In a galaxy far, far away there are lines everywhere and hours-long waits to do anything. Welcome to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, the busiest place on earth or any solar system.
You will want to bring your patience and your last Earthly paycheck because Galaxy’s Edge is busier than Times Square on New Year’s Eve and this planet doesn’t take galalatic credits.
An Orange County Register reporter and photographer visited Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge during a 4-hour reservation-only window from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday during opening day for the $1 billion new themed land. It looked like a Disneyland Christmas week crowd had been squeezed into a single land like Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. Nearly every square foot of the 14-acre land was crowded.
In the seven minutes that it took to walk from the only available entrance in Critter Country to Oga’s Cantina, the line for the Star Wars bar had already ballooned to 90 minutes and Disneyland employees were turning away new visitors. Bar patrons were limited to 45 minutes in the cantina and a two-drink maximum.
It was worse at Savi’s Workshop, where lines that had grown to four hours had mercifully shrunk to just over two hours. Employees cut off new reservations for the $200 build-your-own lightsaber at 11:15 a.m. for all people entering the land for the 11 a.m. reservation window.
By 2:30 p.m., the two-hour line for the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride stretched out of sight of the 112-foot-long starfighter, past the TIE Echelon fighter and around the corner at the Blue Milk stand. It was much longer earlier, snaking throughout the land past the Droid Depot to the Ronto Roasters food stand.
Things were nearly as bad at the build-your-own droid workshop, where the 90-minute queue snaked back on itself in the midday sun.
The Middle Eastern-inspired marketplace was swarmed with intergalactic travelers. Lines stretched out of every vendor stall, with each tiny shop only large enough to hold maybe a dozen people at a time. If they didn’t try to breathe.
Because the 4-hour windows for visitors overlap by an hour, crowds are heaviest during the first and last hour. Those entering at 2 p.m. must share the land for an hour with those who came in at 11 a.m. And then at 5 p.m. the throng will swell again with the arrival of another group.
Touring Plans, which uses big data and statistical analysis to calculate daily crowd sizes and ride wait times at theme parks, estimates that approximately 2,000 people entered the new land during every 4-hour reservation window.
“That’s making everything manageable,” said Len Testa, president of Touring Plans.
The line for Smugglers Run, which can expand to more than 2 hours at the beginning of each 4-hour window typically shrinks to walk-on status a few hours later.
“We could have ridden it 10 times,” Testa said.
The land is noticeably short on the promised droids, aliens and stormtroopers as well as entertainment. Expect more along those lines after the initial crush of crowds dissipate later this summer.
Also missing was a the traditional background music soundtrack. Instead, the sounds of starships spooling up, taking off or flying overhead could be heard periodically.
“The lack of music throughout the land is sorely missed,” said Todd Regan of MiceChat. “It’s hard to understand a new space or know how to feel about it without the background notes which trigger feelings of happiness, sadness, danger, adventure or reassurance. The lack of music leaves the space feeling not has happy as the rest of the Happiest Place on Earth.”
THE INITIAL OPENING
The first group with 8 a.m. reservations entered through the Frontierland entrance to Galaxy’s Edge. Later groups throughout the day will enter through the Critter Country entrance. The Frontierland and Fantasyland entrances to Galaxy’s Edge will be used as exits only.
By 8:30 a.m., there was a 90-minute wait for the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction. The rest of the rides in Disneyland had modest 5- to 10-minute waits.
By 10:15 a.m. the wait for the Millennium Falcon attraction had dropped to 20 minutes.
“They really have capped the land at a perfect number,” tweeted Parks and Cons, which covers theme parks and conventions. “Four hours allows a good amount of time as long as you’re strategic. Most importantly, rarely does it feel crowded. Once inside, the only crowded spots are the cantina and the saber building.”
“The entire check-in process for Galaxy’s Edge has been smooth,” tweeted Guy Selga, who writes for Touring Plans and the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland. “Crowds are well managed and I’ve had zero problems.”
The wait time stretched to two hours for Savi’s Workshop, the build-your-own-lightsaber shop in Galaxy’s Edge. The shop cut off the line for the $200 lightsaber building experience until the line shortened.
The queue for Oga’s Cantina grew so long during the 4-hour time slot starting at 8 a.m. that Disneyland employees cut off the line at 9:30 a.m., turning away additional visitors anxious to see the intimate Star Wars cantina.
Crowds were light in Downtown Disney around 6:45 a.m. with fans in Star Wars shirts slowly walking towards the Disneyland main gate. There was no line at the usually crowded Starbucks. A John Williams “Star Wars” score played in the background music. About a half a dozen tables were filled at La Brea Bakery with visitors leisurely eating breakfast.
Disneyland started letting the earliest Galaxy’s Edge visitors into the park around 5 a.m. By 7 a.m., crowds were extremely light on Main Street USA.
Inside Disneyland, those with 8 a.m. reservations were directed along a backstage bypass walkway. On Main Street USA, Star Wars fans posed for photos with signs that read “Til the Spires” and “Smugglers Wanted.”
Most of the Star Wars fans anxious to get into Galaxy’s Edge were in Tomorrowland. Hundreds of fans without reservations snaked down the ramps surrounding Star Wars Launch Bay waiting to purchase first-day merchandise. Those with 8 a.m. reservations were able to enter and make their purchases on the top floor of Launch Bay at 25 cash registers. The park sold a pair of opening day dated T-shirts for $35 each.
On the ground floor of Launch Bay, visitors with reservations checked in at 20 stations. At 6 a.m., hundreds of Galaxy’s Edge fans wrapped around the interior of the circular building. But by 7:30 a.m., lines were light.
By 11:45 a.m., the wait to get dated pins and T-shirts — including Annual Passholder exclusives — at Star Wars Launch Bay was down to 12 minutes after a line had stretched from the top to the bottom of the two-story structure before the park opened. One person said she waited two hours in that line.
There were plenty of those items still available there, although it’s unclear whether other souvenirs sold out.
Guests appeared so preoccupied with obtaining wrist bands and trading pins in Lunch Bay that two of the key characters in the Star Wars universe were virtually ignored in that same building.
As of 11:30 a.m., there were no visible lines for character meet-and-greets with Darth Vader and Chewbacca.
The wait for the same items was less than 15 minutes at the Emporium and Star Traders before noon.
Near the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, several thousand Star Wars fans waited to proceed to the Frontierland entrance to Galaxy Edge at 7:30 a.m. The Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland was open for visitors who needed an early morning snack before heading to the Black Spire Outpost village on the Star Wars planet of Batuu, the setting for the new 14-acre land at the Anaheim theme park.
At 7:40 a.m., a cheer went up from the teeming crowd as visitors began slowly inching their way behind the Matterhorn Bobsled attraction toward Galaxy’s Edge. The orderly crowd crossed the parade route, walked past the whale at the entrance to Storybook Land and between the spinning Dumbo and King Arthur Carousel rides.
Disneyland employees wearing white Mickey Mouse gloves waved at visitors as they passed the Red Rose Taverne restaurant. Employees checked for time stamped wristbands as the large crowd entered the Frontierland trail. A light mist fell at 8 a.m. as the first visitors entered the new Star Wars land for a 4-hour visit to a galaxy far far away.
Disneyland recommends that visitors with reservations check in two hours ahead of time at Launch Bay. The park recommends arriving 15 minutes before your reservation time to enter Galaxy’s Edge.
By 9 a.m. the Mickey and Friends lot was still open to traffic coming off the Southbound 5 Freeway. Upon entering the structure parkingattendants handed out a notice about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, noting that reservations are needed to enter the land. It also gavedirections to guests with reservations on how to enter. The back of the paper listed where Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge merchandise could be purchased within the parks.
A selection of Galaxy’s Edge merchandise was available in the Star Traders gift shop in Tomorrowland. There were robes and tunics ($50-$125) from Black Spire Outfitters, droid figurine sets ($70) from Droid Depot, Porg puppets ($45) from Creature Stall, X-Wing pilot helmets ($50) and orange pilot jumpsuits ($175) from Resistance Supply and kids stormtrooper costumes ($100) from First Order Cargo.
There were long lines at every cash register and the shop cleared additional floor space to make room for checkout lines.
READ MORE about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland
- Millennium Falcon: Inside Smugglers Run | Flying tips
- Rise of the Resistance: 4 rides in 1 | Bathroom pass
- Experiences: Savi’s Workshop — Handbuilt Lightsabers | Droid Depot | Mobile games
- Cantina: Inside Oga’s | Inspiration | Cocktails | Beer & Wine
- Food: Docking Bay 7 | Ronto Roasters | Blue Milk | Kat Saka’s Kettle | What to eat
- Shops: Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities | Toydarian Toymaker | Creature Stall | Clothing
- Black Spire Outpost: Construction tour | Books & Comics | Animatronics | Set-dressing props
- Soft Opening: Reservations | Crowds | 4-hour time limit | Parking garage | Hotels | Project Stardust
