The wait is OVER. Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, aka Black Spire Outpost in Batuu, is OPEN! I got to go with a few friends on Monday, so I’m going to tell you all about it– which I know other blogs have done, but I feel like some of you might enjoy a first hand account of this. So here we go.
(Note to Jared*: STOP. DO NOT PROCEED. THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS.)
*who has asked to not hear or see anything about it to maintain the surprise when he gets to go. This also applies to anyone who wants to go experience it without seeing anything beforehand.
Are we good? Good.
Galaxy’s Edge is a fully immersive, brand new world at Disneyland (and, soon to be, at Walt Disney World in Orlando), set in a place called Batuu, on the outer rim of a galaxy far, far away. Batuu itself is not from any of the films, tv shows, or books, but is instead a fully created-for-the-parks space, in order to give it a distinct feel. The entire cast is in character, and everything about it feels like you’re stepping into a village somewhere in the Star Wars universe. What helps is that they’ve gone to such a deep level that you won’t even find “Star Wars” branded merch inside the area– because, after all, the characters IN Star Wars don’t know what “Star Wars” is! (Don’t worry, you can still get ALL the Star Wars branded merch over in Tomorrowland!)
There are three entrances to the new “land”– one in Critter Country, behind the Hungry Bear restaurant (no longer a dead end!), and two in Frontierland. For the reservation slots through June 23, guests are asked to enter via Critter Country. Though they ask you not to queue up before your time slot, people of course do. It starts to get pressed around twenty minutes before the official entry time.
(Important to note– if you’ve got a reservation, the first and last hour are the most crowded because that’s when you overlap with the previous and next group of people. If you are reading this after June 23, 2019….this is irrelevant haha.)
Entering through Critter Country, you walk a long-ish (for Disneyland) path through the trees, and the immersion begins immediately from the lampposts to the animal tracks in the sidewalk. The walk opens up and you find yourself at a small resistance outpost, complete with a ship (that looks a lot like Poe’s) and kiosks selling handy things like Resistance MREs and other bits.
From there, you go around a corner and the main settlement of Black Spire Outpost comes into view. From that direction, we were facing the marketplace to the left, and the path leading around to the cantina line to the right (I’ll get back to that).
This area is where we also bumped into Rey and Chewbacca, who were hanging about and, I think, avoiding Kylo Ren….
…because when you walked around the marketplace and past the droid factory, suddenly you’re in the middle of a First Order encampment. (This is where the other two entrances into the land are, as well– and for the reservation previews, are the best exits to avoid the incoming crowds.)
Kylo’s ship is parked there (complete with PhotoPass photographers!) and he and the Troopers come out every so often to check the crowd for members of the Resistance.
If you can slip past Kylo and continue your loop, you’ll pass Oga’s Cantina on you right, the path back toward the lightsaber making area on the left, and the high-end collectibles shop.
Eventually another wide section opens up and there you are, face to face with the Millennium Falcon in all of her glory.
This large plaza is excellent for taking photos (and there are more PhotoPass people here!) but is also the entrance to Smuggler’s Run, the new RIDE. This ride puts you in the cockpit of the Falcon as a crew of 6– 2 pilots, 2 gunners, and 2 engineers– with the task of recovering some, um, cargo.
ABOUT THE SMUGGLER’S RUN RIDE: Because I am a person who doesn’t like certain kinds of rides and wants to know EXACTLY what I’m getting into, here’s the important stuff! First, this is a flight-simulator ride, kind of akin to Star Tours or perhaps Flight of Passage, but WITHOUT the 3D glasses, though the view port IS rendered in 3D so you may still have the effect. This ride DOES move around a lot and, if you are prone to motion sickness, could bring on a bout of icky feelings. There are SHARP and SUDDEN movements, but NO DROPS. (That’s an important thing to know for yours truly.) Finally, if you are prone to issues with any of these types of things, I’d recommend NOT being the Pilot– Pilots have the most screen-heavy roles. But if you sit toward the back as an engineer, you can concentrate on pushing buttons and not have to look at the screen.
There are fantastic Falcon photo ops both while waiting for your turn and directly after, and it feels like you’re really walking around the ship.
Walking around, this feels like the Disney answer to Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The detailing in the shops is not to be missed. Even if you aren’t buying anything, the shopping experience reaches Wizarding World levels of detail.
Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities is easily where you can spend the most money, if you aren’t building a droid or lightsaber.
There are shopkeepers, creatures in habitats, familiar and not-so-familiar bits from all over the galaxy… Everywhere you look, there’s something else to see.
In the Droid Depot, feet wheel overhead and the walls are lined with custom upgrades for your creation, including personality chips to change the sounds and behaviors, and more.
So about the blue and green milk. This is the Galaxy’s Edge equivalent to butterbeer at Wizarding World. I’m thankful before I went that others had recommended mixing the two together because individually the flavors are a bit strong, but once they are stirred and have melted a tiny bit, it was a nice cool drink in the heat of the day. Also– they are VEGAN so my non-dairy self could enjoy the whole cup!
The marketplace feels like its own space entirely, which is very cool, and is lined with stalls selling individual merchandise, including a toy store (with wooden and cloth toys that any youngling or youngling at heart will love), clothing, snacks (you’ll find the popcorn here–I’d describe the flavor as “spicy kettle corn”), and even Jedi robes. There was even an adoptable creature shop that gave my no-buy year a serious challenge.
Finally, if you have the “Play Disney” app on your phone (aka your “datapad”), you can use it to scan things all over Batuu, solving puzzles and have the shipping labels and more translated, further pulling you into the experience.
(I’m sure you can see what I mean about the Wizarding World similarities, if you’ve been there. But I don’t want to imply that any of this is a copy. Merely that much of what works in terms of immersion at WW is also at play here, because it’s good modern theme park design!)
Before I wrap this up, I can’t leave out Oga’s Cantina. The line for the cantina waitlist was actually our first stop upon arriving at Galaxy’s Edge, and it still took nearly 3 hours for our names to get called. (The line for the waitlist only took about twenty minutes. Then they texted when it was our turn.) You are seated in any available chairs (even in mixed groups) and if you are at a table, there is a 45 minute time limit. There is also a 2 drink/hour limit, and NO you cannot take them out of the cantina. Given that this is the FIRST place in the original Disneyland Park (Club 33 aside) to serve alcohol, I am not surprised at ALL at the level of care and restriction.
BUT. If you make it inside, it is VERY worth the effort! We got in about an hour before the end of our time, so we largely missed the press of the next wave of guests. The bar is set up in a horseshoe with the bartenders in the center, and alcoves along the walls. The drinks have a lot of variety, and the Batuu Bits were a nice snack mix of random things that paired well with the cocktails.
NOTE: There are 2 cocktails and 1 beer flight that come in collectible vessels, and you CANNOT order them except as part of the collectible. The “Yub Nub” is a rum drink in an Endor-themed tiki cup. The “Cliff Dweller” is a non-alcoholic mocktail in a PORG-themed tiki cup. The “Rancor Beer Flight” is served in a souvenir board with the four samples in “teeth”, all of which you also keep. I tried the Yub Nub and it was fantastic (but strong– it’s all you’ll need). (You can view the whole menu here.)
There you have it, my very long walk-through of my 4 hours at Galaxy’s Edge. If you are a Star Wars fan, this is a thing you are going to LOVE. It’s everything I wanted and now I just want to go hang out there all the time. But…y’know…after the crowds calm down. Ha.
Have you been to Batuu? Are you planning to go this year??
Joanna Volavka 