Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Opening Weekend Recap
In our Star Wars: Galaxy Edge Review, we indicated that we’d follow up once we had a chance to experience the new land under normal operating circumstances. In this post, we’ll do exactly that. We’ll also share new photos and thoughts about opening weekend crowds at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in this mostly spoiler-free update.
In response to our largely glowing review of the new land, many of you expressed doubt. When it comes to commentary out of media previews, healthy skepticism is natural and appropriate. After all, attendance is artificially limited and Disney is attempting to present the new experiences in the best possible light. I’m similarly incredulous, and tried to discount certain things when covering them.
We’ve now spent more time in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as regular guests, riding Smugglers Run, eating…pretty much everything, dropping money on merchandise I never knew we “needed,” and further exploring the land. In so doing, we’ve found that our opening weekend experience with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was superior to the preview…
Before I get into the why of that, I also want to preface this with a disclaimer that (at least) some of this should also be discounted a bit. Disneyland is treating the reservations period as a soft opening, and entrance to Galaxy’s Edge over the weekend was limited below actual capacity. We’re told that the number of reservations offered gradually increases, so it’ll be interesting to see how well Galaxy’s Edge is handling crowds in a few weeks.
In addition to the restricted entrance to Galaxy’s Edge, or perhaps in part because of it, crowd levels at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have been below average all weekend. The bigger factor here is probably all of the warnings and fear-mongering about congestion at the parking structure, bag check, and in the parks. We played a role in said fear-mongering, and we definitely got it wrong. I’m still a bit shocked at just how wrong we were.
Despite a lack of Annual Passholder blockouts, locals without Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge reservations largely stayed at home. Tourists who didn’t already have trips to California booked when the opening date was announced have avoided these travel dates. Even those “adorable” eBayers (pictured above) mostly didn’t bother, as Disney finally instituted strict purchase limitations.
We’ll have more commentary on the lack of crowds in the next few days, as it has been an interesting phenomenon. We don’t want to jump to any premature conclusions about what it could mean. Our initial reaction is that this reinforces what we predicted for September in our 2019 Walt Disney World Crowd Predictions Post-Star Wars Land.
The end result has been a blissful weekend at Disneyland. Truly one of our best experiences at Disney California Adventure and Disneyland in years. We covered much of this in our Live Trip Report: Star Wars Land Opening Day post, but since most of that was written hastily on my phone, I’ll better elaborate here.
Throughout the entire weekend, we have encountered no lines at bag check. After some miserable experiences with bag check at Disneyland the last couple of years, I was terrified for the bag check process post-Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. To Disneyland’s credit, they’ve expanded the bag check area, and a no bags line seems to be permanent on the Harbor Boulevard side.
We’ve been through bag check at all times of the day (over a dozen times) in the last week, and have never waited more than 5 minutes. We’re talking a better bag check experience than Epcot’s International Gateway in the middle of the day, which is quite the turnaround as Disneyland’s bag check process has been far worse than Walt Disney World’s for a while. (We’ve only parked at Mickey & Friends a couple of times, but it’s been smooth sailing there, too.)
Lines at the turnstiles have largely been good, too. The process of Cast Members at the turnstiles taking guest photos can back things up–especially when it happens with several guests in succession–but our waits at the turnstiles have likewise been minimal.
Thus far, the Star Wars “crowds” haven’t really put the Project Stardust changes to the test, but what we witnessed and reported on pre-Galaxy’s Edge holds true here. Between MaxPass and the low crowds, touring Disneyland has been a breeze. In particular, waits have been abnormally low in Fantasyland, with Peter Pan’s Flight frequently posting an under 30 minute wait throughout the day. You’ll often encounter a longer line for that ~10 minutes after rope drop.
We’ve had a couple of chances to experience Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge over the weekend. (Huge thanks to the TouringPlans team for including us on their hotel reservations.) To our surprise, the reservation process from check-in at Launch Bay to entering the land itself has been smooth sailing. Any other theme parks planning to open a land based upon Star Wars in the near future should simply copy this system.
We were really apprehensive about this whole process, especially as it seemed like Disneyland was racing to figure out the system on the fly, releasing sporadic nuggets of info in the lead-up. To its credit, Disney got this system right (for the most part) and all of the pieces of the puzzle came together shockingly well. (It’s worth noting here that we’ve seen Phil Holmes and other members of WDW leadership throughout the weekend; hopefully they are learning some ops lessons for DHS.)
The biggest improvement in the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge experience is that the land is now alive with guests and even more streetmosphere performers. In our review, I commented that the land’s design had a lived-in quality to it. Now, it has that, plus a sense of life from guests. There is an excitement and energy in the air, with a constant stream of Star Wars fans geeking out over seeing this or that for the first time.
This was a sharp contrast to the hurried and anxious feeling of attendees at the preview who had to get footage and content prepared before their deadlines. Many of you commented on my ’empty’ land photos from the preview–in actuality, it was far from empty. That was just patience and careful photo composition to conceal what was basically a working ‘on-location’ television set.
As a photographer, the glowing lightsabers all over Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge present a real challenge. As a guest who appreciates kinetic energy (and new lightsaber owner myself), I absolutely love them. Seeing groups pose for PhotoPass or have faux battles is more amusing than it should be.
Likewise, the impromptu droid “rumble” I witnessed over by the restrooms was hilarious and entertaining. Technically, droids aren’t allowed to be placed on the ground, but thankfully this seems like a ‘wink and nod’ rule that is currently not being enforced. Watching a bunch of droids beep, interact, and crash into one another makes me hope ‘real’ droids make an appearance here in the future.
Your mileage may vary on how much this type of thing actually enhances the land for you. As someone who can measure the amount of time I’ve spent watching ducklings and cats this weekend in hours rather than minutes, this is all oddly mesmerizing for me. Seeing the sense of unbridled joy in other guests as they experience and partake in the land is contagious.
Conversely, I also love straggling behind and being among the last guests out of Galaxy’s Edge. First, because the land is beyond beautiful at night. (I already praised the rock-work, but the lighting package deserves a big “assist” as it’s next level.) Second, because the sounds you hear and details you notice when few others are around enhance the land in a different way.
On a different note, Smugglers Run is growing on me. It’s not like my Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run Review was overly critical to begin with, but I’ve enjoyed the gameplay more with each subsequent ride. (Except engineer–that position is boring.)
My biggest change of heart is on the pilot position, which I now absolutely love, and hope for every single ride. Her first time being pilot, Sarah was having an audible hoot. When I asked at the end if it bothered her that we did poorly, she exclaimed, “who cares–that was so much fun!”
For what it’s worth, none of the strangers in our crew cared in the least. They were doing the Play Disney Parks app and wanted to be in the other positions, as it’s (apparently?) easier to do better via the app in those roles. Something I neglected to mention in my review is that each position has its own score; it’s semi-collaborative, but you’re not only as good as your crew’s weakest link. If you’re open to it, “failure” is actually a lot of fun, too.
By far the most fun we had on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run was when our party made up an entire flight crew. Even with strangers, we’ve had some fun ‘trial by fire’ communal bonding missions. Our actual waits for the attraction have been about 5-30 minutes. (Also, if you do Single Rider, always go left at the stairs–no one is going that way for some reason.)
Not everything has been perfect. The two super low capacity experiences that are going to be huge draws for years to come–Savi’s Workshop and Oga’s Cantina–have been shaky and inconsistent in terms of their reservations/entry processes. The goal for each has been to allow as many people from each time slot to access these things, but without disadvantaging subsequent time slots.
Knowing this, we prioritized these, lining up early for our reservations and racing to each location. With Oga’s Cantina, this approach was a great success. An iPad-wielding Cast Member was taking down guest info, and the line moved quickly–our wait was under 20 minutes. (Our group ordered everything, so we’ll review all the drinks at some point. For now, my recommendations are the non-alcoholic Blue Bantha and alcoholic Fuzzy Tauntaun.)
Others with whom we’ve spoken have reported a more disorganized, free-for-all situation at Oga’s Cantina. That’s pretty much exactly what we experience at Savi’s Workshop. Communication and crowd management were poor, and a lot of time was wasted. After waiting a while, we did receive a return time, but that could’ve been handled far better.
The good news is that, per reports from today, Oga’s Cantina is now using a text reservation system to further minimize waiting in line. We hope the same happens with Savi’s Workshop. And in fairness to the Cast Members, this is still a soft opening with test and adjust ongoing. Moreover, some Cast were being overwhelmed by rude/entitled guests, which also didn’t help matters. (The other good news is that both Oga’s and Savi’s are fantastic on a substantive level…but more on that in our full reviews.)
It’s tough to pull ourselves away from Disneyland with such low crowds, but we’re probably going to spend some of the next few days hitting up favorite spots in LA and Laguna. After carrying ~25 pounds of camera gear on my back for the last week, I’m ready for a bit of decompressing.
Overall, my strong first impression of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is only getting stronger with more time spent in the land–and we both still feel like we haven’t done so much. We’ll be holding off on more thorough/granular Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge posts for now. Our goal is quality reviews rather than hasty but quick ones. (I already regret some of my initial reactions to Smugglers Run now that I’ve experienced it more.) I need to collect my thoughts so future posts aren’t simply stream-of-consciousness rambling…and edit the thousands of photos I’ve taken already.
If you’re planning on visiting the new land, you’ll also want to read our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Guide. This covers a range of topics from basics about the land and its location, to strategically choosing a hotel for your stay, recommended strategy for the land, and how early to arrive to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to beat the crowds. It’s a good primer for this huge addition.
If you’re preparing for a Disneyland trip, check out our other planning posts, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, tips for booking a hotel (off-site or on-site), where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
Your Thoughts
Have you visited Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge yet? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of opening weekend? What’s your favorite thing about Star Wars Land? Are you hoping Walt Disney World utilizes some of the crowd-control methods that have worked at Disneyland? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Grrr… Kicking myself for cancelling our reservations this weekend fearing crowds. Just rebooked for June 21-23 at Grand Californian. Hoping they don’t “ramp” up the crowd level too much! We’ve never been to DL this far into summer. Hoping the AP blockouts and the fear of crowds keeps the levels down! Especially since my “basic” room at DGC is $729/night!
thanks tom, i have very much enjoyed reading your reviews. i have followed as much as i can on social media this week. my thoughts are disneyland’s reservation system gave them picture-perfect PR. very few, if any problems reported with the reservation check in or use. the cantina and lightsaber being the only real lines within the land, which you mentioned.
“(It’s worth noting here that we’ve seen Phil Holmes and other members of WDW leadership throughout the weekend; hopefully they are learning some ops lessons for DHS.)” I am hoping with everything I can that DHS is taking serious notes on how to open SWGE in florida. i just can’t imagine them opening it up for everyone at once. you won’t have people reporting single digit wait times for Smuggler’s. lines for the cantina and lightsabers will skyrocket 5 minutes after the park opens and you’ll still have people in the park an hour after closing waiting their turn depending on when the line gets capped.
people will not enjoy themselves in august in florida without a reservation system of some kind. you won’t have people with happy reports, because people will be so jammed in they won’t be able to see or enjoy the land. lines will be astronomical all day, in the hot august weather on top of everything. yes, more hotels in florida, but resort guests deserve something aside from 3 hours at 6am, which don’t start immediately upon opening anyway (especially those who tried booking a trip months before SWGE opening was announced). there has got to be a springboard of some kind for them to implement some sort of fair system where you snag some sort of timed window, otherwise DHS will not have the same good PR disneyland is experiencing. not even close. guests will have a miserable time and won’t be shy about sharing it on social media.
I whole heartedly concur with this and as a fellow DHS traveler who by sheer luck will be there on opening day I am actually hoping that DHS takes a page from Disneyland and I am more than happy to opt to purchase a special Maxi Pass reservation if they wish to offer it to Florida Disney resort guests because what you say is very true. No One will be happy otherwise as no one staying in the resorts will get in ..the overnight parkinglot campers will. I feel like if they were smart they would offer some kind of early entry to resort guest who wish to purchase them as a sneak peek/soft opening trial because I too thought it strange that the EXTRA EXTRA MAGIC Morning Hours did not start until Sept 1. They are going to need to do something and hopefully the success of this past weekend event will convince them that DHS needs something similar to prevent utter chaos.
if disney wants bad PR, they are setting themselves up for some for sure, and everyone will be left wondering, “hey, why didn’t they do what they did in california? it worked great!”. they need to offer reservations in the same fashion for the same length of time, 3ish weeks, then go from there. to not is asking for disaster.
but i disagree with it being a charged feature. that would be wholeheartedly unfair to resort guests who are already spending an arm and a leg. they could offer a limited number of those to offsite guests i suppose, but resorts guests should have priority access included.
Florida may implement the same virtual queue system for crowd control that Anaheim will start using in a few weeks, but they are NOT going to do the reservations thing. They wouldn’t have made a big announcement about the daily 6am Extra EMH if you needed a reservation to get into the land…
Keep in mind that the only reason Anaheim did the reservation thing at all was because the land opened 3 weeks ahead of schedule, which means 3 weeks before the summur blockouts start for the lower-tier annual passes. The reservation system wasn’t to make life great for those who get a reservation, it was to keep 100,000+ SoCal APs from descending on the resort all at once.
i get it. the infrastructure out there dictated it as such. but it has worked out so well. if DHS doesn’t offer something and just opens it up as a free-for-all, it’s going to be an epic disaster and people will hate it.
it really doesn’t matter if DHS is larger- SWGE is the exact same size, so why should people visiting WDW have to suffer because 100,000+ people will be descending on DHS in the same way? it doesn’t matter. the reservation system is fair to everyone.
All the hype of crowds before the grand opening reminded me so much of “Carmageddon” when I lived in LA in 2011. Airlines were offering cheap flights from Burbank to Long Beach because people thought the roads would be so bad. Turns out it was a ghost town after all the media induced fear (albeit a legitimate one) of overcrowding. I was wondering if something like this would happen. I am so interested to see how this will play out at WDW now!
So what are your thoughts for visiting Disneyland in September?
It will be VERY busy on the weekends in September (busier than summer weekends), but the weekdays shouldn’t be too bad. However, regardless of general crowd levels in the resort, SWGE itself will be packed indefinitely. Whenever you go, if you want to see SWGE, it will be critical to arrive early in the day to get yourself into a lower-risk boarding group.
What is your feeling on how Disney will handle the boarding pass system? Or more clearly…are they going to allow this land to get packed. I’ve seen some pretty ugly photos of WWOHP and even Cars Land packed with visitors. If they limit the boarding pass number somewhat they could keep things enjoyable in the land for folks. But will Disney actually do this?
Did you build your own lightsaber?
Always appreciate your reviews- it helped us tremendously a couple of years ago with our first visit to WDW. We will be going to Disneyland in October (for the first time-we usually go in May) for the Halloween party and Galaxy’s Edge, along with all the other Fall break people. Hoping that the party will draw some crowds away from SWGE so we can go at night.
LOL. I was watching a youtube review from Dis Unplugged and caught you and Sarah ordering at Dock Bay 7 and eating in what looks to be a cargo pod! I was like hey wait I know who that is! I have never see so many people doing reviews compared to anything in the past. Totally off topic question but like me and others that have been reading your reviews and information for a long time. We all know what you and Sarah look like. How may times do you get stopped a day by people that recognize you at the parks???
I had an 8-midnight reservation on Saturday, June 1. We got to the park early in the morning expecting long waits for everything and were shocked at how “empty” it was. My friends and I literally had one of our best days at Disney ever, and then capped it off with a great experience at GE. Our longest wait in the day was for the Cantina (a little over an hour) and we literally walked on Smuggler’s Run at 10:30 pm, rode it, got off, and got right back on. It was craaazy. So unexpected and so awesome!
I must have missed something, but do y’all not live in SoCal anymore?
My family and I were visiting LA for the weekend and my husband and I kept saying how we should’ve gone to Disneyland since there weren’t any crowds! Such a rare occurrence these days.
I was wondering the same thing. I guess they’re in Orlando now…hopefully surviving the heat!
We were in the parks May 30-June2. We are AP holders (not sure which one-we are only blocked two weeks at Christmas) from Las Vegas. We had Reservations for SWGE on June 1. I was pleasantly surprised at the low attendance at the parks, although in the back of my mind I really thought this might be the case, with local APs blocked and cast members blocked indefinitely. Gorgeous weather and no crowds made for a spectacular week.
We queued up for SWGE and I have to admit, I almost bolted out of there! It was SO CROWDED! I usually don’t feel claustrophobic but I totally get it now and feel badly for those who suffer from this malady. It took about 40 minutes for the crowd to disperse to a comfortable level. We made our way to Smuggler’s Run and waited about 50 minutes. In our party of four, my husband and son were Gunners and my daughter and I were Engineers. I was told that Engineers didn’t do anything, but at the last second I read the card and saw that we did have a part to play. Ok then, I’ve gotta push buttons when they light up! Better than just sitting there! It was actually really fun!
We walked around trying to figure things out. I liked that nothing is marked with neon signs telling you what things are. It totally gave me a sense of being lost in a new land. We also did some shopping and gave up many credits on things I didn’t know I needed! I love the cast members in character. I caught on pretty quickly and I think I even stumped a cast member in our conversation! It was a lot of fun! We tried some flavored popcorn and got a couple sodas in the cool, new containers, mostly for a souvenir!
We returned to Smuggler’s Run for a second time with a 10 minute wait! This time my daughter and I were pilots! OMGOSH! So intense! Everyone yelling! It was crazy fun! So interactive and like nothing else! I’m looking forward to being gunner next trip!
We had downloaded the Play app but didn’t find the time to figure it out to use in the land. I was just in awe of the place. So hard to wrap my head around how this place was made. I agree with you, the best attraction of SWGE is the land itself! You are literally transported to another galaxy.
We chose not to wait for Oga’s. The line was super long, then closed. So maybe next week when we go back, we will try again.
I’m hoping that the low crowds continue during the reservations period. We will be back on the 12th and the 24th. I’m sure there will be a huge difference!
This land will be the biggest attraction for the next decade, at least!
I will forever be kicking myself for not going this week. Even without getting into SWLGE, I quite enjoy an empty Disneyland. I hear that Cast is not allowed to come in now all summer, and I gotta wonder if that’s making a bigger impact than AP blocks?? Because even with AP blocks, Memorial weekend 2018 was empty but manageable and I know I heard lots of CM’s were there just in passing conversation. I appreciate that Disney let’s the employees do that, but maybe they need a better CM block system in place too for crowd control?
We were there on May 31st. Love the low crowds at Disneyland! I couldn’t believe the no security lines when we arrived after an early flight from Sacramento. And no ride ride wait times–amazing.
That said, queueing up to get onto SWGE was not fun–but once in, it was amazing.
My daughter has special needs, and we were able to use the DAS pass for her for Smugglers Run… which meant a walk on ride for us. She was able to pilot the Falcon. I was also to be thd pilot, but bowed out to let other fellow travelers enjoy that fun.
My daughter & I thoroughly enjoyed SWGE. Being a Star Wars fan since 1977, this area did not disappoint. My daughter especially appreciated Kylo-Ren’s personal attention to her.
Thank you for the excellent coverage! I am looking forward to seeing how the land works when it’s open to everyone. Also, I think your first take review of smugglers run is very useful for those of us not visiting the land during the reservation period. I can’t imagine I’ll get to ride it more than once when I do make it or there, so your initial impression seems pretty valid to me.
I had to leave before my time was up at noon in Star Wars Land. How do they ensure that the first group is completely cleared out after the expired time? (besides the obvious color coded wristbands to catch stragglers). With two groups mixed together already, it seems messy. If you are in line for merchandise do they allow you to go past the end time?
Does your recommended touring plan differ from AM to PM groups?
I think there’s some leniency in the overlap, especially in restaurants and stores.
In Savi’s, Oga’s, and Smugglers Run (basically, where it counts), there is no flexibility. Those lines get cut. You should prioritize them in that order, but be warned that it’s pretty much impossible to do Oga’s and Savi’s in the same window.
Your reviews are always the best out there, and your photos are stunning! I am happy to see the Cantina reservations are improving. We had gone there around 9am opening day to get in line, and were turned away. They told us to come back later and keep checking for a new queue to open up, but would not allow us to get in line (to keep the area from overcrowding). That seemed strange to us since it was so early, but we did as were told. I came back again a little later, and still was told it was closed for the time being. Then at 10:00am I stopped by again and could overhear a group of people that were not very happy, asking questions about the closure to cast members. They told us it was a complete closure of the attraction, with two hours left of our time still. This was very confusing to all the people trying to get in since we were rejected so many times that morning, and we didn’t realize the next group was going to overlap with us at 11:00am. Some cast members were rather indifferent to the guests with almost no explanation when questions and disappointment were expressed. So there was two sides to the story from what I witnessed. By luck they opened a new line soon after we arrived, but we almost missed out completely on the experience. They need to shorten the time allowed inside. I would have been happy with 15-30 minutes maximum since it was just drinks.
That’s really unfortunate. I’ve read/heard similar with Oga’s, and that’s really frustrating. Hopefully it’s fixed–or at least the system is better–with the return text messages.
I was so shocked at how empty it was! I was unable to get reservations as I couldn’t get it to work, it kept timing out when I was making them. 🙁 My kid and I are pretty bummed as we’re big Star Wars fans (my husband, he couldn’t care less!).
I am expecting it to be a meteoric sh*tshow June 24th, but maybe not if this trend continues. I think we may hit up the parks soon anyhow considering the crowd levels would make it such an enjoyable visit.
BTW I love your blog. Planning our fifth WDW trip this August (alas before SWGE opens there) and it’s been super helpful for us to figure out what restaurants we want to try that we’ve never eaten at before! Especially Flame Tree, we always miss it and I am always upset with myself for missing delicious BBQ.
“I am expecting it to be a meteoric sh*tshow June 24th, but maybe not if this trend continues.”
I am expecting the same, but at this point, I’m not going to make any hyperbolic predictions. This weekend has taught me better.
I sure hope so as I plan on going the 24th. Pray for me and all the other crazy people. Ha.
Thanks for your blog, been enjoying it for years. 🙂 Also your sense of humor is A+.
We are Deluxe APs – Vegas locals, so we do somewhat have to plan visits ahead of time. We originally considered using today and tomorrow to do a last visit before our summer blackout, but once we got the Galaxy’s Edge opening dates we decided against it. When I looked at the app today at 3:30 and saw a 5 minute wait for Splash Mountain and 45 minutes for Radiator Springs, I had to just laugh. The crowds were SO crazy in May, it is very clear what everyone was trying to do! We will be visiting Galaxy’s Edge with the rest of the masses in September so I’ll be curious to see if the queuing system works as well as the reservations system has seemed to so far. It has been super fun to live vicariously through you and the rest of the Disney blog community this weekend so thanks for doing everything you do in the name of research! 🙂
“The crowds were SO crazy in May, it is very clear what everyone was trying to do!”
It also didn’t help that the super-discounted tickets all expired in late May. A lot of locals bought those and used them at the last minute.
Well, when you grow a uterus, then you can have a say.
After two years Flight of Passage is still usually a minimum of 2 hours standby during ALL times of year as is Seven Dwarfs mine train and that’s been what – 5 years open? Insanity. It’s crazy to think it won’t be the same for SWGE and especially when Rise finally opens. It’s delusional to think otherwise.
Both of those have long waits, but also fluctuate pretty significantly (right now, for example, Mine Train is a 50 minute wait). We’ve seen Flight of Passage with a 60 minute wait some days, and others with a 180 minute wait–that’s a significant difference.
In any case, the point here is less about the long term and more about the immediate aftermath of opening. Clearly, people are avoiding Disneyland right now, and that it’ll be interesting to see whether the same continues to occur throughout the summer–or in Florida the first month or so Galaxy’s Edge is open.
Long term, I don’t think there’s much doubt that both Galaxy’s Edge attractions will average wait times in the triple digits.
Thanks for your reviews Tom. Love your photos. Do you think they are going to continue with an extended reservation period when the current one ends?? Have you heard any rumors or been given any indication this may happen?? I’ve booked my non refundable flights and 6 nights at a non disney hotel within a 12 minute walk of the park. I cant afford to pay ten times as much to stay in a disneyland hotel. I’ve booked this trip specifically to see Galaxys Edge and am hoping the Resistance ride may even be open by the time I arrive mid September. I dont mind lining up at the park a couple hours before opening in the morning if I must in order to get into Galaxys Edge but, I’m afraid they may extend the current reservation system, in which case, if I cant get a reservation, I will have travelled all that way not to even get into Galaxys Edge, which would be extremely dissappointing.
“Do you think they are going to continue with an extended reservation period when the current one ends??”
No, they definitely are not. Here’s what’s taking its place: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/star-wars-land-boarding-pass-system/
The good news for you is that mid-September is the heart of off-season, and the boarding pass system should give a level playing field to everyone. Just be sure to arrive EARLY (at this point, I’d recommend aiming for one hour before park opening each day, but that advice is subject to change) and use MaxPass.
It probably won’t be as dead as it was this weekend, but you could theoretically visit Galaxy’s Edge at least once per day of your trip!
That’s great news! Thanks for the advice.