Star Wars Parade

[BKBrinkman]

Seeing a lot of info coming out about Star Wars weekends but can't find many specifics outside of the celebrity announcements. Having never been before (we're going the last weekend in May) I'm wondering what we can expect. Does the Star Wars parade run every day or just Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? Do you still have to get there early to sign your child up for Jedi Academy?

[Tick-Tock]

The parade will just be on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

[manutd1]

Wish we could be there!!!

[Strmchsr]

As stated above, the parade is just those 3 days and it's only once a day. If you have any hope at all of seeing it you generally need to stake out a spot 45-60 min before time. People start lining up at 6-7 am. By 7 am the lines just to get in are pretty long so, yes, you have to get there really early to have any hope at Jedi Academy. They do add extra shows and they have kids both on the platform and down on the ground so they almost double their capacity, but it's still a main attraction and hard to get.

Let me say I love SWW, even though I despise crowds. Having done it several years now we've discovered you can't do everything in 1 day. It's just impossible. Lines are too long and the whole experience is an exercise in hurry up and wait. Getting one of the special Star Wars character meals can eliminate some of the characters you would wait in line for, but there's still plenty of waiting to be done. So, we generally make 2 days out of it. 1 day is characters and 1 day is shows. You just can't do both with the long lines. Also, the line for Darth Mall (the shopping area) is usually 2-3, even 4 hours, long in the morning to early afternoon but it slows down considerably in the late afternoon and evening. If you care about meeting some of the actors and getting their autographs you have to get a FP. Lines for those are usually full by 6 am so get there, pick which one is most important, and don't get out of that line.

That paragraph normally would lead me to think I wanted nothing to do with the event, but in spite of all of that we still love it and do it every year.

[BKBrinkman]

The parade will just be on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Do you know what time the parade usually is?

[joanna71985]

Do you know what time the parade usually is?

It's in the 11-11:30 time frame

[Aurora]

As stated above, the parade is just those 3 days and it's only once a day. If you have any hope at all of seeing it you generally need to stake out a spot 45-60 min before time. People start lining up at 6-7 am. By 7 am the lines just to get in are pretty long so, yes, you have to get there really early to have any hope at Jedi Academy. They do add extra shows and they have kids both on the platform and down on the ground so they almost double their capacity, but it's still a main attraction and hard to get.

Let me say I love SWW, even though I despise crowds. Having done it several years now we've discovered you can't do everything in 1 day. It's just impossible. Lines are too long and the whole experience is an exercise in hurry up and wait. Getting one of the special Star Wars character meals can eliminate some of the characters you would wait in line for, but there's still plenty of waiting to be done. So, we generally make 2 days out of it. 1 day is characters and 1 day is shows. You just can't do both with the long lines. Also, the line for Darth Mall (the shopping area) is usually 2-3, even 4 hours, long in the morning to early afternoon but it slows down considerably in the late afternoon and evening. If you care about meeting some of the actors and getting their autographs you have to get a FP. Lines for those are usually full by 6 am so get there, pick which one is most important, and don't get out of that line.

That paragraph normally would lead me to think I wanted nothing to do with the event, but in spite of all of that we still love it and do it every year.

Geez, we went in June 2008 and didn't have to wait in anything like those kinds of lines. In fact my kids sat right up front for the parade about a half-hour before start time. I know that was years ago and everything is more crowded now, but it makes me very sad that we'll never have that kind of experience again.

[Pirate Granny]

OK two years ago we sat on a sidewalk, no room on the curb for 90+ minutes...and within 60 minutes the before parade there was ZERO room anywhere on the street. They were seven to eight deep pushing and shoving. NEVER AGAIN for all the tea in China.

[Tick-Tock]

Do you know what time the parade usually is?

I believe it starts at 11:00 this year.