You might have heard a little about a new land in Disney World that opened on Thursday: Star Wars, Galaxy's Edge! Here's the situation on this one. We have the 'Theme Park Select' Disney passes. Which means depending on the day, there's certain parks we're 'blacked out' of, meaning we can't go to them. This isn't so bad though. It directs you to the least busy parks. There's not the lull in the summer where you can't go to any of the parks, and it is the cheapest option for passes. Our black out dates for Hollywood Studios were announced before the opening of Galaxy's Edge was announced. The blackout starts on Septmeber 1 and goes until January 7, 2020. Usually you aren't blacked out of a park this long at all, but they are expecting large crowds because of Galaxy's Edge. When the dates for Galaxy's Edge were finally announced- with an opening date of August 29, 2019 I was shocked that we had three days of overlap. We could go to opening weekend, but then we wouldn't be able to go until a weekday in January.
But, this weekend Asa is on call, and we can't really go to a park on his on call weekend. There's no quick way to get back to your laptop if need be. So, I didn't put the new ride (Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run) on our "Disney Quest" list because it would just be too hard with too limited amount of time- maybe depending on lines, even impossible- for Asa and I to get there.
But then I thought, I could go opening day. I didn't want to go alone so I tried to talk the boys into it. Calib seemed indifferent, but he had Thursday off so he considered it. Hayden was undecided due to the crowd level expected, and shockingly enough Peyton was the one that told me if I could score a reservation to Oga's Cantina, he would come with me. Then Calib and Hayden said they would go too, as long as I got a reservation. You see, when it a new land opens, sometimes it closes to capacity and you have to wait in line JUST TO GET INTO THE LAND! But, you can get around this if you have a dining reservation inside the land. Then, they let you in virtually no matter what. Of course, reservations for the Cantina had long been gone. The day reservations opened I couldn't get one until the end of January. So, I decided to spend most of my day Tuesday and Wednesday refreshing the page for Cantina reservations.
AND THEN I GOT ONE! After refreshing intermittently for two days one reservation for four came up for 6:15 on opening day! So I grabbed it. I super excited about it. And then Hayden slowly started to back out. So, I convinced Asa he could take his spot. It was late enough in the day if he didn't take a lunch, he could just go after work. Plus he started work an hour early to even out his hours.
Thursday morning came, and I read about how the land 'reached capacity in minutes!' And that there was a 'boarding pass' in effect. Once you were IN the park, instead of having to stand in line to get into the land, you reserved a spot through My Disney Experience and it would give you a time to come back. But, then there was a disclaimer, saying if you had reservations to proceed directly to the entrance of Galaxy's Edge up to one hour before your reservation time. Ah, ha! I'd gotten around the lines, or so I thought.
We arrived two hours before our reservation. I thought by the time I got through the surely long line at parking, and through security and into the park we'd be right around our hour before our reservation time. But, then something crazy happened. We arrived at the parking booths and all lines were open- with no cars waiting at all. I just pulled right up to the booth, scanned my magic band and we were in. Parking wasn't an issue. I mean, they did expand the parking lot- but even the parking lot wasn't near capacity. We hopped on the tram to the front of the park and we noticed more than half the spots at the front of the park were empty- people had surely come and gone.
I left my backpack that I always take into the park in the car. I thought if we didn't have to do bag check, security, which was surely going to be a nightmare, we'd move through quicker. Then we got off the tam and up to security and were meant again with open lines, no wait. I mean, look at that!
I'm not kidding when I tell you this was the fastest I have gotten through parking and security this year at Disney. Would the lines be waiting for me when I got to the entrance. Again, no. No waiting to scan my magic band and enter the park.
As soon as we got in, I noticed how thin the crowd was. It was the easiest walk to the back of the park I've had all summer. We made our way to the entrance to Galaxy's Edge, and they were no longer taking boarding passes, or checking to see if you had a reservation. You were free to walk on in anytime you pleased.
So walk on in, we did.
When you first come in, you'll find one of two rides in the new land. But, they made the decision to only have one ride available when the land opened. This one, Rise Against the Resistance won't open until December. So for now, this area is pretty much a pass through, although there are sites to be seen, as there really is everywhere in Galaxy's Edge.
I told you there were hardly any crowds- check this out!
There's not much in way of a store, or food here. But you will find a little kiosk for supplies, and perhaps you might even have a Wookie sighting! This is what they are calling the 'Resistance' side of the land, so you'll find those within the resistance here.
Now, I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan in the world. Like, I've watched all the movies, and I did wear my hair in Princess Leia buns in my kindergarten school picture. But, I still probably rank as the 5th biggest Star Wars fan in my house. Still, I could totally appreciate Galaxy's Edge. Or, Batuu, as they refer to it. Batuu isn't referenced in the movies. Tatooine would have been my choice. But, I can see why they went with Batuu, since it's more of a trading post and less of a desert, so stores and food outposts make sense here.
According to StarWars.com, Batuu was once a thriving stop for traders and travelers before advancements in lightspeed technology. Now its lush forests and majestic mountain regions are known only to those who dare to venture this far into the Outer Rim. At the infamous Black Spire Outpost, smugglers and rogues peddle their wares among the towering remains of petrified trees while the locals cook up exotic dishes and spin tales of ancient settlers long forgotten. Recently, the struggle between the First Order and the Resistance has made its way to this remote locale, once a haven for those hoping to avoid entanglements with the First Order.
Continuing on through Batuu, you'll come to the marketplace. And it is impressive. Here you'll find a string of counter service snack stands, and various shops from a little clothing kiosk to a toymaker to an exotic creatures section. It's Disney's answer to Diagon Alley. And while it doesn't have the same identifiable stores like Olivanders of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, it is really, really cool. And props to Disney for shading the area a bit just like Diagon Alley. The helps in the hot Florida sun.
Everything in Batuu is themed. I mean I loved what Disney did with Toy Story land. The details where the benches are made from used popsicle sticks (discolored from presumably red Popsicles), the lights are a string of Christmas lights and the railings are all k'nex sticks. They carried this over for Batuu, and everything down to the drinking fountains and bathrooms are themed.
You won't find anything that looks like it doesn't belong in Batuu. All the cords and such hanging around makes it feel very authentic.
Even doors for cast members are disguised.
And everything has it's own language too.
Even the pop looks different in Batuu! From the bottles (which I heard were banned by TSA, but have since been un-banned) to the fountain drinks behind the counters.
You're Play Disney App can help you here and help you decode things, but you can also get a Traveler's Guide to help you out.
(We also got special opening day maps to Galaxy's Edge!)
When you come to the end of the marketplace, that's when you'll be greeted with the most recognizable thing in all of Galaxy's Edge: The Millennium Falcon. It sits outside the one and only ride right now in Batuu, the aptly named Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. (In my experience it is also where you will find the most crowds.)
Just, none of my pictures do it justice. It is SO. COOL.
The best vantage point for a picture appears to be on the balcony area before you go down to take a closer look. They have photo pass people there to take you picture, and I convinced everyone to wait in the (short) line so we could take a picture there. (The nice photo pass people will always take a picture on your camera too, if you ask).
When Toy Story Land was built, I thought, 'this is a decent size', but Star Wars land just keeps going. The whole place is much larger than I thought it would be. Over in the First Order Area you'll find more shops and spacecraft.
Over here you'll find Storm Troopers wandering around, interrogating travelers. (The storm troopers also watch from up above- check them out on the balcony behind Calib). This land is a bit different from other places in Disney because it really is like it's own world. You step out of 'Disney' and into 'Batuu'. You won't hear anyone there refer to 'Star Wars' instead it's all 'Batuu'. You're in a place, not a movie. They call everyone 'travelers' and tell you things cost X amount of 'credits'. They don't really have cast members there, instead it's like everyone is an actor- from the person who takes your drink order to the person who works the cash register at various shops. You also won't find any character 'Meet and Greets' here. Instead, characters free roam the area, just like the Storm Troopers.
Of course, you can't have anything Star Wars themed without droids (more on this later!)
Of course you can't talk anything Star Wars without talking Lightsabers. There's a couple of different ways to find these in Batuu. First, you'll need to go to Savi's Workshop. (Of course, nothing is outright labeled so, signs wouldn't make sense here. Instead, you'll have to find it on your own. Hint, look for a line. They only let a certain amount of people in at a time, as to avoid having it be shoulder to shoulder people-it isn't a huge place. But, our line moved fast. We were maybe only waiting for like five minutes).
Before we knew it, they waved us in. (I love how all the doors slide open and look so secret!)
And while it isn't the biggest place in the world, there is SO.MUCH. to look at here.
So, back to the lightsabers- You can reserve an 'experience' online and build your own. That's attached to the workshop, but you can't even see it unless you build one with a reservation (or are a plus one to the building). But, you can also just go into Savi's, go up to the counter, and purchase one instead of making your own. And these are more like Ollivanders in that you can pick someone's light saber to purchase- Rey's, or Luke's, or Kylo Rens. It's like how you can go into Ollivanders and pick out Mad Eye Moody's or Harry's wand.
And while this isn't labeled as an 'experience', it certainly is one. They will pull out any light saber hilts for you to try out and hold. Then they will present your options for for you the blade. Peyton, having just been Ohio and working his butt off, had talked about buying a light saber. (They aren't cheap- but they are also incredibly well made) So he was shown his options. He spent a good half hour with the very patient and happy to help cast member at the counter looking at his options. It was an experience in and of itself.
In the end he decided on Mace Windu's light saber.
If you do build your own lightsaber, you get a long black case to carry your light saber. But, if you select your light saber from the replicas, you get a very nice special case for your hilt. It's really just a preference thing. I think the wands have made Peyton want to have someone's light saber as opposed to making his own. But, I wouldn't rule out someone in this family wanting to make their own someday.
After our time at Savi's we headed over to Oga's Cantina for our reservation. Again we waited in a short line and were then led into the Cantina by a secret door.
So the Cantina is not THE CANTINA. They don't play THE music (although that didn't stop my entire family for humming it for two days. But there is a fun bar, and a droid DJ to play music.
They do let you know when you make your reservations that there isn't a lot of seating here. There are some large booths around the outside of the place, and everything else you are standing at tables and up at the bar. And it does note you can end up sharing your table and booth (we were at a LONG booth and had to share with another family who came towards the end of our experience.)
There isn't much in the way of food at Oga's. You're mostly there for the drinks. And there is a two drink per person and a 45 minute limit for your party. We had all checked out the menu before coming in, so we'd know what we wanted to order. Even so, we were fine on time. The drinks are all premixed, so it doesn't take long at all to get them.
Asa got the Dagobah Slug Slinger- Herradura Reposado Tequila, Bols Blue Curaçao, Citrus Juices, Ginger, Herbs, and Bitters. While I got the Yub Nub-
Malibu Pineapple Rum, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Citrus Juices, and Passion Fruit.
I will say, mine was kind of strong. And I'm not a drinker, so I was a little giggly after mine, which Calib and Peyton just thought was hilarious.
They don't just have alcoholic drinks though. There's plenty of fun drinks to be had for those underage travelers, including Peyton's drink of choice the Blurrgfire- Lemonade, Pomegranate Juice, and Habanero-Lime (which I apparently didn't take a picture of- but it was bright red with some sort of weird red substance on the rim). Calib skipped the drink in favor of some water and Oga's Obession Provision. This is WEIRD. It's Lemonade, Cotton Candy Flavor, Blueberry Popping Pearls with a Bursting Dried Fruit Mixture. It is like a jello consistancy and is served with a tiny silver spoon. We couldn't decide if we loved this or hated this, but we just kept eating it. (Peyton did declare he really liked it and would order it again.)
As far as food goes, there's only one thing on the menu: Batuu Bits. Which is only described as 'Crispy Galaxy Snack Bits with Spiced Chermoula Dip'
I guess in Disneyland it is lacking the dip, which really adds to it. It was all kind of weird but addicting. The chips appeared to be some sort of dried veggies ranging from slightly spicy to a little sweet, and I even enjoyed the seaweed that came along with it. The little bits at the bottom (and bits are an accurate discrption for how big they are) are like corn chips, but obviously better. At $8, I think this is one we would get again. I did hear they also have a 'secret' menu item with some sort of charcuterie, but it's $21 and the Disney Food Blog says to skip it.
We had our drinks, provisions, and bits- but obviously we were still hungry enough to try a few other Disney Food Blog recommendations. They don't love a lot of the food on Batuu, but there are a few things they recommended. We headed over to the quick service place: Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo (for real, after you place your food order at quick service in Batuu they tell you your number to pick up your 'cargo' at the end of the line!) Looking for something sweet, we decided to try both of the desserts on the menu.
It's a fun little place with indoor and outdoor very cool themed seating.
The desserts are the Batuu-bon (Chocolate Cake, White-Chocolate Mousse, Coffee Custard) and the Oi-Oi Puff (Raspberry Crème Puff and Passion Fruit Mousse). And they come with SPORKS! Real metal sporks! So fun.
We enjoyed them both. But, I was the only one partial to the oi-oi puff. It's tart, thats for sure. But I liked that. It's significantly bigger than the Batuu-Bon (and 50 cents cheaper!), so after taking one bite of the Batuu Bon, I left that one for everyone else who really liked it. Even Calib liked the Batuu Bon and he usually hates anything coffee flavored. I don't know if these are must gets for us, though. They are pricey for what you get, and I'd rather leave Batuu in favor of a bigger, cheaper, yummier Lunch Box Tart over at Woody's Lunchbox in Toy Story Land.
We saved Disney Food Blogs highest recommendation for last, as we headed over to Ronto Roasters. At the end of the marketplace you'll find the open air counter of Ronto Roasters. You can't miss it, they're roasting "Ronto meat" right there!
They have some weird 'ronto' jerky you can get too!
But we were there for the Ronto Wrap-
Roasted Pork, Grilled Pork Sausage, Peppercorn Sauce, and Tangy Slaw wrapped in Pita Bread.
This one doesn't photograph all that well, but it's delicious. It's on a warm pita and gives off a slight spice but tons of flavor. Even Peyton loved this one, and he can be a tough one to win over as far as food goes. I would get this one again, for sure.
After taking everything in, and finding myself a magnet to add to my collection, we were ready to depart Batuu at least until later.
You see, even though Galaxy's Edge had a manageable crowd, the rest of the park was pretty empty. I spent most of my summer at Hollywood Studios trying to check off our list (and because we were blacked out of Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom for the summer month), and I had not seen it this empty, with this short of waits in SO. LONG. It was early evening and you could get on Tower of Terror in 10 minutes. This summer you were hard pressed to find it under an hour. Same for Rock N Roller Coaster at 20. Slinky Dog Dash sat at 50 minutes, and that's about as low as I've seen it since it opened. Even Millennium Falcon: Smugglers run was a 75 minute wait (which may seem like a long time, except that it was opening day!)
We decided to grab some Fastpasses over in Toy Story Land and then circle back to Batuu once it was dark so we could see it at night as well.
It's weird seeing Toy Story land as a pass-through instead of a dead end, now that it feeds into Galaxy's Edge. But even weirder was being able to walk in Toy Story Land and not being bumped into by a ton of people.
The tiers of Fastpasses changed with the opening of Galaxy's Edge. Instead of picking one from the Toy Story Land experiences, you have to pick one from those or Rock N Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror. So, the bad news is you can't get all three of those at once anymore. The good news is, except for Slinky Dog Dash, they're all SUPER easy to get. I got ours like 5 minutes out for Toy Story Maina.
I told Calib I was going to smoke him, because I'd gotten much better, since I'd been on it a TON this summer. But, I still lost. Asa, no surprise, was 'best in cart', besting Peyton by nearly 100,000.
I was then able to nab a Star Tours Fastpass. I skipped on that one, but the boys all did it and loved it. They said they had a different ride then ever before with new characters. Not sure if that changed for the opening of Star Wars or what. But they thought it was cool. And then it was dark, so it was time to go check out Batuu again. Spoiler Alert: It's just as awesome, if not more awesome at night.
The line for Smuggler's Run was about 80 minutes when we circled back around, and none of us really hesitated. I mean, we wouldn't be able to ride until January at the earliest, and we had nowhere to be. So, it just made sense. We hopped in line, which went around the railing by the Millennium Falcon.
Which just meant you had a close up view to take pictures. As many as I took, you still just can't imagine how cool it is to see in person.
Right now they say there isn't any Fastpasses for the ride, and they're not sure there ever will be. But, um, this looks like a Fastpass line to me. The sign is even there, just covered up. So, it's happening. And when it does, at least Slinky Dog Dash will be easier to get!
The line for Smuggler's Run is both inside and outside. It takes you around the Millennium Falcon before winding inside.
And the details inside are pretty cool.
Then you take a ramp up to the second floor.
So not only is there all kinds of cool stuff to look at inside, but you now get a view of Batuu from up above.
By the time we were nearing the end of the line, we were quite ancy. We haven't waited this long for a ride in forever. Holding room number one is pretty small an uneventful.
While holding room number two has some cool effects and animatronics.
Then you get led down a hallway, and you're handed your 'roles' for your mission. You can of course trade if you want.
Somehow the boys didn't think I should be a pilot. Probably because I said if I get motion sick, I'll just close my eyes.
The last holding room is the coolest. You'll hang out here for just a couple minutes until they call your color and explain your mission to you.
The advice they give is simple: Don't crash.
And then, just your party (which is at max 6 people- we just had our four), is led down the hallways where you'll stand on your job (pilot, gunner or engineer)
And then, eventually, the doors will open for you.
And you are now in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and IT. IS. AMAZING.
Whether you pass or fail the mission depends on how you handle it. Asa and Peyton piloted us to victory (or at least we didn't crash). I did have to close my eyes some, but overall the movements in the cabin weren't too bad for my motion sickness (although I wonder how different it would have been if we had crashed).
Calib and I must have made good gunners, since we didn't get shot down though, right?
So we can go ahead and add
#40 Smugglers Run
to our Hollywood Studios checklist. No asterisks on this one.
Our ride ended just after 10 pm- when the park had closed. Which just meant Batuu was virtually empty on our walk out of the park.
And usually at the end of the night the cast members are waving with those giant Mickey hands- but not on Galaxy's Edge opening day. Instead, they all said goodnight with light sabers.
When we got home, Peyton immediately started showing off his light saber to Hayden.
And was in my room swinging it around at 2 in the morning.
Hayden had a bit of Galaxy's Edge envy. He wanted to avoid it because of the crowds. But we came back talking about how few crowds there were, and not only that but how awesome it was. We showed him all of our pictures and he was like 'Do you think maybe we can go to Galaxy's Edge on Friday?' Asa and Calib both had work, but Peyton said he would totally go again. And you know it has to be AMAZING for Peyton to want to go to Disney TWO DAYS IN A ROW.
I was worried the crowds wouldn't be as low. And the weather didn't look as good- in fact it rained most of the way there. Plus we had this whole hurricane mania to deal with. For real, hurricanes are the worst. They're so super annoying. I decided I should get gas for our return Disney trip in case it became hard to find- and we almost bailed on our trip because our first two gas stations were out of gas, and the third (Costco) had a massive line. This was Friday, the storm was still DAYS out- but that didn't stop a bunch of old guys from filling up 5 gallon jugs upon 5 gallon jugs of gas. Now it looks like we won't get anything and we'll still have this stupid gas shortage because people are morons and create mass hysteria 5 days before the storm is even supposed to be here. Ugh. Anyway, once I finally filled up, I was like 'eff this, we're going anyway. we don't need to go anywhere if gas becomes an even bigger issue'. Oh, and I ordered refillable jugs for water on Amazon. I'm not dealing with bottled water mania ever again. (And that's my hurricane rant).
So anyway, when we arrived back at Hollywood Studios there were even less cars in the parking lot, and again we sailed right through the parking booth without even having to wait. And because there had just been lightning in the area, there was nobody directing parking so we went right up to the front and got to park in the VERY FIRST ROW! I even decided to bring my bag this time (so I'd have the rain jackets if need be) and there were zero lines at security as well.
So then we made our way back to Galaxy's Edge for Day 2 on Batuu! Perhaps it was slightly more crowded, but over all, not too bad.
And so Hayden got to check out everything we had seen the day before. We made our way through the Marketplace and in and out of all the shops.
And we went over to Savi's to check out the lightsabers and nose around the store. We even found Yoda's cane!
Peyton brought along his light saber and was happy to take pictures every where he could.
He even had lots of people coming up to him asking about it. And one resident of Batuu telling him he couldn't just have his light saber out like that!
And I convinced them to wait in line for a picture again too.
Hayden said he didn't want to wait for the ride (which was good- it was about two hours when we were there), but he did want his picture with the Millennium Falcon.
One thing we hadn't done the day before was try the blue milk. There's a stand that serves both an alcoholic and non-alcoholic version. I warn you now, it's pricey.
The verdict is still out on this one. It's not really milk. It's a frozen slushy concoction and tastes sort of cotton candy like. I HATED it. One sip was enough. Hayden thought it was ok and took a few sips. Peyton really liked it and drank practically the whole thing. I know the color put me off in the first place. It also comes in green, but I don't know that that would help matters. It would probably just make it worse. Maybe the alcohol would help? I don't know. I probably just won't be getting this one again.
We made our way over to the First Order area to show Hayden all the finds on that part of Batuu.
You can have your very own Stormtrooper armor for a cool 6615 credits. (It's a one-for-one exchange rate).
And then we checked out the droids.
It's easy to miss shops and such, because the doors are all a bit secret and nothing has a big old sign. So we had missed the Droid Depot the day before. This is an experience like building your own light saber, but here you can build your very own droid. Unlike the light saber experience though, you can watch people doing it from behind the fence. There's lots of things to customize on your droid, and you get to pick everything down to all the parts that'll pass you on a conveyor belt.
You can even pick its personality!
And if you're so inclined you can even get it a carrying case.
Again, it's a pricey experience. But, it seemed like a really cool thing to be able to do. The shop is also fun to look around in. I was in love with the R2D2 bowl. It's really heavy, and like $75. But it's amazing.
And the Droid Depot is where you'll find the real life R2D2! You can take a picture with him here.
But be careful. He moves all on his own, and might go back into his nook at any given moment.
And if you have a cool 25,000 credits you can even take him home with you.
After all our wandering on Batuu, the boys were ready for some food, so we went over to Ronto Roasters for another wrap. Peyton still loved it, but Hayden wasn't a fan.
Of course, before leaving Batuu we ran into some Storm Troopers.
And then we were headed out on our way to Toy Story Land. See you in January, Batuu!
Over in Toy Story Land, I waited in line for some more food at Woody's Lunchbox while the boys went on Toy Story Mania. It was so empty there after I got our totcohos and our lunchbox tart, there were plenty of open seats (something that almost never happens there!) and I finally got to sit on the baybel cheese seat!
Before we headed home the boys want to check out the Star Wars Launch Bay to see some characters. The courtyard was virtually empty.
The boys had hoped to see Kylo Ren, but he has since been replaced with Darth Vader. They were happy to see him too. I wasn't though. Kylo Ren was very unpleasant and Darth Vader wasn't much better.
We didn't have to wait in much of a line for any of the characters, but in the case right by Chewbacca, they had various light sabers on displace, including Mace Windu. Peyton has the exact same one!
Some of the cast members in the launch bay had light saber envy and Peyton let him check it out. He spotted it immediately and knew it was Mace Windus. Impressive knowledge.
Then, of course, we met Chewbacca, who just gives the best of hugs. I needed a Chewie hug after meeting Darth Vader. Guys like an OG Dementor and Chewie is the chocolate
I even convinced the boys Chewie hugs were the best.
Then we wandered around the launch bay and saw all the models and replicas.
And because the line was so short, we also popped in to visit BB8.
On our way out we noticed we took one last picture of Peyton with his lightsaber to commemorate opening weekend of Galaxy's Edge.
It is also the last day of the month, so I like to close out the blog for the month, so I have a few more pictures for you. While I've mostly just gone to Disney since I've been back from Ohio, you know I was back six days and spent three of them at Disney, I have squeezed in a few other things.
I'm pretty sure all you can swirl goes away on Labor Day, so I made it over there one more time.
And with the end of August comes the end of a couple more birthday rewards, so I got my free Red Robin burger with Asa for lunch today.
And then we stopped by Pollo Tropical and I got my free meal for Peyton to eat for lunch. I didn't want it to go to waste!
I leave you with a couple cute dog pictures. They're happy we're home. (Ellie yawned at just the right time for this one!)
That's it for August!
Next Up: Football is back, and we're in the home stretch of our Disney Quest.