Star Wars weekends

[scudsuchet]

We are off to Orlando on 31st May for 2 weeks, we are going to the universal parks this year
but intend to go to MGM for one of the star wars weekends, can anybody tell us how busy it gets? There will be my wife and our 3 wee ones, My eldest (10)became an official Padawan last year before the actual weekends themselves and hope our middle one will get to do it this year. PS Have used Brits guide since 1999!! It's been worth it's weight in gold! :) :)

[Susan Veness]

Hi scudsuchet and Welcome to the ATD family! We're so glad you found us. :)

Star Wars Weekends are massively busy. We're talking CRAZY busy! But that adds to the fun, if you're in the right frame of mind, and if you are going for the special events only you won't have to deal with the queues for the rides (if you're going for the rides too, I would suggest planning two days there, making your weekend day specific to the special events).

If you are there for June 1,2,3, the characters you can meet will be Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2); if you are there for June 8, 9, 10 you can meet Ray Park (Darth Maul) and Daniel Logan (Boba Fett from Episode II). I'm sure you can guess which of those two weekends will be busier than the other! (Hint: everyone wants to meet Darth Maul!).

PS: Thanks for the kind words about the book. :)

[Veronica]

We managed to catch the final weekend in 2006 and it was very, very, very busy. Still, it was great fun. Downside was, it was difficult to get the kids close enough to even see Darth Vader because of the adults pushing and shoving their way to the front. :mad:

[ADRIAN C]

This sounds great, although Ben is a bit worried about Darth Maul being there :D

[ADRIAN C]

Susan- when you say Star Wars weekends are busy are they as busy as spring break, as we coped in 2004 when it was spring break, it was so busy then they opened up manual fast passes for attractions that dident normaly need them :D

[Susan Veness]

Star Wars Weekends can easily be as busy as Spring Break, but only for MGM, not for all the parks, and it's somewhat specific to the general Star Tours area (thought the whole park will certainly have longer queues).

The areas where the characters are and where the special events run (such as Jedi Training) will be packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Veronica makes the excellent point about not being able to see the characters (or much else!) due to the crowds, and we have also seen the meet-and-greets set up in such a way that the character is 'hidden' so that you have to queue up if you want to even see them, let alone meet them.

Still, as Veronica says, it's fun if you know what you're getting into and expect huge crowds. Patience and lots of water to keep you hydrated while you wait are your two best friends during Star Wars Weekends.

[Veronica]

Ady, I think Darth Maul is part of the Jedi Training thing where the kids get to become padawans (I think they have to battle against Darth Vader and Darth Maul). Perhaps Ben might not be interested in doing that. Also, did you know about the Build Your Own Light Saber ? I didn't know about it until I came back, Sam, my eight yr old, would have loved to build his own custom saber. Here is a link http://www.starwars.com/collecting/news/hasbro/news20061207.html

I thought it was at MGM but the article says DTD :confused: Susan? Simon? Do you know where it is?

[Simon Veness]

The Once Upon A Toy shop is definitely in Downtown Disney, and the pictures that article shows are from the shop, not the park. However, it might well be that the park will also introduce this feature for their Star Wars weekends. I would be inclined to wait and see if you can do it at the park, and, if not, pay a quick visit to DD instead.

[scudsuchet]

Thanks for the info, hopefully the force will be with us!!!! :p I guess when these weekends are on it will make for smaller crowds elsewhere.Time to formulate a battleplan :D