My Star Wars adventure to Galaxy’s Edge at Disney

Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened on August 29, 2019. I promised myself as soon as I had a chance, I was going to go. 

I booked my airfare and park ticket for the third week of March, 2020. You all see where this is headed, right? Yes, on March 15, 2020, everything started shutting down in the US because of Covid. 😖

More than six years later, it finally happened! I boarded a plane, bound for Florida and my Star Wars adventure!

Here I am with my longtime friend, movie buff, and fellow Star Wars nerd Ed Pascual waiting for the first leg of our trip at DTW.

I had not been on a flight since Labor Day weekend of 2021 (for my cousin Jeremy‘s wedding to his wife Karen. Great memories in Louisville 💕).

I needed a lot of assistance on this trip. Ed was a tremendous help in so many things! It was so great to share this experience with a great friend.

Going into this trip, I had five goals:

  1. Be in character
  2. Ride the rides
  3. Buy cool stuff
  4. Have drinks at Oga’s Cantina
  5. Take awesome pictures!

Dress for the job you want!

At a Disney park., you are not allowed to wear a full blown costume. There can’t be a situation where you could be mistaken for a cast member. You have to do what they call Disney Bounding.

With that in mind, I was able to talk Ed into being a casual pilot rebel with me.

If you would like to purchase any of these items in our Disney Bound, almost everything can be found online. I will talk about props at the end of this post. Going from head to toe, here are the links.

  • Biker goggles Amazon
  • Shemagh tactical desert scarf Amazon
  • Black tshirt with blue Rebel logo Ebay
  • Bomber jacket (patches not included) Amazon
  • Poe Dameron leather jacket NYC Jackets
  • Driving gloves Amazon
  • Poe Dameron bandolier
    • This was purchased at Galaxy’s Edge, but they are sold out now. There is an alternative on Amazon.
  • Messenger bag Amazon
  • Orange hiking pants Amazon

The idea for those outfits was the combination of two different Star Wars costumes/pictures. How did we do?

Now, this is podracing…. Well, kinda.

There is no podracing ride, yet! But we rode all the Star Wars rides. The Imagineers who designed this stuff are really innovative. Others have said it, but Rise of the Resistance really has a story that you become a part of.

We were only able to get pictures on Rise of the Resistance. There is one picture from Star Tours. I will tell the story in the caption.

Black Leader standing by!
Thinking about the possibility of motion sickness.
I have been a passenger on Star Tours so many times! I have been desperately hoping that I would be selected to be the Rebel Spy for years. When we were preparing to board the Starspeeder, we were informed that we would be the only two passengers. Surely, today would be the day! Guess again!

An elegant weapon for a more civilized time….

What’s the coolest thing you can buy at Galaxy’s Edge? Of course, it’s a lightsaber!

DISCLAIMER: The lightsabers don’t look very cool in the daytime. I used Rebaslight to add the laser effect.

Just one more round, friends….

A favorite scene of mine from A New Hope takes place in Chalmun’s Cantina. Many Star Wars fans would love to get a drink at a Star Wars Cantina. Such a place exists! At Galaxy’s Edge, you can go to Oga’s Cantina, where everybody knows your name.
A huge part of the atmosphere in the cantina is the music. DJ Rex is spinning some awesome tunes. Add one of DJ Rex ‘s albums to your Apple Music library.
Ed’s drink was called the Blue Bantha. It comes with a Wookiee Cookie.
My drink was called the Hyperspace Punch It! The dark area of the drink is supposed to be an oil spill.
Both of us bought an extra Yub Nub Mug. I just love Ewoks, and you can see a few at the bottom of the mug.
There is only one song that you can request at Oga’s Cantina, and it’s NOT the Cantina Band song.

You can request Una Duey Dee, AKA the Gungan Drinking Song. Learn how to properly participate in the video.

Taking some holos!

Strike me down!
Let me look on you with my own eyes. Ed tries on the Vader helmet.

For the next two shots, we have a fun prop – a bacta spray. As a reminder, bacta is the heal everything substance in Star Wars. After being attacked by the Wampa in Empire Strikes Back, Luke is submerged in a bacta tank.

Ed and I are treating our owwies in the next two pictures.

Use the Force!
I am one with the Force.

We had a chance to interact with the character Vi Moradi. She was really cool and made us feel like we were on a secret mission with her. If you don’t recognize her, she is a real deep cut from the books.

Another fun prop. We have a tool that will help us slice into a terminal. Slicing is the Star Wars version of hacking.

I think this is our most fun prop. It’s a thermal detonator, which is like a grenade in Star Wars.

Here, we are examining it because we don’t exactly know what it is.
We have just figured it out as we have set off the timer, and it has started beeping!
This is the way!
Blue and green milk. It does a body good!
Look sir, droids!

One last picture and then some tips for your trip to Galaxy’s Edge. And some links for our props if you want to go buy them yourselves.

Our Super Zoom Magic Shot at Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World. I highly recommend that you do this picture. There is a line outside Docking Bay 7 with a photographer. Be aware that they are not always doing them. We had to come back a few times.

I added some stickers to also make the luggage part of the Star Wars Galaxy.

The text says stay on target.
It translates, “Justin Ledesma.”
I have friends everywhere.
Even my extra iPhone battery has a rebel symbol on it.

I got the idea to decorate the luggage in this way from a Tik Tok video from Youtubers Always Believe.

@ashandbryan

We made custom Star Wars suitcases! #starwars #starwarsgalacticstarcruiser #galaxysedge #custom #disneyworld

♬ original sound – Bryan Morton

Accessories included!

Prop/accessories were a big part of feeling like we were in universe. They also added a lot to some of our pictures.

If you are interested in purchasing anything that we used, they all can be found on Etsy. Here is a closer look along with some links.

This is my passport from Etsy, just in case any First Order goons ask me for my papers.

With this version, you could do some “surgery” on your Magic Band and take the puck and attach it to that black area in the lower right corner. Now, you could swipe your passport at any Magic Band sensors.

Instructions on how to take your Magic Band apart.

By the way, I am from the planet Onderon. It is my favorite planet in Star Wars. It was a big part of the Tales of the Jedi comics back in the 90s.
Thermal detonator, available on Etsy.
There are a bunch here!

– Various dice. Star Wars RPG Dice. Chance Cube.
– Sabaac cards. There are different types of decks for variations of the game.
– Bacta spray
– Smuggler’s skeleton key

Inspiration for pictures.

The Youtube channel Falcon Squadron provided a lot of great ideas for poses and locations for pictures. They have a lot of tips for many different aspects of your trip to Galaxy’s edge as well!

Here is their great video with all sorts of unique ideas for pictures!

That’s everything! I can’t wait to return.

May the Spires keep you!

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