San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
STAR WARS: GALAXY’S EDGE Get immersed
Just how many ways are there to experience Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland? It’s impossible to count, says Walt Disney Imagineering creative executive Scott Trowbridge.
“Every person there is engaged in some level of living their own ‘Star Wars’ story,” he says. “Some people may just watch people go by and observe. Others may want to participate in a mission on behalf of the First Order or stand up for the Resistance. There are as many stories happening simultaneously as there are people in Galaxy’s Edge.”
On May 29, the day before the grand opening of Disney’s new theme park, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the creators explained how to live your own adventure.
Galaxy’s Edge is driven by one major force: agency. Every visitor to the Galaxy’s Edge setting of Batuu — the Outer Rim planet outpost populated by smugglers and characters hiding from the First Order — chooses their own story line from the moment they arrive. They can hack surveillance panels through the Play Disney Parks app alongside Resistance personalities, including Rey and Leia’s star spy Vi Moradi, or they can go undercover for the Dark Side with Kylo Ren and the cadres of snarky stormtroopers who patrol Batuu.
No matter guests’ allegiances, the land is wholly encompassing. Smells of fried Endorian tipyip and smoked Kaadu ribs waft from Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo. Music composed for the land by Skywalker Sound and Walt Disney Imagineering plays from hidden speak
ers. Sounds of passing overhead ships and animals hiding in walkway bushes change as night falls. Marrakeshinspired lanterns glow above the marketplace and dusty droids bleep and yelp at visitors’ R and BBseries sidekicks ($100), custombuilt in the Droid Depot.
A lot depends on which of the three points of entry into Galaxy’s Edge that you choose.
“Two bring you into the hustle and bustle of the Outpost, the vibrant marketplace, but the third has you come in more in the outskirts of town, in the forested area past the ancient ruins, where we find the Resistance encampment,” Trowbridge explains. “It’s a different experience coming in, (where you can) slowly discover the Resistance and then the Outpost itself.”
Utilize your resources
Galaxy’s Edge is different from the other Disneyland Park areas in one key aspect: It’s interactive. Using the Play Disney Parks app for smartphones, Batuu explorers can translate Aurebesh script, eavesdrop on conversations between the planet’s residents, interact with droids and collect virtual items by scanning cargo boxes like field quadnoculars and hightech armor.
They can also play “Outpost Control,” a reallife game that unfolds through the app several times daily. Players can choose to fight for the Resistance or the First Order by hacking surveillance devices the First Order has installed in the land’s door panels. The first side to control the majority of panels wins.
Get ready to make friends (and enemies)
At Batuu’s Black Spire Outpost, it’s important to mind your actions and whereabouts, not just because you may be surrounded by Easter eggs nodding to the original trilogy, but because every choice you make could have a consequence. A stellar run as a pilot aboard Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run could net you a fist bump from a bartender at Oga’s Cantina, or Rey might enlist you to tag along with her on a top secret Resistance mission. Cast members are trained to envelop you in your own story, as Trowbridge says.
“If we can help our guests feel like they’ve slipped into this imagined world,” he says, “we can give our guests permission to play, which is fantastic.”
Brush up on your piloting skills
Galaxy’s Edge opened with one major ride in Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run (another, Rise of the Resistance, opens later this year). The simulation, hosted by the infamous smuggler character Hondo Ohnaka, is not unlike a sixplayer video game. In this case, the players are two pilots, two “gunners” who shoot down cargo and enemy ships, and two engineers who “repair” the Falcon, and the ride’s outcome is determined by how they fulfill their respective duties.
The line to ride may be long, especially in the first months, but like Indiana Jones and Space Mountain, there’s much to look at while you wait: an abandoned round of Sabacc, discarded equipment and cargo strewn about, and Ohnaka and Chewie, who converse before boarding begins.
Come hungry
Finally, fans can fulfill their 40yearold dream of trying bantha milk. The plantbased, dairyfree drink comes in two varieties — a floral green and a tropical blue — for purchase at a dedicated stand.
Several other counters also sling otherworldly fare: Rondo Roasters, where a podracing engine provides the fire for a barbecue pit; Oga’s Cantina, where alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks are sold; and Docking Bay 7, where chefs cook up creative twists on traditional foods. “When you think about ‘Star Wars,’ you get to see it with your eyes, hear it, there’s emotion that you feel, but you’ve never really had the chance to taste it,” Brian Kozial, concept development director for Walt Disney World Resort, tells The Chronicle. “People will try yuzu, they’re open to exotic spices and different cooking techniques. The world has become more engaged with flavors, which has allowed … us to try things. There are a lot of (flavors) you know, but we present them differently to make you think about it a little bit.”
Bring your ID
As of its opening, Oga’s Cantina is the only publicfacing place within Disneyland that will sell alcohol in addition to nonalcoholic concoctions. In addition to cheeky cocktails like the Fuzzy Tauntaun and the Bloody Rancor, bartenders pour wine and a handful of specially made and branded beers by breweries including New Belgium, Ballast Point, Boston Beer and Sierra Nevada.
The bar’s playlist, spun inhouse by DJ R3X, was a project by Walt Disney Imagineering.
“We went out to international DJs, artists, producers and said what would you want to do if you wanted to get on DJ R3X’s playlist?” Music Studio Imagineer Matt Walker tells The Chronicle. “I think we ended up with 29 to 34 tracks. DJ R3X cycles his playlist every hour, and he’ll insert surprises throughout. It’s this fantastic, intergalactic funk track. You’ll hear a little of everything — vocals, rap, call and response.”
Sameday reservations, released daily at 7 a.m., are required for the cantina.
As of Monday, June 24, reservations are no longer necessary to enter Galaxy’s Edge, though a virtual queuing system may be required on certain days, with boarding groups assigned via the Disneyland app or at select locations in the park. Disneyland hotel stays do not guarantee access to the new land.
Leave the stormtrooper armor at home
Like elsewhere in Disneyland, only padawans 13 and under may wear costumes to Galaxy’s Edge. Tributary Leia buns and “Star Wars” tees are, of course, allowed.
Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate producer. Email: apereira@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alyspereira