Big changes have arrived at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The Lucasfilm-themed area is no longer beholden to a fixed storyline and welcomes a few familiar faces into its galactic outpost at Disney Parks. Just in time for May the Fourth (Be With You), Han Solo and General Leia Organa have made their debut at Disneyland, stationed over by the Millennium Falcon, joining Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
Nerdist was on hand (this writer wields a Magic Key) to witness their land debut, as May marks a big month of major changes being rolled out at Galaxy’s Edge. John Williams’ iconic themes now soundtrack the land, and we can’t help that the moment the Skywalker twins reunited by the Falcon left us more than a little speechless.
There’s a bare-bones story for now. Leia has arrived to help Luke with Han in tow to seek out relics and enlist us to help in the search. A new selection of artifacts has arrived at Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, but it remains to be seen if this thread will lead to more than just fun Easter eggs to seek out or buy. Going on a more fleshed-out mission similar to the kinds we experienced in the era of Galaxy’s Edge would be wizard. But it seems like things are being kept vague very purposefully for now at least.
This is for the fans who have long awaited a chance to meet the original trilogy’s trio, but they’ve got to tread carefully on the timeline. By the looks of their fits, their arrival seems inspired by a super vague point in time during their era of the rebellion post the events of Empire Strikes Back, at least. Since Darth Vader has also arrived with a flock of Stormtroopers looking for Luke and any remaining Jedi, we give it a rough estimate of being somewhere after Han was freed from Carbonite but before the Battle of the Second Death Star.
Han seems the most unaware of the disturbances in the force that led the twins to Batuu. In his interactions, he’s mostly bickering with Leia or Chewie over the noises the Falcon’s making and fixing it up. Give the captain a break; he might still be recovering from long hibernation sickness. Thankfully, he’s healed up enough for some scruffy-looking nerf-herder-maxing opposite Leia’s powerful princess aura. Though we should note that Leia is standing on business as a general of the rebellion—but hey, to us, she’ll always be royalty.
As you walk around, the vibe is definitely more Star Wars land than ever before. New banners have replaced the First Order with Imperial insignias to remind us space fascism still needs to be defeated no matter the era. Though it is head-scratching to have Vader enter through a TIE Echelon and Kylo currently be relegated to Tomorrowland for meet-and-greets instead of near the Rise of the Resistance attraction with Rey. Listen, if they put Rey and Kylo together for photo ops, at least the Reylo fans would be pleased.
Characters like R2-D2 and Chewie are seemingly able to timeline hop throughout the land in their ever-eternal looks. Meanwhile, Mando, Grogu, and Ahsoka hang at the marketplace, the hub of the New Republic, above the Falcon. This ties into the Smuggler’s Run re-theme tied to The Mandalorian and Grogu movie later this month. Hey, if we’re just going hard on the Star Wars era’s tour, at least give us Poe and Finn by Rise of the Resistance, too. There also, at some point, needs to be prequel representation beyond Anakin and Padme during Star Wars Nites only.
So if you’re visiting to celebrate May the Fourth, Revenge of the Fifth, or just the Season of the Force at Disneyland, you can also enjoy the return of Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Nite. Although the sold-out specialty ticketed event now feels a little less unique, as it used to be the only way to experience all the Star Wars eras in one place, it is at least a celebration that at least has low ride wait times and rare character encounters such as prequel icons including Darth Maul and Ewoks as well as performances by Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, the Cantina Band, on the water of the Rivers of America. It’s also where the majority of themed food was rolled out, but there have been some selections released for the month available during the day alongside special merch without needing a special ticket.
For regular park guests visiting during the day throughout May, there’s plenty of foodie fun to be had in collectible snack receptacles. New this year are the Salvaged Protocol Droid Bucket, the Bantha Sipper, new colors in Lightsaber Swizzle Sticks, and a new limited mug release at Oga’s Cantina. For you Disney Tiki collectors, that Oga’s drop is really neat, as it features bone-carved imagery of DJ R3X with a new drink, the Corellian Spike Cold Brew, for bourbon and coffee fans who want to hit the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.
One of our favorite new offerings that we can’t wait to go back and try out is the Galactic Outpost at Downtown Disney, having a station where you can have a real Galactic ID made. You can pick between Jedi Knight (tell on yourself, sure), TIE Fighter pilot, Stormtrooper, X-wing pilot, bounty hunter, and New Republic pilot. They’re really unique and come in translucent plastic to give it that in-universe feel, but it’s a little odd for it to be an out-of-the-way side quest. Pro-tip: take the monorail out of Tomorrowland to the Star Wars outpost.
More readily available and cool is the Star Wars logo printed in Aurebesh in a collection of apparel, which further breaks more rules of the land. Previously you could only get in-universe gear at Galaxy’s Edge without the name of the films, but now that’s changing as it’s smuggled in sneakily.
Now that Batuu finds itself filled with familiar faces, the future of Galaxy’s Edge remains exciting as it expands beyond the tales we got to live during its first era. Let’s hope the Black Spire Outpost remains a playground to continue to experiment with participatory entertainment in ways that will let fans continue to explore their own Star Wars story beyond merch and ride changes but alongside the cinematic cadre of heroes and villains that every generation has grown up alongside.