Jedi training academy

[zacharybsmom]

Has anyone seen this? Do they pick children to participate out of the crowd? Any info appreciated!

 

[GadZuggs]

Yes, they pick about 12-15 kids from the crowd. They have two roped off areas in front of the Tomorrowland Terrace (?) that the kids sit in until the show starts. After the Jedi comes out and does a little show with some funny / corny jokes, he walks back and forth sensing the "powerful" kids. It seemed very random; however, I stood behind my DS8 and helped raise his hand and pointed at him when the Jedi looked my way. I don't know if that is cheating but it worked, and my DS had the best time. A memory he will soon not forget. They also picked out a boy that was wearing a "Jedi Training Academy" T-Shirt. So, that may also help in getting your child picked.

 

[ScooterL]

They pick 25-30 kids out of the crowd - but they have to be standing in the lower level below the stage, and from what I've seen, you need to get there at least 30 minutes before the show to have a chance of getting into that area before it fills up.

There's a pretty detailed description of the show on AllEarsNet.com: http://allearsnet.com/dlr/tp/dl/jedi.htm

 

[got2travel]

We love that show. It's a lot of fun. The Jedi Master is looking for kids who really want to be there. Raise your hand, jump up and down. It also seems to help if you have something on that will make you stand out. Bright colors, silly hats, Star Wars stuff. And every kid who was on his dad's shoulders got picked too.

Unfortunately even though its supposedly for kids 5-12, my son is really upset that he wasn't chosen. He's 11 but very tall. I'm sure they figured he was a teenager. He was jumping up and down, right in the front row, had his Star Wars Weekend t-shirt on, but still didn't get picked. He went to 3 shows straight. You would have thought that since they saw him at every show they would have finally picked him.

He still does all the moves that they taught and keeps telling me he would have done it better than any of those other kids.

 

[jemilah]

Great I have a very tall soon to be 10 year old who will be so upset if he does not get picked , I said we will keep going until the boys get picked...4 day hoppers maybe 3 days straight of seeing the show

 

[Albort]

yea, there are a few ways to get picked...

1) Jedi shirt
2) princess stuff

thats about it... also cute kids too... This is what i overheard from Attractions CM backstage

 

[ScooterL]

Great I have a very tall soon to be 10 year old who will be so upset if he does not get picked , I said we will keep going until the boys get picked...4 day hoppers maybe 3 days straight of seeing the show

We were there on Saturday and I saw them pick a very tall young man from the crowd - I'd guess he was 13-14. And when he got up there he really didn't seem very into it, so I was surprised that he was selected. Anyway...they WILL select tall kids, so I hope your son will be chosen - but to try to give him a better chance, make sure he wears a Star Wars shirt or has his own light saber or something like that! And sometimes it seems to help if the parents are standing behind him pointing down at the kid, too - it gives the Jedi Master the opportunity to use his "The Force is strong in the parental unit" line.

 

[denyd]

One more trick, if your child is wearing a red-shirt, then stand by another boy wearing red. When (if) the Jedi Master points at one of them and says "red shirt", have him head on to the stage. It worked yesterday for my DS, though he might have really been the one picked, he was jazzed the rest of the day. If he gets picked, be prepared to buy him a light saber at the store next door (how convienent). $10 if you're interested.

 

[jemilah]

We only have about 5 light sabers at home! i am sure we will come home with more, I don't mind because they actually play with them . I will use all your tips when we go!

 

[LocalDisneyYokel]

We saw this show for the first time yesterday and it was so fantastic! My 6 1/2 year old son is a HUGE HUGE HUGE Star Wars fanatic and I was REALLY hoping he'd get picked to go up.

I read here that they seemed to be picking kids who had on the Jedi Training Academy shirt (which we've had for like a year now- and is his favorite shirt!) so I had him wear it just in case.

Worked like a charm! He got picked and got to go on stage and duel Darth Vader and even got to battle Darth Maul in a little impromptu skirmish . It was, seriously, like, the highlight of his whole life!

AND since he had the shirt on all day, ALL of the characters and CM were asking him about it and he got to tell everyone about how he cut off Vader's arm and how Vader sensed the "force was strong" with him.

This was something my son will never forget, I know- it was like a dream come true for him! If you have a boy (or girl!) who loves Star Wars, definitely go.

ALSO- they were TOTALLY picking kids who were jumping all over the place and begging to be picked. My son is very polite and restrained and was sitting, raising his hand (as he's always been taught, lol) and he was NOT getting picked. He finally lost it and jumped up and was flailing his arms around toward the end and that's when they picked him. Enthusiasm counts!

 

[twinmommyks]

At WDW my dh was jumping up and down for them to pick our son. Not only was he jumping like a maniac he was kind of loud too. This was June 2005 on Father's Day and both my dh and ds9 went got to go on stage. It was the BEST part of the trip not only for my ds but my dh who still has all his Star Wars stuff from when he was young.

 

[LeanaSpin]

Well, we tried..

The show was cute, but my son certainly didn't enjoy it through tears because he wasn't picked. He was so sad he didn't get chosen, he's not normally, nor does he seem able to be loud nor obnoxious and just didn't draw enough attention to himself. I don't want to have to buy him a 19.00 tshirt to get him picked either, that just doesn't seem cool.

We've convinced him there will be another chance, but it really bummed him out for an hour or two. Prepare you kids that they probably won't get chosen if you plan to go see the show.

 

[booeyjc]

Unfortunately even though its supposedly for kids 5-12, my son is really upset that he wasn't chosen. He's 11 but very tall. I'm sure they figured he was a teenager. He was jumping up and down, right in the front row, had his Star Wars Weekend t-shirt on, but still didn't get picked. He went to 3 shows straight. You would have thought that since they saw him at every show they would have finally picked him.

He still does all the moves that they taught and keeps telling me he would have done it better than any of those other kids.

The same thing happened to my nephew (who is only 9, almost 10 - but is really tall for his age and looks more like 12-13). He was so bummed

 

[staley7580]

The same thing happened to my son, 4yo, It broke my heart to see him so bummed! But he got over it, and enjoyed the show in the end.

 

[disneyfreak75]

We saw the show too. Thought it was very entertaining. Worth the kids trying to get on stage by making a lot of noise. Sometimes the parents can help by pointing at your kid. saw that work too.

 

[ScrapperKimmyD]

It REALLY helps to make a sign, too!

My DDs had signs that said "I want to be a Jedi" and "I Soooo want to be a Jedi" - THEY BOTH GOT PICKED!

Other signs they liked were "Darth Vader is going down!" and I think someone had either a shirt or sign that said "Darth Vader was framed".

DD wanted to be the 23rd person picked - she was counting to see which person was the one that got to put up their hand and force the storm troopers back toward the end of the show.

My oldest DD was smiling when she went up and got the line used on her that said "yes, keep smiling. It confuses him" or something like that.

If siblings are together, they might get picked with the line "the force is strong between siblings".

The show was amazing and we parental units were super-excited that both of our DDs got picked!

 

[mareed]

This is a neat show, but it's so hard to overcome the disappointment of not getting picked and still enjoy the show. I'd say the kids and parents were equally disappointed in our group.

I had prepared my 2 boys that they would probably not get picked, and they said they still enjoyed the show, but it was very obvious that they were disappointed - especially when they didn't even fill all of the available slots with children. I just don't know how they could make it more fair, and there are going to be so many kids that aren't picked at each show. I guess I just don't like the randomness of it. For other things like a good spot at the parade or even getting to talk to Stitch in Innoventions, I know if I want to invest my time & wait, I'm guaranteed to get what I want. It's just such a toss-up with the Jedi Training Academy that I don't like the overall feel of it. Watching the show in the midst of so many clearly disappointed children that were not selected is not really feeling the Disney magic to me. I'll probably try to avoid it in the future.

 

[Leofoenget]

Has anyone seen this? Do they pick children to participate out of the crowd? Any info appreciated!

Last Monday, but friends child got picked. What he did to get picked was wave an Orange lightsaber around and the dude said "the boy with the orange lightsaber" my best tip is to do something to make yourself stand out because he was ALLL the way over to one side but since he was waving the lightsaver around and it caught they guys eye.

It's really cool, and when he went in he handed the saber to my 2 year old son and everytime Darth Mall came running by with his double saber he would bat at my sons saber and he loved it.

Darth Vader looks really neat, wish I could play too.

 

[ScrapperKimmyD]

We watched it a couple of times before we even tried to get picked. My DDs were watching and learning what they could so that when we REALLY tried (getting there early for a good seat with signs to hold), they knew what to do and were ready.

Then we had to watch it again the day after! We just loved it!

Here's the funny thing. My DDs haven't even seen the movies yet. My youngest didn't even want to ride Star Tours. She and DH sat outside the exit so DH and I could swap after I rode it w/my other DD. Once my youngest heard the music start, she told DH "I SO want to ride this!" She just didn't get that it was the same stuff.

I think we'll be showing them the 4th episode today.