Stay on Target: Star Wars Weekends, Here I Come???

[Sleepless Knight]

Hi everybody. Hi Doctor Nick.

The story that is about to unfold should serve as a cautionary tale to parents, both current and future, about what can happen to your children. I always warn people to be careful what they expose their little children to because you never know what can happen. For you see, even before I was born, my mom put a Mickey Mouse poster in the nursery over my crib, figuring that I would like the colors and smiling faces of Mickey and friends. And then, when I was barely 2 years old, my parents took me in tow to the movie theater when they finally watched Star Wars.

And the rest as they say, is history. Of all the things I loved and was fascinated with in childhood, only two remain interesting to me now as an adult. Disney and Star Wars. Star Wars and Disney. Where possible, my collection of the two things combines between Jedi Mickey big figures, Jedi Mickey plush toys, pins, a Jedi Mickey laser cel, and my Jedi Princess Aurora action figure, which came about from buying a Sleeping Beauty doll for the sole purpose of giving her a lightsaber. I suspect that part of why I love the film Sleeping Beauty so much is because it reminds me of Star Wars. In fact some film critics believe that Sleeping Beauty was influential on Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and George Lucas.

So, in the end, I suppose it was inevitable. Ever since I first heard about Star Wars Weekends, I wanted to experience them for myself. But there was one tiny problem. Living in the west made it really expensive to visit WDW, so I always told myself someday, right? Except that someday never quite came until 2006, or rather it almost did. In May 2006, my parents flew the entire family out to Walt Disney World, but because of college schedules, they could only do it 3 weeks before Star Wars Weekends. I was so close, and yet so far.

As it turned out, that visit ended up changing my life in a roundabout way. It really put the Star Wars Weekends bug in my ear and also had me examine just where my life was going. The week away from my glass ceiling job gave me a new insight, and so a few weeks after that visit, I ended up moving back to California and taking a much better paying job. Suddenly, Star Wars Weekends didn't seem so far away. Initial plans to go in 2007 ended up just not working. In 2008, I ended up with an incredible opportunity to visit the Walt Disney Studios, so the desired Star Wars Weekends visit took an obvious backseat.

But now with great packages available to WDW, a better time of year for Star Wars Weekends, and my need to decompress in May, I've been doing some thinking. You see in the past two years, I could never bring myself to full WDW planning mode. But now, I'm starting to think about restaurants. I'm starting to think about which places I want to try. I'm thinking about all the things I wanted to do last time, but didn't. All the places I wanted to try, but didn't. And so it happened yesterday. I went ahead and got a quote on a vacation package. I got another quote today and should be getting another one tomorrow. It is very possible that in the next couple of days, I will be booking a Walt Disney World vacation.

So, if you so desire, come to Alderaan with me and learn the ways of the Force, or at least try to see how in the world I'm going to balance planning a Disney World vacation during the busiest time of year. While a Jedi may not crave adventure and excitement, the next few months may be full of both.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

The trip is now official. Booked both the package and airfare yesterday.

So, the journey will officially begin on May 21, 2009 when I board a large troop transport from California to Orlando, where upon arrival, Disney's Magical Landspeeder will whisk me away to the exotic Scopa Towers (unofficially known as Pop Century). I briefly considered staying at another value resort since I'd already stayed at Scopa Towers, but after reading up on both Sports and Pop, I decided that the things that Pop offers are more what I'm looking for(well that and the availability of the frozen Cokes).

Now the next big question is to do the Dining Plan or not. I want to do the Dining Plan, but am not sure how the events of SWW are going to play out. In other words, I don't want to have to leave SWW to make it to my ADR. Anybody have any advice or experience with this?

 

[mecllap]

Our first SWW was 2 or 3 years ago, and if I recall correctly, much (maybe all?) of the day's activities are done before dinner time (I haven't seen much info about this year, yet, have you?). If you're doing the table service DDP (which is the one that involves ADRs), they shouldn't interfere -- just go to one of the DHS restaurants for dinner on the weekend, and the others during the week.

Do be sure you are at the front gate before opening time, with a video camera -- there may be stormtroopers up on the arch interacting with the crowd. Head right away toward the Stars War attraction to get your ticket(s) for autographs if there's anyone you're interested in (this will conflict with getting an FP for Toy Story, which is probably what we'll do, because we haven't seen it yet -- unless there's someone really interesting for an autograph).

You can ask someone waiting behind you to take a photo of you with the characters (there will be a lot of them), if a handler isn't available. Photopass photogs will (at least they did) also take one with your own camera (I'm a big fan of getting the Photopass CD).

Asking a neighbor at a table also can work at character meals (I got here from your other post) -- be friendly when you first get to your table. Also let your server know that you may leave your table and come back -- but they won't clear the table until after you've paid (except for picking up some plates during a buffet). Take your time at a character meal -- they come around more than once, if you're there long enough.

We're going to do the CS DDP, so I don't have to worry about the scheduling and taking the extra time for ADR's and table service.

I think they may let people in costume join in on the afternoon parade, if you're into that. We're hoping DGS gets into the Jedi training thing (just for kids) , and gets to walk in the parade (I guess I need to pack a robe for him, although I'm trying to travel light this time -- but that's what lockers are for, eh?).

I went looking for more info and found a link to this site: http://sww.studioscentral.com/main/
which looks really helpful (if you haven't already seen it).

"May the force be with you" (I'm actually really a TOS Trekker, so for me, I go with "Live Long and Prosper" -- unfortunately, most people get them confused).

 

[KCmike]

I'm on board.

Use the force Sleepless Knight.

 

[DisGal520]

The trip is now official. Booked both the package and airfare yesterday.

So, the journey will officially begin on May 21, 2009 .....I decided that the things that Pop offers are more what I'm looking for(well that and the availability of the frozen Cokes).

Now the next big question is to do the Dining Plan or not. I want to do the Dining Plan, but am not sure how the events of SWW are going to play out. In other words, I don't want to have to leave SWW to make it to my ADR. Anybody have any advice or experience with this?

If you went ahead with the regular DDP (that includes TS table services) you may want to make your resies now for DHS restaurants. Brown Derby is terrific, Mama Melrose also pretty good. And for the SWW they will be booked.

Now if you are going with the Quick Service DDP, that has no TS, just quick counter services so you will be OK without worrying about ADRs. We are doing the QS DDP this year. We are at POP also for the first SWW WKND. Hope you enjoy POP. You'll love their bus service.

But back to DHS - you absolutely want to arrive at the gates early to see the Stormtroopers atop the gates. If I recall correctly they will appear about 15 min prior to opening. And they do interact with the crowd. You will probably enjoy getting there as early as 45 min early and catch the costumed guests.


And since you'll probably familarize yourself with the layout of DHS ahead of time, you know everything happens in the 'left' side of the park where Star Tours ride area is. We used to call this the Harison Ford wing because of both Indy and SW movies represented there.

The parade is fantastic in person. Get a spot early for the best pics.


We sort of stumbled upon the SWW a few years ago before we found the Disboards. I had taken my neice to FL and stayed at a Loews in Universal Studios. We turned the TV on early one morning when it was just getting light out and a local TV crew was interviewing some of Vader's Fist corp in costume. And she said, "what are we doing at Universal????" Unfortunately we could not change our plans that day. But next year we made a point of planning for SWW.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[WizardLarz]

Hey Disgal and Knight! I'm also attending Star Wars Weekends on that 1st weekend and also staying at Pop! Have you decided which day you are going to DHS? Maybe we can do a breakfast or bus meet in the morning or a meet spot for the parade? I'm open to suggestions!

 

[DisGal520]

Hey Disgal and Knight! I'm also attending Star Wars Weekends on that 1st weekend and also staying at Pop! Have you decided which day you are going to DHS? Maybe we can do a breakfast or bus meet in the morning or a meet spot for the parade? I'm open to suggestions!

Yup - I'll be at POP. And I'm planning on taking the first early bus to DHS on that first Friday - 5/22. You'll know me by the Yoda backpack I'll be wearing

LOL!

 

[Daisybelle]

Oh boy! Another trippie by The Knight! I'm on board!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

An update here is in order. I'm an accountant by profession, so free time has been rather sparse the past few months. However, there are some updates to make here.

First off, I decided to extend my visit by a day. I'm going to have a non park day on Sunday, so I decided to extend the visit by 1 night to get a 3rd SWW day, which has the advantage of putting me there for two of the SWW. Such change necessitated switching resorts, so I'm no longer staying at Scopa Towers. While I'll miss the frozen slushies in the food court, I decided that they weren't worth the stress. I'm now staying at All Star Sports. I'm actually excited to experience a new resort since I stayed at POP on the family visit in 2006.

It's been quite an adventure attempting to plan this. I decided to use a travel agency, which has been wonderful. My agent took care of the ADRs for me, which meant that I didn't have to wake up at 3:55am in an effort to land my ADRs. I got all the ones I wanted, and though Le Cellier will be lunch instead of dinner, I'm still happy to get it.

So, a quick ADR rundown.

Friday night is open, so I'm thinking strongly of braving the crowds for Beaches and Cream.

Saturday lunch at Le Cellier, and a special dinner in DHS for SWW with StudiosCentral.com

Sunday: breakfast at Boma and dinner at Trails End.

Monday: Dinner at Chef Mickey's.

Tuesday: Dinner at Ohana.

Wednesday: Dinner at Akershus.

Thursday: Dinner at Raglan Road

Friday: Dinner at Rose and Crown for Illuminations.

When the deadline is over, I'll really start the serious planning, mapping out which days to visit which parks and so forth.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

And now the tax deadline is at long last, mercifully over. Now I can really get down to planning strategy. Whenever people ask if I'm going on vacation I tell them I'm going in late May. As much as part of me wishes it were tomorrow, I'm happier that the vacation is in May because I have plenty of time to plan and not feel overwhelmed about how to approach SWW and accomplish everything I want to there.