Let me tell you a little bit about Star Wars Land before I give you some tips on how to save time and so you can see everything while you are there. When I entered this new land I was absolutely flabbergasted. It was insane! Everywhere I looked it was Star Wars from the buildings to the cast members to the restrooms to the silverware, yes even the silverware looks like it came from a galaxy far far away. Reserving was also the best way to go, there was not nearly as many people there as it would have been on opening day, so I hope Disney does this with the new Marvel Land that will be coming soon to California Adventure.
One of the great things about Star Wars Land is you don’t have to be a fan of the movies to enjoy it. I brought two friends with me when I went, one was a big fan of the movies and one was not and they both loved it the same. Besides the land being elaborate everywhere you turned, but so were the cast members. So I went to ask one of the cast members if they had a penny press and his response was, “what’s a penny?” I pulled one out of my pocket and showed it to him and he replied with, “I’m sorry we don’t have a machine the flattens this credit, maybe in another galaxy, but not in this one.” Long story short the cast members not only act like they are from the movies, but each one dresses in different attire. Also sorry to all you penny press fans there are none in Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.
Disney is known for their insane food concoctions, so Galaxy’s Edge is no different. Besides blue and green milk you have probably already heard a lot about. There is also some very good meal food at Docking Bay 7. In this grab and go restaurant is food such as sphere shaped scrambled eggs, purple potatoes, sausage, bread that tasted like cinnamon roll French toast and a cup of açaí yogurt that had an oatmeal-like texture with varying fruits on top as well as many other types of food that I, unfortunately, didn’t get to try, but what I did try was so amazing and different.
Another thing to know about Star Wars Land is it is basically split into two parts; the Resistance and the First Order/Galactic Empire. There is also another area that bridges these two together and that is the market place.
The market place is basically what it sounds like. There is a ton of shops all next to and in front of each other and each of the shops sells something different. For instance, in one shop they are selling Jedi robes and attire, in another popcorn, and other stores are dedicated to creature related toys or other Star Wars memorabilia.
Besides the Market Place being an area to buy Star Wars merch, there is also the Droid Depot which was really cool to look at even if you are not buying one. The starting price to buy a droid is $99.99, I personally didn’t buy one because I have a droid of my own at home anyway. Another buying experience in Star Wars Land is building a lightsaber. Unfortunately, it is $200 to buy one and you are really paying for the experience so people who are not buying one is not allowed to watch.
Instead of buying insane merchandise at the outpost there is also a new ride you get to enjoy which is called Smugglers Run. Now, this ride is about three minutes long and sort of like a combination of a video game and Star Tours. There are six jobs aboard the Falcon, two engineerings (I recommend this for younger kids, elderly, or people who want to enjoy the experience more because you don’t do too much), two gunners (one left side and one right side, gamers and teens would like this job), and two pilots (left side moves the ship left and right and the right side moves it up and down, this is the hardest job I recommend this for adults or people who have had some pilot simulator experience). Overall the ride was very enjoyable and you can ride as many times as you want to do different jobs. Even when you are walking through the ride there are so many things that move or you can interact with if you have the Disney Play App that the line moves really quickly. The only thing I didn’t like was that you see the complete Millennium Falcon outside, then when you go inside the mountain you are place led into Falcon’s cockpit and since you saw the Falcon outside you know you are not in the real one which kind of took away from the realness of the ride, but besides that it is amazing. Also if you get motion sickness in Star Tours you most likely won’t get sick on this ride because it is a lot smoother.
Another extravagant activity you can behold is Oga’s Cantina with DJ Rex from Star Tours spinning some famous tracks from the films. This bar was literally straight from the movie, I expected Rey and Finn to walk through the door at any moment and ask to see Oga. The only issue with the bar is it is standing room only unless you are hand capped then you can get a booth.
One of the drinks I ordered was Jabba Juice which tasted a lot like orange juice. In this drink was Simply orange juice, with pineapple, kiwi, cantaloupe, and blueberry popping pearls or bobas. Overall it was a pretty good drink especially if you like orange juice.
Now that I’ve talked about my trip to the new and most extravagant land at Disneyland I will list a couple of tricks to improve your trip to help save you some time.
1. Go to Olga’s Cantina and make a reservation. Though this may not guarantee you get in, it will help. 2. While you are waiting for your reservation to open up at Olga’s go ride Smugglers Run. Since my reservation didn’t open for 2 hours, this was the perfect amount of time for me to ride it then go visit the Cantina. 3. Since the lightsabers cost $200, get a group of friends or family members to split the cost, so you can all have the experience. 4. You can only buy one of each merchandise at Star Wars Land, so don’t think you’re going to go and buy one for you and one to sell online or for a friend. 5. There is also a limit on the number of drinks you can buy at the cantina which is no more than two. 6. The ride Rise of the Resistance which is opening later this year will be the most common place to spot your favorite characters. Rise of the Resistance is located not far from the Hungry Bear Restaurant entrance. 7. If you don’t fly very well in Smugglers Run, the ride will actually be longer than if you had flown better. 8. Go up to a Resistance cast member and say, “Let the Wookiee win!” and they will give you a trading card. If you collect enough of them it will create a map of the outpost. 9.Another thing I recommend getting is the Disney Play App, especially if you have little kids who get bored in long lines. While I was there I was able to make droids move, the radio tower makes noises and even make some control panels light up. Super fun if you are a Star Wars fan.
I hope this helps any families that plan on visiting Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, but I totally recommend going because this is the most extravagant land at Disney I have ever seen.
Coming Soon: What is the Max Pass and how does it work?