Galaxy's Edge is a Star Wars Fan's Dream Come True!

My daughter is a Cast Member who has the incredible opportunity to be one of the first Cast Members to work in Galaxy's Edge. They got a special preview, and she chose me to be her +1. Now that I've had about 24 hours to process Galaxy's Edge, I think I can accurately put my experience into words. I will try not to spoil anything, but realistically, what is there to spoil?

Galaxy's Edge is a Star Wars fan's dream come true. You are immersed into the fantasy from the moment you walk into the planet and into the Black Spire Outpost. The sights, sounds, smells, and feel of the planet are nearly perfect! The shops are fun, the food is actually really good (what I tried anyway), and the drinks are fun and delicious, too. The inhabitants of Batuu are friendly, helpful, and a bit curious about travelers from other planets, especially Earth. Some have never even heard of the Milky Way galaxy and are amazed at how far we have traveled.

If you take the time to talk with a native Batuuan, you will find they are from one of three regions. They are from the mountains and forest, Surabat (farmers and ranchers), the river country, Pika (fisher-folk), and from the urban cities, Galma (builders and traders). They will greet you with a "Bright Suns" or a "Rising Moons" and will probably ask you a ton of questions about your home planet. If you say something like "We love Florida" or "We love Disney World" you will be looked at with a puzzled expression because they have no idea of either of those places. None of the Batuuans I met have ever traveled off-planet! If you mention Star Wars, they will ask you when did stars start having wars!

The Batuuan people are hard workers, but they are also a bit fearful of First Order. I was told several times not to make eye-contact with the Storm Troopers that were patrolling the streets. My guide (from Surabat region) decided to wear coverings similar to my Earth clothes as to not draw the attention of Oga, and be forced back to work! She was very helpful in showing me around the Marketplace and its many shops. She took me into the Den of Antiquities where I saw so many different treasures for sale from Dok-Ondar. Things like legacy light sabers, and light-side/dark-side kyber crystals, and much more!

My guide then took me for an up close look at the famous Millennium Falcon! We were chosen to help pilot the ship and transport some goods. It was a very eventful trip to say the least! My piloting skills were not as honed as I would have liked. But the other 4 crew-members with us did their jobs very well. In addition to the two pilots (me and my Batuuan guide), there were two gunners, and two Engineers. All of us had to work together to successfully get the Falcon and the goods delivered. Although we succeeded, we did have to pay for the damages inflicted on the Falcon out of our "pay"! Our damages were pretty significant!

We toured the remainder of the Black Spire Outpost before stopping by Oga's Cantina. As with most places there, you have to look closely at the buildings to know what is what. I got the impression that most Batuuans don't like to draw attention to themselves. The First Order is not to be trifled with!

We were able to walk up to Oga's Cantina and get on a very short wait list. We actually only waited about 2 minutes before we were led inside. I would imagine that as more and more travelers arrive on Batuu, reservations will likely be required! It is a small place. There are several places to sit albeit you are sitting with other travelers so it is a good way to meet people. There are several stand-up tables where you stand with other travelers as well as a bar where you can sit and be served.

Oga's only serves drinks. There are both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and there is no age-limit for traveler to be able to enter. But all travelers must be 21-years old and must be able to show proper papers to prove their age if they want an alcoholic drink.

After the cantina, we tried our luck once again piloting the Falcon! We did a bit better the second time, but still need more practice. Maybe next time I will be a gunner or engineer!

There are a few places to eat in the Spire. Kat Saka's Kettle has something extremely similar to popcorn (read that how you want, LOL!) with a variety of different flavors to choose from. We didn't try that this trip but may try again on our next visit. We did enjoy lunch at Docking Bay 7. There are several different dishes there that my guide assured me were very good. This trip we ate some ribs from some native beast, it was called Smoked Kaadu! They were delicious!

We also had a couple of the native drinks that reminded me of a sparkling fruit drink. One was sweet (Moof Juice), the other a bit tangy (Sour Sarlacc). The final place to eat is Ronto's Roasters. They have a few different meats wrapped up that are very tasty according to my guide. We were both so full from lunch that we decided we would dine at Ronto's next time. By the way, these places have worked out a deal with other travelers and will gladly take your dining snack credits, should you have them!

Finally, we made our way to the Droid Depot and to Savi's Workshop. The depot is a shop were you can purchase parts to build your own interactive droid! There are many different body styles and colors to choose from and the droids are really only limited by your imagination and your budget. Droids can be built for 99 credits (one credit is equal to 1 Earth dollar). But you can add on other options and really personalize your droid. For those with a much larger bank account than mine, you can purchase a life-sized R2-D2 working driod for 25,000 credits! Unfortunately, we were not able to get into Savi's workshop and build a light saber this trip. But I hope to be able get a reservation on my next trip!

All said, Galaxy's Edge is very cool! Like I mentioned at the beginning, it is a Star Wars fan's dream come true! But, and I hate to admit this, for someone who is not a big fan of the Star Wars stories or movies, this land will be a "It was cool and fun, but I would not spend a lot of time there" type of place. Once the Rise of the Resistance attraction opens in Dec, my fear is that those that are not die-hard fans, will only visit GE for the rides and maybe some of the cuter merchandise for sale in the Marketplace. But, that's ok. For me, I was geeking out the entire time I was on-planet!

About Our Blogger:

Mike Kuzy is a Disney Travel Planner with Wishdrawals Travel. You can reach Mike via email to plan your next Disney vacation!