Exploring Galaxy's Edge | Ep 9

Blast off to Batuu with us as we celebrate May the 4th in style and dive headfirst into the immersive world of Galaxy’s Edge! From our jaw-dropping first glimpse of the Millennium Falcon and those intimidating (but awesome) stormtroopers to our own hilarious ride mishaps (trust us, you might not want us piloting your ship), we’re sharing our can’t-miss experiences like Rise of the Resistance, our best tips for beating the crowds, and our honest take on whether those famous Ronto Wraps are actually worth it. Whether you’re a die-hard Star Wars fan or just along for the adventure, we’re bringing you laughs, real talk, and a behind-the-scenes feel for what truly makes this land feel like another planet—so punch it, Chewy, and come along for a Disney journey you won’t forget.

Transcript

Jenny 0:00

Hey Disney friends, welcome back to our podcast. Okay, quick question before we get started. If you could step into any part of a Disney park right now, would you choose a galaxy far far away? Because today we're going there. We're dropping this episode a little early this week because when May the 4th lands on a Monday, you don't wait until Tuesday. You celebrate properly. Today is all about Galaxy's Edge, and I've got the perfect co-pilot for this mission. Emily, are you ready to jump to hyperspace?

Emily 0:36

I've got a good feeling about this. Punch it, Chewy. Chew.

Jenny 1:13

We are two Canadian sisters who love every Disney adventure from travel with family to running marathons. On today's show, we're heading to Bat Two and sharing our experiences in Galaxy's Edge, including our favorite experiences and must-d's for exploring the land. All right, now that we're officially on Bat Two in our minds, let's start with our first impressions. Emily, take me back to your first time stepping into Galaxy's Edge. What stood out to you right away? Well, okay, my first time going to Galaxy's Edge was when we went to the Marathon weekend, and you and your boys were already at Galaxy's Edge, and I was trying to find you there and meet you there. And so the first impression was mostly, where are you guys? And then I'm walking through, and then I see the ship.

Speaker 2 2:10

I see the Millennium Falcon.

Jenny 2:12

And I was blown away by how cool it was. And of course, there were stormtroopers walking back and forth in front of it, kind of spooking the crowd, intimidating the crowd, I think is probably a better word. So I was momentarily just awestruck by that and how cool that was. And I'm not even a total Star Wars fan, but that was pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty memorable. For me, the first impression was just walking into the land. You know, you can come at that land from two different directions. One is coming from Toy Storyland, and the other is coming from an area called Echo Lake, where the old, the original Star Tours attraction is. You can come in on that end of Galaxy's Edge. And it doesn't matter which way you're coming in, you kind of come around a bend or through a tunnel. Yeah. And in either case, you are immediately can't see what was behind you. And you're walking into this incredibly immersive area that's just literally an another land. Like you're on another planet. You're everywhere you look is batu. I was by myself, completely by myself when I got there. I went through the, like you said, I went through Toy Story Land and I was looking for you guys. And I, you know, trying to find somebody at Disney can be a bit of a challenge, but you know, I'm looking all around and then but like you were talking about kind of it comes through like a tunnel. Yeah. But then it opens up to that area. Yeah. And that's where it's like, yeah, you really feel like you're, you know, I'm not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Right? Like it's it's definitely different. So that was pretty cool. So I remember taking a picture of the Millennium Falcon, and then this lady said, Oh, would you like me to take your picture? Because I was just taking, and I'm like, no, no, I've actually just taken the picture so I can text it to my sister to say, This is where I am, but that's basically where I was in front of.

Emily 4:13

Like it was cut, but I was hoping that you'd figure it out from what shot I was, like what angle I was taking.

Jenny 4:20

Anyway, I eventually found you guys. I also liked that. It was pretty cool. It wasn't all like in right angles, and you know, like it's very uh It's like kind of like the streets of Europe, like those old city streets of Europe, and things are tight and but open in some places, and like they open to a corner. But they are straight. No, but it's also And nothing's on the same level, like you're going upstairs and you're going under walkways or under I don't know what archways or I don't know. It wasn't like things were totally blasted out and cleared out for this. Well, that's I guess that is the planet of Batuu, perhaps. Well, it just blows my mind the attention to detail in the artwork in the construction and the art that they put into building this space. Like, forget about all the things that are in it. It's just the visual of mind-blowing visuals of it. Yeah, you really have traveled. You feel like you have traveled to a new location. You don't you don't feel like you're in a Walt Disney World Park. Well, you do because it's so awesome, and you know, m they do they do it right, I guess, but it's it's different than any of the other lands. I'm gonna say this. I don't know if I'm right though, but I don't think there are any hidden Mickeys in there, but I could be wrong. Maybe there are, I just don't know about it. There probably are still. But I actually think I don't know if I have this right, but is there a hidden Donald? Donald, yes. One of the buildings. I was saying it, I'm thinking, oh, I think there's a hidden Donald in there. Yeah, the building. Yeah. Maybe should we just say no more. Say no more. You have to find the hidden Donald. Find the hidden Donald. Yeah. The like speaking of the immersion that you're in this pl planet, even the cast members are so good. They are so well trained, they're such good actors. The right to the photopaths photographers, to the people who are serving you at Ogus Cantina, or even just serving you at one of the carts that sells cold drinks, you know, like they are in Batuu. And if you refer to anything outside of Galaxy's Edge, they don't know what you're talking about.

Emily 6:46

They are with you in Batu. Like you're you're in Batu. So that's that's how they speak to you. Like that's what you mean, right?

Jenny 6:54

Like, and they call you welcome traveler. Set your bags down here, you know, or I don't know. Like, is it true? Like, I don't remember this entirely, but I remember like all of the signage and instructions, nothing's in English, right? It's all in the different lettering and yeah, it's all in another language. So we won't talk about that right now though, because we're talking about our first impressions. But just to go back to like first impression or things that I guess this isn't first impressions, but things that kind of stand out. It's like everything is really cool. Like everything is so first, like, so just I guess some impressions that I have, I don't know if they were my first impressions, but maybe my some of my lasting impressions. One of the things I really appreciated about Batu or going to Galaxy's Edge is that if you have friends and family that aren't necessarily Walt Disney World fanatics, maybe not as much as we are, as far as like the different IP, you know, of maybe the the the Mickeys and McDonald's or even the Pixars, you might have somebody who's a total Star Wars fanatic in your in your family or in your friend group or or what have you, and this will totally fill the bill. Like yeah, if that's the case, they need to go to Galaxy's Edge. Yeah, like if you're trying to find either somebody who's with you, or if you want to find some cool gifts or you know, souvenirs for people back home, you can get some really neat stuff. Galaxy's Edge. Like I got a I got a deck of cards, and again, I'm not a huge like I I enjoy the Star Wars movies and things, but I wouldn't call myself like a Star Wars nerd. Like I I don't remember, I know like who Han Solo is and Chewy and R2D2 and all of that, but I don't remember all the details. But there is a scene, I think it's in The Empire Strikes Back. I don't know. Why am I even pretending that I know? But Han Solo has to win like it's like a poker game or it's a card game, and he has to try to win his ship back, Millennium Falcon back, and he's playing this kind of like a a poker game, but I guess it's called Sabac. Anyway, it's I I picked up a deck of cards. You can buy that game at Galaxy's Edge, and there's it's like a little pack of cards, and there's instructions of and it's so some sort of if I recall from reading the the directions on the game, it's a cross between poker and a game of risk or chance, and maybe 21. But anyway, a lot of fun. Lots of people really like it. So if you and you know, it wasn't very expensive, and it's like a deck of cards, so easy little gift to bring back, little souvenir to bring back to somebody, and it was just really cool Star Wars like type stuff. That's a really good tip. Lots of other things too, but all of the other things were either a lot more expensive or a lot larger, and I wasn't I was on a budget. So I got to budget at Disney World. What's that? I would say another tip since we're talking about tips and strategies, I would say another tip is that you actually don't need to know anything about Star Wars to enjoy Galaxy's Edge. Yeah, that's true. You can go there and not know anything about Star Wars and you will still love it. It's you you'll well you love it. I don't know how you will feel if anyone would feel about it, but I think it it's just so impressive that it I don't know how it wouldn't impress anybody. It doesn't matter if you know about and if you do know about Star Wars and if you are a big fan, then it's just added bonus because then you're gonna pick up on all of the little Easter eggs and the details that other people will appreciate that they are nice, but might not get the significance of them. Okay, like the card game I was just talking about, I actually had zero idea that that was actually a card game that was a part of the movies. It wasn't until I gave the gift to my friend who is a Star Wars fan, and they knew exactly what the game was, and I'm like, oh, imagine that. I just thought it would be a cool little card. Like I just I thought it looked like a fun little game. And so I was attracted to this item without really fully knowing its, I guess, movie history or anything like that. I was trying to think of what the best time a day to go to Galaxy's Edge would be. And having only ever been there in the morning, really, maybe in the afternoon, I couldn't really compare because I was wondering at night what it's like. Like I imagine it must be pretty cool at night. I've never well I've only been there twice, and both times were earlier in the day. So yeah, I've never been at night. Have you been at night? No. No, I haven't. But I think I've seen a couple pictures of it and it looks pretty neat. And I I feel like I r read somebody's post somewhere or heard somebody talk about being the last ones out of the restaurant, maybe, or August Cantina, or they had a late reservation, and so when they came out the park was closing. Because I think Hollywood Studios usually closes a little earlier than like around nine o'clock at night. And so they came out and they were like the only ones in Galaxy's Edge, and it was so neat. Yeah. But anyway, I don't know. I can't give any advice on that because we've only I've only been morning afternoon. Earlier, like, yeah, early afternoon, I guess would be the latest. And so then I was also thinking of like our rope drop strategy, because I don't think no, did when we went with Sarah, did we rope drop Rise of the Resistance? Yes. Or did we have or did we have a lightning lane? No, we didn't have a lightning lane. We rope dropped it. We did, for sure. We did. I remember it. We still waited in a lineup, but it wasn't it wasn't like uh hours long or anything. No, we were on it so fast. Yeah. So that's what I was gonna say was like when you this is sort of a more gin general Hollywood Studios tip, I think, is that depends on what time of year you go at, whether I'm gonna rope drop light rise of the resistance or if I'm gonna do Slinky Dog or Mickey Minnie's Runaway Railway, or like one of the other attractions that are at Hollywood Studios that tend to have longer lineups, I know like the majority of people are heading towards Galaxy's Edge. But honestly, Toy Storyland is so hot, it's so open, and like the cement on the ground, like it is just generally a hot land. So if the crowds aren't as b n big as normal and you really want to do Slinky Dog, I would say do that, like rope drop that, do your Toy Storyland stuff in the morning while it's kind of cool-ish, and then move to other places with more shade, like Galaxy's Edge or wherever. Like, yeah, anyways. I I have never been on Slinky Slinky Dog Dash. Oh, it's cute. Yeah, it's I know why the lineup is so big. It's not that the ride is really cute, it's fun, it's you know, it's great for little kids, and the height restriction on it is pretty low. So, because of that, it's like Seven Dwarves Mind Train. You know, you can take your kids on it that are smaller, and it's a nice sort of bumpy ride. It's not any kind of thing. It's a lot of fun, but nothing that makes me want to go that I would that I know of. I also try not to learn too much about a ride. I try to kind of plug my ears when somebody's talking about an attraction that I haven't experienced yet. I don't, I don't actually want to know. So if we're talking about attractions like Rise of the Resistance, you and your boys had been on on the ride, on the attraction, and I was like, don't tell me anything. And you were all all three of you were so good about it. You didn't tell me anything. You just said you'll like it. I'm like, don't, don't even tell me that. I don't want to know. So spoiler alert, everyone. If you don't want to know about any of the attractions in Galaxy's Edge, stop listening because we're gonna talk about them.

Emily 15:16

Yeah, because I'll tell you, I loved Rise of the Resistance.

Jenny 15:20

Yes, it's up there with Guardians.

Emily 15:22

Yes, yeah.

Jenny 15:24

I would like when you're talking about the strategy of going on Slinky Dog Dash, actually, all of your points sound very good points, but I would say that that would be my number one to get to Rise of the Resistance. Yeah. Yeah, and I personally wouldn't wait any longer than 30 minutes in line for Slinky Dog, but I would wait for whatever for two hours for Rise of the Rise. Rise of the Resistance. Yeah. Well, two would be my maximum. Like I'm kind of like a that's a 90-minute wait kind of girl. Because then it becomes like value for you can stand and in in a lineup and things. But like Disney always does interesting stuff with lineups, but still. So let's talk about the attractions. Let's talk about rise of the resistance and the lineup because you can be in that lineup for an hour and a half, but you are constantly going through area after area that is just uh changing. It it's so much to look at. I don't even know what I'm going through. George always knows we walk through it and he'll be like, Oh yeah, that's this gun and that gun and that, right? Like, I don't know those things, but like, I mean, our love some of our loved ones are Star Wars fans and they know those details. I don't know the details, and yet I still think it's like it's amazing. The ride is amazing, but yeah, so to have to be a fan and know all the different details. I read somewhere somebody described the ride as I think four different rides in one, because you have like these different areas, kind of like there's the main part of the ride, but like the lineup itself is I feel like that's part of the experience. It's you know it can be long and everything, but you're constantly looking at something new. You're when you're moving through things, it's not always the same. Sometimes you're outside in the open and sometimes you're under and feels like in a cave, or I don't know how else to describe that, but and then when you get on the experience, it changes and changes and changes. And I won't I don't want to give away like all the things about it, but I don't want to give because I'm so glad I didn't know I didn't know anything. I didn't know what kind of ride it was, I didn't know if it was like a roller coaster type thing, I didn't know if it was like, you know, get in a boat and go through like it's a small world kind of I didn't know anything about it, and I'm glad I didn't because every time we went in when you're talking about to going into a new area, it was even it was a surprise. Yeah. And I guess it to be fair to like anybody, if we were telling anybody like, should you go on this attraction, I would let them know that there are times when you're gonna be in a more enclosed space, a little bit darker. I'm getting an evil eye. I would be so mad at you right now. Well, I warned you, I warned you. Spoiler, I'm gonna tell you things. I have hardly said anything about that ride. But okay, so that one. But I also don't want to say something else about it because the cast members who are working that ride have characters, and that I'm telling you, the people that get these jobs are living their best lives. I swear to God, these cast members are people who are like Star Wars super fans. They are into it. They or they're just really good actors, or they're really good actors, but I really feel like some of them just give you this energy, they give you this character that's like it's more than them just like being a good actor, like they're invested, they love this stuff. I know maybe it's real, they're so good. I love it. I love that all those people are just so good at what they do. It makes the experience like chefs. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so five stars. And also, it's a 20-minute long experience. Really? Yes, yeah. So you wait in that lineup, but you're getting your money's worth waiting. Okay, okay. So, what about the other? I think it's the only other attraction that's there, like ride type. Millennium Falcon. Yeah, what are your thoughts on that one? Super fun, great for gamers. You get to ch you don't get really to choose, but you get assigned a role. Uh spoiler if you haven't been on the ride. Listen, this is gonna be full of spoilers. So you get there, you're gonna go into the capsule with a total of six people, and there are three different roles. You get to be the engineer, the gunner, or the pilot. And yeah, you don't want you don't want me as your pilot. Because I didn't even know. You guys were like, so you have to the pilot is supposed to drive the shit. Like Yes, one pilot steers up and down, and the other pilot steers left and right. Yeah, I didn't know. I was just moving it around. You're like, see the white box, you want to and I I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't know. We were the wrong ones to be the pilots. Well, I think the thing was I I didn't have I wear glass, I wear reading glasses, but I don't usually have them, and I didn't have glasses on. So I couldn't, because you're watching this little tiny like TV. Well, if maybe if somebody pointed out, like, see this little white box, this is where you want, or whatever the target thing is to show you where I had no idea. I was just following the white box you're talking about. Well, somebody have glasses. Somebody kept saying, see the white box, you're aiming for that. I'm like, I don't, I don't know. I have no idea. But I felt really bad because there were three of us from our party, our group, and then three other people that we got grouped with. Well, there were four of us. No, it was you, me, and Sarah. Oh, I thought you were talking with George and Charlie. No, because George, it was either George or Charlie who was the pilot on that one, and I was the gunner. I don't know what my role was, but it wasn't as important as driving the ship.

Emily 21:11

I mean, they're all important, but if you have a bad pilot, you're just gonna crash a lot like you did with me. Anyway, when it was the three of us, you, me and Sarah, there were three other people with us.

Jenny 21:22

And I when we were getting off the ride, and that that group of three met up with the rest of their group, and they're like, Oh yeah, how did you guys do in your points?

Emily 21:32

And the man was he wanted to say, like, oh, we had the worst pilot in the world, but I was walking right in front of him and you could just tell. I'm like, I felt so bad. But whatever. They were all adults too.

Jenny 21:45

It wasn't like a but you know what? The gunner and the engineer get points too. See, I didn't even know the I think okay, so here's the thing if you wear reading glasses, maybe maybe put them on for that ride because I don't think I knew that either. Oh my god, you couldn't see the screen. I couldn't see. I I've played, I think I've had all the roles now. I've not been on it that many times, but I've been pilot and I've been. And if you find a pair of sunglasses in there, those are mine because I did leave. Those are gone. I did leave my sunglasses in the pocket. Anyway, that's a great one too. Yeah. Really fun. Okay, I got you. And also an experience, like not as long as the Rise of Resistance, but you still go through some areas leading up to where you get to the final part. Yeah. So I also have made a note to myself here to remember to talk about the character interactions, which you started to allude to on the day that you were trying to find us. But it's a little different than the rest of the parks because the characters are just wandering around. They're just walking around. Like old style. Yeah, like old style, like 1970s Walt Disney World. But not only that, like the characters are are wandering around. Like you you might have Chewbacca show up. But but mostly you're most likely gonna come across stormtroopers or maybe Ray. Yeah, Ray. Ray walks around. Darth Maul. Oh, I've never seen him. Yeah. But a lot, like a lot of times you'll get stormtroopers, or you'll get like ro uh droid. I shouldn't call it a robot. See, my gosh, Star Wars fans would be like someone's cringing right now. Fire her. I've seen Darth Maul. Definitely I've seen stormtroopers. I've never seen droids, but that is. Sometimes they get like a little like bee-boo-boo. I've actually only seen videos. I've never seen them in person, but I've seen little video clips. I've seen Chewy every time. Yeah, and Stormtroopers. And and and Darth Vader. Darth Vader, not walking around. I haven't seen. Oh, have you? Okay. Anyways, all that to say, it's pretty cool because they're just walking around. And then sometimes they go over to the Millennium Falcon. Character. Very much in character. Oh, yeah. And they just sometimes you're like walking past that giant Millennium Falcon and they're just there. There's Chewy and there's Ray, and they're just like working on them, and they're just talking to each other like they're working on the machine and trying to fix it or something. Like it's just like, what am I just witnessing right now? This is happening. And they're it's real. They're both like the acting is or I don't know. They're their improv is amazing because are they both intimidating and welcoming at the same time? Like I don't know how they do it. I don't know how they stay with the stormtroopers? Yeah, like I don't know how they stay in character so that they're, you know, they're they're the enemy, right? Like they're the they're the bad guys, and yet they're so like when you're at the park, they're also interacting with you in such a way that they're still in character and yet it's still awesome, like still lovable and you know, kind of friendly. There's like a banter that they do. I don't know, it's just I can't really I'm not a star trooper. It's just awesome. Yeah, it's fun. Well, a little bit about the food and the different experiences you can have at Galaxy's Edge. Well, Ogus Cantina would be a pretty cool experience, which we've done twice now, and that is really neat. Like just to go in to the restaurant, definitely. I think we talked about this in the previous episode that we've done. But you definitely won't would want to have reservations. Well, you can walk up sometimes. It depends on how busy things are. I guess it depends on the park. I think that certain times of day you would have to have a reservation, but if it's 10 o'clock in the morning, yeah, we just walked up and went 10 o'clock. Like to be clear, it's not really a restaurant either. No, it's just a bar. It's a bar and you can get bar snacks. And I have to say that I did not love the bar snacks that we got on the first go. The first go. I think they've gotten better though. I feel like the things changed slightly. Yeah. Weren't great the first time. The drinks were good. I personally didn't like them. They might be for somebody else. I personally didn't like them, but there was only two choices you could for food. Because I think when we went that first time, I was hungry because that was a marathon weekend, and so I'm just constantly eating, I think. And so there's two choices of snacks that you could get, and whatever choice that we got, some savory kind of chips or type things, they were okay. But the drinks are more interesting, expensive, but cool because it's you're paying for the experience of being in there. And you only get 45 minutes, but and then they kind of start suggesting that it's time for you to go. Yeah, just well, that's just fair. Get other people in to have the experience too. So I I'm I'm okay with that. Like I didn't feel rushed. Did you feel rushed? No, the time that I went w when we went at the marathon weekend, no. And I think we all had like one or two drinks. We weren't I had one I had one drink. And I think you guys got two. I had one the friends of ours got two. Yeah, anyways, we weren't it wasn't a big thing. And then the second time was with you and Sarah, and we all had two drinks. Yeah. And we had a great server, and we were at the bar, and she was so funny and fun. Yes. That was a really good time. Well, both of them, but there was one, yeah, the bartender. The she was she was terrific. And then the next time I went was uh when I went last September on my retirement trip, and I had two drinks, and so did one of my friends. And that time I did feel like they were pushing us in. What time of day was it? I think it was in the afternoon, but it wasn't super busy. Like we had a table to ourselves for a while, and then they sat somebody at the other end of our table. I wonder if it makes any difference as far as because we were maybe this is the difference because both times that I went we were at we were exactly the same spot. Yep. The same spot at the bar, and we were standing at the bar. Like I think are there bar stools? Yeah, there were bar stools, right? No, are you just standing? Yeah, you're just standing. So maybe that's why I don't feel like I felt rushed because it wasn't like I got to you know you're not you're not sitting and cozying in and maybe it was the tables that they wanted to clear or something. Yeah. It was fine. We were finished our drinks anyway. It's just kind of an awkward ending to not awkward, but you know, like, okay, I get it. Where it's time for us to go. You're not leaving on your own, totally on your own will, you know. But I love August Canteen. It's very fun and the drinks are fun. And I think the reason well, we got two drinks for a few reasons, but one of the reasons is because of course everything's themed and there's and they're really cool looking. Like there's some it's not just a regular sort of get a drink, like there's something theatrical even about the drinks. About the drinks, yeah. Uh-huh. So and after having a couple of breakfast beverages with you and Sarah, 10 o'clock in the morning, and we'd all had a bit of a breakfast buzz, we went over to Ronto Roasters, I think that's what it's called, and we got a Ronto wrap, and we shared it. You don't remember. Oh my god. What? It was so yummy. I remember I remember our bartender telling us that, like, go, because we were like, we're really hungry, we haven't eaten anything, and she's like, go get a Ronto wrap. She said, on my day off, I come here and I go get a Ronto wrap. Okay, so refresh my memory. What is a Ronto wrap? It has a sausage down the middle. This is for Susan, by the way. No, it isn't. It's for me. It's definitely stop telling fibs, it's for you. It has a sausage down the middle, and then it has scrambled egg kind of thing around it. And then it's in a big pita. Yeah, I kind of remember. Oh, yeah. It's so yummy. It was good. I'll have that again. The Ronto wrap was yummy. And then I think if you like just get a regular one, it's like a sausage and a wrap. Yeah, I do. I do remember that now. I just didn't. Did you ever have the blue or green milk? I have not, but I have learned that the blue, they're they're different flavors. Did you know that? Have you had what? Yeah. I've tasted it, yeah. What uh which color does it? It's not milk at all. No, it's like a slushy. And one of them, the blue one's like a fruity slushy, and the green one is more of a citrusy drink. I think I had tasted the blue one. I can't remember. So it's not even creamy at all. Like it's not like a milkshake or anything. It's milky, but it's more like a slushy. It's a slushy. Well, how does it make how does it look milky? I don't know, but it doesn't taste milky. Science. Science, science, science. I also had the special soft drinks from the cart there, you know, they get the cold drinks. And I went and got a Coke. Yeah. And it comes from this, like, I am just so impressed with Disney. They can go to Coca-Cola and get their products put into specially made bottles that are themed for Galaxy's Edge. So somehow, yeah. And it looks like it says Coca-Cola, but it's not in English. But you can still tell, like, it's Coca like Coca-Cola or I think Sprite was the other one.

Emily 31:31

Yeah.

Jenny 31:32

Sprite or Coke. Yeah. Sprite Coke or Diet Coke. I think those are your choices. But that's kind of like a little souvenir bottle, even. It's pretty cool. Totally. I mean, it's pretty it's kind of expensive for a soft drink, but it's pretty cool. Yeah. And they are ice cold. And oh, an ice cold crispy coke is just so yummy. I wish I had one right now. Were you with us when we went to do the lightsaber building thing? Oh, because I was doing one of the races. That was I think that you guys went the because so when you know how I said I was meeting up with you guys? You had I had done a race that morning, and you went ahead with your boys to Galaxy's Edge, and I think you were doing the the lightsaber building, and then that then I met up with you after that. Okay. So tell me about that. So there's two experiences that you can do in Galaxy's Edge. One is the Droid Depot, and the other is Savvy's workshop and its lightsaber building. And we did that one. George and Charlie did that one. That was an again an incredible experience, another 20-minute experience where you go in and have to choose all the different pieces of the hilt of your lightsaber and the crystal that goes inside of it. And they give you all the piece parts, and then you assemble it and you come out with a lightsaber. They give you a carrying case for it. But it sounds so very basic and straightforward, and they embellish all of that with a story. So there is an actor or cast member in the room who is telling you the story of Savvy's workshop and how all these parts have been scavenged and the importance of it. And oh, I recorded the whole thing. It was so incredible. He this actor was so incredible. Instead of just going, okay, here are some parts, build whatever lightsaber you want to do. They have they create a whole backstory. It's all immersive. And so you're a part of the story. Parts of the room, lights, like it's very theatrical. There's lighting changes and sound effects, and you're part of this really immersive story. It was really, really incredible. And then you get these really good, amazing lightsabers at the end of it. And I have to say, like, compared to the wand ceremony thing that they have over at Universal Studios, I don't know if it's changed, but the last time I saw that, it was just so hokey in comparison to the lightsaber building. And the acting and the the Harry Potter wand thing was just, I don't know. So with this experience, I mean obviously you paid this was an extra charge compared to your park ticket. Yeah, it's not cheap. And you had to make reservations for it too, right? You couldn't just show up. I mean, it's possible, but they really recommend that you reserve it. You can't I wouldn't go there wanting to do it and just think, oh, I'll just hope that I get it. So if you know you want to do it, you really want to do it, book it. Yeah. The droid depot we had booked, I think, for another trip that we were gonna do in COVID, like when COVID happened, and then everything got cancelled. And the droid depot is along the same lines, but totally different because you're going into this area where all the droid parts are going past you on a conveyor belt. I only know this because I walked in to see what are other people doing the last time I was there, and you pick the pieces off the conveyor belt and you put your droid together, and then you get this remote-controlled droid at the end of it, and it has a little carrying case that you take it away in. I think it's a little bit less expensive than the lightsaber, but still a cool experience. There are a lot of neat things, like never mind those experiences that you can book as extras, but there were things like the I don't know what you would call them, like the robes, like the Jedi robes. Like you can buy really cool stuff in the stores there. What are the markets? What do they call? What's one of the names of the I forget? Black Spire Outpost is the only one I can remember. Yeah, they're but there's a bunch of different things. There's a bunch, you feel like you're going through like a marketplace and all these different shops and like or shopkeepers and things and sort of having their different specialties. Like you could go to the one spot for more of the clothing type things, or I don't know. Like, but basically, you if you wanted to deck yourself out in Star Wars fandom, this is the place you want to be. Like they've got some pretty good quality stuff. They've got some amazing things, yeah. Really cool stuff. Other than the lightsabers. I was gonna say the lightsabers, the lightsabers, but I'm just thinking of those shows other than your it's just really fun to look. Like there's so much stuff that's really cool that's so Star Wars is so on point on theme. But I find like when I'm at Walt Disney World, no matter what park I'm in, I love going through the shops uh everywhere, but I rarely buy stuff. I mean, I do go always I do come home with something because there's so many things that I want to buy, but then I think okay, my everyday life, I don't know. I just I I like to window shop. I get I can just I can get my fulfillment window shopping, and then maybe taking the odd picture or two. Okay, so tell me what is one thing that you wouldn't miss? Must be. If you had to go, if you had to go. If you're at Galaxy's Edge and you only had time, or for some reason you could only do one thing, what's the one thing that you would not miss? Well, I'm just gonna phrase it a different way. Your must do. My must, my my most enjoyable thing was rise of the resistance. Yeah. For sure. That's the same for me. That's the one thing that if I could only do one thing, it's gonna be rise of the resistance. But when you phrase it, you only have time for one thing. Well, like we talked earlier, because take out the word time, yeah. Like the one thing that what's my number one thing that I that I think is the best would be rise of the resistance. Same. But if you can't get on that ride for whatever reason, maybe sometimes it could if there's technical issues and things like that shuts down every day, it shuts down a lot. But don't feel like too disappointed because just being in Galaxy's Edge, like we talked about, like just walking around and experiencing it, like like feeling like you are in a different land, that's pretty neat. Like just doing that is you're you're getting an experience just being there and then watching the stormtroopers that come in and interacting with them. What about you? What's rise of the resistance? Yeah, rise of the resistance is the thing that I wouldn't miss, or Millennium Falcon if Rise was down. They have two attractions, like I would make sure that I did one of those. What's one thing that you would skip? I think I could skip Millennium Falcon, to be honest, because if if if I don't have my glasses on, I don't know what's going on.

Emily 38:59

Oh brother. Yeah, yeah, I would say Millennium Falcon because I it's all a blur. What about like literally?

Jenny 39:10

For me, it would be the food. I wouldn't Yeah, okay.

Emily 39:13

Yeah, that that's my that might go.

Jenny 39:15

I'm gonna have my lunch here in Galaxy's Edge. It's fine. And I've never been to the there is a sit-down restaurant there called Trader Outpost. Well, that's where you can get that's where you can get the blue milk and the and the you can get the blue milk from the stand outside. You can? Yes.

Emily 39:36

I didn't have my buttons. I didn't have my glasses on, I didn't know that.

Jenny 39:41

They're brutal. They have blue and green milk and then they have these two sweets that like pastry things you can get. Okay, well, at the stand outside. The only food I can't really comment on the food because mostly like we we've been to Ogus Cantina twice because that's an experience. Like, I don't I don't care if you know for for the dream. You're not going to Ogus Cantina for the food though. No, you're not going, you're going like that's what I mean. You're going to Ogus Cantina for the experience of the environment and like that, the theming of it. And there are some familiar things from movies in August Cantina that you might that might resonate with you. But other than the fact that I forgot about the Ronto wraps, you see, like that's the thing. They weren't memorable. But once you describe them, I remember I remember having them now that you described them, but it was like clearly it's forgettable. It's memorable to me, and I really, really like them. Okay. And I guess if I'm there at breakfast time, I would have a Ronto wrap. But and there is a sit-down restaurant there in Galaxy's Edge, which I have never eaten at, so I say this without having experienced that. But there's nothing there in Galaxy's Edge that makes me go, I'm gonna make sure that I have my lunch or my whatever meal here. I would leave and I would go over to Toy Storyland and I'd go to Woody's lunchbox and eat there because it's good food, so and you're not that far away. That's another land. That's another land where the cast members talk to you as if you're in the toy box and Andy's about to come around the corner. I know it's so funny. I just love how you get so immersed in everything. Okay, well, those are our experiences in Galaxy's Edge. So let's switch gears now and get into our magic minute. Okay. Well, my magic minute is on theme. It's about where we are at at Galaxy's Edge. We are on the planet of Batuu. And so I wanted to tell you a little bit about Batuu in that it's a planet that wasn't a part of the original movie series, Star Wars movie series. So unlike they they couldn't pick like Tatooine or Hoth, which are different locations in the diff along the whole timeline of the episodes, because the Star Wars story goes over decades and in all of these different locations. So they couldn't really bridge the two timelines into one spot. So they created this new spot, the Disney Imagineers, when I say they. And so it's a new environment that was built just for Disneyland and Walt Disney World. But now that it's been established as a Star Wars planet location, now you're starting to see Batu come up in some of the newer Star Wars short movies, animations, shows, like the various different new TV shows, new films that's being made. Okay, great. I have no brain. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. What's your magic minute? Well, did you know that the land of Galaxy's Edge and Star Wars in general has its own unique written language? It's known as Arobesh. The Star Wars Galaxy has its own written language. This uh fascinating typography can be found on cargo crates, menus, and signs throughout the black spire outpost at Galaxy's Edge. Each symbol corresponds roughly to a letter in the English alphabet. It's substitution cipher rather than a fully separate language system. So you can read like letter for letter. You know what I mean? Like this symbol represents the letter A. More or less. And that symbol represents B. And did you know that you can translate? Language using the Play Disney Parks mobile app. Oh neat. Yeah, I didn't know that. So while you're exploring the area, you can go around with your app and you can read all those things that are on the walls or on the crates or on the menus or whatever. And I only learned this while I was researching this magic minute, so now I'm really stoked to go back and try it out. Mm-hmm. Well, I was looking up things about Bad Too, and what I found out was how do you say it? Aurobesh? Which is some sort of because every, you know, they have different creatures from different places, and they all speak different languages, but this is the common language of all the Yeah, of everyone. It's like the base language of the entire galaxy, yeah. Even though everybody's got a different maybe dialect or anyway. I thought they just think of everything so much. Yeah. Well, that's some fun facts. Now I feel like we need to binge watch, have a Star Wars movie marathon. Hell yeah. And then go to Galaxy's Edge. Why not?

Emily 45:08

Punch it, Chewing!

Jenny 45:12

Okay, folks, that's it for this episode of Rope Drop and Run. May the fourth be with you, everyone. Join us next time, and if you liked what you heard, share this episode with a friend. Follow us on Instagram at Rope Drop and Run. Please follow, subscribe, leave us a review, and send us all your Disney questions. We can't wait to chat with you next time. We'll see you at the castle or the start line.