We need advice for Star Wars Weekends!

[dmbdisneymom]

Hi everyone - we made a vow to take our family to WDW every other year and 2010 will be our next trip. We're planning on going to the Star Wars Weekend on May 29, 2010 but it will be our first time. Everyone is a SW and Disney fanatic, so we're really looking forward to it. Anyone who has had a great time in the past, could you help us with any advice, itineraries that worked well for you, things we shouldn't miss that aren't highlighted in the normal promotional stuff, etc. would help us a lot as we make our plans. Thanks in advance - may the force be with you!
Laura and Kevin Kerr, Indiana

 

[yitbos96bb]

I've been there once for it... Its cool, but nothing that really blew my socks off. Be prepared for the crowds... when we went, it was extremely crowded, we ended up sharing tables for lunch with other families at QS places, otherwise people were standing with food for 30 minutes trying to sit down.

Just check out the events when they are released. Most of SW Weekends are various characters, a few people from the movies, most of whom will sign autographs... usually smaller characters or someone who never had a career after like Peter Mayhew, and then obviously a lot of people on Star Tours and the jedi academy show. There is a star wars parade.

Theres usually some cool merchandise.

That's the brunt of it. Don't go expecting something big like F and W or Flower and Garden... its pretty much a minor fan convention in a theme park.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[Hootch]

been once and the only day we could go was the first day of the trip. This past trip would have been during SWW but Disney went back to May as the starting point.

It does get crowded. Friday, I understand, is the least crowded of the three days. There are fastpasses for autographs for the featured actors. These go first thing in the morning. Another reason to be there at rope drop is that storm troopers are supposedly placed on top of the ticket gates guarding the park. (We were to go to rope drop this past trip.)

When we went the Imperial area is where Toy Story Mania opened recently. My son and I didn't head in that direction until later in the day. That was my favorite part. There were big characters like Bobo Fett, Darth Vader and the Emperor (with his red cloaked guards) signing autographs and posing for pictures. There were also random characters strolling around the street in character. The Gammorean Guard, the Tusken Raiders and the Jawas were great.

 

[WizardLarz]

Small Warning: The Star Wars Weekend Dates will most likely not be posted untill Jan. or Feb., so your May date that you have picked might not be right.
Several years previous to 2009 they held all the weekends in June. OK enough doom and gloom. I went this past year and 2008, thought the dates where posted 6 months out the listing of the celebrites did not come out untill 3 months before the event. I went for all of Friday and half a day on Sat. and Sun. to make sure I got to see everything.

 

[carps09]

My DF and I have been to SWW the last 2 years (2009 and 2008). We thought it was much more crowded when we went in 2008, but that could be because we went on opening weekend. Despite the crowds, we got our pictures taken with numerous characters, rode Toy Story Mania twice, rode Star Tours 2-3 times, and saw Fantasmic. We did other things in between all of these, but I list those because they seem to be at the top of people's lists. Like an PP said, the food situation at CS restaurants can be daunting - so this year, we wised up and made a lunch ADR so we could count on being able to sit down and having a nice meal. I would definitely recommend that, since it's a nice way to get out of the crowds, and the heat, in the middle of the day. Overall, parade is AWESOME - don't miss it! Lots of great photo ops. And, if you have little ones, make sure they check out the Jedi Training Academy in the morning. Kids who are picked to participate in the morning get to walk (with their families) in the Star Wars parade that day!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

Thanks for the info and tips! Our dates aren't set in stone yet, just going based off of this years dates. We won't be booking our trip until we know what they are for sure.

Hoping the kids will be able to be in the parade.

Always looking for more tips, so keep posting if you have any. Thanks!

 

[westcliffemom]

Make sure when you make your ADR's, make them early or much later, so you can go to the Hyperspace Hoopla. It's a must & and a real blast! I think it was at 6:30. The parade is great to, as already mentioned. Get to the park early to get in, the stormtroopers do a skit on top of the roofs, it's hilarious.

We stood in line to do a pic w/Darth Vader, but not much else. There's a special store called Wicket's Warehouse, back by TSMM. We went early entry one day straight to the store, and didn't have to wait in line. The day before the line to get in the store was at least 1 hr long.

My kids (DD13 & DS17) dressed up in costumes and enjoyed the attention they got. The only bad thing was the rain & heat, they sorta withered.

Have fun, it was great!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We went last year and had a fantastic time. We chose to go for a full day and then 1/2 a day so we could see more. The crowds surprised me. We hadn't gone since 2005 and I'm glad I had read about it really being crowded so I could be prepared for it.

First - pick your side - is the kids more interested in the bad guys or the good guys. DS13 is a bad guy fan so we headed to Darth Vaders autograph line as soon as we got in the park and picked up our TSMM FP's. It was already an hour wait at opening but totally worth it.
Then we did the other bad guys with Darth Maul having the longest wait after Darth Vader.

Then we hit the store.

Then we found our spot for the SWW parade. We had some folks cut in on us so DD9 ended up with a not so good view but she still got to see her favorite - The Ewoks. The parade ended in the SW area with most of the characters getting up on stage. We missed most of that because we didn't know about it. We just caught the end as we wandered that way.

Then we grabbed a CS lunch and hit the rides - got FP for RnR, DH rode ToT, then we all rode TSMM. We took our break after getting a 2nd RnR pass for the kids.

We went back around 6 and the kids rode RnR using their first FP's. Then we headed over to the Hyperspace Hoopla - That was alot of fun but really crowded and if it wasn't for the characters who wandered thru the crowd we wouldn't have been able to see a thing. At least we got to see those characters, hear the music and the kids got their pics taken with a couple of the wandering characters.

Then we rode the GMR which DD9 likes, the kids rode RnR with their 2nd FP's and we left to go swimming.

The half day was just ok. We arrived late and DD had a melt down so we were only able to get Jedi Mickey's Autograph as far as SWW stuff goes. We got TSMM FP's as soon as we entered the park, got in line for Jedi Mickey. We then stuck around a bit to see Storm Trooper Donald, Lei Minnie and Darth Vader Goofy but the kids didn't want to wait in the extremely long lines for their autographs. Their spot for autographs was right in the sun with absolutely no shade around.

Then we got FP's for RnR and ate a late lunch at Mama Melrose (really good by the way).

After lunch the FP runner (which was me) picked up more RnR FP's and then we rode TSMM, DD9 and I went to see Sorceror Mickey while DH and DS13 went to ToT. DD9 and I also saw Frozone.

After they got back, I went to the Art of Animation Drawing Class and the 3 of them went back to RnR to use those FP's.

At that point we were all sagging from the heat and the crowds so we left. It was really fun though.

 

[cccory]

I've been there once for it... Its cool, but nothing that really blew my socks off. Be prepared for the crowds... when we went, it was extremely crowded, we ended up sharing tables for lunch with other families at QS places, otherwise people were standing with food for 30 minutes trying to sit down.

Just check out the events when they are released. Most of SW Weekends are various characters, a few people from the movies, most of whom will sign autographs... usually smaller characters or someone who never had a career after like Peter Mayhew, and then obviously a lot of people on Star Tours and the jedi academy show. There is a star wars parade.

Theres usually some cool merchandise.

That's the brunt of it. Don't go expecting something big like F and W or Flower and Garden... its pretty much a minor fan convention in a theme park.

Have fun and good luck!

I agree with yitbos96bb. It's neat to do it once, but not something that blew us away that we would do it year after year. It was VERY crowded and lines for everything. If you don't get there in the morning, forget it. So between the lines and the heat we won't be doing it again. I am glad we did it, so we knew what it was all about. But don't expect something huge, it is a minor thing.

 

[tassma]

I talked to a CM last month about 2010's dates and she "unofficially" told me it was set for those same weekends as 2009.

 

[Eddie75]

We went this year and had a great time here are some tips I can give you. Get in line first for Darth Vader it is by far the longest of all it is near the enterance for the Backlot tour. The next longest line is for Chewbacca but make sure you get the picture with him and an ewok, ask the CM's. Bring something to trade with the jawas, I gave one a antibacterial wipe in exchange for a picture, they wander around near Mama Melrose. Also R2-D2, I stood in line for three times and he would switch out frequently,finally on my third trip to the line the CM saw us and made us the last family to see R2. If you have the oppertunity go multiple days, we went twice on our trip and got every character we saw in two days. As the character wander Pixar Place move fast to get pictures they don't stay in one place long. Good luck next year.