Some years back, Disneyland bought the rights to Lucasfilm and all it's assets. In June 2019 - they officially opened their latest venture in the form of a new Land.
A multi-billion dollar gamble called Galaxy's Edge. It was an homage to all things Star Wars and it promised an experience quite unlike anything ever before. From the ground up, they built an incredible landscape that resembled some distant planet that was straight out of George Lucas' blockbuster series. In true Disney style everything was authentically created to reflect a Star Wars existence at The Black Spire Outpost. Weathered rock, rusted "old" steel and frayed muted hessian fabrics. Even the restrooms resembled something from outer space. And check out the Coke & Sprite bottles below!
The cast members (employees) would all be dressed in full Star Wars garb and they were taught to act exactly as their character in the film. So Chewbacca, Storm Troopers, Boba Fett - even the officers, all walk around and engage the public as they would on film. No detail was spared and the finished product is a intergalactic triumph in construction.
But the star of the show is undoubtedly, a full-scale replica of the Millennium Falcon - the famous old spaceship that Hans Solo (Harrison Ford) captains to a glorious victory in the early trilogy. This behemoth sits majestically in a generous corner near the Smugglers Run Ride. It's a testament to the genius of Imagineers at Disneyland, with every nut and bolt faithfully true to the film that inspired a generation of kids. Those kids are now middle-aged and they have money to burn. And Disney Inc. hears them.
Everything is for sale. From US270 for a steel/plexiglass lightsaber, to a lifesize Storm Trooper at US6600. The online conversations and forums that documented the progress of Galaxy's Edge as it took shape were gobbled up by an eager public, hungry for the first taste of their childhood dream coming to life. My own family (below) are among those fans. Our daughters have soaked up Star Wars from their die hard Dad. Our son even bought the lightsaber, but I stopped Mr Clipped from investing in the Storm Trooper.
I couldn't bear to spoil the photo, as I am a (shudder) rebel spy who just doesn't get it as much as they do.
There would be two main rides in GE. One was called
Smugglers Run: a violent, virtual reality simulator where each "crew" of 6 would be required to contribute to the outcome by steering and navigating their ship through space and all the perils that present. The other attraction was
Rise of the Resistance. This was a more immersive, full contact interaction experience and it promised technology never before utilised in a theme park. We booked our holiday for January 2020 with the logic that GE would have been open for 6 months and all the initial hype would give way to manageable crowds and immediate access to both rides.
In anticipation of monumental crowds for the Grand Opening - Disney executives decided to stem the flow of visitors to the Disneyland Park. So they blocked all annual passholders for the month of June, as well as limiting access to Galaxy's Edge, which would be only available to people who booked a reservation. You would be given 2 hours maximum to enjoy the land, after which time you would be moved on.
The fallout from this decision almost cost Disney their investment, as well as some heads in Corporate. The ROTR had been plagued with issues during construction and eventually, it was decided to delay the launch. That meant only one ride operating (Smugglers Run), but Disney still snubbed SoCal locals and hard core hard fans.
So, the people stayed away in droves. No-one wanted to come and experience a half-finished land. Instead of record summer crowds, Galaxy's Edge and most of Disneyland for that matter was a ghost town. It took until Christmas 2019 before people starting flocking back. Meanwhile ROTR was being completely overhauled and rebuilt to newer specifications for a launch date of January 17, 2020. The
EXACT day we had booked our first day in Disneyland....
Rise of the Resistance was eventually completed in time for it's opening. Rumours persisted that it was going to break the records for attendance. But Disney wasn't going to mitigate crowds this time. They opened up access to everyone, but instead of limiting time in the land - they devised a "Boarding Group" system, whereas you needed to download and open the Disney app once in the park, then request to join a boarding group in order to ride. Groups would be called via a push on the app that advised them to attend the ROTR at a certain time. Once the maximum volume of scheduled rides was exhausted - the app would close and no more boarding groups would be permitted for that day. It was almost a lottery of sorts.
We decided to push our schedule back to the Saturday. Lucky we did. At
2am Friday morning - thousands of people flocked to the Disneyland main gates. By 6am they swelled to tens of thousands. All waiting to get inside and launch the app for ROTR. Disney opened the gates at 6:10 and allowed people to wait inside.
They waited for another
three hours. And as the clocked ticked over to 9am - there was an immediate heads-down as thousands of users turned to their mobile phones. Screams of elation rose among the crowd and at 9:01 the app closed due to the sheer volume of people who joined a boarding group to ride. So many thousands missed out - it was absolute bedlam.
When we finally walked through the gates on Saturday - there was no chance to join. The ROTR was booking out within 3 minutes of the Park opening. So we used this opportunity to enjoy everything else Disneyland had to offer.
Crowds were peaking due to the unseasonably warm weather, but we totally enjoyed ourselves for the first week and even managed to wander through Galaxy's Edge for a memorable taste of all things Star Wars. Our younger daughter and her boyfriend took a gamble and got up at 5:30 one morning to camp outside the main gate, in the hope of being first in line. They made it through to become Group 69. It took 10 hours of waiting before they were called to ride. But they joined a select few to experience ROTR in its opening week, which was quite a feat. Their recount of the ride was nothing short of spectacular. So we all got up early and tried our luck. Success! Boarding Group 38. The below photo was taken 7 minutes after sellout and over 120 groups were allocated boarding passes.
SUMMARY
All I can say about this experience - is to anyone who has the opportunity -
DO IT! Rise of the Resistance will go down as one of the most incredible 30 minutes I have ever spent in a theme park. If you are a fan of Star Wars - it is as close to living the dream as it gets. The technology is superb, the graphics and animatronics are ahead of their time. And the cast who deploy you to the mission do not break character once. I was pulled up for talking during "interrogation" and I swear - they positively scared the blue milk out of me. The ride takes a good 20-30 minutes to complete and the trackless vehicles coming face to face with those full scale AT-AT's has to be seen to be believed. ROTR has been a game changer and if all goes according to plan - it will set a new precedent for virtual reality and theme park experiences. If you can't get there in person, do yourself a favour and view it on YouTube with Disney 360.
After a huge day - we retired to the house for some spa time and to reflect on a magnificent achievement. For me, it was just a really great ride. I was never into Star Wars as a child and I still struggle with the storyline. But it was something else for Mr Clipped, who - even though he had long wiped the tears from his eyes, felt the emotion long after the ride ended. The dream of a 13 year old Star Wars fan was finally realised after 43 years and I think he wanted to savour that feeling for as long as there were hours left in the day. He went to bed with the biggest smile on his face and I couldn't help but envy him.