By TREVIN BRANDT
Staff Writer
Ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilms in 2012, they have been hard at work to deliver an experience unlike anything else within the StarWars Universe. In 2015, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens released with high praise from fans and critics alike. However much more recently something very BIG happened for the Star Wars community. On May 31st 2019 Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, the incredibly immersive new land addition to Disneyland opened. Last weekend, I finally got my chance to visit this galaxy far far away. I can assure that it is unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life!
Immersion/Attention to Detail: There is a reason people say Disneyland and Disney World are magical places. It is because they actually care about getting all the little things perfect to enhance your experience! These “things” can come in the form of blaster marks in the walls, burn marks on the banners over the entrance, or even just the way the cast members talk! I could write ten whole pages just listing the small intricate details that make the experience immersive. All three entrances to the land are tunnels as to obscure your view of the rest of Disneyland from inside the land. This means that the moment you enter the land, you are no longer in Disneyland, or even planet earth. You are in Battu, more specifically Black Spire Outpost (unless you are entering from Critter Country), one of the First Order’s camps flooded with stormtroopers. Obviously the entire land is masterfully designed as a rocky, dusty, grey environment with a marketplace very reminiscent of Tatooine. The characters in costume and employees selling food, drinks, or merchandise are all in character. Everything they say and do is an attempt to sell you into believing you are nowhere near Earth, and instead are on Battu. For example, the currency of Galaxy’s Edge is US Dollars, however everyone there calls it “Space Credits”, Stromtroopers in Black Spire Outpost will ask guests wielding lightsabers where they got them as they are unbeknownst to Savi’s Workshop, a secret lightsaber building experience in Black Spire Outpost (I didn’t end up doing this because it costs 200 space credits), and even the simple intercom messages they play throughout Black Spire. Not too long after I entered the land and rushed to the line for Millenium Falcon Smuggler’s Run, a voice over the intercom informed Battu visitors to recruit as Storm Troopers for the First Order to “restore justice to the galaxy.” It was at this point that I realized I am no longer in Disneyland. I am in Battu. There is no other place in the world where this level of escapism is ensuing.
Millenium Falcon Smuggler’s Run: Currently being the only ride in the land, Smuggler’s Run gives guests the opportunity to fly the iconic Millenium Falcon from the films. The queue room is absolutely stunning! You are surrounded by machinery, buttons, switches, and other industrial objects themed directly to the ship testing room as you wait in line. Down below, you can see pilot outfits, tools, toolboxes and wires strewn about the place. Right in the center is a prototype of a ship that is being worked on by characters. After this room, you are put into a showroom where an animatronic version of the alien character “Hondo” explains your assignment of piloting the Millenium Falcon to hijack the expensive coaxium for space credits.
When you are finally at the front of the queue, you are put into groups of six and assigned a role: Pilot, Gunner, or Engineer. Engineers are in charge of pressing buttons as they flash to steal the coaxium from the ship ahead, and to fix the damage the pilots inflict on the Falcon. The Gunners, obviously are in charge of pressing a singular red button to shoot nearby ships, and the coaxium cargo open. Also at a vital part, Gunners get to shoot missiles near the end of the ride. I was a Gunner on my first ride through. It was definitely a lot of fun considering it was my first time, however it is nothing when compared to the most important job of the Falcon. The Pilots, by far the best job on the Falcon, are in charge of flying the ship. The left pilot controls right and left, and the breaks, while the right pilot controls up and down and the incredibly iconic jump to lightspeed!
On my second run, I was able to get Right Pilot. Words do not do justice to the feeling that is felt when one pulls the lever to lightspeed. Disney have outdone themselves with making you feel as if the ride is not a ride, but reality. The ride itself is very similar to the Star Tours ride in tomorrowland, where the illusion of flying is created by the motion of the room. However the Falcon ride is far superior in my opinion, because in Star Tours you feel like a viewer, where on the Falcon, every action you make has an impact on the ride. The ride can even end early if you have bad pilots that damage the falcon beyond repair! I could probably spend an entire day riding this ride and would not get bored of it, because it is always a very different experience depending on who rides it.
Currently this is the only ride this land has to offer, however on January 17th 2020, Rise of the Resistance, located on the west side of the land, will open. The ride was scheduled to open later this year, however due to complications with the trackless technology of the ride, they were forced to push its opening back. Once this ride opens, the rather quiet side of Battu (which is themed to be the secret Resistance outpost that the First Order in Black Spire is unaware of) will become much more populated and utilized.
The Star Wars Universe: One big criticism that has been going around is that Battu is based off the Star Wars sequel trilogy rather than the original or even prequel trilogy. The Star Wars fandom in general has become very divided after the widely hated Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, came out in 2017. However despite the fact that The Last Jedi definitely has a lot of problems (in my opinion), this does not dictate the quality of Galaxy’s Edge.
What Disney created was a fully immersive experience that gives fans the opportunity to enter the StarWars universe! Battu is a planet that is not even in any of the films, which makes it its own experience. If Disney had tried to replicate Tatoouine (a planet that has appeared in six Star Wars films) for example, they most likely would have missed vital details causing Star Wars fans to be even more upset. Battu is only mentioned in Solo and will hopefully not be in The Rise of Skywalker, because crossing a theme park location designed to be highly immersive and not based on any preexisting entity, with a film set would cause multiple continuity errors killing the immersion of the land.
Even though Galaxy’s Edge is based in the time period of the sequel trilogy, it is a separate since it is not in the films, and definitely feels unlike anything Star Wars or Disney have given us before. If you’re the kind of person to turn away from this beautiful land simply because it is in a time era you don’t like in the Star Wars Universe, this land isn’t for you. Like I said, I don’t really like The Last Jedi, however that by no means takes away from the quality of this beautiful land. Even the ride that is in the land isn’t directly based off the sequels. The Millenium Falcon has been in Star Wars since A New Hope in 1977. I’m sure that even if you despise the sequels with a passion, you will appreciate this land for its immersive attention to detail.
In conclusion, I definitely recommend that you visit Battu. I know that it is very expensive, but I honestly cannot wait to visit again sometime in the future, because I don’t feel like I spent as much time as I wanted there. However, I suggest that you wait until Rise of the Resistance opens in January, because from what Disney has been saying about the ride, it will be the greatest, most immersive ride experience they have ever created.