I went to Batuu yesterday with the goal of getting a kowakian monkey-lizard since they were sold out during my reserved group last week. I had an idea of what to expect since I was keeping an eye on things via social media updates from various people who went on Monday.
I didn't want to rush into the parks super early so I made a reservation for Oga's Cantina so that if they ended up doing boarding groups, I'd be good to go in around a time that worked for me. I'm a local AP Holder so I know this is a benefit for me and wouldn't necessarily work out for everyone coming to the parks.
I got into the reservation queue around 6-6:30 and refreshed periodically while getting ready and was able to get a 10am time slot pretty easily once it opened at 7am. It seemed to be a big difference compared to how fast the reservations sold out the day prior.
From what I experienced, I don't think they had to utilize the boarding groups at all yesterday. Both parks seemed to be low capacity and I was actually able to ride Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout three times in a row with 10 min or less wait time.
Anyway, I wanted to share my experience with Smuggler's Run and Oga's Cantina. Once I got into Disneyland around 8:30 (with no issues or lines) I made my way to the Fantasyland entrance to get into Galaxy's Edge. They were directing everyone to the Critter Country entrance but I noticed that once I left around 11, they were utilizing all 3 entrances. I headed to the Creature Stall and made my purchase and then figured I'd wander around until my reservation at 10 for Oga's. The wait time was 180 minutes for Smuggler's Run so I grabbed breakfast at Docking Bay 7. It wasn't bad, wasn't great, but was cool for the experience.
I lined up for Oga's around 9:45 and it went pretty smoothly. I could tell there were people who were there for the first time (of course!) but the cast members were calm and did a good job of explaining the process. A few guests came up trying to get in without reservations who were turned away and most of them understood. One gentleman argued with the cast member at the front of the line but she maintained her composure, which I'm sure was probably difficult.
Once I was inside, my experience wasn't quite the same. I had been inside once before so I was familiar with the process and the menu. The bartender that was assigned to us was really short and unfriendly which seemed to upset the other people who were part of the group I was placed into. I couldn't tell if he was trying to be in character or if he was frustrated with the world, but I was surprised with his behavior. He went down the bartop and asked each person "you ready or what?" and looked away when they ordered or asked him a question. There's a time limit of 45 minutes once you're inside, and I guess he was trying to move things along, but a majority of the people there are seeing everything for the first time. All the other bartenders were smiling and engaging but he remained stone faced and off-putting, especially when he threw the the cup holding my cards and receipts at me. Again, I don't know if he was having a bad day or if maybe he'd be better suited for another job...but it was strange.
I left there and headed towards Smuggler's Run which was down to a 75 minute wait. I was solo in the parks so I decided to go through the single rider line. I think I ended up waiting around 20-30 minutes total, but I think it would have gone faster. The reason it took longer was because there were families of 4-6 who wanted to go together and claimed that they didn't realize it was only for single riders. Just another day in paradise
I apologize for the long post but I wanted to share my thoughts/experiences to give an idea of how it was on a slow Tuesday!
