It is related...

My nephew works at Disneyland and has invited me for a sneak peek at Galaxy's Edge this coming Friday. They are testing the reservation system (register so you can get a smart phone notification for when you can enter). Unfortunately no phone or pictures allowed until the 31st, but I understand they will have photographers there and will release photos next week. I will try to post a picture then.

Anyway I am stoked and feel very lucky for what I consider a once in a lifetime opportunity. I just wanted to share it. Will post next weekend.

Report back please. I was going ro try and take my family this winter

I will report back, as objective as I can be. I am thinking of getting the cheapest season passes in the fall when the other ride opens.

Sounds like fun!

13 hours ago, Bohemian73 said:

I will report back, as objective as I can be. I am thinking of getting the cheapest season passes in the fall when the other ride opens.

For me it's at least 20hrs drive. I just want it to be close to worth it

hour drive without traffic for me. I lived a couple of miles away when I lived in Anaheim (watched fireworks from my front yard). first ride will be the Disneyland RR which they moved the tracks to got around Galaxy's Edge. I think I will get a glimpse, but not sure about how much.

9 hours ago, buckero0 said:

For me it's at least 20hrs drive. I just want it to be close to worth it

It’s Disney World. It’s already worth it!!!

Edit: Wait. It’s not World it’s Land. Might not be worth 20 hours.

Live here in Orlando. 20 minutes from Walt Disney World. We have Annual Passes and visit just about every weekend. We regularly visit Hollywood Studios new Toy Story Land because you can see the progress from there and it looks amazing. Cant wait til the end of August (pushed back due to Hurricane Irma). We waited over 20 years to see a new Star Wars film, we can wait 3 more months.

Actually look forward to the merchandise the most. After riding Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom, (hands down best attraction ever) I know the Disney Imagineers are going to make the rides at Galaxies Edge top notch. It also doesn't hurt that my next door neighbor actually builds the attractions/lands for Walt Disney World.

7 hours ago, C3POFETT said:

We waited over 20 years...

1983 to 1999 is under 20. So is 2005 to now. ???

7 hours ago, C3POFETT said:

Actually look forward to the merchandise the most. After riding Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom, (hands down best attraction ever) I know the Disney Imagineers are going to make the rides at Galaxies Edge top notch. It also doesn't hurt that my next door neighbor actually builds the attractions/lands for Walt Disney World.

I’m looking forward to it but I don’t like losing all the nostalgia of old stuff. It’s a tough balancing act for WDW.

On 2019年5月21日 at 3:36 PM, TauntaunScout said:

1983 to 1999 is under 20. So is 2005 to now. ???

I’m looking forward to it but I don’t like losing all the nostalgia of old stuff. It’s a tough balancing act for WDW.

Sorry that was supposed to be "10" (fat fingers). We still have Star Tours if you want to take a ride through the original trilogy and sequel trilogy films. Honestly lately it is only if you get lucky enough to not get Kylo Ren at the beginning. Along with seemingly always getting the scenes from The Last Jedi, Star Tours has become a commercial for "Disney" Star Wars and Galaxys Edge.

Trust me no one loves the nostalgia of Star Wars and all the reasons why we fell in love with a "galaxy far, far away...." more than I do. The way I look at it is that Disney can't disappoint the fans by getting things and details wrong if it is new to everyone. Honestly there is so much Star Wars content that exists and that Disney has and will create that Disney Imagineers could've come up with a brand new park.

2 hours ago, C3POFETT said:

We still have Star Tours if you want to take a ride through the original trilogy and sequel trilogy films. Honestly lately it is only if you get lucky enough to not get Kylo Ren at the beginning. Along with seemingly always getting the scenes from The Last Jedi, Star Tours has become a commercial for "Disney" Star Wars and Galaxys Edge.

I haven't been on it since before TFA. Sad they added in new characters like Ren.

2 hours ago, C3POFETT said:

Trust me no one loves the nostalgia of

I'm talking about all of the park though. I want to go and do stuff I did in the parks back in the day but, they pretty much pave over them all with some new marketing-synergized kitsch. Most of the nostalgia that still exists in confined to the Magic Kingdom at this point. Even that's dying a slow death of synergy though. Like how they had to shoehorn in Johnny Depp and Captain Squidhead to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

21 hours ago, TauntaunScout said:

I'm talking about all of the park though. I want to go and do stuff I did in the parks back in the day but, they pretty much pave over them all with some new marketing-synergized kitsch. Most of the nostalgia that still exists in confined to the Magic Kingdom at this point. Even that's dying a slow death of synergy though. Like how they had to shoehorn in Johnny Depp and Captain Squidhead to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

I get what you are saying and didn't realize you going that grand. I have had this exact conversation with my fiance. My all time favorite park is Epcot (visually stunning atmosphere) and not ONE single attraction remains from opening day. People can argue that Spaceship Earth is still there but it has been updated and remodeled five times so it does not reflect the opening day attraction. So when they hype up these milestone anniversary celebrations there is nothing nostalgic to look back on. It stinks when you take your kids on a ride and then explain how it used to be and what is different.

A lot of it falls back to the old Disney way of funding a park. Sponsorship. You used to see company logos on most of the attraction signage (Kodak, GM, Delta, Coca Cola, Pan Am, etc) and Epcot was actually funded by the countries of World Showcase. "Was" being the key word. With the economy the way it is almost every sponsor has pulled out of all contracts in the theme parks (except for the ones Disney actually has an investment in) and it has given Disney a new cash grab slate to play with. We now have the updated rides and the New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. (MK turns 50 in 2021) Epcot is going through yet another overhaul. (Epcot just turned 35 in 2017) Animal Kingdom introduced Pandora way after the Avatar films based on a promise of a piece of the pie from upcoming sequels TBA. (AK just turned 20 in 2018) Hollywood Studios has had several name changes and is suffering the same fate as Epcot to the point where nothing in the park remains the same from one milestone anniversary to the next. (HS is 30 this year).

I chalk it up to new advancements in ride technologies and finding a reason to get visitors to want to return to the parks. The latest advertising is "if you haven't been to Walt Disney World lately, you haven't been."

We still have Peter Pan, Country Bears, Mad Tea Party, Robinson Family Tree House, The Enchanted Tiki Room (restored to its original state) and Jungle Cruise (if you can ignore the millenial jokes they have added in now) although these were not all officially open on opening day Oct 1st 1971.

And now back to Legion...

2 hours ago, C3POFETT said:

although these were not all officially open on opening day Oct 1st 1971.

But they were there when I started forming permanent memories in the 80's and then going very regularly in the 90's. And several other attractions are still pretty close-ish. The EPCOT funding thing is definitely a huge issue. At least I can watch Youtube videos of bad camcorder footage of the old rides...

And you can always ride the monorail. Por favor mantenga alejado de las puertas!

20 hours ago, TauntaunScout said:

But they were there when I started forming permanent memories in the 80's and then going very regularly in the 90's. And several other attractions are still pretty close-ish. The EPCOT funding thing is definitely a huge issue. At least I can watch Youtube videos of bad camcorder footage of the old rides...

And you can always ride the monorail. Por favor mantenga alejado de las puertas!

Trust me I was bummed when going the Magic Kingdom/Epcot and seeing rides being replaced or removed. Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Snow Whites Scary Adventure, Skyway to Tomorrowland/Fantasyland, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (one of my favorite childhood rides second only to Big Thunder Mountain), Mickeys Musical Revue, Dream Flight, Mickeys' Toon Town, this list could go on and on if I went park by park because once again Future World at Epcot does not contain one single opening day attraction. Most of these rides from the MK were moved to new parks around the world or recycled into new attractions.

Some of the animatronics from Snow Whites Scary Adventures can be seen in Seven Dwarves Mine Train. The Three Cabalaros from Mickeys Musical Revue can be seen at the end of the ride in the Mexican Pavillion at Epcot. (That ride received the "Disney" touch after the Mexican government discontinued funding) I have park maps that go back to opening day for all parks and maps that reflect additions and remodel/replacements as the parks "evolve". Walt Disney himself said his parks would never be finished, that they would grow and evolve. Unfortunately we have to lose some of the attractions that were part of happy/special family and personal memories for his eternal vision to happen. Walt Disney referred to it as progress.

As far as watching old ride recordings I do it too. It is really the only use I have found for youtube, and to be honest I paint my miniatures listening to Walt Disney World area music. Epcot Innoventions, Living Seas area mostly. I also made recordings of the parks trying to create a virtual tours back in the 90's for whenever I got "home away from homesick". Still have them and watch them with my kids.

my bad for not posting sooner. Only two pictures from last Friday. The first is the boarding pass that will be in use starting June 24th. We went to Space Mountain to register (I believe they have 3 locations, but don't quote me on that). We got in about 3:15 and could stay until closing at 9 pm.

You are immersed into Galaxy's Edge. Other than fleeting glimpses from Smuggler's Run, you cannot see the park and cannot see into the land.

Hit the wrong button. They changed the Disney RR tracks and Rivers of America to fit the land in. Taken from Critter Country. Actually you can see some taller structures when you are waiting in line for Smuggler's Run, but have to look, and there are plenty of things to look at inside. Oga's Cantina had the longest lines, so we didn't visit that.

Originally the First Order was blocking data (photo) uploads until tomorrow, but my nephew said they decided to post a day early. I will have to download and look at them. He has worked there a long time, characters and now photographers. A stormtrooper asked for his ID. Chewbacca greeted us (I shook his hand), and my wife and 86 year old mother in law got a group hug. My wife said he smelled like vanilla. We ate in Docking Bay 7 and waited an hour for the ride. We left just after 7 pm. Next time I will explore in more detail when I can use my phone.

3 hours ago, C3POFETT said:

It is really the only use I have found for youtube, and to be honest I paint my miniatures listening to Walt Disney World area music.

Yeah Disney and SW are inextricably bound up for me so I wasn't too shaken by them buying it out. Back in the 90's, the Star Tours giftshop was pretty much the only chance I had to buy SW stuff each 6 to 24 months depending on the length between trips to FL. I used to save up and buy what seemed like a ton of stuff. That tiny store was able to carry some 90% of all licensed, English language, SW merch in the world. Ride exclusive T-shirts, Don Post masks, West End gaming stuff, some ties... A few posters and postcards. Re-issued model kits. Hat pins. That was about all there was in the late eighties through mid 90's, and it was hard to even find anyone to sell them to you. Shipping and handling costs were much higher then, so mail-order wasn't quite the solution it would seem to be today. West End charged so much for shipping mini blisters it was cheaper to buy them at inflated Disney gift shop prices.

And you tell the young people of today that, and they won't believe you!

A few pictures. I guess the Resistance was able to override the First Order blocking data. One can interact with robots and other things starting tomorrow with one's phone or one of the droids that one can buy.

Next picture is looking to Docking Bay 7 on the back left (good food). The Millennium Falcon is behind the building on the right as you can't see it when you enter.

Here is the centerpiece. You enter Smuggler's Run on the left out of the picture and can see the line on the lower right. Wait time was 45 minutes when we got there, but was 60 minutes when we entered it.

My nephew was stopped when some Stormtroopers wanted to see his ID. He believes they knew him.

We didn't see Kylo Renn, but saw Rey and a Wookie. A-wing in the background. I have over 60 pictures so can't share all of them.

4 minutes ago, Bohemian73 said:

We didn't see Kylo Renn, but saw Rey and a Wookie.

This is the CA park right? I am not following a lot of what you're saying. I was like "Holy Cow they changed EVERYTHING.". Then I realized it must be the other Disney.

Anaheim. The FL parks opens in August.

I believe my nephew said the time line was somewhere between movies VII and VIII. Background is the black spire the outpost is named after. Other taller spires are more brown. You can see it in the one picture above where Docking Bay 7 is on the right.

1 hour ago, Bohemian73 said:

.... I have over 60 pictures so can't share all of them.

Sure you can 😉