Star Wars Weekend Pics and Report

I ventured to MGM on Saturday for my first Star Wars weekend experience. It was fun. They had a lot of the costumed characters out for pictures most of the day and most were over around the Star Tours area.

We arrive around 8 am to get in line for autograph FP's. Upon arrival, there was already a LONG line, but CM's already had lines for people to get in for the FP's so, as one CM put it, "we wouldn't have the running of the fans in this rain."

Once the park opened, we had our FP's within 20 minutes.

We went to get a poster and look around. Park was dead at this point. Found Darth Vader and other characters over across from the normal Mickey Meet and Greet which is gone during Star Wars Weekends. Jedi Mickey can be found in the ABC Theater.

10:20 am. First autograph, Bonnie Piesse ("Beru Lars"), they moved the signings to the exit area of the ABC theater due to threat of Tropical Storm Barry.

After this, we hit Star Tours. There was a posted 20 minute standby line, but we were on in about 10 minutes.

It was getting hot and humid, so we did the Great Movie Ride. I didn't catch the posted wait time, but we were on in about 15 minutes when an E Stop too place. We were sitting in the load area for about 10 minutes. CM's didn't say what happened, only that the computer had to be reset. We didn't mind, we were sitting and in an air-conditioned building. The CM's showed us where a hidden Minnie is located at the loading area of the ride. A few minutes later, the ride was up and running.

Next up was the Star Wars parade. It seemed small and not like a "normal" Disney parade, but that's just my opinion.

Lunch time! Double Cheeseburger and a beer... Helps the hangover from ESPN the night before!

After we ate, some people in our group ran home to feed and take out their dog. I stayed and went to RNRC. The standby wait was running an hour. The new single rider line rocks! I was on in about 20 minutes. The CM's follow the single riders to make sure they don't jump into the normal line around boarding. RNRC is a fun coaster, but a week ago I was on Top Thrill Dragster... The take off on RNRC just doesn't do it for me anymore... :snore:

It was around one in the afternoon now, I then went next door to ToT. Standby was running 70 minutes. I got a FP and the return time was around 2:15.

I walked around and saw some Star Wars characters and had a few drinks at the 50's Lounge to kill time and to cool off. Once my FP time came around for ToT I was in the line and on the elevator in about 25 minutes. ToT still the best ride at WDW in my opinion.

I went looking for Disney characters following ToT but didn't see any in their normal spots. I gave up early and went for another drink and to wait for my friends to return.

4:05 pm. Second autograph with Jay Laga'aia ("Captain Typho"). Autographs were outside now because the skies cleared and the sun was out. It was getting hot.

4:10 pm. Final autograph with Kenny Baker ("R2-D2").

We left after this because the park was getting really busy and we wanted free beer, so we went to SeaWorld. Not a bad day at MGM. It seemed all the Star Wars stuff was planned for and there wasn't confusion for autographs. They had standby lines but those lines never seemed to move fast at all. The Star Wars people were all very nice and seemed happy to be there. I might head back on Friday just for fun, and also it's the last day we can hit WDW before the seasonal blackout!

Here's some pics from Saturday.

Here's more pics from Saturday:

I was there this weekend too.

I went on Friday, the first day.

I thought it would be cool to go the very first day, of the very first weekend. Big mistake.

The park was packed. From what I heard from cast members, people lined up at 4:00 AM for the autograph lines.

For the first time that I have seen, Disney decided to have the Extra Magic Hour morning for MGM Studios that day. Many Disney resort guests I talked to were mad since even though they are supposed to be the first people in the parks, the cast members actually let all the non resort guests who were waiting in the parking lot at 4:00 AM into the park first for the autograph fast passes and line for the exclusive merchandise. By 9:00 AM, when the park opened for the general public, they had closed off the fast pass lines, and you couldn't even get near the Star Wars characters.

The line for the Jabba's Hutt store was outrageous. It was at least 4-5 hours long in the morning. At noon, it was still an hour and a half outside, and another hour to checkout. It wasn't until the end of the day when the line finally died down and you didn't have to wait too long. The store was a little small for such a big crowd (even though I know that the space wasn't available due to the Midway/Toy Story Mania construction.)

I was bummed since I brought all my Ewok stuff for Warwick Davis to sign, only to find out that he was replaced with Bonnie Piesse this weekend, and was moved to the third weekend because of his scheduling conflict with the filming of the new Chronicles of Narnia film.

As usual, I did have a fun time there. The logo is better this year.

But I was a little disappointed.

There was no Star Wars Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and for some reason there was no Tatooine Trivia Trials (the version of the trivia contest for everyone 12 and up.) They took away, but did not do anything else to replace it.

Thanks for the great reports! I know I won't be able to make SWW for a few years at least.

My god, Kenny Baker has not aged well. But he still is welcomed with open arms, and still goes to these shows. More power to him.

I saw that same r2-d2 mailbox in downtown Rochester NY the other day.

I was one of those that stood in line for 5 hours to get Star Wars merchandise. Well, technically my hubby stayed in line, I ran around and did the rest of the last minute shopping. We managed to get back to the resort in time to catch our magical express bus to the airport. There will be a full story in my trip report.

Saturday morning's line for Jabba's store was only 15 minutes. Not bad at all. It didn't seem to get longer during the early afternoon.

I guess T.S. Barry helped us with that!

darthjohnny said:

I was there this weekend too.

I went on Friday, the first day.

I thought it would be cool to go the very first day, of the very first weekend. Big mistake.

The park was packed. From what I heard from cast members, people lined up at 4:00 AM for the autograph lines.

For the first time that I have seen, Disney decided to have the Extra Magic Hour morning for MGM Studios that day. Many Disney resort guests I talked to were mad since even though they are supposed to be the first people in the parks, the cast members actually let all the non resort guests who were waiting in the parking lot at 4:00 AM into the park first for the autograph fast passes and line for the exclusive merchandise. By 9:00 AM, when the park opened for the general public, they had closed off the fast pass lines, and you couldn't even get near the Star Wars characters.

The line for the Jabba's Hutt store was outrageous. It was at least 4-5 hours long in the morning. At noon, it was still an hour and a half outside, and another hour to checkout. It wasn't until the end of the day when the line finally died down and you didn't have to wait too long. The store was a little small for such a big crowd (even though I know that the space wasn't available due to the Midway/Toy Story Mania construction.)

I was bummed since I brought all my Ewok stuff for Warwick Davis to sign, only to find out that he was replaced with Bonnie Piesse this weekend, and was moved to the third weekend because of his scheduling conflict with the filming of the new Chronicles of Narnia film.

As usual, I did have a fun time there. The logo is better this year.

But I was a little disappointed.

There was no Star Wars Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and for some reason there was no Tatooine Trivia Trials (the version of the trivia contest for everyone 12 and up.) They took away, but did not do anything else to replace it.

Click to expand...

Actually Warwick Davis i snow in the 4th weekend - He and Bonnie just swapped.

Does anyone know why there wasn't Tatooine Trivia Trials?

I was there the first day this year. No question it was busy. From what I heard there was a lot of complaints in years past from non-resort guests about resort guests draining the stores of exclusive merchandise and autograph fast passes so this year there was a change in procedure. What was done seemed to work pretty well. The had 3 lines located on the right set of turnstiles. Two for autographs and one for merchandise. At about 8:30 the lines were let into the parks and escorted to their appropriate locations. I got there at about 7:15 AM and the merchandise line was about 100 people deep. The store was handled in a very orderly fashion. Guests were given a list of merchandise and they checked off what they wanted and handed it to a CM at the end of the line. I finally reached a cash register by 10:00 AM.

The only issue I saw was quite a few people ignoring the line outside of the park and entering early using their resort ID and then lining up in front of the store. After all the guests in the pre-line were in queue the guests that had lined up in front of the store were put behind them. Needless to say the first few people in that line were not too happy. However in their defense there was little to no signage to indicate what was going on. The CM's at the front of the park were well informed but had I not asked one how things were working this year I probably would have been one of those guests lined up in front of the store.

In retro spec Disney really needs to put up some information on their web site concerning the merchandise and autographs procedure as it is different nearly every year. Even for someone like myself that has done this dance every year for 4 years you never know how things will work or what to expect.

Now here in the sad part.....I was at MGM again on Sunday and wandered into Jabba's Hutt which had only 4 or 5 people in line at the time. With the exception of some of the pins none of the exclusive merchandise like the coins, plushes and big figs had sold out. Turns out I could have just walked in today picked up my stuff and left and actually have enjoyed the park on Friday instead of spending nearly 3 hours in line. But on the bright side I met some really nice people in line so it was a very pleasant 3 hour wait.

I saw ya Chewie! Wasn't about to get in that line...but I saw ya. Master Yoda is right, I walked right into the gift shop and looked around without a problem today. Even took some pictures in the store. Then I strolled back out without spending a dime...I may go back for those Cantina Band figs though. Wish I had money and space for the big figs, they look even better in person.

Thanks for the report - I'd love to attend a Star Wars Weekend - but, unfortunately due to school holidays (or lack of) it ain't going to happen

mkepcotmgmak said:

i can't believe you did all that and did not come see chewbacca...:lookaroun
he was there... greeting LOOOOOOOOOOONG lines of Guests... all day!!!

Lots of Star Wars fans showed up today... a WHOLE lot!!!

Click to expand...

We did characters on Sunday and we visited Chewbacca right at 4:00. I asked Chewie if he knew WDWmagic but he seemed rather confused. If that was you you might remember my daughters boyfriend as he was the same height as Chewie.

I'll be there again this Friday. Drop me a PM and let me know if you are working then.

mkepcotmgmak said:

i can't believe you did all that and did not come see chewbacca...:lookaroun
he was there... greeting LOOOOOOOOOOONG lines of Guests... all day!!!

Lots of Star Wars fans showed up today... a WHOLE lot!!!

Click to expand...

I can think of a certain Star Wars fan that I'm sure Chewy wanted to see

I would love to one day visit Star Wars weekeneds. But way to busy for me to enjoy myself. But I am glad those who went did enjoy it.

Clarification

After about 5 minutes I surmised that "FP" probably stands for fast pass. Would it kill you to type "Fast Pass" the first time? Then the FP thereafter makes sense.

And what does " Actually Warwick Davis i snow in the fourth weekend -- " mean?

I hate to be the Monday morning curmudgeon--well, actually I rather enjoy it--but clarity is a life skill that is nearly always rewarded.

Ralphlaw said:

After about 5 minutes I surmised that "FP" probably stands for fast pass. Would it kill you to type "Fast Pass" the first time? Then the FP thereafter makes sense.

Click to expand...

WDW magic acronyms guide

Would it kill us to type it? Of course not, but like many other discussion forums there are common acronyms used in nearly every post. Pretty soon it will become second nature and statements like "Go to the TTC and take the monorail to Epcot. Go directly to TT and get a FP then go ride M:S." will begin to make total sense.

Ralphlaw said:

And what does " Actually Warwick Davis i snow in the fourth weekend -- " mean?

I hate to be the Monday morning curmudgeon--well, actually I rather enjoy it--but clarity is a life skill that is nearly always rewarded.

Click to expand...

I am assuming that this is a typo. Should have read "Actually Warwick Davis i show in the fourth weekend. "

I will be there this weekend...I hope it's not that crowded.

Does anybody know were they have the catina band figs...is it gonna be availible at tantooine traders or jabba's.

If I show up (because unfortunately stayin off site) at 9AM could I still get FS for Ray park auto signs?

Thanx

Master Yoda said:

I am assuming that this is a typo. Should have read "Actually Warwick Davis i show in the fourth weekend. "

Click to expand...

I thought it was is now in the post. :shrug: