Disneyland is implementing a new reservation system for Oga's Cantina and Savi's Workshop in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The new reservation procedures for these two popular locations within Disney's new Star Wars land will take effect when the Galaxy's Edge opens to all Disneyland ticket holders on June 24.
Same-day reservations for the two locations will open at 7am each day on the Disneyland website and through the official Disneyland app. To book a time at Oga's Cantina, you must provide the name of each person in your party and pay a $10 per person deposit to secure the reservation. For Savi's, you must pay the $199.99 fee as a deposit up front, then provide the name of the person who will build a lightsaber in the workshop, as well as the names of their (up to) two companions, who can get in to watch the experience.
If the builder or anyone in an Oga's party fails to show up at their reservation time, their deposit will be forfeited. Disneyland officials are hoping that the deposits, coupled with the requirement to submit names, will prevent people from hogging or reselling reservations. Only same-day reservations will be available, and there will be no standby entry should these locations be fully booked for the day.
Disneyland's parking garage and lots will open as usual at 6am on June 24, in advance of the park's 8am opening. There will be no special provisions for an overnight line-up. Park officials said that the new Pixar Pals parking structure will not be open by June 24, but that they expect it to be available by the end of the month.
Guests entering the park at 8am may proceed directly to the land, which will remain open to all as long as Disneyland officials feel it has not reached capacity. There will be no time limits on how long people can stay in the land.
The cut-off for the land's capacity will be higher than the number of people who have been getting into the land at one time during its reservation-only period this month, Disneyland officials said. So park officials are expecting that the wait time for the land's Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride will be longer than the 30-60 minutes it has been averaging during the reservation period for the land. That wait time will be one of the factors considered when deciding whether to close the land to additional guests.
When that happens, Disneyland will implement its new virtual queue system that it developed for Galaxy's Edge. Disneyland is calling this queue "Boarding Groups" and guests can join one either through the Disneyland app or by getting a paper ticket from Fastpass-style machines that Disneyland will set up in five locations around the park: Space Mountain, Matterhorn/Small World, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain.
Unlike with Fastpass, you will not get a specific return time for your "Boarding Group" when you join the virtual queue. Instead, you will get an estimated "window" of time when your group is likely to be called.
If you join a Boarding Group through the Disneyland app and have push notifications from the app enabled on your phone, you will get a message on your phone when it is time for your group to board. If you don't enable push notifications, you can check the app to see your group's status. You also can check digital signs located in Fantasyland, Frontierland, New Orleans Square, and on the Hub, which will tell you which groups are boarding. Those signs will be the way that people holding paper Boarding Group tickets will know when it is their time to enter the land.
Once your Boarding Group is called, you will have two hours to enter Galaxy's Edge at the Big Thunder Trail entrance, so you don't have to abandon another queue, show, or meal to rush over to the land.
And if you have a reservation for Oga's or Savi's, you don't need to bother with the Boarding Groups system. With an Oga's reservation, everyone in that party can enter the land up to one hour in advance of their reservation time, without having to join a "Boarding Group" first. A person holding a Savi's reservation can bring in their two companions as well as up to three other people an hour in advance, as well.
Disneyland officials say that they are committed to doing what it takes to make Galaxy's Edge work in a way that provides a positive experience for all guests.
"We are continually watching how guests react and respond and we will make adjustments as required, listening to what guests have to say and watching the operation and seeing how it has performed," Vice President for Disneyland Park Kris Theiler said.
"The [Project] Stardust work we have done has positioned us incredibly well for a really fantastic summer and the ability to create a lot of magical memories for our guests," Theiler said.
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What's worse about the draining of batteries is that reportedly aside from some lights and a few sound effects, the Datapad feature does little to enhance your interaction within Galaxy's Edge. I haven't read a single review that reports any human interaction with CMs in the land, meaning the entire system is just one giant AI timesink.
Robert, can you confirm your companion statement for Savi's. During the Reservation period, lightsaber builders have been limited to one companion/guest inside the limited space, though there have been reports of CMs allowing additional companions in certain circumstances and depending upon how many companions are already confirmed for the scheduled build time. Based on photos and videos of the workshop, it could get pretty cramped in there if every single builder were allowed to bring two companions/guests, which is what you're noting here. I'm certainly not complaining, since as a family of three, this would allow all of us to see the Workshop, but it is contrary to the way they've been running the experience and could lead to a very crowded space where CMs are already having a tough time getting guests through in a reasonable amount of time.
The reservation and boarding systems are very sensible procedures that definitely appeal to our upcoming visit. As early risers, we were already planning to visit Galaxy's Edge at rope drop to make sure we got into the land first thing. The reservation system for Savi's and Oga's make those limited capacity attractions much easier to experience, allowing us to go straight to the Falcon and not having to drink first thing in the morning. By making a more reasonable afternoon/evening reservation at the Cantina, we could even leave Galaxy's Edge to tour other parts of Disneyland without having to worry about waiting in the Virtual Queue to return since reservation holders are automatically granted access back into the land. The one drawback of this policy is that I would expect some pretty long lines for MFSR in the afternoon and evening as guests with reservations for Savi's and Oga's mix with guests that have been in the land for the better part of the day and those just entering the land through the Virtual Queue. I do have to applaud Disney for not utilizing MaxPass for the Virtual Queue and reservation systems. They could have easily seen the revenue opportunity here and forced guests to do these through MaxPass or manually at kiosks, but they seem to have taken the sensible approach that allows everyone equal access to these experiences regardless of whether they pay for the MaxPass upcharge. We were probably going to get MaxPass anyway to allow us to get reservations for attractions outside Galaxy's Edge, but it's good to see Disney not trying to drain every last penny out of guests' pockets.
It's now just a waiting game to see how crowds will react to these changes next week and the inevitable changes that are likely to come after everyone reacts to the new policies and how many people Disney actually allows into the land. My hope is that these stay in place for a little while and that Disney still keeps crowds manageable (no longer than 60 minute lines for MFSR) until RotR opens.
Also, Disney noted that during the Reservation Period that Galaxy's Edge would not open during Disneyland Magic Morning periods, but I haven't seen any announcement regarding its availability during Magic Mornings starting next week. I assume they will keep it off the schedule, but I would be concerned that guests arriving on Disneyland Magic Morning days would start lining up outside the Galaxy's Edge entrances, clogging paths around the land for a full hour before it officially opens. From a logistical perspective, since guests will no longer need reservations (wristbands) to enter Galaxy's Edge it would make sense to go ahead and open the area with the rest of the park on Magic Mornings.
Interesting, as I suspect that this will be the system DHS will use, when GE opens there. Of course, it will be entirely dependent on guests having a consistent and stable wi-fi connection and also a non-glitchy MDE app, throughout the day. Something which, I’ve read quite often, isn’t always the case.
Yes, Russell, the Disneyland officials said that they are making it +2 on Savi's instead of +1, starting June 24. But they also said that things can change at any time, so do confirm when making your reservation.
Good to know Robert. It did sound from reports that CMs were being pretty lenient in the +1 policy, and were in some instances allowing for up to +4 based on how many guests were already booked in the build session. My wife was already planning to roam around playing with the Datapad while my son and I are in Savi's so if they do change it back to a firm +1, her heart won't be broken (I'm the big Star Wars fan paying for the lightsaber anyway - granted in a marriage, what's mine is hers too, including the $200 spent for a "toy").
Any word about Galaxy's Edge being accessible on Magic Mornings when the Reservation Period ends? If it's not, will they be allowing guests to congregate/queue outside the land until it does open at the posted time? If Galaxy's Edge doesn't actually open for Magic Mornings, I'm thinking that you're probably better off not wasting the benefit just to stand outside a land that won't be open for an hour (though I'm sure many will do it), and that even bothering to visit Galaxy's Edge on Disneyland Magic Morning days might not be a great idea, especially if you're not a hotel guest and only get 1 Magic Morning as part of your multi-day ticket.
Anyone else wondering if/when/where Jedi training will begin again? Considering the premise of Galaxy’s Edge, I cant see them doing this out in the open, especially since they consider light sabers as “relics”. Hopefully they have a new and exciting way to bring this type of show back. I visited Galaxy’s Edge on Wednesday morning. Personally I found it hard to find much to do, as I’m not a big shopper/souvenir person. The Play Disney Parks Datapad could be entertaining, once I figure out how to actually use it!
@Robert Parker - I'm definitely interested, especially since when we signed up my son to do Jedi Training Academy at DHS last time it started raining right when he got on the stage (and of course stopped 5 minutes after they cancelled the show). So we'd definitely like to do it when we go to Disneyland in a few weeks. Based on photos, there doesn't appear to be any space for this show on the northern and eastern sides of Galaxy's Edge, but there might be some space around RotR, which is pretty much a dead zone right now since the ride isn't open yet, though it's difficult to tell from photos how much of what appears to be "open" space is intended for queue and habitation by role-playing CMs once the ride opens. What's certain is that Disney is still not using the Tomorrowland Stage for anything right now, and you would think that with Galaxy's Edge opening to everyone next week that they might want to increase the amount of Star Wars stuff guests can do while they're waiting in a virtual queue to get into the new land aside from Star Tours.
FWIW, Disney notes on their website that Galaxy's Edge will not be open during Disneyland Magic Mornings, so it seems as though non-hotel guests with multi-day passes would be better off using their Magic Morning at DCA instead of wasting it standing outside a land that will sit closed for the Early Magic Hour.
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Also, Disneyland officials confirmed for me today that they are aware of complaints about the Disneyland app draining phone batteries when using the Galaxy's Edge Data Pad features and that the Disney IT team is working on that. In the meantime, Disneyland is working on installing a FuelRod exchange station inside Galaxy's Edge so that people who have bought those phone battery chargers can switch out for a fresh one without having to leave the land. Currently, the closest FuelRod exchange is in Critter Country.