Initial Thoughts and Impressions—Final Update: Practically Perfect In Every Way

EmJ

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Oct 17, 2010
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Mods, if this belongs in the Disneyland Community board, please move it and I extend my apologies. I couldn't tell, and we have a BTMR LL coming up :)

So, we made it!! And have had almost two full days in the park. I thought I'd post my initial thoughts and impressions, but I'll try to keep it brief. First--to those who have been saying there isn't a substitute for Disney because nothing else is LIKE Disney, I get it now. I'm a Universal lover at heart (ducks thrown tomatoes), but this place is special. My foot has yet to fall on any patch of land that is not themed to the nines, clean clean clean, and with someone helpful (either cast member or another guest) within an arm's length away. It's pretty neat.

Yesterday, was our first DCA day. Honestly, it was only okay, but I think a lot of that was us getting our bearings. Everything seemed spread out and hard to find, and we did a lot of backtracking. It also took me a bit to get the hang of the app and Genie+, so we weren't super efficient at the beginning. We spent most of our time in Avengers Campus, which doesn't have a lot to do, but made up for it in spades in character interactions. My son was chosen with four other children to play charades with Ant Man and the Wasp. He was over the moon! And we probably saw another 6-8 characters in addition and got Spidey's autograph. Outside of Avengers Campus, we experienced a lot of ride breakdowns, which was a bummer, but Soarin' worked just fine and everyone loved it. I'm not sold on DCA yet, but not ready to write it off either. We go back Thursday, wiser ;)

Today was/is our first DL day and it is AWESOME!! Genie+ has been worth every penny of its $15, and I'd pay more. I can understand why people who are local or come a lot would not want to pay, and the standby lines are otherwise long. But for a once-ever-spare-no-expense trip, it is worth it. We did everything I planned over TWO days before 1:30 today, and we are headed back for more. Nothing has broken down, the boy got lots of autographs, food has been decent, and the theming and detail everywhere! Phenomenal. Hyperspace Mountain has been the surprising hit of the day. We didn't plan to do that one, but got talked into it by some other guests we met at rope drop, and we all ended up liking it a lot. If anyone heard a child scream, "THAT WAS SO EXCITING AND SCARY!!!" as the ride came to a stop, that was my kid :) He's asked to go again later this week.

Tomorrow is SWGE, which is definitely the most anticipated part of our trip. I'll keep you posted. And thanks again.
 
Yay!! I'm sharing your excitement with you :) Can't wait to hear more updates!
 
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Don’t forget that Genie+ At DLR includes Photopass photos!
Yes! That too! My son isn’t one for photo ops really, but we got some great photo pass photos with characters.

Here’s my first tip though: When you first scan into the park, pretend like you are going to reserve a LL, just to make sure all party members are scanned in and eligible. My husband’s ticket didn’t scan in correctly this morning, and we didn’t realize it until I couldn’t book him a LL. We got it fixed up with no problems, other than a little extra walking, but now we know.
 
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Glad you had a good day 1 and 2, I’m now sufficiently excited for our arrival on Thursday after reading this!

You also talked me back into springing for G+, because I question it every single time, but it doesn’t take much to open the wallet for Disney experiences.

Now let’s hope we don’t break the 90 degree mark later this week, else I’ll need to pencil in some pool time.
 
So happy you're all having a great time! I love reading reports, especially first timer reports. Keep them coming!!
 
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Quick question— we have upcoming Savis and Droid Depot reservations. We also have spira. Can we use the spira to pay for the lightsaber and droid, or do they charge the credit card entered at the time of reservation?
 
Quick question— we have upcoming Savis and Droid Depot reservations. We also have spira. Can we use the spira to pay for the lightsaber and droid, or do they charge the credit card entered at the time of reservation?
I'm pretty sure you can charge it to whatever card/gift card you want. The reservation card is in case you don't show up. I know my husband paid in full when we got there that night.

PHXscuba
 
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I'm pretty sure you can charge it to whatever card/gift card you want. The reservation card is in case you don't show up. I know my husband paid in full when we got there that night.

PHXscuba
Thank you! You were right. We paid for both before beginning the experiences, and used the spira just fine. We’re having a great day!! Best so far. I’ll update tonight.
 
UPDATE #1: SWGE Day

Today was SWGE Day. THE Day. The Big One. The reason we decided to visit Disneyland at all. Expectations were high, and I'm pleased to say--met. We started the day by rope-dropping MF and, by walking at a pretty normal pace, were able to just walk on. DH got to be the pilot. He was so happy. After that we had an ILL for Rise and O M G. I don't even like Star Wars personally, and that was hands down the best ride anywhere, ever. I don't know how you top it. We're going to pony up again on Friday :) Then we did Oga's, which was also super fun and we got a booth! Though my son wouldn't eat or drink anything except for the sugar cookie half of the Bantha cookie. His loss, lol; DH finished the rest. After that, we used our LL for another go on MF, and it was just as fun the second time.

We met Chewy and my son got to hold his hand and walk for awhile, and ran into some Resistance spy (I think?) who asked my son the location of the Stormtroopers, which he actually knew, because he had just had a picture with them! I cannot convey what a big deal that is. My son's favorite character not only from Star Wars, but from any show or movie is Stormtroopers. We read about them, talk about them, compare their abilities, have 1,403 toys of them, and from ages 4-5, wore basically nothing but Stormtrooper armor 7 days per week. Stormtroopers are our BFF. After that, it was lunch at Ronto Roasters (yum) and then a quick diversion to Jungle Cruise and IJA. Then back to SWGE to build a lightsaber (DH) and droid (the boy). Both were hits, and both were jealous of each other, haha.

Like I said, I'm not a Star Wars person myself, but even I thought the land was amazing, and NOTHING beat watching my boys--the big one and the little one--have the time of their lives.
 
UPDATE #1: SWGE Day

Today was SWGE Day. THE Day. The Big One. The reason we decided to visit Disneyland at all. Expectations were high, and I'm pleased to say--met. We started the day by rope-dropping MF and, by walking at a pretty normal pace, were able to just walk on. DH got to be the pilot. He was so happy. After that we had an ILL for Rise and O M G. I don't even like Star Wars personally, and that was hands down the best ride anywhere, ever. I don't know how you top it. We're going to pony up again on Friday :) Then we did Oga's, which was also super fun and we got a booth! Though my son wouldn't eat or drink anything except for the sugar cookie half of the Bantha cookie. His loss, lol; DH finished the rest. After that, we used our LL for another go on MF, and it was just as fun the second time.

We met Chewy and my son got to hold his hand and walk for awhile, and ran into some Resistance spy (I think?) who asked my son the location of the Stormtroopers, which he actually knew, because he had just had a picture with them! I cannot convey what a big deal that is. My son's favorite character not only from Star Wars, but from any show or movie is Stormtroopers. We read about them, talk about them, compare their abilities, have 1,403 toys of them, and from ages 4-5, wore basically nothing but Stormtrooper armor 7 days per week. Stormtroopers are our BFF. After that, it was lunch at Ronto Roasters (yum) and then a quick diversion to Jungle Cruise and IJA. Then back to SWGE to build a lightsaber (DH) and droid (the boy). Both were hits, and both were jealous of each other, haha.

Like I said, I'm not a Star Wars person myself, but even I thought the land was amazing, and NOTHING beat watching my boys--the big one and the little one--have the time of their lives.
I'm a Disney nerd and Star Wars fan and your post legit made tear up..
 
UPDATE #1: SWGE Day

Today was SWGE Day. THE Day. The Big One. The reason we decided to visit Disneyland at all. Expectations were high, and I'm pleased to say--met. We started the day by rope-dropping MF and, by walking at a pretty normal pace, were able to just walk on. DH got to be the pilot. He was so happy. After that we had an ILL for Rise and O M G. I don't even like Star Wars personally, and that was hands down the best ride anywhere, ever. I don't know how you top it. We're going to pony up again on Friday :) Then we did Oga's, which was also super fun and we got a booth! Though my son wouldn't eat or drink anything except for the sugar cookie half of the Bantha cookie. His loss, lol; DH finished the rest. After that, we used our LL for another go on MF, and it was just as fun the second time.

We met Chewy and my son got to hold his hand and walk for awhile, and ran into some Resistance spy (I think?) who asked my son the location of the Stormtroopers, which he actually knew, because he had just had a picture with them! I cannot convey what a big deal that is. My son's favorite character not only from Star Wars, but from any show or movie is Stormtroopers. We read about them, talk about them, compare their abilities, have 1,403 toys of them, and from ages 4-5, wore basically nothing but Stormtrooper armor 7 days per week. Stormtroopers are our BFF. After that, it was lunch at Ronto Roasters (yum) and then a quick diversion to Jungle Cruise and IJA. Then back to SWGE to build a lightsaber (DH) and droid (the boy). Both were hits, and both were jealous of each other, haha.

Like I said, I'm not a Star Wars person myself, but even I thought the land was amazing, and NOTHING beat watching my boys--the big one and the little one--have the time of their lives.
This is the best thing I’ve read all day

This is amazing
 
WOW!!! That sounds so awesome!! I'm having the best time reading your reports. I'm not a SW fan myself, but can appreciate the intensity of your boys' response to something they love. My friend, who is an intense SW fan, just gushes every time we walk through the area and I get such a kick out of how much she loves everything. I find the look depressing, but to her it's magic. Vive la différence!
 
UPDATE #1: SWGE Day

Today was SWGE Day. THE Day. The Big One. The reason we decided to visit Disneyland at all. Expectations were high, and I'm pleased to say--met. We started the day by rope-dropping MF and, by walking at a pretty normal pace, were able to just walk on. DH got to be the pilot. He was so happy. After that we had an ILL for Rise and O M G. I don't even like Star Wars personally, and that was hands down the best ride anywhere, ever. I don't know how you top it. We're going to pony up again on Friday :) Then we did Oga's, which was also super fun and we got a booth! Though my son wouldn't eat or drink anything except for the sugar cookie half of the Bantha cookie. His loss, lol; DH finished the rest. After that, we used our LL for another go on MF, and it was just as fun the second time.

We met Chewy and my son got to hold his hand and walk for awhile, and ran into some Resistance spy (I think?) who asked my son the location of the Stormtroopers, which he actually knew, because he had just had a picture with them! I cannot convey what a big deal that is. My son's favorite character not only from Star Wars, but from any show or movie is Stormtroopers. We read about them, talk about them, compare their abilities, have 1,403 toys of them, and from ages 4-5, wore basically nothing but Stormtrooper armor 7 days per week. Stormtroopers are our BFF. After that, it was lunch at Ronto Roasters (yum) and then a quick diversion to Jungle Cruise and IJA. Then back to SWGE to build a lightsaber (DH) and droid (the boy). Both were hits, and both were jealous of each other, haha.

Like I said, I'm not a Star Wars person myself, but even I thought the land was amazing, and NOTHING beat watching my boys--the big one and the little one--have the time of their lives.
I loved reading this! I remember all of your planning and research. I am a huge Star Wars fan and love everything about Galaxy's Edge. I'm so glad it met your (high) expectations!
 












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