Galaxy's Edge (Disneyland) Review

[alleinesein]

Went to Galaxy's Edge yesterday (6/1)

Thoughts on Galaxy's Edge. Pics for anyone who wants to see them; there aren't that many because I was too busy just being in awe of everything around me.
I will delete the pic link in a few days when I switch the FB album back to friends only.

Be prepared for sensory overload. This land makes lots of noise! As you walk through the land, you will hear all sorts of sounds from ships flying overhead, droids beeping away, engines roasting food, radio transmissions, etc. If you buy a droid and add a personality chip, be prepared for your droid to be very noisy and squirmy as you walk around the land. My friend's droids were going nuts in the land.

4 hours was not enough time to explore the land. Everywhere you turn, there is something to see/do. There are 3 distinct areas in Batuu- the Resistance outpost, Black Spire outpost, and the First Order recruitment area.

This land was built for fans who realize that Star Wars is more than the OT and that the SWU does not revolve around Luke Skywalker. If you go and expect to find OT stuff, you will be severely disappointed.

The characters are free range. You may see a Wookiee fixing an x-wing, stormtroopers harassing travelers carrying lightsabers, Kylo Ren looking for resistance spies, Rey hanging out with Chewie. There are no designated meet and greets but the characters will interact with you and will stop for a photo.

I went with a group of 5. 2 people in our group wanted to build droids so we spent a good amount of time waiting in line at the Droid Depot. We rode Smuggler's Run and it is something that you need to ride more than once. It was so much fun! Those videos you see of the tv anchors screaming while riding it; our group was like that! It is hard to describe the ride because it is a mix of Star Tours combined with the interactive parts of Mission: Space but like 1000x times cooler. If you are prone to motion sickness, you will not like it. There is a single rider line for Smuggler's Run but do not use it on your first time; you will miss out on all the pre-show goodies.

No blue or green milk for me but my friends tried both. The Blue milk smelled like sweet tarts. Next trip, I will try the green milk. I did try the Moof Juice (really good!) and the popcorn. The popcorn came in a super cute mouse droid bucket; I bought the popcorn mainly for the bucket! For you ice aficionados- they have the chewable tube ice in the land. I don't know if they are using it because it looks different and has a more alien feel or if they are going to switch all their ice machines to that form.

Shopping. Lots of great merch but the shops are very small. The ones in the main marketplace are designed to be more like open-air vendor stalls and if some asshole brings in a stroller, there is no room to move.

I accomplished my 2 main goals- ride Smuggler's Run and get a stuffed Tauntaun. I've got 2 more multi-day trips planned later this year so I am hoping to visit the cantina and build a lightsaber. The line for the cantina was already cut off just a few minutes after we got into the land.

There are some things that need to be improved and hopefully, Disney is using this soft opening to work out the kinks and see what needs to change. I would love to see them start booking appointments for building lightsabers and droids; it would help with crowd control and allow people to do other things in the land instead of spending hours waiting in line.

A few things to mention
1. This land is not good if you have kids with sensory issues.  They WILL have meltdowns and they will not enjoy it.
2. If you have picky eaters, they aren't going to like the food.
3. ROB A BANK!  I seriously wanted to buy everything.  I limited myself to a stuffed Tauntaun, a mouse droid popcorn bucket and a small Falcon model.  My mom keeps asking me if I want to build a droid; I think she secretly wants her own BB unit!
4. Do not expect this land to be the Star Wars that you know.  While avid readers of the current canon novels will be familiar with Batuu, the average SW fan is not and may be very disappointed when they don't recognize stuff.  
5. Customized items cannot be sent to hotels or package pick-up.  If you build a droid or lightsaber, be prepared to carry it around all day.
6. Ride lines are ADA compliant so there will be no "skipping/avoiding" the lines if you are in a wheelchair or ECV
7. Bring extra batteries for your cell phone.  The data pad is lots of fun but kills your battery life.  Next trip, I plan on just spending a hours just playing around with the app.

 ETA: if you are going to the soft opening at Disneyland, here is a rundown of the check in procedure.  You can check in at Launch Bay 2 hours prior to your reservation time.  Check in takes around 10 minutes and everyone must be present at check in.  You will be told where to go to access the land.  We entered via the Critter Country entrance.  We got in line for the land around 1:30 pm and they started scanning us into the land.  We were then put into a holding area (Resistance Outpost) and at 2 pm, they let us in.  Once we were inside the land, they funneled us to the First Order area before letting us loose.

[Doggy Mommy]

Thank you for the review! It looks so awesome. We aren’t going until October but I’m so excited!

[bronxgirl]

That sounds awesome! Thanks for the review and the pictures.

[luckyno7]

Thanks for the review! I’m hoping to take my kids sometime next year. They are HUGE Star Wars fans and have seen every movie! I just hate crowds....sigh.

[countthestars]

So cool - thanks for sharing!

[cajunmom]

How did they make you leave when your time is up?

[alleinesein]

Jun 3, 2019 17:08:50 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

How did they make you leave when your time is up?

We just left.  Since we couldn't get into the cantina or go back on Smuggler's Run, we walked out at 6 pm and headed over to Trader Sam's for tiki drinks.  They marked your wristband when you went on the ride so for the last hour of our time block, they were only letting in people who hadn't ridden it.  We spent the last hour shopping and just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere.  

[abs]

Very cool!! Did y'all like Smuggler's Run? Can't wait to see it...eventually.

I am impressed how organized the opening for DL was. You know WDW's will be insanity.

[Zoly]

I was casually watching wait times for DL rides over the weekend and was surprised at how short most of them were. Did the parks overall seem lighter in traffic?

[luckyno7]

Jun 4, 2019 8:06:05 GMT -5 Zoly said:

I was casually watching wait times for DL rides over the weekend and was surprised at how short most of them were. Did the parks overall seem lighter in traffic?

My aunt and uncle went this last weekend and said it’s was super empty. They did an insane amount of rides before they could get into GE. The lines were all super short and they did a lot of the more popular rides.

[sandandsea]

Do you know if they do parent swap for smugglers run? We will have both kids (7&2) and the younger doesn’t meet the height requirement.

[sandandsea]

Jun 4, 2019 11:49:42 GMT -5 luckyno7 said:

Jun 4, 2019 8:06:05 GMT -5 Zoly said:

I was casually watching wait times for DL rides over the weekend and was surprised at how short most of them were. Did the parks overall seem lighter in traffic?

My aunt and uncle went this last weekend and said it’s was super empty. They did an insane amount of rides before they could get into GE. The lines were all super short and they did a lot of the more popular rides.

There is hope. We are going Monday and expecting the worst.

[alleinesein]

Jun 4, 2019 7:28:47 GMT -5 abs said:

Very cool!! Did y'all like Smuggler's Run? Can't wait to see it...eventually.

I am impressed how organized the opening for DL was. You know WDW's will be insanity.

I got lucky and ended up with Pilot.  I had so much fun flying the Falcon.  I was on the right side so I controlled up and down movement and jumping to hyperspace.

[alleinesein]

Jun 4, 2019 8:06:05 GMT -5 Zoly said:

I was casually watching wait times for DL rides over the weekend and was surprised at how short most of them were. Did the parks overall seem lighter in traffic?

The parks were dead because all the cheap APs were blocked out.  I really hope that Disney takes notice of this and just phases out the SoCal pass and forces everyone to either buy the new flex pass or the deluxe pass.  The park was enjoyable but still busy.  There was one instance where an entire section of Main Street was empty; not a single person on it.  Most rides were walk on or a 5-10 minute wait.  You could still get Space Mountain FPs in afternoon which is something that never happens with the Hyperspace Mountain overlay.

[alleinesein]

Jun 4, 2019 14:18:22 GMT -5 sandandsea said:

Do you know if they do parent swap for smugglers run? We will have both kids (7&2) and the younger doesn’t meet the height requirement.

They do it but you might want to avoid using it on your first time.  I think they are sending the swapped parent through the single rider line and if you use the single rider line, you miss out on pre-show and your mission.  

What else are you planning on doing in the land?  I'd suggest that you split up and have one parent hit up the ride while the other parent and kids explore or build a droid and then have the other parent & kid ride during the middle of your time slot.  That way everyone can see the pre-show and if anyone wants to ride it again, you can use the single rider line.

Be aware that the marketplace section of the land is not really stroller friendly if you want to check out the shops.  They are designed to be more like an open air market stall and if you have a stroller and attempt to take it into the shop, you can end up being a fire hazard because you will block the exit and trap people behind your stroller.  

There isn't much to do in the land for the little ones.  It is more of an older kid/adult experience.  The characters do roam around and interact with people so be sure to keep an eye out for them.  The data pad in the Disney Play app is a lot of fun but it kills your battery.

[curbsideprophet]

Thanks for the review

[sandandsea]

Thanks! Ds1 loves Star Wars and wants to see it all. I’m hoping he gets to see several characters in action. His backpack is the MF. He is tall enough to do the ride and will love it. We aren’t building droids or lightsabers because I don’t care to spend that much.

So mostly looking around, getting some kind of reasonable trinket, snacks, ride, etc.

I’m debating how the stroller will work even. DS2 is a few weeks shy of 3 and not a fan of the stroller but it seems necessary at DL for a whole day so we are bringing it but could likely leave it at a stroller parking for some time and come back to it after a couple of rides. We won’t take it into crowded areas and generally try to avoid the stores anyway other than a quick walkthrough.

[alleinesein]

sandandsea Definitely mobile order your food. Rey and Chewie hang out in the Resistance outpost area but I did see Rey near the Falcon. Stormtroopers patrol the entire area and will give you a hard time if you have a lightsaber or a droid; they crashed my friend's pic in front of the Falcon when she was holding her droid.

They had stroller parking near the frontierland entrance so you can park the stroller there and explore.

If your kids like sweet stuff, they will probably like the popcorn. It is fruity and the serving size is the perfect size to split between 2 kids so that they get enough to snack on.

If they make you use the Critter Country entrance, your little ones may get restless. Enter the line closer to your entrance time so that you don't have to spend a ton of time standing around. If you are in the back of the line, you can also take your time entering the land. There is a full size x-wing and if you hang out in the area for awhile, you might see some familiar faces working on it.

[sandandsea]

I’m totally looking forward to the mobile order. It seems like a game changer.
Thanks for your tips!