Official Star Wars Weekends Thread Tips and Tricks 2015

[Skywise]

AP room rates were released today. I was able to save quite a bit off the previous offer.

What was the previous offer? I just booked under the spring sale (room only) for 30% off?

 

[lovethattink]

What was the previous offer? I just booked under the spring sale (room only) for 30% off?

That's the previous. The new is AP up to 37% off.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

AP room rates were released today. I was able to save quite a bit off the previous offer.

thanks for the heads up - we're so focused on our trip (in 19 days) this month I completely forgot to keep an eye out for AP rates!

 

[alayne]

I added another day to our SWW!!! We are now going Tuesday, May 26 thru Monday, June 1. This way we can spend all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Star Wars weekend!!! I purchased a Darth Vader book at the Disney Store yesterday and I can't wait to add all my plans to it. I have all our ADRs booked but I want to plan so much more. I need something to do!!!!

 

[Music City Mama]

AP room rates were released today. I was able to save quite a bit off the previous offer.

Hi, I just sent you a PM about something (hope you don't mind).

 

[lovethattink]

thanks for the heads up - we're so focused on our trip (in 19 days) this month I completely forgot to keep an eye out for AP rates!

You're welcome.

Enjoy your upcoming vacation!

I added another day to our SWW!!! We are now going Tuesday, May 26 thru Monday, June 1. This way we can spend all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Star Wars weekend!!! I purchased a Darth Vader book at the Disney Store yesterday and I can't wait to add all my plans to it. I have all our ADRs booked but I want to plan so much more. I need something to do!!!!

Oh wow! Congrats on the extra day.

Hi, I just sent you a PM about something (hope you don't mind).

I answered back, two different answers.

 

[The Sunrise Student]

AP room rates were released today. I was able to save quite a bit off the previous offer.

Anual Pass room rates released saved you more money than the current discount? REALLY?!

I am really interested for next year because we are going to get an annual pass to pull off, we hope, three trips on one. Two of which we will be staying in resorts on property, one we are renting a house near by.

You have an AP, you think we can do this, or will be be cutting it too close?

- SWW 2016 we want to hit one (or two) of the June weekends and stay at a Disney Resort.

- Fall 2016 we are going to do a huge family trip, my BF's family and mine during food and wine and we will be renting a house and inviting them all to come stay with us.

- SWW 2017 we plan on hitting one (or two) of the May weekends and stay at a Disney Resort.

I know we have been scheming, do you think that is doable on an annual pass?

 

[AuntieK]

I know we are all impatiently waiting for more details on SWW 2015. So I gathered all the dates when things were announced last year:
Rebel Rendezvous special merchandise event February 28th
Mark Hamill special appearance March 20th
Full Celebrity Line-up April 23rd
Feel the Force Package April 24th

Thank you for posting these dates. I've been reading this thread for months getting excited for this year. Last year was our first SWW. We did both meals and the Feel the Force package. When I asked my niece where she wanted to go for her birthday trip her reply was back to Disney for the awesome fireworks and dance party with all of the desserts.

I travel for a lot for work and I'm so worried I will be away the day they release the information. This thread helped me so much last year!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Sure, it's absolutely doable on an annual pass. If your pass activates June 3 2016 (which looks like it may be the first SWW in June) then it will expire the next June 3 and you could get both May weekends in on it for 2017.

 

[yulilin3]

Thank you for posting these dates. I've been reading this thread for months getting excited for this year. Last year was our first SWW. We did both meals and the Feel the Force package. When I asked my niece where she wanted to go for her birthday trip her reply was back to Disney for the awesome fireworks and dance party with all of the desserts.

I travel for a lot for work and I'm so worried I will be away the day they release the information. This thread helped me so much last year!

you're welcome. I'm glad you found this thread helpful, again if you have any questions let us know

 

[Itinkso]

Anual Pass room rates released saved you more money than the current discount? REALLY?!

I know we have been scheming, do you think that is doable on an annual pass?

Sunrise, as long as you plan on entering parks more than 10 total days within the 12 months that your AP is valid, having the AP is more cost effective than a non-expiring ticket.

Plus, you'll get free parking during your off-site visit and dining discounts throughout your AP year. You'll also be eligible to buy the Tables in Wonderland dining discount card.

 

[AuntieK]

Sunrise, as long as you plan on entering parks more than 10 total days within the 12 months that your AP is valid, having the AP is more cost effective than a non-expiring ticket.

Plus, you'll get free parking during your off-site visit and dining discounts throughout your AP year. You'll also be eligible to buy the Tables in Wonderland dining discount card.

By all means get an AP for the above reasons if you'll use it for 10+ days. I have one but not sure I will renew it in April. Will depend on DVC promo pricing.

Just throwing this out here, I saved more money booking my room through Orbitz than I could with the AP discount. Orbitz frequently has a discount on top of Disney's general public discounts. With the current public offer my Boardwalk room was 280. Orbitz had a promo for an additional 15% off so my rate came down to 238. AP rate is 272 for the same room. One downside, you have to pay up front but it is refundable if you cancel. Also, if you use ebates you can usually get another 1% back into your ebates account. Just another booking option if it helps anyone. Today's Orbitz promo is for an additional 10% off.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Orbitz is awesome. You can't get a dining plan and you have to call later to add kids or be charged too much for them, but if you are in the market for a room only reservation it is worth a look. Especially if they are running a promo code that applies to Disney resorts. I have DVC all booked for my SWW but if I had to throw in another weekend once the celebrity list comes out I would go to Orbitz for that. I did it last year, with Mark Hamill showing up I added an extra weekend and they had a very good promo rate at Riverside, it wasn't less than the Allstars but a great deal for Riverside.

I did end up calling Orbitz to add a friend (adult) and it worked fine.

 

[yulilin3]

so reading and watching all the xxx number of rides in a day challenges has given me an idea.
Should I create a challenge for myself to see how many SW characters I can get in a day and document it?

 

[Itinkso]

so reading and watching all the xxx number of rides in a day challenges has given me an idea.
Should I create a challenge for myself to see how many SW characters I can get in a day and document it?

Accept challenge, you must!

Yes, definitely!! And, photos or it didn't happen!

With all the tricks you know, it will be awesome to see how quickly you can complete this challenge!

 

[yulilin3]

Accept challenge, you must!

Yes, definitely!! And, photos or it didn't happen!

With all the tricks you know, it will be awesome to see how quickly you can complete this challenge!

alright, alright...since Itinkso said so...I'll do it.
It's going to be just myself on the first Friday (my DD14 will be in school) and I'll get pictures but no autographs.
I was thinking getting a little dry erase board to write the time and pose with that and the character in the pictures.

 

[Koh1977]

alright, alright...since Itinkso said so...I'll do it. It's going to be just myself on the first Friday (my DD14 will be in school) and I'll get pictures but no autographs. I was thinking getting a little dry erase board to write the time and pose with that and the character in the pictures.

I love this idea!

 

[Music City Mama]

I answered back, two different answers.

Got the extra 5% off with the AP discount (from 25% to 30%). Thanks for checking those dates/rates for me!

Anual Pass room rates released saved you more money than the current discount? REALLY?!

I am really interested for next year because we are going to get an annual pass to pull off, we hope, three trips on one. Two of which we will be staying in resorts on property, one we are renting a house near by.

You have an AP, you think we can do this, or will be be cutting it too close?

- SWW 2016 we want to hit one (or two) of the June weekends and stay at a Disney Resort.

- Fall 2016 we are going to do a huge family trip, my BF's family and mine during food and wine and we will be renting a house and inviting them all to come stay with us.

- SWW 2017 we plan on hitting one (or two) of the May weekends and stay at a Disney Resort.

I know we have been scheming, do you think that is doable on an annual pass?

Yes, you should definitely get an AP in your situation. We are going to WDW a little later in June this year so the APs we activate in June will still be valid on our last day earlier in June 2016. We'll also go during Thanksgiving this year. In 2016, we won't have to buy tickets at all (still have valid APs) and then we'll start the cycle over again with new APs in 2017.

alright, alright...since Itinkso said so...I'll do it.
It's going to be just myself on the first Friday (my DD14 will be in school) and I'll get pictures but no autographs.
I was thinking getting a little dry erase board to write the time and pose with that and the character in the pictures.

This sounds like a great idea!

 

[Itinkso]

alright, alright...since Itinkso said so...I'll do it.
It's going to be just myself on the first Friday (my DD14 will be in school) and I'll get pictures but no autographs.
I was thinking getting a little dry erase board to write the time and pose with that and the character in the pictures.

Dry erase board is a great idea! What a fun way to kick-off SWW! Yay, yulilin!

 

[yulilin3]

Dry erase board is a great idea! What a fun way to kick-off SWW! Yay, yulilin!

I might be a tad excited
Some crafty stuff is gonna start happening next weekend (this weekend I'm volunteering both days for the half and full marathon) Does anyone remember the little x-wings legos people could build for free last year inside Darth's Mall? We have 6 of them and are making them into hair clips...but there's a much bigger project in the early stages and until I can actually do some tests and prove to myself I can pull it off I'll keep you guys in the dark. The only thing I'll say is that it's for my DD14.
So I got some confidence from last year when I made the R2D2 shoes. This year it's a full costume