Official Star Wars Weekends 2014 Tips and Tricks

[Mommy2TwoMickeys]

How long does JTA last?

Also, what time would we have to arrive to get into the first JTA of the day? We are going 5/30

 

[lovethattink]

Since we are just about 3 weeks away from the 1st SWW, maybe everyone could start sharing their prior SWW pictures The Park, The Characters,etc. OR Maybe we could start a new thread for these pics and then once the first SWW rolls around, it will give the people attending a place to post!

Another thread would be great. This thread will build momentum and soon reach capacity. Just so this thread doesn't close so early.

 

[Itinkso]

How long does JTA last? Also, what time would we have to arrive to get into the first JTA of the day? We are going 5/30

JTA is a 20 minute session and the kids need to arrive at check-in 30 minutes prior to their session. On a regular park day, 45 minutes before park opening is suggested. On SWW, maybe a few minutes earlier than that?

 

[emilyyvic]

Question for all you SWW pros out there:

We are planning on doing our first SWW this year and the best place it fits into our schedule is on departure day. We would like to leave the park by 3:30pm to safely catch DME for our 5:30pm trip back to the airport.

If we are inside the park on Saturday May 24th from 11:30-3:30 what should we do to get the "full" SWW experience.

Will we be missing many main events by doing only 4 hours of park time in the afternoon?

We might consider changing our SWW park day if there are many things we should catch that we would otherwise miss out on.

Side note: This will be our 3rd day at DHS during our trip so we won't need to do a typical "tour" of the park.

Thanks in advance

 

[yulilin3]

Since we are just about 3 weeks away from the 1st SWW, maybe everyone could start sharing their prior SWW pictures The Park, The Characters,etc. OR Maybe we could start a new thread for these pics and then once the first SWW rolls around, it will give the people attending a place to post!

here's my photobucket album from last year
http://s283.photobucket.com/user/yulilin/slideshow/Star Wars Weekends 2013

 

[yulilin3]

Question for all you SWW pros out there:

We are planning on doing our first SWW this year and the best place it fits into our schedule is on departure day. We would like to leave the park by 3:30pm to safely catch DME for our 5:30pm trip back to the airport.

If we are inside the park on Saturday May 24th from 11:30-3:30 what should we do to get the "full" SWW experience.

Will we be missing many main events by doing only 4 hours of park time in the afternoon?

We might consider changing our SWW park day if there are many things we should catch that we would otherwise miss out on.

Side note: This will be our 3rd day at DHS during our trip so we won't need to do a typical "tour" of the park.

Thanks in advance

It really depends on what you think to be a SW experience.
Some people get the experience just by walking around looking at the characters, shopping for SW stuff, listening to the music.
Others prefer to see the parade or actually meet and take pics with the characters.
In your timeframe there will be one show you could do. Behind the Force Star Wars Voices is with the voice actors for the new Disney XD cartoon Star Wars Rebels, that show lasts about 30 min. and you can line up for it about 30min before.
But it all really depends on you and your family

 

[juliebug1997]

That is the weekend my youngest son is most excited about!

But, I don't watch those and I was hoping they'd at least have one person from the original movies. And I wish we were now going on the third weekend to Ratzenburger. I absolutely adore him. I would be talking about Cliff from "Cheers" the whole time though.

 

[yulilin3]

Gary from the Disney Parks Blog just posted this on his Facebook...I love it, this is my favorite Yoda quote

 

[ImagineerTHAT]

I'm a big star wars fan and whilst having pictures taken with the characters will be fun I just do not get the American obsession with celebrities and autographs. I dont think there is anybody in the world that I would queue up for hours to meet briefly and get their autograph. Certainly not a minor celeb like Ray Park, the guy who played Jar Jar Binks or Cliff from Cheers. Madness.

Hahaha....I'm totally with you. I want to meet Warwick Davis just to ask him about Karl Pilkington. There is no way I'm waiting in line at 4 AM though!

 

[ImagineerTHAT]

Quick question....I've read about 150 posts and I still can't find advice on where or when to go for Symphony in the Stars. The first posts talks about it, but I want to know where should I go for a good view and how early before 9:30.

I thought about Feel the Force, but I'm not interested in the motorcade at all.

 

[Dikran]

Looks like Feel the Force is all booked up for Friday May 16

 

[The Sunrise Student]

Not sure. I have not seen anyone submit pics of a Mara Jade yet, so, as far as I know, even without a ban on it (which I believe was handled with the EU lift), someone would still have to submit the costume to be approved to march, and then they would get to select days to march. There may be a Rebel LEgion version floating around, but I do not have access to those forums to check.

They always said that EU would be waitlisted, so that if they were cleared to go, then the costumes would have been in and approved. I would have recommended maintaining that course to get the costume done and the 2 troops in. Worst case is that you would be a member before going. Best case is you would have been cleared to march. That was what I was shooting for last year. I figured I would do everything I could and leave the things that were beyond my control to the powers that be.

Ash

Even if I could get a speical EU character approved like tomorrow, there is no way I could get my two troops in and then go through the steps to get approved to march.

I would have never imagined them lifing the ban on mara jade since she might be one of those EU characters that does go canon with the release of the new movies. The whole reason I orginally was shooting for this year is because of the possbility of her becoming canon and not being able to march her at all.

I am going to keep on my current path and submit by the 1st weekend in May.

 

[yulilin3]

Quick question....I've read about 150 posts and I still can't find advice on where or when to go for Symphony in the Stars. The first posts talks about it, but I want to know where should I go for a good view and how early before 9:30.

I thought about Feel the Force, but I'm not interested in the motorcade at all.

If you want them centered with the Hat, Hollywood Blvd. anywhere from the tip board down to the entrance. This is prime spot so you'll need to be there at least an hour before
If you don't mind them being off center with the Hat then anywhere around 50s Prime Time, Indiana Jones maybe all the way down to Star Tours.
Not sure if Streets of America will be open during the fireworks but it depends on wind direction, they make that choice that day.

 

[Mommy2TwoMickeys]

JTA is a 20 minute session and the kids need to arrive at check-in 30 minutes prior to their session. On a regular park day, 45 minutes before park opening is suggested. On SWW, maybe a few minutes earlier than that?

Thanks!

 

[Mommy2TwoMickeys]

here's my photobucket album from last year
http://s283.photobucket.com/user/yulilin/slideshow/Star Wars Weekends 2013

Thanks! Awesome Pictures!!

 

[yulilin3]

New star wars toys that will be available at the Disney Stores starting May 4.th

http://www.**************.net/2014/04/exclusive-star-wars-products-unveiled-for-disney-store/

 

[melnbil]

I started a new thread for everyone's old pics that they might want to share and for live updates when SWW begins. Please feel free to contribute!!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3267854

 

[Mommy2TwoMickeys]

I started a new thread for everyone's old pics that they might want to share and for live updates when SWW begins. Please feel free to contribute!!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3267854

Thanks!!!

 

[Linda67]

here's my photobucket album from last year http://s283.photobucket.com/user/yulilin/slideshow/Star%20Wars%20Weekends%202013

Very cool !

 

[Maddies Mama]

I am giddy with glee about SWW and I'm not a SW fan and have never seen any of the movies - SORRY, don't throw things at me!! I like to consider myself a SW ally

I am so excited because this has been on my husband's bucket list for as long as I've known him. This trip is a total surprise! He just returned from a deployment and we're taking our daughter to WDW this weekend to celebrate her 6th birthday. He's been gone for a rough 7 months and while it's our daughter's special celebration, I wanted to do something for him. On the morning of our DHS day, I have arranged for the pixies from Gifts of a Lifetime to set up a personal scavenger hunt for him where he'll find Star Wars pins hidden throughout the park. The big reveal will be the final leg of the hunt where we'll receive matching Rebel Alliance t-shirts and a special dress for our daughter that I had custom made and an invitation to come back in 3 weeks for SWW.

Anyway, now that that's out of the way, I do have legitimate questions He'll be there for one day only - we have a 4 day military ticket that expires in September so we are using 3 days this weekend and 1 day over SWW. I know the character meals haven't started yet, but can anyone speculate what the odds are that he'll be able to be wrapped up with breakfast in time to view the motorcade? I'm conflicted about keeping the ADR now because the only time I could get for Sci Fi was 10:30am and now I see the motorcade is at 11:30. But it would be nice to knock out all of those characters at once. I keep trying to get an earlier ADR, but so far nothing has become available. I check multiples times daily so hopefully something will turn up.

Also, he'll be flying solo all day while my daughter and I hang out in EPCOT or MK, aside from the ADR. We'll join him for the breakfast and I was wondering what time we should plan to arrive at the gate to make it on time without being way too early - we don't have any desire to ride rides or see characters at DHS that day, so I want to try to time it as best as I can. I'm not sure what to expect in terms of long lines. I do know he'll probably get up in the middle of the night to go stand in line for an autograph, so it'll be just me navigating.

I've been reading this thread for a month now and I'm really excited even though I won't be participating Thanks to everyone for all of the great information I've picked up along the way.