Star Wars or not to Star Wars? - MGM

[mkkim]

We have reservations for an April 2005 trip when the kids are out of school for break. BUT... we just realized that the Star Wars weekends were going on in May. My 9yr old is the biggest Star Wars fan around!! Is it worth it to change our reservation to May for this Star Wars extravaganza?? I am sure my son would just LOVE it but... is it worth it and will we hate the crowds??

 

[QuickGold]

You can find historical crowd times from last year at SWW and compare to last April to see for yourself at http://www.mgmstudios.org/wait.html

Crowds aren't that bad during SWW. It's mostly crowded around the SWW-related events but overall I'd say it's not that bad. Probably less crowded than your average summer day at WDW. Compared to April, depends on when. If you were planning on Easter-ish, then SWW will be a better option.

 

[mmccoy]

We went last year, on a Thursday - Thursday trip, that included Memorial Day weekend. Went to MGM on Saturday, during the Gay Pride festivities at Magic Kingdom. It wasn't crowded early, but seemed really crowded by mid-afternoon.

BUT, we loved the Star Wars stuff. My kids didn't take part in things like Jedi training, but we got plenty of pictures with Star War characters, including Darth Varder, Luke and Jedi Mickey. Our kids loved it.

I suspect early May isn't as crowded.

One thing to consider if you go in May - Epcot has the flower and garden festival going on (it may be going on in April also; I'm not sure). Our DS5 participated in the ladybug and butterfly releases.

 

[lllovell]

Another thing to consider is that in years past when a movie has been released, there has been no SWW at MGM. The characters are too spread out promoting the movie is the reason I have heard.

However, the page on the Disney site is there saying "weekends May - June, 2005", so I am hoping and praying that this means it is going to happen this year. We went last year for the first time and it was AMAZING! If you don't want to get in teh Star Wars croud, you don't have to. If you love it (like we do) then you will love the fact that storm troopers walk right by with prisioners and that you can see characters EVERYWHERE!!! There are several stations for official pictures and autographs but what made is soooooo cool to me was just standing in the shade at times and watching the characters walk by. I went on Friday with my two and four year old. they do Jedi training where the little ones can get trained by a real Jedi and then Darth V. and Darth Maul come out and every child gets to fight one or the other. Your DD will LOVE it!!! We had to go back on Sunday so hubby could see. It was busier, but still a fantastic day. You realize at some point that the crowd is parting and you look behind you and the Emperor's Red Guards are walking up - protecting him as he walks through the crowd. It is amazing. Its the little things like that happening all day that make this a Star War's fan's dream. very cool!

So....*crossing fingers* we will have to see.

 

[QuickGold]

So....*crossing fingers* we will have to see.

It is happening this year: http://www.mgmstudios.org/sww.html

 

[lllovell]

I saw that and I am soooooo stoked!!! Whoopie!!! SWW ROCKS!!!

 

[mkkim]

Well.... we just changed our dates to May 14-19th!! Hopefully this will be the first weekend of Star Wars in MGM. My son is soooo excited. :jumping4: All of your replies helped us to make this decision.. Thank you so much!! I have a few more questions:

Do you have to wait in long lines for pictures and autographs? Do you need a fastpass for these? Do all the kids get to do the Jedi thing or only chosen ones in the crowd. I have so many questions!!!

Thanks so much!!


ps.. just picked up the current Vanity Fair ... it has a cool STAR WARS fold out cover with the cast from every episode and a great article!

 

[EEyorelover22]

mkkim

you might want to check the link above...I don't think your dates you posted are correct for SWW.

Your kids will LOVE it!! It was the best thing last year besides Cirque that we did.

 

[dreams4disney]

MAy 14th - the 19th is not a Star Wars Weekend according to the website that was listed above.
We will be there during Star Wars weekend. DH is a BIG fan!

 

[mkkim]

I just realized I made them them based on the 2004 dates and not 2005!!! I can't believe this!!! I even booked my airfare. How Stupid!!! Ok.. I need to rethink this fast. Thanks... :

 

[corinascot]

We went last year for the last weekend of Star Wars (June 12,13). Our 9 year old was in heaven! I think it was worth it. The crowds weren't bad. It wasn't like you couldn't move. We never waited more than 10 minutes for an autograph/photo, and we saw Chewie, Darth Vader, C3PO, Princess Laia, Darth Maul and many characters I didn't recognize, but my son knew. Plus the stormtroopers were always marching around and so was the Emperor. And they all stayed in character. No fastpasses required. That being said, we didn't arrive in time to see the "special guests" for that weekend. Every weekend they have 3 actors who played in the films. The weekend we were there it was the boy who played the young Boba Fett and 2 other guys. You could get a type of fastpass to meet and greet the actors, but my son wasn't even that interested in seeing the actors there that weekend, so we didn't bother. Now, if they had Jango Fett or the adult Boba, he would have loved that.

Ds did the Jedi Training. I think they had it every hour. They select kids from the audience to participate and they pick ALOT of them...at least 20. Our son wasn't picked for the first show, so we didn't stick around to see the show. We came back for the next show and he was picked! There weren't that many people at the show, so I think if you're willing to go to 2 or 3 of them, your son will get picked. It was quite cool.

I'd highly reccommend the SW weekends!

 

[lenshanem]

We've done Star Wars Weekends twice.

I'd stay it is worth it. I think once we went in May and another trip early June. On the June trip the parks got busier as the week went by. This is also during Gay Days, so if you want to avoid crowds you need to go to their website and plan accordingly. I think you basically want to avoid MK on Gay Days Saturday cause I heard the crowds can be big.

Last trip my daughter got to have a light saber dual with Darth Vader! Hubby was so excited! Unfortunately, I accidentally taped over the video a couple months ago...

You have to get there EARLY. Plus, the Storm Troopers are patrolling the entrance up on the roof! If you want an autograph you MUST be there to get an armband at park opening and you have to be QUICK.

You will need to plan your day accordingly or you'll miss out on a bunch of stuff. This happened to us first time we went.

 

[ktglads]

The autograph strategy will probably change again this year since they used the fastpass machines by WWTBAM which were removed. Maybe they will use the Indiana Jones ones this year? Either way, if they use the machines, both of you get into line. That way you can get both fastpasses without having to wait in line twice. If you were towards the beginning, you were able to choose your session (1st, 2nd or 3rd). If you look on starwars.com for the pictures of last year, you can see one of the people walking to get the autographs and some of the crowds.

Also, Friday is a lot less busy than Saturday for everything, but there are still lots of people around. The only thing I completely avoid is the Hyperspace Hoopla which is a free for all with the characters - there's pushing of children who have no clue what is going on to get pictures. Not a very nice scene. Most events are over by 7:00 PM so there is still time to hit another park or some of the rides missed during the day.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just to note that the big line waits are for ACTOR autographs, not character autographs. There are lots of generic actors dressed up as characters, who will sign with the character's name, so you can get "Luke Skywalker", "Jango Fett", etc. without having to deal with the FP line ticket system.

If you have little kids who just want to have a photo with C3P0, the line will be no problem; by contrast, getting the autograph of Anthony Daniels might mean having to show up first thing and wait several hours. (This is an example. I'm not saying that Daniels will be there this year, he probably won't be, because of the Ep.III press tours. I expect that the actors who will appear this year are those who did not have roles in Ep.III.)

It is worth it to get to the gate before opening, though, just for the Stormtroopers. There are always several guys dressed as Stormtroopers standing on top of the entrance plaza roof, blasters at the ready. They entertain the crowd by picking on guests, "questioning" them about their presence in the line to enter the park. There is also always a special SW parade each day, check the times.

 

[QuickGold]

Do you have to wait in long lines for pictures and autographs? Do you need a fastpass for these? Do all the kids get to do the Jedi thing or only chosen ones in the crowd. I have so many questions!!!

Regarding lines for autographs, as well as other SWW events, I've compiled a detailed explanation of the events at http://www.mgmstudios.org/sww.html

As for the Jedi event, this page will answer all your questions: http://www.mgmstudios.org/obi.html

 

[mkkim]

QuickGold nice site! Thanks for info.

I am still working on extending our trip two more days to include SSW. This is killing me!! The cost to change airfare is incredible! It's an additional $80.00 per ticket to change the dates and there are 4 of us going.

I can't believe I made such a big mistake looking at the 2004 SSW dates and not the 2005 dates!