TIPS: Star Wars Weekends 2011

[All American]

Got our matching family T-shirts and finished the girls' hair bows (a couple of people wanted to see them). Hope others don't find the coupling of sparkly ribbon with the Death Star or Zebra Print and Stormtroopers too offensive. Our daughter's T-shirts are black on white, and my husband and I have white on black although they all say the same thing.

 

[yulilin3]

All American: I love those bows, wish I could wear them. You know who might be interested in them? Ashley Eckstein...she has her own line of "geek chic" clothes and accesories it's called her universe.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Great outfits! We're still waiting for ours from someone on Etsy. Hopefully they come today. My daughter is supposed to have a dress with Leia Minnie, my son a romper with Mickey Jedi, and my husband a Darth Vader T.

Did you make those bows yourself? IF not where did you get them?

 

[speedo]

This thread has been really helpful - thanks to everyone for posting tips and hints!

I am so excited to go again - Went once before in 2008 and actually dressed as Princess Leia but it was so hot that this year I am going in shorts and the SWW t-shirt I got in 2008!

It was fun to dress up for SWW once - if anyone is considering it! But be prepared to have lots of photos taken of you

 

[All American]

Great outfits! We're still waiting for ours from someone on Etsy. Hopefully they come today. My daughter is supposed to have a dress with Leia Minnie, my son a romper with Mickey Jedi, and my husband a Darth Vader T.

Did you make those bows yourself? IF not where did you get them?

Thanks! That's so cool about Ashley Eckstein. It's nice that she realizes girls can like geeky stuff too. (I'm a geek-by-marriage. My husband is a computer guy and loves video games.)

I did make the bows. I ordered the buttons from ebay. Someone else said that they used the pins (just snipped off the needle) which I would've loved to have done if I had any. It probably would've been easier to use plain bows we already had, but I love ribbon.

I'd love to see your kids' outfits. They sound adorable! Have fun on your trip!

 

[delmar411]

Got our matching family T-shirts and finished the girls' hair bows (a couple of people wanted to see them). Hope others don't find the coupling of sparkly ribbon with the Death Star or Zebra Print and Stormtroopers too offensive. Our daughter's T-shirts are black on white, and my husband and I have white on black although they all say the same thing.

Love them!!! My girlie girl would be thrilled to wear those bows!

 

[shannoook]

All-american:

They turned out amazing!!! Great work! I think I finally decided to just do leia hair...or at least a funkier giant double pair of messy buns version...with some metallic silver headbands I found.

I'm so excited! But I can't decide what I want to do first at rope drop. Shop or ride!

 

[vettegirl]

Love the custom made shirts!

 

[shannoook]

Passholder exclusive merchandise for Star Tours 2 : http://psc.disney.go.com/eventservices/artofdisneyparks/event/wdw_passholderoffers.html

I don't think it's been posted yet. The cup looks cool. I have the same one in blue from CA Adventure World of Color and love it.

 

[GoofyTraci]

Passholder exclusive merchandise for Star Tours 2 : http://psc.disney.go.com/eventservices/artofdisneyparks/event/wdw_passholderoffers.html

I don't think it's been posted yet. The cup looks cool. I have the same one in blue from CA Adventure World of Color and love it.

thanks so much for posting we r premium annual passholders and I bet by the 3 weekend (when we r there) the items will be gone. they are limited amounts.

 

[shannoook]

thanks so much for posting we r premium annual passholders and I bet by the 3 weekend (when we r there) the items will be gone. they are limited amounts.

I'll be there opening day. I'm not sure whether I should be excited or scared anymore. Lol. The more is released, the more I gear up for the madhouse.

 

[Disneymomma41304]

Will there be a SCHEDULE of events for SWW posted before hand or just the day of event?????

Anyone hear anything else about George Lucas making a appearance????

 

[Belle5]

I am not sure if this has been posted, but here is my advice: DON'T GO! We went 8 years ago and had a good time. My kids had tons of SW character interaction. We were there way before park opening and enjoyed the day. Last year we went to the first day of SWW and it was a total nightmare. I have NEVER even at Christmas seen a mob like that!!! My (then) 6 year old and 12 year old sons were dressed in jedi costume and we were at the park wayyy before opening because we wanted DS6 to see the stormtroopers come out. There were 7 of us and my parents were on their way. We called and stopped them and told them not to waste a day of their park tickets at DHS--even though they really wanted to see the boys with the characters. We were able to do one thing and one thing only and that was to wait in line to have the boys pic with Darth Vader. We ended up leaving the park (totally wasting a day of our passes since we did not have hoppers) without doing one other thing. I am an obsessive planner and had all my notes printed out from the DIS. I had big plans for my kids to do all kinds of activities. I have never been in an oppressive crowd before, but now I know what that means. AWFUL. Never again! I am so glad we had one year of enjoying SWW before it got out of control.

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

I've finally read the whole thread!!!

I've already warned my 10 y.o. SW fanatic twin boys that there will be no wearing of hot costumes and no standing in line for hours for pics and autographs. They are totally cool with seeing them from afar, saying "Awesome, there is Chewbacca!" and moving right along.

We'll be there the first weekend, on Sunday. Our hopes are to get some cool merchandise if possible, see the parade, ride Star Tours 2.0 (of course!) and see the Hoopla.

Also hoping to finally ride TSM, as the last 2 trips we didn't get to do that.

Is this a reasonable expectation?

 

[MelissathePooh]

I've finally read the whole thread!!!

I've already warned my 10 y.o. SW fanatic twin boys that there will be no wearing of hot costumes and no standing in line for hours for pics and autographs. They are totally cool with seeing them from afar, saying "Awesome, there is Chewbacca!" and moving right along.

We'll be there the first weekend, on Sunday. Our hopes are to get some cool merchandise if possible, see the parade, ride Star Tours 2.0 (of course!) and see the Hoopla.

Also hoping to finally ride TSM, as the last 2 trips we didn't get to do that.

Is this a reasonable expectation?

Hard to say. If you fast pass one and are okay waiting for the other than maybe. The lines for the merchandise store can be crazy as well as the crowd for Hoopla. If you aren't doing any of the characters though and have a full day you should be able to ride both.

I don't know if anyone really has a good handle on what type of crowds to expect this year - particularly the first weekend. We'll be there for the last 3 weekends, but we break it up over the 3 days each weekend. We save another day during the week to do regular Studios stuff.

 

[delmar411]

I am not sure if this has been posted, but here is my advice: DON'T GO! We went 8 years ago and had a good time. My kids had tons of SW character interaction. We were there way before park opening and enjoyed the day. Last year we went to the first day of SWW and it was a total nightmare. I have NEVER even at Christmas seen a mob like that!!! My (then) 6 year old and 12 year old sons were dressed in jedi costume and we were at the park wayyy before opening because we wanted DS6 to see the stormtroopers come out. There were 7 of us and my parents were on their way. We called and stopped them and told them not to waste a day of their park tickets at DHS--even though they really wanted to see the boys with the characters. We were able to do one thing and one thing only and that was to wait in line to have the boys pic with Darth Vader. We ended up leaving the park (totally wasting a day of our passes since we did not have hoppers) without doing one other thing. I am an obsessive planner and had all my notes printed out from the DIS. I had big plans for my kids to do all kinds of activities. I have never been in an oppressive crowd before, but now I know what that means. AWFUL. Never again! I am so glad we had one year of enjoying SWW before it got out of control.

We were there that same day and saw a ton of characters. We even when through the merchandise line and saw the parade.

I guess everyone experiences things differently. The opening of the park was handled badly and corrected the next day and going forward but other than that, the park wasn't Christmastime packed at all.

 

[All American]

I've finally read the whole thread!!!

I've already warned my 10 y.o. SW fanatic twin boys that there will be no wearing of hot costumes and no standing in line for hours for pics and autographs. They are totally cool with seeing them from afar, saying "Awesome, there is Chewbacca!" and moving right along.

We'll be there the first weekend, on Sunday. Our hopes are to get some cool merchandise if possible, see the parade, ride Star Tours 2.0 (of course!) and see the Hoopla.

Also hoping to finally ride TSM, as the last 2 trips we didn't get to do that.

Is this a reasonable expectation?

Those are our goals as well. That and some people watching. Good luck! I hope you get to do everything you planned!

ETA a thought: Your post got me thinking. We have early ADR's for Hollywood and Vine. I figured that, after breakfast, my husband and daughter could go ride Star Tours while I go get fastpasses for Toy Story. But then I remembered reading about concerns of motion sickness with the new 3-D, and I wonder if it would be better to ride Toy Story stand-by and get fastpasses for Star Tours so they can ride it after their food has settled. Hmmmmm...something to think about until we leave in 44 days.

 

[shannoook]

I've finally read the whole thread!!!

I've already warned my 10 y.o. SW fanatic twin boys that there will be no wearing of hot costumes and no standing in line for hours for pics and autographs. They are totally cool with seeing them from afar, saying "Awesome, there is Chewbacca!" and moving right along.

We'll be there the first weekend, on Sunday. Our hopes are to get some cool merchandise if possible, see the parade, ride Star Tours 2.0 (of course!) and see the Hoopla.

Also hoping to finally ride TSM, as the last 2 trips we didn't get to do that.

Is this a reasonable expectation?

I, too, wish I had a better grip on what to expect for crowds.

My plan is similar to yours but I'll only have one of my kids in tow (he's just shy of 13) & our goals are primarily to ride star tours, get some souveniers, and maybe see hooplah (though we may even come back & do that sat or sun). We're totally content waving and oogling at characters from afar & have no interest in waiting in line for autographs or pics.

I think the problem is when people want to do everything possible in one day. We're content doing just what is important to us. It's not about the level of crowd for me, its about picking one or two things that I really want to do, even if I have to wait in a big line to do it.

I think your plan is totally feasible. We're just going to spend a lot of time in line. Lol.

 

[mommylovesdisneymore]

Can I get your opinion Should we go the sunday of the 1st weekend or the fri of the 2nd which do you think would be better?

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Those are our goals as well. That and some people watching. Good luck! I hope you get to do everything you planned!

ETA a thought: Your post got me thinking. We have early ADR's for Hollywood and Vine. I figured that, after breakfast, my husband and daughter could go ride Star Tours while I go get fastpasses for Toy Story. But then I remembered reading about concerns of motion sickness with the new 3-D, and I wonder if it would be better to ride Toy Story stand-by and get fastpasses for Star Tours so they can ride it after their food has settled. Hmmmmm...something to think about until we leave in 44 days.

And your post has me thinking... should I have tried to get an ADR for breakfast that morning? I really wanted my boys to see the opening though with the storm troopers so I think we will brave the crowd out front. We have another day that we could come back to DHS later in the week just *in case* we don't get everything in that we want to on Sunday.

The old ride bothered us a little bit ~ we'll have dramamine for SURE for the new ride! Not sure I'd want to ride it with a full stomach either!

Our plan is head to Star tours for fast passes and then to TSM... I'm hoping the masses do the opposite and want to ride star tours first, as soon as possible. Who knows! This may be one of those days that I plan for and the plan gets chucked out the window!