Star Wars Weekends in the late afternoon?? Please Help.

[pfc123]

We are going to SWW on Saturday June 11. Unfortunately we will not be making it to MGM until around 5. I am a big Star Wars fan but am very content with just being there for it and seeing some characters dressed up (not the actors that are signing). So my question is, will I be able to see some costumed characters, get some photo ops, and/or get some SWW merchandise after 5 pm on Saturday? Thank you!!

 

[slinky101]

greta question, was going to post it soon myself, we will be going to mgm late afternoon on 29th may, want to know the same thing!

 

[TrickyFish]

If you could get there earlier, I would... most of the activities are morning/early afternoonish. I'm not sure of exact "hours", but there might not be as much lingering in the evenings. You should still be able to buy merch though.

Oh, and howdy neighbor!

 

[mking624]

By the time the evening comes, the activities are pretty much over. When I marched int he SWW parade, it was at 11am and character meetings/activities revolved around that. There really wasn't anything going on by the time evening arrived.

 

[pfc123]

So, for example, at 5 pm will i have completely missed the stormtroopers at the entrance?

 

[mking624]

So, for example, at 5 pm will i have completely missed the stormtroopers at the entrance?

I'm in the 501st Legion...the group of Stormtroopers that marches in the parade. We are there only for the parade. We get there at about 8-8:30am (backstage), get dressed, etc, march at 11am, go backstage immediately after the parade, get undressed, get our stuff, and leave the park through a backstage exit. WDW might have their own hired people to wear somewhat "ok" trooper armor (as our group is not allowed to do anything other than the parade while in costume), but I highly doubt they'd be at the entrance all day since just about all activities accur during the day and not the evening. If you want to see anything in terms of characters, activities, etc...go during the day.

 

[Quasi123]

I found my schedule from last year and it says the characters are out until 7pm, Jedi Mickey is out till 6pm, trivia is at 6pm. Everything else ended earlier.
Merchandise is available all day if they haven't sold out.

 

[mking624]

Don't necessarily trust the schedule. I was there last year and the characters were very rarely out. Most of them did not come out during their scheduled times, if at all. We'd see people lined up to meet different characters, only to be told to no longer be in line because the character wasn't coming. They certainly were not out in the evening.

 

[TrickyFish]

Don't necessarily trust the schedule. I was there last year and the characters were very rarely out. Most of them did not come out during their scheduled times, if at all. We'd see people lined up to meet different characters, only to be told to no longer be in line because the character wasn't coming. They certainly were not out in the evening.

You're kidding, right? I was there last year, albeit in the morning/early afternoon and characters were everywhere! Chewbacca, Luke, Leia, Darth, the Emporer, Storm Troppers, Wicket, Queen Amidala, the Cantina Band, Boba Fett, Jengo Fett.. I know I'm forgetting some. And when we inquired on character schedules they were always where they said they would be.

As far as the Stormtroopers that walk above the ticket booths.. We left MGM that day at about 6pm and I think they were still up there. They were commenting on people entering the park, it was great!

 

[mking624]

Nope, unfortunately I'm not kidding. We never trusted the lines, so we never got in any of them...and sure enough within a few minutes, the guests were told no character would be coming out. We had seen a few ewoks...but the "big" characters only came out right after the parade and that was it....they disappeared after that. So those of us who were in the parade missed out on a lot of characters. Happened the year before to us as well. A coworker of mine is going in about a month for SWW. She experienced the same thing the last few years so she's hoping that going at a different time will be different for her.

 

[momsgoofy]

Okay, so is there a different parade at MGM during SWW? I've checked the Stars and Cars parade schedule for the weekend we will be there (6/4,5) and it lists the parade time at 5:30pm. Or is there an extra SW parade earlier in the day?

This will be our first SWW and DH is pretty excited so I'm trying to plan for him to have some SW fun.

Thanks!

 

[mking624]

There is a parade at about 11am that features Star Wars characters (costumed or from the movie). The group I'm in, The 501st Legion, participates only when we have enough people to march (I think Disney's requirement is for at least 30 of us to be there). I know there have been weekends in the past that they didn't have enough people to march. That doesn't mean that the parade is cancelled...our group just doesn't participate if we ourselves don't have enough. The biggest presence we have is during Fan Club weekend...we try to have a larger presence during that weekend.

 

[VintageKnight]

hey, mking624, make em update the 501st site, i've been checking in to see what they were going to be doing for disney but the last thing on the schedule is sw celebration.....

DVK

 

[jenniskinni]

I'm so glad this was asked! We will be leaving on Sat. June 11 and we were planning to go to the Star Wars Friday afternoon(MK Morning EMH is that day) I hope my boys and DH will get to see some characters!

 

[LisaR]

Don't necessarily trust the schedule. I was there last year and the characters were very rarely out. Most of them did not come out during their scheduled times, if at all. We'd see people lined up to meet different characters, only to be told to no longer be in line because the character wasn't coming. They certainly were not out in the evening.

Are you serious?? My ds was able to get every single characters autograph. The longest line was probably 20 minutes. The actors had very long lines but DS was 6 and didn't want their autographs. He was able to participate everyday in the lightsaber fight. He rode Star Tours a million times. He saw the parade, did the trivia, shopped for merchandise, etc. I don't think he missed a thing. This was June 4th, 5th and 6th, if memory serves me right. It did seem to fizzle out each day by 5pm......6pm at the latest. There were still a few things going on but not like earlier in the day.

Lisa

 

[Harmony]

(as our group is not allowed to do anything other than the parade while in costume)

Costume? What costume? Oh come now...we all know the Stormtroopers are real!!!!!