We recently went to Disneyland to review Galaxy’s edge for all things Sensory! We love to review Disney experiences for those that are autistic or have Sensory difficulties, as there are many sensory experience that can create barriers. Knowledge is power! It was a wonderful experience overall, and we highly recommend visiting this new Disneyland experience.
Our Review Team included: An Autistic Teen, A Neurodiverse Teen and a SPD Psychologist
Disney did an impeccable job with crowd management for the opening of its first new land in a long time. From a “soft opening” that required reservations and four hour limits, to an excellent wristband system and then a Boarding Pass System once the land fully opened, the crowds have been super manageable. We visited Galaxy’s Edge on the last day reservations were required, and on the first fully open day, and to be honest, crowds were lighter on the day without reservations! We never felt like it was too crazy, and even our autistic team member who does not like crowds, found the crowds to not be an issue.
It was quite crowded at Oga’s Cantina, for which we needed a reservation. It was very noisy (as expected for a cantina atmosphere), but we will review that in another post. Besides waiting in line for Oga’s (even with a reservation!) crowds were not a problem for our team members.
Here are the current ways to get into Galaxy’s Edge:
A) If Galaxy’s Edge is “Open” you can just go in like any other land. You can see the status of GE on the Disneyland app or on any of the new digital Kiosks around Disneyland
B) If a Boarding Pass is required, you can sign up for a Boarding Pass on the Disneyland App on your smartphone; make sure you enable notifications so you will be notified when it is your time to Board! Otherwise, you can also keep checking the app, but we like to save that battery! Once your time has started, you have two hours to enter the land. There are no restrictions on how long you can stay. If you prefer not to use the app or don’t have a smart phone, you can access the boarding passes at FastPass locations in Space Mountain. Digital Kiosks will tell you what Boarding group is currently Boarding:There has not been a need for the boarding pass system since we were there June 24th.
C) If the land is using this virtual que and you can not get a boarding pass, another work-around is to get a reservation at Oga’s Cantina or Savi’s Workshop (lightsabers). Once you have a reservation at one of these two locations, you will be admitted into the land one hour before your reservation time. Be aware you do have to put a credit card down for your reservation just like all other Disney reservations.