Now that we've been home for 2 weeks and the post-Disney-depression has really set in, thought I'd do a little trip report to help others planning for next year. First, let me say that I'm an uber planner and I usually LOVE the planning aspect of a Disney trip, but the lack of timely information for this trip drove me crazy! Not sure how you all do it year after year! Thankfully I had the rest of you to go crazy with.
@yulilin3, your SWW thread was the most useful and kind and respectful I've ever been a part of on the DISBoards, and I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for making our trip so memorable and magical!
Now, on to my report! DH is a die-hard SW fan, so we've always talked about how much fun it would be to go to WDW for SWW, especially after they introduced the character meals last year. So when they announced that they were coming back for 2015, we made the decision to book a quick, long weekend the day after DD finished school, hoping to avoid as much of the summer crowd (and heat!) as possible. We arrived in Orlando on Friday, May 29, and had a half-day of SWW planned. We walked over to HS from the Yacht Club (so glad we decided to stay within walking distance of HS!!), got our stormtrooper magic shot at the front of the park, then showed DH the route for the Chewie run before heading to H&V for dinner. While DH checked in, I ran over to Peevy's to collect a coveted Boba Fett stein, and DS found a young couple to engage in a light saber duel with while we were waiting. SW fans are truly the nicest, friendliest people I've encountered at Disney!
We all loved the Jedi Mickey dinner. DH thought it was some of the best buffet food he's had on property and the interactions with the characters were great. And the desserts....oh my! We may have each tried all 3 cupcakes......
After dinner we headed over to Darth Maul's M&G. The kids (DD6 and DS4) were terrified of him and refused to get in the picture. I'll even admit he was pretty scary and really stayed in character. We tried to get the lightsaber magic shot next, but it was 7:30 and they were closing down for the night. Unfortunately, we never made it back for that one. After meeting Darth Maul, we had a FP for TSMM and then went to the early showing of Fantasmic! We had the FtF package for Sunday, so didn't mind skipping the fireworks that night (though after seeing them on Sunday I wish we hadn't! As many others have said, they are some of the best WDW fireworks I've seen!). Though I will say that as we were exiting F!, the fireworks preshow was just ending, so its definitely possible to do both the first showing of F! and the SWW fireworks, but you will not be left with the best position on the street for the fireworks.
Saturday was devoted to Magic Kingdom, then we were back to HS on Sunday, May 31. Due to the early closure of MK that day, it is my understanding that HS was more crowded that day than Sundays unusually are. It was much more crowded that night than it had been on Friday. And it was HOT. But we weren't going to let that hold us back! We left the YC about 6:45 that morning and arrived at HS just after 7:00. We were only a half-dozen or so families back from the turnstiles, but unfortunately lost a bit of time when entering as my MB wouldn't scan. So we were a bit further back from the rope than I had hoped, but still in great position for the Chewie run! The strormtrooper opening show was great and then we were off...following the recommended path to Chewie. The stroller held us back a bit, but we were still only 10-12 families back when we got in line....and watched tons of people coming from the wrong direction filling in behind us. I felt like a VIP
We were out of Chewie's line by 8:20, then headed over to Queen Amidala's M&G and rode Star Tours before checking in for our 9:10 Galactic Breakfast. Though DS had refused to meet Chewie or Amidala, he LOVED the characters at SciFi! The kids did not stop trading with the Jawas the entire meal, and got varying items in return - from a paper SciFi driver's license to a decorated celebration pin, wrapped and tied with a bow! And the food was excellent...though the blue milk was a bit odd. We were done eating a little after 10, saw no line at Tattoine Traders, so stopped to build a droid and a lightsaber before checking in for the FtF parade viewing.
The snacks and water provided in the viewing area were a wonderful perk, especially considering how hot it was already, but it only took about 5 minutes before both DS and I were covered in melted Mickey bar. And we weren't the only ones
The separate viewing area for the kids was nice, but once the parade started the kids in front of mine stood up, and adults starting filling in the space, so neither of them could see. I was able to pull DD in front of where I was standing against the rope next to the kids' area, and my 6'5" DH (who was already standing at the back of the viewing area) put DS onto his shoulders so he could see. I was really bummed that this had happened, but we all still ended up having a great view of the parade (that we hand't held for 2 hours!), so the FtF package was already worth it. Even in the shade, though, it was getting HOT, so we made the decision to leave the park after the parade and chill out at the resort for a few hours before heading back that night. Thankfully we missed the torrential downpour that afternoon (kids were napping when it rolled through), and it then cooled off *a bit* by the time we left for our 5:30 Rebel Hangar ADR.
Rebel Hangar was one of the highlights of the weekend for us all. The ambiance was spectacular, the food great, and the price point perfect. I sure hope they continue this next year. And as an added bonus, we got to meet Sabine and Ezra. Greedo walked through a few times, as well, but never came to our area of the restaurant, and there were some Jawas there trading, too, which the kids loved (again!). Plus we hung out with the Cantina band outside while we were waiting to be seated (one of them was blowing bubbles with DS!). We lingered over our meal for a bit (kids had the Dark Fried, DH and I shared the sliders, which were amazing!, the only thing I wouldn't recommend was the Chips and Sith. It looked awesome, but was pretty bland, IMO.), then headed over to the Luke / Leia meet & greet to try and time the droids. We got in line a little after 7 (line was tripled back and the CM was estimating the wait to be about an hour, so I knew we would be cutting it close). But somehow we were only about 5 families back from the front when the droids came out!! It was one of the best moments of the weekend, as DH had told me when we started planning that the droids were his priority meet. I knew it was going to be hard, and maybe impossible (especially after reports from the first 2 weekends about C3PO not being there at all), so I didn't even tell him about the possibility of meeting all 4 at once. And you can imagine his surprise when it happened!! He lit up like a little kid on Christmas morning
After meeting with the droids, we gave the kids a SW break and rode TSMM and watched Muppet Vision. Then it was time to check in for the dessert party. The area didn't feel crowded as others had mentioned (we had the premium package), but we did have to share a table with another family. We had a great view of the stage for the preshow, but were a bit too close for the fireworks (IMO - DH loved that they were right above us). And, as I've said, they are not to be missed. It's the score that makes them, I think, and I only wish one of us had thought to record them.
So all in all, a very productive day and a half at SWW. We were not interested in any celebrity autographs, and the kids would not have sat through any of the shows, so we had plenty of time to dedicate to the meals and character M&G's. We also had to break for naps, and mix in a little non-SWW stuff for the kiddos, but definitely accomplished all we had set out to do. And I was really surprised by how much my kids enjoyed all of the SW stuff, as only recently did DH introduce them to the Episodes I - VI. And now that we are home, they haven't stopped "playing" Star Wars, and are asking if we can go back again next year.
Having no prior SWW experience, I have nothing to compare our time to, but here are my final thoughts:
Meals - Excellent. SciFi and H&V very pricey, but worth it. RH was the "hidden gem" of the weekend.
Character Interactions - Excellent, both inside the meals and outside. Roaming characters were lots of fun too. They definitely stay in character!
Feel the Force Package - Worth the money for the parade viewing alone. Dessert party was a nice bonus, it was great to relax in an open space and enjoy an adult beverage and some cupcakes while waiting for the fireworks to start.
Weather - HOT! We normally travel in the off-season, so did not know what to expect from late May / early June. We came prepared with FrogTogs, misting fans and lots of water. And took breaks, both in and out of the park, which was essential. We were still surprised by how HOT it was.....even at 7 a.m.!
Fireworks - Not to be missed, see them as many times as you can!
Thank you all again for sharing your knowledge and experiences. We would not have had such an amazing weekend without all of you on the SWW thread and I hope everyone else had as many magical moments as we did!
MTFBWY all
Huge thanks to all of you in the previous thread who made our trip amazing! You all helped so much with planning. I'll try and give a short review from our visit on Weekend IV. We was at SWW on that Friday and Sunday. I felt like Sunday was a lot more crowded than Sunday. On Friday we had a galactic breakfast first thing at 8:05. I got to JTA sign ups at 7:55 and the line was 40 minutes wait so I had to leave the line to head for breakfast. There were Jawas, Storm troopers and Greedo. They all visit your table usually once. We forgot to get a storm trooper signature not aware of the one visit per table and waited maybe 30 minutes for him to come back around and then A CM told us he likely wouldn't be back since he seen is once so she will just take the saver to him to sign. So just a tip, don't wait for them to come back..just kindly ask a cm for a an autograph and they will. Breakfast was great! After breakfast I went to JTA around 9:30 assuming all spots were taken considering the long line earlier that morning but to my surprise there were still evening times left! So don't give up if you have an early breakfast, check back after. You may get lucky or you may not. Just depends on crowd. The line for Chewie was very long but moved quickly. We got up to Chewie at 12:55 and an Ewok was scheduled to come out with him at 1. I tried to let others in front of me but the CMs were not allowing it. So I did not get an EWok but was thrilled to get Chewie. He was my favorite character experience as my sons did not want to let him go, he was so fun! That evening we were in line for Kit Fisto and saw nasty clouds coming. The CMs said if lightening was in a 7 mile radius the characters had to leave. Sure enough it started pouring. We had reservations at Rebel Hangar so we just had to run and get there. We were soaked. We ended up waiting over an hour to be seated. I'm guessing no one wanted to give up their tables because they didn't want to go out in the pouring rain. Food was ok. I really wish we had seen characters but the rain kept them from coming. Music was great though! Later we got back in line for Kit and Mace. The CMs were super awesome and did not care about us letting people in front of us if we were waiting for a different character. We stood in line 3 different times to get 3 different characters that came out at different times and they were aware of the time we was there and we're happy to let others go in front of us if they wanted a different character too. We had one terrible experience that really upset me and I wish I had gotten their name. It was at the magic shots. My son was talking to me about how he wanted me to pose with him and the CM said "blah blah blah..just stand over there please." It was the most obnoxious thing I had ever heard at Disney. In the moment I did not say anything but I wish I could go back in time so I could speak my mind. Now let's talk fireworks..in my opinion they are the best at Disney! No joke! I filmed the whole thing and I'm still at home watching it over and over! The best!! After the fireworks we went to fantastic and like others had said, it wasn't even half full. I highly recommend second show so your not rushing from first show to fireworks. Overall SWW was awesome and meeting people from all over that shared the same enthusiasm was so exciting. Id totally go again and plan to! Everyone shoulder to shoulder with you was so nice and just as excited! I also want to thank who ever it was from previous thread who posted a picture of their signed light saber. I let my 2 sons do it instead of a book and they loved it! Such a great idea!! We are hanging them up on their walls 
time to start skulking about on this one.
