Star Wars Weekend Tips ~ 2011 Update

[PrincessAlways]

Just got back today - great time! We got there a little "later" about 12:45... by 3 we had seen ALL characters from the dark side! It was our plan to come back next weekend for the light side - but since we had time we grabbed some quick pictures with some today.

Here is my photo album, jump to page two!

Star Wars characters!

Loved your pics! We'll be there next weekend. Where were the Disney Star Wars characters set up? Did you watch Hyperspace Hoopla? Any hints for getting a good spot for it? I never saw it & want to try getting there this time.

 

[Berlioz70]

I'm afraid I did not do anything but meet characters. The dark side characters are in the back around the Backlot Tour. The light side meet by Star Tours and in the back by Luigi's garage.

I guess my best tip for characters is to talk to the people in the yellow shirts. They carry around character set schedules so I used them a lot to decide who I was going to meet next and to plan my movement.

 

[PrincessAlways]

ok, thanks!

 

[spender]

One of my son's favorite souvenirs from Disney is his poster from Star Wars weekend. We waited in line for fast passes for autographs, and had the two main stars sign his poster. I framed it in a poster frame, and it looks great.

 

[stashf]

Can anyone whos been tell me if the photopass photographers are out for the sww character shots! Im trying to decide if I should buy my cd before I go and am leaving tonight!!
Thanks if anyone knows.
Stacey

 

[Mnemonic]

Can anyone whos been tell me if the photopass photographers are out for the sww character shots! Im trying to decide if I should buy my cd before I go and am leaving tonight!!
Thanks if anyone knows.
Stacey

Yes - photopass folks are there for characters. There are two types of characters: posed ones at static locations with lines, and the "roamers." Many of the roamers are VERY into their characters - best way to get a Jawa's attention is to offer something to trade: lollipop, empty bottle, thermal detonator... the jawa then haggles for a bit, and offers something in return. The Sandpeople are VERY mobile - but also tend to group up for very dramatic shots. The Photopass guys do there best... but you need to have your own camera just in case!

Hint: Darth Vader is the only character who has his own location, and is there all day -the other characters rotate, 3 per location. We made the mistake of getting Darth FIRST - his line shrunk during the day.

If you have dinner reservations and are worried about the parade, there is a pretty good parade at 3pm.

The line for Ray Park's autograph FP was INSANE - we got there at 7:45am, and were told there was no chance for that autograph.

 

[webbmom]

Wow All these tips are great. We will be there June 6th. My boys know we are going to WDW. They have no idea about SWW.

 

[OB1]

The ones below were all free roaming characters or had lines with literally less than 10 people so the wait was 2 or 3 minutes.
...

Those were some great photos of your daughter. Thanks for sharing. She obviously loved meeting the characters.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

One of my son's favorite souvenirs from Disney is his poster from Star Wars weekend. We waited in line for fast passes for autographs, and had the two main stars sign his poster. I framed it in a poster frame, and it looks great.

That's a great idea!

Just got back today - great time! We got there a little "later" about 12:45... by 3 we had seen ALL characters from the dark side! It was our plan to come back next weekend for the light side - but since we had time we grabbed some quick pictures with some today.

Here is my photo album, jump to page two!

Star Wars characters!

Great photos!! Looks like you had a wonderful time!

Just got back from our first time at SWW!
We loved it!

A few things we learned....

You have to go very EARLY to get a fastpass for autographs from the visiting celebs. We missed this. On the flip side, they are handing out presigned photos at their booths when the actors are not there signing. It is also easy to just walk by and snap a pic.

The parade was great! I was wondering why some major characters were missing though. No Obi-Wan? Qui-Gon? Han Solo? Yoda? Still, it was great and fun interaction from the Tusken Raiders and Jango Fett.

Lots of Raiders and Gammorean Guards walking around and easy to get pics and autographs. Also a few others like Zam Wesal and Stormtroopers. If you dont hit the line at the right time it can take FOREVER to get to Chewy or Luke and Leia. Same with Vader and Darth Maul. Try to get to the line early while they are on a break.

Wicket's Warehouse had some great merchandise. We got some cool books and some cool shirts that we had never seen before. Much less crowded in there than Tattoine Traders.

Hyperspace Hoopla was hysterical. I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Try to get there early, b/c it is hard to see the stage and you don't want to miss the action.

Thanks for the tip about the presigned photos! We really didn't want to wait in line for hours to get an autograph. Aww, it's too bad that Obi-Wan and Yoda are not in the parade - they are some of my favorite characters. I'll make sure we get to Hyperspace Hoopla early. Everyone says it's a great show!

Yes - photopass folks are there for characters. There are two types of characters: posed ones at static locations with lines, and the "roamers." Many of the roamers are VERY into their characters - best way to get a Jawa's attention is to offer something to trade: lollipop, empty bottle, thermal detonator... the jawa then haggles for a bit, and offers something in return. The Sandpeople are VERY mobile - but also tend to group up for very dramatic shots. The Photopass guys do there best... but you need to have your own camera just in case!

Hint: Darth Vader is the only character who has his own location, and is there all day -the other characters rotate, 3 per location. We made the mistake of getting Darth FIRST - his line shrunk during the day.

If you have dinner reservations and are worried about the parade, there is a pretty good parade at 3pm.

The line for Ray Park's autograph FP was INSANE - we got there at 7:45am, and were told there was no chance for that autograph.

Thanks for the tips about autographs! I'm sorry you couldn't get Ray Park's autograph. It really would have been amazing to meet him!

 

[cop502]

If you have questions about character meetings - go to the info desk by American Idol. Jedi Mickey, etc are on rotating shifts by Great Movie Ride. Timing is everything!!!!

Hope this helps!!!

 

[Mischa]

I didn't read all the posts but I did want to add a little tidbit from this past weekend.

We went all three days (the rain didn't stop us). The parade is great - get there early and grab a seat. We did that all three days (waited about an hour each time and sat through HSM3 (coming & going) and of course on 2 days just before the parade was to start it would rain (one day it just about monsooned). Didn't matter - we all took our ponchos out and sat there waiting.

Anyway...we came across some of the best characters on the backlot! The Storm Troopers were the best! I asked one of the Storm Trooper guys for his autograph and my DH asked him "can I hold your gun?" The look he gave my DH! OMG - we were laughing so hard. Of course I piped in with "he's a troublemaker" and the Storm Trooper nodded his head as if to say "yes". We had everyone cracking up.

Another great character was Aurra Sing! The look she would give you! It was really great.

Have fun!

 

[julwh]

The line for Ray Park's autograph FP was INSANE - we got there at 7:45am, and were told there was no chance for that autograph.

What day were you there? I marched in the parade on Friday (I am a 501st member) then went into the park after 1 pm with my friend and there was no line at all at Ray Park's area. The CM waved us up without fastpasses and we both got autographs. I actually couldn't believe it!

 

[devores]

What day were you there? I marched in the parade on Friday (I am a 501st member) then went into the park after 1 pm with my friend and there was no line at all at Ray Park's area. The CM waved us up without fastpasses and we both got autographs. I actually couldn't believe it!

I was there on Friday and let me say, you guys were awsome. My DW could not believe that you made your own costumes. We were very impressed. That was my first SWW and am hooked now. I did miss allot of photo ops due to the rain, but still had fun. Wish I could have gotten a pic with vader and a couple of storm troopers, but they ended moving Vader into Wickets Warehouse and in the move the Storm Troopers were sent off. So I got a pic with just Vader.

It must be a blast to be able to march in the parade......

 

[yulilin3]

we wnt Saturday and Sunday. On saturday we got there at 5:30am I lined up for Ray Parks, got a 3rd sessions FP's my son lined up for Warwick Davis, got 1st session. That will give you an idea on what time you need to be there, there shouldn't be much to worry with the remaining celebrities, all except of course for Dave Prowse, his line will be the longest, we plan to get to DHS for Dave Prowse at 4:30am the latest.
On Sunday we arrived at DHS at 7:30am, not really planning on getting more autographs but we got in line for both Warwick Davis and Jay Laga'aia and got both of them on the 1st session, of course Ray Parks line was already closed by then.
The Hoopla is not to be missed, and check out the Q&A shos with the visiting celebs always fun and great info.
MTFBWY

 

[devores]

For those looking for autographs:

When we arrived Friday (around 0800), the line was allready back to the bus loading area. People camped out the night before. When we left the park around 9 that night, there were people allready lined up for the next days autographs.

So get there early. Its only going to get worse the closer to the end it gets.

 

[julwh]

I was there on Friday and let me say, you guys were awsome. My DW could not believe that you made your own costumes. We were very impressed. That was my first SWW and am hooked now. I did miss allot of photo ops due to the rain, but still had fun. Wish I could have gotten a pic with vader and a couple of storm troopers, but they ended moving Vader into Wickets Warehouse and in the move the Storm Troopers were sent off. So I got a pic with just Vader.

It must be a blast to be able to march in the parade......

Thanks! It truly is a great experience and to hear the crowds roar when we come out - There aren't a lot of female troopers (I am a stormtrooper) either so I love the anonymity of it!

Have fun everyone! I will be there again 5/30 and 5/31!

 

[PrincessBetsy]

If you have questions about character meetings - go to the info desk by American Idol. Jedi Mickey, etc are on rotating shifts by Great Movie Ride. Timing is everything!!!!

Hope this helps!!!

Thanks! I'll be sure to go to the info desk.

I didn't read all the posts but I did want to add a little tidbit from this past weekend.

We went all three days (the rain didn't stop us). The parade is great - get there early and grab a seat. We did that all three days (waited about an hour each time and sat through HSM3 (coming & going) and of course on 2 days just before the parade was to start it would rain (one day it just about monsooned). Didn't matter - we all took our ponchos out and sat there waiting.

Anyway...we came across some of the best characters on the backlot! The Storm Troopers were the best! I asked one of the Storm Trooper guys for his autograph and my DH asked him "can I hold your gun?" The look he gave my DH! OMG - we were laughing so hard. Of course I piped in with "he's a troublemaker" and the Storm Trooper nodded his head as if to say "yes". We had everyone cracking up.

Another great character was Aurra Sing! The look she would give you! It was really great.

Have fun!

Haha! Sounds like you had some great photo opportunities! I can't wait to see the parade - everyone says it is awesome!

What day were you there? I marched in the parade on Friday (I am a 501st member) then went into the park after 1 pm with my friend and there was no line at all at Ray Park's area. The CM waved us up without fastpasses and we both got autographs. I actually couldn't believe it!

Wow! It must be amazing to march in the parade!

we wnt Saturday and Sunday. On saturday we got there at 5:30am I lined up for Ray Parks, got a 3rd sessions FP's my son lined up for Warwick Davis, got 1st session. That will give you an idea on what time you need to be there, there shouldn't be much to worry with the remaining celebrities, all except of course for Dave Prowse, his line will be the longest, we plan to get to DHS for Dave Prowse at 4:30am the latest.
On Sunday we arrived at DHS at 7:30am, not really planning on getting more autographs but we got in line for both Warwick Davis and Jay Laga'aia and got both of them on the 1st session, of course Ray Parks line was already closed by then.
The Hoopla is not to be missed, and check out the Q&A shos with the visiting celebs always fun and great info.
MTFBWY

Wow, you got up really early and you still got in the 3rd session. I can't imagine waiting that long, but I bet you met some interesting people in line. Do the cast members close off the line once it reaches a certain number of people?

For those looking for autographs:

When we arrived Friday (around 0800), the line was allready back to the bus loading area. People camped out the night before. When we left the park around 9 that night, there were people allready lined up for the next days autographs.

So get there early. Its only going to get worse the closer to the end it gets.

Wow, I didn't realize that people camped out. That's intense!

 

[Mickey's Sister]

Thanks! It truly is a great experience and to hear the crowds roar when we come out - There aren't a lot of female troopers (I am a stormtrooper) either so I love the anonymity of it!

Have fun everyone! I will be there again 5/30 and 5/31!

Hi!

We'll be at SWW weekends 3 & 4. Will the 501st be in attendance either weekend? We really hope so.

Another question for anyone who has attended this year...Where Is Palpatine & the Red Guard? I'm hoping we just missed them, but we haven't noticed them in anyone's photos.

Thanks!!!

 

[bradk]

the 501st and rebel legion are represented every SWW weekend

i'd be pretty sure the emperor is not out this year. i think it's the same list as last year plus captain rex and the emperor wasn't out last year as I recall

 

[holcomb-mania]

Is the DHS parking lot open between 4 and 5am? I know the buses won't be running, so we were planning on driving in order to get in Prowse's autograph line by 4:30am.