My Experience inside Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Ever since the announcement that the Walt Disney Company was buying Lucas Film have I been waiting for a Star Wars Land to come to life. I have been a Star Wars fan since I was very young, I remember watching the movies on TV by myself and dreaming of heading on some amazing adventure across the galaxy aboard the Millennium Falcon.

I had been counting down the months, days and hours until I could step foot inside Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Destiny had my back when my daughter got cast to work at the Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run attraction and we got into a slot for the Cast Member Preview.

In a very condensed form (because I could write about this for hours) the land does not disappoint. It is absolutely beautiful, so many details each way you turn. It also feels much larger than what I had anticipated, there are so many Easter Eggs for Star Wars fans to find, and the level of immersion is out of this World (pun intended).

The only attraction at this moment, is Smugglers Run, nothing like stepping inside the cockpit of the Falcon and being a Pilot, Gunner or Engineer, helping Hondo on his mission to steal some coaxium while encountering some real problems with the First Order. You get ranked on how well you did, and the re-rideability aspect is there, because you want to get better at it each time you step inside the “hunk of junk”.

The food and merchandise is varied, you can find items anywhere from $5 all the way to hundreds of dollars. Everything is geared specifically for the land, completely immersed in the Black Spire story. The Batuuans (Cast members that work inside Galaxy’s Edge) all have backstories. This was actually a favorite aspect of mine. I got to talk with many citizens and they shared where they were from, what the did, and what they want to do in their future.

We saw characters roaming the entire time we were there. We had some great interactions with Rey and Vi Moradi, and saw Chewbacca and Stormtroopers walking around. These are not your typical meet and greets, but they are just going about their day and you can approach and have a quick chat with them before they have to continue on.

Once the Play Disney app opens up it is going to bring an entire new level to your visit. There are so many places to use the app, and discover, hack, translate, that I could probably easily spend a couple of hours just playing with it.

All in all, I say it’s a great representation of a new Star Wars land, from casual to hard core fans will be happy exploring and creating your own Star Wars story. I cannot wait to be able to go back.

May The Force Be With You