My full review:
What I Liked:
- Seeing the full size Falcon in person was awesome and it was incredibly well executed
- The chess room of the Falcon, the hallways, and effect of going into the "only" cockpit was great
- The feel of the Falcon cockpit
- The ride experience (assuming they eventually get to multiple missions rotating in)
- The pilot positions both left and right
- Ronto Roasters
- Cantina execution (see size issue below)
- Light saber building concept
- The design of the marketplace walkthrough area
- Build a droid experience/conveyor belts
What I Did Not Like:
- The land feels abandoned, bleak, and depressing
- Tying it to the new characters vs. the original trilogy that built the brand/fan interest was a mistake (note nearly all of the selfies are in front of the Falcon and X Wing from the original trilogy)
- The lack of wandering characters, droids, bounty hunters, or anybody makes it feel lifeless, static, and cold
- The decision to present the few droids and vehicles they have as rusted and abandoned behind fences
- The intentional decision to not use the iconic music to create an immediate and powerful emotional connection to the land (like Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, etc.)
- The misguided attempt at "immersion" that lead to the poor choice to exclude the music (yes, I've heard all of the convoluted explanations, just a terrible creative choice)
- The misguided decision to not rely on several entertainment cast members throughout the land, but instead assume that union food, merch, and ride operators can instantly become professional improv actors and both take on characters and tell a story (so painful, it hurts to hear them try)
- The merchandise cast member trying valiantly to "act" in the light saber experience - Good Lord Disney, pay for ONE entertainment cast member when you're selling $200 lightsabers!
- The decision to use BEIGE as your signature color throughout the entire land
- The decision to not have prominent water features, shade, greenery, or "soft" features to offset the bombed out, abandoned feel of the area
- The decision to have majority of the buildings be windowless (which feel "closed") including the cantina to ensure zero atmosphere or energy in the area
- The incredible amount of closed facades, walls, etc. that lead to nowhere - except a sea of bombed out beige
- The insanely short sighted capacity issues for the cantina, which should have been the signature experience of the land outside the attractions - and with the Lamplight Lounge experience at DCA, nobody can say they didn't understand the draw
- Setting the land in a place that nobody has ever heard of, have no emotional connection to, and a place, frankly, I have no interest in going (vs. Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, etc.)
- The decision to create the lone incredibly animated animatronic figure of....Yoda? Chewy? Boba Fett? Vader? Jabba? Admiral Ackbar? Nope....Hondo! Whoever that is.
- The Falcon gunner and engineer positions
- The queue of the Falcon (with the exception of all of the views of the Falcon) was just another pile of junk with two "Bros" talking
- The "stalls" in the marketplace seem like a good idea but don't work for the merchandise or the shopping experience
- The idea people want "Batuu" merchandise vs. Star Wars merchandise
- Made up things that aren't in the Star Wars universe like "Good moons" are whatever the heck they say to you. It's not Star Wars and nobody cares about "Batuu". I don't know, how about "May the Force be with you"!
- Blue/Green milk - a sad and forced attempt at a Butter Beer phenomenon
- A complete lack of humor, whimsy, activity, emotion, and charm throughout the land - it's like the Bizarro Harry Potter Land
What I Am Hoping For:
- ROTR is amazing on all levels and lives up its scope/expense and makes everyone forget about the land's shortcomings
- They immediately fill the land with professional actors, droids, characters, bounty hunters, etc. to give the place life, energy, and activity
Overall, after the immediate thrill of seeing the Falcon and the newness of it all, the place just made me feel depressed vs. how I feel in the rest of Disneyland or at, in my opinion, the far superior two Harry Potter lands in Florida. I love just being "there" in both of those and I'm not even a Harry Potter fan. They both are just full of magic, whimsy, music, joy, and a celebration of the characters and that universe. YMMV
