The last time I went to Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando it was called MGM studios. The Sorcerer's Hat built in 2001 that stands at the center and represents the park - new to me! So I knew it would be like a whole new park from visits past, and I knew that going with kids would be a whole new experience. (Especially since one of those kids has special needs.)
I asked others what there was to do with kids and all I got was, "The shows," or "The Toy Story Ride." One ride that was good for my kids age, huh? Hmmmm.
But I'd also heard about Star Wars Weekends and the Jedi Training Academy and we're all about Star Wars in our house, so I figured those were must-dos. Jedi Training Academy exists even when it isn't a Star Wars Weekend, but I still thought it would be fun to see what SWW was all about.
The Stars Wars Weekend component meant that there were more shows - Star Wars related, some actors were signing autographs, and lots of Star Wars characters were on hand for photos.
We didn't do most of the shows or any autographs but we met Darth Maul, Chewie, and Princess Amidala.

No Toby for this pic - we didn't figure he'd like Darth Maul. Probably a good choice. This guy was not friendly!

Chewie, on the other hand, was awesome.

Toby did meet Padme too, but he's totally picking his nose in the picture he's in!
The fun thing about going to a park with only one goal (Jedi Training Academy) is that you feel pretty laid back throughout your day and not so frenzied about seeing/doing EVERYTHING.
But we still did a lot.
Here's how it went:
I'd read on-line that sign-ups for Jedi Training Academy happened in the morning and that once they were full that was it. We knew the park opened at 8am and we did our best... I'd say we were in line for sign-ups (which take place at the Indiana Jones area) by 8:20. I headed off with the boys while Kevin stood in line to get our Stroller = Wheelchair sticker.
Wait? What?
Tobes. He has Fragile X, remember? So we get the all-day disability fastpass pass. We also get a sticker to put on the stroller so we don't have to park it and instead can take it anywhere a wheelchair is allowed to go. SO. EXCELLENT. (And pretty much the only way theme park days are possible for us.) Here's Toby in his stroller in a no stroller line and look how happy he is!

Were he out of his stroller he probably would have been anxiously trying to move through the line in spite of the, ya know, people. Or he'd be scratching his brother's eyes out which is totally not good.
So Kevin gets this magic sticker and then meets up with us. We're in this line for about 30 minutes and we manage to score a 5:30pm time slot. Yup. That's how fast Training Academy fills up. Yowza.
Oh and Training Academy is for 4-12 year olds. Toby just turned four but he is not up to typical 4-tear-old speed. The entire time we were in line we were discussing what to do about Toby. He has seen Star Wars. He can wield a light saber. If he saw Kaden and Blue on stage he would for sure be jealous. But what would he do on stage?
We get to the sign up and we register Kaden and Blue. Then I point to Toby and explain that he is, in fact, four, but he has special needs. So... there's no way he will follow instructions and there's even a possibility he'll have an anxiety-induced meltdown and need to be removed immediately. Could they work with that?
They said they could.
God bless Disney.

Here's Blue in line for Jedi Training sign-ups very seriously showing off his Star Wars gear.
And check out Toby's shoes:

After that we're all like, now what? It was about 9am and we had some time to kill before 5:30!
Toby likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Neverland Pirates so first up we went to the Disney Junior - Live on Stage show.

The Mickey Mouse group sets the frame for the story and then the stage turns for different sets/characters. First up Sofia and her crew do a song, then Doc McStuffins, and finally Jake. Special needs parents take note: In every one of those song segments something falls from the ceiling ("snow," bubbles, and tissue paper gold dubloons. Also, for whatever reason, Cedric from Sofia in the first song scared Toby a little. (But he's never seen Sofia the First so that didn't help.)

Watching the show...
From there we headed off to the ride we were told was the absolute must-do: Toy Story Mid-Way Mania.
Indeed. It's super fun. It's a 3D shooting game similar to the Buzz ride at Disney and the Lost Kingdom Adventure in Legoland. Except it's 3D AND instead of riding and shooting, you ride, park in front of a screen and compete with your car-mate to hit targets, ride some more, got to another screen... And you have a air gun not a laser. Trust me, it's cooler.

But... this coolness comes with a 2 hour line price. Yuck! Even in the fastpass line we waited about 20 minutes the first time and 30 minutes later in the day when we went back. A fast pass is a must for this ride!
From there we headed over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. The map calls it a "Movie Set Adventure." It's a playground. Actually Kevin and Toby headed there. Kaden, Blue, and I met Darth Maul first. But then we joined up and Kevin quickly tagged me to be Toby's partner in the giant maze of ant tunnels and grass blades. We slid...

We climbed through the rope maze...

We got wore out!

But not so wore out we couldn't pose for one more pic before heading off to lunch.

We ate right around the corner at the Studio Catering Co which was cheap (for Disney) and actually had a supper yummy grilled vegetable sandwich that was the best vegetarian fare we've come across in the Disney parks at this price level.
Next up we stayed in the area to hear about Monster's Inc University from some recruiters...

(I love how Toby was all like, heeeyyyyy, I'm here, where's the party?)
From here we walked down Streets of America (except it's one street) to get to Star Tours. Kevin took Kaden and Blue while Toby and I hit up the Tatooine Traders Store. If you check out one store in the park this is it. You can build your own droids and your own custom light saber. There are also funny Mickey-characters-StarWarsified toys I hadn't seen before that were super cute. BUT on SWW it was crazy crowded. There were lines to make such droids and light sabers. I still managed to get a bag of goodies to be saved for Christmas time, tucked said bag at the bottom of the stroller, and Kaden and Blue never knew!
The boys didn't take that long (thank you Disability Fast Pass), so we were off to more fun.
We checked out the Backlot Studio Tour (where Kaden got scared?!), the Voyage of the Little Mermaid (where Ursula scared Toby), stood in line for the Jack Sparrow show for all of 5 minutes before talking ourselves out of it deciding it would be too scary for Toby, went back to Star Tours so I could go while Kevin sat out with Toby, drank "Goofy Gushers" while standing in line to meet Chewie, and after all that it was finally time for Jedi Training Academy.
Pretty much... the plan for Toby with this was that I was allowed to be with him the whole time, but when he was on stage we left it up to the "padawan" to take care of him, but I was right off to the side in case of a needed intervention.
It went so well!
The kids meet up in a room near the ABC Sound Studio to check in and get their robes.

Then they march off to the stage area (which is right next to the Star Tours ride) and awaited instructions and placement.

Because it was a SWW they double the class size and have one group on stage and one group on the ground (usually there's just a group on the stage). The stage group trained and then fought Darth Vader whereas the ground group had to face off with Darth Maul. They put my kids on the stage because they thought Vader would be less scary for Tobes which was great because the stage made for better pics!
First the Jedi came out and they trained. Toby always had extra training help from the stage padawan.

Blue and Kaden just had fun.


Then Darth Vader came out and they each had to face off and use their newly learned moves against The Dark Side.

Kaden was first to take on Vader.

Then Blue.

And finally... Toby!

Who needed a little extra help from the Jedi (notice Toby's light saber isn't out yet).

But he got the hang of it. Vader was no match for our guy!
But the time our kiddos passed their Academy training it was dinner time. Fighting The Dark Side works up an appetite! So we were off down Sunset Boulevard for the first time in the day The main attractions - Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster weren't even considerations for our day with young kids so there wasn't much reason to be down this way until dinner and our decision to go see the Beauty and the Beast show.
With our stroller/wheel chair sticker we went down to the very front which was great... except it ended up being overwhelming for Tobes. We made it through about 2/3rds of the show but when Gaston storms the castle it proved too much so I scooped him up, climbed the 1,000 steps holding my 4-year-old, and we stood in the back for the end.

It was a really good show though. If, for some reason, you have to choose between Beauty and the Mermaid show - go with Beauty.

By then it was 7:30pm so we secured our spot for the Hyperspace Hoopla show (A SWW thing). Before the show started there was a DJ so the boys broke it down.

Then I bought snacks.

And Toby chilled.

And chilled some more because we had a little rain delay... but finally!


This show is a dance off between the good guys and the bad guys. Good, silly fun. And then we hurried on out in perfect timing because within ten minutes of being in our car the skies opened up with some serious rains.
I'd love to go back adults only and do the Rock n Roller Coaster, check out the Jack Sparrow and Fantasmic shows, and do the American Idol Experience (heck yeah I want to try out!). Sooooo... date day? Girls day/night out? Sometime next year? Anyone?
It's still a great day with young kids and if you had a few grandparents along you could even sneak in some of the more adult attractions, but even without this option there was PLENTY to do and keep young ones entertained. We were there for more than 12 hours!
Happy theme-parking, everyone. May the force be with you.