Opening Day of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge from Disneyland

We have learned things that you will want to know, whether you are coming sooner or later, some following in our footsteps, but mostly learning from our mistakes.

Since our departure, many people who have noticed the custom droid worn by my daughter have asked us the same question: "How was it?" But preadolescents tend to give monosyllabic responses. In this case, "great!" or "Fun!"

But here is the complete answer to the question of how our time on the day of opening has elapsed. It may have ended with "awesome", but it is actually a roller coaster of anticipation, minor annoyance, enthusiasm, boredom, chills, impatience and renewed excitement, entertainment, complete annoyance, happiness and finding a perfect moment all previous frustrations.

Anticipation

Until June 23, all Disneyland customers who have obtained a reservation including Galaxy's Edge (required hotel stay at Disneyland) will only have a 4-hour window to explore the 12-hectare Star Wars playground.

Our window was from 14 hours until 18h during the opening day, so we spent the morning and early afternoon enjoying other park attractions, including the all-new Space Improved Mountain – which has become an exciting Hyperspace Mountain themed Star Wars – an appetizer for our final destination.

Boredom minor

At 1:45 pm we casually walked up to one of the entrances to Galaxy's Edge, where we learned that we needed special bracelets with our names and hours to be able to enter. The location to get them back was at Hyperspace Mountain, the opposite of Disneyland. So we walked running and recovered our bracelets. It was very fast because there was no line – all the others had read the instructions and knew they had their bracelet sooner.

Excitation

We ran running, but we ended up behind an army of clones of Star Wars fans walking in Galaxy's Edge. Park's exclusive score, John Williams, played when we entered Black Spire Outpost, the Batuu Spaceport, the planet where our 4-hour clock began timing.

The massive line was crossing the park, past the Marketplace, the Droid Foundry and the Cantina, some people wisely breaking away to do the first job while the majority of us were drawn to the piece of junk. the fastest in the galaxy, as in a tractor radius.

So while we were walking in Galaxy 's Edge, I was more the child than her. "Look, an X-wing fighter!" I pointed it out to my daughter. "There is a terrestrial speeder, like Luke in the original movie!" "It's a TIE Tier spacecraft, only found here!" "Hey, that's Rey," indicating a cast member who looked so strangely like Daisy Ridley. I wondered for a moment if it was really her. After all, I saw Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Billie Dee Williams two nights earlier at the official dedication.

When she finally saw the Falcon for the first time, my daughter's reaction was similar to mine. "Wow! It's so big!" Yes, the scale and the details are impressive.

A few months earlier, during the first press visit to the then unfinished country, I had texted my wife: "I was just on the millennium hawk !!" even though she never really understood my attachment to this ancient religion. She replied, "The real thing?"

The real one? "I've been thinking about this strange question for a moment. What's the real? The scale models used in the movies? The portion they're building for a movie scene? The original Kenner toy "It's the first time that a full-size and full-size Millennium Falcon is ever built." So, "Yes," I answered, "The real one."

Boredom

Just before we queued to go to Star Wars country, the wait time for the smuggler 's ride aboard the Falcon was 30 minutes, according to the Disneyland app. When we entered Galaxy's Edge, the wait was 75 minutes. At the moment we entered the carousel building: 90 minutes. The FastPass line was not open (yet, in a boring and inexplicable way, some families were allowed to go through this non-existent line).

Our real time online: 2 hours – or half of our total time allocated to Black Spire Outpost – for a single activity. They marked our bracelets so we could only ride once, but who would have time to do it twice anyway?

I explained to my daughter that we had to do Smuggler's Run first because it was the only "must", but as time passed in the Sarlacc pit, it had become clear that we had made a critical mistake. If we had waited until the end of the window, they would not have kicked us out and we might have saved 90 precious minutes to see other things. But the longer we stayed in line, the less we thought we could leave because of the time lost. Economists call this phenomenon a bad choice "sunk costs".

The big brains of Disney, however, had a solution to expectations: the Disney Play app has the Galaxy & # 39; s Edge mode that allows you to scan QR codes on different containers to see what it contains, to create your own character online and translate the signs written in Arebesh. common language of the galaxy. But because we were using my phone at Disneyland all day for MaxPass and waiting times, my phone died 20 minutes after the start of our long stay. So much for that.

The thrill

I donned my Han Solo shirt and vest just before we went to the party where the animatronic Hondo Ohnaka (a character from the animated Star Wars TV series) explains the mission. The excitement has been fully restored.

Then my daughter and I received pilot cards, which allowed the family of four to be relegated among us to the gunner and engineer crew positions. The pilots fly the Falcon. Gunners can shoot. The engineers look especially.

The excitement then turned into emotion as we walked down the iconic corridor and into Falcon Bay. While we were amazed by the perfect interior of the film, I offered my pilot ticket to the family in exchange for an engineer, explaining the hierarchy and saying that I had already mounted twice. Disney cast members are encouraged to do mitzvahs like this one as part of their job, which I like very much. They call them "magical moments," but religious traditions have labeled them much earlier.

My karma was immediately rewarded because my engineering status meant that I could fully enjoy my daughter by flying the ship at the origin of the Kessel race in less than twelve parsecs. My daughter was so pleased that she smiled widely all the time, which was my thrill.

She and her co – pilot were flying so badly that they broke the hyperdrive and, instead of leaving the light source of an asteroid field as I had done when they stole, they had to make their way. Every trip on Smuggler's Run is slightly different, depending on your ability to fly and shoot, and as they broke the Falcon, our adventure was extended.

The impatience and the excitement again

Back in Black Spire Outpost, the city was as busy as planet-city Coruscant, and we shot the only thing my daughter wanted to do after the ride: build a droid. Like many others. With less than 2 hours remaining, we had to wait an hour to spend $ 108 for a custom-made BB or RD large-foot unit.

At least this time we could take advantage of the outdoor waiting. I offered my daughter a $ 5.50 Sprite carrying an Arebesh label and posing in the form of a round thermal detonator.

And I have a glass of green milk at the corner of the street. They did not want to sell me the sea cow milk from "The Last Jedi" because they were short of frozen. I had already tried the blue milk (from "A New Hope") and I did not care. So I asked them to sell me a cup of green (7.50 "credits"), even if it lacked ice-cold consistency. . My daughter took a sip (and only one) saying, "I do not like that, it tastes like a melted green straw, but more creamy."

I've also walked next to the Savi workshop where you can build your own lightsaber. But a cast member disappointed me: "Savi no longer makes an appointment for the day". Kyber crystals must be hard to find.

But the best advice, especially if you're on a droid production line, is to relay you to the back of the shop where a fully interactive R2-D2 resides. He talks to you and follows you, and for only $ 25,000, you can shoot an Uncle Owen and take him home to your moisture evaporator farm.

My daughter has returned from her meeting with R2 fully in love with her own partner. When we finally entered the building, she spoke enthusiastically about the color combinations she wanted to try.

Fun

Assembling a remote controlled droid was my daughter's happy place, combining a few key elements that she likes: creativity, design, construction and possession of toys. She quickly chose BB rather than R2 and let her colors melt before settling on a red and silver look.

Meanwhile, I was looking for all the spare parts on display, associating heads and members with films. A red Threepio arm on the conveyor belt. A droid of the DUM series from the junk food of Watto in "The Phantom Menace". And a model of my favorite droid of all time, the K-2SO of "Rogue One".

My daughter brought her basket of coins to the assembly area and after a minute we realized that we needed help to start, I reported one of the human assistants for help us assemble the pieces.

Complete boredom

Opening day means things are not going well, I realize. And it became painful when the factory attendant droid had trouble connecting the head of my daughter's BB to the body. Then she could not sync the remote. She did not stop asking for help from other people who knew a little more. "I had a bad feeling about it," I thought.

Without the fact that we only had 45 minutes left in Batuu's window, I would not have sweated. But after the third unsuccessful attempt to run my daughters' droid and try several new internal engines in order to solve what was clearly a bad motivator, I asked to speak to the Jawa manager I mean to the manager.

I explained that our window of time was short and because of the lines. "And now they can not operate the droid anymore, we've lost another 10 minutes because people do not know what they're doing."

The director listened to my complaint and then madly asked me what we wanted to do at Black Spire Outpost. "Everything else!" I said. "That's what I mean, we did not go to the Marketplace, Cantina, Den of Antiquities or even just went back in. The lightsaber shop is closed. We did not even eat. " I watched my watch. "We have 43 minutes left and we have done only two things, we are now stuck here to try to run a droid for which we have already paid."

I hoped that he would be allowed to give us more time, but when he started telling me that we still had time to seek food, I thanked him for nothing while my daughter proudly held her operational BB (she later called LR for "Little Red"). She wanted to look for accessories, but it was not time to spend more money on that.

We went to Docking Bay 7 to order food and, of course, we queued.

After weighing what interested her, she sent my padawan to the Marketplace to find a present for her little sister who could not join us for this trip to the outer periphery.

As a vegetarian, I was excited about ordering the only thing I had ever tried and loved: the felucian garden spread, a hummus, veggie meatball kepta and pita. But when I went to order, they explained that I was too late. They stopped serving at 4 pm I regretted not giving priority to lightsaber and vegetarian lunch.

Happiness

We sat down with our dinner right at the end of our window of time, assuming they still let us eat. I came out of Docking Bay to buy a porg puppet (at 6 pm sharp) for my other daughter at the creature store.

We had not done everything I wanted, but my daughter did not know what she was missing and was so in love with LR that we relaxed for a while and enjoyed each other's company. We were both impressed by the design of the mooring bay, admiring the maritime container areas in which you could sit, the entanglement of light wires above and the rolling sounds of the ships transport.

I loved the vegetarian meatloaf and mashed potatoes from Ithorian Garden, but my daughter was less excited about this and her cold noodle salad with yobshrimp. She thought the sauce was too "tart" and would have preferred to warm it up, but she thought the coldness felt more "in the universe". After a sip of fruity Moof juice, she passed another. But she praised the chocolate cake and Batuu-Bon mousse.

When we finished, 30 minutes had passed after the 4-hour window closed, but we decided to do our best and see if we could look around before asking us to leave.

"They should have Stormtroopers expel people!" My daughter said, hoping we would be escorted out of Batuu as rebels.

End on a perfect moment

We came out of the shed and noticed that there was no queue waiting in the Dok-Ondar Antiques Den. The cast member at the door did not look at our bracelets when we walked in.

We did not buy anything, but I loved to point out the movie props hanging on the walls and on the floor. My daughter was also impressed by the vintage lightsabers and admired by the cute Yoda walking stick. We picked up two and we fought. "Mine mine!" I yelled in my voice of Yoda, an impression of his fight with R2 when we met the Jedi Master for Degobah in "Empire".

We then crossed the Cantina where there was still a long line of waiting and bypassed the market so that I could show him the star-killing monster of the death of "A New Hope" that hides in a green tank of liquid above the water fountain. I noticed new Easter eggs, like in the area of ​​the droid baths where we could see old B1 fighting droids of "Clone Wars" in a cage, as well as a droid of the imperial probe as the Chewbacca type explodes on Hoth in "Empire".

The cast members did not seem to be chasing us though. The opposite is true. They told us about our purchases of porgs and droids and chatted with us about the fact that Chewie and the cantina owner, Oga, were an article, but that ended badly. Another said that there were signs of resistance nearby (in the area where the "rise of the resistance" is unfinished for opening, which is due to open later this year) . "But you have not heard from me," said the local.

An hour after our stay, we felt pushed and decided to leave. I went to buy a bag of popcorn and spicy popcorn sold out on the market, but the young man behind the counter asked to see my bracelet and informed me that I was too late. "Will not you sell it to me?" I asked.

We realized that even if they were not going to kick us out, they would not let us buy anything. We finally did something right: we made our purchases before the deadline and recorded our exploration for the end, when the crowd had dispersed.

On the way back, we met again with Rey and, with no one else around her, she chatted with my daughter, asking her if she had seen Stormtroopers and reminding my daughter that She could easily use the Force to control their thoughts. "It's not the Jedi you're looking for," Rey pointed out with an Obi-Won hand gesture. I took a picture of them talking, then Rey said, "Put your hands on your hip to intimidate Kylo Ren" and they turned to me for a shot.

Behind me, I heard a familiar teddy bear who roared. I turned to see Chewie. We make eye contact and open our arms for a hug. "Does he remind you of Han?" Rey asked him, while I was still dressed as his best friend. Chewie gargled something a little melancholy as we kissed each other.

And that was it. We had Rey and Chewbacca all to ourselves for an amazing moment of unhurried and busy interaction.

So remember …

Our advice: keep the Falcon until the end of the demonstrations, get yourself a backup charger, approach the lightsaber glasses and drink in advance, use your time Speaking outside to see and get other things in turn, do not buy a droid with If you are a bad motivator, talk to the locals and save by exploring the points of view until the end. And even if you forget all this, the Force will probably still be with you and you may end up with Rey and Chewie.

We greeted our famous friends and went out, holding a droid and a porg, wrapped in the sound of John William's Batuu score.

As we were leaving, we were almost knocked over by a wall of people who headed straight for us. It was the last wave of guests. And I realized that Rey and Chewie were waiting for them and it was our great chance (and Disney's laissez-faire exit policy) to be gone a few minutes earlier.

When the crowd joined us, I shouted, "Welcome to Batuu!" and the crowd acclaimed it, rushing enthusiastically into a distant galaxy.