StarWars Weekends 2015

[Flight Safety]

Hello everyone!

I just booked my room for SWW 2015 and thought I'd get some advice seeing as how I havent been in a few years. My most recent SWW was in back in 2011. (It was a last minute plan, so not much was accomplished) Having been many times starting in 2001, I can tell you that it's changed quite a bit with the offerings available, and especially how to take advantage of them.

In particular I'm interested in the celebrity appearances, and how I might obtain fast passes for signings and photos. In my past experiences there was no need for fastpasses, you just got to the location a little early and waited a while in line to meet them. I had no problem meeting Jeremy Bulloch, Ray Park, and a few others without fastpasses. Any info, tips, or advice on this would be appreciated.

Unfortunately Disney doesn't release the list of celebrity appearances and dates until around may as far as I know. I wanted to lock in PH rate for the room so for now I simply booked week 1 for Friday-Monday and am hoping to get some good ones that weekend. If anyone knows where I might find this info sooner, let me know.

I had been trying to obtain ADR for the Jedi Mickey dinner at Hollywood & Vine for some time and lucked out! So I'm very excited for this. Has anyone out there done this dinner before? Was it fun?

I'm pretty excited for this years SWW as I haven't been in a while and also because this is the year in which the force awakens will be released. Probably for nothing, but I'm hoping that this year is extra special due to the new film. Any general info and advice regarding the event would help a lot. Thanks!

 

[Master Yoda]

It will depend on the popularity of the celebrity as to what you will need to do to get an autograph.

Fastpasses are required. There is little to no standby option. Lines for thease fastpasses begin well before the park opens.

For someone that is not too popular, 6-7 AM tends to be a safe time to get in line.

If somenone like Mayhew, Billy Dee, Fisher, or pretty much anyone you have heard of is there, bring a sleeping bag. When Billy Dee was there in 2010, I got in line at 3:00 AM and was the second to last person the get a Fastpass.

 

[Flight Safety]

It will depend on the popularity of the celebrity as to what you will need to do to get an autograph.

Fastpasses are required. There is little to no standby option. Lines for thease fastpasses begin well before the park opens.

For someone that is not too popular, 6-7 AM tends to be a safe time to get in line.

If somenone like Mayhew, Billy Dee, Fisher, or pretty much anyone you have heard of is there, bring a sleeping bag. When Billy Dee was there in 2010, I got in line at 3:00 AM and was the second to last person the get a Fastpass.

Wow! Not sure who will be there week 1, but unless it's someone like Hammil or Fisher, I don't know if I'm willing to camp out. But if I was, what kind of advice can you give me? I'm assuming a Hammil or Fisher etc. would mean I need to be there literally all night. Im just concerned about the logistics of this. If it were a 3 am thing, to get to DHS @ 3am I'm assuming I have to drive there as opposed to a bus. Otherwise, I might as well just be there around park closing time the night before, no? Where do they usually line up? What will they allow me to bring? (camping chair, sleeping bag, cooler, etc.) do they give you a paper FP ticket ? Help!

 

[Master Yoda]

You will need a car or a cab to get there before or after the busses are running. Another option is to stay at one of the Epcot resorts and walk over.

If Hammil is there, the chances of him signing are near zero. He was there last year and did not sign. He makes a fairly decent living from just selling his autpgraph and doing a three day secession where he signed literally thousnads of autographs for free would devalue what he currently charges. So you at least will not have to worry about that.

When to get there is a little like predicting the weather. You might be albe to roll up at 7:00 AM and snag one for an A or B lister. Then again you might get there a 5:00 AM for a nobody and get left out in the cold.

Once the list comes out, you will kind of have to set a line in the sand of how early your are willing to wait for who will be there and just hope for the best.

I have seen people there with cots, so it seems like Disney is pretty flexible. The bad part is you will have to either carry what you have with you once the line starts moving, or have someone with you that can take it back to your car if you have one.

I simply brought a folding chair and a Nintendo DS.

The other bad thing is it is one fastpass per person, per line. No exceptions. If you want both autographs, you will have to make a judgement call on which line to get in first, and then go to the back of the other line once you are done.

Lastly, I have no idea if they will use Fastpass + for advanced reservations this year. If they do, all bets are off. You will need a ticket and an on property room reservation to get your FP 60 days out.

 

[Flight Safety]

You will need a car or a cab to get there before or after the busses are running. Another option is to stay at one of the Epcot resorts and walk over.

If Hammil is there, the chances of him signing are near zero. He was there last year and did not sign. He makes a fairly decent living from just selling his autpgraph and doing a three day secession where he signed literally thousnads of autographs for free would devalue what he currently charges. So you at least will not have to worry about that.

When to get there is a little like predicting the weather. You might be albe to roll up at 7:00 AM and snag one for an A or B lister. Then again you might get there a 5:00 AM for a nobody and get left out in the cold.

Once the list comes out, you will kind of have to set a line in the sand of how early your are willing to wait for who will be there and just hope for the best.

I have seen people there with cots, so it seems like Disney is pretty flexible. The bad part is you will have to either carry what you have with you once the line starts moving, or have someone with you that can take it back to your car if you have one.

I simply brought a folding chair and a Nintendo DS.

The other bad thing is it is one fastpass per person, per line. No exceptions. If you want both autographs, you will have to make a judgement call on which line to get in first, and then go to the back of the other line once you are done.

Lastly, I have no idea if they will use Fastpass + for advanced reservations this year. If they do, all bets are off. You will need a ticket and an on property room reservation to get your FP 60 days out.

Thanks for the info. Based on what you said, I'm in good shape. Im only 2:15 from WDW so I'll have my car, and we'll be there for 4 days so I can do what I must each night. I'm kinda relieved that I won't have to kill myself even if Hammil is there, cause I'd probably end up camping out for him. Otherwise I'm going to take your advice and make a decision once the list comes out. I almost hope they do FP+ cause it would make it easier for me (I think). I am a passholder and already have a room reservation, so that won't me a problem, but then again, I'll have to rely on the My Disney Experience app and website to attempt securing them at 12:01am. If not, I think a chair, some snacks, and my iPad should fair well in that situation. I'll have my brother in law with me to keep me company too. Im doubting they will do FP+ so I'm planning on camping out if anything.

If I'm understanding correctly, they will have lines setup for each celebrity? And I'm assuming these are going to be in front of the entrance. Is this something that just kind of happens, like people just queue up on their own, or does Disney actually have a CM standing there with a sign or something?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Master Yoda]

If I'm understanding correctly, they will have lines setup for each celebrity? And I'm assuming these are going to be in front of the entrance. Is this something that just kind of happens, like people just queue up on their own, or does Disney actually have a CM standing there with a sign or something?

Correct. If it is like in years past, the lines will be to the right of the turnstiles and will wrap around the path back to the boat dock.

It is as well organized as it can be, and it should pretty evident what is goiing on when you get there.