Sporktastic Travel: Disneyland -- Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

Since I had last been at Disneyland, two completely new lands had been added, far beyond the normal updates and refurbishments. Galaxy's Edge would be the one that got the most hype, so I will just start there.

I admit I did not love it, but I am also not insensible to its charms.

It may help to add that a big part of my love for amusement parks is the rides, and that there are only two in Galaxy's Edge. Getting to go on those rides is also a lot of work, in terms of wait times and ground traveled. You have to walk a long way, first to get to the land, and then to get to the rides in the land, and the rides are at opposite ends.

I will say that there is a way in which that works, in that once you cross over to the Star Wars side, you are totally immersed in it.

There are other things you can do, like tracking down bounty hunter targets with the app or checking out some R2 units, but I was there to go on rides.

But walking past the Millennium Falcon and then going onto it is pretty cool. It made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, you know.

You can sit at the chess table, though there is not time for a game.

You have to go off and attempt to make the Smuggler's Run.

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run was my favorite of the two rides, but I only have pictures from the lead in, because after that we were two busy.

You need six people on every ride: two pilots, two engineers, and two gunners. Because of that number, going single rider can be a great option (and Julie and I ended up on the same run anyway). The interactivity where you are trying to get your job done well in a way makes it harder to take in the details, but was also pretty thrilling.

I would go again, and I would go single rider every time, unless I happened to be there with exactly six people, I guess.

I will note that there are other ships in other locations, but even if I am not the biggest Star Wars fanatic, that movie was huge for me when it came out, and there is a thrill to seeing the Falcon there. I am not a hater, by any means.

But again, Galaxy's Edge was just a lot of effort, and I am not sure that the payoff was enough.

That is especially true for the other ride, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

The detail is amazing, and one of the things they do that aids in the immersion is that where you get on and where you get off are completely different; it's like you really have traveled somewhere.

That is probably part of why the ride is set so far off, though some of that is probably also to accommodate really long lines. It was the first Disney line I have ever been in that actually had places intended for seating, as well as fans built in.

There is a ton to look at, and it is all interesting, and there is an extent to which you know you are at Disneyland and expect the long lines.

But then starting the line has other lines.

You get on a shuttle, and then you get captured, so you line up as prisoners and get into another craft as part of your rescue, and it just keeps going!

All our new friends are there: Finn, Rey, Po. Nien Nub is there, surprisingly, and Bek, a Mon Calamari who is NOT Admiral Ackbar, but you think of him.

You even see an AT-AT, though it's kind of weird with it being on a ship instead of the kind of terrain where being able to traverse all terrain is important, but there's a lot going on, including Kylo Ren himself.

It is also a place where the cast -- as your First Order captors -- are kind of mean. One guest was told to go all the way down and stopped too early, and the officer said, meanly, "Does that look like 'all the way down'?" So not Disney! The only things to take you out of the experience were being able to take pictures of the troopers there to intimidate us, and the woman next to me who took a phone call.

They put so much work into it! But it is also work to ride it, yet I also know that for some people that work is going to be a dream come true.

I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't wait eighty minutes for it again. (I could see waits of forty minutes and under, I think.)

To clarify, my level of Star Wars fandom is that I did not realize the Mandalorian was not Boba Fett until seeing two cast members in similar armor. (But only one was carrying the Child.)

I should also add we did not get into the Cantina. That requires some advance planning. I would be willing to check out more, but it is not as essential to me as the rest of the park. If this is your love, it's there and I am happy for you.

COVID: There is a bit more inside and close proximity here than in some of the other lands, though I admit some of the inside places are better ventilated than you would expect, or they would totally have people passing out in line.

Accessibility: I don't think there is anywhere that a scooter or wheelchair could not go, but it if you are walking it is a lot of walking, and standing. Plan accordingly.