Official Star Wars Weekends Thread Tips and Tricks 2015

[ruley3]

On the way down!!!

 

[yulilin3]

We struck out 3x. Once we were there at the end lf her set on accident (thought it was 2hrs for some reason), the second we were there over an hour in advance and struck out, the third was the day the lot was closed so while we attempt to be there at 1:45 (by the time we parked and got there) we were rerouted to Epcot and didnt get there until 2:45 and there was no chance.
They have been cutting off the line with a rope now so I would show up no less than 90mins in advance and hope that you can get in the roped line. But to have a true shot, I would show up 2hrs in advance.
That is just what I have observed over these past weekends.

thanks. I don't mind waiting 2 hours, just don't want to wake up early on Sunday for her autograph session since we are staying until fireworks both days
We'll try to meet her Sunday at HU signing. We have fp for SotS and Oz on Saturday

 

[delmar411]

thanks. I don't mind waiting 2 hours, just don't want to wake up early on Sunday for her autograph session since we are staying until fireworks both days

I dont blame you. My DH ended up just doing her standard session so that's how we ended up getting my shirt signed and he was able to hand off DD11's shirt to another family in line who wasnt at their 1 item per person limit and they got it signed for us. Which IMO pretty much sums up the whole attitude and atmosphere of the SWW folks.

 

[DisneyMama21]

Leaving tonight to sleep at a hotel next to the aiport for my super early flight tomorrow! It is finally here, Weekend V!! Thank you so much to everyone on this board for all the help in planning this first SWW trip! My DH and DS are so excited and I believe (thanks to all of you) I have their perfect weekend planned out. Have fun all you fellow Weekend V'ers and may the force be with you!

 

[Felipe4]

BF is making us stay apart tonight due to his cold - so I'll meet him at the airport after work tomorrow. I guess he'll get his Boba Fett hat then as a surprise!

Went and got new camping pad for the bedroll and new tarp. Am so prep ready even for stormy conditions. So long as there is no flooding.

Ugh. Flooding in a tent is miserable. Went camping and white water rafting for my birthday a couple years ago in Maine and it POURED. The white water rafting was fun in the rain, but when we got back, our tents were FLOATING in a puddle. I packed up and went back home directly after rescuing everything. Definitely put a damper on my birthday!

Sounds like you are definitely prepared. I have been going through my pictures from my trip and found this one that I took this past Friday night, just before that horrible storm. I don't know how bad it was at Hollywood Studios for SWW, but it was quite scary in the Magic Kingdom as it went from no thunder even in the distance to a large bolt of lightning and a loud boom of thunder in an instant. When the wind and rain picked up, there were actually people screaming and running for cover. I hope for much better weather for those attending this coming weekend!

Last year I was in line for BTMRR when a thunder storm started. We thought it was pretty hilarious that Big THUNDER Mountain Railroad was temporarily shut down due to thunder.

Looks like it'll be raining tomorrow on and off from Accuweather. Reporting a thunder storm around the time my flight is due to land. (If my flight isn't delayed. It was pretty good this week being on time, but was delayed 40 min last night.)

 

[poohfriend77]

I just wanted to send a big THANK YOU to everyone on this thread! DH is a classic SW fan, but is not into the Rebel/Clone Wars stuff, and he doesn't necessarily care about meeting actors for autographs. But I knew he would LOVE to meet the characters. I asked him if he wanted to do SWW during our trip, and he said no, I think mostly because DHS would be crowded and our girls and I aren't really fans anyway.So when I read about the meals offered on weekdays, they seemed like the perfect compromise!

On Tuesday, we did the Sci-Fi Galactic breakfast. We all had so much fun! We got seated at one of the regular tables, which was disappointing at first, but we were squished in with another family who had a 9-year-old boy. He and DH hit it off and talked SW the whole time. They even had the same name! I told DH it was like having breakfast in a time machine with the 9yo version of him. DH was super excited to meet DV and Boba Fett. The characters inside were fantastic! We traded with the Jawas, and one pulled DD12 by the arm across the room to another Jawa to trade. The boy at our table said in complete seriousness, "I think he wants to date your daughter. You shouldn't let him. He's probably much older than her, and he's not even a human." I was dying by that point, and didn't stop laughing until we left.

The stormtroopers arrested the rest of my family, making DH get down on his knees with hands on his head. They made DD12 stand up. She would sit down as soon as he left, and he would come back, pull her up, and push in her chair. They did this at least 4 or 5 times. One ST put on DH's hat too. It was some of the best character interaction we've ever had, in 6 trips and probably 30+ character meals. I felt like we had at least one character at our table for 90% of the time, and at some times we had 2-3. I was actually a little worried we were "hogging" the attention, but it was so much fun, and they kept coming back to us. DH even commented that he didn't even really watch the movie clips because we were too busy to watch. It was such a great time, and the food was actually good too, which took the sting out of the price tag, lol. And we got the lightsabers when we left! DD10 wore hers every day for the rest of the trip. We would definitely do a SW meal again, if it becomes a permanent thing.

That afternoon, we went to RH. Thanks to this thread, I knew you had to sort of flag down the characters if you wanted a photo. DH jumped up as soon as Chewie walked in, and we got a great pic! We also saw Greedo and traded with Jawas again. There was one other character (looked like a Cantina band guy, but in a pilot suit... sorry, I don't know his name) who sat at a table with a couple almost the whole time we were there, but we figured we couldn't complain since we got the Chewie pic. Stormtroopers wouldn't stop for pics. I think they were just being "in character" and we didn't care because we had such great pics from that morning, but I could understand if others were a little annoyed. The decorations were great, food was good, and DH was so excited. It was fun to plan such a great day for him, since most of our trip is focused on the kids. Sorry this turned into such a long post, but thanks again to everyone who posted news, tips, menus, updates, etc!!!

 

[pookadoo77]

Yay! ! ! In Orlando

 

[frisbeego]

There were "wands" and signature cards at breakfast his morning. I didn't have to ask for either, but if you exited via bathrooms you would've missed the wands.

 

[Disaholic73]

We are now at 24 hours until touchdown in Orlando!!!!! Can't wait to board that plane and then have 5 Magical days with my wonderful children and girlfriend (actually fiance for 3 days now) and to stay at my favorite resort, the Polynesian. Hope to meet some of you on Friday at our only HS day (especially looking at you yulilin3).

Thank you to everyone who has shared hints/tips/secrets/experiences so those of us coming after you can have the best time and plan possible. It will be sad to come back to Disboards to a closed thread next week (Keep calm and move along move along).

 

[Billabongi]

I dont think i've seen this question asked (sorry if it has) but we have the premium package on Saturday and I was wondering if we can and "should" line up ahead of time to get our pick of the premium seats for one of the shows? Essentially anyone who has done the premium package (not the deluxe) did you wait ahead of time or just stroll up around 10 and get your pick of shows?

Thanks,
James

 

[yulilin3]

I dont think i've seen this question asked (sorry if it has) but we have the premium package on Saturday and I was wondering if we can and "should" line up ahead of time to get our pick of the premium seats for one of the shows? Essentially anyone who has done the premium package (not the deluxe) did you wait ahead of time or just stroll up around 10 and get your pick of shows?

Thanks,
James

which show are you wanting? The most popular: Oz and SotS will be the first to fill up so if you are interested in one of those line up earlier

 

[yulilin3]

I hate to do this but I'm not going to be able to get to the lunch meet at Commissary on Saturday. They just sent me an email that we got into the DPB meetup to watch Inside Out on Saturday. So we will be there really early to get the fp for Taylor Gray, go to DTD to watch the movie and come back to DHS. We should be there around 12:30pm...the fireworks meet will go on as planned for that day

 

[SureAsLiz]

My weekend III photos turned out fine (other than taking 2 days to load to my MM account, and I was freaking out and even sent an email about the "missing photos" while we were en route to MCO!)

I'm glad yours turned out well! I've had the not showing up issue at MK before. Thankfully they are generally pretty awesome about getting your photos back! (though I have had an issue where they left out a set from my first missing photo request, so I had to submit another one)


Weekend 1 v Weekend 4

Thank goodness for photoshop because I would be upset if I didn't have a way to make that last photo look good

 

[pld5]

We have been here since Sunday morning and haven't stopped long enough for me to post. In the car now on our way to Kennedy Space Center, but wanted to report in. Our flight landed at 730am and gave us plenty of time to check in at BWI and walk over to Hollywood Studios for our Galactic Breakfast at 10:30. Left there in time to get in the Chewie line when he was coming back from the Motorcade. Those two things were why I planned this trip to begin with so it felt great to accomplish both missions within 5 hours of landing.

It is HOT, brutally so, so we are making sure to stay hydrated and taking advantage of any opportunity to enjoy air conditioning in the parks. Funny how my parents and husband who do not care about meeting characters do not complain when waiting inside with a/c.

We got Death Star light cubes on Sunday afternoon and light sabers at the breakfast so supplies should be good this weekend.

We have the FTF Deluxe package on Friday. Looking forward to the motorcade, Rebels, SOTS, Oz and Darth Vader Cupcakes and meeting some of you!

Oh, almost forgot, my husband got to meet Jeremy Bulloch in the club lounge at BWI!

 

[pld5]

 

[Cluelyss]

There were "wands" and signature cards at breakfast his morning. I didn't have to ask for either, but if you exited via bathrooms you would've missed the wands.

That's how we missed them weekend III! Darn kids and their tiny bladders!!!!

 

[animalkingdom15]

Dont forget you get unlimited mickey bars, fruit bars and popcorn plus soda or water at the parade viewing. That is enough as a lunch.

Really I didn't know that so thanks for the info.

 

[animalkingdom15]

Very excited as I will be in Orlando around 940 am tomorrow and this time I know to go to the B section at the Orlando airport to find Magical Express.

 

[MooksterL1]

Just wanted to let Weekend V people that I'm excited for you...You have waited the longest, seen everyone come and go. You should feel prepared since having everyone's else experiences reports. It'll be a fun, but hot, weekend
Can't wait to meet you guys...

Thank you so much for all of your help! And everyone else's. We are so excited!!! Leaving tonight!!

 

[THEDISNEYTHREE]

Enjoy SWW all you 5th wkndr's!!!! We had a great time when we went. We just loved the character meals and the dpftf package. The character interaction at Jedi Mickey dinner was awesome! I have already been informed we are going again next year, so I will be back for the stalking!!! Thanks again Yulilin and everyone! Enjoy Inside Out. That movie looks adorable. I can't wait to see it.