Star Wars Weekends 2012

It's that time again: ; Star Wars Weekends are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from May 18 through June 10 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Who's going to be at one of the weekends?

I'll be at WDW May 12-21 for the first weekend.

My Jedi friend here will be there all four weekends.


This IS the motorcade you're looking for!

 

You need to do what I did last June: ; fly down on Friday after work and return home on Sunday. ; Not really enough time for a first-time trip, but better than nothing. ; Do it on Memorial Day weekend and you can fly home Monday instead.

 

I might have to try to sneak Billy down with me as a surprise. I think he would go crazy. ; How crowded it does it get? Remember that he will only be six.

 

The park is busy, primarily around the SW events, but no worse than any other busy time of the year. ; The longest lines are for autograph fastpasses and limited-edition merchandise (those are the crazy people who line up the night before). ; If he wants to do Jedi Training Academy or Padawan Mind Challenge, sign up right at rope drop. ; The character photo lines can get long, too, so if he has favorite, go there first.

And since it's May and June, it will be hot. ; Seek out air conditioning at every opportunity.

Here are some more tips based on my experience from last year:

Start your day about an hour before rope drop. ; Stormtroopers patrol the roof over the turnstyles and do a little show.

The parade was at 12:40 pm last year and starts at the big gate beside Sid Cahuenga's, goes up Hollywood Blvd. and ends at the Hat stage. ; Be there at least an hour beforehand to get a good spot. ; I like to stand opposite the gate, near Oscar's, so you can see the units coming straight at you before turning.

There are special character meet & greet locations scattered around the park for SW characters, and one to the left of the hat for Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy in their Star Wars outfits. ; In addition, there are characters roaming around in a couple of areas: bad guys/girls/things hang around in the area around the Backlot Tour entrance and the good guys are in the area between the Muppets exit and the San Francisco mural.

There are several shows in the Premier Theater. ; One of them, Stars of the Saga, has a hilarious Stormtrooper pre-show.

Finally, Hyperspace Hoopla is performed around sunset on the Hat stage. ; You need to arrive at least 90 minutes early to get a good up-front spot. ; I've heard that you can also hang around the sides or back of the hat to get some off-stage shots of the characters. ; I'm definitely trying that this year.

Go to sww.studioscentral.com and download last year's schedule of events to get a feel for what's where and when. ; There's some variation from year to year, and the schedules are posted two or three days in advance. ; If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

 

I LOVE going to these. ; I am also going to be there at least 2 of the weekends, but I probably like to go to all 4 weekends.

 

It certainly can be, Scott. ; I have not planned what days I am going but if I know when people are here and attending, I can sure make every attempt at being there with them to enjoy it with other Star Wars / Disney / Photography enthusiasts.

 

Dave the parade is easy to see if you are early enough to catch a spot. ; Same with the Hoopla at night. ; There are character meet and greets all over the park, and all you would need is that 24-120 to get great shots. ; You can walk up to the area where they are taking the character photos and grab a shot between their shots with the guests if you want a solo character shot. This is easy to do, and they almost always see you doing it and pose for you.

 

Here's my tip for 70-200 users: ; Rent a locker and put the lens in it when you arrive. ; An hour before the parade, grab the lens and stake out a spot near Oscar's. ; Shoot the parade, then put the lens away until Hoopla.

Can you see it all in one day? ; It depends on what your definition of "all" is. ; You can see the pre-rope drop show, the parade, Hoopla and get in a few character meet & greets in a day easily. ; If you want all of the characters (there are 8 locations, most with rotating characters), all of the walk-around characters, all of the stage shows (four of them in the Premiere Theater), celebrity autographs and some shopping (the all-inclusive package), plan on at least two days.

 

I don't have my booking all figured out yet, but looks like I'll be spending some chunk of time up at Disney somewhere between May 19 and May 28 - unknown how many days - probably at least 6-7. ; Part of that time will be days spent at a conference, with nights occasionally free...plus a few days with no conference to enjoy Disney. ; May or may not have a family member with me. ; Likely staying on Disney property, but do not know where yet!

I have a corporate conference at the Marriott World Center again that runs from May 21 through May 24. ; I'll probably take May 25 off of work since it's a Friday - and besides, the final night is always a blow-out concert and bar-fest so I don't want to drive home in the wee hours for work the next morning! ; So essentially, that gives me the weekend before, the week of the conference, the extra day off, then the following weekend PLUS Memorial day. ; Work will cover the cost for the 5 conference nights, the others would be on my own. ; It's more a matter of how much I'd want to pay and how much time I can get away. ; My grandmother is valiantly hanging on, longer than we expected, so we just have no idea if and when she will be passing on, and that's made planning any trips difficult. ; I will know more as I get closer and start to plan out the days to go, and whether any family comes with me.