An Honest Opinion of Star Wars Galaxys Edge (Including Smuggler's Run)

Ahhh Star Wars. Sarah here, and I thought I would give you guys a my honest opinion of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland. Now we are definitely a Star Wars family! My husband and I both grew up with the original movies (and eventually the more embarrassing attempt of the prequels) and both my children LOVE all things Star Wars! So you can imagine our excitement at being able to visit Batu for the first time not quite a month ago. When you walk into the land, you really do feel as if you've entered another world. The details are insane! They did an amazing job at immersing guests into this fictional world and making them feel light-years away from the rest of Disneyland. That being said, I have to admit that I was slightly underwhelmed. I know that part of that was because Smugglers Run is the only attraction open. My opinion might alter a bit once Rise of the Resistance (which looks amazing) opens in January. However as of now, I felt like there really wasn't much to do in Batuu.

Now my opinion of Smuggle's Run might be a bit unpopular, though recently I have found several who agree with me. Smugglers Run was fun...but I still like Star Tours a lot better! So on our trip we rode Smugglers Run three separate times. The ride is interactive, meaning that your team is partly responsible for how the ride goes. You have two pilots, who obviously pilot the Falcon, two gunners, who's job it is to shoot down enemy ships, and then two engineers who are responsible for fixing anything that the pilots break. I got to be a pilot twice and an engineer once. Both positions were pretty fun, though being a pilot came with more pressure. Star Tours wins in my vote for the simple fact that it has more variety. After riding Smugglers run a few times I didn't really want to ride it again because it was pretty much always the same. Star Tours for me is more entertaining simply for the fact that it changes. There are always different worlds to fly through and I'm not distracted by my responsibilities as a crew member of the Millennium Falcon. Now is it worth the wait time? Absolutely! You definitely need to ride it at least once, but once or twice might be enough during your trip.

Now for the rest of Batuu, like I mentioned before the atmosphere is really pretty amazing. I definitely suggest going at night when things are all lit up and magical. However aside from Smugglers Run there isn't really much to do unless you want to spend a lot of money! Building a light saber will set you back a wopping $200 and building a droid will cost you $100. So if these aren't in your budget then you can wander the shops or try some of the more exotic food options. Oga's Cantina has a fun vibe but you'll need to make reservations before you go (up to 60 days in advance). Everyone's been talking about the blue or green milk, but for $8 a cup we decided we can skip on choosing to be either team blue or team green on this trip. Now the characters walking around are pretty fun. It's always entertaining to see the Storm Troopers interrogate people, however we went there during the day and at night and we never saw any of the other characters reputed to being around.

So the next time you go to Disneyland, definitely make an effort to go to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge but keep in mind that it might not quite live up to your inner-geek's expectations! Remember that Rise of the Resistance opens up on January 17th and looks like it will be pretty epic!