Cast Member Preview of Star Wars Land

 

Bright Suns Nerds. (Bright Suns is how you’re greeted when you are in the land)

So I had the awesome opportunity to preview Star Wars Land this past week not once, but twice.  It’s nice when your daughter and your husband have two separate preview times.  I have to say I was not sure if my daughter was going to take me.  When she told me her date and time, I told her that I volunteered as tribute and she replied with a LOL text.  So when she called me the day before the preview I was thrilled.  I immediately sent my boss an email and requested the day off.  Luckily he agreed.  Not sure what I would have done had I not been able to get the day off.  There might have been many tears.

There were several different options for the preview.  A cast member could choose to do either Ogas Cantina, Smugglers Run, or the hand-built lightsabers.  Both Kelsey and Ken chose Smugglers Run.  Kelsey and I were lucky enough to do both Smugglers Run and the Cantina.  When we walked up a Cast Member gave Kelsey 2 passes to get into Ogas Cantina.  Each cast member had a 4-hour time slot to explore.

Let me start by saying this is as close to perfect as the land could have gotten.

When you step into this land, it’s like stepping right into the movie.  The Cast Members are just as immersive as the setting.  Lots of shopping, and lots of Star Wars merchandise.  Just take my money, please!  We wandered around the marketplace and viewed the merchandise.  Of course, we rode Smugglers Run 4 times.  Disney got it right AGAIN on this ride.  There are 6 spots on each ship, 2 pilots, 2 gunners, and 2 engineers.  Every person on the ship had a job to do to navigate the ship to shooting the first order ships.  While there are a lot of virtual attractions out there, this one stands out because of the roles that the guests play.  The queue was really cool too.  Truly an amazing attraction.  Well done Imagineers!

Between our 4 rides on Smugglers Run, we visited Ogas Cantina.  Again, it looks like the bar in the movies.  They sell all kinds of drinks from the “area.”  There is also a DJ playing local tunes. We only got 45 minutes in the Cantina.  So we went to the bar, I ordered the Imperial Guard…or red wine, and Jet Juice.  Let me tell ya, that Jet Juice was some potent.  It is a Makers Mark drink.  It was yummy though. My daughter got a Yub Nub which was a pineapple rum drink.  I can see this being as crowded, if not more, as Trader Sams.

There are places to build your own droid and another place to build your own lightsabers.  To build your own droid it would cost you 99.99 credits.  In the land, they have credits and not dollars and cents.  Of course, you know the build your own lightsaber would be 200 credits.  I’m sure you’ve heard Jimmy, Sam, and Ed talk about this on the live shows and podcasts.

All of this and I haven’t even talked about the food.

There is a quick service place and an outdoor stand.  We grabbed lunch at the quick service place, Docking Bay 7.  It smells amazing in there, let me tell ya.  While walking around we also stopped to get a soda at the outside stand, Ronto Roasters.  I saw they had spicy turkey jerky, of course, you know I have to try it.  Not my cup of tea.  But we did try the Ronto Wrap.  It’s a wrap with roasted port, grilled pork sausage, peppercorn sauce and tangy slaw wrapped in a pita.  That was so good!

Sunday, Ken and I tried the outpost popcorn mix.  It tasted like Trix or Fruity Pebbles.  Took a little getting used to. I thought both of the experiences were great.  Last but not least, the Blue and Green milk drinks, which, by the way, taste nothing like milk.  They have a daiquiri consistency.  You can get them spiked or not.  The blue milk is spiked with Rum and the green milk is spiked with tequila.  We sampled both ways.  Not my cup of tea, but a lot of people enjoyed this strange beverage.  The blue milk tasted much like coconut and the green like lavender.

Overall, this was a great experience!  Disney has outdone themselves on this new adventure.  I cannot wait for it to open and get all of your thoughts on your experiences.  You will not be disappointed.

For now, I’ll say “may the spires keep you,” which is how they say goodbye in Star Wars Land. The photos don’t do this beautiful land justice but here’s some of my photos to help you get an idea of how amazing Batuu is!

Looking to book your trip to Batuu? Don’t forget to contact, Once Upon A Time Travel, the official travel agent of The Disney Nerds Podcast! Also, they’re fee-free so it doesn’t cost anything extra for their expert advice!