Continuing right where I left off from the last post. You know, the one where I went on and on about Opening Day of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios. We made it home, bribed the kid’s hatred for going without them with some pins and a light up lanyard, and called it a day. That weekend, we made sure to head over to Batuu once again. Because, you know, I guess the kids deserve to see it too. We should’ve been preparing for a Hurricane, but we’re Floridians, we had other priorities.
Here you can see them destroying Disney property, they had a blast.
I’m just kidding. That was like that when we got there. They did have a blast though. As did the wife and I! Because this time it was a much.. different experience. I’m not sure if it was the oncoming Hurricane Dorian lurking in the Caribbean with its sights set on Central Florida (at the time), but Galaxy’s Edge was a lot emptier than I was anticipating. We were expecting it to be completely packed for months after opening but it doesn’t seem to be the case right now. Works for us because we were able to walk in with no problems and see everything without any huge crazy lines like opening day. I mean, check out these trash cans!
I had time and space to take pictures of trash cans! It was great. We got to see a lot but still have yet to ride Smuggler’s Run, the Millenium Falcon ride, but that’ll happen soon. We didn’t feel like waiting 120 minutes on a line that stretched across the entire land.
But that was perfectly fine. Getting to see the details of things we only briefly caught a glimpse of opening day was fantastic. We got to go into mostly every store or restaurant, minus a few.
I’m such a child. I know this because I totally would’ve bought Poe’s helmet if I had the cash.
We got to see most of the big things, although Droid Depot, and Savi’s Workshop were ignored. Because as much as we wanted to build our own droids and lightsabers (my goodness, do I want to build my own lightsaber), it just isn’t happening now. Not at $99 and $199 a pop respectively. If you want to check out the lightsaber building process, be sure to watch my buddy Tim Tracker’s video on it. Ok, he’s not my buddy, but we did meet him once so I guess that adds to my cool points. Savi’s really looks like the primo experience to have in Galaxy’s Edge, so hopefully we get to do it eventually. That video shows off the Play Disney app datapad functionality, as well as spoils the ride, so be mindful. We also missed Docking Bay 7. Not because we weren’t looking for something to eat, but because it was completely missed, like, we had no idea where it was. Turns out, it’s right under this docked shuttle transporting cargo and supplies. Who knew?!
Everything else though was great. As you can see, it’s packed with things to see and do. There’s even an interactive aspect to it. When you open up the Play Disney Parks app while in the land, it turns into a datapad where you can interact with numerous things around Black Spire Outpost. When we go back, maybe we’ll let the kids bring their iPads so they can just hang around hacking stuff.
Personally, I walked in with two goals. One, was to get a hold of the awesome thermal detonator Coke bottles, which we did!
Here’s the Instagram post showing them off a bit more. I was wanting these since I first laid eyes on them. Such perfect theming. A little too perfect as they were banned by the TSA from being brought on flights, and then reversed afterwards. But they are so well done. Need to pick up the Diet Coke one next time we go.
Another goal was drinking the Blue Milk, and that I did.! The wife refused to try it as it is made with rice milk and coconut, but it was her loss because it was rather tasty! Here’s the Instagram post for my achievement.
Very smooth, like the smoothest smoothie you’ve had. And on the fruity side. It was very enjoyable, especially on a hot day. I think Disney World has one over Disneyland, as we have alcoholic versions of the Blue and Green Milk when they don’t. I won’t try it as it’s not my style to get down with that, but I will definitely try the Green Milk when we go back.
Walking around, taking everything in is a feat in itself. There’s so much to see and experience, you might get a tad overwhelmed. Like an X-Wing just sitting there in all its awesomeness.
You’d think that was enough, but no, we got lucky and noticed Rey and Chewy walking around. Then they went up to the X-Wing and started tuning it up! It was an unexpected bonus, seeing the characters interact with a set piece like that. But it was so cool to see.
They even had that Rey and Chewy chemistry, it was so awesome.
Here’s my Instagram post with video of the interaction. I hope in the future we get to see more stuff like that. It really brings the land to life.
We got to go through the market and see all the little shops we didn’t want to make lines for on opening day. There are a lot of little nooks and crannies with so many details to see and take in. Really beautiful stuff.
Lots of people glance and take things for granted, but busy, intricate decorations always make me appreciate the themes of these lands.
Here’s the Instagram videos of going through the market and seeing all the cool stuff.
That Instagram link will show you another awesome thing we saw. At the end of the stretch of market, it funnels you into Ronto Roasters, which has what is arguably the coolest aesthetic.
Spits of meat are being turned by a droid. And they’re not being roasted on a fire. That’s right, they’re being roasted by the heat of a dangling podracer engine! How cool is that?!
It goes so amazing with the setting of Batuu, being an outpost on the Outer Rim.
Up next was Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities. There’s a ton of things to see in here! Both on the walls and on the floor.
We were looking around at all the cool stuff they had for sale, but were drawn to two areas. Lightsabers, and Holocrons.
The lightsabers, unlike Savi’s Workshop, are already built and known sabers. You see Mace Windu’s, Darth Vaders, Count Dooku’s further down the line. You’re able to buy just the hilt, or if you want, you can buy the “blade” that lights up for an additional $15+ depending on the size you want. Personally, I’d rather pay the extra for a handcrafted lightsaber from Savi’s. But if you have one that’s your favorite from a character, these are worthy collectibles.
The Holocrons are easier to manage, not to mention splurge on. At $50 each, you can get yourself your own Jedi or Sith Talkboy.
Predictably, the youngest went for the Jedi one while the oldest went for the Sith. Their personifications of Thor and Loki shine more and more every day. I guess I need to start preparing for the oldest to attempt to overthrow me. Anyway, back to Holocrons. These things are some cool interactive toys! Here’s the Instagram of inside the Den and playing with the holocrons. They have messages recorded by Jedi and Sith, for example, the Jedi one has Obi-Wan’s famous message to all the remaining Jedi after Order 66 went down. You can hear it here, in another Instagram post of mine (if you can’t tell, I get down on Instagram so best to follow me there!).
It seems like it’s directly ripped from the first season of Star Wars Rebels, where Obi-Wan was portrayed by James Arnold Taylor. He famously voiced Obi-Wan in the Clone Wars series (which is coming back on Disney+!! Sorry, not sorry. I’m a huge Clone Wars fan and love Taylor as Obi.), so it’s crazy awesome to have his voice being used for these. Especially that speech he gave, via holocron, as it carries so much weight in the Star Wars universe. Check it out here if you’ve never seen it.
Anyway, cool thing about these holocrons is that you can also buy Kyber Crystals for them. Well, no, not cool, Disney. At $15 a pop, these little crystals can give you additional secret messages from various Jedi and Sith. For instance, the youngest got the purple crystal, which belonged to only one Jedi. The one who’s lightsaber says Bad Motherfu.. well, you know. Mace Windu’s kyber crystal. So he can hear additional messages from him. And not from the movies either. Newly recorded Mace Windu messages, sadly, not voiced by Samuel L. Jackson though.
Moving on. I know this post has outstayed its welcome but c’mon, there’s a lot to cover. Almost done! We’re at the big reveal now. And what a reveal…
The Millenium Falcon, sitting there in all its glory. It’s definitely a main focal point of Galaxy’s Edge. Even if you don’t ride the ride, being able to see this beauty in person and take pictures with it should satisfy any fan.
The ride, Smuggler’s Run, seems to be a huge hit. Every time I hear about it I get more and more excited. Can’t wait to ride it myself, but during this visit it wasn’t happening. Not when the line stretched for 120+ minutes across the whole land. Check out the Instagram post to get an idea of how far it went.
We kept walking, almost reaching the end of our journey. We made it to what seemed like the First Order’s side of the outpost. How do I know? Call it a hunch.
We reached a small corner that seems to have nothing particularly exciting about it at first, unless you really have to pee and want to use the nearby restroom.
But looking around more we found a little droid maintenance area. Here’s where I really got excited. Because in the cage to the back there, were two heavily damaged battle droids!
Remember me going ga-ga a few paragraphs ago about the Clone Wars? Yeah, this still carries over from that. I love that era in Star Wars history, and seeing these battle droids in person, made me pretty giddy. And it’s not like they’re easy to spot. They’re way back, towards the end of the land, in a forgotten corner where no one else was caring to check out, and inside a heavy duty storage cage. Someone designing this place decided to put this little Clone Wars easter egg in there and I am eternally grateful for it.
Also there, just on the wall behind the battle droids, was a probe droid suspended on the wall! Another famous droid just hiding in this dark corner. I wonder how much more I would’ve found if I kept looking around this spot. I guess that’s what next time is for!
And there we are. We reached the end of my ridiculously long documentation of the first time the whole family visited Batuu. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I had fun putting this together, as always. Hopefully this does continue with Galaxy’s Edge coverage. Like I said there are more than a few things that we didn’t get to do and see while there. So I’d love to return to this topic in the future. No, it might not be riddled with pictures up the wazoo, but it’ll be something. Until then, safe travels. And may the force be with you.
