I want to thank Kristin Cooper for having me as a guest writer on her fabulous blog! I’ve never written for a blog before today, but I’m super excited that Couponing to Disney is my first! I hope that you enjoy reading this information as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
I wrote down these tips and tricks to the Jedi Training Academy Experience after my two children (son, age 6 and daughter, age 7) participated in the show at Hollywood Studios. Since this Star Wars experience is so new and the procedure has changed a few times, I thought an updated guide might help your kids grab a coveted spot on the show. Good luck, and please let us know if any of the procedures change or if you have any tips and tricks to add!
Note: Please check the Disney site for verification that your child meets the age requirement. As of this writing, the children have to be between 4 and 12 years of age to participate.
1. Try to choose a day at Hollywood Studios during your trip with the lightest crowds (you can look this up online). And make sure it’s not an Extra Magic Hours day (when the park opens early for guests staying at Disney resorts) if you aren’t staying at a Disney resort! If you are staying at a Disney resort, you can go super early on that day. But who the heck wants to get up at like 4 am?!?! Just kidding. If you want to get up at like 4 am then Be Our Guest (Beauty and the Beast pun intended).
2. Get to the park entrance before 8 am if you can (even though the park doesn’t open until “9 am”). The first line at the gates (on the very left hand side) is for the character breakfast. The line right next to that is the Jedi Training Experience line. There is a Disney employee holding a sign that says “Jedi Training Academy: Trials of the Temple” on it. GET IN THIS LINE. The character breakfast line will enter the park first. The Jedi Training Experience line will enter the park second (before the rest of the crowds). On the day we went, the Jedi line entered the park at 8:10. That may change depending on the crowd estimates, I’m not sure. Note: My family and I got in this line right at 8 am during spring break week (holy cow crowds) and the earliest time slot available to us was 11:40. So this experience is doable with the right planning.
3. Once you enter the park, speed walk straight for about 200 feet and then make your first left towards the Indiana Jones Stunt Show area. If you got in line at the gate by 8 am then you do not need to panic, you will get in line and you will get a spot (or spots) in the Jedi Training Academy Experience show. The signup is located between the 50’s Prime Time Cafe (where the character breakfast is located) and the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, in a gift shop called the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost. There is a rope line that goes from the open area to the right of the gift shop towards the Indiana Jones Stunt Show entrance. GET IN THIS LINE AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL OF YOUR KIDS WITH YOU WHEN YOU DO! There will be employees directing you to the line and reminding you not to run. And since you are pretty much the only ones in the park (the only other ones are eating at the character breakfast), it’s pretty obvious if you just follow the people in front of you. There is a cool military tank right next to the line, and it’s a great spot for a morning family photo (see photo) while you and the kids are waiting in line.
4. When you get to the signup area at the front of the line (inside the gift shop), a Disney employee will get your kid’s first name, the first initial of their last name, and will ask your kid(s) some questions to make sure that they are able to behave on stage and follow directions. So remind them of the consequences if they act like idiots during this interview (threats and treats work equally well with my kids). If your kids are not with you, you cannot sign them up! There are 32 kids per show (16 on the upper stage and 16 on the lower).
5. The Disney employee will then show you the available time slots, you choose one, and you are given a paper receipt to return. You will return to this exact same spot 30 minutes before your scheduled show (the time to return to the gift shop will be printed on your return receipt). We chose the earliest time slot we could get (11:40 am) because Florida is notorious for afternoon thunderstorms. I’m glad we did because one came through at around 3 pm that day! The stage is outside, so they will cancel the show in inclement weather. I prescheduled our three FastPasses for the afternoon (the Disney app is awesome for this!) so that they wouldn’t interfere with the Jedi show if we got in. It worked perfectly! We rode rides early in the day, then did the Jedi Training Experience show, then had lunch, and then used our Fastpasses in the afternoon (when the lines were super long for the popular rides).
Note: After signing up for the show (I’m guessing it was around 8:40 am), the Star Wars area was still closed and there were employees blocking anyone from trying to walk towards Star Tours (a flight simulation ride that is amazing!). So we immediately started walking towards the Toy Story Mania ride (a shooting game ride which is also really awesome). We got there just as the ride opened and only waited in line for 10 minutes! This is a must-ride attraction if you have kids, and if you ride this first then you can ride it again later in the day (if you got a Fastpass for it). If you don’t have a Fastpass for this ride, this will be the only time of day that this ride won’t have a long line. The day we were there, at lunchtime the wait for this ride was 110 minutes…. Ouch.
6. I suggest you take your child to watch a Jedi Training performance between signup time and when it’s your child’s turn in the show. That way they know how the performance goes and won’t be confused when it is their turn. Or you can wing it like we did, and laugh at how confused your kids are at times. Not that we laugh at our kids. (throat clearing)
7. Make sure your kid(s) potty before you return to the gift shop! You know what I’m talking about!
8. At 30 minutes before your show time, return to the gift shop and check in at the same desk area where you signed up that morning. Then go to the outside area to the right of the gift shop (next to where you stood in line that morning), where you will see other Jedi kids waiting. There will be two lines of blue circles on the ground. If your child MUST fight Darth, have your child(ren) stand on one of the blue dots in the line CLOSEST to the gift shop. These will be the kids who go to the upper stage to “fight” Darth Vader and see Kylo Ren up close. The line farthest away from the gift shop will go to the lower level of the stage and “fight” the Inquisitor named Seventh Sister, a female villain from the Star Wars Rebels tv show.
9. Your kid(s) will be given robes, and they are rearranged from shortest (in the front of the line) to the tallest (in the back). Then the kids “parade” from this area to the main stage. A parent must walk beside their child during this parade. It’s crazy because there are two lines of kids, a Disney employee in the front trying to make a hole for the parade to get through the crowds, and the front two kids (remember, they are the shortest) are trying to hold up a banner announcing that these are Jedis in the Training Academy. Plus you have parents on both sides of the kids trying to walk beside the “parade.” Like I said, it’s cray cray.
10. If you have an extra parent or other person in your party, have them go to the stage area and grab a great viewing spot early (the best spot is right in the middle where the upper stage and lower stage meet). I suggest this person grab a viewing spot when the kids receive their robes (or even earlier). There will already be lots of random people starting to gather for the show, plus the extra parents of the kids in the show…. And you definitely want to get a good viewing spot for photos and video! There is no “special viewing area” for parents.
11. Once the “parade” reaches the outdoor stage (located between the Star Tours ride entrance and the Backlot Express quick service restaurant), a Disney photographer will give each parent a PhotoPass card for this specific show. It is not linked to your MagicBands or the Disney app. You have to be old school and go online to enter the card’s info once you get to a computer (to view and purchase the pics). So in the meantime, take your own pics so you can post on Facebook or other social media. BUT MAKE SURE YOU GET THE PHOTOPASS CARD.
12. I suggest if you have two people with electronic devices, that one person take photos and one person take video. Our kids really enjoyed watching the videos of themselves fighting!
13. Once the kids are on stage, they are each given a light saber. Each child gets a turn to “fight” one of the Dark Side villains individually. The Disney employees do a great job of lining up the kids and helping them with the “fight” sequence (which they learn in the first half of the show).
14. Once the show is over, each kid is given a button to wear that has the show’s logo on it. Then they are escorted to the same area where they entered the stage, and are returned to you.
I hope this helps you guys! The area around the stage gets crowded for this show, but it’s not intimidating at all for the kids. They don’t really even notice the people watching them (I think they are in awe of Darth Vader, Kylo Ren and the show!). Have fun, enjoy the Jedi Training Experience, and please comment below. We’d love to hear about your experience as well!
Learn more about the Walt Disney World Parks including attractions, secrets, tips and more. Plus my friends at Destinations in Florida can help you plan your perfect Walt Disney World vacation.
Shane Tankersley Morris is a 38 year old mom who lives with her two children and husband in Greensboro, NC. She enjoys sewing, crafting, reading, saving money, spending money, and occasionally parenting.
Candace Barrow says
THERE line is no special line for Jedi Training.
Only reason to get there early is to get on line.
The cast members thought i was crazy for asking…
Sarah Shapley says
Thank you so much for sharing all these tips!!! This is one of the things my boys really want to do. These tips will definitely help me make their dream come true.
Lisa says
Taking my Grandsons in May. Just wondering if any of this information has changed?
Kristin from Couponing to Disney says
This post is about a year old, but it’s working the same as far as I know!
Jen says
Is the line before the park opens still used in 2017?
Jennifer says
I’m going in 3wks.., we have breakfast at 8am @hollywood vine. Should I just skip it with my nephew & get in line? I switched to 8 Instead of 830 thinking it would be better., ?
Fiona Hope says
What did you end up doing? I was wondering the same thing as we have a character breakfast at Hollywood & vine too?
Jenn says
We are here on June 1 and they did not let anybody but breakfast people in before park opening. All the jedi training people had to wait until park opening (they opened early at 8:30) and everybody was running to get to signups. We are in line now to sign up. I will post again with whether or not we get a spot. We got here a 7:50.
Toni says
Did you end up getting a spot?
Mary says
Thank you so much for these precise tips! Our trip is in 3 weeks, and I have been searching for recent tips on how to secure a spot for our 10-year-old Star Wars crazed son! Your advice is just what I have been hoping for – thanks again!
Valerie says
We got in line with early hours and had our pick of times. Waited in line for about 25 min. Totally worth it. Our daughter was the first to battle Vader. Worth every minute!
Barbara DeLuca says
What time did you get there?
April says
Thank you so much! ! Our first trip to Disney this was the only thing the kids wanted to do and we couldn’t get them in! :( My daughter literally cried. So this is A MUST for our trip next year.
Danielle Elliott says
Great write up Shane! Thank you for the details of securing our spot and all of your tips!
Molly says
I printed these instructions and took them with us on our April 2016 trip to Disney! Worked like a charm, and our son got to battle Darth Vader!