Star Wars: Why I’ll Definitely Be Going Back To Disney’s Batuu
I finally made it to the Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, and I can’t wait to make the trip through hyperspace to go back.
Last weekend I finally managed to make it to Batuu. At least the one in Anaheim. We bought the tickets roughly a million years ago (in early 2020) and finally reached the “use ’em or lose ’em” point. And so finally, after its initial opening, I finally managed to make the long trek out to Black Spire. And suffice it to say, I’ll be heading back.
The Atmosphere
…was breathable. Get it? Because of space travel?
Once you enter the general area of the park that holds Batuu, you may as well be on a different planet. Everything looks a little shitty in that perfect, purposeful Star Wars way that lets you know that there’s evil scum and villainy or rebels afoot. Or both. The ships that decorate the park look beaten up by war and the walkways are cracked in a way that you know is purposeful. And I mean all of this in the best way possible. It looks like Star Wars. Even if you’re not a fan of the sequel trilogy – and to be perfectly honest, I’m not either – Galaxy’s Edge is still Star Wars and still fun. You may see Kylo Ren running around, but you’ll also see Chewbacca and an X-Wing that will more than makeup for it.
The Food
This is me! I liked the blue milk better, my husband preferred green.
I was expecting exactly one thing from food in Disneyland and it was to spend entirely too many dollars credits on it. And I absolutely did that. But what we didn’t expect was for it to all be great. I may come back for a round-up of what we tried and why I’d recommend all of it, but the short version is that we visited Ooga’s Cantina, Docking Bay 7, Ronto Roasters, got blue and green milk, a thermal detonator of soda, and their spicy-and-sweet popcorn mix and weren’t disappointed a single time. I wouldn’t recommend visiting a theme park just for the food unless you’re a season-pass-holding-local. But it’s always nice to be happy with the munchies when you get there.
The Rides
I’m not what you would call a rides person. If it’s not a big drop, loop, or upside-down element, I am not into it. So I was thrilled when both new Star Wars rides were just family-friendly enough. Rise of the Resistance is a trackless ride with a ton of spinning and a short drop that even I could handle. It’s very sequel-heavy, but overall fun. Smugglers run is a shaker-table, similar to Star Tours (which is also still around!) but with an interactive element which I thought was especially charming if there are any kids in your crew to get excited about piloting the Falcon. Unfortunately, Rise of the Resistance was out of commission at least four times in the three days we were at Disney and the line seemed to never drop below an hour. So expect long wait times or to spend money on a Lighting Lane.
Character Interactions
He was hiding from wandering Storm Troopers.
Disney always has quality character interactions. Cast members go out of their way to make the experience as immersive as possible, and in Batuu especially it was very fun. Storm Troopers came into Ooga’s towards the end of our lunch there to question patrons about rebel activity and were promptly boo’d by everybody. Chewy could be seen hiding out from Troopers, and every kid around him simultaneously tried to help him sneak away to finish his mission. If you had any rebel symbols on your clothing or looked like you may lean into the bit, characters would approach you – whether to give you a (playfully) hard time or recruit you to the rebellion. And this is without the borderline LARP experience of the Starcruiser, this is just being a regular wanderer-arounder.
All in all, I’m thrilled we finally managed to make it to Batuu and I’d love to go back. Have you been to Galaxy’s Edge? What did you think of the experience? Which eatery or shop was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
May The Force Be With You, Adventurers!
