TIPS: Star Wars Weekends 2011

[Havana]

Is there any news on what time Hyperspace hoopla will be next weekend? Saturday night. 7:45 or 8:45?

 

[TDC Nala]

No definites for next weekend I can see but I'm thinking Hoopla at 7:45 as 8:45 was only for last Friday. And I'm giving up on planning lunch ADRs as it will be necessary to stake out a parade spot early. It will be CS in the park, the bar at Primetime or I will leave the park and walk down to Big River or Picabu.

 

[StitchSpawn]

I gave up ADR, I've been both days & had to cancel them all. It's best to wing everything the best you can.

 

[StitchSpawn]

It's 6:23, 3 rows of ppl waiting for HH, expect June to be twice as busy.

 

[IncredibleboysMom]

Is there a wheelchair viewing area for the parade and Hoopla? If not, and it's that crowded, we may skip those.

Thanks again!

 

[StitchSpawn]

7pm & there are 5-6 rows of ppl sitting at Hat Stage. Sitting on cocrete, which is very hot, bring towel & extra drinks, it's HOT & if you leave someone will get your spot.

 

[sassyredhead]

7pm & there are 5-6 rows of ppl sitting at Hat Stage. Sitting on cocrete, which is very hot, bring towel & extra drinks, it's HOT & if you leave someone will get your spot.

Is it still sunny, and is there no real shady spots (from memory, I don't think so)? Would it be okay to bring an umbrella to use as a sun shield during the wait?

 

[Brit_Jude]

Weekend of 28 May Disney has HS opening at 9:00am - any thoughts on if they will open it earlier.....? It is Memorial Day weekend after all.

I have a breakfast ressie at 8:00am before the planned park opening and we don't want to meet the Star Wars celebs so hopefully we can get FP for Star Tours and ride TSM....again any thoughts....?

 

[StitchSpawn]

Yes, I would also suggest maybe a fan, that's what I used. People around me were very very nice & I dont think it will bother anyone.

 

[onelilspark]

Yes parade is at 12:40 from the entrance to the Hat Stage, get there early.

How long does the parade last?

For those that have been there, would you keep a lunch ADR (110) or see the parade? No kids, just adults.

 

[onelilspark]

Yes, I would also suggest maybe a fan, that's what I used. People around me were very very nice & I dont think it will bother anyone.

As long as they don't mist!!!

 

[chicagoshannon]

Are there photopass people at the character lines?

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Jabba's hut was insane opening day with a three put line for the limited edition merch. I was unable to get the opening day pin ecause of this. We are going back to DHS tonight for Hoopla, and Fantasmic! So I will try again. That is if they will sell me the opening day pin the day after. *crosses fingers*

The motorcade parade was not listed on anything for this weekend. But since we saw the small parade for the opening ceremony we weren't trying to catch it.

Opening ceremony was CRAZY!!! Crowd was huge. Here is a pic:

OMG ... we had "heard" about the crowd and am so glad we slept in instead of getting up early to head down for the ceremony ... we did go later in the day to ride Star Tours (which only had a 35 min wait) and grab some merchandise - although were very disappointed that a couple of the Passholder items were already sold out when we arrived at Jabba's Hutt (around 2 pm) - we had to stand in line for almost an hour to get our things and once we got to the end of the line where the passholder items were, we found out the two things we wanted sold out that morning

 

[StitchSpawn]

How long does the parade last?

For those that have been there, would you keep a lunch ADR (110) or see the parade? No kids, just adults.

The parade 5/22/11 lasted about 25-30 min & I think it depends on how badly your party wants to see the characters. The lines to visit them will mostly be long, but you will also have a chance to see them at the Hyperspace Hoopla.

 

[StitchSpawn]

Yes yes ****None at autograph sessions for celebrities, you have to bring you own camera in for a photo & a CM will take a photo for you if need be.*******

 

[StitchSpawn]

What a day! So exhausted & I didn't do anywhere near as much as everyone else was! (Because when your sitting on a lovely bench, relaxing, & you see HOARDS of people running from the Hyperspace Hoopla to Fantasmic with the exhausted children, you realize they are all crazy.) I got front row stance of the Hyperspace, minus the two kids in front of me; kids first at WDW, keep that in mind adult parties (like mine). It's fair, kids first. I met and talked to so many WONDERFUL castmembers & guests. I have a lot of tips & info, but I'm going to attempt to make video by Tuesday, if it won't work, I'll post best I can.
Main tip- if your running from one thing to the next, you're attempting to do to much. Plus, it's too freakin hot to run!
Awesome time!
PS. HOW DO I UPLOAD PHOTOS? have awesome info photos!

 

[GrumpyGoofy]

I just looked at my photopass photos and they don't have any sww borders. Anyone know if they will be adding them? I am kinda bummed they don't have any. That's the only reason I did the disc. They did have the 3 generic sw ones though.

 

[chicagoshannon]

What a day! So exhausted & I didn't do anywhere near as much as everyone else was! (Because when your sitting on a lovely bench, relaxing, & you see HOARDS of people running from the Hyperspace Hoopla to Fantasmic with the exhausted children, you realize they are all crazy.) I got front row stance of the Hyperspace, minus the two kids in front of me; kids first at WDW, keep that in mind adult parties (like mine). It's fair, kids first. I met and talked to so many WONDERFUL castmembers & guests. I have a lot of tips & info, but I'm going to attempt to make video by Tuesday, if it won't work, I'll post best I can.
Main tip- if your running from one thing to the next, you're attempting to do to much. Plus, it's too freakin hot to run!
Awesome time!
PS. HOW DO I UPLOAD PHOTOS? have awesome info photos!

After you have the photos on your computer go to photobucket.com and load them there. You'll then need to copy and past the IMG code to here.

 

[thecapells]

So the parade is 12:40 this year instead of 11:40 and is 1/2 the length?
I'm assuming that means crowds are worse.
Any hints on good viewing spots?

 

[AmyTap]

I'll post my re-cap since we went yesterday.
Got into the park just before 8am and there was already a line for Jesi Training Academy sign-ups. We got a pass for the 1:30 which meant no parade for us because that was at 12:40 and I was afraid we wouldn't make it back for the 1pm call time before JTA.
The parade route is way too short now to accommodate everyone wanting to see it. But we were at Drew Carey's theatre and saw the 501st legion, some bad guys and an x-wing fighter go by after breaking off from the parade.

After JTA pass, walked onto Star Tours with a 15 min. wait and got a fast pass for 10am.

After the ride (my 5-year-old son loved it and so did we!!), we went to the backlot area to catch the Clone Wars characters.

Longest character line: Vader, Chewbacca and then the bounty hunters.
They have signs out for where the characters are.
At the big merchandise tent, there were no lines at all in the late afternoon and even Leia's line looked to be only about a 20 minute wait.

My son really only cares about meeting CW characters so I just took pics of everyone else.

Overall great time. Insanely hot in the middle of the day. Crowded but not unbearable. Rode Star Tours 3 times and TSM once (you can get a 2nd Fastpass 1 hour after you get your first).
Don't try to do rides and characters. stick with what you want to do most.

Stay for Hyperspace Hoopla! So good and you can watch it on the Idol screen in front of that theatre which is great for kids.