We wouldn’t consider ourselves to be expert planners, but we wanted to offer our thoughts. We hope these tips can help you a little as you plan for visit to Batuu at Galaxy’s Edge. We also have a friend over at Disneyland Daily who has some great thoughts and tips. Check her site for lots of great planning ideas to maximize your time at Disneyland.
Tip 1 – Priorities
Prioritize what you want to experience before you come into Galaxy’s Edge. Decide what your ONE non-negotiable experience is before coming in. If you want to experience Oga’s Cantina then you will need to wait near the Cantina until the line opens. We didn’t wait next to the Cantina, and we never were able to get in. We went at 8 p.m., 8:20 p.m., and at 10 p.m. and were denied all three times. The Cast Member told me that if we want to get into Oga’s in the future that we will need to wait in the area near Oga’s to run into the line when it opens. If you want to build a lightsaber at Savi’s go there first (utilize your park map and/or the Disneyland app to find it).
Tip 2 – Know Where & What You Want To Eat
Mobile ordering is available in Galaxy’s Edge, but the wait time to pick up your mobile order was at approximate two and a half hours when we were in there last night. We ate at Docking Bay 7 and the line was long. I think the line wouldn’t have been so bad if we went immediately upon coming in for our time slot or waiting an hour or so before getting in line. Ronto’s smelled great (we are going there on Thursday next week) and the environment in Docking Bay 7 is incredible. We knew ahead of time that we wanted to try the Blue and Green Milk – and got them first!
Tip 3 – Smuggler’s Run
Wait two hours before riding Smuggler’s Run. Everyone went directly to Smuggler’s Run or the Cantina when we came in. The wait time for Smuggler’s Run was 90 minutes at 8:10 p.m. but was at 35 minutes at the 2 hour mark (we’ve actually seen it go lower than that, but we don’t want ot give you false hope). Go in that hour or so window before the next time slot comes in for their reservations. You can also hop in the line right at the end of your time slot, so keep that in mind. The late night time slot that we had was a little different, because we got tired toward the end of our time slot. Soak in everything you can on Smuggler’s Run. The queue is phenomenal.
Tip 4 – Pay Attention To The Details
Everywhere you walk there are sounds, sites, and things that you will miss if you just walk by too quick or are glued to your phone. The water fountain has a Dianoga that pops up out of the water as you get a drink from the drinking fountain.
There were also sounds you could hear like somebody being interrogated. The Coke flavors were all written in Aurabesh on the menu. In Docking Bay 7 you could see fresh game hanging from strings (not actually fresh…they were plastic, but that’s the look of it).
Tip 5 – When In Doubt Ask
It goes without saying that Disneyland is a busy place these days. Last night it was extremely busy at Galaxy’s Edge (even if the Park was strangely not as crowded as you’d have thought during the day). We found just about every cast member to be INCREDIBLY helpful. They also had so much joy on their faces. If you don’t know where something is – ask. If you want to know about an item – ask. They were a joy last night. The only non-positive encounter was born more out of inconsistency with what we were told by the Cantina CMs about having no chance of going in and then seeing a few people get to go in from among the people loitering about in desperate hopes of getting in. The Cast Members on the Millenium Falcon ride were awesome. The Docking Bay 7 cashier had such a big smile on her face as she took our order. They did an incredible job and are a great source of information on the fly.
Tip 6 – Watch The Fireworks
Seriously, the fireworks were breathtaking last night. It was loud (be prepared for that), but wow, what a view! We recommend finding out what time the fireworks will start and grabbing yourself a Blue Milk from the Milk Stand and/or some popcorn from Kat Saka’s Kettle to enjoy in the esplanade by the Falcon. What a great experience!
In Conclusion
Hope these tips help, if even just a little. We had the 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. time slot, so maybe that time frame has a different experience than the other time frames. We aren’t experts at planning, but felt like with all the questions we got last night on our Instagram Story that we should write this post. Thanks for reading!