OK, gang, I promised I would post this, and it took me the better part of the day to get it done, but, here it is. We went last weekend (Memorial Day weekend). We did just Friday and Saturday at the Studios and got all we wanted to done. If you want a third autograph, of course you will need one more day. And, finally, this would not have gone as it did, except for the great help from the first weekenders whose intel and reports fed my planning. Thanks guys, paying it forward.
While this is not a thorough trip report covering the entirety of my recent trip to WDW, it does cover in depth the major day of SWW we attended and the subsequent partial day we achieved following:
Friday, May 25 - 5:05 AM - Arrive at DHS with my two buddies. We are already about 10-15 minutes late because one of them almost forgot his park ticket and was running behind from the start. Ultimately, this was only 5 minutes behind my projected arrival time to get in line for Ray Park (I have projected times which build in delays and such. Had we rolled when I was
ready, we would have been earlier.) We spent the next couple of hours chatting with the folks right ahead of us and right behind us.
Approximately 6:30-ish (not 100% sure because of massive sleep deprivation going on then) we get wristbanded. Karpkg and d_r were in line that day as well. I believe d_r was just ahead of us (like three people) and Karpkg was somewhere behind us. Their reports of the AM that day are accurate.
Approximately 7:15 - THe line moves and we get fastpasses for Ray Park. We get the 11:00 to 11:15 window - the end of the morning session. The girl behind us gets the same time. The guy immediately behind her gets afternoon session. This actually works out with my touring plan better than I could have hoped.
After this, we go to the middle of the turnstiles to see the Stormtrooper gate opening show. A few new jokes from last year. Good stuff. I was perfectly positioned that when they pointed to "that guy" and called him a nerfherder, it was right at me. Yep. I'm "that guy".
We get in and my buddy Dan heads to TS to get fast passes. My buddy Q heads with me to Star Tours. We walk right on, then meet up with Dan at Tatooine Traders. Q makes lightsaber and droids. Dan has already ridden TSM and he joins me for another Star Tours. This was mistake #1 for the weekend. We should have made our droids then, as the line got much longer later in the day. Q finishes just after we get done with the ride (just enough time to get pics of him making his droids - his first trip to WDW, as well). We head over to TSM and ride it, then go to Darth's Mall for some shopping. This was a pretty successful venture, except for the time we spent looking for R2D2 ornamet number 1701, or 1138, or 421 (geeks will get the references). We head out of there and then back to Tatooine Traders for droid building. At this point the line is about 30-40 minutes, and it is now 10:30. DOn't want to risk missing Ray Park, since we have the weekend, and Q, who leaves Saturday afternoon, has his already. We head to Echo Lake.
10:45 - Begin waiting for Ray Park.
11:00 - Continue waiting for Ray Park.
11:15 - Still waiting.
11:30 - Realize we could hav emade the droids, as we had guaranteed passes, but wer unsure of the window. We learn this as an earlier FP holder shows up around 11:10. Another 11:00-11:15'er gets there about 11:20. Yeah, droids could have been done.
11:45 - Meet Ray Park and have pics with him. Really cool guy, and he made sure all his fans got the autographs. He chatted with everyone, took lots of pics, everything.
We are hungry now, and Dan's wife and son have been with us since the Mall. We go for lunch since we realize that Q will be back with us for SWW stuff in the AM so the parade is not as high a priority at this point.
1:15 - Done with lunch, we get in line for the Behind the Force show.
1:45 - Do the show.
2:15 - Get out of show. Wander around a little, take a couple of pictures, find a bench to rest our feet.
3:00 - Mosey over to the line for Stars of the Saga. Meander into the line and walk right back into the theater through the proper queue area. See the show.
3:45/4:00 - Exit the show and repeat our earlier tactics. We do this because our feet hurt, Q had been at WDW for 4 days at that point and was wiped. I planned for this, and, this touring plan is being executed right down the line.
4:45 - See Obi-Wan and Beyond. Laugh hysterically at the show. Position ourselves back in line for A VIsit to the Maul, as the line is much longer for this than we saw on the previous shows.
6:00 - see A Visit to the Maul.
6:30 - Walk out of the show with a world of respect for Ray Park. Dan's wife is drooling muttering something about beefcake.
Not sure of the exact time, we head to TSM and ride it again. Many breakdowns, mess up the schedule. THis is mistake #2 for the weekend. Once ridden, we should have skipped it, however Dan and his wife love it, and I am one for rides, anyway, especially when we have fastpasses (I have no recall of when we got them, but I know we had them). After Q and I finish, we take Dan's son in the stroller (he's konked out) over to get a spot for Hoopla. We are successful. Not great, but we can see the stage, and hear the action. Dan and his wife are AWOL until it is over. I find out they got held up with mechanical issues and special needs riders. We are good to go for our 9:05 at Sci-Fi. There were some slight issues there, but that is for a different report.
We retire for the day.
Saturday, May 26 - reasonable time, but before the Studios opens. My wife and I have arrived before the Stormtroopers are done with their bit. We angle towards the autograph fast pass area and score standbys for Andy Secombe. We go into the Studios. Today is a little weird, as I have to go to the Mall to resolve an issue with my purchases from the day before. I got back to the room about 1 AM and found that my Passholder coin did not make it into my bag. They took care of that, and the wife and I did a little more shopping. We then head to Carbon Freeze Me, as I had a 9 AM appointment. I got a little delayed because her
scooter died on the way, and she had to walk over to Sounds Dangerous from near RNR. It was only important as I wanted her to take pics of me doing it. We get done with the process and head back to get her scooter. SHe has to wait for the repair guy, who is now at the front of the park. I head over to build droids. It is a 30 minute wait, but I get my 4 done. It probably would have gone faster if there were not two guys ahead of me doing 20 and 12. It took an irate lady and a manager to stop them. THe line then moved pretty well. My wife and I head out and over to where Andy Secombe is doing his autographs. THey wave us right on in. We meet him and get pictures, etc.. We then head over to RNR to meet the rest of our friends. After some planning, we find us a spot near Brown Derby to watch the parade. After that, it is lunch, and the rest of the day is a typical day in the Studios on a crowded day. My friends and I got to ride some of our favorites together, which made the trip fantastic.
hopefully it'll be a great experience for those meeting him this year.
