This was our first time ever at SWW & when my son begged to go, I just imagined uncontrollable crowds & waiting in countless lines for a "chance" to maybe see something or someone. Boy am I so happy to have found this thread! We had the best time & have already been given the green light by hubby to go next year! Here's my observations as a newbie following tips from this thread.
We were there weekend 4 which was not "Mark Hamill weekend" when we booked it so that freaked me out even more (although my excitement of our chance to see him outweighed the fear!)
-our first day, we weren't looking for autographs but DS wanted toe able to see the troopers storm the gates. We got there at 7:00 & were 2nd in line by going to the turnstiles all the way to the left & he was first against the rope! We were off to a great start! ( he did leave my poor mom behind as her MB kept coming up blue and, well, ain't nobody got time for that. She found us just as the stormtroopers came around the corner.
- we had sci-fi ressies at 8 & we were the first in line. This was awesome (the highlight of DS's trip he says) as Boba Fett was waiting on Vader to arrive and CMs to get ready & DS had great interaction from the queue with him. When we got in, Vader was using the force on all of us to get everyone in position. We really enjoyed the breakfast & will do it again if it's offered. We thought the food was good enough & the character experience was well worth it.
- being my first time, I was disappointed in Darth Mall. I thought from my DS's excitement it was going to be some amazing wonderland of hard to get Star Wars stuff, but it just felt like another shop. I don't know who's idea it was to put the aurasma pics in the line, but it seemed to cause unnecessary confusing & lines
- SotS was everything I had hoped it would be. Preshow was awesome & JAT was incredible. He really can make any show entertaining. We didn't get to see his show but it's on my list for next year. Loved him.
- we did FtF on Sunday. Side note - if you are the awesome couple that was first in line for the parade that day (we were 2nd) - HI! Seriously, couldn't have been happier with our neighbors for those 3 hours. We ended up right by the children's area, in the shade & very comfortable eating our Mickey bars.. That is until my husband called during the preshow & I got my phone taken away. If you were one of the thousands that shouted "May the force be with you" to my husband on the phone, he says hi
DS got a kick out of that. If it was just the parade, I probably would've said not worth it but with the dessert party, it was great. The dessert party was moved indoors so we left it early to get to the fireworks in our spot all the way to the left. Great view!
- the fireworks were probably the best fireworks I've ever seen in my entire life. Period. I never saw hoopla, but I can't imagine I would enjoy those crowds & I'm happy they went with fireworks.
- Mark Hamill's show was fantastic. We got in line very early because DS wanted to, but we had awesome seats in 5th row center. I had no idea he was that funny. I did get to meet yulinin's daughter in line & she was SO sweet. I asked her to pass on my thanks for all the great tips.
We even managed to ride TSMM with a tiny wait by sneaking in right before they were closing it off for fireworks. Can't wait for next year!