Some Guidance re: Star Wars weekends?

[owenbyd]

Trying not to overwhelm the boards since it seems that every time I have figured one thing out, 6000 more questions pop up

Before I do anything (dining ressies, etc.) I probably need to get a better handl on how SW weekends are handled. We will be there from 5/22 to 5/29 so we will hit a portion of two weekends.

My questions thus far are:

1) are the Star Wars events limited to Disney studios or are they all over all 4 parks?

2) what are the 'must sees' and/or 'dos' as part of these particular weekends

3) My boys will be 8, 5 and 38 laughing during the trip and each are fanatics (I, on the other hand, will need a study session)...any ideas on what will help us maximize the experience?

We would love to be Disney frequenters but, to be honest, it isn't feasible cost-wise so I would love to maximize the time we have here this summer.

 

[miasmom93]

My questions thus far are:

1) are the Star Wars events limited to Disney studios or are they all over all 4 parks?

2) what are the 'must sees' and/or 'dos' as part of these particular weekends

3) My boys will be 8, 5 and 38 laughing during the trip and each are fanatics (I, on the other hand, will need a study session)...any ideas on what will help us maximize the experience?
QUOTE]

Hi, the Star Wars events are only in DHS. You must get there before the rope drop to sign your boys up for the Padawan Mind Challenge(it's a fun trivia game). There is limited space so you have to run back to register. You also must see the parade with all the Star Wars characters. Each weekend they have guest stars from Star Wars/Clone Wars there --- you can get their autographs but you need a fast past for that and there will be long lines forming very early for those.

There will also be Star Wars characters placed throughout the park for autographs, so bring your autograph books and be prepared to wait in line for those. Darth Vader & Chewbacca have huge lines!

In the back right corner of the park they have Wikkets Warehouse for collectables, limited edition stuff and pins.

If you want to build a light saber, I suggest doing it before the Star Wars weekends start because there will be a line for that too!

Oh, get to the parade at least 45 minutes early and don't let anyone try to stand in front of you!

If I think of anything else I will let you know!

 

[WizardLarz]

Trying not to overwhelm the boards since it seems that every time I have figured one thing out, 6000 more questions pop up

Before I do anything (dining ressies, etc.) I probably need to get a better handl on how SW weekends are handled. We will be there from 5/22 to 5/29 so we will hit a portion of two weekends.

My questions thus far are:

1) are the Star Wars events limited to Disney studios or are they all over all 4 parks?

2) what are the 'must sees' and/or 'dos' as part of these particular weekends

3) My boys will be 8, 5 and 38 laughing during the trip and each are fanatics (I, on the other hand, will need a study session)...any ideas on what will help us maximize the experience?

We would love to be Disney frequenters but, to be honest, it isn't feasible cost-wise so I would love to maximize the time we have here this summer.

1)Yes, Star Wars Weekends is only in Disney Hollywood Studios.

2)Must sees : a) The park opening ,Storm Troopers stand on the gateway above the turnstiles. b)the motorcade parade with the celebraties and tons of Star Wars characters. c)The Hyperspace Hoopla, the daily closing show.

3)Maximize trip : a)If your boys want celebrity autographs, they hand out fastpasses for two or three signing times for each seperate celeb. This past year they did the passes out in front of the park. Some of the lines start forming the evening before depending on the popularity of the celebrities character. b)the Star Wars characters do signings throughout the day. These can be found in numerus palces in the park. This also include the Fab Four as Mickey/Luke, Minnie/Lea, Donald/StormTrooper, and Goofy/Vader.
If you have more Questions feel free to PM me. I'm currently planning my third trip down for Star Wars Weekends!

 

[carps09]

My questions thus far are:

1) are the Star Wars events limited to Disney studios or are they all over all 4 parks? As PPs have said, it's just in DHS.

2) what are the 'must sees' and/or 'dos' as part of these particular weekends
The parade is a must - it's fun to see all of the characters. We've gone the last 2 years and haven't had any trouble getting a good spot for the parade. We usually get to our spot about 15-20 minutes before the parade. As a PP said, definitely try to enter your sons in the Padawan Mind Challenge! It's always fun to see them marching in the parade with their jedi robes and light sabers and then see the crowd of parents marching along behind them. The character photos are great too! Also, if you get to DHS at rope drop, they do a brief Stormtrooper show on the roof of the entry area for those standing in line.

3) My boys will be 8, 5 and 38 laughing during the trip and each are fanatics (I, on the other hand, will need a study session)...any ideas on what will help us maximize the experience? My DH and I have gone to SWW the past 2 years, mostly because he's a big fan. I haven't even seen all of the movies! That being said, I still had a great time. Even though I don't know who the characters are, it's fun to see all the strange creatures walking around and they are truly in character. Some of them are kind of creepy! The big challenge for us has been getting a photo with Jedi Mickey, Darth Goofy and Storm Trooper Donald. Check the times guide for that photo op, because that line gets really long!

We would love to be Disney frequenters but, to be honest, it isn't feasible cost-wise so I would love to maximize the time we have here this summer.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My kids didn't care about the celebrity autographs or celebrity talks so we skipped those.

When you get in the park, look for the special Star Wars map. It was seperate from the main DHS map and you had to find a person giving them away. They were dressed different than the rest of the Cast members.

I'd plan for the Hoopla. My kids loved it. It was around 7pm last year. The main issue was it was impossible to see the stage unless you were there for the Jedi Training show earlier. but they did have characters roaming the area and that's the part my kids really liked along with the music.

Which group of characters do your kids like? The bad guys or the good guys? Last year there were 2 seperate areas for each. Our first day we concentrated on the bad guys and a couple of rides.
Then we went back for Day 2 and did the good guys and the rest of the rides we missed on Day 1.

I'd also see the parade. It's a blast and my kids really enjoyed it. I believe it was in the morning around 10:30a or 11a.

My DS14 loved educating me on the characters. Watch out for the Tuskan Raiders, they like to play bargain for your stuff and I saw them freak out a few younger kids. I thought they were really cool.

Wickets Warehouse for SW shopping. We got there when it first opened and it had a really long line to check out but it was worth it since we got to check out the speciality merchandise and picked up some regular merchandise.

Someone usually post the map on the boards with everything going on after the first SWW so you can plan your day before you get there.

If you want to eat TS in DHS over SWW, get that booked quick. You are within your 180 days and last year we had a devil of a time getting a TS lunch. Sci-Fi Diner was booked, Prime Time was booked, Mama Melrose was booked. We finally got lucky and someone cancelled at Mama Melrose for a 1:45pm lunch on that sunday so we snagged it. We couldn't get in anywhere on the Saturday and settled for CS that day.

Have fun!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I have to post a few pictures for you:

This one, Darth Vader had been giving DD10 grief because he didn't want to sign her Tinkerbell Autograph book. Her face was fabulous.

In this one Jedi Mickey has finally gotten DS14 to pose. That was a miracle. LOL

DS14 wouldn't pose with this bad guy but he really wanted his picture with him. But I thought the pic came out ok. I just remembered his name. Darth Maul. LOL

I hope this pics aren't too large. It's been awhile since I posted pictures.

 

[amosser]

Our 1st trip to WDW was during SWW and we went just for that reason.
I agree with the other posters - catch the parade it is really neat

The one thing I would suggest is if you want to try the Jedi Training (which was the highlight of my DS trip) go during the week - the SW weekends are crazy. We tried 3 x's during the weekend with no luck and finally when we went back during the week he was picked

They also had a padawan (sp?) mind trivia challenage for the younger kids that you have to sign up for. It was on the Jedi Training stage and they asked the kids trivia questions.

We loved the Star Wars weekends and our DS had a blast - enjoy yourself

 

[owenbyd]

y'all are AWESOME! Thank you so much!!!!