Star Wars Weekend 2015 for a Newbie

Walt Disney World Touring Plans
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Hi. New here and to Star Wars Weekend. I used the tour optimzer to plan my day. But it is only one day and there is no two day option. This will be our first “Star Wars Weekend”. Should I use the same plan both days? HS usually is done in a full day. So I’m assuming all the extra Star Wars events will make it take longer. Will the same celebrities be there all 3 days of that weekend? When Disney does announce the schedule, will it be the exact same all 3 days? And any idea if the “Feel the Force” will be offered again? It is killing me that I can not schedule like normal. All this waiting is killing me. lol

Thanks!

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I’ve been to SWW twice. The first time was with family. The second was solo with friends.

when making personalized TP’s you can only do one day at a time. So you’ll need to make separate TP’s for each day. You can set the start and end times too. So you can still have two park plans for one day, they’ll just be separate plans in your TP account.

As a family, we spent all 3 days at HS for the SWW, but we did park hop too. We did Friday morning, all day Saturday, Most of Sunday. And despite the crowds, we did all day Monday at MK.

The same celebrities are there for their weekend. We should start hearing about the celebrities soon. For those particular celebrities, they will hand out special tickets or fastpasses for the autograph sessions. Depending on the popularity, most people get in the special line for these pretty early (some as early as 3-4am depending on who it is).

The schedule is pretty much the same every weekend, just the celebrities will change. Not sure about Feel the Force. I certainly hope so as I’ll be there Memorial Day weekend. IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Plan on waiting on autograph lines for at least 30-60 minutes, the more popular ones will be longer. Darth Vader, Boba Fett and Chewbacca often have the longer lines.

Friday morning, we focused on Darth’s Mall for shopping before most of the “good stuff” sold out. Then we went to EPCOT and back to HS.

When I went with my DS, the whole day Saturday was planned around the M&G’s. We didn’t focus on the regular attractions, but we did get on TOT, TSMM and R&R anyway. We saw Vader and Boba Fett and the Droids. Chewbacca was about 60-90 minutes and DS nixed that. He’s a good liner. There are roaming characters too: Storm troopers, sand people, etc. and they have super fun interactions. We also hit up the Mall just to make sure we didn’t miss anything. The Droids were in there anyway. I think we saw the parade this day too. We did as much of the “special” stuff as possible. (this was in 2012 so it was before they had the SWW meals or Feel the Force). DS got himself made into a 12-inch action figure. THAT WAS SERIOUSLY COOL.

Sunday, we started at AK for Tusker House (because DS LOVES it there; I’m pretty sure we went to HS for the evening for the attractions.

When I went solo last year, it was more for the 24-hour day and since I had already done all the SWW things with my family, I didn’t really focus on all the other stuff. HOWEVER, I did have b’fast at Sci FI with Vader and the dark side. LOVED IT. Then my friends and I did the Feel the Force stuff. AWESOME.

I hope that helps.

3 Likes
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That is great. Thank you. I wanted to make sure that the schedule was the same each day; like we only need to watch the parade and fireworks one day, not both. I want to be able to fit in a few traditional things like ToT and TSMM. We are super excited!

So I guess just keep my eyes open for Feel the Force and change my TP accordingly?

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I went for the first time last year and learned a few things. I don’t think I did everything optimally in my first attempt, but I’ll share what I learned:

  • If character meets are important, then do them early in the day (I was traveling with a friend who hadn’t been to WDW in awhile, so we tried to mix in some attractions in the morning, but lines for the characters got crazy long and often were cut off later in the day)
  • The character meets stop during the parade, so you can’t use that time (when most guests are lined up to watch) to meet characters, though you could visit the shopping area or knock out some rides if you return to the park another day and have already seen the parade
  • I tried both dining experiences last year and would probably not do the breakfast again, mostly because of the absurd cost
  • I tried Feel the Force last year and still had to arrive almost as early for the parade viewing as if we just claimed a seat on the street + the parade snacks weren’t worth much (Mickey bars, soda, and water). I also found a better fireworks viewing area when I returned later in the weekend, so that wasn’t too great either, though we could have had a good view of the stage show from the premium package area (but then would’ve had to move to watch the fireworks). This all may change this year, however, with the hat removal. The desserts were also tasty, with many options, but I made the mistake of eating a buffet dinner a couple hours beforehand, so I didn’t get to eat as much as I would’ve liked)
  • We booked Feel the Force on April 23rd last year (for Friday, May 30) + I think that’s pretty close to when it was announced. I suspect Disney might need to make sure construction of a new stage around where the hat was is progressing as planned before they know if/where premium packages will be for this year’s SWW.
  • I saw one of the celebrity shows, with Ray Park (Darth Maul) and enjoyed it. I hope to see more this year.
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So, I book my FP’s tonight. Do I need to save those for autographs? The celebrities haven’t been announced yet. I guess I could book traditional rides then change to celebrities once they are announced…?!? Any ideas?

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That’s a good idea. Only I wouldn’t give up TSMM. Lol

ETA: I can’t remember if it included the autographs. I think it was just the special shows.

Special FPPs for celebrity Autographs I think were still handed out separately. People lined up at like 4-5am for it.

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Think you queue at rd( read 4 am for certain celebs) for a band for the celebrity m&g of your choice. You have to keep it on until after your m&g and you only get to pick one per day.AFAIK

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I’d book something now, while you can, and just be prepared to change your FPP whenever Disney announces what special Star Wars activities will be going on.

Based on previous years, they’ll have a wristband/separate FP for the celebrity autographs, so I don’t think you’ll use one of your FPP for that. You may want to use them for one of the interview sessions or other presentations (that, I believe, will be in the theater where Beauty and the Beast is usually held.

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Anyone have any idea what time the parade will be. I Don’t want to have fpp scheduled during that time or an hour prior to the parade.

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I think it was 11:30 AM last year, but if you want an unobstructed view, then you’ll need to stake out a spot well before that time.

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Ok, just booked fps. Not 100% sure, but I booked everything for late afternoon and tried to book way after the parade yet before Fantasmic and then Fireworks.

Would love some insight into how best handle Fantasmic and then Fireworks. If I understand correctly, the best viewing for both is at different places?

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fantasmic is in a theatre, near TOT; the fireworks were last located at the chinese theatre ( the space formerly occupied by the hat. )

You’ll have to run from one place to another to make both.