When Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge was first announced, what Star Wars fan wasn’t jumping out of their seat in excitement? An entire amusement park section dedicated entirely to Star Wars? And, man, those promotional trailers and images really hyped the place up. The set design was immaculately, the atmosphere felt just right, and seeing all of your favorite characters walking around and engaging with the park guests seemed like such a fun, tempting offer.
Entering the Star Wars world? A dream come true!
I realize now it sounds like I’m building up to some sort of huge disappointing reveal. I’m not, believe me. Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge might not be any sort of life-defining moment, but it is still pretty cool!
I managed to just recently visit Disney Hollywood Studios (wherein Galaxy’s Edge is located) on a family vacation a few weeks ago. While the entire park has its ups and downs, this article is only going to focus on my experience in Galaxy’s Edge.
For starters, the park’s touted immersion quality is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, the set design and costumes of the employees are pretty immaculate. Yes, it theoretically feels like a real Star Wars planet. But…how much like Star Wars can it feel when you’re walking shoulder-to-shoulder with several hundred other rabid Disney park visitors. On your left is a stormtrooper and an employee dressed as Rey. On your right is a gaggle of small children shoving their way through the crowd, trailed by an exhausted parent who has on Mickey Mouse ears.
The immersion just doesn’t really work. I absolutely appreciate the effort, truly. But I kind of prefer the more subdued layout of Star Tours on the other side of the park (which even has the incredible John Williams soundtrack playing through the speakers).
The immersion is heightened tenfold once you get off the main streets of Galaxy’s Edge. The shops, ride queues, and eateries are all fantastic, if you can continue to ignore the very un-Star Wars crowds of people all around you. The busyness of the park can be grating, but that’s just sort of a problem with all of Disney.
Still, I loved poking around the shops of exclusive merch, and even when I didn’t spend a cent, I was still having fun exploring the park and taking in all of the sights (I love the giant shuttle atop one of the tallest buildings, and I also liked the torturer droid using a podracer engine to heat the oven at the one restaurant). The dedication to quality even in the face of outstanding circumstances was impressive. Also, the TipYip (chicken and rice) that I had for lunch was delicious!
As a quick note, I did not attend the droid building event, the lightsaber construction experience, or the cantina show. All of these events (on top of being eye-wateringly expensive, required far advanced reservations).
But, of course, how can one not talk about the rides?
I’ll start with Smuggler’s Run, which is the ride wherein you pilot a flight simulator of the Millennium Falcon to assist Hondo in retrieving valuable supplies. Wandering the corridors of the Falcon was a delight, and the ride itself (though fairly simple in execution) still manages to be a fun and engaging experience. Every person in your group is given a job to do, and everyone works together to achieve the perfect run. Whether you blast away at enemies, steer the ship, or launch harpoons and repair hull breaches, the ride has something for everyone.
The queue line banter over the intercom was also funny, and I loved the Hondo animatronic. I mean, I love anything with Hondo, I suppose, but that’s beside the point.
The crown jewel of Galaxy’s Edge is undoubtedly Rise of the Resistance, which is probably the greatest amusement park ride that I have ever been on.
Like all Disney rides, it opens with a lengthy and immersive queue line that takes you through the Resistance base. After finally arriving at your destination, you are taken through a whirlwind of unforgettable craziness that I would not dare to spoil here. Visiting an expensive Disney theme park is a big ask, I understand, but if you can only visit 1 of the 4 parks, it may as well be Hollywood Studios just so you can ride Rise of the Resistance. I cannot understate how incredible, amazing, and surprising this ride is.
There were several moments where I couldn’t even begin to tell you how they made something work the way it does.
What makes the rides so great is that (as cliched as this sounds) they just ooze magic from start to finish. Honestly, I could say that same thing for the entirety of Galaxy’s Edge. The less you know about this park, the better. Try to read about as little as possible, and for my sake, watch as few videos as possible too, especially of the rides. Otherwise, you run the risk of comparing a video to the real experience, and it might lessen the magic. Embrace the magic! Let your inner child out!
Overall, my trip was a fruitful one. If you’re one the fence about visiting Galaxy’s Edge, then I’d say its worth it!
(Also, for anyone who cares, I successfully completed NaNoWriMo 2022. My novel ended up being a staggering 85,000 words long, but I still finished within November, barely! I think I’m really getting a handle on NaNoWriMo at this point, and I’m already looking forward to next year!)
The Contrarian Corner 