Hi Marcy,
Your trip is super soon & I am so excited for you! Star Tours is scheduled to reopen May 20, 2011 which will kick off
Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS).
During the Star Tours refurbishment, Tatooine Traders located next to the Star Tours attraction will remain open. It carries some great Star Wars merchandise & your son can build his own lightsaber there. He can also do this at Once Upon A Toy located at Downtown Disney.
If your son is between the ages of 4 & 12, he can participate in the
Jedi Training Academy (JTA) which is very popular among young Star Wars fans. After completing their training, each participant "battles" Darth Vader. JTA is located next to Star Tours & is held several times a day. The times will be listed on the Times Guide that you pick up along with your Guide Map when you enter DHS. The number of participants is limited & they start registration first thing in the morning & stop once the spots are filled for the day (they usually fill up fast during peak seasons). If this is something your son wants to participate in, head that way first. He must be present with you to register. They will ask him a couple of questions to make sure he can follow some basic directions.
All Guests can have pictures taken with Darth Vader & a couple of Storm Troopers next to the entrance of Star Tours. They appear intermittently throughout the day usually between JTA sessions. Across from Tatooine Traders there is a model of one of the racers (don't laugh - I don't know the exact name of it) with a backdrop that your son can get on for a picture.
Wishing you many magical memories :-) Allison