How much time did you spend in Galaxy’s Edge? My husband and I are going on May 4th and though my TP can account for wait times for MFSR and i can add in our Savi’s and Oga’s reservations, i’m assuming boarding passes until i hear that it’s changing, but i’m looking for an approximation for how much time to account for oo-ing and ah-ing over the immersive star wars-ness. We went to WWHP last time and i accounted two full days at Universal because i figured i’d spend so much time in the Harry Potter areas, but really i could have done both parks in a day.
I’m thinking the same for GE- that it will be so awesome and there will be so much to look at for star wars nerds that it will take up a good amount of time- enough to split HS into two days- but, am i overselling it?
I’ve paged a more experienced, greater fan than I. But while we wait for him to show . . .
I’m not really a Star Wars “fan”. I liked the original three. Not so much that I’ve watched them a zillion times. Maybe two or three in the last forty years. I’m more emotionally invested in WWOHP and Pandora.
I found SWGE a bit underwhelming. It’s more open and less intimate than I was expecting. It is essentially a shopping mall, with a couple of restaurants and a bar.
There’s definitely all kinds of stuff to look at, a lot of it inside shops and the restaurants and the bar.
You’ll probably see some characters around, too. And there are some rides.
You’ll want to see it at night and during the day, so two trips are advised.
But for general wondering aroundness? An hour? And a half?
Get the blue and green milk. If you’re on the dining plan. Mortgage your home if you’re not. They’re nice. And fun. Oga’s is fun, too. You’ll need to mortgage your home for that.
Oh, and then there’s the lightsaber and droid experiences. You’ll need to cash in your kid’s college fund for those.
DH is a Star Wars mega fan and I enjoy the movies. We spent two full days at HS. Got a boarding pass our first day, but we didn’t make rope drop on the 2nd. We loved playing with our Data Pads around the park, which took up a lot of our time. (Bring extra batteries for your phones!) We LOVED Oga’s and would have happily done it more than once but only had a reservation on one of the days. We also just enjoyed browsing the shops and eating the food there. We only did Smuggler’s Run once each day, but would have enjoyed doing it more. We just got lucky and got pilots and gunners as our first and second ride through… so we spent our time on other things. We also had to fit in the rest of HS in those two days because DH had never been. I think next time we will schedule 2 days again. And might find ourselves hopping over on other days.
My husband and I did a half day - 3:30-8pm. It was a low CL day, but we did RotR, MFSR, Docking Bay dinner, built droids, 40 minutes in Oga’s, and got to poke around some of the shops. Probably didn’t spend as much time in the shops or oohing and aahing over the replica ships and such. And we didn’t use the app at all. We then went back for a walk through with our kids later in the week. Got blue milk, saw Chewy, got harassed by stormtroopers. We probably spent 30 minutes that time? (Kids are 4 and 1 so weren’t super into it.)
So all of this to say, you can “see it all” in a few hours. But I could’ve gone back and spent a full day just hanging out because you really do feel like you’re on another planet. If you like Star Wars a lot, and it’s easy to fit in to your schedule, I’d definitely plan on being there on two different days (and @sanstitre_has_left_the_building is right - see it at day and at night) so you can experience the immersion. But you don’t “need” that much time to check all the boxes.
My family are HUGE SW fans, we were there on a CL9-10 day, spent almost all the day in it, and could not see half the things we wanted to, as the crowds were so thick you could barely move. It was crazy crowded, especially once you get past the RotR area. We did Oga’s, droid building, both rides (BG 28 and one ride on MF:SR), kids did Jedi Training and we rode Star Tours and made the cheaper lightsaber at the end of that ride. Seriously, we spent most of 8AM-6PM around the land, with short forays out to the Sci-Fi Diner and Toy Story Land. It was not enough time, and unfortunately not even that pleasant. There’s no room to move with the crowds they were getting on a non-holiday Saturday in February. I can’t imagine how it will be in summer.
As with most things Disney, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Batuu capitalizes on this.
At first, you enter the land and it’s just an Epcot World Showcase pavilion on steroids. The entrance is rather mundane (or lack of if coming from TSL). And everything just looks like mud, trees, and rocks. Then you hang around… Walk through the market, seeing small shops, as you glance to your right down the street you see stormtroopers harass someone …then you notice Rey darting around a corner…then Chewbacca moving through a crowd… you keep going until you come across the Millennium Falcon, framed by huge spires and buildings. As you’re admiring, someone brushes past you with a lightsaber clipped to their belt. Somewhere, you hear the distinct snap-hiss sound of another lightsaber igniting.
And that’s about the time you realize… that it’s not just a pavilion.
Batuu is essentially a sandbox. The whole thing is one big attraction. The datapad app, allowing you physically interact with the land’s props, makes it feel very Interactive. You can burn sooo much time doing the things in the app. The ships, the towers, and droids all actually interact with you. You can then go on missions through the land for an unseen entity and solve puzzles and even hack control panels (or swindle others who are doing the same thing).
How much time have I spent in Galaxy’s Edge? Easily Multiple full days. But it’s also a place that I can’t spend a ton of consecutive time in. It’s one of those “see and do everything you want until you get bored…then leave…then about 20 minutes later you want to go back and do it all again.”
Oga’s is fun but the crowd demand needs to rrrreally die down for it. when it’s wall-to-wall people, it’s not as fun.
MFSR is also fun, but a bit short. Still, being able to walk around in the falcon is a blast.
ROTR, as I’ve said, is growing on me. If I have to choose between it and MFSR, I’ll definitely choose Rise because it’s a longer experience and those CMs are just continually killin’ it.
Bottom Line: no one can tell you how much time you’ll end up spending there because no one knows how much you’re invested but you. BUT If I were you, I’d plan on 2 days, but have a backup handy…just in case it doesn’t float your boat (but judging from your avatar, I can’t really see that happening).
It’s the equivalent of a Space-Airport or Truckstop.
Thanks y’all for the input. I’m basically trying to gather data to decide whether we’re doing 2 days in AK or 2 days in HS (with 6 day, no PH tickets).
If we do two days, DH and I get one day to ourselves (with the 4 month old, but he doesn’t count) and then we’ll bring our 2 to with us on the second day. Fitting it into one day would mean that it’s just DH and I in the AM, and then DS would join us for the afternoon for Frozen and Lightning McQueen. This would likely mean that we miss out on GE at nighttime though. And DH is a mega fan. As in, has read all the books, watches all the movies annually (except the prequels, of course), knows the names of all the species and all the animals and all space ships and fighters etc etc.
But two days at AK would mean that I don’t have to choose between TH and Yak and Yeti, FotLK or Finding Nemo. We’d have time to really take in all the atmosphere at AK instead of going from one thing to the next.
Though, with a 2 year old in tow, I’m guessing we’ll end up doing that to a degree anyway. I have my TP, but sacrifices must be made!
Did i mention that Galaxy’s Edge is the primary reason my husband and i planned this trip 4 years ago before we had any children, and is the reason we kept this trip in our plans even though we will have a 4 month old at time of travel?
Thank you for helping to knock some sense into me when i was starting to waver from the original plan. 2 days at HS it is!
Just to further reinforce your decision, I think 2 days is good for HS. If you can park hop or do other attractions / meals / pool for parts of those days it might help you not feel bored. The attractions in GE take about 4-6 hours to experience, depending on crowds and whether you want to build a droid, lightsaber, or check out Oga’s.
I would do two days. I know for our Christmas trip, DH will do more even.
The theming is meant to be amazing in itself. However if you use the special app, all the inscriptions and signs in Aurabesch (so?) are translated - or you do it with the help of the app - which makes the whole place come to life.
And it also enhances CM interaction. If you use certain phrases in Aurabesch to them, they will respond.
Even as a very casual fan, I can see how that could make things a lot of fun.
I’d do two days in HS. My 4 year old was “meh” on AK. But LOVED the characters in HS. So the morning of our half day there, we met Bo and Woody, Jessie, rode Swirling Saucers, met Darth Vader, saw Frozen, met Frozone and Mr Incredible and Edna Mode. Then brought her (and her 1 yr old brother but he doesn’t count) back to the hotel around lunchtime. As I said before, DH and I then did Batuu that night starting around 3.
Two days later, we gave my daughter the option of going back to Epcot or HS following our breakfast at the Boardwalk and without question she chose HS. That morning, we rode Slinky Dog, met Buzz, met Mike and Sulley, met Mrs Incredible, saw Beauty and the Beast, has lunch, then met Olaf, Mickey and Minnie, walked through Batuu again, rode Toy Story Mania and Swirling Saucers before leaving.
At AK, the only thing my daughter really enjoyed was the boneyard (and Tusker House breakfast).
Of course everyone has their own opinions (kids included - I’ve heard many kids who love animals kingdom and hate character greets). For our second day, I created two morning plans (one Epcot and one HS depending on DD’s choice) and two afternoon (one MK and one AK depending on her choice). That way I had some things prepared but was flexible enough about it to “call an audible.”
If I were you, I’d plan to do two days there but make a back up AK day 2 just in case. After you do HS and AK the first time, you’ll know which route to go.
And unless FoP is your number one desire, I’d get FPs for HS for your second day since the big attractions there are more difficult to get in my opinion. I think they’d be easier to modify to AK rides than the reverse.
Thank you for the FP help! i made my 2-day AK plan and my 2 day HS plan, but wasn’t quite sure what to do about what FPs to schedule that day. I already have my dining reservations for Tusker House doubled up, depending on whether we do one day or two. We weren’t planning on doing any character meals because $$$ but I admit I’m rather curious about all the raving I’ve seen about it.
I suspect my 2 year old will be more of an observer when it comes to character meets. Neither scared nor gung ho. Just staring in awe… or carefully crafted suspicion. So I do have a few choice ones planned- Mickey Mouse at MK, Anna and Elsa at EP, Olaf at HS, and TH at AK. Our first day is MK, so if he hates the Mickey M&G, I’ll revise our plans. It’ll certainly be interesting!
Now, I just need to prepare my rationale for spending over $200 for 3 adults so we can see our little boy at a character. Wow… when I do the math, even I’m not so sure there. Though, you know, we are spending about that much for a lightsaber. So why not food?
No dining plan, but the mortgage is paid off, thankfully. All the money we’re saving from that can go toward blue milk, green milk, and Oga’s. College fund will remain untouched. Our kids are still young so they don’t cost much yet. And DH has been saving his spending cash for the lightsaber so all is well. Thank you for your insights and for paging Sir Randall!
We had fun watching the stormtroopers march around occasionally, and Rey and Chewie were out and about tinkering with ships and hiding from stormtroopers. They’d put on little sketches and sometimes talk to people. We got more attention than most because we were Disneybounding as Star Wars characters. My kids especially got a bunch of interaction. I loved soaking it all in, and there were plenty of great spots for pictures.
As long as their reading level is at about 3rd grade and/or they are familiar with star wars characters and words, they should be fine and have a blast.
My son is a big SW fan. I know nothing about it. We spent about 4 hours doing SW during our trip in January and we didn’t stop to eat a meal. We got some milk and popcorn and watched the characters that roam the land (Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Rey, Kylo). We did RotR, MFSR, ST, Jedi Training and Launch Bay. He also built a droid. While you need to be there early to get a BG for RotR, we really enjoy GE at night. Very few people. MFSR was a walk-on just before park close.
If you are a huge fan I would save almost a full day for just GE. You can do all the rides, character meets, build a droid and/or lightsaber, get a meal or two.
Just one note - so DD4 LOVES all the characters. DS1 hated the “face” characters - he was weirded out by Mickey. But he loved the princesses. So you may still consider doing Anna and Elsa even if Mickey is a bust.
Thank you for your insights and for paging Sir Randall!
