rest would be regular DHS stuff. I normally would skip this park but Star Wars has a huge draw for my kids and figured this would be a one time shot for them, since I doubt we will make it back during this time frame let alone DW with all the changes.

According to another site they recommend Sunday over Friday on the first weekend. I really wanted to go the Friday due to being able to get to bed earlier on Thursday. So we could arrive by 7:30 at the gates. Is there that big a difference between those days besides people buying collectables?

No, the only difference is thet huge line for the merchandise tent but that usually clears by mid afternoon. So if you want to go shopping I would say go to the tent after 3pm, it should have no lines at that point.
Other than that you have a pretty good plan. Get there before the park opens, sign kids up for JTA (remember the child has to be with you to sign up) and then you can get in line for the Disney SW characters. Then get a spot for the parade.

 

[fozziepitysthefool]

Am contemplating a surprise trip for DS Sweet 16 (which is mid-June) so we would take in the last SW week-end... The problem is pulling him out of school. (He's in Grade 10). I did in October for the ToT 10-miler and we're going again in December 2014 for Christmas, so no school missed. I am just waiting until the semester starts in February to see what his course load will be like... Will make a decision before mid-February. Watch this space!

We will be staying at one of the AS. Do you think there will still be room if we book then for early June?

 

[yulilin3]

Am contemplating a surprise trip for DS Sweet 16 (which is mid-June) so we would take in the last SW week-end... The problem is pulling him out of school. (He's in Grade 10). I did in October for the ToT 10-miler and we're going again in December 2014 for Christmas, so no school missed. I am just waiting until the semester starts in February to see what his course load will be like... Will make a decision before mid-February. Watch this space!

We will be staying at one of the AS. Do you think there will still be room if we book then for early June?

Sorry but I am local so I never stay during that time at a resort, but I can say that by the last weekend most kids are out of school (at least in Fl) and it's busier. Hopefully someone here can give you more info on this

 

[melnbil]

We haven't been to WDW since 2011. We are going to SWW on May 30 or June 1. Can someone remind me what time the Calvacade parade is??

 

[yulilin3]

We haven't been to WDW since 2011. We are going to SWW on May 30 or June 1. Can someone remind me what time the Calvacade parade is??

For the last couple of years the Star Wars Parade has been at 11am. I posted the map with times on the first post of this thread

 

[fozziepitysthefool]

Sorry but I am local so I never stay during that time at a resort, but I can say that by the last weekend most kids are out of school (at least in Fl) and it's busier. Hopefully someone here can give you more info on this

Lucky you to be a local! That's okay if the kids are out of school as I doubt their families would require a hotel room. I am worried about the value resorts being at capacity before I get around to booking.

 

[yulilin3]

Lucky you to be a local! That's okay if the kids are out of school as I doubt their families would require a hotel room. I am worried about the value resorts being at capacity before I get around to booking.

Yeah, pretty spoiled