Jedi Training Academy

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Gazelle18

New Member
Original Poster
Hi,

I am new to this site so, please forgive me if this has been asked and answered in past threads. (I tried searching but, could not find...)

My family is going to WDW the week of July 18 and one of the most important activities my 7 year old son wants to do is the Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood Studios. I have heard conflicting reports of how to ensure a child can participate in this activity.
One story is to be at the park when the doors open and make sure you (I) am one of the first 15 people to get a pass or ticket for the Jedi Training Academy.
The other story is that even if you are first...they will 'randomly' choose 15 or so children to participate.

I'm not sure which (if either) of these stories are correct and am hoping someone has done this recently and can help me out.

Thanks!!!
 
wdwmagic

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Welcome to WDWMAGIC!

As far as I know, there are around 12 shows per day, and you and your child need to get in line at the registration desk outside of Sounds Dangerous as soon as you can in the morning (including morning EMH days). You then register, and will be given a show time. You then arrive back 30 mins before that show time to take part. Good luck!
 
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Gazelle18

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks Steve. I really appreciate the info and quick reply.

Guess I will lace up the running shoes that morning and get ready to run...:animwink:

I'm really enjoying reading all of the excitement around Disney here.
 
Frau Farbissina

Frau Farbissina

Member
Steve is right. Depending on the time of the year, you could easily run over to TSMM and get fastpasses and then run over to JTA and sign up. You'll probably get the second or third show during slower months. Right now, because it's so busy, I'd split up (if you have two adults) and have one of you get your fastpasses and the other take the kid who wants to do JTA over to sign up (your child has to be there because they'll probably ask him a couple of questions). If your'e alone (like my oldest child and I were in December) it can be a little trickier to decide where to go first, but I'd do JTA if your child's heart is set on it--you can always wait in the regular line at TSMM but you can't do JTA unless you get one of those slots. The new system is so much better than the old way, where they did it randomly. Now as long as you get there, you'll get to do it.

Ideally, I like to get my son signed up for the second or third show (we never make it over there for the first). The ending usually coincides with our fastpasses opening up.
 
NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
When I went in December the sign up was outside Star Tours - but it was closed at the time. Have they moved registration to Sounds Dangerous? (Going again in November...kids want to do it again).

They take 15 kids for each show and I recall the cast member saying there were 200 or so slots for the entire day. Once they are booked up, that's it for the day.

A prior poster said it but it bears repeating - the child MUST be with you to register.

Have fun - it's an awesome experience for both the child and in my case, the Star Wars geek mom!!
 
Frau Farbissina

Frau Farbissina

Member
NYwdwfan said:
When I went in December the sign up was outside Star Tours - but it was closed at the time. Have they moved registration to Sounds Dangerous? (Going again in November...kids want to do it again).

They take 15 kids for each show and I recall the cast member saying there were 200 or so slots for the entire day. Once they are booked up, that's it for the day.

A prior poster said it but it bears repeating - the child MUST be with you to register.

Have fun - it's an awesome experience for both the child and in my case, the Star Wars geek mom!!
Click to expand...

Haha. I'm a SW geek mom too!

They moved it during Star Wars weekend to that area too. I'm not sure if that's permanent or not. Something to find out on my next trip.
 
Disneykidder

Disneykidder

Well-Known Member
My son was in the JA a few years ago and it was the best thing ever for him and for us to watch. The pictures are priceless. My son had a STar Wars birthday party that year and we used a picture of him battling Darth Vader for his cake...everyone loved it!!

If you can get in, do it...so worth it!!
 
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kjbean

New Member
Year Round?

Is the Jedi Training Academy year round or only during Star Wars Weekends in June?

As another SW Geek Mom and SW fan myself, I would love to get to HS during the SWW, but my husband is less than thrilled about planning our 2012 trip in June. So we are looking at September instead. Since we were planning on hitting the parks during the week anyway, we'd still miss the SW weekends, but hope to at least still try the Jedi Training. If it's offered all year and not just in June, then that would be great!
 
Frau Farbissina

Frau Farbissina

Member
kjbean said:
Is the Jedi Training Academy year round or only during Star Wars Weekends in June?

As another SW Geek Mom and SW fan myself, I would love to get to HS during the SWW, but my husband is less than thrilled about planning our 2012 trip in June. So we are looking at September instead. Since we were planning on hitting the parks during the week anyway, we'd still miss the SW weekends, but hope to at least still try the Jedi Training. If it's offered all year and not just in June, then that would be great!
Click to expand...

You know, SWW was not that great. It was nice, but there were a lot of people there and very long lines to meet the characters. I don't know that I would go again. The best thing was the dance off at the end of the night, but it was so crowded you couldn't really see much, even with the new stage.
 
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kjbean

New Member
Thanks for the info and thanks for the thoughts on SWW. Looks like we're aiming to go Sept 2012 now, and glad to hear about the JTA.
 
Blueskyze

Blueskyze

Well-Known Member
Is there an age restriction on the JTA? My son will be almost 6 when we go next month, and he has gotten pretty into Star Wars lately (hooray! I, too, am a SW geek mom!).
 
Frau Farbissina

Frau Farbissina

Member
I've seen 4 year olds do really well and I've seen them freeze. The CMs are pretty good at asking the right questions to make sure the kids won't be too scared. There's seems to be a litlte bit of wiggle room with that upper limit. There was a very sweet kid in line with my son once who was clearly over 12, but he seemed thrilled to do it and no one stopped him.
 
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Sari8970

New Member
How do they know how old a kid is? My son is really short for his age. I had read that one parent should go with the kid who is going to try and participate and others should go get fast pasts. If I send my husband to get the fast pasts then we won't have our park admission tickets so I'm curious how they would know that my son could participate.
 
joanna71985

joanna71985

Well-Known Member
Sari8970 said:
How do they know how old a kid is? My son is really short for his age. I had read that one parent should go with the kid who is going to try and participate and others should go get fast pasts. If I send my husband to get the fast pasts then we won't have our park admission tickets so I'm curious how they would know that my son could participate.
Click to expand...

They ask the kids their ages. Of course, they are also banking on the honesty policy
 
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Sari8970

New Member
Oh good, thanks. It drives me crazy when we do things and he's sort of excluded because people think he's younger and wouldn't participate or speak enough. He certainly loves to tell people he's 4 so he wouldn't have a problem with that when they ask. Of course I better make sure my 2 year old isn't around because he likes to say he's 4 too. After though he always says "I'm not 4, my brother is 4" and someone will ask how old he is and he still says 4. It's very funny.

Maybe I should start to introduce Star Wars to him :)

Thanks for the info.
 

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