Official Star Wars Weekends Thread Tips and Tricks 2015

[jtowntoflorida]

Nothing to see here. I don't know what my computer is doing right now!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

On Friday, we got to the Theater about 3 thinking we would have not problem getting into see the Stars of the Saga since it seemed to be a bigger venue than Premier... only to find out it was packed. I am just afraid that Disney is starting to get too busy for me. I don't like having to pre-plan so much. It takes a lot of the fun out of the experience.... that, and the fact that more and more, Disney wants you to spend extra money to get special treatment. Pretty soon, you will have to buy your fast passes.

So was it packed, but you could have still come in but you decided against it because of the crowds, or did they say it was full and that no one else could be admitted? I'm just curious.

 

[1153rsmith]

thank you for your report. So about an hour before. Where in line were you, just as a reference point, while you were in standby. Next to what on Sunset Blvd.

We started in line around the corner off sunset at the first park bench (on the right side of the theater.) We were there for maybe 30 minutes or so, then they moved us all up the walk to the theater and we were in the line there for probably another 40 minutes, but at least we had some shade.

 

[itsthatdisneygirl]

You cant save them any spots. The FP area is center with it roped off. They wont be allowed to join you.

Yeah last SotS we FP they started letting in stand by before we were even at the tapstiles and we were off to the right hand side near the mid top so I think we will be fine. And if not we'll figure something out.

 

[1153rsmith]

So was it packed, but you could have still come in but you decided against it because of the crowds, or did they say it was full and that no one else could be admitted? I'm just curious.

When we got there Friday they were NOT allowing anyone else in for the standby line. Not sure about the FP line. On Sunday, by the time the show started, it looked like the theater was packed again, so I assume they were turning folks away again.

 

[delmar411]

Couldn't they choose to sit outside the FP+ area?

Maybe but maybe not. It is well organized and fills in quickly. I had to get special permission to hold a seat for my DH and we had the DPP.

 

[yulilin3]

We started in line around the corner off sunset at the first park bench (on the right side of the theater.) We were there for maybe 30 minutes or so, then they moved us all up the walk to the theater and we were in the line there for probably another 40 minutes, but at least we had some shade.

Thanks again...so you waited an hour and your starting point was the bend from Sunset to the side entrance of the theater? that makes that line more insane. People were lined up all the way down to Planet Hollywood. I wonder what's the point of reference for CM to start telling people they possibly won't make it in

 

[jennab113]

Hmm... I am on the phone with Dining and the person couldn't reverse the charge herself, so I was on hold waiting for her to talk to billing, but the hold music just switched to the one with the announcement "thanks for continuing to hold for the next available castmember. For your convenience, you can press 1 to leave a message." so I am not sure what happened. I have a meeting at 3, so I am going to have to hang up anyway. I guess I can leave a message or just call back later to make sure it was refunded.

And it was answered by the mumbliest CM ever, who I couldn't understand so I just hung up.

 

[yulilin3]

Hmm... I am on the phone with Dining and the person couldn't reverse the charge herself, so I was on hold waiting for her to talk to billing, but the hold music just switched to the one with the announcement "thanks for continuing to hold for the next available castmember. For your convenience, you can press 1 to leave a message." so I am not sure what happened. I have a meeting at 3, so I am going to have to hang up anyway. I guess I can leave a message or just call back later to make sure it was refunded.

mine took 30 minutes ugh

 

[itsthatdisneygirl]

Checked my account after the bad charges report and I must be lucky with $ for once cause my charges were good. Maybe Disney decided that since we spent $600 on one weekend that was enough for now

 

[lovethattink]

The "goodie bag" we got was three photo cards ..... not classified as goodie to me.

The Tervis is the small "kids" sized cup, meant for kids I guess by design and $21.95. I don't like it as much as last year's but still got it for DS. Edit: Cup is 16 oz.

My son was given one of the blank ones at an autograph session.

Ugh!!! In true DISboard form, I must vent here... Broke my foot this weekend and leave for our trip in 9 days. My husband made fun of me to the ortho saying- "your athletes want to know how this affects their playing time but my wife just wants to know how it will affect her Disney trip." He put me in a walking boot for four weeks and told me I was free to walk on it once the pain & swelling subsides but there is no way I can do that at Disney so he said wheelchair/scooter bound I will be. Any advice from someone who has navigated SWW on a mobility device particularly on our DPP day? I assume I will be able to mostly transfer as long as I'm not swelling too bad. I bought compression socks yesterday to try to help. TIA

So sorry to hear. I hope you are feeling better soon.

As for the access, w/c seating for the Star Wars shows is either front row or far back row. If you can transfer, a whole new world opens up for you. For Rebels (standby), we sat 3rd row right hand side after transferring. For SOTS (FP+), we sat right behind the tech pit in the middle.

they autograph that you receive are copies.

I was just looking at my credit card online and there's a $10 WDW Dine charge on Saturday that shouldn't be there. The only ADR I had that day was Rebel Hanger and I ate there. I'm in a meeting right now, but I'm calling asap. Their paper ADR check in process seems to not be working well.

OMG I'm so happy you brought this up. My card was charged $30. It was supposed to be myself and my 2 kids but only steph and I went cause Gus had work. Do I call my cc company or Disney. This has never happened to me before

Gee, I guess I should go check too? We ate there Saturday and Sunday.

Yep, I was charged $30. Called then said it should be refunded in 7 to 10 days.

Just called Disney they said they would take care of it and should see the money back in 5 to 7 business days

 

[yulilin3]

Wow a mess with Rebel Hangar charging no shows. How many people do you think this happened to?

 

[itsthatdisneygirl]

Wow a mess with Rebel Hangar charging no shows. How many people do you think this happened to?

The even worse question is how many people won't notice or even know about it.

 

[lovethattink]

Wow a mess with Rebel Hangar charging no shows. How many people do you think this happened to?

Unless, I reserved with a different credit card, we weren't charged for Sunday's Rebel Hanger, just Saturday.

What do they do if you reserve for 4 and only show?

 

[jennab113]

I wasn't charged for Friday. On Saturday when I was checking in, it seems like he couldn't find the paper for me at first and went back to the hostess stand. I wonder if they created a new paper for me but the original was still in there somewhere, so it was placed in the no show pile.

I'm back on hold checking to see if it was reversed. This is probably going to be a mess.

 

[yulilin3]

Unless, I reserved with a different credit card, we weren't charged for Sunday's Rebel Hanger, just Saturday.

What do they do if you reserve for 4 and only show?

not sure what the question is...if you reserve for a number of people but less people show up it's not a no shows and will not charge you for the missing people...was that it?

 

[jennab113]

I got through pretty quickly. The CM said that there's a bug in their system that won't allow the charges to be refunded like normal, but that billing knows about it and is working to fix it. If it isn't resolved soon, they will be manually refunding the charges. She said she has a list of people that have called and will call me back when it is resolved. I was given the 7-10 day estimate too. I asked if they were going to change the check in process so that there wouldn't be so many reservations incorrectly listed as no-shows. She said she didn't know, but she was sure they are learning from the experience. I'm really hoping I don't have to call back again next week after my res this weekend.

I'm also going to screenshot my Res Numbers. They kept asking me for it and I didn't have it since MDE doesn't list past ADRs.

 

[yulilin3]

I got through pretty quickly. The CM said that there's a bug in their system that won't allow the charges to be refunded like normal, but that billing knows about it and is working to fix it. If it isn't resolved soon, they will be manually refunding the charges. She said she has a list of people that have called and will call me back when it is resolved. I was given the 7-10 day estimate too. I asked if they were going to change the check in process so that there wouldn't be so many reservations incorrectly listed as no-shows. She said she didn't know, but she was sure they are learning from the experience. I'm really hoping I don't have to call back again next week after my res this weekend.

I'm also going to screenshot my Res Numbers. They kept asking me for it and I didn't have it since MDE doesn't list past ADRs.

good idea, doing it now

 

[frisbeego]

I'm also going to screenshot my Res Numbers. They kept asking me for it and I didn't have it since MDE doesn't list past ADRs.

If you go to "My Reservations and Tickets" and choose "Show Past Items" in the drop-down on the upper left, you can (or at least I can) see old ADRs, hotel reservations, and FP+s. I see all the way back to October 2013, the first time we used MDE.

 

[Lizzim]

Just want to say a big thank you to @jtownintoflorida for helping me secure FP+ for the Frank Oz show on the last night of SWW