Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Tips and Strategy for Your 4-Hour Reservation Window

    Until June 24th, Disney has required that all guests visiting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge have a reservation to enter the land. We wanted to put together some of our tips and thoughts on how you can make the most of your 4-hour reservation window.

    Before we get into the meat of our post, I want to put out a disclaimer that Disney is still adjusting operational tactics within the land to create the best possible guest experience. We’ve done our research to ensure that the information contained in this post is still relevant to your upcoming experience and will update the post should operations change. We were able to visit Batuu for opening day and the consecutive 3 days after that. We saw operations within the land change during that time, but Disney has seemed to have settled with the approach described below. We will be putting out a guide for the land once the reservation period is over, and another guide for Walt Disney World. While the operations might change during each of these unique periods, the general approach to the land will likely stay the same.

    Smugglers Run – The Easy Part

    Another thing to keep in mind is that these tips apply to trying to get as much done as possible. The biggest waits during the reservation period have not been for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, but rather for experiences such as Oga’s Cantina and Savi’s Workshop Custom Lightsabers. If you only care about Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, I have great news for you – you’ll be able to ride it multiple times during your reservation. The advice for the Falcon is simple, don’t ride it at the beginning of your reservation period. The capacity for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is likely around 1500 to 1700 riders per hour, which means that it’s high enough to handle the 3000-5000 guests in each reservation window quite easily. Unless you’re at the front of the line, simply wait 30-45 minutes for the initial rush to die down and you should be able to get on the Falcon in less than 30 minutes for the rest of your time window.

    Keep in mind that there are overlapping time windows. That means that guests will flood the Smugglers Run queue 1 hour before your time window is over. We recommend riding Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run one or more times in the first 2 hours of your time window and then entering the queue 15-30 minutes before the next wave comes in. That would mean getting in line anywhere from 1hr 15min before your time window is over to 1hr 30min before your time window is over. By doing that, you’ll ensure that you have a low wait time and you’ll be experiencing it before the flood of the next time window arrives, driving the wait time back up over 60-90 minutes. Also, you will notice that the employees of Ohnaka Transport Solutions will mark your reservation wristband with a marker. Don’t worry about this, it’s just meant to track who has already been on the ride. Once the next wave gets released into the land they give precedent to those who haven’t had a chance to experience the Falcon yet, but you can still ride closer to the end of your four hour window.

    Ok, with the easy part out of the way, let’s dive into the specifics of how to approach your time window to do it all in 4 hours.

    Check In Early

    All guests are able to check in at Star Wars Launch Bay in Tomorrowland up to 2 hours before your reservation window starts. For example, if you have an 11am to 3pm reservation window, you’ll be able to check-in starting at 9am. Checking in early might not seem like a big deal at first, but as we progress through the tips, you’ll see that waiting up front can make a big difference in the long run.

    Guests with an 8am reservation are able to enter Disneyland at 6am. As a matter of fact, you’re able to enter Disneyland at any point from 6am to 8am. That means while you’ll see large lines outside of the turnstiles forming before the 9am park open, you should walk all the way to the far right turnstiles (next to stroller/wheelchair rental) where before official park open there is a dedicated entrance for Galaxy’s Edge reservations.

    On opening day, we lined up outside of the turnstiles at about 4am. The good news for you is that type of line was only for opening day. You should be ok arriving at 5 or 5:30am for your 8am start. Again, if you’re ok with missing out on Oga’s Cantina or Savi’s Workshop Custom Lightsabers, don’t stress yourself out by arriving 2 hours ahead of time. If the Falcon is your goal, you can take a more laid back approach.

    Line Up Early

    Getting to the front of the line to enter the land will also play a big part in determining if you’ll even be able to get into Savi’s Workshop or Oga’s Cantina. Both of those will close their lines within the first 45 minutes (or much sooner!) of your reservation window, and getting as close to the front of the line to enter the land as possible will help you increase your odds of getting in.

    Divide and Conquer

    If you’re traveling to Batuu with others (and Disney wants you to), then we suggest a divide and conquer approach to getting into the toughest establishments in Black Spire Outpost. The toughest establishment to get into is Savi’s Workshop. We’ve talked with many Batuuans (Cast Members) who have said that the line can be cut off as quickly as 8 minutes into a reservation window. If you lined up for your reservation window early and have a brisk walk going (no running), then you should be able to get your name on the coveted waiting list for Savi’s Workshop. With an hourly capacity of anywhere from 42 to 84 guests per hour, based on how many rooms are in use. From what we can tell, Disney is currently only using one room, which would put the hourly capacity at 42 guests, and the entire capacity for your time window at just 168 guests. That means that getting to the Savi’s Workshop line should be your top priority in the entire land.

    Over at Oga’s Cantina, you’ll have a bit more time to get your return time. Both Oga’s and Savi’s are currently using a text-to-return system. This will allow you to explore and enjoy the rest of the land instead of standing in line for an hour or more like we did on opening day. At Oga’s Cantina, you’ll typically find that they will close their virtual line about 20-30 minutes after the reservation window opens. Because of how slow the Savi’s Workshop line moves, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to secure a spot for both Oga’s Cantina and Savi’s Workshop as a single person. By using a divide and conquer technique, you have increased your chances of getting on the waitlist for both experiences.

    Note that while you will get a return time for both experiences, you will have to wait in another line once you’re called back. This line could be 15 to 45 minutes, depending on how efficient everything is running. Our advice is to fit in as much as possible before you’re called back. For example, if you rope drop Savi’s and/or Oga’s and get a return time within 30 minutes, go enjoy a bite to eat, do some shopping, or explore the land. You might even want to consider jumping into line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run if the wait is less than 30 minutes. By fitting as much exploring as you can in before you’re called back, you won’t feel like you’re wasting as much time when you’re waiting to enter Oga’s or Savi’s.

    Eat Late

    Four hours is a lot of time in the land, but some guests will find that it’s not enough time to experience it all. Even with a limited amount of guests allowed into the land at one time thanks to the reservation system, it’s still busy on Batuu. If you can, we recommend saving eating on Batuu until late in your reservation period. Of course, factors such as time of day and more will play a part here, but if you can try to get everything else done before you sit down to eat, that would likely be the best use of time.

    If you have a morning reservation, specifically the 8am-12pm time slot, you will be able to experience breakfast at the numerous dining locations. Take note that Oga’s Cantina will not be serving the full menu before 10am, just their breakfast drinks and non-alcoholic concoctions. Of course, we expect this to change with how popular the place has been. Docking Bay 7 and Ronto Roasters have excellent breakfast options that are priced accurately, especially the Bright Suns Breakfast platter at Docking Bay 7. In the morning don’t use mobile order for either breakfast location, with such a short wait it’s more beneficial to just hop in the non-existent queue. Mobile Order comes into play with later time slots due to Docking Bay 7’s line becoming 30-45 minutes long during peak times. It’s best to plan a mobile order ahead of time and secure a time slot window that works for your touring in the land.

    Shopping

    Shopping on Batuu is a popular activity, as one can imagine. Besides Savi’s Workshop, other locations won’t get such an extreme line. You can (and will) find yourself waiting potentially up to an hour to build your own droid at the Droid Workshop and even during some peak times of the reservation period you’ll find a wait to enter Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities.

    Fortunately, First Order Cargo and the Resistance Supply are never too busy, either are the Marketplace Stalls including Jewels of Bith, Creature Stall, Black Spire Outfitters, and Toydarian Toymaker. While designed to be small and quaint, these locations become crowded but hardly ever form a line outside. The only downside to the marketplace stalls we found was that you need to pay for an item at each location before moving on. With one register in each shop, that’s sometimes a lengthy process before walking just feet to the next location.

    Take note that there’s a secondary stand for the Creature Stall near the monolith at the end of the marketplace, this is the only location that has the brown Kowakian Monkey Lizard. Other merchandise items of note include the Sabacc card game (from Solo) available in the Toydarian Toymaker and the lucky dice from the Millennium Falcon available in Jewels of Bith. Both are hot sellers and are being restocked constantly.

    Dok Ondar’s is another unique location, off the marketplace stalls closer to Docking Bay 7. Inside you’ll find relics of the past and legacy of the Star Wars universe. Most importantly you’ll find different color Kyber Crystals. These crystals, available in six colors (red, yellow, blue, white green, purple) change the color and sound of the lightsabers built in Savi’s Workshop. They also change the voice and color of the Jedi and Sith holocrons available for purchase. During our time we noted that all of the colors weren’t always available, so you may need to check back multiple times to ensure you go home with all six colors of kyber.

    Is 4 Hours Enough?

    Ever since a 4-hour limit was announced, many thought it wouldn’t be enough time to see and do it all. While you might not be able to see and do it all (Savi’s and Oga’s) if you don’t put in the time before your reservation opens as we outlined above, 4 hours is more than enough to see and do the rest of the land. It wasn’t uncommon for us to see a considerable amount of guests leaving the land around the 3 hour mark, having had a bite to eat, done some shopping, and experienced Smugglers Run one or more times. With Savi’s and Oga’s generally closed to new guests about 30 minutes into the reservation window, guests will likely find that four hours without those two experiences is more than enough. Of course, if you get into Oga’s or Savi’s, or even both, you’ll find that the four hours feels much shorter and may not even be enough time depending on how long it takes to wait in line once you’re called back to the line.

    Our advice above should set you up for the best possible experience during your 4-hour reservation window and it should even be a good foundation for June 24th and beyond. It’s likely that Disneyland will make some small operational adjustments starting June 24th and we’ll likely see even bigger operational adjustments when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

    We’ll be sure to update our advice and guide as operations and guest flow changes in the coming weeks at Disneyland, and the coming months at Walt Disney World.

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