My Honest Disneyland Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Review & How Some Might Be Disappointed

My husband and I paid $15 to make reservations at the Cantina for breakfast and were very disappointed. We found out that you had to share a table with strangers. Not that big of a deal until we ordered our food. The staff just put our food that we paid a bundle for in the middle of the table and the others not in our party started eating our food. The waitress “oh that food was for the other party” really! we were also disappointed by the food on the menu! Three items! A cold fruit oatmeal, cinnamon roll, or charcuterie platter. The poor kids with the other party at our table were so disappointed! Alcohol drinks missing the alcohol and yet charging a fortune! Very disappointing!

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland has to be one of the most immersive and entertaining experiences I’ve ever had in a theme park. There is such attention to detail and the ambiance is impeccable.

My wife and I were stopped by Kylo Ren and a pair of Storm Troopers and we were asked if we would answer the First Order’s call to serve. I was hesitant given that we had just literally interacted with Rey and Chewbacca down the path from The Black Spire towards the Resistance area where they are finishing construction on their newest ride. To my surprise my wife immediately agreed to join the First Order. My hesitance led to suspicion and Kylo Ren ordered that our “data pads” be analyzed and purged.

You can build your own Droid, walk around a life sized, docked Millennium Falcon, try some local cuisine at Ronto’s, go to the Cantina (which sadly was busy enough to be reservation only all day) or stroll the bazaar through many unique stores with unique storekeepers with their own personalized stories.

My wife and I delved into some of the backstories that each cast member in the sector had prepared. They told us stories of their original homes off planet and their feelings about the First Order‘s recent occupation and the Resistance. We were encouraged to try the local delicacy of Banthu Milk in either the blue or green varieties. We opted to try both and it was interesting for sure. My wife described the unique texture as a “fuzzy snow cone” by the way the milk coated the tongue.

Overall it was an incredible experience that I would recommend for any Star Wars fan!

We went to Disney Star Wars land for the first time last weekend. We are Disney fans and have season tickets to Disneyland. We have been to Disneyland 8 times in the last year and once to Disney World. We live in San Diego and are less than an hour from the park. We were truly disappointed in the new land due to one experience.
We made a lunch reservation on the Disney site at the cantina after we paid to spend a night in at the Disneyland Hotel. When we got to the cantina we were told to wait in a line. This was even for people with reservations. The staff managing the line was truly unkind. They kept wanting to condense the line and move the line along a wall. They even harassed a wheelchair bound person about getting on the wall. When we finally got to the door 30 mins later the lady at the front continued the rude manner of the other staff. She finally had someone take us into the bar and they had us wait behind a stand up bar for someone to leave. We thought we had reservations for a table but soon discovered that the cantina isn’t a restaurant. The cantina didn’t sell food. Only drinks. Even though Disney listed it as a lunch spot in their app.
A space finally opened up in front of us at the bar and as we were about to claim the spot another couple rushed in. We told them that we had been assigned to that spot and they explained that they had been assigned to that spot as well and had been waiting for almost an hour. Based on their anger .. I believed them.
The bat wasn’t that great. We never did get to the spot because a staff member told two more groups to wait for the same spot – and we just left.

It was a horrible experience!

The ride was well done and enjoyable. The hotel was really good and is a really good alternative to the California Hotel. The themeing of the Haunted Mansion was great as always when it changes. The new night time themeing for the Gardian of the Galaxy ride was nice.

But the cantina experience was so bad it shadowed All of the fun!

I have been going to WDW since 1981 (the Tencennial). We raised our two kids on Disney and Star Wars and I am very happy they are now grown and have their own money to spend on Star Wars memorabilia, otherwise, I would be in hock to the credit card company for quite a while. Annual pass holder discounts were FEW and far between. I would be very disappointed if I took my younger children there, I doubt the experience would be enough for any of us. ONE attraction that was OK at best. I was very lucky the wait was only about 30 minutes because if I waited for more than that and had that ride experience I (as a longtime Disney fan) would have been very disappointed. As for the staging and set dressing, as a movie and photography buff, I could find myself entertained for hours, but I cannot see young children entertained for the day. I understand you can play games on your phone throughout the experience, but I did not take advantage of that experience. I noticed my daughter-in-law was having problems trying to access the program in the Smuggler’s Run queue. Dinner for 3 in a counter service restaurant was around $75 and coke in ‘cute’ bottle was $6, I did appreciate the free water stations and the fans throughout Batuu. I feel if I had to take my young children there it would be endless “Them: Can I have this? Me: No Way! Them: Is there anything else to do? e: Enjoy the environment?” As adults though, they LOVE it!

I loved the detail of the land. Disney always does great in that department, but come on there is nothing to do there. One ride, that’s it?! Even when they open the second ride it really is a bit flat for me. I’m also really disappointed that they have actually made an area in DISNEYLAND that children are not allowed in. Disney, are you kidding me? What would Walt say to this?! Disneyland is no longer a family park. Do you know how sad it made my children to have to tell them , no that line isn’t for you, at DISNEYLAND!

We just got back from SWGE in Orlando and I was grossly disappointed. The ride was average at best. Honestly, the buttons were distracting and you have no idea what you’re doing….just look to the side(instead of the actual screen) and press the blinking lights. I actually enjoyed star tours more. I agree on the cast members…interaction with them was annoying. There is no signage anywhere so it’s nice when someone will answer a question instead of looking at you like you’re crazy. The replica planet is strange too. Just pick a planet people know…people want to go in Mos Eisley, not some place they’ve never heard of. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while and just could have not been more disappointed.

Went gor ghe grand opening. Got up at 4.30am. Got there for 5.30am. Already a 5 hour queue for Millwnium Falcon Smugglers Run. Didnt bother and so glad I didnt. I went two days later and wueued for only an hour. I would have been doing time now for murder if I’d queued for 5 hours for this mediocha ride. Compared to Avatar the flight which I would give 10 out of 10, I would give Smugglers run no more than a six out of 10. The graphics were poor compared to Avatar.
I wouldnt bother doing it again.

I am a life long Disneyland fan. I also love the Star Wars movies. I think Disney really missed the boat on SWGE land. Making the entire land based solely on the last movie, which is entirely grey/beige and kind of depressing, doesn’t fit in with the rest of Disneyland. To sum it up correctly, Star Wars Galaxy Edge is nothing more than a desert, space, Moroccan themed Shopping Mall. Stores, restaurants and a bar. It is nothing but a mall with a MMO video game. You can’t call it a ride at all.
We went in August, just a couple months after the hugely hyped and massively marketed and anticipated new land opened and it was very empty in comparison to the expectation and the rest of the park. Every other land had longs lines for everything, including packed shops and food lines. There were no lines for anything, it was extremely hot, 2 storm troopers which no one seemed to care about, and it was so dead and boring. The “ride” is one you only need to go on once, as it’s boring.
I think they missed a great opportunity to have Star Wars land contain what made Star Wars what it is today – Wookies, Ewoks, Jedi’s, Yoda…. Yoda’s swamp, the Ewok planet, the Wookie Planet, fun, colorful, exciting lands that connected and felt like you’re in Disneyland. This felt like touring the abandoned movie set of the last film. No one was happy or excited to be there. We got off the ride and people all said, hmm ok that was that ride.
We exited the land after about an hour and re-entered a magical park that Star Wars land doesn’t match or fit in at all.

How do the other Disneys compare? Any thoughts on whether they’ll be getting starwars lands?

As someone who grew up with Star Wars and have a good amount of Star Wars collectibles around (even had a Star Wars birthday or two growing up), I was flat out bored and unimpressed with SWGE. I had enough after circling twice. It didn’t pull me in. The music wasn’t themed as you’d expect. The setting was just bland. Batuu?!?! Really? It feels like a random space desert with random food and junk to buy! Who cares about Batuu?!? C’mon – give us Tatooine, Hoth, Degobah, Hoth, Endor, an “uncharted” Death Star…SOMETHING we can relate to other than a random planet.

The ride was like a simulator with video game controls, although you’d get a better gameplay experience piloting the Falcon in Shadows of the Empire on the N64. I rode twice. Same basic path. Nobody said “that was awesome” or even talked about the ride on the way out. A kid and Mom piloted the 2nd time…crashed into pretty much everything possible and the storyline and result were the same.

After 45 minutes…I just wanted to go back into the rest of the park…any part of it. First time I’ve ever been bored in a Disney park. It can’t be only me. I’m guessing once we get past the people who were there as free media invites, we’ll see more. Needless to say, as a huge fan of the parks, I was just not impressed.

Is it like Mission Space style where the jobs are really meaningless?

Hey, whatever happened with the Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore? Did they end up honoring their mistake rate or what?

Loved the review. I have a layover in LAX coming back from Australia next week with a SWL reservation and wasn’t sure whether to make the trip over. While I have an AP, the Uber/rental car costs are not small and I live near WDW so I’ll just wait for September.

Strong claim that it’s the best theming anyone has done! I am not a huge Star Wars fan but it’ll have a long way to go to top certain ports at TDS, Universal’s HP efforts, and Hobbiton Movie Set, which remain my Top 3 themed built human environments.

Thank you for the report!

I can’t wait to see what Disney project you have in the works!

Suggestions to anyone going during the reservation period.

1) Don’t ride The Falcon first. Most go there and the wait can be 45-60 minutes at the beginning of the reservation period. An hour later and the wait is 5-20 minutes.

2) If interested in the Cantina or making a Saber pick one and get in line. Not likely to get both done. We had an 8-12 reservation. They cut of the Saber line at 10:00 for that reservation period.

3) Know that reservations overlap by an hour. To get one last ride in make sure to be in line before the next reservation comes it.

TD

Shawn

Nice report. I agree with your assessment of the land. Mostly a home-Run, but wish it would have been complete on May 31st. We had 2 reservations (May 31 / June 1st). Fully enjoyed both days.

Do you have any info on the closed area near the Resistance Supply. I know it is not a ride, but there I a pretty large area, with walk-ways no yet open. I have not been able to locate anything on that.

TD