It was 5:00am on Saturday, June 8, 2019 – and my alarm was going off. Yes, on a Saturday. But it was for a good reason: we had reservations to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland!
Reservations Required
As you may or may not know, although Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge officially opened at Disneyland on May 31, reservations would be required to visit through June 23. There were two ways to secure a reservation for a four-hour timeslot: (1) Book a room at one of the three Disneyland property hotels (which started at $400 when I looked into it) or (2) Get a free one when reservations went live online on May 2. We went with the latter and scored an 8am-12pm timeslot with the help of our friend @CorgiKohmander.
We had purposely chosen the weekend after opening weekend, mainly to avoid what we thought would be crazy crowds, but also to give Disneyland time to work out any initial kinks and to give ourselves time to see what the best strategy was based on others’ experiences. This turned out to be a good plan.
Arrival and Check-In
You could check in for your reservation as early as 2 hours prior to your reservation time. This meant that we could check in as early as 6:00am. We made the 10 minute or so drive from our house and arrived at the Mickey and Friends parking structure right at 5:30am. By the time we parked, went through security, took the tram over, and met up with Jason (“Corgi”) and Diana, it was about 5:50am.
There were about four lines labeled “Special Event Tickets.” Right at 6:00am, they started opening up the gates. We had originally been about 20 people back. But there was some sort of error with Jason and Diana’s tickets that required a supervisor, as they had been marked as used for some reason. I gave them the tickets myself, so I knew this was not the case. By the time the problem was resolved and we were let in, a crowd of a couple hundred had already gathered in the temporary holding area. So much for our early advantage.
After a few minutes, we were walked over to Launch Bay for check-in, which went quickly and smoothly. The reservation holder, Corgi, showed the QR code and his ID, and everyone else showed their IDs as well. Here, we were given wristbands that said our timeslot on them. Upon exiting, cast members scanned the QR code on the wristbands.
The Long Wait
After checking in, went to the next holding area, which was over by Galactic Grill, starting at the Monorail track. Galactic Grill was in fact open for breakfast, but we chose to save our stomachs for Batuu food. We were held there until about 6:45am, at which time we were walked over by Red Rose Taverne and held behind a gate just past the restrooms there. That’s where we waited for the next hour or so before they opened up the gate.
Note that since this was a Magic Morning hour, this area of the park actually started operating at 7am. Typically, only hotel guests would be eligible to take advantage of this privilege. However, we were told that we could choose to take part and ride the rides while we waited. We did not, choosing instead to keep our place in line.
Finally, the gate opened up and we were walked to the Frontierland entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. For those unaware, there are three entrances: one is right past the gates we were held at and referred to as the Fantasyland entrance, the second is the one we were led to, closer to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the third is the Critter Country entrance, right next to Hungry Bear Restaurant.
Along the way, we were told to hold up our wrists so that they could see our wristbands. Just before going under the final bridge before Star Wars Land, there were several Cast Members scanning the QR code. Diana got through this checkpoint much quicker than the rest of us. I motioned for her to go ahead and go on, but she waited for us instead. By the time the rest of us got through about 30-45 seconds later, the crowd waiting up ahead had doubled the size it was when Diana had gotten through. Foiled again!
Getting In
Having done our research ahead of time, we knew that if you wanted to go to Oga’s Cantina, that was the first place you should head to, unless you want to build a lightsaber for $200 at Savi’s Workshop (we did not). It seems that those two places are the most in demand and can fill up within minutes of the Land opening. Also according to that research, if you wanted to go to Oga’s Cantina, you should follow a cast member holding an orange and red flag. Good thing I had done that research, because I never actually heard that instruction given!
Anyway, so just a couple short minutes later, we were walking into the park, where residents of Batuu were standing along the sides of the pathway, greeting us saying “Bright suns!” and giving high fives. It was reminiscent of getting into Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con first thing in the morning! So we followed the line of people to the Cantina, as cast members counted us. We were 60.
Oga’s Cantina
According to my research, once the Cantina reached capacity (around 200), those still waiting in line would give their phone number and would be sent a text when it was their turn. However, we were close enough in line that we did not have to worry about this waiting period, and were taken straight to a table when we got to the check-in desk. Although there were booths, these were already full. Instead, we were taken to a rectangular standing height table, with no chairs. Which was fine with us, as we got a nice view of the bar and everything going on, rather than tucked away from all the action.
We each got a drink (all non-alcoholic), and ordered a few of the food items to share. The food was brought out first, within just a couple of minutes, followed by the drinks just a couple of minutes later, along with the check. I was surprised as how quick the service was, based on all the complaints I’d read about how slow they were at the Cantina. Maybe because it was first thing in the morning and they hadn’t gotten a chance to get backed up yet. We were probably only there for about 30 minutes tops. They do try to make use of all available space. About a minute before we left, two people were “seated” at the end of the table we were occupying.
I was a little skeptical, but decided to try the Moogan Tea, which is Gold Peak® unsweetened tea, chocolate milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. I actually liked it. It was kind of like a chai tea. Corgi and Josh both got the Blue Bantha, which is Blue Milk served chilled with Bantha-inspired vanilla-butter sugar cookie on top. I had heard that the blue milk in the Cantina was different than the blue milk sold at the Milk Stand outside, so we would need to try both. I don’t think any of us liked the Blue Milk here very much. Diana pointed out that it tasted like medicine. It did have that chalky texture to it, and kind of tasted like Mylanta. Josh and I only finished about half of ours. The cookie was good though! Kind of reminded me of the Little Debbie Star Crunch cookie.
As for food, we tried the Batuu Bits, Rising Moons Overnight Oats, and Mustafarian Lava Roll. We all agreed that the Lava Roll was the best of the three. The Batuu Bits was an odd assortment of what seemed like freeze-dried items, or “Astronaut food.” It was a mix of sweet, spicy, and salty. Some of it was okay, but some of it was just plain gross. Would not get this again. The Oats were pretty good, a mixture of fruit and yogurt, while the Lava Roll was like a cinnamon roll, except with raspberry icing and Oreo cookie bits.
Exploring Star Wars Land
Upon exiting, we weren’t sure what to do next. The wait time for the ride, Smuggler’s Run, was posted as 35 minutes, which isn’t very long in the grand scheme of things, but having done our research we knew that it would go drop to a much lower wait time later on in the reservation, so we decided to come back to the ride later.
In the meantime, we tried out the interactive Play Disney Parks app and explored the land, taking “jobs” — which mostly consisted of scanning crates, and playing in-app mini-games. We also did some “hacking.” Based on what jobs you take, you can earn “credits” toward the Resistance, the First Order, or Scoundrel.
We explored the various shops, such as Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities and the Droid Depot. It should be noted that although we were able to walk right into Dok-Ondar’s, later on in our reservation, after the next wave of reservation-holders came in at 11:00am, there was a line to get in.
Also noteworthy is that there is a separate line to build a droid than to just go into the shop, where you are still able to see those who are building droids. This is in contrast to Savi’s Workshop, where you build a lightsaber for $200, but only the person building the lightsaber and one guest may enter.
Blue Milk vs. Green Milk
Of course, we had to stop by the Milk Stand to try both the Blue Milk and the Green Milk. Both are simply described at the Milk Stand as: “Plant-based blend of Coconut and Rice milks.” Yes, you can do mobile order for the Milk Stand, but there was literally no one in line at this point, so we just walked up, ordered, and got it immediately.
As mentioned above, the Blue Milk from the Milk Stand is different from the Blue Milk at Oga’s Cantina. The Milk Stand’s Blue Milk has more of a slushy consistency, while the Blue Bantha from Oga’s Cantina is just liquid. Oddly, no straws were provided at the Milk Stand for the Blue Milk and Green Milk, although we had been given straws in our drinks at Oga’s. This made the “milks” difficult to drink. Especially the Green Milk, as it was more frozen than the Blue Milk.
We all agreed that the Blue Milk from the Milk Stand was better than the Blue Milk from Oga’s Cantina. I guess the slushy consistency took away that chalky taste we had gotten before. Now it had more of a fruity taste. But I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had a straw to drink it with. Drinking a slushy without a straw is awkward.
We also all agreed that we preferred the Blue Milk to the Green Milk. My first thought when I took a sip of the Green Milk was that it tasted “flowery.” As in, I felt like I was drinking a flower. Which is not something that I want to be drinking. Indeed, later on, a cast member commented that the Green Milk had too much of a “natural” taste for her. I personally would not try the Green Milk again.
We finally got to the point where we drank enough of each to be able to mix them. It was a bit of a struggle, as none of us were really that fond of either of the drinks. It was also a difficult task to mix them because, as previously mentioned, no straws. Additionally, by this time, the Green Milk had congealed to a gross-looking consistency. In any case, the mix definitely tasted better than the Green Milk. I’m not sure if I preferred the mix or the Blue Milk though.
Overall, I didn’t really like either one, but I might be willing to try Blue Milk again if I had a straw.
Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
A little after 10am, we realized we should probably go ahead and ride the ride before the 11am-3pm time slot came in and caused the wait time to go up. At this point, it was only a 15 minute wait.
On the Play Disney Parks app, there is a job you can take that requires you to scan crates and observe features of the Millennium Falcon while in line. We were going through the line so quickly that we didn’t really have time to complete all the tasks!
One thing we noticed while going through the line was that people have already begun to throw coins onto the platform of the structure in the middle of the line for some reason.
Once you get through the general queue, you go into a holding area, after which you are let into another holding area, where the animatronic Hondo talks to you. After he finishes his spiel, you go down a small hallway, at the end of which you are given one of three job assignments: Pilot, Gunner, or Engineer, of which there are two each. I had read that these would be given out randomly. However, there were two men in front of us who had apparently already been on the ride who knew that the jobs were given out in order — 2 Pilots, 2 Gunners, 2 Engineers — as they strategically let people in front of them so that they would both be given the Pilot position. That made Corgi and Diana Gunners, while Josh and I were Engineers.
Your job assignment has a color group on it. Several color groups are then let into the next holding area at the same time while they wait to actually go on the ride. This area is the room where you feel like you’re wandering around inside the Millennium Falcon, and where the iconic chess board is located. However, the wait in here is very short, and you have to be quick/aggressive/lucky to get in and get your photo with the chess set. Alas, we were unable to do so either of the two times we rode the ride, as our group color was called before we got the chance.
When your group is called, you’re then taken into one more holding area, where there’s a video of Hondo explaining what’s going on. Once that finishes, the cockpit doors open and you go inside.
The cockpit of the ride is three rows of two, in the same order: Pilots, Gunners, Engineers. The left Pilot controls the left and right motion, while the right Pilot controls the up and down motion, and also is in control of the Hyperdrive. The Gunners can choose between manual or automatic aiming. The Engineers hit whatever buttons light up in order to “repair” the ship, and also are in control of the harpoons.
Being an Engineer meant sitting at the very back of the cockpit. Although your seat faces forward, the buttons you have to press are to the side of you. I’ll admit, the first time riding, I wasn’t really sure what was going on, not only because I was at the back, which made it harder for short me to see, but also because I had to pay attention to the flashing buttons, so that distracted me from looking ahead to see what was on screen.
After riding it once, the wait time was still posted as 15 minutes, so we decided to ride it again before the 11am people showed up. However, this time we took the time to go into the ground area at the back of the Millennium Falcon that is apart from the line, but which you can’t access unless you get into the line. This is where there are several crates to scan. It took up a good amount of time, and I had to urge the others along, as 11:00am was quickly approaching. Diana had a headache, so she decided to sit this one out.
When we went through the queue, it was virtually a walk-on at this point, giving us even less time to get through the tasks of the job on the app.
Once we got to the job assignments for the ride, they were again handed out in the same order. However, there were only 5 people in our group rather than 6. Since Josh and I were standing at the front of the next group, we were given the Pilot jobs, while Corgi and one other person were Gunners, and the fifth person was an Engineer. So we only had one Engineer. But Corgi had already been a Gunner, so Josh offered to switch with him.
I ended up sitting on the left, so I controlled the left an right movements, while Corgi piloted us up and down. Being Pilot was fun, as I was able to actually see what was going on this time! I thought we worked together piloting pretty well, but we still ended up getting less points than before. I’m not sure if that’s because we only had one Engineer this time. Oh, and it should be noted that prior to takeoff, Hondo made a comment about there being only one Engineer, and said something like he would try to help as much as he could.
Josh had wanted to choose manual controls for his Gunner position, but he accidentally chose automatic. We’ll just have to try again another time!
On the app, you’re supposed to get whatever credits you earned while on the ride. Although Corgi received credits both times we rode, neither Josh or I received any credits for some reason. We’re not sure why, since we had all features enabled. And by the way, if you do choose to use the app, it’s a huge drain on your battery, so make sure you come prepared with a high capacity portable charger! Being Comic-Con veterans, we were all prepared.
Docking Bay 7
It was shortly after 11am when we exited the ride, and now that the 11am-3pm time slot holders had been let in, we could see how much more crowded it was than before.
At this point, we were all pretty hungry, considering we hadn’t had anything to eat besides the little bit of food we had shared at Oga’s Cantina earlier. So we headed over to Docking Bay 7, which is a counter serve restaurant. This means that you place your order, pick it up at the counter, then go find a place to sit down and eat. Yes, you can place a mobile order, but the line was pretty short, and we didn’t know what we wanted to order yet anyway, so it helped to be able to see the menu and gave us a couple minutes to decide.
Josh and I ordered the Fried Endorian Tip Yip, a Batuu-bon, Moof Juice, and a Coke. We both really liked the Fried Endorian Tip Yip, which was crispy chicken that came with roasted vegetable potato mash in an herb gravy. There was some sort of seasoning to it that we couldn’t quite identify. The Batuu-bon was a delicious treat made of chocolate cake, white chocolate mousse, and coffee custard, but even though it has coffee in it, and Josh hates coffee, apparently it wasn’t enough to bother him, as both Josh and I liked it! There are plenty more drinks I need to try in Batuu, but so far Moof Juice (made of Simply Fruit Punch®, Simply Orange® with Pineapple and Chipotle-Pineapple) is my favorite! Josh isn’t really into fruity flavored drinks, so he didn’t have any interest in trying it, so he just got a Coke. But even the Coke has a special themed cup that it comes in!
Ronto Roasters
Before leaving Docking Bay 7, we put in our mobile orders for Ronto Roasters. We tried a Ronto Wrap (roasted pork, grilled pork sausage, peppercorn sauce, tangy slaw, wrapped in pita) and were able to customize it to remove the slaw. It was only a few minutes wait for them to prepare it. This was more of a standing area, but it had really cool theming.
The Ronto Wrap was basically a hot dog but wrapped with pork and in a huge pita instead of a hot dog bun. I thought it was pretty good, but Josh didn’t really like it, and I struggled to finish it by myself, as it was quite large. Corgi let us try some of the Nuna Turkey Jerky that he had ordered. None of us really liked the jerky very much though, as it was difficult to chew.
Time’s Up!
Our reservation end time of 12pm came as we were finishing up eating at Ronto Roasters. We looked around us and everyone had green wristbands! We didn’t see anyone with red wristbands, which would indicate that they were also in the 8am-12pm time slot. It didn’t really seem like anyone was checking wristbands, though.
We meandered our way through the marketplace, which we hadn’t made our way over to yet. This is where the Creature Stall was located, with the sleeping Loth-cat (though they were sold out of the Loth-cat toys), as well as Kat Saka’s Kettle (though we didn’t try the popcorn there this visit).
We then made our way toward the Critter Country exit, passing the not-yet-open Rise of the Resistance ride. It was much emptier on this side of the Land, as there wasn’t much going on over there, other than a couple of ships.
As we approached the exit, several cast members bid us farewell, saying, ” ‘Til the spires!”
Then we passed under the railroad bridge and found ourselves back at familiar Disneyland surroundings. Our time in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge had come to an end.
Although some people have multiple reservations, this was our only reservation, so we won’t be back until reservations are no longer be required. That starts on June 24. Only time will tell how crazy it will be starting then, but we suspect that it will be a very long time before we’ll be able to enjoy the land being as empty as it was during our reservation — if ever. We are Disneyland annual passholders, so we will be back at some point. We’ll be keeping an eye out to see how things pan out once the floodgates open. And then again when Rise of the Resistance eventually opens (which is supposed to be sometime this year). We shall see…
Recommended Plan of Action (if you have a reservation)
- Savi’s Workshop OR Oga’s Cantina. Check in and get in line early prior to your time slot start time if you want to do either of these. You’ll probably only be able to do one, not both.
- Build a Droid. (We didn’t do this, but saw that the line got long quickly, so if you want to do this, plan to do so early.)
- Explore/Shop/Eat. If eating, make use of Mobile Order on the Disneyland app.
- Wait for the line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run to go down to 15-20 minutes. If it doesn’t go down that low, at least make sure to get in line before the next time slot comes in, because the wait time will go up then. (Time slots are: 8am-12pm, 11am-3pm, 2pm-6pm, 5pm-9pm, 8pm-12am.)
- Explore/Shop/Eat some more.
Of course, this strategy will likely change once the reservation period is over.
