Jedi Training Academy

My youngest padiwon has been suduced by the dark side. He holds Darth Vadar on a pedal stool. He is constantly humming the Imperial March everywhere we go. He wears his Darth Vadar jacket with pride even though it’s over 80 degrees outside. Every night before he falls asleep I must read the book, «Good Night Darth Vadar.» In my attempts to bring him back to the light I signed him up for Jedi training.
THE PROCESS HAS CHANGED! They do not pick younglings from the audience.
Younglings who wish to participate in Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple must register before the show.
You must be between 4 and 12 years of age to participate. There were several adults who wanted to participate, but they got turned away. It’s about half an hour show.
–FREE To Participate–
*****TIPS****
1. 1^st thing on your to do list.
Fall in line at the StarWars Launch Bay. When we were waiting for the show to begin, I noticed they told people who wanted their child to participate that they could be on a stand by if others didn’t show up.
2. Early Morning Pass
If you are not staying at one of the Disneyland resorts or do not have an early morning pass make sure you do not try on this day. The day I decided to try my luck I was racing against tons of parents trying to be the first in line.
3. You must have your child with you when you sign up.
Hopefully you have another adult who can take the kids on other rides while you stand in line. Your child needs to be with you to get interviewed, but not while your standing in line. I didn’t want to chance it, so they stayed with me the whole time. I saw other people coming with their kids as we got closer to the front.
4. Bring snacks, drinks, a charged phone, and things to distract your child.
Despite my effort to be one of the first. It took a while to get through the line.
5. The cast members will interview your child.
I assume to see if they are shy to go on stage, able to follow simple directions, and learn your child’s true age. This is probably why it took a while.
6. There are several different time slots to choose from.
I have 3 children and wanted them to be all together. We got the afternoon time slot.
7. Photo Pass: Extra cost ($ 39 one day pass).
There is a photographer that takes photos of your child for the whole experience. The photographer captured nice shots of my children.
I told my husband if we got in we would focus on taking as much pictures we could around the park to make sure we got our money worth.
8. Special seating
There is an area just for families and friends whose children are participating in the show. It’s on the floor and clearly marked. The Jedi’s will come around telling guests. We saved our spots 20 minutes before the show. We were smack dab in the middle. However, I feel if we sat on the tables we would have gotten a better, clearer viewing.
The show: I enjoyed the storyline. SPOILER ALERT
Every youngling receives a light saber and robe. Which they have to return at the end. The younglings train at the Jedi temple, they learn how to use the light sabers and use the force from within them.
As they strengthen their abilities they are found by Darth Vadar and the Seventh Sister. Every youngling is able to battle one-​on-​one along side of the Jedi. (The photographer took a photo of every child).
After they defeat Darth Vadar and the Seventh Sister, Kylo-​ren appears to do battle. He battles one of the Jedi and in the end everyone works together to defeat him.
At the end your child receives a special pin.
Overall:
My youngest is still a fan of Darth Vadar. Three of my boys loved the experience. It was well worth the wait. If your kids are fans of Star Wars this is a must do at Disneyland. Buy the Photopass!

Our 6 yo was able to participate in the Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple. We had to sign him up early in the morning for a later show in the afternoon. They take about 30 kids per show, cloak them in robes then bring them out to the stage area where they are each given a light saber for training. The show itself is entertaining for adults, but is especially geared towards the kids and their trust in the Force. After quick instruction of striking and blocking with the light saber, the temple rises. Darth Vader and the Seventh Sister appear and challenges each padawan one on one. Two lines form, and half way through the group, the sith lords switch places. Darth Maul makes his appearance towards the tail end of the show to fight the Jedi master. The kids get to use the Force to send him back into the temple.
A Disney photo pass photographer is there to capture all the incredible duels. What a great and fun memory for the kids!

My 9-​year-​old daughter recently became a Star Wars fan, so I decided to surprise her with this little show. Fortunately, she was selected to go up and train to become a Padawan; she even got to practice on top of the stage, which was pretty exciting to her. They taught them a few Lightsaber moves and then they got to fight the Dark Side. They make it pretty exciting for the kids, and at the end, they receive a training certificate.

Love the new Jedi academy show!!! This is a must see. The stage transformed into a space ship and Darth maul and Darth Vader appeared !! Love the interaction between the kids and the Disney cast characters. Love love love this. If you have little ones into Star Wars aged between 4 – 12? (I think). This is a must do on the Disney list. Both my son just turned 8 and daughter five year old loved getting dressed up in Jedi robes and training with light sabers!!!

If you have a Star Wars fan in the family, this is a MUST. The show occurs several times during the day, and is well-​attended — even the first one of the day is crowded and plan on arriving and claiming a spot up front well in advance. About two dozen children will be chosen by the Jedi Master — it seemed to help if they were (a) enthusiastic and (b) wearing something that made it easy for him to verbally pick them out of the crowd. They’ll be draped in the brown training robe and instructed on how to use their light sabers for defence, never for attack. Then they split into two groups and individually fight either Darth Vader or Darth Maul, who growls menacingly at audience members as well. At the end, each is given a certificate of completion, and the light sabers can be bought in the gift store if they’d like to continue their practice. They are collapsible so easier for travellers to pack than what we typically see in the stores at home.
Kudos to all the cast members who made this fun for the kids and the audience — it’s a definite «must do» during your stay.

Wow! What a great show!
My 6 year old daughter was picked for the show even though we came specifically to celebrate my son’s 4^th birthday. I was afraid he might burst into tears but he had a blast watching his sister on stage and Darth Maul kept coming over to us and growling at my little guy making the experience special for him, too.
I had hoped we would get a chance to come back again and try for my little guy but there are just so many awesome shows, things to do, and rides to go on at DisneyLand that we never made it back.
The performers were awesome and really engaged with the kiddos. I liked how the actual training academy portion let everyone practice at the same time and then for the fight with Darth Vader and Darth Maul, they divided the kiddos into two groups and had battles going at the same time with each villain to help get through the group size.
Be sure to line up REALLY early if you want to be picked for training in the front row. We lined up more than a half hour early and came to the first show of the day and it was still packed!
LOVED loved LOVED the Jedi Training Academy! They even give the participants a little diploma at the end to keep for their successful completion of the Academy!
P. S. They sell the same lightsabers the kiddos use in the Academy at the gift shop when you exit Star Tours :-)

My children were over the moon when they both were picked to be padawans. They wanted to try the Jedi Training Academy since we went to Disney World. Here very enthusiastic kids are picked by the Jedi master to be a part of the classes. This class size was about 24 kids.
After being trained by the Jedi master, they end up facing Darth Vader and Darth Maul. The padawans end up fighting one of the Darths.
Once they defeat the Darths, they graduate the class and receive a certificate of completion!
The pictures that they get are great!

My son has developed a love for Star Wars, and so he was all for fighting Darth Vader and the storm troopers. He was 3 when he did this, and although he’s scared of the Small World dolls, he’s really brave fighting Darth Vader. I was shocked that he walked right up to Darth Maul!
The Jedi trainer was awesome. He had good energy and made some good jokes to keep the parents engaged beyond watching their own kid. Each kid chosen (and a good number are) had a chance to fight. Way to keep the Star Wars fans engaged and to get them young Disneyland!

What a great experience for little kids. The strategy for getting chosen is to get noticed. All kids with Star Wars signs were chosen. My daughter got chosen because of her big tinkerbell dress and her display of enthusiasm — jumping up and down and raising her hands. Kids learned to used light saber and fought either Dark Vader or Dark Maul. The storm troopers were impressive.

sit down and enjoy your lunch with some entertainment

Simply AWESOME! Just be prepared that your kid won’t get picked and they will have a sad face. Also note that kids 3 and under or normally too young to be picked. Even 4 is a stretch. It helps if you come prepared like wearing Star Wars gear and jumping up and down when they call you!

so much fun!
STAR WARS LIVES ON
thanks to Disney for putting on this totally awesome and fun show for the kiddies, plus adults like myself have a blast watching younglings in training use the Force!

This is one of our favorite audience starred performances at Disneyland. It is located at Tomorrowland at the Terrace near Autopia and Innoventions.
Do you love Star Wars? I mean LOVE Star Wars? Then you will think this is the cutest thing ever!!! The premise of the performance is to train little kids as Jedis, along with the training lightsabors, Darth Maul, Storm Troopers, and best of all, Darth Vader is the center of the show.
The little kids get round up and put on their Jedi robes and get their training lightsabors and learn how to fight. Then the bad guys come to fight! Let’s see who wins…
The little kids go to battle against the bad guys (aka Darth Vader and another Darth). In the meantime, it is narrated by the Jedi trainer who is absolutely hilarious at how he will speak to the little kids. During this time, Vader will spill out all his famous lines of the movies. Will you follow him to the Dark Side?
The show is located near the seating area so find a seat in the shade and enjoy how cute the little kids are!
One of my favorite memories was when a little boy was shown how to use the force to keep the Stormtroopers away, and he kept doing it thinking it was really him and the Stormtroopers kept up in character. It was so cute!

I don’t even know where to begin… THIS WAS AWESOME!
[Skip the rest of this review if you don’t want spoilers, just know that if you or your kid are a Star Wars fan, you will enjoy every moment of this show!]
I’m a Star Wars fan, and when I heard the music begin I actually I got chills {NERD ALERT}. My son and I sat on the upper level of Tomorrowland Terrace and got to watch the show. He’s a Star Wars fan too. The kids who want to participate sat at the bottom with their parents. As the Star Wars music began to play, Jedi’s walked out with their sabers and everyone cheers. Then the main Jedi chooses the children who get to be «trained» and they all got robes. I believe every child was chosen during our show which I thought was super cool. Then as their training was over, lo and behold. who would show up but DARTH VADER!!! And Darth Maul and storm troopers… Darth Maul was AWESOME! He had some great moves!
So Darth Vader shows up, hoping to bring the new Padawans over to The Dark Side. The Padawans must resist, they get to spar one on one with Darth Vader or Darth Maul. It was SO cute to see the teeny tiny Padawans «fight» Darth Vader! Of course, the force was too strong within the young Padawans. The Jedi Training Master was SUPER funny too, cracking jokes here and there. Ages allowed are from 4 – 12.
Great, great, show. My son and I loved it and he’ll probably try out for the Jedi Training Academy next time we’re at Disneyland!

This show is awesome!
My son is a huge Star Wars fan, so this was a great experience for him! It’s really entertaining to watch all the kids’ faces as they get to train and fight! They also get a certificate at the end of the show!
My boy chose «The Dark Side» lol!

I give this attraction 5-​stars more on behalf of my daughter who got to participate in this show than for me getting to watch. For her, it was the highlight of our trip. Getting called out by the Jedi trainer, learning how to use a light saber, then fighting Darth Vader and saving the world is pretty cool when you’re 8 years old.
For us adults, I liken the experience to watching your kid at a graduation ceremony. For that magical moment when you’re kid is on stage and in this scenario fighting Darth Vader and really enjoying herself, the show really brings a smile to your eye. Its one of my more cherished photo memories from the trip. Problem is, you have to sit through the other 20 or so kids have their magical moment — which for you — ain’t that magical. Selfish comment I know … but on a 95 degree day, the predominant emotion I read on most parents’ faces at this event.
If you’re not actually a participant (or a parent of one), I liken this show to the barber shop singers and other side shows you come across at Disney. Its a nice momentary distraction that you look over at as you quickly walk by making your way to the next ride.

So cute to watch the little Padawannabes out there in their brown robes learning some lightsaber moves. After they get their training over Darth Vader and Darth Maul decide to come out and try to kick their little butts. From what I saw they pitted the younger, smaller children against Vader and the bigger ones against Maul. This might be a size thing so the parents can have a good view, or it might be that Vader is more recognizable for the little ones, but it might also be the fact that Maul is pretty darn scary! The guy is intimidating… he does these fancy and angry moves in between fights as he walks past the crowd, dishing out major stink eye to each and every one of us. He’s great!
When the fights are over there is a small ceremony and the kids are awarded their certificates stating they are now Padawans. Too cool. My kid has his hanging right alongside his math and music awards.
It would be nice if all the kids were picked, but sadly a few aren’t. Luckily my kid was. He had to stand for awhile with his hand up before he was chosen (I was starting to get nervous he wouldn’t be). So if it takes awhile keep trying kids! Hold your hand up like you REALLY want it!

This can be a 5 star or 1 star experience, depending on whether your youngling is chosen by the Jedi Master. In this instance, mine was, so, YEEEAHHH! The Force is strong in my bloodline! This interactive venue is an incredible experience for kids to have light saber training and duel with either Sith Lords Darth Vader or Darth Maul. This Jedi Academy only permits younglings from the ages of 4 to 12 y/​o to train. The Jedi Training Master facilitates the show: selects the younglings, leads the training, and has entertaining quips throughout that are really quite funny! Now mind you, ultimately your youngling will battle A SITH LORD. They are not pleasing to the eye TO LITTLE ONES when up close & personal (As a Star Wars fan, though, I must say I loved the realism!). Darth Vader is tall and looks like a tank, with a fairly large helmet (No, not like Spaceballs large!). Darth Maul has great makeup here, thus, appears beastly (although shorter than Darth Vader) and displays combat moves like a tae kwon do or hapkido martial arts expert. Pretty intimidating! A few kids went crying back to their parents after these bad boys came strolling out! Must not have been initiated by their parents on Star Wars lore. For my son, Stoke Factor 10! And, it was a blast watching him go at it! Why was he chosen? That’s the question. He had enthusiasm during the selection process. He got there early. Had a Disneyland birthday button on. Looked excited to be there. He had a crazy papa beside him. Maybe he was scanned & had a sufficient midi-​chlorian count? Don’t know for sure, but thats all I could notice. What could Disneyland do for those not selected? Nothing and just try again is the obvious answer. But for those with a once in a lifetime chance to go to Disneyland, do you wanna use the admission costs to keep returning here to try to get selected? Don’t know if it’s worth it to keep coming back with so much of the park to see. It would be great to have some sort of confirmation after missing the cut, but with the volume of visitors, probably unlikely. Regardless, it’s still a fun show to watch while resting/​eating @ the Tomorrowland Terrace. Good luck everyone, may the Force be with you! Padawan status is yours to achieve soon!
Props to David H.‘s detailed review.

Seriously adorable. Totally enjoyable to watch.
I always try to imagine: how awesome must it be for the kids? To get picked to be a Jedi, to put on the robe, grab a light saber and get «trained» by a Jedi Master… and then Darth Vader himself comes out, with music and Storm Troopers… and tries to lure you to the dark side? And you get to FIGHT HIM one on one? As a little nerd kidlet, I would have LOST my MIND.
Darth Maul is all flexible and jumpy, too. That’s cool.
Just a really neat little show. Way to go, Disney!
VERDICT: Highly recommend catching a show. (Check the times, they list when each show will be.) Sit down, take a load off, watch evil get defeated.

Watch as potential young students at taught by a Jedi Training Master with the hopes of becoming a Padawans, students devoted to the ancient training of a Jedi Knight, at the Tomorrowland Terrace stage
Note: Participants must be between the ages of 4 — 12 years of age. If they are not chosen, the Jedi Training Master will remind them to try again at another performance.
Participating students, who are randomly chosen from the audience, get to wear brown robes and obtain a training light saber. A Jedi Training Master will train the young students, using a training light saber, a combination move that they will use on a training target.
Now comes the best part…
After a few simple rounds of the combination moves, a disturbance in the force is felt. A couple of Storm Troopers come out, secure the area, and Darth Vader is risen from the Tomorrowland Terrace stage. Vader comes to the young Padawans with an «offer for an even greater journey», to forces on the Dark Side. And not to underestimate the power of the Dark Side, Darth Maul appears wielding his double bladed light saber.
The Jedi Training Master tells the students not to commit to the Dark Side but to confront it and stay strong. It is at this time that the students must remember the combination moves that were just taught to them. While Darth Vader takes the stage, Darth Maul takes the floor. The students are evenly divided so that half will battle Vader and the other half will battle Maul.
After all the students have shown their strength for not wanting to join the Dark Side, Vader tries one more time to convince the students to join him. But we soon here a familiar voice. Yoda is heard and mentions that the young students are very skilled and if they stand together, their force is even greater. After hearing Yoda’s voice, the students activate their training light sabers to show they will not join the Dark Side. Vader and Maul descend on the Tomorrowland Terrace stage and the Jedi Training Master
The students are reminded of their courage and bravery for standing up to the Dark Side and are announced that they have become Padawans. After turning in their robes, they are handed their diplomas.
«But how do you get chosen to be a student?»
It’s hard to say since it the Jedi Training Master picks randomly from the audience. But some have mentioned these tips:
* Kids with a character on them tend to get picked (probably cause it’s easy to say «the young man with Mickey Mouse on his shirt» compared to «The young man in a blue shirt» and there are multiple kids in a blue shirt near each other)
* If you don’t have a shirt with a graphic on it, those with bright colors on that stick out of the crowd tend to get picked as it is easier for the Jedi Training Master to see them.
* Kids who seem enthusiastic about wanting to become a student by jumping up and down and are eager to participate
* Some parents have even gone as far as making signs
But remember, it’s all random.