News Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Disneyland opening reports/reviews

[TP2000]

What are the odds SWGE will be slammed with locals tomorrow after folks saw today's crowds?

It didn't happen.

Three hours after the park opened and Millennium Falcon is a 60 minute wait, and the land's Virtual Queue hasn't been turned on yet today. You can wander into Star Wars Land at your leisure.

Meanwhile, in Pixar Pier, one year after it opened the Incredicoaster is a 5 minute wait right now. Oh how the mediocre have fallen!

 

[britain]

It didn't happen.

Three hours after the park opened and Millennium Falcon is a 60 minute wait, and the land's Virtual Queue hasn't been turned on yet today. You can wander into Star Wars Land at your leisure.

Meanwhile, in Pixar Pier, one year after it opened the Incredicoaster is a 5 minute wait right now. Oh how the mediocre have fallen!

Interesting - the conventional wisdom is that DL is mainly a local's park. So simple messages like "Hey, the crowds aren't showing up" should make an impact. But for folks that live out of state (like myself – I got my trip planned for end of July) they can't turn on a dime and fly to CA based on this fresh info.

 

[BlakeW39]

Just back from Disneyland, the land was really well done but I didn't spend very long there, anyway the ride was good enough but certainky nothing on the level of other Es at the park.

 

[captveg]

People are waiting to go after the summer.

I just posted to a group of friends about going this Saturday, and the first response was this:

"Such a good idea. I work Saturdays and my pass doesn't work in the summer. But... September here I come!"

I weep for him as it's gonna be a madhouse in September. Anecdotal, but still.

(For what it's worth, I haven't had a pass in several years, as I usually just go when friends who want to go are visiting me in LA)

 

[Mac Tonight]

I probably won't be going until mid-July, but just based on some of the reviews here, and knowing my own personal tastes for theme parks, and my pretty tenuous attachment to SW in general, I'm just gonna set the bar of my expectations on the ground and see what happens.

 

[britain]

People are waiting to go after the summer.

I just posted to a group of friends about going this Saturday, and the first response was this:

"Such a good idea. I work Saturdays and my pass doesn't work in the summer. But... September here I come!"

I weep for him as it's gonna be a madhouse in September. Anecdotal, but still.

(For what it's worth, I haven't had a pass in several years, as I usually just go when friends who want to go are visiting me in LA)

Somewhere, on some spreadsheet, I'm sure they did the math back at the beginning of the year, and estimated how big of an impact RotR not opening this summer would be.

It's very possible they expected this. But they would never in a million years tip their hand and ACT like they expected this. They've got to act like it's all done, grand opening, etc.

Better to have a weak summer because those in-the-know would prefer to wait until the fall than to have a disastrous summer because you've told everybody to come in the fall.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

They're Saturday matinee space popcorn movies for young boys.



I'm going to be a bit controversial here. Obviously, riding the Millennium Falcon in a non-pilot role is pretty lame. It was a massive disappointment after that awful single rider line that consists of a cramped bare hallway with stairs and an equal or longer wait than the regular line.

But if you decide to boldly go into the more elaborate stand-by line as a lonely pathetic single rider like myself (Or someone with, you know, friends or family) and score the pilot position alongside another lonely cute single riding girl who also refused to repeat the horrible experience of the single rider line but perhaps was taking way too many photos, the experience becomes one of the best attractions at the entire DLR. What I'm getting at is the ride as pilot is awesome.

The standard waiting line is fairly lame, although the single rider line takes the taco as one of the worst lines ever in Disney. I understand that grouping singles with parties is perhaps essential to filling all the seats, but I'll never wait in that line again. They could have done something, anything but wires in an awkwardly cramped hallway to keep singles from going bonkos. It's bad enough I was surrounded by boring monotone millennials going on about their ugly 80 dollar puke green jackets.

The standby line does have a good room with the Hondo robot and a hilariously crude "window" screen behind him that looked on par with the old Star Tours screen. That was good. I will say too that I liked Hondo the character a lot. It was such a relief that Ray, Flynn and all those other boring characters I don't care about weren't in this ride.

The holding room of the ship certainly tested my willpower. Kids and dorks flicking the loud switches loudly, ugh. You know, the switches that do absolutely nothing and should be removed. It's awkward and crowded. I just kinda stared at those flexible foil dryer vents because that was all I could see with all the people crowded in there.

Yes, the ride looks kinda Xbox-ish and it's just sort of a loud disaster. It really is a video game as a ride. But it's just so darn fun to control the ship. I don't like video games, I wasn't really feeling the land and I didn't like the Falcon as engineer the first time. That being said, being pilot elevates the whole thing to E Ticket instant classic Stacey must-do status.

I give the pilot experience 5 Haunted Mansion benches out of 5.

 

[RobWDW1971]

For my part, when GE has look-alike Han, Luke and Leia actors in it, I'll pay it a visit. Otherwise, hard pass.

Get ready for a really hard pass. There was a Rey that walked through the land that everyone ignored and two stormtroopers with a very unimpressive Kylo Ren (poor man's Darth Vader). They have tried to make up for the lack of professional actors/entertainers by having the F&B and merch cast members try their hand at "improv" and being "in character". Yes, it is as painful as you imagine with union merch employees being forced to do it. This can be easily fixed with a commitment to adding characters, aliens, bounty hunters, droids, etc. There is certainly plenty of room for them.

 

[Stripes]

It has been incredible today. Truly. We smartly decided to go on the attractions outside of Galaxy’s Edge when there was literally zero wait and the park was virtually empty. We’re in Boarding Group 21 to get back into the land. We’ve covered so many attractions, it’s been crazy. The crowds are smaller than I’ve seen them in a long time.

Pic of DL President we took as we were passing by (guy in the suit):
View attachment 383690

We are just driving home now after a simply amazing little trip. My thoughts below:

The land is incredible. By far the most immersive area of any theme park I’ve ever been to (All U.S. Disney and Universal parks).
Every detail is impeccable.
A+++
The queue theming for Smugglers Run is similarly incredible. One of my favorite aspects of the queue is how the floor following the preshows actually feels hollow just like an actual jet bridge. It’s these little details that nobody would’ve thought of that really sell the experience. Onto the ride. We rode twice. All of us had a great time the first time. Though the forces feel *just like* a toned down Star Tours, the interactivity really added to the experience. The on-board interaction we had in the cockpit was truly special. The interactivity really makes this ride...until it doesn’t. In terms of forces on the ride, the left-right pilot has the most control. The up-down pilot does as well but much less on the whole. On the first ride we had a very mellow left pilot who was quite conservative moving left and right (probably had been on the ride a few times already) All of us had a blast. On our second ride, the left pilot jerked the plane left and right constantly. Those in our group all needed to take it easy and catch our breath afterwards due to motion sickness on the ride. If you get motion sickness on Star Tours, I would definitely recommend taking some Dramamine or something like that beforehand. To Disney: I would recommend tuning down the left-right forces on the ride.

I will also say, the land does feel lacking in terms of rides at the moment. Though easily an E-ticket simulator, it is still very much a simulator that feels virtually identical to Star Tours in terms of forces. With no other rides to speak of at the moment, from an attractions perspective, the land does leave some to be desired. There’s a reason this land was built with 2 attractions in mind. Both are needed. At the least, the Millennium Falcon ride is not enough. When ROTR opens, I have no doubt this hole will be filled.

To those that are complaining about “grayness”, I have one thing to say: I would see an eye doctor if I were you.

 

[mickEblu]

We are just driving home now after a simply amazing little trip. My thoughts below:

The land is incredible. By far the most immersive area of any theme park I’ve ever been to (All U.S. Disney and Universal parks).
Every detail is impeccable.
A+++
The queue theming for Smugglers Run is similarly incredible. One of my favorite aspects of the queue is how the floor following the preshows actually feels hollow just like an actual jet bridge. It’s these little details that nobody would’ve thought of that really sell the experience. Onto the ride. We rode twice. All of us had a great time the first time. Though the forces feel *just like* a toned down Star Tours, the interactivity really added to the experience. The on-board interaction we had in the cockpit was truly special. The interactivity really makes this ride...until it doesn’t. In terms of forces on the ride, the left-right pilot has the most control. The up-down pilot does as well but much less on the whole. On the first ride we had a very mellow left pilot who was quite conservative moving left and right (probably had been on the ride a few times already) All of us had a blast. On our second ride, the left pilot jerked the plane left and right constantly. Those in our group all needed to take it easy and catch our breath afterwards due to motion sickness on the ride. If you get motion sickness on Star Tours, I would definitely recommend taking some Dramamine or something like that beforehand. To Disney: I would recommend tuning down the left-right forces on the ride.

I will also say, the land does feel lacking in terms of rides at the moment. Though easily an E-ticket simulator, it is still very much a simulator that feels virtually identical to Star Tours in terms of forces. With no other rides to speak of at the moment, from an attractions perspective, the land does leave some to be desired. There’s a reason this land was built with 2 attractions in mind. Both are needed. At the least, the Millennium Falcon ride is not enough. When ROTR opens, I have no doubt this hole will be filled.

To those that are complaining about “grayness”, I have one thing to say: I would see an eye doctor if I were you.

I forgot about the “hollow” floor. That was a cool detail that I pointed out to my bro in law.

Turn down the left-right forces? Please no. If anything I need them to turn it up. I will say I had a blast as the left pilot.

 

[Stripes]

Turn down the left-right forces? Please no. If anything I need them to turn it up. I will say I had a blast as the left pilot.

I can understand that. I suppose I was speaking from the perspective of someone that tends to get motion sickness on simulators. We have to take Dramamine before riding Star Tours, for instance. We hadn’t done so that day.

 

[ThemeParkTraveller]

The land is incredible. By far the most immersive area of any theme park I’ve ever been to (All U.S. Disney and Universal parks).
Every detail is impeccable.
A+++

How would you compare it to Diagon Alley/Hogsmeade or Pandora in that regard?

 

[Stripes]

How would you compare it to Diagon Alley/Hogsmeade or Pandora in that regard?

All 3 of them fall short of the bar set by Galaxy’s Edge in terms of immersion.

If I had to rank them in terms of this aspect:
1. Galaxy’s Edge
2. Diagon Alley
3. Pandora (though there are some aspects where Pandora is better than Diagon, I have to give Diagon the edge)
4. Hogsmeade

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It's definitely NOT better than Avatar or the HP lands. That being said, Smuggler Run pilot position does make you feel more like you're partaking in the universe than the HP rides and I found it more fun.

Pandora is more colorful and downright inspiring with Horner music being piped in on the muzak. The Potter worlds are near-perfect in execution excepting the Gringot ride, which is a disaster of MF Engineer position proportions.

It's probably a case where either way, you win, but Galaxy Edge feels lacking in content and kinda "dead" in many areas.

 

[drod1985]

Looking forward to reading more opening reports and reviews.*

*From people who've actually been to Galaxy's Edge.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Doc Endor's is terribly cramped with a particularly poorly-designed entrance, but in thay entryway, I spotted one of several cool references to the prequels. Please excuse the nerd in this photo, I didn't have the patience to take another and I'm sure there are 850 8K photos and videos already on the internet.

 

[The_Mesh_Hatter]

... it also has one of the best Animatronics not found in an attraction, of the eponymous store operator. You can really take in all the detail. The movements of his fingers and lips something you’d never notice if they were on an attraction. Only criticism is the placement: you have to be tall and find a small window between all the clutter on his desk to get a good look at the figure.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It also has the head of the big cat Padme kicked in Episode II.

Of course, my biggest thrill was not seeing the spaceship or any of that stuff, but rather walking in George's footsteps. Despite the Disneyness of everything and lack of classic Lucas era characters and designs, you can still feel his presence.

 

[drod1985]

I don't know why I'm surprised. According to Blog Mickey in-app purchases to expand the GE datapad are coming.

Maybe, just maybe, you can buy these with the in-game credits and not money?

 

[DLR>WDW]

This is honestly really sad to look at. Clearly something is wrong here and Disney needs to fix it.