That Time I Flew the MILLENNIUM FALCON!!

It was a whirlwind of a day for sure. But let me back up to the beginning. When Disney announced the opening date of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, I was excited to say the least. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to be there. But I really thought that I might not make it into the new land that day (Toy Story Land opening had insane lines just to get in the land). So I decided if I was doing it, I was doing it alone. My boys aren’t big on standing in lines and I hated to pay $$$ for us to go and stand there and complain and not get in.

So thanks to an understanding family, I booked a Solo (get it?) trip. In all the months of planning, I kept saying I was fine if I didn’t get in. But the closer it got to the opening, the more I knew I had to get in. Disney World kept us all in the dark about how they would handle Opening Day right up until the last minute. Like literally the day before, they announced that some of the resort food courts would open at 2:30am and buses would run to Hollywood Studios at 3:30am.

Having stayed up too late the night before (I can’t leave a park before it closes), I made it to bed around midnight with my alarm set for 3am. I was at the bus stop at 3:30. The bus got there around 3:45 and we were off. There were probably 20 people on the bus but I heard at other resorts, the buses were completely full and people had to wait for the next one so I really got lucky.

I was at Hollywood Studios in line for security at 4am. By 5:05, security starting checking bags and letting guests into the park. I was into the park by 4:10. There was a huge crowd standing in the main entrance to Hollywood Studios but I never felt pushed or crowded. People were tired or on their best behavior! It was luckily still dark of course, so not too hot. By 4:30, Cast Members started leading the group towards the new land. There was no running or pushing that I could see. By 4:50, I could see the entrance to the land!

The line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is routed around the edges of the land by Cast Members. When I first saw a wait time display on Disney’s app, it was 105 minutes at 5:05am. By 6:30 it was 300 minutes. Stormtroopers provided entertainment and the time actually went pretty fast since there was so much to look at.

I hit the entrance of the ride at 7:15. By 8:20, I was given my “job” and heading into the Falcon!! I was an Engineer. Disappointed of course to not be a pilot, but I’ll just have to ride it again!

I tend to get motion sickness on Star Tours and most of the virtual rides at Universal. But this one didn’t bother me at all. I don’t know if it’s the ride itself or just because I was focusing on doing my job but it was amazing. SEEMS SO REAL. I would swear we truly took off into hyper space and completed our flight.

Our pilots weren’t the best at their job so we did a lot of damage to the Falcon. Be sure and pay attention to the hallways as you’re leaving the ride as things are different depending on how successful your flight was!

Since it was my last day at Disney World, I didn’t get to stay in the land long enough to ride again. The line was around 3 hours the entire day and I knew I wanted to see the rest of the land. I didn’t get to shop in any of stalls, but I did grab some of the cool Coke bottles (which TSA let me keep!).

I also had a reservation for Oga’s Cantina and had a really yummy blue milk. I hadn’t eaten so decided to get the only snack available there which is the Batuu Bits. Those were not my favorite at all. Next time I’ll head to Ronto Roasters for food!

All in all the land is absolutely amazing. I couldn’t tell you how many times I looked up to see if there was a Tie Fighter flying over based on the sound effects. Disney truly transports guests to another planet here.

Check out the pics from my day on Batuu below!! And I would love to help you get there to experience it for yourself. My services are FREE and the money I can help you save can be spent on a Blue Milk. Give me a call!!



How Insane was Disneyland on the Opening Day of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge??

For months (or really, years) since Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was announced, people have talked about the ridiculous lines that would be formed to get in and ride the attractions.

This pic is one of the many memes that people have come up with to depict how long the lines were going to be. This one’s for Disney World, but the expectation was the same for Disneyland.

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But Disneyland pulled off a miracle and day one of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is likely to go down in the history books as a success. The lines worked. The land largely had the capacity for the capped number of visitors. Both the physical structure and the cast were clearly ready to bring this world to life even though the second ride wasn’t yet available. Although it wasn’t empty, there was a bit of breathing room you can see in the pics below.

The main complaints on opening day were things like not being able to even enter a line for some key experiences (such as building lightsabers or visiting Oga’s) when the line got too long. There was also period of time where there was a two-hour delay on mobile food ordering at lunch.  But compared to the expectation that you would be shoulder-to-shoulder and wait hours just to enter the land, things were much better.

When Walt Disney World opened up Frozen Ever After, a boat ride themed around the Frozen franchise in the Norway Pavilion of Epcot, on opening day the wait time reached upwards of 300 minutes. The lines for the attraction stretched all throughout the park as families queued up for literally hours.

If you think that’s bad, the next year in 2017 when Disney World opened its brand new land, Pandora: The World of Avatar, the wait to just get into the new land surpassed two hours, and then once you were inside it was still another four hour wait to ride the main attraction, Flight of Passage.

So needless to say, when it was announced that Disneyland would be opening up a Star Wars land, Galaxy’s Edge, both guests — and cast members — braced themselves for the worst. This wasn’t just a single ride, it was an entire land with a dedicated and die-hard fan base already clamoring to get inside. How would Disney be able to combat the hours-long wait times that were sure to form and stretch on endlessly?

Doing something the theme park has never done before, it decided to require guests to obtain a reservation to access Galaxy’s Edge. It’s like a FastPass, but not just for a ride, but the whole land. The reservation system opened up roughly a month before its opening, and all reservations for Galaxy’s Edge were gone in a matter of hours. However, come opening day, would this actually work?

Surprisingly, yes. In a move that is now sure to be repeated again in the future (hopefully), with this reservation system in place Disney managed to keep the wait time for the one ride in the area — Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run — below 45 minutes for roughly the entire day. Honestly, that’s unheard of. Opening day of new land with a brand new attraction? A 45-minute wait?

By all accounts, this opening went incredibly smooth, it’s time to turn our attention to Disney World where its own Galaxy’s Edge is set to open August 29th, 2019. Currently, there are no plans to use a reservation system to access the new land in Orlando, Florida. Will that opening go as smoothly as Anaheim? I sure hope so as I will be there that very day! If you have any pull over any big-wigs at Disney, please convince them to do the reservation system there, too. Please! :)

Do you want to get to Disney World or Disneyland to see Star Wars? Or do you want to go and avoid that area all together? Either way, contact me!! It’s always FREE to use my services!!