We are getting ready for the 2014 Star Wars™ Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and it is always fun to look back at the some of our previous trips.
If you attend Star Wars™ Weekends you will notice that character interactions are a bit different. There are the official meet and greet locations:
- Meet Disney Pals as Star Wars Stars in Darth’s Mall
- Meet the Heroes of the Clone Wars Near the Premiere Theater
- Meet the Dark Side near Darth’s Mall
- Meet Members of the Jedi Council near Premiere Theater
- Meet Members of the Rebel Alliance Near Star Tours® – The Adventures Continue
- Star Wars Celebrity Autographs at Echo Lake
But in addition to that you will find that a lot of charterers wander through the crowds.
For example you may suddenly see a squadron of Stormtroopers run through the crowd in formation hunting for a “Rebel”. That “Rebel” could just be an innocent bystander who happened to have had a t-shirt with Han Solo on it.
My son, Sam, was one of these innocent bystanders. But in his case it was a very wiley Jawa that targeted him.
While attending Star Wars Weekends in 2009 a Jawa walked up to Sam and handed him a park map. Sam innocently took it from him and that is when the Jawa snatched his hat right off of his head and walked away.
At first he could not figure out what had happened and why this Jawa walked off with his hat. Finally a bystander explained that he had just traded his hat for a map. (For the non-Star Wars folks, Jawas are very good traders on the planet of Tatooine that are know for being shrewd bargainers.)
So now my son was in a pickle. He had nothing more to trade. The Jawa tried to get my husband’s watch but that was a no-go. In the end my son had to trade the Jawa 2 maps for his hat. The Jawa made 100% profit off that trade.
So beware of the Jawas if you want to keep your Mickey Ears!!
I have been told that the most popular character meet ‘n greet is with Darth Vader himself. I have heard of people standing in line for hours to have their picture taken with him.
On this trip, they did not have the time so instead, when Darth Vader was resting, they took advantage of the backgrounds and played around a bit. I would recommend this to others that fall into the ‘I am not standing in this line’ camp.
A little vintage Disney trivia for you. You will see in this page the short lived Stitch’s Galaxy Party. It was a dance party themed around Stitch escaping from jail. It was highly interactive and my husband was even featured on the big screen as an escaped alien inmate. Unfortunately at the time there was no shade from the sun there so they baked the fans and the show was soon ended. They use the stage now with dance parties but they have added shade.
But there is BIG news this year if you don’t want to stand in line to meet the characters. They now have released Star Wars Weekends Character Dining. There are two options with two different sets of characters.
Star Wars Dine-In Galactic Breakfast! at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
For the first time Sci-Fi Dine in Theater will be open for breakfast. At this breakfast you will get to dine with the classic Star Wars characters: Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Greedo, Jawas and Stormtroopers. All the while film clips from the classic movies with play on the big screen and you will be surrounded by that classic music.
- When: Daily May 4 – Jun. 15, 2014 8a-Noon
- Pricing: $47.99 for adults; $29.99 for children (tax & gratuity not included)
- Dining Plan: 2 Table Service entitlements
Jedi Mickey’s Star Wars Dine at Hollywood and Vine
Hollywood & Vine goes Star Wars with a Disney twist at Dinner. Here you will meet your favorite Disney characters in Star Wars character: Jedi Mickey, Princess Leia Minnie, Darth Vader Goofy, Storm Trooper Donald and Ewoks Chip ‘n’ Dale.
- When: Daily May 4 – Jun. 15, 2014 4:30p – park close
- Pricing: $55.99 for adults; $32.99 for children (tax & gratuity not included)
- Fantasmic! Dinner Package Pricing: $59.99 for adults; $36.99 for children (tax & gratuity not included)
- Dining Plan: 2 Table Service entitlements
With two completely different experiences I am sure everyone will want to do both! Advanced reservations are highly recommended.
The best part is that with both of these meals you have cut down a lot on waiting and you can go back to trading with Jawa.May the force be with you…
Love this post! I need to get better about journaling.
How exciting!
(Wow- are you ever ready for the Blog Hop this week!!) 😀
great scrapbook pages!! I do a horrible job of recording our vacation memories…
and thanks for the explanation of jawas!! 🙂
That Jawa story is amazing!! What a great memory!!
Great advice! I always carry a small notebook to Disney so I can write everything down before I forget. I love the Jawa story, so cute!
I love the Jawa story. Talk about the memory of a lifetime! That is so fun.
The Jawa trading story is hilarious! I can just imagine my kids staring after the Jawa with the “what just happened?” look on their faces. lol!
The Jawa story is so cute! My kids would FLIP! They wouldnt be sure what had happened lol.
The Dine-in Galactic Breakfast sounds like a blast. Fun times!
lol loved reading this! super cute post!
Awe, what a fun idea! My little boy would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this.
If we were going on Star Wars Weekend, we would HAVE to take Ian to one of these new character meals. He would LOVE it. In fact, he’s watching Star Wars right now.
HeidiPortzlineStrawser We ended up getting both! I just couldn’t decide so it was all my fault.
theneighborhoodmoms It took our son a bit to figure out what happened and then even longer to figure out how to get his hat back.
Looks like a fun time!!! My husband would love to go one year.
It’s in fact very complicated in this full of activity life to lisyen news on TV, tjus I only use
internet foor that purpose, and take the moost up-to-date news.
This post will assist thhe internet people for creating new weblog or even a weblog from start to end.