The Ultimate Star Wars Experience - Day 4 - The Force is Strong with This One

[RachaelC]

Wednesday 19th February

This was it, THE day of the holiday as far as excitement and anticipation had arrived and, unsurprisingly, we were all awake at around 5am raring to go!

Now, when we booked the holiday we were meant to get an exclusive hour in Galaxy's Edge - just for the people on the package - from 7:30am to 8:30am. No rides would be open, but we'd be able to experience the new world without hoards of people around and I'd booked for Ethan to make his own lightsaber at Savi's Workshop at 10:30, thinking this would give us plenty of time to get on Smugglers Run beforehand.

This was all thrown a little bit in the air around a month before we went, receiving an email from Virgin Holidays telling us that our exclusive access in the evening from 9pm until 10pm. I have to admit to feeling a bit disappointed at first - when travelling with a 2 year old the thought of late nights fill me with a kind of dread, especially not knowing how she's going to react to staying up late. However, there were also benefits and it didn't take me long to decide that, on balance, it was better for us. The rides would remain open, so we would be sure to ride them and we wouldn't have the pressure of people hanging around the entrance waiting to come in.

The only complication was the fact that I couldn't move the Savi's workshop booking, so we had to go into Galaxy's Edge in the morning regardless. The Skyliner took some of the exhaustion out of this - I really can't emphasise how good it is not to have to wait for the bus!

Originally we literally planned to just go in for that, but as it happened we were up super early so we got to the park for opening. It was PACKED. People everywhere, totally crazy crowds and I admit I think we all felt a little bit overwhelmed at first.

We headed straight up to Toy Story Land, past the queue for Slinky Dog that already snaked out right out of Toy Story Land itself despite the fact we were there early. The queue for the Alien Swirling Saucers wasn't too bad at 30 mins, so we went on that and I duly cancelled the Fastpass that we had for it later that afternoon (figuring that we could then just get back to the park even later close to our exclusive event time). We enjoyed the Swirling Saucers - Holly had definitely found her ride groove by now and was smiling and laughing as it flung her around.

Once we were done there we looked and all the queues were still crazy for everything so we took a walk into Galaxy's Edge to look around. I didn't see much though as I'd started a video call with my Sister in Law who is a Star Wars fan so she could see it all. She was in hospital with a virus and was feeling a bit low, so she really enjoyed her virtual tour and that cheered her up a bit.

Unsurprisingly there were people everywhere, but despite that it was easy to see the attention to detail and effort that had gone into the theming - it really was like we'd landed into a Star Wars set. We walked up to the Millennium Falcon (awesome) and strolled on over through the market and out the other side, taking a few photos as we went. We felt quite relaxed at this point and weren't worried about taking it all in as we knew we had a great opportunity later in the day.

Rob then decided he was hungry so we walked out of the other side of Galaxy's Edge and went off back to Hollywood Boulevard in search of food. At this point Holly had also fallen asleep in the pushchair so we found some seats outside the old Starring Rolls area while Rob went off in hunt of food. He came back empty handed as the queues for everything were crazy busy, so he and Ethan then headed back into Galaxy's Edge for the lightsaber building while I sat with the sleeping toddler.

I was planning to take her to Disney Junior while they were at Savi's, but she slept through the first show so I just stayed where I was, thinking I could always go to the next one. Nope, she slept through that too!

In the end there was only so much sitting around that I could do, so I went back up to Galaxy's Edge later to find a very happy boy with his new lightsaber.

I obviously missed out on the experience, so can't say much about it, but I know that both of them were really impressed by the "theatre" of the whole thing, from choosing all the elements of the lightsaber itself through to the process of creating it and all the special touches that come along the way. Ethan told me that they were told that they were meant to pretend to just be playing with scrap metal if asked by any of the First Order while they were doing it and he really liked the immersive nature of it all.

After that we decided we needed to have a restful day ahead of our busy evening, so we headed back to the hotel, got ready for the pool and had a dip after grabbing some lunch back at Old Port Royale.

Oh my goodness, the pool was so cold! It was lovely and refreshing though and Ethan loved the slides. Rob took Holly into the splash park and she had a great time. We then switched over for a while so I was in the splash park - the lifeguard kindly gave Holly a little rubber duck to play with there, so she was very happy.

By the time it was 3:30 we decided that we should be going back to Hollywood Studios, aiming to get there in time to try and do a ride or attraction before meeting at Pizzerizzo at 8pm ready for our special event.

We hopped back on the Skyliner (it's just SO easy!) and were back in the park. Everything was still really busy, so we went to Muppets 3D which we all enjoyed. As were right by Pizzerizzo we fancied that for dinner, but it was closing, so we went down to ABC Commissary and grabbed some food there. No one was particularly hungry, so we just got 2 meals for the 4 of us - unfortunately the ribs that I ordered were so tough and inedible. Rob told me to send them back, but I really wasn't hungry enough to bother - it's not like an alternative meal would have made me want to eat any more!

After wolfing down some food there it was 7pm and time for our Star Tours Fastpasses. We did child swap again, allowing Ethan to have a second go, and the boys went on while I took Holly for a walk in the pushchair in the hope that she would sleep. She didn't. I walked some more. Still awake!

Then we switched over and I went on the ride (hoping that Rob would have miraculously got her to go to sleep by the time we were out). I'm not the biggest fan of Star Tours as simulators often make me feel quite ill, but I wasn't too bad this time round. Once we were off it was nearly time to meet at Pizzerizzo so we walked round the corner with the excitement building ready for the evening.

After waiting outside for about 15 mins the Virgin/Disney reps called us in to the restaurant to register our arrival - they had tea/coffee/water laid on for us too, so we sat down with some drinks and awaited our departure to Galaxy's Edge.

In the meantime Holly was getting more and more agitated and upset. She was clearly overtired and I was beginning to dread the evening - my worst fears were going to come true and she was going to be a nightmare!

Luckily before long we were given the nod and all 250-ish of us made our way into Galaxy's Edge - it was really happening!

First up we all headed as a group to Rise of the Resistance - we were allowed one go as part of our exclusive access. I was slightly worried that I would miss out as I let Rob go on with Ethan first (he's the bigger Star Wars fan after all). I also still had a hysterical toddler to deal with. I honestly can't describe how loud she was and nothing I could do would please her! Luckily I got talking to a lovely lady who was waiting for her partner and son (she didn't like rides) and she had a packet of yogurt-covered rice cakes in her bag which she gave to Holly who took them quite happily and finally calmed down. She had just got the second rice cake in her hand when she passed out asleep in the pushchair - amazing! Now I could relax and start to enjoy the evening.

My thoughts then turned to the fact that I would likely to be on the ride alone as obviously everyone was only allowed on once - I spoke to the cast members at the entrance to check that I wouldn't miss out and I also asked if Ethan could ride again with me. They said yes! I was over the moon.

When Rob and Ethan emerged from the exit (after seemingly everyone else in the whole group) Ethan and I were "rushed" through the queue area, through fire escape doors for the fastest route through to the beginning of the ride and it was literally just us!

It was FANTASTIC - I don't want to give too much away about the ride, but it's a made up of about 3 parts and you really feel like you are a member of the Resistance fighting against the First Order. Cast members are there to be "mean" to you as the bad guys and I was totally intimidated! If I'd been on my own I would have been totally in pieces!

The ride itself was awesome, with almost life-size AT-AT walkers, being thrown backwards, down, spinning around and everything. Definitely our new favourite ride for sure - goodness knows when we'll be able to ride it again though as it's so hard to get boarding groups for it!

(how on earth do I stop that photo being upside down?!)

Leaving the ride with big grins on our faces, I realised that we were about to have an evening that I would always remember, and we were so lucky to be experiencing something so special.

When we met up with Rob and Holly (still asleep - phew!) he said that Rey, Chewie and someone else had approached him when he was waiting for us and tried to determine if he was part of the Resistance - it was like we'd just entered the set of a new Star Wars film.

We then spent some time wandering through the empty market, approaching the Millennium Falcon again which took our breath away seeing it with barely any people around.

Knowing our time was fairly limited Ethan and I went on Smugglers Run straight away and then once we were done the boys went on together. I was a little bit underwhelmed by this ride. It felt a bit like a cross between Star Tours and Mission Space, but I guess it was quite cool to be "piloting" the Millennium Falcon.

While the boys were on I took Holly for a walk to just take in the rest of the land, grabbing some blue milk for a quick refreshment on the way. I think the pictures tell a better job than anything I could say, so I'll leave it there, but it did feel like a special place to be when it was closed to the general public.

When the boys were done we only had about 15 mins left before being taken back to our hotel and so we popped into the Cantina and took a few more photos, all of us agreeing that we'd had the best evening and were totally blown away by the experience.

At 10:30 we all met up next to the Millennium Falcon and were escorted through a fire exit "backstage" where our buses were ready and waiting for us.

This was officially our BEST DAY EVER. There was just something so brilliant about it and the grins didn't leave our faces until well after we were back at the hotel. Holly stayed asleep for the whole coach ride - what a perfect little girl!

**ETA: as well as the Star Wars rides, WDW also kept Slinky Dog Dash and Toy story Mania open for our group for the exclusive access - we were hoping to squeeze in SDD, but having to child swap meant everything took too long! I was really impressed though that they kept some of the most popular rides open so people in our group could take advantage of being the only people in the park - well done Disney! **

[Floridadreams]

It sounds like such a perfect day! RotR is our favourite ride too - I cannot imagine how intimidating it would be to do it just the two of you! What a great trip

[emmabanana]

Sounds like a great day, you won’t forget that trip on RotR!

[Tinkermom]

Definitely a once in a life time type of experience!

[Joshie1]

Wow what an experience.

[col1968]

how did you get that exclusive hour access?

[RachaelC]

Originally Posted by col1968

how did you get that exclusive hour access?

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The whole trip was a special Star Wars package from Virgin Holidays with themed flights, Star Wars Dessert Party, exclusive access and a special Star Wars dinner.

[RachaelC]

Originally Posted by Floridadreams

It sounds like such a perfect day! RotR is our favourite ride too - I cannot imagine how intimidating it would be to do it just the two of you! What a great trip

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You did very well to get on it - I'm not sure I would have the required determination or stamina!

[rafjen]

The evening sounds amazing

[Floridadreams]

Originally Posted by RachaelC

You did very well to get on it - I'm not sure I would have the required determination or stamina!

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The third attempt was definitely my last whether we got on it or not! 6am starts were a killer!