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I overheard an interesting conversation re: GE while waiting in line for Mission Breakout (disclaimer: we loved GE and visited multiple times on our week long trip)

One middle age woman and two younger women were talking about GE. Here are some sample quotes:

“I liked it, but I am not a huge Star Wars fan.”

“Smugglers Run is just like Star Tours with buttons.”

“There is not enough to do in the land, it only took us 2 hours to see it.”

“I don’t like Avatar, but I loved World of Avatar at Disney World and I would definitely go back. I don’t feel the same about Galaxy’s Edge.”
Most of these comments come from a position of 'observer/tourist' rather than 'gamer.' They had not availed themselves of the interactive aspects: DataPad, learning to fly the MF and advancing their score, etc.
 
Reading through this thread, I'm surprised no one has really said anything about the interactive disney play part of the land. It sounds so fun, and I'm really curious about how it all works, and what you do with it. Has anyone used the app significantly around the park? Is it fun?
I've mentioned it now and again, but perhaps not specifically within this thread. I'm hooked! I first started playing on 6/18 (during the previews) and went back several times in the early weeks to keep playing. The premise is of the on-going power struggle between the First Order and the Resistance. Your actions within the app often strengthen one side or the other. There are stashes of digital equipment, schematics, maps (etc) to be found and gathered; surveillance equipment to be installed or removed; credits/titles/roles to be earned; etc.

Because of the DataPad, I've enjoyed a fun encounter with Chewbacca in the Resistance Outpost. As the background noises indicated a power outage, Chewie and his handler strode over to me and pointed to the Comms Tower asked: "Can you hack that??" Sure! Chewie provided the needed shade so I could read my phone's screen as we hacked the tower (one of a few standard skills in the DataPad app). Ah, turns out it was the wrong tower ... but a fun moment.

FWIW, the app is buggy. I've lost many of the accomplishments previously completed/earned but will go back to re-earn them again later.
As stated earlier, it kills your phone's battery. Bring an extra battery, charger, cable, etc.
 
As a follow-up to this, how does one link their Smuggler's Run ride to their datapad account? I launched the datapad app when I was in the queue last time, but couldn't figure out which mission I was supposed to be doing. I thought I selected one by Hondo, but it ended up telling me I needed to go scan something elsewhere in the land. Is there a specific mission that I'm supposed to select or do I need to finish other missions before I can do the one that's connected to Smuggler's Run. Related, can the Smuggler's Run mission be done from the Single Rider Line or only when you're in the regular queue?
 
As a follow-up to this, how does one link their Smuggler's Run ride to their datapad account? I launched the datapad app when I was in the queue last time, but couldn't figure out which mission I was supposed to be doing. I thought I selected one by Hondo, but it ended up telling me I needed to go scan something elsewhere in the land. Is there a specific mission that I'm supposed to select or do I need to finish other missions before I can do the one that's connected to Smuggler's Run. Related, can the Smuggler's Run mission be done from the Single Rider Line or only when you're in the regular queue?
So, what I’ve heard is that you have to have the app open in the ride itself after you select the mission from Hondo in the queue / I’ve always had that mission pop up when I’m there if I think to open it. I have had it give me credits from some of the times I’ve ridden, but not most of them. I don’t always have the app open.

I was someone who was pretty excited about the app interaction, but I’ve found it to be kind of a bust. A few issues:

1. The app takes SO LONG to launch and get to the data pad. And every time I do something else on my phone (book a FP or mobile order, take a photo, send a text), it hard closes and needs to relaunch - I can’t just swipe back and forth between apps and pick up where I left off. This by itself makes it pretty much unusable for me, as I need my phone frequently for those other purposes! When we spot something we could scan, it takes four minutes to get the app to open to the point we could actually scan it! And we’ll accept a mission and walk over to where it’s supposed to be, but then half the time we can’t even get back to the mission because I’ve had to use my phone for something else on the way.

2. Almost everything about the data pad is confusing. It just is. Half the time we can’t figure out what we’re doing. Even PP who had the “hack with Chewbacca” moment ended up hacking the wrong thing! That doesn’t surprise me, because it’s all pretty confusing. And as mentioned, it doesn’t save all of your progress, and some things don’t work (we have to manually translate almost everything).

3. It won’t let us scan the stuff in the MFSR line because we already scanned it once. My daughter would be happy to scan Every. Single. Time we ride, but since we did it once, that feature is useless for us now. And it makes me unwilling to go through the 87-minute process to open the app when she spots scannable stuff, because I assume we scanned it anyway, so what’s the point?

Anyway, I was pretty excited about the interactive component as advertised, and the first couple of times we went, my daughter had some fun with it, but it hasn’t panned out to be as fun as we’d hoped.
 


Most of these comments come from a position of 'observer/tourist' rather than 'gamer.' They had not availed themselves of the interactive aspects: DataPad, learning to fly the MF and advancing their score, etc.

Are you saying that GE was made specifically for the gamer type?
 


Hi, I’m a pro at DL and DCA but I’m a bit stumped as to what time we should show up and how to book our reservations for our upcoming visit. We land August 13th and want to spend our first of five days at SWGE. It will by 4 of us, myself, my two kids and my wife. Here’s what we’d like to do; Build a light saber, a couple of droids, check into the cantina for a drink and of course smugglers run. I know there’s a mega thread but it’s a lot to sift through. The thought is the kids each build one droid and the light saber will be for me 😀. Can I take my two kids in with me to build the lightsaber? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
 
I enjoyed the theme of SW. However, my overall impression was more of a "mixed bag," but I think it's because I was overwhelmed and unused to not knowing exactly where I was and exactly what I wanted to do. The sounds of the world were pretty terrific. The buildings were lovely, and at night, it's cool feeling removed from DL.

The food was great. I get why the picky set may have problems with it, but it was the best CS food I have had at DL. At the Docking Bay, I had a vegetarian dish for both lunch and dinner. No, I'm not a vegetarian, but I wasn't feeling the meat dishes very much. Both meals were tasty, and I went wild for the Felucian Garden Spread. I hope that never goes away because just like my steak skewers at the Paradise Garden Grill, I could have that dish every time. I liked the Ithorian Garden Loaf, but the mushroom sauce was a little salty. My husband and child had the Smoked Kaadu ribs, and they liked it very much. (Except the slaw, but I ended up eating that! I would prefer the flavor to be more on the pickled side, but it was still good for a slaw.) No one else in my family liked the blue milk, but that is a treat I am also looking forward to again. I did not try the other flavor.

The bar isn't anything I'd have to try again. The Jabba Juice was the table favorite. I would describe my Dagobah Slug Slinger like a margarita, and it was very strong. My husband had the Yub Nub that came in a collectible cup. They were out of the Carbon Freeze and the Bespin Fizz, which of course made me want to try them :p So maybe I will try the cantina again. I'm not sure what the DJ was supposed to do, it just kinda stood there and waved an arm around.

I didn't really know what to do with the Play app. I wasn't sure if it was because I was old or if it just wasn't very fun. I handed the phone over to my kid, and she got bored with it pretty quickly. When my girl made her BB droid, she was told that the app would interact with it, but I haven't figured out how that works, and I suspect it doesn't. I was hoping to see a little more interaction by the droid with the environment, it has the First Order chip, but it seemed to keep pretty quiet. I would like to bring it back again, but I would definitely have to rent a locker. My step-daughter offered to make a baby sling for it, I wonder if that would be more comfortable than a backpack :idea::rotfl2:

As for the Millennium Falcon, we waited over an hour for it, and I don't think we'd wait that long again. My hubby is big on doing stuff as a family, but I think I could talk him into doing single rider next time. @HairyChest had some of the same alternative scenarios as my husband. Overall, I didn't care much about the mission, and why exactly am I supposed to care about the credits earned? We had little chance to explore the anterooms, and right now, it seems like they were the best part of the ride. I think Star Tours has a better queue environment than the MF. Kind of a bummer.
 
Hi, I’m a pro at DL and DCA but I’m a bit stumped as to what time we should show up and how to book our reservations for our upcoming visit. We land August 13th and want to spend our first of five days at SWGE. It will by 4 of us, myself, my two kids and my wife. Here’s what we’d like to do; Build a light saber, a couple of droids, check into the cantina for a drink and of course smugglers run. I know there’s a mega thread but it’s a lot to sift through. The thought is the kids each build one droid and the light saber will be for me 😀. Can I take my two kids in with me to build the lightsaber? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
I'm assuming that when you say you land on the 13th and then spend your first day at SWGE, that means the 14th...

Oga's and Savi's reservations for August 14 are live; you can make them now. You can take two "viewers" in to make the lightsaber, so you could take your two kids (but not your wife, I guess!).

Since the 14th is a Wednesday, there won't be MM, so if you're early to rope drop and able to move quickly, you could rope-drop MFSR. Just beware it's a LONG way from rope-drop to the ride, so be prepared to hustle. I wouldn't recommend "killing" a Wednesday morning there under normal circumstances, but if you have five days, you'll be fine to do everything else anyway...

Personally, I'd make a Savi's reservation for mid-morning, maybe 10 or 10:30? Rope-drop MFSR, wander around the shops, go to your Savi's reservation, fitting the droids in before or after Savi's, depending on timing. Use the Play Disney app and hack some stuff. I haven't had any of the breakfast in SWGE, but you could do breakfast there if you wanted. Hopefully see some characters, get a mission from Vi or something.

Then, I'd hit other things mid-day (SWGE gets HOT) and make the Oga's reservation for the late afternoon/evening. Eat at Docking Bay 7 for dinner if you want the full SWGE experience. Hit MFSR again if the line is low enough. Enjoy the land all lit up. Maybe watch the fireworks over the Falcon.

That's what I'd do if I wanted to spend a large portion of the day immersed in SWGE.
 
I recall reading that Docking Bay 7 scaled back their breakfast offerings on weekdays (Mon-Thu), but were offering a larger menu on weekends (Fri-Sun). I've found the weekday menu, but I can't find the weekend menu. When I inquire with Guest Services online, they said to check at Docking Bay 7. I was wondering if anyone knows what the current weekend breakfast menu includes?
 

Well if that was the intent, that is an interesting strategy for sure. And I don’t think it’s working - neither of my teens liked the interactive games enough to do them on our second and third visit to GE. And I doubt Disney would discount the kind of feedback that I shared. They want their guests to have good experiences and they certainly aren’t advertising GE to just gamers.
 
I'm assuming that when you say you land on the 13th and then spend your first day at SWGE, that means the 14th...

Oga's and Savi's reservations for August 14 are live; you can make them now. You can take two "viewers" in to make the lightsaber, so you could take your two kids (but not your wife, I guess!).

Since the 14th is a Wednesday, there won't be MM, so if you're early to rope drop and able to move quickly, you could rope-drop MFSR. Just beware it's a LONG way from rope-drop to the ride, so be prepared to hustle. I wouldn't recommend "killing" a Wednesday morning there under normal circumstances, but if you have five days, you'll be fine to do everything else anyway...

Personally, I'd make a Savi's reservation for mid-morning, maybe 10 or 10:30? Rope-drop MFSR, wander around the shops, go to your Savi's reservation, fitting the droids in before or after Savi's, depending on timing. Use the Play Disney app and hack some stuff. I haven't had any of the breakfast in SWGE, but you could do breakfast there if you wanted. Hopefully see some characters, get a mission from Vi or something.

Then, I'd hit other things mid-day (SWGE gets HOT) and make the Oga's reservation for the late afternoon/evening. Eat at Docking Bay 7 for dinner if you want the full SWGE experience. Hit MFSR again if the line is low enough. Enjoy the land all lit up. Maybe watch the fireworks over the Falcon.

That's what I'd do if I wanted to spend a large portion of the day immersed in SWGE.
Thanks for the insight! I’ll make my reservations today since that option has opened up as you stated. I’ll probably just spend time there in the a.m then circle back around for the rest over the course of the five days I’m there. Thanks again!
 
Any update on merchandise restocks? I got my personality chip for my droid. Have the droid backpacks, Porgs, or Tooth boards been restocked? I went this past weekend but was on Batuu for 10 minutes lol. It was too hot over there.
 
For MFSR, what does the single rider line look like before noon? I've done it, but only in the afternoon times. Is it open earlier in the day? Going this Saturday with people who have never been. Due to reservation times, and having to leave the park at 4 pm, I think doing single rider for this ride will be our best option for a decent wait time. They are ok with missing the stand by line and getting split up. They mainly just care about getting on the ride itself.
 
We haven't been yet, and this is not making me excited either. We go to Disneyland to get away from technology. My kids only bring their phones for emergencies and I only use mine for photos and MP.
 
For MFSR, what does the single rider line look like before noon? I've done it, but only in the afternoon times. Is it open earlier in the day? Going this Saturday with people who have never been. Due to reservation times, and having to leave the park at 4 pm, I think doing single rider for this ride will be our best option for a decent wait time. They are ok with missing the stand by line and getting split up. They mainly just care about getting on the ride itself.
It opens when the ride opens in the morning.
 
We haven't been yet, and this is not making me excited either. We go to Disneyland to get away from technology. My kids only bring their phones for emergencies and I only use mine for photos and MP.
I wouldn't worry too much about this. We don't game and only use our phones to check the app occasionally or for photos when we're in GE. Haven't yet felt left out or bored or not-immersed or anything like that. SWGE is just as fun without the phones. You'll have a great time!
 
Galaxy's Edge - I was there yesterday. What a wasted opportunity. The only star wars in there is the falcon and that's the most popular thing and area. Imagine if everything was from star wars. I bet the imagineers were frustrated with the restrictions they had set on them by upper management. I kept thinking "imagine if they put this work into making the forest of endoor, Tatooine w/ lukes/lars house, naboo palace/lake, mustafar with Darth vadar, jabas palace,dagobah (yodas house), snowy hoth, the death star, the emporers lair. If you could visit these places and eat there or shop there or meet all the characters there (how about a show with darth maul and vader fighting luke and obiwan) , with music playing, special star wars fireworks. R2D2 and C3po walking around. I mean comeone! There is no way people believe it'll be this slow and not absolutely jam packed had they done any of that. I rode star tours yesterday and then went to smugglers run and I wish they had those locations from star tours in smugglers run I could fly and fight in. Instead of chasing a dumb train to extract electricity. think about how stupid that sounds. There is no way imagineers sat there and when asked "where do we go and what do we do flying the falcon?" "How about we chase a train to extract electricity?". lmao are you kidding?! The response was more likely "OK lets go to the death star to rescue leia and fight vadar on the way (with han solo and chewie assisting you maybe with a animatronic in the cockpit with you) and then another scenario where as bounty hunters we deliver jabbas shipment to hoth where luke is instead of delivering to darth maul on mustafar and drop off droids that spy on mustafar instead dressed to look as the items they were expecting". Im just throwing out random ideas. Timeline doesn't matter, this land should have been a huge celebration of starwars from every era for all whether they grew up with it or just got into it. People should be losing their minds when visiting what should have been "The Galaxy" instead of what is, "Galaxy's Edge"

I think Disney created SWLand with their own planet instead of place(s) known and beloved by fans to distance them from George Lucas Star Wars.
 

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