Enjoy empty DL before entering SWGE?

[DWlovers_1st visit DL]

DW fans traveling to California (multiday trip outside of Anaheim) and will be at the Disneyland Resort June 19-20. Our tickets are for one day at DL and one at CA. We have reservations for 8am-12 noon slot at SWGE on the 19th but am now wondering, based on others' experiences and trip reports, if we should take advantage of low park crowds and get a few rides in before heading to SWGE? We are old (45+) and new (12 & 14 yr olds) Star Wars fans and will definitely enjoy riding Milennium Falcon but otherwise don't plan to do that much in the land. No lightsaber or droid building for us. And 8am is a little early for a Jedi Mind trick.

This is our first trip to Disneyland so we want to be able to cover the other rides and fun...we just can't envision being in the new land for four hours. The details in photos are amazing and I'm sure we'll enjoy wandering around and taking lots of photos BUT I have been watching a significant dip in MFSR wait times after 1st hour or so of reservation time so would we be wise to enter the land around 9am instead of 8am?

We definitely want to get Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, Space Mtn and the fun DL dark rides in!

 

[fatmanatee]

Personally I would recommend doing the Cantina first thing, just to take in the atmosphere (no alcoholic drinks needed!), and if you had any desire to do that or Savi's, you have to get over there at 8 am to get a time slot. That said, I would download the Disney Parks app (although it sounds like you may have done that already?) to check wait times for the other rides in the morning, should be a good guide to figure out which rides you would want to make priorities and from what I've heard you could definitely knock out 2-3 before going to GE.

 

[BadPinkTink]

dont forget to join our June 2019 Check In Thread

https://www.disboards.com/threads/june-2019-check-in.3718220/

 

[Lauren in NC]

If you're not planning on doing the Cantina or lightsaber building, it sounds like you'll be fine - most people say the third hour of your reservation will have the shortest waits for the ride. If I were you, I'd arrive as early as they let you, get your wristbands at the launch bay, and then go ride the Fantasyland stuff before entering Galaxy's Edge. Those are going to be the best use of that early hour or so, and you can knock out PP and the rest very quickly if there are no crowds (they're all slow loaders, so the waits will be a lot worse later in the day). Several people have reported getting on rides after getting their wristbands even if the park isn't officially open, but I'd check back to make sure they're still doing that later on. Space, Indy and Matterhorn you can all do with FPs, so I'd save those for after GE.

Come visit us over on the DL forum, as well, if you haven't already!