Trip Report Finally Made it to Wally World: A Van Griswold Vacation Grand Finale at Galaxy's Edge

Hello Friends!

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Ali (rhymes with Sally) and I'm married to a wonderful man who lets me choose our vacation destinations, and understands that it will be Disney World every other year until Rapture.

This year, I found myself in a Disney park for the second year in a row!

Who: Me, that wonderful man I told you about, and our two kids.
What: an 11 day road trip/National Parks tour/Disneyland vacation of a lifetime! ☺
When: June 9th - 19th

We flew from Chicago to Phoenix and hit the road in a rented minivan.
I'll spare you the details of the 8 pre-Disney days, but here's the highlight reel:

It was an amazing adventure! And after all that, I got to go to Disneyland?!?!

Up next: 2 days in Disneyland/DCA

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Neat report so far. We just got back from a mini-road trip in California with Disneyland included too. We were at SWGE on the 17th for our reservation day.

 

[MerMom1981]

We took a two week trip last year visiting many of the national parks, including a few in your photos. Might be the one thing we love as much as Disney! Also love reading about your DL trip, getting me hyped for my first trip in a few months!

We've been alternating Disney World and National Parks the past few years. It was a fun bonus to add Disneyland to a National Parks year!
Thanks for reading!

 

[MerMom1981]

Neat report so far. We just got back from a mini-road trip in California with Disneyland included too. We were at SWGE on the 17th for our reservation day.

We JUST missed each other!
Looking forward to your SW report as well!

 

[MerMom1981]

Tuesday June 18th continued:

When I left you, we were waiting to board Smugglers Run...

Gwen and I were to be pilots

The boys were gunners

They called groups by color and collected the assignment cards before we stepped through to the loading area.
(I really don't know how people are stealing these AND boarding the ride. It would be so obvious. Maybe people have no shame)

No photos were allowed past that door.

The cockpit was just as detailed and awesome as the rest of it, and everyone gasped when we made the jump to hyperspace.

Beyond that, it was like a suped up Star Tours. I even got a motion simulator headache like I do from Star Tours. I had to look away from the screen for the last part of the ride. ☹
It was definitely a fun ride and worth the experience, it was just a rough moron simulator FOR ME. I'm fine on Flight of Passage and of course on Soarin', but I had to be cautious with my ride choices the rest of the day.
Jim and the kids were all find and loved it.

Weird space fossils in the exit corridor

A belated Father's Day photo

We still had over an hour before we could expect a text about the cantina, so we wandered around a bit

When I found a bathroom (not an easy task) I knew I had to take a picture for @Tuvalu

I was very impressed with the material selections. The oversized hex tile with a weathered concrete look felt totally appropriate for the land.

Loved the pipe fitting style faucet, but watch yourself. The angle at the front of the sink basin makes it very easy to soak yourself while washing your hands.

We didn't plan on dropping $$$$ on droids or lightsabers, so we found ourselves without anything else to do in Galaxy's Edge.

We confirmed that we would be able to re-enter the land within our time frame, and headed towards Pirates which had a 5 minute wait listed on the app.

While I preferred the DL version of the ride, I missed the tropical atmosphere of Adventureland. The swampy bayou vibe just didn't do it for me.

Before heading back to SWGE, Jim very wisely suggested we grab FP's for Thunder Mountain. Smart man

 

[youngdeb]

I'm the same. I can ride FOP and Soarin' with no problems, but Star Tours gets me all kinds of nauseous. I can't wait to ride Smugglers Run but I'm thinking that some sort of anti-nauseant will be necessary that day.

 

[MerMom1981]

I'm the same. I can ride FOP and Soarin' with no problems, but Star Tours gets me all kinds of nauseous. I can't wait to ride Smugglers Run but I'm thinking that some sort of anti-nauseant will be necessary that day.

Yes. Be prepared! It would be a shame to miss out on the experience

 

[MerMom1981]

Tuesday June 18th continued:

Hopeful that we would soon receive a text to enter the cantina queue, we headed back to Galaxy's Edge.

We wandered around some shops in the meantime

An enormous chandelier for @Doc Disney

Just when I was about to give up on the "virtual queue" we finally got the text!

I was not enthusiastic about our further wait, but it was so brief, we didn't even have time to look at the menu before we were led inside!
I was fully prepared to have to stand at a small table, but we were shown to a booth.

The booth was large enough that we shared it with another family of four, and there was room to spare.

They warned us of slow service, and that the drinks were too sweet to finish

As we had already tried the frozen blue milk, we heeded our tablemate's warning and decided not to order anything.
Regardless, they really got this place right. It was easy to forget that I was in Disneyland.

We didn't love the DJ. Jim was hoping to see the original cantina band

With that, we left the cantina, and Galaxy's Edge.
We had the rest of the park yet to explore!