This past weekend I surprised my family with a trip to Disneyland. I was able to score 8AM reservations for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (SWGE from here on out) during the final day of the reservation system before the land opened to the general public. We arrived just before 6AM and there were probably a couple hundred people there before us. We were directed to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and waited by the submarines until about 7:30 when the CMs took us over to the new land to line up. Finally, 8AM rolled around and a few moments later, we crossed through a portal into the magical land of Batuu.
For anyone wondering if SWGE is worth it, yes, yes it is. At least, if you're a fan of the Disney-era Star Wars movies (or any Star Wars movies honestly, though it helps to have a healthy love of the newer ones). The details put into this land are absolutely breathtaking and you truly feel like you're as far away from the rest of Disneyland as can be.
Before describing our experience, I have to note that we couldn't get into the cantina or Savi's. Neither was really a priority for us though. A custom lightsaber would be cool to have for my Star Wars wall in my living room at some point, but at $200, it can wait. And the cantina will be there when I'm ready to spend $15+ on a drink.
So, the first thing we did do was visit the Millennium Falcon. Let me just say, the pictures do not do it justice. For a fan of the franchise, there's nothing quite like walking around a corner and coming face to face with the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. The imagineers spared no expense and the details are unbelievable. Chewbacca himself greeted us as we made our way toward the ship. About 10 minutes later, we were boarding, tasked with getting our hands on coaxium in true smuggler fashion. Much like the falcon itself, Hondo's animatronic is easily one of the best in the business right now. But the best part? Sitting down around the Dejarik board? No, but it was close. The best part was sitting down in the cockpit. Each team consists of 6 people including 2 pilots, 2 gunners, and 2 engineers who have to fix everything that breaks. The console lights up so you always know which button to push, though kids may struggle with some of this. We allowed our two boys to be the pilots in our crew. My younger son wasn't able to reach the hyperdrive, so we had some issues with the flight, but my older son managed just fine with his part, so it was all good. My daughter and mother chose not to ride because my daughter is scared of everything and my mom thought it would jar her around too much with her arthritis. In retrospect, I think both of them would have been fine. The height limit for the ride is only 38 inches. And honestly? That's probably only because you have to sit in your own seat and be able to push buttons. It's a really easy ride, much less turbulent than Star Tours even when you do inevitably crash into something.
After doing the ride, we decided to check out the droid shop. My oldest son has always wanted his own droid. At $100 per droid, it may seem like a steep price point, but the experience of putting together your own droid is pretty cool for the kids and the droid itself is a decent size and quality. It's sort of like a better quality remote control car. Worth it I think. My kids adore theirs. I have 3 children, but we only got 2 droids. I would have only gotten 1 for all of them to share, but it was my oldest son's birthday, so he get his own. We got one R-type and one BB unit. You can select different parts from a conveyor belt to get just the style you're looking for. There are several options you can peruse as you get close to the point where you pay and begin your experience. We waited in line maybe 30-40 minutes for this.
Our next experience was the food. We got a pita wrap from Ronto Roaster's as well as a selection of items from Docking Bay 7. The Ronto Wrap was a decent smaller meal. It was a combination of sausage, roasted pork, and coleslaw. I'm not usually a fan of slaw, but I really liked this simple offering. At Docking Bay 7, the kids all chose to eat the kid's fried Endorian Tip Yip, which is really a version of fried chicken with macaroni and cheese. The kids all really liked it. We were surprised because we didn't expect any of the offerings to really appeal to our kids. My husband, who tends to be on the less adventurous side with foods, chose the adult version of the Tip Yip, which comes with mashed potatoes. My mother and I split a yobshrimp noodle salad to accompany the ronto wrap. It was honestly delicious and probably my favorite part of the meal. All of the food had surprising flavors that were very good, but don't necessarily read as good on the menu. Try them anyway. They taste much better than they sound.
We also partook in the blue and green milks. They were both good. My daughter and I preferred the blue, but the boys liked the green. They're like smoothies with coconut milk and rice milk. Both have a slightly odd taste and some people have said they couldn't stand either, but I guess I'm not picky. Loved them both. And, we grabbed a sprite and diet coke. The bottles are adorable and my kids are still reusing them several days later because they love the look of them so much.
Shopping was fun. The main store, Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, is a very cool looking store. Unfortunately, they were sold out of kyber crystals, which is what I really wanted, but they did still have a few $4 rock token keepsakes with pictures of sith lords and quotes etched into them. Otherwise, everything in the store was expensive. Most items I looked at ranged from $50-$200. The other stores were less expensive, but smaller than I expected. It was cool and made sense since it was supposed to feel like walking through a marketplace, but I expected a little more from the Creature Stall and Toydarian Toy Shop. They were still really cool, just small.
The only thing that felt a little sparse was the resistance outpost area (near the Critter Country entrance). I think it will probably feel more complete once the second ride is open since that ride takes up an insane amount of space. I will say though that after watching that ride get built from the ground up, they've done a great job of masking the huge building housing the ride. As we walked through the area, it just felt like we were walking through some rock outcroppings. All that's really out that way is an old x-wing and a small shop. But, in some ways, it just makes me more excited for Rise of the Resistance to finally open, making the area hopefully feel complete.
Overall, our experience was absolutely incredible and I am so glad we got to go. If you have a chance to visit, do it. You won't regret it. (And it's not even all that crowded. The virtual queue is really making everything very reasonable.)
Also, as a sidenote, don't forget to download the Disney Play app. I wish I had had longer than 4 hours in SWGE. There are all sorts of things you can do with your phone like hack control panels for the resistance of the first order. I think with more time, I would have clearly established myself with an affiliation and maybe had some other interactive experiences. It will drain your phone though as you have to enable bluetooth. So, make sure you have a portable power bank and charging cable.
Here's some more random pictures from the area. It was such a great experience, especially having watched it being built from the beginning. My whole family agreed that re-entry to the rest of Disneyland was really weird. It's like we forgot we were there. In some ways, it's like stepping back into the real world, but then you remember that even though you've left Batuu, you are still in the happiest place on Earth.
