Disney declares Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge park a success—Have a look around

“We spared no expense,” John Hammond says in Jurassic Park, about Jurassic Park. Those words could easily describe Disneyland’s new Galaxy’s Edge attraction, a theme park meant to recreate the world of Star Wars for guests. Sure, you can’t wear costumes if you’re over the age of 14 (for fear of getting confused with costumed employees), and sure, the most expensive piece of merchandise at the park costs $25,000 (a life-sized R2-D2 droid). SyFy Wire has been checking the place out, and we gotta say, we’re impressed.

This thing is full of detail. There are Easter Eggs around every corner, you can whisper code words to cast members or tangle with (or ask directions of) Stormtrooper guards. Or you can just bask in the scenery, like the sensational Baatu spaceport.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: Details of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media preview at The Disneyland Resort at Disneyland on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

The Millennium Falcon and the Black Spire are the central focal point of the park. The highly detailed structures loom life-size.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: Details of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Media Preview at the Disneyland Resort on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Above, the same place is lit up for the opening ceremonies on May 29.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: Details of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media preview at The Disneyland Resort at Disneyland on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

The story underlying Galaxy’s Edge is linked to the latest Star Wars trilogy, set chronologically in between the movies The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

Here, on the outer rim planet of Baatu, the Resistance and First Order are locked in a struggle for control. The park itself contains a Resistance forest stronghold outside the Galaxy’s Edge outpost, where elements of the First Order are making a bid to capture the settlement.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: Details of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media preview at The Disneyland Resort at Disneyland on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Assorted intriguing items line the avenues and loading bays, many of them smuggled in from little-known corners of the galaxy.

As relayed by Gamespot at a media preview panel for the park, Carrie Beck, the vice president of the Lucasfilm Story Group, described the intended visitor experience this way: “[Y]ou may want to see yourself as a Smuggler or a Scoundrel. You may want to see yourself as a Jedi, Sith, a Stormtrooper. You can find yourself being drawn to the dark side of the Force.”

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: A view of the gift shop during the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media preview at The Disneyland Resort at Disneyland on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

“[Batuu is] a place of some light routes that ships used to come and go,” Beck continues. “But it’s been largely forgotten until we arrive here at the park and we get to discover it at the same time as the First Order and the Resistance are having their conflict here in the land, the day of our visit.”

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: A view of The Market Place during the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media preview at The Disneyland Resort at Disneyland on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Remember that “We spared no expense” quote? Galaxy’s Edge is the largest expansion in Disneyland themed to one franchise. Price tag? A reported $1 billion.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: Stormtroopers are seen at the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Media Preview at the Disneyland Resort on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Be wary as you walk the outpost alleyways and byways. Resistance agents may appear to ask you to carry secret messages from one place to another, and all the while those pesky stormtroopers are sniffing around…

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: Details of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Media Preview at the Disneyland Resort on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Quaff some blue Bantha milk from a vendor’s stall or loiter over exotic drinks with other space riff-raff at Oga’s Cantina, the first location in a Disneyland park where alcoholic drinks are available to regular visitors.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: Details of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media preview at The Disneyland Resort at Disneyland on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

You’ll probably never get to experience the park as empty as this, but just imagine how bustling a spaceport would be if it really existed, anyway.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MAY 29: Inside the Millennium Falcon during the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media preview at The Disneyland Resort at Disneyland on May 29, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Of course, no trip to Galaxy’s Edge would be complete without a ride aboard the Millennium Falcon. Crew teamwork is required. It’s all one, big, gorgeous slice of Star Wars.

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So far, reviews have been positive and crowding minimal, at least not according to Disney. “The crowding issues that many of our guests anticipated have not come to fruition thanks to the measures we’ve put in place,” said Disneyland vice president Kris Theiler. “They are nonexistent.”

Of course, reports can vary:

Still, we think this is the park you’re looking for.

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h/t Los Angeles Times