Star Wars Weekend Tips 2012

[mesaboy2]

where is the list/link of all the celeb's? I missed it somewhere. TIA

Allow myself to quote...uh, myself.

Updated info on celebs and other miscellany for SWW 2012 on the Disney Parks Blog:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...rs-weekends-2012-at-walt-disney-world-resort/

 

[evcollins]

One more thing.....

I had no idea if we signed up for JA at RD that it could be pushed back till sometime in the afternoon. My question is regarding character meets. What time do they start coming out, i.e., Darth Vader, Maul and Mickey? Do they come out to their posts as soon as the park opens or later in the morning? So far tentatively our plan is myself and the kiddos will walk "briskly" to JA sign ups while DH heads over to TSM for FPs. My thought is DH could stand in line for Darth Vader while waiting for us. I'll send kiddos with him for meet and greet and wait in line for Maul and then they could join me. Does anyone see a problem with that, with us standing in line and waiting for the others to join?

Thanks for the input.
ec

 

[sam_gordon]

Love the idea of signing the lightsaber. Were there any problems with the characters signing it? I think I read somewhere in the millions of posts that characters will not sign anything on you. Correct? My kiddos will carry a cinch sack. Do you think they'd sign it if it was off their back?

Thanks!
ec

That's what my DD did last year. Granted, she didn't care about SW characters, but had no problems getting other to sign.

Correction, she got Chewbacca and Wicket to sign it.

 

[sam_gordon]

One more thing.....

I had no idea if we signed up for JA at RD that it could be pushed back till sometime in the afternoon. My question is regarding character meets. What time do they start coming out, i.e., Darth Vader, Maul and Mickey? Do they come out to their posts as soon as the park opens or later in the morning? So far tentatively our plan is myself and the kiddos will walk "briskly" to JA sign ups while DH heads over to TSM for FPs. My thought is DH could stand in line for Darth Vader while waiting for us. I'll send kiddos with him for meet and greet and wait in line for Maul and then they could join me. Does anyone see a problem with that, with us standing in line and waiting for the others to join?

Thanks for the input.
ec

Going off memory, Characters were NOT out until 10am. DS & I were at the gates at 7am, gates opened at 8am, we went straight to JTA (got first show... 9:15), got FP for Star Tours (8:30AM), rode Star Tours, got FP for TSM (2pm I believe, didn't have time to ride standby), and by that time it was around 8:45 I think. Characters weren't out.

By the time JTA was over (9:45 or so), the lines were formed for the characters at the 'set locations' and the characters came out at 10.

FWIW, we didn't really have a plan other than getting him in JTA, but here's what we *DID* accomplish (in no particular order):
Star Tours (x2)
JTA
Indiana Jones
Galactic Senate (see picture on previous page)
Clone Troopers
Jawas
Chewbacca/Wicket
Jengo Fett
R2D2
SW Parade
Commander Cody
DHS Afternoon parade (don't remember the name of it)
Hyperspace Hoopla
TSM (DD & DS only)

I think it was probably the best day in my son's life... we were looking at the pictures again last night and he's ready to go back.

 

[TDC Nala]

I go for the shows, not the characters or celebrity autographs, but I did wait in line for a photo with Darth Vader last year and he came out around 9:30. They had the park opening earlier than 9, so there was a pretty big line for him by the time he arrived. I think if you don't get in line for him first thing and get a shot at him for his first appearance, you'll be waiting for him awhile.

 

[evcollins]

Going off memory, Characters were NOT out until 10am. DS & I were at the gates at 7am, gates opened at 8am, we went straight to JTA (got first show... 9:15), got FP for Star Tours (8:30AM), rode Star Tours, got FP for TSM (2pm I believe, didn't have time to ride standby), and by that time it was around 8:45 I think. Characters weren't out.

By the time JTA was over (9:45 or so), the lines were formed for the characters at the 'set locations' and the characters came out at 10.

FWIW, we didn't really have a plan other than getting him in JTA, but here's what we *DID* accomplish (in no particular order):
Star Tours (x2)
JTA
Indiana Jones
Galactic Senate (see picture on previous page)
Clone Troopers
Jawas
Chewbacca/Wicket
Jengo Fett
R2D2
SW Parade
Commander Cody
DHS Afternoon parade (don't remember the name of it)
Hyperspace Hoopla
TSM (DD & DS only)

I think it was probably the best day in my son's life... we were looking at the pictures again last night and he's ready to go back.

Thanks for the info! I had a nagging feeling while putting together our TP that the character times were going to be a problem if they have a soft opening of 8:00. Glad to see you accomplished those above!

 

[LMO429]

Is the parade 11:40 or 12:40 I was looking at year pass and it said 11:40 motorcard 12pm show?

 

[sam_gordon]

Thanks for the info! I had a nagging feeling while putting together our TP that the character times were going to be a problem if they have a soft opening of 8:00. Glad to see you accomplished those above!

We did stop for a little bit of shopping (he got a custom built lightsaber), and a couple CS meals. We left a little after 9pm. The wait for Chewbacca & Wicket was ~an hour, we waited about 30-45 for the SW parade, R2D2 was about 30 minutes. The other set characters were about 15-20 minutes wait. The "wondering" ones were usually less than 5 minutes.

We also had opportunities to meet Tusken Raiders & Aura Sing, but DS didn't want to.

 

[mesaboy2]

Is the parade 11:40 or 12:40 I was looking at year pass and it said 11:40 motorcard 12pm show?

It has varied from year to year. This year's parade time has not been announced.

 

[Music City Mama]

Aww, but they're so much fun when they're being mischievious!

Here, one was grunting at the other to come down from there!

Ack! There were some good close-ups of them on another link that someone posted a couple of pages back -- yulilin3, I think. My DS loved looking that those photos and all of the other ones on here last night.

OMG, I'm in your picture. The one that says: helping a clone defend the republic. I'm the one with the white t-shirt standing next to the CM in the yellow shirt
All these pictures are awesome, I'm getting excited...

That is hilarious!

Another random tip: Here's a magic shot that one should take advantage of while doing SWW. Hunt for a photopass photographer carrying a light saber. Or use your own. This magic shot requires no people in the background. They have to superimpose Darth Vader where people won't be walking through him. It's similar to the one they used to do at the MK, that of you battling Capt. Hook.

Thanks for the tip!

My DS would like to know if General Grievous is represented? I would imagine a costume like that would be too complicated for them to have there, but thought I'd ask.

I think this was discussed a couple of months ago, but if you do JTA, you can't choose who you fight, right? Because both of my kids fought DV last year and while it would be fun again, I don't think they'd want to waste precious/valuable time that day to fight him again.

I think DS9 wants to do the Padawan Mind Challenge, but I'm really starting to get nervous about the time situation. We will be going the Friday of the 4th weekend. Because we're heading to US/IOA on this trip, we only have so many WDW days and it turns out, this will be our only HS day. I hope we'll still be able to fit in other things in.

 

[sam_gordon]

My DS would like to know if General Grievous is represented? I would imagine a costume like that would be too complicated for them to have there, but thought I'd ask.

I never saw him or any representation to lead me to believe he was there.

I think this was discussed a couple of months ago, but if you do JTA, you can't choose who you fight, right? Because both of my kids fought DV last year and while it would be fun again, I don't think they'd want to waste precious/valuable time that day to fight him again.

What I noticed last year was the first 15 kids to the JTA stage went on stage. The other 15 were on the ground.

Before you get too excited, the way it worked for us... we met (with our FP) in front of Sounds Dangerous (where we signed up) about 15 minutes before our scheduled "class". The padawans lined up next to a fence and the CM asked trivia/told jokes before it was time to head over to the stage. Then he got on one end of the line and the padawans followed single file. The first 15 in the line ended up on stage and fighting Vader. I don't know if this is how they do it all the time, but I'd guess so. Unfortunately, I don't remember if the CM led from the left or the right of the line.

 

[TDC Nala]

My DS would like to know if General Grievous is represented? I would imagine a costume like that would be too complicated for them to have there, but thought I'd ask.

He's never appeared to my knowledge. But Matthew Wood, who did his voice in the film, was a celebrity guest one year. They had some fun at the celebrity show having Matthew read innocuous Disney-type things on a microphone in General Grievous' voice.

 

[Music City Mama]

I never saw him or any representation to lead me to believe he was there.
What I noticed last year was the first 15 kids to the JTA stage went on stage. The other 15 were on the ground.

Before you get too excited, the way it worked for us... we met (with our FP) in front of Sounds Dangerous (where we signed up) about 15 minutes before our scheduled "class". The padawans lined up next to a fence and the CM asked trivia/told jokes before it was time to head over to the stage. Then he got on one end of the line and the padawans followed single file. The first 15 in the line ended up on stage and fighting Vader. I don't know if this is how they do it all the time, but I'd guess so. Unfortunately, I don't remember if the CM led from the left or the right of the line.

Well, if we were definitely going to do it, that strategy sounds pretty good. I think we'll just skip it, though, and try for PMC (if we do anything at all).

He's never appeared to my knowledge. But Matthew Wood, who did his voice in the film, was a celebrity guest one year. They had some fun at the celebrity show having Matthew read innocuous Disney-type things on a microphone in General Grievous' voice.

How fun!

 

[Buckeye Princess]

Do you need to have your child's park ticket present to sign them up for JTA? I'm wondering if I can take it to get FPs while my DH goes there with DD to sign up. Also what is the minimum age?

 

[Karpkg]

Do you need to have your child's park ticket present to sign them up for JTA? I'm wondering if I can take it to get FPs while my DH goes there with DD to sign up. Also what is the minimum age?

You do not need to have the child's ticket. I usually get in line with the kids and send DH over to TSM for FP's.

Ages are between 4 and 12 to participate.

2010

2011

 

[yulilin3]

You do not need to have the child's ticket. I usually get in line with the kids and send DH over to TSM for FP's.

Ages are between 4 and 12 to participate.

2010

2011

It's amazing how still doubling the times for JTA it's all booked in 20min. I remember when the master used to pick the kids from the audience, I saw plenty of little Padawans crying because they had tried multiple times and didn't get picked.

 

[yulilin3]

Where's everyone today?!?

 

[yulilin3]

Miss my SWW planners...I clearly workout way to early in the morning to be bored at 11am.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Miss my SWW planners...I clearly workout way to early in the morning to be bored at 11am.

I think everyone has been off the DIS in general today because the board has been so wonky!

 

[ocalla]

Well, I think the SW bug has bitten. I'm actually getting pretty excited about seeing all the characters!!!

Still haven't made my final decision on May 26th or June 1 because I am waiting to see if there will be any changes to the May/June park hours (extra EMH's added etc.)

Love checking in here each day and seeing the new tips!!!