Not that anyone cares about my thoughts, but I had some from my recent visit and wanted to share them. This is going to sound really negative. People are here because they are fans of Disney and they love the park. I don't feel like I have to go through all the wonderful things about it and about what made my trip such a great experience as any trip to Disneyland is. I am going to focus on the things that I didn't find so great.
Galaxy's Edge
Walking through the tunnel behind Thunder Mountain into the land was breathtaking. The buildings straight off the film, the spires in the distance giving it depth. I couldn't have been more impressed. That lasted for a bit and then the lack of movement and atmosphere began to make me feel like I was visiting an ancient archaeological site rather than an alien world. When I walked through the Sostruzioni della Terrazza in Rome and marveled at the buildings and the ruins. I didn't expect to see Roman emperors or soldiers or barbarian slaves strolling the cobblestone walkways, but if Disney built an ancient Roman themed land I would expect all that. Galaxy's Edge should have been bustling with storm troopers and aliens and droids milling about with the guests. I never saw one. They could have just put a bunch of Roomba's out and it would have added some atmosphere and movement (and kept the place clean as a bonus!).
I went there not have read much about it previously, so I didn't know what to expect. I found that it had four attractions, three of which came at an extra, steep cost: The place you buy a light saber, which is apparently a show, the place to buy droids, the cantina and the Millennium Falcon ride. The Millennium falcon ride was a complete bust in my opinion. It felt to me like something that was just phoned in with very little thought or effort. The other attraction I took in was the cantina. I had the overpriced drink with foam that makes your lips tingle. That was interesting, but not enough to justify the price or the wait. I wasn't paying for a drink, I was paying to be entertained and it didn't deliver. It should have had aliens sprinkled about at the bar and at tables, some walking in one door, through the place and out another. Storm troopers should have occasionally walked in and arrested an alien, maybe mistake a guest for a rebel before realizing their mistake and arresting the correct cast member. Instead we got a droid that twisted its hands and raised its eyebrows up and down.
The land also had shops and eateries. The theme was great and I think the idea sound, but unfortunately it didn't work. They were trying to create a bizarre where merchants had stalls, but the stalls could only hold a few people and to even see what was in a stall you had to push through a crowd and wait for a clearing and then it was small with a limited selection. After two stalls, I just didn't have the energy to see what was in the others.
To me it felt like they pulled out all the stops to build the buildings and then just phoned in the attractions and didn't even try to give it movement and atmosphere. Much of that could be easily fixed, and Rise of the Resistance may help, but as it is now, it isn't something that I want to go to again.
The App, MaxPass and PhotoPass
I loved the app. Being able to order food and relax somewhere while waiting instead of standing in line was great, when it worked. On Saturday I ordered lunch from Smokejumpers. I wasn't able to complete the order. At around 11:50 my wife tried on her phone and was able to order, but at this point it wouldn't let us get it now, but told us we couldn't get it until 12:15. That's fine. We sat at a table until about 12:20 and the "I'm here, prepare my order" button was still not active so I went inside and pushed my way through the mob at the mobile pickup counter. The cast member told me that the app was down. He asked for my order number, looked it up and told me he could complete it but that it would take at least 30 minutes or it hadn't been charged so we didn't need to wait. I told him to cancel it and we went to the quite place in California Adventure that used to be Whitewater Snacks (I forget the new name). I understand a glitch and would have been fine with all that, but two days later I got a notice on my app thanking me for my order and outlining the charges for the original order I was never able to complete. This isn't the one on my wife's account and app, this is the one on my phone where I never got to the page to review and complete my order. So there's an extra $50 the trip cost.
I loved the photopass when it worked. I have some great photos from Splash and other rides; however, about half the photos didn't load into the app. I took to taking pictures of the pictures so I could enter and reenter the photo codes. Some of them finally appeared a couple of days later and some never arrived.
Guardians of the Galaxy
I really liked Tower of Terror and thought they did such a great job with the theme. I was disappointed about the retheming. That is until I experienced it. I loved it and also think it is a positive change for the ride. I think the Twilight Zone theme was a scary for many kids who could otherwise enjoy the elevator drops and this fixes that. The ride is fun and upbeat and when we see Rockets shadow as he plugs in his device and the music starts... Well it was great.
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