Why the ride at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge may be the least impressive thing to do

Entering Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a little bit like entering the Magic Kingdom.

Passing through a tunnel, you enter a new world. The subway tile and underground lights of Grand Avenue transition to the rockwork and industrial fixtures of the planet Batuu. But unlike the Magic Kingdom, in this world, on this planet, you are a character in a larger story.

The land is a tapestry of interactions. From flying the Millennium Falcon, to building your own droids and lightsabers, to talking with cast members who are always in character, to using the Disney Play app on your “datapad” to explore hidden transmissions and decipher signs, you are meant to be an active participant in your surroundings.

This begins when you enter the land and get a first glimpse of the rock walls on this planet in the Star Wars galaxy — a surprisingly emotional moment. When you walk into the Magic Kingdom, a smile and feeling of wonder are the normal reactions. At Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, it’s a feeling of awe.

And what do you do when you visit a new world? You explore. On this, our first visit, we had four hours to experience the land, and we used almost every bit of it to explore and experience this new world. Still, these are really going to be my first quick impressions of what I anticipate will be a long relationship with this land.

Whether you are familiar with Star Wars or have never watched a movie or TV show, you will be able to appreciate this new 14-acre land.

The tunnel from Grand Avenue brings you past the entrance to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, an attraction that won’t open until Dec. 5, 2019, and straight into the Resistance stronghold area. Here are a number of starships for photo opportunities, and yes, you will find Disney PhotoPass photographers. There are also a couple of kiosks selling Resistance merchandise.

Down the road is a market that might remind you of the alleyways of the Morocco section of Epcot. The winding walkways take you past stalls selling toys, creatures (stuffed animals), jewelry and clothes.

One surprise was how much fun the merchandise is. The idea here is that you would find items that locals on Batuu might buy and sell, so there’s no Galaxy’s Edge-branded merchandise here (you’ll find that outside the tunnel). Instead, there are soft dolls representing classic Star Wars characters — there’s Ahsoka Tano! and Lando Calrissian! — which are clever and even cuddly. The animals in the creature shop are also fun. And yes, we adopted a Lothcat, which purs and meows when you stroke its head and growls when you tug its tail. The clothes are even stylish, and not outrageously priced. A high-quality purple vest of the style Rey might wear was selling fast at $59.95.

At the end of the market you’ll come upon the smells of Ronto Roasters, a fine establishment where you see the droid pitmaster turn the mechanical spit, grilling a large side of ronto—a massive beast native to the planet Tatooine. Here we stopped for a quick breakfast. The Ronto Morning Wrap, a grilled pork sausage, shredded cheddar and peppercorrn sauce, wrapped in scrambled egg and in a Pita Bread, was delicious.

Past Ronto Roasters and the neighboring Docking Bay 7 quick-service establishment, we came upon something that sent shivers down my spine: the Millennium Falcon. A full-size ship measuring more than 100 feet long, it’s so detailed you could imagine it taking off from where it sits.

Star Wars creator George Lucas described the Millennium Falcon ride well when he called it “Star Tours on steroids.” The queue gives you a number of things to keep you busy. The ride, which seats six, gives each person a job. There are two pilots, two engineers and two gunners.

If you are focusing on these tasks, which you are supposed to do, you might not fully appreciate what you are seeing. The visuals are crisp and the gaming aspect is fun. How you perform your task has a direct impact on what happens to the ship. Pilots can crash the ship (and we did), gunners need to protect the ship and engineers are supposed to keep her running. (Here’s your guide to the ride.)

While Smugglers Run is the only ride open, shopping is the real attraction in this land. Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, the Droid Depot, and Savi’s Workshop-Handbuilt Lightsabers are as much entertainment as they are trade.

In these places, you can either build your own droid and lightsaber (for a price of course), purchase some special ancient relics, or just wander around and soak it all in. Be aware, there will be lines to just get into some of these places.

One of the must-do things when visiting Batuu is to speak with the locals. This might sound a little odd, but be brave and get into conversations with the cast members. They will not break character. Ask about where they are from and what life is like for them. Ask them for suggestions or if you are familiar with Star Wars lore, throw out some names and you might get into a fun conversation.

Also, get to know the local phrases. Locals will greet you with “Bright suns” during the day” and rising moon” in the evening. “Til the Spires” is how you say farewell.

One thing to be aware of when talking to locals or even among your friends: This is a location populated by locals, the Resistance, the First Order and some other unsavory characters. You never know who you will come upon. So be careful how you display where your loyalty lies.

This is key part of the land that I hope over the years remains in tact. It would be so easy for Disney to do away with these interactions. But this is something special you won’t find anywhere else around Disney World. Yes, princesses and others will stay in character no matter what during meet-and-greets around Disney World, but here, every cast member has a backstory and stays in character. It must be challenging, but it adds a special flavor to the land.

Now, you most likely will not be able to do everything in a single visit. While we did have lunch at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo (the smoked Kaadu Ribs and the Yobashrimp Noodle Salad were delish), we did not go into Savi’s Workshop or Oga’s Cantina. However, we do have reservations to visit them both next week.

For now, Til the Spires.