Hi All! I am planning on a surprise SWW trip for my hubby’s birthday. Based on when the event has taken place in the past, it will be after his actual birthday. With the choices of the second, third and fourth weekends in May, which would be the best to enjoy for first timers to SWW? What are the not to miss events? He has to put in for vacation this year for next year so we don’t have the ability to wait and see to check out schedules. Thanks!!
I would totally go during the 24hr day if we go again. Wish we would have planned it that way this year. Good luck! It is a lot of fun 
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First of all check to see the dates for SWW 2015. Usually a couple of the weeks are in June. The first week in my experience has been quite crowded. You must see the Star Wars parade. Hyperspace hoopla used to be a family favorite for us, but they did not offer that this year. If you want autographs from the start wars stars you must get a fastpass and line up extremely early. Know that the studios will be more crowded on the weekends, so if you have a longer stay you might want to visit HS one day that is not a weekend to do the regular rides.
Star Wars Weekends is a blast, If you’re really into SW and want to get in on all the action you’ll need to be in the parks early and be ready to go, go, go. There are celebrities for signings each weekend and they rotate, so i guess it might depend on how serious you are about seeing the actual star wars actors or if the characters are o.k. by you.
The weekend that falls on gay days is normally a little busier and sometimes the park shuts down for a private party.
There are different events, character meet and greets, signings, etc. DO NOT MISS the Hyperspace Hooplah at the end of the night, that’s my favorite part of the whole weekend.
If you have kids they do a bigger Jedi Training and a Padawan parade, etc.
Characters are out all around the park, I have an old map that I annotated with locations/characters but be advised they do rotate frequently, particularly the “face” characters.
Be sure to stop into Wicket’s Warehouse, or Jabba’s Hut or whatever they’re going to call it in 2015, it’s a Star Wars gift shop basically that has a ton of stuff, they only set it up during SWW so it’s worth a visit. We met Princess Leia and C3P0 there, C3P0 was the COOLEST meet n’ greet experience ever, i think my husband and I enjoyed it even more than my step-son!
I went to SWW for the first time this year. Planning was a little tricky, because Disney didn’t announce events all that far in advance. The afternoon parade is likely a given and some sort of evening show. I’m a little disappointed that I missed Hyperspace Hoopla, but if there isn’t a show like that, then I’d guess they’ll do fireworks again next year.
During the day, there are lots of character meets. If those photo ops are important, then try to meet the most popular characters when they first come out to meet. Later in the afternoon, the shows at the Premiere Theater can be entertaining, too. Overall, the most important thing I learned last year is to stay tuned to Disney forums for news about the event. I found out about things like the character breakfasts and dinners along with the premium fireworks/parade viewing areas as soon as they were announced and was able to get reservations for those experiences before they sold out. The same thing was true with FastPasses for the shows, as those also sold out quickly, so knowing when they were available was important.
Star Wars Weekends have traditionally been held the last 2 weekends in May, and the first 2 in June. So if attending this event is your priority, then you should stick to those “safe” dates. Last year there were 3 weekends in May, and a bonus 5th weekend was announced very late, so nothing is absolutely certain. But there is no guarantee that there will be 3 weekends in May.
I think meeting the SW characters and getting a celebrity autograph are my two most favorite things to do. Getting to the park Early is a must, especially for the autographs.
SWW is a big event, with lots of different activities. Asking questions here, and doing some online research will help you decide what you will ultimately want to do.
We’ve always really enjoyed some of the celebrity hosted “talks” as well and the one man show that James Arnold Taylor did, was, in my opinion, nothing short of brilliant.
The parade is really cool too but of course it’s always in the dead heat of the day and there’s no shade in DHS!
I’m so mad that they weren’t doing character dining experiences when we went the first few times, it would have made my life SO much easier!!!
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Thanks for all the awesome info. I am still unsure when to go but will keep in mind the “safe” dates. Is SWW on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Are the events different on each days other than guest appearances? Looks like the week around Memorial day may be best but I’m concerned that will be more crowded.
We went Friday this year of Memorial Day weekend. I didn’t think the crowds were too bad. We did some Star Wars stuff but weren’t concerned with autographs. We got right into the mall and only waited about 15 min for some of the characters.
It might not have been crowded because most people were at MK for the 24 hour day. With kids I didn’t think we would stay longer than normal hours anyway at MK so we skipped it. On another note, the day after 24 hr day at MK was blissfully uncrowded.