Trip Report Even the Trash Cans are Cool! A Star Wars Mini-Trip Report

Bright Suns Earth Dwellers! I had the pleasure of visiting Batuu last week and it surpassed my expectations. I thought I would share a relatively brief report of our experience, though there are many, many blog postings that do a more thorough presentation with better photos. This is one person’s journey.


Disclaimer:

  • This will be brief so it gets out while still relevant; I have yet to decide if a full report will follow. I’m going to try so hard not to get too wordy. (failure likely imminent)
Background:

Who? Our Cast: Me (48), Cousin (50's), Second Cousin (21), Mom (78), Aunt (81) - Disney Fans

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How? I live abroad and was travelling to Vegas for my brother’s wedding and decided a stop-over in Anaheim was necessary. After making travel plans, Star Wars Land opening was announced! (omg, omg, omg). I quickly changed from 4 nights at Candy Cane Inn to 3 nights + 1 night at Paradise Pier for 5 to ensure a trip to the Galaxy


Why? My first movie in a theatre was Bambi (I’m still mildly traumatised). Second was Star Wars, with my cousins. From then on, Star Wars was a frequent punctuation mark on my life events - from the movies, books, vernacular, legos, dating, children…Star Wars has been involved.


When? 5 June, 2019


Disneyland:


We did 3 day Park Hoppers with our last event being Galaxy’s Edge from 5-9pm. This meant we got to see it both in the day and night, which was amazing. If you have read any blogs about the opening of Galaxy’s Edge, one common theme was how empty Disneyland was in general. It is true. We had minimal wait times for most rides, got to do everything we wanted (except Incredicoaster which was frequently offline), and the temps were in the high 60’s to low 70’s.

Disneyland/DCA Highlights:

  • Ate at Wine Country Trattoria with the World of Colour Dining Package - totally worth it in my opinion. We had good food and fantastic viewing. Disney’s Food Blog does a good review of this package. My Mom’s review - “4000 times better than the first time we saw it!" It was a Grad Night week and Monday was the only day we could see WoC so wanted to make sure we could. FYI - the mist coming off the water was cold on a night of 62 degrees F. Probably would feel amazing in the heat of summer.
  • Ate at Blue Bayou for the Fantasmic dining package. Again, totally worth it. We waited 45 minutes for a waterside table and the food was surprisingly very, very good. We also got cool ground seat cushions to take home. We were right up against the fence for Fantasmic and this was the first time I got to see it with an unobstructed view (short people problems). It was followed by a water show that coordinated with the Fireworks which occurred just after Fantasmic. FYI - this package is seated so if you have trouble sitting on the ground, it may be difficult for the show.

Shout Out to the Space Mountain - Hyperspace overlay - so, so fun. Hearing “It’s a Trap” as you are heading into the speedy parts of the coaster was gold.
 
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adventuregirl

Member
Original Poster
Galaxy's Edge

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Getting In.



For the love of all that is good in the universe, bring a government issued ID. It is mentioned over and over that we would need this for our entry. Touring Plans has a good outline of what was needed. In practice, this meant the following:

  • All of us arriving to Launch Bay at the same time with our ID’s
  • Having our email reservation barcode ready (I had it on my phone)
  • Entering launch bay and getting our bands (woohoo!)
  • Shopping exclusive merch (I got some patches and limited edition pins)
  • Heading back to Critter Country for entry


We lined up about 30 minutes before our entry time as they would not allow earlier gathering.


Ok - this is where I started to tear up. As we rounded the corner from Critter Country to Star Wars Land, the entire world changed. It was truly as if we had left one planet and landed on another (with good air quality and excessive cleanliness). The sound effects changed to otherworldly chirping. The landscaping was sparse, but ideal. The light fixtures felt like they came from an intergalactic outpost. My cousin shouted, “Even the trash cans are cool!” And they really were.


My family attends a lot of nerdy conventions, and being led into Galaxy’s Edge with a herd of fans in their T-shirts, hairstyles and bounding outfits in tribute of the Star Wars Universe and the crowd palpable with expectation gave the same sense of oneness that I get walking into a con. These people are part of my tribe. And as crowded as it was in the beginning, we were all there to enjoy being in that place, at that time. It was amazing.
 

adventuregirl

Member
Original Poster
The remainder of the report will be bullet points so this goes out today.


  • Due to the four hour window, we had to decide our priorities. As I was not going to get a lightsaber this trip (waiting until September with my kids at WDW), we made the priorities Oga’s Cantina, Millennium Falcon and soaking in the atmosphere of the land with trinket shopping
  • We had to put in a reservation at Oga’s at the very beginning and barely got in before our 4 hour window was closed. We had time to explore the land and they texted us when our reservation was ready.

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  • If I had younger kids, the droid workshop would have been a priority. They are so cool and interact with other droids around the park. Definitely adds to the theming to have the whirling and chirping of droids being carried in boxes through the land.
  • Characters wander around rather than having shows or lines for photos. They interact with guests. My cousin got warned by a Stormtrooper that if she was harbouring droids, she would be taken. Kylo told me to step aside. Rey asked if anyone knew how to fix an x-wing. Chewie banged on trash cans.
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adventuregirl

Member
Original Poster
  • The blue milk tasted like pineapple and watermelon and was superior imo to the green milk which was more aromatic (perfume-y tasting), with citrus notes which included grapefruit. It gave it an ever so slightly bitter taste - again, imo. Chatting with other folks in the crowd, the blue milk was the winner of the two, but trying both was fun
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  • The popcorn was weird. The purple pieces tasted like Trix cereal and the red pieces tasted like cinnamon flavouring, rather than actual cinnamon. Sort of like cinnamon imperials or red hots. Not a fan.
  • We tried the sausage dog at Ronto Roasters using mobile ordering, which was instant - I liked it - crunchy slaw, spicy sausage and sauce in a wrap. We also tried both flavours of jerky (sweet and “spicy” which it was not). They were fine - tasted like jerky.

  • Oga’s cantina was so fun. We got a booth with some other folks and tried 6 different drinks.
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  • Fuzzy Tauntaun has a foam that makes your tongue and lips numb so that was fun. Too sweet otherwise. Peach vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice with tangerine, pure cane sugar and "buzzz" foam
  • Jedi Mind Trick (blue) was good. I liked the grapefruit in that one for some reason. Grapefruit and rose vodka, falernum, blue curaçao, white grape juice, lime juice and grapefruit bitter
  • Jet Juice had the best flavour to me (I’m not a fan of sweet drinks), but was boring to look at. (short glass). Bourbon, chile liqueur, acai liqueur, white grape juice and lemon juice
  • Imperial Guard Red Wine was nice, but weirdly served chilled which made it a less pleasant experience. I love red wine and I think this would be decent if not cold. A red blend.
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  • Bespin Fizz was really fun, but again, sweet. Neat if you like rum drinks. Rum, yuzu purée, pomegranate juice, white cranberry juice, and cloud swirl (red bubbling drink).
  • Carbon Freeze - non alcoholic. Powerade Lemon Lime, wild strawberry, blueberry, green apple popping pearls. Cool to look at, tastes exactly how it is described - like powerade with green apple popping pearls.
  • DJ R3X was spinning toons

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adventuregirl

Member
Original Poster
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  • Flying the “Fastest Hunk of Junk in the Galaxy” was an experience I feel I’ve waited a lifetime for. I was right pilot (I got to jump to hyperspace), my Aunt was left, my Mom and second cousin were the gunners and other cousin the engineer. It does not matter if you have no idea what you are doing (which for the most part we did not), because the ride is so fun. You are flying the freakin’ Millennium Falcon! Enjoy it. Even if you fail your mission (hey, we got one), it is a good, good day. If Rise of the Resistance is even better than this, then a day in Batuu is the destination of a lifetime.
To the Spire...
 

adventuregirl

Member
Original Poster
He is so excited. He has been checking the wait times for Smuggler's Run the last week for the time period in which we have our reservation and texting me the wait times. So I have gotten a lot of texts that say 30.....15....20.....45 :D

We heard from a cast member to wait until mid-reservation to get it. The wait time did drop to 15 minutes about 2 hours in, but we almost missed our Cantina reservation! We may have been able to get 2 rides in if we went sooner, but who knows? I can't wait to go back!! Have a great time!!
 

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