Full Day for all of Galaxy's Edge and half day for the rest of HS?

[Sela_B]

We are making our trip in May. GE is our main focus when we visit HS. Mainly for my son. Planning ILL for Rise, waiting for Smuggler's Run, doing Savi's and Oga's, and taking time to just take in the experience at Galaxy's Edge. Worried that our return time for ROTR and one of our other reservations might conflict. Should we spend another half day at HS to make sure we get to the rest of the park? Or is one day enough? And anyone have experience with conflicting reservations/LL time?

 

[atir2002]

Our last trip was in August pre-Genie+, but we are massive SW fans. We spend 2 1/2 days at HS and over the course of that time easily spent almost a full day at GE. We got multiple sets of photopass pictures, "met" characters (as best as we could), ate at all the restaurants, did lots of shopping, built light sabers, etc. We did not build droids. Anyone who is as SW obsessed as we are will find plenty to do and will want the extra time. Because we spent extra time at HS, we were able to do everything else in the park as well with what were probably moderate crowds.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Our last trip was in August pre-Genie+, but we are massive SW fans. We spend 2 1/2 days at HS and over the course of that time easily spent almost a full day at GE. We got multiple sets of photopass pictures, "met" characters (as best as we could), ate at all the restaurants, did lots of shopping, built light sabers, etc. We did not build droids. Anyone who is as SW obsessed as we are will find plenty to do and will want the extra time. Because we spent extra time at HS, we were able to do everything else in the park as well with what were probably moderate crowds.

Could you say more about how you spent the time? I'm taking a friend, an OG, '77 Leia SW fanatic, to Batuu for MTFBWY, and she plans to be in Batuu all day and blow off everything else in the park. Like, what things might the casual observer miss?
She says she doesn't want to do Savi's because she's not interested in the care of a lightsaber or having one more Thing in her house. But I'm thinking of surprising her with that experience, and I keep the lightsaber that she builds.while.i watch as her guest.
I would love to use our time there to do and see as many things that would be meaningful for her and also keep me busy enough to not get tired of being in Batuu. I've been to Batuu one trip (four different days), but she's never been to WDW at all. I know she'd love TSMM, and MMRR is new to me.

 

[Kirsti]

My wife and I enjoy Star Wars, but are by no means hard core fans. However, we planned two days at HS on our last trip just to soak in Galaxy's Edge, and loved all our time there. Some of it was filled with droid building one day and light saber making the other time, but those were really only 15/20 minutes of our time. We made three separate Oga's reservations (if you can't get them at first, sign up for one of the dining alerts - times came through almost daily for me) - that let us try multiple drinks spread out over the day, as well as interact with different bar staff (ask them how they came to work for Oga. They all have fun stories to tell.)

There's a shopping mall with some fun stuff that you won't find anywhere else. If your phone battery holds up, there are a bunch of missions/games you can find in the Play Disney app. There's also so many hidden Easter Eggs around the land, particularly if you can translate Aurabesh (or use the Play Disney app for that too). My faves were the water fountain in the market place area, and the droids inside the Droid Depot.

We tried to dress "in universe", to let the Citizens of Batuu know that we were up for fun. We had great interactions with stormtroopers, Rey and Chewie, Vi, and several store assistants/servers/photographers etc. So between finding characters, getting all the possible photos, riding both rides each time you are there, eating at both Ronto Roasters and Docking Bay 7, trying the milk from the milk stand, hanging out at Ogas, people watching, shopping, and just your basic exploring... you are unlikely to be bored.

Photos for fun (and because we just got back and I'm missing it so badly...)

 

[Kirsti]

Oh, and the second day we were there, I grabbed the first Genie+ I could get at 7am so we did Slinky at around 10:00am on our way into Batuu. (Also bought Rise for around 5:30pm, and got Smugglers Run with my 11am Genie+ for 3pm). I bought the ILL for Runaway Railroad for 6:30, which was when we would be leaving the park for our dinner reservation at Disney Springs. Then, when we had some down time during the afternoon, between Smugglers Run and Ogas, I was able to grab a Genie+ for Midway Mania - because those two lands are so close, it was pretty easy to hop out and back in again. We weren't interested in either Tower of Terror or the coaster, so we were very content with working the Toy Story rides around Batuu.

 

[ItsOnlyMoney]

I'll just mention that Smugglers has a single rider line. You won't, I think, get to be the pilot. The 3 times I went on I was an engineer, but that was ok with me.
If you don't need to ride together it's practically walk-on.
We were there the last week of Jan.

 

[Sela_B]

My wife and I enjoy Star Wars, but are by no means hard core fans. However, we planned two days at HS on our last trip just to soak in Galaxy's Edge, and loved all our time there. Some of it was filled with droid building one day and light saber making the other time, but those were really only 15/20 minutes of our time. We made three separate Oga's reservations (if you can't get them at first, sign up for one of the dining alerts - times came through almost daily for me) - that let us try multiple drinks spread out over the day, as well as interact with different bar staff (ask them how they came to work for Oga. They all have fun stories to tell.)

There's a shopping mall with some fun stuff that you won't find anywhere else. If your phone battery holds up, there are a bunch of missions/games you can find in the Play Disney app. There's also so many hidden Easter Eggs around the land, particularly if you can translate Aurabesh (or use the Play Disney app for that too). My faves were the water fountain in the market place area, and the droids inside the Droid Depot.

We tried to dress "in universe", to let the Citizens of Batuu know that we were up for fun. We had great interactions with stormtroopers, Rey and Chewie, Vi, and several store assistants/servers/photographers etc. So between finding characters, getting all the possible photos, riding both rides each time you are there, eating at both Ronto Roasters and Docking Bay 7, trying the milk from the milk stand, hanging out at Ogas, people watching, shopping, and just your basic exploring... you are unlikely to be bored.

Photos for fun (and because we just got back and I'm missing it so badly...)

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This is great! Thank you for the info. And Love the pictures looks like you had a blast

 

[Erzengel]

I've done Galaxy's Edge pre and post Genie+. Both times (2020 & 2021), we got there when it opened. In 2020, we rode 9 rides. ROR, Smuggler's Run, MM Railroad, Aerosmith, Slinky, Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Alien Spin and Star Tours. We were also about to have a reservation at Oga's. I also built a lightsaber and did pictures in front of the Falcon, missed out on the Den of Antiquities. We had a virtual pass for ROTR and we rope dropped M&M Railroad. We left around 8 pm for dinner at the Springs.

Last year same thing, rode 8 rides except Alien Spin, did pictures, and shopping. We did use Genie+ for 3 rides. Aerosmith, Slinky, ROTR on standby added about over 3 and a half hours of wait time. For ROTR, I think it said it was 110-120 minutes, but in the end it took 90 minutes including the ride. We didn't get there at ETPE though. We left this time around 8 again for dinner at the Springs.

If I had to build another lightsaber the second time around, I think we may of had to get a later dinner or not done one of those standby attractions.

 

[Davey Jones II]

If you get LL for ROTR, I don't think you'll need a full day just for Galaxy's Edge. If you don't get ILL, a much better option would be to get in the ROTR standby line just before closing time. It will always be a lot shorter than the rest of the day. How many days is your whole trip? We usually do 9-10 day trips, and usually spend 2.5-3 days at DHS.
I would recommend two full days at DHS; with the two new lands and new ride (MMRR), there is a lot to do there. Hopefully, some more shows will be open by the time you go.

 

[Sela_B]

I've done Galaxy's Edge pre and post Genie+. Both times (2020 & 2021), we got there when it opened. In 2020, we rode 9 rides. ROR, Smuggler's Run, MM Railroad, Aerosmith, Slinky, Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Alien Spin and Star Tours. We were also about to have a reservation at Oga's. I also built a lightsaber and did pictures in front of the Falcon, missed out on the Den of Antiquities. We had a virtual pass for ROTR and we rope dropped M&M Railroad. We left around 8 pm for dinner at the Springs.

Last year same thing, rode 8 rides except Alien Spin, did pictures, and shopping. We did use Genie+ for 3 rides. Aerosmith, Slinky, ROTR on standby added about over 3 and a half hours of wait time. For ROTR, I think it said it was 110-120 minutes, but in the end it took 90 minutes including the ride. We didn't get there at ETPE though. We left this time around 8 again for dinner at the Springs.

If I had to build another lightsaber the second time around, I think we may of had to get a later dinner or not done one of those standby attractions.

So helpful! Thank you! Sounds like two good days