Day 5: off to Batuu!!
Day 5 was our well pre-pandemic planned Disney Hollywood Studios day. Props to the Disney people on the boards for answering all of my silly questions about getting in, magic bands etc. People were incredibly kind and I am struck by the real difference between Universal and Disney. We had droid building reservations on this day and I was concerned about being able to bring them on the rides, I mean don't you guys have lockers? I got a um, why wouldn't they let you bring them on the ride? from the Disney folk on here.
The other thing that struck me is the very real science behind line management and how to best disperse people in places like a theme park.
Like Disney springs, Disney was requiring people to wear a mask from entering the queue to getting off the ride as well as when inside. They were also doing social distancing most noticeably in the Batuu areas where the shops are very small.
ok, gratuitous photo of the Falcon to kick us off.
First things first, I'm a huge Star Wars fan (OG series). When they announced they were building this land my response was shut up and take my money. When we started planning this trip I seriously looked at how much it would cost to just do this park. This was the compromise between getting 2 rooms (before the trip I felt it was an unnecessary expense) that was Todd's request. We purchased tickets in late 2019, and thankfully Disney just let us push back the date when everything blew up.
As I'm sure many of you know, Disney parks require months of advance planning. Right now they are requiring park reservations which do fill up quickly. In addition all sit down dining reservations open earlier to those staying on site than those of us who are just coming in for the day. I didn't even try to get dining reservations.
Galaxy's Edge (the name of the area of the park) or Batuu (the planet you're on when you're there) offers basically 2 rides- Smugglers Run (inside the Millennium Falcon) and Rise of the Resistance (for which you need a boarding pass, more on that in a second here). They also offer 2 building experiences, Droid Depot (build an R2 or BB series) and Savi's workshop (Build a lightsaber). both of these experiences are reservation only and like dining reservations open for off site guests 30 days out. There are also character interactions and various Imperial troops running around. The whole thing is set during the new movies, so … Kylo Ren is your big villan, lots of Rey and Chewie but no Luke, Han and Leia.
Everyone with me so far? ok. Callan wanted to build a droid, but Anna wanted to build a lightsaber. I managed to get 2 decent droid reservations but there was no lightsaber to be had. I tried for the weeks leading up to the trip but it was totally booked. If you're looking to do this and miss your window there's a great cancelation thread happening on the GE thread of the main theme park board on the Disney side. May the force be with you on that one.
This brings us to Rise of the Resistance. They way they're working the boarding parties is basically a virtual queue. at 7 am each day they release the first round of passes. At one point, you had to be IN the park when these were released (at 9 I think) but shortly after re-opening from lockdown they changed it and you can be off property to get one. They go in seconds and you have to be ON the app at 7 to get it.
Which is how I found myself at 6:55 sitting straight up in bed glued to my phone with my ipad set to the atomic clock to tell me when to hit refresh. I had asked my family to help do this on their phones, as my teenagers are quicker on the draw than I am. What are they doing? sleeping of course
.
6:58 refresh
6:59 refresh
7:00 its up go go go!
I should end the post here right?
It let me in to the next screen, I clicked join join join (yes, I practiced this, yes I am that sad) and it kicked me back to the rise "home page" screen. Well did I get it or not?
I went to the my queues page and there we were QUEUE 44!!!!!!!!!!
I was so happy I woke up Todd, who mumbled at me. I then tried to wake both kids, who were like yeah mom, that's great (crazy motion). I posted on another message board (non park related) and those who knew what I was talking about shared my excitement.
I sat back and started breathing again, and began the process of rousting my family so we could use the thing at the appropriate time.
Disney isn't too far from Universal, and we hit the gates to park at 8:17 according to the timestamp on my phone. Todd conned me into paying for premium parking (I could hear my father rolling in his grave, but my knees thanked me) and we headed for the gates. The park opened at 9, but my first photo of the day shows us IN the park at 8:33. After a quick photo on the main street we booked it back to Batuu.
Smugglers Run had a 10 minute posted wait, and the line for Slinky Dog was already growing so Callan and I headed for the Falcon. This is where I got the photo that kicked us off. Somehow we had gotten separated from Todd and Anna which would not have been that big of a deal except for the fact that Todd had the park bag which had my glasses in it. I was wearing my prescription sunglasses. We moved very swiftly into the ride itself and they were not sharing cabins with people, so it was just the 2 of us. You have a choice of "roles" on this ride and it is interactive- You can be the pilot, gunner or engineer and it will hold up to 6 people (2 per role). It's basically a big video game, you have a mission and depending on how you react changes the outcome. If you have a competitive group, or group that would find flying the falcon to be amazing be sure they're all together because if you happen to be the one thinking this ride is passive you'll find yourself getting yelled at lol.
Callan wanted to be the engineer at first (the "lesser" action packed role IMO) so I told him he wanted to be the pilot and he agreed. I took gunner thinking that would also give me something to do. I sat directly behind him and concentrated on hitting the buttons. Everything was darker than normal due to my sunglasses, but it was a blast not only hitting buttons as I was told to but listening to Callan yell about trying to work the levers to fly the ship. It's incredibly immersive and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I am NOT a coaster person, but the movement is manageable and i concentrated on the buttons and less on the screen.
At the end of it, you do get a score as to how well you did, as well as how well you completed the mission. Full details of the mission itself and how to get a better score are available on the Disney side of the boards as well as elsewhere on the internet. We stumbled off the ride to find that Anna and Todd had also both ridden, but by themselves. For some reason Anna was Engineer and was frustrated at not knowing what to do. Todd was pilot but of course as the only one in the "cockpit" had trouble reaching the correct lever. They both enjoyed the ride however.
Next up, Anna checks out some animation and Callan and I have our "Seuss moment". Stay tuned!