Disney Parks‘ Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has opening dates! Disney announced when and how the new lands will make their debut at Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s sooner than many people expected, but that’s because it’s opening in two phases.
Galaxy’s Edge will open at Disneyland in California on May 31, 2019 (people were guessing June), and then at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida on August 29, 2019 (people were guessing October or November). That’s not far away at all and means all the food and beverage and merchandise Nerdist just previewed will be available soon. However, only one of the two attractions will be available on those opening dates.
So guests can enjoy the land, which I’m looking forward to, but how is it going to work with only a single attraction open? Will it mean fewer people in the land? Maybe some only want to hop on the rides and bounce? Or with only a single ride queue open to absorb the crowds, will it mean more people in the land? My guess is the latter.
Related to that high demand, Disneyland‘s going to handle crowds in an interesting way. From Disney, “Guests planning to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park between May 31 and June 23, 2019, will need valid theme park admission and will be required to make a no-cost reservation, subject to availability, to access the land. Information on how to make a reservation will be available at a later date on Disneyland.com and the Disney Parks Blog. Guests staying at one of the three Disneyland Resort hotels during these dates will receive a designated reservation to access Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge during their stay (one reservation per registered guest).”
It’s essentially putting in a placeholder so they can have a little more control over how many guests can step into Batuu. Disneyland Resort isn’t as sprawling as Walt Disney World, so some sort of measure like this is necessary to prevent lines stretching from the Galaxy’s Edge entrances into other areas. I’m curious to see if they’ll extend this reservation idea past June 23.
Images: Disney Parks, Lucasfilm
Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
