Galaxies Edge has grown on me… a little bit. I was probably a bit too harsh on the land initially when it opened in regards to the aesthetics. I think the greenery is sufficient in most parts of the land. I’m guessing the trees continuing to mature has something to do with that. I do wish the vines that we see on the spires behind the Falcon in the concept art made the cut. Im also not sure it’s as “beige” as I made it out to be as I do see notes of yellow and white accents here and there.
I still think it desperately needs kinetic energy and would love to see even just one water feature.
I still think it's the ambient sounds that are a problem. It's very quiet. There is no Star Wars soundtrack playing. You do hear ships taking off and landing. I don't hear droids beeping. They don't seem to move very often. I did see the Sprite droid turn its head and beep once. Maybe it's a blink and you miss it thing?
I find Galaxy's Edge the land I tend to hang out the most in on my last few trips. I've never had an issue with the concept of the land, but more the execution of it. I agree that it can use more kinetic energy as well as a lot of the other things they had presented to us before the land opened. More elaborate stage shows that aren't just Kylo Ren coming out and asking if people know where the resistance is. More face characters walking around and they don't even have to be familiar ones. Just random aliens that make the place look like it's in the Star Wars universe (not just Kyle from Tustin or the purple-haired lady).
What about the bounty hunters and the consequences for crashing the Falcon? Yes, droids would be nice, but I can understand the struggle there.
R2 was out on one of my trips before the pandemic hit. Granted R2 is famous, but there had to be a handler there because people suck and kids would probably be touching it, kicking it, knocking it over, etc. So as much as free roaming droids would be cool, this is probably all we can get and probably won't happen again until the pandemic is over. I think a missed opportunity would have been to put droids on a track on the overhead bridges and walkways. Then you'd have the kinetic movement, but not the problem of people messing with them. As a side note, on my last trip, there was a CM sitting at a table playing some Star Wars card game (Sabacc?) with some guests. That was kinda cool.
By the way, you can make the static droids around the land move by hacking into them with the Play Disney app. It's not the same, but it's something. As a segue, I really enjoy the Play Disney app and the interaction it has with the land, but hate that the credits are useless. If they made them worth something (like free fastpasses or discounts on merch) then that would be nice. I know someone mentioned that they should configure the land (with lights and/or flags or something) at the end of the night to commemorate the winning side for that day.
Music. Such a highly debated topic. It's the difference between making the land feel authentic and the tradition of music being played in all the rest of the park(s). I know I'm in the minority, but I like the lack of music. You do get plenty of it on the attractions. Most people don't realize, but Batuu has a radio station. I know of at least two spots where you can hear it. The first is in the speeder garage:
The second is slightly west of the garage coming from here:
I don't recall anywhere else. Of course you hear the loud booming of the music from the Cantina when you walk near that. I also think the wildlife sounds from the Resistance side are cool.
I know that a lot of people would prefer GE was an already known land, but I like the idea of a new locale to explore. Would a different era had been better? Maybe, maybe not. I think execution of the land and adding the things they didn't add would have been good enough to suffice not being in the OT or PT eras. Just my opinion.