Star Wars Weekends run each Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the month of June in 2008. The Star Wars Weekends are held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
As you enter the park be sure to pick up a park map and the special Star Wars Weekends handout which will give you information on where you will find characters and all of the special events that run during the weekend.
Warwick Davis is the host of Star Wars Weekends. He is known not only for playing Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi; but he has also been in Willow, Harry Potter, and other films.
Each weekend there will be different guests from the Star Wars films. These actors will have their own special meet and greet locations. In order to meet them you MUST get a Fastpass! There is a Clone Trooper on top of the buildings at the entry who will tell you where to go for this Fastpass. There are also Disney Cast Members along the route to direct you to the correct place. All members of your family MUST be present to get this special Fastpass. There is only one per person. If you are unable to get a Fastpass you can try to meet the actors on a standby basis; but this does not guarantee that you will get to meet with them.
During these special weekends you will find many different shows and character meet and greets available.
The parade, or Celebrity Motorcade ,will run once daily. This special parade begins at the entrance to the park and will end at Star Tours. After the parade, the characters and the three actors will go up on stage. Here you will hear a talk by Warwick Davis as he introduces everyone in the Celebrity Welcome.
Jedi Training Academy is held at various times (check your special handout for those times) on the stage near Star Tours. During Jedi Training your child may be picked to fight Darth Vader or Darth Maul.
Padawan Mind Challenge, also held at various times on the stage, is for children aged 11 and younger. This is a trivia challenge where each selected child is given a yellow flag and a green flag. As the questions are asked they are told which flag to hold up for which answer. Most of the questions have one very obvious answer that even someone who is not a Star Wars aficionado will be able to answer. You must register your child at the Star Wars Weekends Information Desk beginning at 9:00am.
Hyperspace Hoopla is the daily finale with skits held on the stage.
Character Encounters
You will find very long lines to meet these special characters. One line is right in front of the smoking area near Star Tours. This is where we waited 40 minutes to meet Chewbacca. Another character can be found along the wall leading down hill into the Hollywood Backlot Area. This spot held Luke, Leia and even R2D2. Near the special store set up for Star Wars Weekends you will find a line for Darth Vadar. This line wraps around and becomes well over an hour long very quickly. Darth Maul and other characters from the Dark Side are also in the area near the Studio Backlot Tour and the Premier Theater.
Merchandise
It is very important to know that if you find something you want, whether it is a limited edition pin or other item, or the Star Wars Weekends t-shirt – especially children’s sizes, buy them early. Yes the lines are long but take the time to wait! Do not think they will be there later since the Star Wars shows will go on all weekend. I was horribly disappointed to find that the special shirt I was going to get for my son was completely sold out by 5:00pm on Friday, the first day of the first weekend.
If you have never been to Star Wars weekends before, be prepared for very large crowds. I was literally amazed at the amount of people there just for Star Wars Weekends. Also, it is important to know that these characters, and the character managers DO NOT work for Disney. If you have a question about which character will be out, or if a specific character will be out, do NOT ask a cast member. They will not be able to help you. Ask a character handler, or even a photopass photographer to get the correct answer. These character managers are incredibly helpful, so keep that in mind.
No matter what, if you go for Star Wars weekends, have fun. Go with the flow and enjoy this very special time.