Somewhere on the edge of a galaxy far, far away is the planet Batuu. It’s a rocky planet with a small spaceport and marketplace called the Black Spire Spaceport. The New Order has occupied the area, but the Rebel Alliance isn’t far away. This is the backstory of the newest land in Disneyland, “Galaxy’s Edge.”

See video below * Spoiler Alert * :

A huge new area strewn from the old backwoods of Frontierland and Fantasyland. This land is seriously large and sprawling. From the pointed spires of the mountainous landscape to the strange adobe like the architecture of the village you are truly transported to somewhere alien and exotic.

The village and marketplace look like a mix between Mos Eisley, from the original Star Wars film, and the exotic markets of Morocco and Turkey. Inside the bazaar-style shops, you’ll find some of your favorite Star Wars creatures, and the walls are decorated with the oddest assortments of memorabilia from the movies, that’s just too bizarre to give away. You will have to check it out for yourself!

There are costumed characters from the Star Wars Universe and even strange exotic foods. From the moment we entered this land, I felt as if we were truly whisked away to some far off exotic planet. (Especially with all the Stormtroopers patrolling about, keeping the public moving along and encouraging the Darkside.)

Part of the village is the spaceport with the Millennium Falcon parked right outside. This is the entrance to the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride. We decided to try the single rider line and only waited a few minutes. We rode twice, and despite being the single rider line we were able to ride together one of the times. It just depends on the luck of the draw. Anywho, we were assigned our roles on the ship and from there you are free to explore the interior of the Falcon while you wait for your turn in the cockpit.

There’s something magical about the door sliding open and seeing the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. As I mentioned earlier, each rider is assigned something to do aboard the Falcon. There are two pilots, two gunners, and two flight engineers. This ride is akin to Star Tours in the sense that it’s a ride simulator. That’s where the similarities end though. Star Tours and other movie rides are a simulator synced to a movie and you are typically nothing but a passenger. The actions of the ride match the movie and that is all. Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run is more of a giant video game though where the movements, the movie, and the actions are controlled by YOU. That’s right, the pilots control the movement, the gunners shoot and the engineers have a slew of flashing buttons to push.

In fact, the whole cockpit is just covered in blinky lights, switches, and buttons. Being the flight engineer I had the most buttons so of course I immediately started pressing them before the flight even started. Air blew in my face and alarms sounded adding yet another level of detail and excitement. The ride itself is a noisy, chaotic absolutely delightful journey through the galaxy as you chase some crazy McGuffin and try to bring back some Coaxium. 

As cool as Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run is, it’s not the only ride in the galaxy. Disneyland has a new E-Ticket ride for the first time in years and its name is Rise of the Resistance. It’s less of a ride and more whole experience; especially waiting in line for it. You have to be signed up for the Disneyland App and physically be in the park where your tickets are scanned in and all. Then you have to get a boarding group number from the app. When your boarding number is called, then you actually get to wait in the physical line for a while. Now here’s the thing. The park opened at 9:00. We entered the turnstiles at 9:05 and checked into the app by 9:06. By then, we were already boarding group 126. We kept checking back with the app, but our boarding number wasn’t called until almost 8:00 PM that evening!  Had it been a minute later, we probably wouldn’t have gotten a chance to ride. It took an additional 30 mins or so in line before the action started.

This epic wait was worth it though as we were treated to a real experience. You start off with a brief on your mission from none other than BB8 and Rey herself. Then you head outside where there’s a small transport ship getting gassed up and prepared for takeoff. They hustle you aboard the ship and you take off. At some point, you’re intercepted by a Star Destroyer. The door flings open and you’re actually offloaded into the giant spaceship. They are New Order officers, stormtroopers, and droids that yell at you and hustle you through the ship as if you were really a prisoner of war. You hopefully get rescued by the Rebel Alliance, but first, you gotta get off the ship on a transport vehicle droid.

This is a trackless ride vehicle that can go any direction and there are multiple areas it can decide to go for a slightly different version of the ride every time. There are laser battles with giant Star Wars weapons, super cool animatronics and effects all in what is for all intents and purposes is the inside of a Star Destroyer. After some run-ins with Kylo Ren, your droid drives into an escape pod and you’re dropped back down to planet Batuu while trying to avoid the giant space battle happening outside. You’re pod lands and the droid vehicle drives out and not only are you back on Batuu but you’re even outside! It’s amazing for anyone, but for someone who knows anything about Star Wars, it’s just incredible. It’s beyond an E-ticket; its an experience!

The whole land is an incredible experience. It’s like a Disneyland within a Disneyland. A little piece of Star Wars made real for you explore. Anymore real and you’d really be there and I’m not sure you’d actually want that. 

We hope you get your own chance to seek out all the galaxy has to offer and adventure over to Disneyland to check it out! We truly had an out of this world experience, and next time we are making reservations for the Cantina!

Thanks for reading and watching our journey in this incredible new land. I love that Disneyland will never stop growing and changing, and is only limited by our own imagination and creativity.

May the Force be with you,

-Mike & Crystal Olguin

February 11, 2020