Complete Guide to Galaxy's Edge

Bright suns! A portion of the resistance has taken up residence at the Black Spire Outpost on the planet of Batuu in order to grow their numbers in secret and fight back against the First Order. The First Order has tracked a resistance spy to Batuu and has taken over the little town of Black Spire Outpost looking for any signs of rebels.

Galaxy’s Edge is a fully immersive land, and I don’t think any other land is built around such a detailed story. When we were in Galaxy’s Edge, it really felt like we were fully separated from the outside world. Even from Disneyland! Crossing back into Critter Country after our 4 hour reservation time slot felt super surreal. We did as much as possible to get the full scoop of the entire land and we’ve got a full rundown and some solid tips for you so you can maximize your time at Batuu with minimum frustration. 

The Disney Parks website states the differences will be minimal between the lands in the two parks. So if you’re getting ready for the WDW opening, we still got all the details for you. 

Different Attractions

There are several different attractions and experiences in Galaxy’s Edge, from restaurants, to bars, to workshops, and rides, that draw some hefty crowds. They are:

Oga’s Cantina

Oga’s is the themed bar in Galaxy’s Edge, and first place that serves alcohol to the public in Disneyland. They even got Rex from the original Star Tours acting as DJ. 

When we went, Oga’s had a pretty long wait time, and it wasn’t guaranteed that you’d even be able to make a reservation within your four hour time slot. If you’re in WDW, and Oga’s is on your list, it’s worth it to put yourself on the digital waitlist first thing (in Disneyland via the app, in WDW you’ll have to go to Oga’s until you don’t need reservations to get into the land anymore). 

If I were to give an honest review, I’d say Oga’s was fine. I’m happy we got to experience it, but I don’t think I’ll be going out of my way to go again in the near future. We got seated at a community table (already not my favorite) facing in, so we couldn’t easily take in the bar and drink our drinks. Also, the other families at our table were SO GRUMPY! 

I think I would have preferred to have an option between community table and standing at the bar, but we were told to stay where we were seated and not move around. The drinks were alright and the service was super friendly, but overall I don’t think it warranted the hype. I wish there was a way to peek in and walk around for five minutes. Maybe one day in the future, once it calms down I might want to try it again, but for now I’ll let the crowds swarm. 

UPDATE: Disneyland just announced TODAY that they’ll be making Oga’s reservation capable. You can now book your reservations to Oga’s Cantina up to 14 days before your visit, and in the future they plan on opening reservations to up to 60 days before your visit (like everywhere else that takes reservations). 

Droid Depot (build your own custom RC droid)

We didn’t participate in the droid depot, but we were able to look in, which I thought was really cool since we weren’t able to peek into the lightsaber experience. I think I would best describe the Droid Depot as a droid sushi boat and then you have a cool lil custom RC droid. Between the lightsaber experience and this, personally this sounds more up my alley since I would probably use an RC thing more than a lightsaber, but to each their own! 

Savi’s Workshop (handbuilt lightsaber experience)

Also didn’t do Savi’s. It’s $200 for the experience. You get to customize a lightsaber and go through a little ceremony within a small group of people. From what I hear, it’s a pretty magical experience. I think a lot of people’s first reaction was of sticker shock, but we all have different things we like to spend our money on, especially at Disneyland, and the idea of making a thing wrapped in an experience, to me, sounds like it could be cool. 

We’re not really lightsaber people, but we are interested in checking out the experience. Maybe one day we’ll find someone to whom we can gift our lightsaber and then we’ll give it a go. For science. 

Both Savi’s and Droid Depot are now accepting online reservations up to 14 days prior to your visit! Don’t wait in line!

Smuggler’s Run (Millenium Falcon ride)

As of when I’m writing this, there’s no FastPass system in place for Smuggler’s Run. That being said, the wait time never got above 30 minutes and the line moves along quickly. 

When you get to the boarding area, you’re given a “boarding pass” with a color and one of three jobs; pilot, gunner, or engineer. Once you have your boarding pass, you’re in the main room of the Millenium Falcon and you get to hang out and explore until your color is called. There’s a bunch of other boarding colors in the falcon room at once, so you’ll hear a bunch of different colors being called out pretty rapidly. 

Once your color is called, you head over to the cast member beckoning you and they give you a quick rundown of your jobs and play a short video before you enter the ride room. The room holds six people in three rows of two. Pilots sit in front, then gunners, then engineers. At first I was kind of nervous because I didn’t know if it was easy to mess up (I’m not great at video games), but you’re guided through the entire experience, and it’s super engaging and hard to mess up. 

I’m not a fan of screen rides. Smuggler’s Run was fun, but I’ll still always love physical rides more than sitting in a metal box with a screen. It’s also interesting because if you’re focused on doing your job, you actually miss a good portion of what’s happening on the screen. 

The Rise of the Resistance

The Rise of the Resistance is the second attraction in Galaxy’s Edge. It’s slated to open in 2020, and from what you can see on the outside, there seems to be a roller coaster track. According to this article, it’s slated to be much more than just a roller coaster. I’m *very* pumped about its opening.  

Food and Drink

The food in Galaxy’s Edge was tastytime 5000. I loved everything I ate and I cannot wait to eat more. The food, for me, is the biggest draw to Galaxy’s Edge.  

So far, the different restaurants/ food stands are (MO= mobile order): 

Milk Stand (Blue and Green Milk) (MO)

I liked them both! If I were to pick one, I’d get blue.

Kat Saga’s Popcorn

I’m in a relationship with this popcorn. Fruity sweet and spicy mixed. 

Ronto Roasters (MO)

We tried both the breakfast ronto wrap, and the regular ronto wrap. Kat and I both fervently hate mayo, so we got ours without the peppercorn sauce and slaw, and it was still good! We also got the two jerkies they offer; sweet and spicy. I loved the sweet, Kat prefers the spicy, we both love having a giant sheet of jerky to gnaw on. 

Docking Bay 7 and Cargo (MO)HOO BOY. When we went last time, we were trying to eat everything so we shared everything and I’m just so excited to order all for myself because it was TASTY. We got the sticky ribs with the blueberry corn muffin and the oi oi puff for dessert and I’d do it all again and then some. 

Oga’s Cantina (mentioned above under Attractions)

It’s worth mentioning they have both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, along with some light snacks (that I hear are “interesting” in a not great way?). 

Drink Stands

Like the rest of Disneyland, Galaxy’s Edge has a bunch of different drink stands with sodas and water and some easy snacks, however, unlike the rest of Disneyland, the packing of all the drinks are unique to GE. It’s fun to grab a fat little round coke bottle if you get the chance.

Character experiences

What I appreciated, and what made GE super immersive, was that the characters were all just walking around, going about their business and would stop to talk to you if they happened to walk by. The characters they have walking around at the time of writing this are:

Rey

Chewie

Storm Troopers

Kylo Ren escorted by Storm Troopers- starts with a mini show that explains why the first order is at the Black Spire Outpost on Batuu.

When we were there, Rey had stopped an entire family and engaged with the kids and lined them all up to take different pictures with her. The kids were in awe and it was really magical to witness. 

Language

Galaxy’s Edge has what seems to be a dictionary full of unique terms to the land. Bright suns means good morning and rising moons means goodnight, money is referred to as credits, the water fountain is a hydrator, and the bathrooms are refreshers. The list goes on! But don’t worry, everyone else visiting is on the same page as you, and the cast members help with sharing the language. It’s just another layer of how immersive the land is.

Making the Best Use of Your Time

Like everything else in Disneyland, it’s all about your priorities. The big ticket items like Oga’s, Droid Depot, and Savi’s will have the longest lines and take up the most time. If you’re operating with time restraints, it’s worth it to utilize the reservation system and mobile ordering. 

When we went, they weren’t offering any sort of reservation system, so we had a clear idea of what our priorities were. We chose Oga’s as our top priority and waited in a line that looked like it went on forever but really only took about 15 minutes to put our name and phone number on a waitlist. While we were waiting for our table to open up, we were able to try out the blue and green milk, ride Smuggler’s Run (engineers for life!), munch on some popcorn from Kat’s, try out the wraps from Ronto Roasters, explore the shops, and take lots of pictures. 

After Oga’s (which took about 45 minutes), we finished out our food tour at Docking Bay 7, did some shopping in the covered market area, and explored the resistance side of Galaxy’s Edge, where the Rise of the Resistance ride will open up later this year. 

We were able to do so much because we avoided lines when possible. Make sure to utilize the mobile order options for the Milk Stand, Ronto Roasters, and Docking Bay. If you don’t have to wait in a line, don’t!

By being informed and picking what we wanted to do the most and working through our priority list, we were able to do everything we wanted to do within our four hour reservation period with room to spare at the end. Luckily, you won’t get booted from the land after the 23rd of June, but it’s always a good idea to go in with a plan so you’re not wasting precious park time or getting overwhelmed. 

‘Till the Spire!