Star Wars Weekend Tips 2012

[Music City Mama]

Bumping to get some opinions re: my question above about 6/8 vs. 6/10. Anyone? My ADR window is coming up soon, so trying to plan my days!

 

[marsh0013]

Bumping to get some opinions re: my question above about 6/8 vs. 6/10. Anyone? My ADR window is coming up soon, so trying to plan my days!

from what i've read, fridays are your best bet. i went last year on sat and sun so i can't tell you from personal experience, but it makes sense as locals are less of a factor on fridays. won't be slow by any means, but probably better (slightly) than sat and sun.

 

[Music City Mama]

from what i've read, fridays are your best bet. i went last year on sat and sun so i can't tell you from personal experience, but it makes sense as locals are less of a factor on fridays. won't be slow by any means, but probably better (slightly) than sat and sun.

Thank you! I've also read that Fridays are generally a tad less crowded for the same reason (less locals), but didn't know if Sunday the 10th might be a little less crowded than Friday the 8th because it's the last day of all of the weekends (although, it's entirely possibly that it's the worst day for that same reason). Unless someone indicates otherwise, we'll probably shoot for the 8th.

 

[Desiree]

My first SWW! We do plan on being there at rope drop. Looking forward to it!

 

[humboldthny]

We're seriously contemplating our first visit to SWW for June 8-10....can anyone tell me what characters have been available in the past for pictures and signing?

I also saw somewhere that the Hyperspace Hoopla is the last event of the day, usually at 8pm....does the park ever stay open after that for general admission or EMH?

 

[RalphinSC]

I'm going during that time and it looks like from the park schedules that DHS is generally doing their EMH's during the week on not during the SWW dates. But it does look like they run full schedules for those days until 10pm.

 

[hydrotony]

Bumping to get some opinions re: my question above about 6/8 vs. 6/10. Anyone? My ADR window is coming up soon, so trying to plan my days!

June 8 is the last day for Florida Seasonal Passholders before summer blockout starts on the 9th. So the 9th and 10th will not have that group of passholders there. I would guess that any locals who want to see SWW one last time will be there on Friday, but that's just a guess.

 

[Jacie]

I'm going during that time and it looks like from the park schedules that DHS is generally doing their EMH's during the week on not during the SWW dates. But it does look like they run full schedules for those days until 10pm.

The hours will likely be until midnight for most of the SWW days. Last year they changed about a month or so prior. The official hours were 9 am- Midnight, but on the first day, we were able to get in about 7 am

 

[POLY1985]

We arrive on the 9th so our first full day with be the 10th. We've never been and since we all love Star Wars I definitely want to see it so we'll have to go on Sunday.

 

[Music City Mama]

June 8 is the last day for Florida Seasonal Passholders before summer blockout starts on the 9th. So the 9th and 10th will not have that group of passholders there. I would guess that any locals who want to see SWW one last time will be there on Friday, but that's just a guess.

Thank you for that information -- I was not aware of that, so that is something to consider, as well.

 

[katibosch]

I think we'll go on Saturday due to other parks having EMH we want to attend on Friday and Sunday. Is that a huge mistake?

 

[LMO429]

Subscribing..We will be attending our first star wars weekend the weekend of may 18.Looking forward to it

 

[goofyredraider]

I think we'll go on Saturday due to other parks having EMH we want to attend on Friday and Sunday. Is that a huge mistake?

I hope not, because right now, I have a Saturday temporarily planned for it.

 

[katibosch]

I hope not, because right now, I have a Saturday temporarily planned for it.

I guess we'll both find out, won't we?

 

[DISFANSHAN]

Some have said that HS opens early on SWW. Can anyone tell me how early, and what rides/attractions can I expect to be open? Or is it only the Star Wars themed things that are open?

 

[RalphinSC]

The hours will likely be until midnight for most of the SWW days. Last year they changed about a month or so prior. The official hours were 9 am- Midnight, but on the first day, we were able to get in about 7 am

This I like! I certainly wouldn't wind a 7am to midnight SWW day. We are already planning to do an EMH evening earlier in the trip there to get all the rest of the park out of our system so we can focus purely on the SWW activities on the day we go there.

 

[csmommy]

The official dates have been released!!!

5/18-20, 5/25-27, 6/1-3, 6/8-10, 2012


http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/mgm/events/st-starwars-weekend.htm

Yeah!

 

[thej]

Hi all, I have a question. Assuming that the last weekend of SWW is 6/8 - 6/10, which do you think would be the better day to go: Friday or Sunday?

One one hand, I'm thinking it won't make much of a difference, but on the other hand, I think with Sunday being the actual last day of the whole thing, the crowds might be a little lighter? Maybe because they'll be out of the most sought after merchandise? Or is this just wishful thinking on my part? Or maybe because it is the last day, more people show up? I can make it work either way, just curious if anyone had opinions on that. Thanks!

DS (8 at the time) and I went to the last SWW in 2010, and wound up at DHS both Sat & Sun. I don't think either days was busier. In fact crowds at President's day day seemed bigger. Except for the parade... that was packed. I'd highly recommend making ADRs as soon as the window opens. We were very happy to be able to eat inside and were astounded at the size of the walkup lines

We split up what we wanted to see across the 2 days, and it made things much, much easier than I expected. By not having to "do it all" in one day, we could take time to hide inside more during the afternoons and early evening. We either headed back to the resort (PoP in our case) or shows/rides with lots of indoor time. Since DS has Asperger's, we have to take some extra care with heat and crowds, but honestly, it made things more enjoyable for me too. Some of the Merchandise was well picked over, but there was still plenty. I had no trouble getting the exclusive pin, but neither of us could get the size t-shirt we preferred.

I'm planning to take DS back to the last SWW again this year. Since we will be our 2nd trip for 2012 and we will have APs this time around, I'm planning on doing partial days in DHS all 3 days and some time at the other parks and pool to fill out the days.

You'll have a blast, enjoy!

 

[goofyredraider]

The official dates have been released!!!

5/18-20, 5/25-27, 6/1-3, 6/8-10, 2012


http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/mgm/events/st-starwars-weekend.htm

Yeah!

Fantastic! We'll be there from 5/27-6/9!

 

[yulilin3]

WOW the SWW thread 3 pages long already!! I was an active contributor to 2011 SWW tips thread.
I have attended SWW for the past 10 years, and I really don't see a difference between Sat. or Sun.in crowd levels. As many have said, Fri. tends to be the best day since us locals have work/school to deal with.
As I always say: set your priorities, whats most important for you? celeb. autographs? characters? shows? merchandise? Have your priorities and be flexible with your planning.
As others have said if you plan to get a celeb autograph be at the park early...as in 5:30am early, depending on the celeb. Last year WDW implemented a one wristband/celeb fp per person, meaning you can't get more than one autograph per day. For example, we wanted to get Ashley Eckstein and James Arnold Taylor, my DD10 went to Ashley's line and my DS15 went to JAT line. It sounds a bit confusing and some people didn't like the new system, but I think it gives more people the opportunity to meet the celebs.
Merchandise is huge on the first day of the first weekend. Some Limited Edition items sell out the first day, so be prepared if that's what you want.
Longest character lines are Darth Vader, Chewbacca and Darth Maul.
If you're interested in signing up your kids for Jedi Training Academy, go there first thing, at rope drop, sign up has been at Sounds Dangerous in years past and tends to fill up in the first 30 min. after park opening. The kids battle Darth Vader and Darth Maul or Assaj Ventress, these last 2 rotate.
The shows are very popular, plan on arriving 45min to an hour before the show to get seats.
The parade is incredibly popular, plan on grabbing a spot at least 1 hour before. The parade is great, all the characters plus the 501st Legion.
Last SWW the opened the park around 7:45am each day when it was scheduled for 9am, I'm not sure if they will do this again in 2012. All the most popular rides were open, TSM, ToT RnRC and of course ST.
Any other questions just ask away...and MTFBWY