Star Wars Weekend - Tell me about it!

[meliss8599]

Though we are WDW veterans, this will be our first time experiencing Star Wars Weekends--we are so excited! I checked out the Disney site and it doesn't provide much in the way of detailed information, so I knew the DIS would help me out.

I Googled for a thread already started, but it pulled up last year's official thread. Is there a new one started for 2014? What do I need to see/do during this fun weekend? Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

[siskaren]

http://www.easywdw.com/category/worth-2/star-wars-weekends/

 

[mickey1968]

have only been once before but am going again for the first Friday this year. Here is a link to another thread that will tell you everything you want to know:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3183780

 

[MarkinMA]

I've been the past two years (last year I was just there - two years ago we were really there for Star Wars Weekend). And it is all about what YOU want to get out of it. You need to decide if you want to meet/get autographs from the celebs. If so, plan to wait early in the AM for the wristbands. You need to decide if you want to do character meet/greets - if so, plan to wait in lines for that. If you want to do any of the special events (the shows), then plan for that.

You will absolutely not want to miss the parade - but plan to stake a spot early, it's a short route, and it gets PACKED.

I would say don't miss the hoopla, but it's not happening this year, but don't miss the fireworks (I'm actually going again this year - just because I saw a YouTube of them from last May 4th). And don't miss the 'goodnight' or whatever they are calling the curtain call.

And don't miss Darth's Maul - can't miss a chance to grab some Star Wars Swag.

It's all about what you want to do - we had a great time seeing the characters - but not actually doing the meet/greet (walked past, saw them - took some pictures) and the same with the celbs - autographs are not really our thing, but cool to see them there. We rode Star Tours enough times to see all the pieces, so that was fun. And just enjoyed the days and all the fun. We were able to do that type of thing in a day and got our fill. If we were waiting on line for meet/greets and celbs, we would have definitely would have wanted the extra days. But we were there (at Disney) for a short time, so we wanted to hit other parks too.

Have a blast - but do some planning and decide what is important to you - and then make your plan...

 

[mickey1968]

PP is so right about the parade being awesome. I however underestimated the crowd and did not get a good spot. I got pictures of the StormTroopers from behind as they marched toward the hat! And that was only because I held the camera up over my head and just held the shutter button down and fired away. The parade is at like 11 or 11:30 in the morning. I think that was what made me misjudge because of the timing...

 

[audrey2580]

You can bring something small like a sticker or mardi gras beads to trade with the jawa's and they will trade something back.

 

[4Beans]

I'm so happy to find this post, I've been wondering about Star Wars Weekends myself. We were trying to hit the June 6,7,8 weekend, but my husband is a teacher and with all of these snow days tacked onto the end of the year we weren't going to be able to swing it. Thankfully they added the following weekend to the Star Wars Weekend calendar!!! Yay!! Anyway, we've been to Disney many times, but never for SWW. I am clueless about it, what day should we go? What should we do first? Will we need a day to do the Star Wars stuff and another day to do the usual Hollywood Studios stuff?? When will they release the official schedule?

All help is appreciated!!

 

[horse11]

I have serveral questions on this.
1st. Do they have an official secedule which includes the Star Wars shows and the parade?
2nd. Can you get a FP for an autograph from a Star Wars character? If so does it count against you 3 FP+ choices? Do you arrange the FP in advance or when you get there?
3rd. We plan on getting there at rope drop to make sure we get the kids sceduled for Jedi Training. Do the kids have to be with you? Was hoping to split up. I could sign the kids up while their dad and grandparents go to a show or do a ride.
4th Are there Star Wars characters walking around such as storm troopers that will sign autographs or stop to pose for a picture without having to stand in line for them?

 

[KatieKat]

Sorry to hijack but I have a question too- will the rides have decent times during this? Or will they be packed too?

 

[tony609]

Question... I'm a Star Wars fan but my friend isn't. It's an accident were hitting
DHS on a Sunday. It's overall our least favorite park. We want to ride toy story, TOT see sorcerer Mickey, maybe the drawing class see Mickey as Luke / Minnie as leis and perhaps the other set he and Minnie swap with. I would like to shop Darths mall too. Here is the question. This is our arrival day. If there's no problems we should arrive around 2pm. Is this to late to accomplish a few of these things? We hope to get FP+ For afternoon for the 2 rides. We have a dinner ADR so fi at 5:30. To be honest my gut is telling me to skip DHS together this trip. We're doing MK 2 full days , AK/DTD another full day and Epcot another full day. So Sunday is it for DHS. I'm just afraid we're getting there way to late to jump in and enjoy the day. And we should just hit EPCOT. For a second day. Any thoughts?

 

[delmar411]

Question... I'm a Star Wars fan but my friend isn't. It's an accident were hitting
DHS on a Sunday. It's overall our least favorite park. We want to ride toy story, TOT see sorcerer Mickey, maybe the drawing class see Mickey as Luke / Minnie as leis and perhaps the other set he and Minnie swap with. I would like to shop Darths mall too. Here is the question. This is our arrival day. If there's no problems we should arrive around 2pm. Is this to late to accomplish a few of these things? We hope to get FP+ For afternoon for the 2 rides. We have a dinner ADR so fi at 5:30. To be honest my gut is telling me to skip DHS together this trip. We're doing MK 2 full days , AK/DTD another full day and Epcot another full day. So Sunday is it for DHS. I'm just afraid we're getting there way to late to jump in and enjoy the day. And we should just hit EPCOT. For a second day. Any thoughts?

Unless you are staying on site and can pre-book those FP+ selections then no, 3hrs won't be enough to do much. The character lines are all extremely long at this point of the day and inside activities also get backed up because it is just so hot there with so little shade. I'd definitely stop by Darth's Mall for some browsing before your ADR as you can snap pic of C3PO, R2D2 , Luke and Leia in there (they will be with other guests but it is pretty easy to snap a few shots).

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

I have serveral questions on this.
1st. Do they have an official secedule which includes the Star Wars shows and the parade?
2nd. Can you get a FP for an autograph from a Star Wars character? If so does it count against you 3 FP+ choices? Do you arrange the FP in advance or when you get there?
3rd. We plan on getting there at rope drop to make sure we get the kids sceduled for Jedi Training. Do the kids have to be with you? Was hoping to split up. I could sign the kids up while their dad and grandparents go to a show or do a ride.
4th Are there Star Wars characters walking around such as storm troopers that will sign autographs or stop to pose for a picture without having to stand in line for them?

yes, the kids have to be with you - the CMs will ask them a few questions.

there is a schedule - I'm not sure how far in advance it is posted but you can get a general idea from the other big Star Wars thread - first post.

I'd love to know about the character lines - for example if they open the park early (say 7:30 / 7:45) and Darth Vader doesn't come out until 8:15 - could DH get in his line while DD and I go ride TSM (heading directly to TSM) and then join him in line (like Merida's line) or is that a line where you can't do that?

Is there a good viewing spot for the parade and how early should we get a spot for that? Seeing it is important!

 

[FreeThinker]

We went 2 years ago, and signed the kids up for JTA. We got in line by 7:15, and were some of the first people in the park. We went straight to JTA, then I got FPs for TSMM. Unfortunately you can't do that now, so you will definitely have a longer wait if you are wanting to ride stand-by. One parent can take the child into JTA sign-up, while the other gets the FP+ scheduled (assuming you can't do them before). If you arrive at 8:00, I'd say you will be too late for JTA. IF you go and ride a ride, you will probably be too late,too.

If you aren't doing JTA, then go straight to TSMM, then TOT or RnR.

 

[spritna]

I think everybody has to experience sww...last year they were parkn at epcot...disney busses were getn caught in traffic jams and being turned away

 

[spritna]

This is before u even get in the gates...people bring tents and camp out overnight

 

[ajwolfe]

Looking for some advice on this. We will be there over this time. My schedule currently does not have us in HS over a weekend. I have 2 boys (at trave 7 and 10) and a 16 year old niece with me. My kids like Star Wars, but are not fanatics about it. Is it worth popping over for a short visit or no?

 

[glassslippergirl]

SWW is awesome. We've been at least one weekend each of the last five years.

My suggestions:

If you are planning on getting celebrity autographs, get in line by 4:30 a.m. It is worthwhile if there is a celeb you really want to meet. This is especially worthwhile if you want the celeb to sign something unique (I had Ray Parks sign a Darth Donald statuette.) some celebs will only sign their stock photo, though.

Go to the merchandise tent early. This is especially true on the first day of the first weekend. There is some limited merchandise that will sell out in hours.

When you walk in the park, there will be a booth where you can get a schedule of events. The schedule contains the times for the panel discussions and celebrity shows. These start usually after the motorcade and are the best park of SWW. The schedule is usually online before the weekend. Plan your afternoons around the ones you want to attend. Get in line early for the ones you really, really want to see.

The motorcade is so worth it. Get there early to reserve a good viewing place.get there super early for a viewing place in the shade.

Hyperspace Hoopla was great. Too bad it's not coming back. The fireworks should be a great replacement. Can't wait to see them if we go ( we were going to take this year off, but DH has recently raised the possibility of a SWW trip).

Lines for Star Tours will be longer than usual but not obscenely long. Budget FP+ with that in mind.

Lines for SW characters WILL be obscenely long. Seriously, the line for Chewbacca can be hours. Keep in mind that it's hot, and the characters are rotated to a break every 15-20 minutes, making waits even longer. Plan a just 1-2 characters per SWW day if this is something you are interested in. To hope for more will result in you doing nothing else except standing in character lines.

Enjoy the SWW snacks that they sell at different locations around the park. Always something fun and tasty.

Stay hydrated.

Wear your SW tee shirts, but remember that it will be hot. You may not want to dress up like you might for a convention.

 

[horse11]

SWW is awesome. We've been at least one weekend each of the last five years.

My suggestions:

If you are planning on getting celebrity autographs, get in line by 4:30 a.m. It is worthwhile if there is a celeb you really want to meet. This is especially worthwhile if you want the celeb to sign something unique (I had Ray Parks sign a Darth Donald statuette.) some celebs will only sign their stock photo, though.

Go to the merchandise tent early. This is especially true on the first day of the first weekend. There is some limited merchandise that will sell out in hours.

When you walk in the park, there will be a booth where you can get a schedule of events. The schedule contains the times for the panel discussions and celebrity shows. These start usually after the motorcade and are the best park of SWW. The schedule is usually online before the weekend. Plan your afternoons around the ones you want to attend. Get in line early for the ones you really, really want to see.

The motorcade is so worth it. Get there early to reserve a good viewing place.get there super early for a viewing place in the shade.

Hyperspace Hoopla was great. Too bad it's not coming back. The fireworks should be a great replacement. Can't wait to see them if we go ( we were going to take this year off, but DH has recently raised the possibility of a SWW trip).

Lines for Star Tours will be longer than usual but not obscenely long. Budget FP+ with that in mind.

Lines for SW characters WILL be obscenely long. Seriously, the line for Chewbacca can be hours. Keep in mind that it's hot, and the characters are rotated to a break every 15-20 minutes, making waits even longer. Plan a just 1-2 characters per SWW day if this is something you are interested in. To hope for more will result in you doing nothing else except standing in character lines.

Enjoy the SWW snacks that they sell at different locations around the park. Always something fun and tasty.

Stay hydrated.

Wear your SW tee shirts, but remember that it will be hot. You may not want to dress up like you might for a convention.

Do they allow you to us a FP+ for any of the SW characters? Will there be some of the Storm troppers walking around that we can get a picture taken with them without haveing to stand in line for hours? What time does the motorcade start and how soon before do you suggest we look for a spot? I have no idea what to expect. Is there a schedule for last year some where so we can get an idea of times and types of shows so I can at least start planning some of the other DHS shows? I just feel very lost when it comes to planning our DHS day. It will be my biggest challenge by far espically if the schedule does not come out until a week before.

 

[delmar411]

Do they allow you to us a FP+ for any of the SW characters? Will there be some of the Storm troppers walking around that we can get a picture taken with them without haveing to stand in line for hours? What time does the motorcade start and how soon before do you suggest we look for a spot? I have no idea what to expect. Is there a schedule for last year some where so we can get an idea of times and types of shows so I can at least start planning some of the other DHS shows? I just feel very lost when it comes to planning our DHS day. It will be my biggest challenge by far espically if the schedule does not come out until a week before.

I suggest you look at the SWW thread posted on the first page. It has all your questions answered

 

[glassslippergirl]

Do they allow you to us a FP+ for any of the SW characters? Will there be some of the Storm troppers walking around that we can get a picture taken with them without haveing to stand in line for hours? What time does the motorcade start and how soon before do you suggest we look for a spot? I have no idea what to expect. Is there a schedule for last year some where so we can get an idea of times and types of shows so I can at least start planning some of the other DHS shows? I just feel very lost when it comes to planning our DHS day. It will be my biggest challenge by far espically if the schedule does not come out until a week before.

I agree with PP. The "official" thread has a ton of info. If you are worried about your plans, it will be worth reading through.

Generally, the motorcade is around 12 usually. Get there at least a hour early, 2 hours if it is important to you to be curbside.

The shows usually follow one after the other all afternoon. If you wanted to see them all, budget from after the parade until after 6 p.m. You can literally leave one and get in line for the next-- all in the same building. There's usually 3-4 each afternoon. But you really can't plan for which ones you want to see until the schedule is released. Right now, we don't even know which celebs will be there each weekend, and the schedule changes based on which celebs are there.

I don't know anything about FP+, sorry.

If you are serious about SWW, it will take your whole DHS day. You could literally go from waiting for an autograph FP to shopping at Darth's Maul to your autograph session to waiting for and watching the motorcade to alternating between panel discussions and character meets to dinner to the fireworks show, then collapse in exhaustion . If you are worried, I would recommend planning FPs for other attractions. Keep it clear from around 10-1 for the motorcade, and do whatever SW stuff you have time for. You can change FPs from your phone if there is a major conflict with a SW event you really want to do.

Best wishes.