Official Star Wars Weekends Thread Tips and Tricks 2015

[Koh1977]

Well Sunday 5/31 is going to be so much fun. I was just able to pick up a 825 am reservation for breakfast at Star Wars Dine-In Galactic Breakfast! at Sci-Fi, 10 am I check in for the Feel the Force Premium Package at Disney's Hollywood Studios and 4:30 I have reservations for Jedi Mickey's Star Wars Dine at Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic 1st Show.

You do realize you won't be able to use the Fantasmic pass if you're at the dessert party for FtF package, right?

 

[Disaholic73]

For those going for SWW V and using Magical Express, have you received your luggage tags yet? I know they say to expect them about two weeks out but I never thought that I had recieved mine in the past inside of two weeks. 14 more days til wheels up out of Detroit and into Orlando. Kids are so excited, but not more than me! My only problem at this point is that I won't get to decompress with them upon our return after this trip. When we touch down in Detroit on the 16th, I have to hop on another flight 5.5 hours later to South America for a business trip. That is going to seriously destroy my Star Wars buzz and really bring on the Disney hangover.

 

[yulilin3]

You do realize you won't be able to use the Fantasmic pass if you're at the dessert party for FtF package, right?

good catch

 

[boiledpeanut]

We are back from our trip to FL and our first SWW. Even with all the last second planning (and a lot of learning on the fly) it was a great day. Thank you all for your help!! Here is a brief recap. I know I am forgetting a lot, but I am trying to remember it all. We had to do some standard DHS stuff on our day.

-Made it to DHS before the gate opened. Hung out there about 30 min.
-Saw rope drop show.
-Split up at drop. I took kids straight to JTA. Husband went to Sci-Fi. No luck on walk ups or trying to move our 10:50 reservation. Oh well. We will miss the parade.
-Husband hits up Star Tours while we are still in line.
-We all hit up Star Tours after he gets off.
-See Chewy and Ewok signing autographs. i dont like lines, just get a picture.
-See Storm Trooper show on stage?
-Daughter meets Amidala, great picture and autograph.
-Husband DS ride Tower of Terror. While DD and I watch the BATB Show.
-Walk back and see Anakin. Got a great picture.
-See Jedi Mickey and Minnie.
-Time for Sci-Fi bfast. Wow. This was amazing and the best part of our entire trip. My husband was just giddy. Happiest I think I've seen him. Funniest part was my 9yo daughter telling a walking by Storm Trooper "you wanna go?" and Storm Trooper doing head wave/bob back at her. We had great character interaction with everyone. Got some great pictures. We did get the little light up saber necklaces. Is that what y'all were talking about?? We had no idea they were giving those out. They were fun for the nighttime show.
-shopped around. Tattoine Traders. Went to Darth's maul, but didn't want to do line. Just did the xwing collectibles. Very Cool.
-Rebels recap show. Great especially for me because the kids watched it with their dad. It caught me up quickly. Pics inside with Statues.
-Time for Rebels show at BATB stage. Very cool.
-We took off at this point for a mid day break. We were staying at Bonnet Creek Hilton. Drove back, cleaned everyone up and closed the blackout curtains. POWER NAP!
-Back to DHS in time for kids JTA appt.
-Great Movie Ride
-JTA. Very cool. Large group though. Maybe 30. They split them in half. We got lucky and my two ended up on stage with Darth Vader, not on ground with Darth Maul. Assignment was random and I would've been annoyed if they were on the ground.
-They rode Star Tours again at this point. Not me. motion sickness, so once was plenty.
-Walked to dinner at ABC Commissary. Son starts shouting its CHEWY ITS CHEWY. Out comes Chewy right in front of them and high fives my two and side hugs them. i guess he was going to autograph station??
-Dinner
-Took kids to Muppets. Weather looking rough.
-DJ Lobot party. We had the best time. Weather looking rougher. Will we make it.
-Show and Fireworks. We stood too close for fireworks but had awesome awesome view for Show. This was my favorite memory. Watching my husband hold his son up and them enjoying the fireworks. Chills. It was amazing.
-Tried to hit up Fantasmic, but it was delayed for weather. I have no idea if the 10:30 show even happened. I chickend out with the lightening and made us go back to hotel at 10:30.

-Our hotel room faced DHS. Saturday night realized we had perfect view of SOTS. So Sunday night I fired up YouTube music and we had the most amazing view!!! Chills just thinking about it.

-We had a wonderful wonderful time and I owe a huge thank you to all of you who so generously shared your knowledge and love of all things Star Wars.

 

[kpd6901]

For those going for SWW V and using Magical Express, have you received your luggage tags yet? I know they say to expect them about two weeks out but I never thought that I had recieved mine in the past inside of two weeks. 14 more days til wheels up out of Detroit and into Orlando. Kids are so excited, but not more than me! My only problem at this point is that I won't get to decompress with them upon our return after this trip. When we touch down in Detroit on the 16th, I have to hop on another flight 5.5 hours later to South America for a business trip. That is going to seriously destroy my Star Wars buzz and really bring on the Disney hangover.

We are 12 days out and have not yet received ours. Now, for us, we are using a local agent who happened to have been at Disney about a week ago, and then had a very difficult close family friend emergency situation, but finally got back to us and said that she had them and is rushing them to us so we have them today or tomorrow. Are you working directly with Disney or with an agent?

 

[yulilin3]

@boiledpeanut great review. Thanks for sharing. It's the little moments isn't it.

 

[kpd6901]

All right, locals, I have a weather question for you. (enter all the muttering complaining about another weather question here...) Actually, this is about contingency planning for certain things and double-booking ADR's throughout our trip. We are scheduled (family of 5) for 2 long days in parks followed by a rest day. Then 2 more long days in parks followed by rest day #2, followed up by 2 final long days in parks - NO park hopper:

Wed. 6/10: MK
Thur. 6/11: DHS
Fri. 6/12: rest day
Sat. 6/13: DHS
Sun. 6/14: Epcot
Mon. 6/15: rest day
Tues. 6/16: MK
Wed. 6/17: AK

We have ADR's for Tusker House at AK and Coral Reef at Epcot, plus Ohana for a rest day...and we have each of them double or even triple booked. The thought was based on how the weather forecast might look when we get there, we could move our AK and Epcot days and swap with a rest day or something to avoid spending all day in a park in the rain...and unsure how the weather affects the animals at AK (we were planning on seeing them before the heat of the day sets in). I am aware of the fact that it WILL rain at some point (prob. in the afternoon) for relatively short periods of time virtually every day, but if the forecast shows or predicts an all-day rain, how reliable is that? Or is there really no point in moving Epcot or AK up a couple of days because of a forecast 2-3 days out? Thoughts, anybody?
Thank you so much.

 

[animalkingdom15]

You do realize you won't be able to use the Fantasmic pass if you're at the dessert party for FtF package, right?

I actually didn't realize that I had chosen the Jedi Mickey's Star Wars Dine at Hollywood and Vine dinner with Fantasmic until after I chose it. The price difference is $6 and I will just skip the Fantasmic part since I have seen that more than once. I would rather do the dessert party and the fireworks show anyways. By eating dinner at 430 instead of later it frees me up to do other things during the normal dinner time, plus by the time 845 comes around I won't still be full from dinner.

This is my first SWW so I'm just excited that all my checking and checking over again for availability paid off and I'm able to try out the Galactic breakfast, the FTF and the Jedi Mickey's Dine at Hollywood all in the same day. The funny thing is if Magic Kingdom wasn't closing early on Sunday for some kind of event (that's all it said on the information I got at check in, I probably wouldn't have made any of these reservations as I would have done MK that day instead of HS.

 

[yulilin3]

All right, locals, I have a weather question for you. (enter all the muttering complaining about another weather question here...) Actually, this is about contingency planning for certain things and double-booking ADR's throughout our trip. We are scheduled (family of 5) for 2 long days in parks followed by a rest day. Then 2 more long days in parks followed by rest day #2, followed up by 2 final long days in parks - NO park hopper:

Wed. 6/10: MK
Thur. 6/11: DHS
Fri. 6/12: rest day
Sat. 6/13: DHS
Sun. 6/14: Epcot
Mon. 6/15: rest day
Tues. 6/16: MK
Wed. 6/17: AK

We have ADR's for Tusker House at AK and Coral Reef at Epcot, plus Ohana for a rest day...and we have each of them double or even triple booked. The thought was based on how the weather forecast might look when we get there, we could move our AK and Epcot days and swap with a rest day or something to avoid spending all day in a park in the rain...and unsure how the weather affects the animals at AK (we were planning on seeing them before the heat of the day sets in). I am aware of the fact that it WILL rain at some point (prob. in the afternoon) for relatively short periods of time virtually every day, but if the forecast shows or predicts an all-day rain, how reliable is that? Or is there really no point in moving Epcot or AK up a couple of days because of a forecast 2-3 days out? Thoughts, anybody?
Thank you so much.

this in bold
there's no way of knowing. Maybe same day might give you an idea but 2 or 3 days out is completely unpredictable. Make the plan that looks good to you and your family now. The animals are affected very little by rain. Try and see them in the morning or late in the day when they are getting ready to go in

 

[cinder-ellah]

SWW 2015

Favorite :
1. Glad I found this thread , meeting @yulilin3 & her daughter, plus other Diser's. Feeling more prepared than not, after gaining info here. I definitely didn't remember it all, but after attending SWW put things into perspective & will help with planning for next year.
2. FTF DP. The Parade viewing & Dessert Party were a major plus for our group, which included GD 5 "Little Wookie" & GD 7 "Padme Amidala".
3. Rebel Hangar : Fun, fun, fun !
4. The enthusiasm of the SW fans.
5. Sci-Fi Galactic Breakfast : Fun, fun, fun !
6. I was soooo thankful that @yulilin3 informed me of the "change" as to the separate areas for the Dessert Party for DPP & PP. So, this is a split "Favorite" thankful for the info / "Least Favorite" moment : now what do we do ?
7. Disney Guest Services / "Sammi" sprinkling Pixie Dust on our group.
8. Characterpalooza !
9. Pictures w Queen Amidala with my GD 7 "Padme Amidala" outfit.
10. Pictures w my GD 5 "Little Wookie" with Logray & Chewie.
11. Fireworks !!!!
12. Dessert Party !!!
13. Getting a big genuine Thank You & Hugs from my 2 GD, Son & Daughter Inlaw "For the best time ever" ! "Let's do it again" !
<><><><>
Least favorite :
1. Not enough time.
We had only allowed 1 day of our trip for SW / HS. Plus a quick morning for Galactic Breakfast.
2. Not enough time.
3. Too HOT + lose of appetite for all the fabulous desserts !
4. As mentioned in above #5.
5. Not enough shade for the Parade viewing for the DPP.
(Thankful for being welcomed & able to get in the small shaded area across from the main area).

Overall, a fabulous fun time !

 

[kpd6901]

this in bold
there's no way of knowing. Maybe same day might give you an idea but 2 or 3 days out is completely unpredictable. Make the plan that looks good to you and your family now. The animals are affected very little by rain. Try and see them in the morning or late in the day when they are getting ready to go in

Thanks. We pretty much have all of our plans set. We simply held on to some extra ADR's if we saw that a rain forecast a couple of days out would affect that. Thanks for the input! We will be releasing 2 Tusker House ADR's, a Coral Reef, and an Ohana at some point soon, then.

Soooooo much to do in 12 days.....after the soooooo much already done to get us to this point. Crazy.

 

[Disaholic73]

We are 12 days out and have not yet received ours. Now, for us, we are using a local agent who happened to have been at Disney about a week ago, and then had a very difficult close family friend emergency situation, but finally got back to us and said that she had them and is rushing them to us so we have them today or tomorrow. Are you working directly with Disney or with an agent?

Direct through Disney. Starting to get worked up because we are so close and I unfortunately have to fly out for another business trip this saturday and won't be returning until late Wednesday, which puts us at 1 week before we leave. Not being able to check the mail all those days is going to destroy me!!!!!!! Which is why I have been hoping to see them show up before I leave on Saturday.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I keep staring at my Star Wars lightsaber shirt and deciding not to wear it, lol.

That's the one thing I really dislike about Disney. They sell all these awesome clothes and you buy them and then get home and realize that there's really no appropriate place to wear a rhinestone snow white shirt!?!?!

Nonsense! I think a lightsaber tshirt is IDEAL for shopping at whole foods, taking the dogs for a walk, errands at CVS, etc. At least that's what I tell myself...

 

[animalkingdom15]

By the way it looks like there might be some possible light rain between 8 and 10 pm on Sunday. I guess the umbrella I packed might come in handy after all.

 

[animalkingdom15]

Nonsense! I think a lightsaber tshirt is IDEAL for shopping at whole foods, taking the dogs for a walk, errands at CVS, etc. At least that's what I tell myself...

That's why I bought two Star Wars t-shirts at a local store before coming here. I spent less than $20 on both and if they only get a little use after this trip oh well.

 

[tlh119]

For those going for SWW V and using Magical Express, have you received your luggage tags yet? I know they say to expect them about two weeks out but I never thought that I had recieved mine in the past inside of two weeks.

We booked directly through Disney and we received our tags last week for our June 12th flight.

 

[yulilin3]

@cinder-ellah great list. If we had it our way SWW would be done in February, wouldn't that be enjoyable

 

[DisneyMama21]

For those going for SWW V and using Magical Express, have you received your luggage tags yet? I know they say to expect them about two weeks out but I never thought that I had recieved mine in the past inside of two weeks. 14 more days til wheels up out of Detroit and into Orlando. Kids are so excited, but not more than me! My only problem at this point is that I won't get to decompress with them upon our return after this trip. When we touch down in Detroit on the 16th, I have to hop on another flight 5.5 hours later to South America for a business trip. That is going to seriously destroy my Star Wars buzz and really bring on the Disney hangover.

We booked through Disney and got our tags over a week ago for our June 11th flight. Maybe give them a call?

 

[cinder-ellah]

@cinder-ellah great list. If we had it our way SWW would be done in February, wouldn't that be enjoyable

@yulilin3 Looking forward to hearing your Favorites & Least Favorites

 

[Teamanderson]

Just dropped a Jedi Mickey for a party of 4 on 6/5 at 7:50