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Star Wars Galaxy's Edge (Disney) - who's in?


Lace Mindu
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Been to the one at Disneyland. It was cool but underwhelming. There's only one ride, the Falcon one, and then just a bunch of shops and restaurants. So your experience of "living in the SW universe" is really, hey we are selling blue milk here, fork over $8 for a cup and then you can pretend you're Luke.

 

Smuggler's Run (the Falcon ride) is fun if you're with the right group. The ride requires active participation - two pilots, two gunners and two engineers. You are at the controls and must follow directions. If not the mission goes awry. If you're with a group of friends or people who understand how these things work, it will be fun. But more times than not, you'll be with people who don't know how to do it and the ride doesn't work.

 

My first time getting on, there were two older ladies in the group who didn't know what the ride entailed. And they were put in the pilots' seats. During the ride the voice is telling them to pull the lever for lightspeed or hit the flashing light, turn here, fly high over there, but they weren't doing any of it. So we just kept crashing and not really moving.

 

The next time I got on, there was a father with his two young kids, looked between 4-6 years old, in the group. One kid was a pilot and the other a gunner. So again, not flying anywhere and now we are not shooting at any of the targets because the kids are too young to really be able to control the thing right and are too busy checking out the screen as it it were a movie and not a ride.

 

There is another ride that is opening next year. Not sure what that will be. But until then, I give this new land a C+.

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I took the fam to Disneyland in July. Great fun, very, very immersive. But, as mentioned, once you are done gawking (and you will gawk for awhile) there is really only the Falcon ride. Again, very, very immersive. My group was my family so we rocked it. I believe there is another similiar ride being stood upo where you get to be a bad guy and fly a TIE Fighter. Anyway, recommended.

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No Star Tours? Also, I thought Space Mountain was redesigned as a Star Wars ride. Or is that Disney World I am thinking of?

Star Tours is still there (very cool ride) but it is at its same location and is not in GE. Also, they indeed retro fitted Space Mountan to be Star Wars themed. It's now called HyperSpace Mountain and it also remains in its old location.

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HyperSpace Mountain is a seasonal thing, at least it would appear so. They seem to bring it out around May the 4th for a bit and or around a release of a Star Wars film. It is just an overlay attraction like Nightmare Before Christmas is on top of the Haunted Mansion for the winter holiday season.

 

Star Tours is still in Tomorrowland, but there are rumors that it will eventually close. Whether it is to reopen in Galaxys Edge or what, no rumor I have read has guessed at. Along those lines, Disney could undress Star Wars from the Star Tours building and redress the ride building as a more Mission to Mars or actual space ride... similar to the one they had at Epcot.

 

Basically, with Galaxys Edge opening no one is quite sure what is gonna happen to Tomorrowland because even the Star Wars presence in the Innovations Building appears to be getting the plug pulled. On that, there are rumors or maybe more accurately hopes in the Disney community that eventually the Tron ride from Shanghai and Japan gets brought over to Tomorrowland during an entire land revamp.

 

Suggestions regarding a Tomorrowland revamp has it that Autopia gets gutted and Innovations gets demoed to accommodate the Tron coaster. However all of that more advanced type of reworking for Tomorrowland probably couldnt even occur, if planned, for another six or ten years. Disney has projects like Marvel Land and Toon Town scheduled into 2022, if I recall right. Then it appears Beauty and the Beast and or Frozen might be getting squeezed into a slight Fantasy Land extension.

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The Disneyland app, at least available for iPhones, is pretty neat to look thru in a nostalgic/bored sense even if you are not going to visit the park anytime soon. The app has an interactive map, filters, restaurant menus, even some mini trivia games (although I think many are designed to interact with locations at the park).

 

For anyone going to the park anytime soon, I cannot recommend the app enough.

 

You can mobile order your food from the app, which cuts wait time down. You can put in an order while not even at that specific location in the park then walk there, which is handy if youre at a show or finishing a ride and then want something. Also dining reservations can be made thru the app prior to you even being at the park. I would suggest getting a dining reservation ASAP, if you want to dine at any of the restaurants that take reservations... some places even only take reservations and reservations can fill months in advance (there are openings for some in October still, I looked).

 

The app also manages your Max Pass purchase, which is like ten bucks more (per person), and that for me is worth it. The Max Pass gives you access to all the Disney photographers photos right thru your phone and allows you to select fast passes for rides without needing to be at the ride. Using the fast pass system makes it so great to plan a path around the park in conjunction with your fast pass times, such a wonderful convenience.

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As for Star Tours not being a part of Galaxys Edge, I believe it will stay in Tomorroland and not be moved over to the new land. Disney is big on theming and keeping the themes consistent. Galaxys Edge was designed as a land you visit as if you were there during the ST timeline. The characters you meet there are ST characters like Rey, Kylo, Chewbacca or the ST troopers. You wont get to meet any characters that are no longer around during the ST. So no Vader or Fett. The cast members (employees) speak as if they are in the ST, saying lines like the Resistance is looking for new recruits that way as they point people towards other areas of the land.

 

Star Tours doesnt really follow a timeline. It just simulates a ride of random scenes pulled from all three trilogies. On one ride you might see Vader, others General Grievous, Yoda or Admiral Ackbar. You might go from the podrace on Tattooine to the Battle of Hoth to Starkiller base. Star Tours wont fit in in Galaxys Edge with its full ST immersive experience. Same goes for the Star Wars Launch Bay where you can take pics with Vader.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Maybe it was because I have heard a bunch of people griping and complaining about the "failure" of Galaxy's Edge and had low expectations but I went Monday at WDW and fell in love with the place. It was so immersive and felt so isolated. The stormtroopers walking around was on point and loved how they would stop and interrogate people. Seeing the Millenium Falcon full scale was def an overwhelming moment. And then to be inside the Falcon and the cockpit was just too much information for me to process.

 

In the Droid workshop R2D2 was rolling around and interacting with people. He would respond to your questions and when I asked if I could have a picture with him, he beeped and spun around next to me.

 

A lot of beef I have been reading is it wasn't set during the OT. I'm okay with it being within the ST timeline. The kids of today are more familiar with it so it only makes sense. Seeing one girls eyes light up when Rey stopped and talked to her was proof positive they made the right decision. I also find it funny everyone is complaining that it is only 1 ride (soon to be 2) and shops. Didn't seem to hear that complaint with either of the Harry Potter additions at Universal and it is the same concept.

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Actually, that really is the biggest bone of contention for the major brand theme parks now - the average person being priced out and all for mostly high-priced food and shops. Universal Studios raised its prices drastically when it opened the Harry Potter stuff and there were major complaints about that also. It went from being the low price option to basically an equal to Disney in the costs of attending. We have reached the point predicted in the original Jurassic Park when John Hammond has the discussion with the "blood-sucking lawyer."

Donald Gennaro: "And we can charge anything we want. $2,000 a day, $10,000 a day and people will pay it. And then there's the merchandise."
John Hammond: "Donald, Donald...This park was not built to cater only for the super-rich. Everyone in the world has the right to enjoy these animals."
Gennaro: "Sure, they will. Well, we'll have a coupon day or something."

Only in real life it's worse. Neither Disney nor NBC Universal are run by a John Hammond. So we don't even get a coupon day.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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