Your 4 AM Galaxy’s Edge Wakeup Call Experience

The early bird gets the blue milk, apparently. Unlike the Disneyland version of Galaxy’s Edge, which saw relatively minimal crowds on opening day, there were plenty of crowds at the ready for Walt Disney World’s grand opening today. Security opened up at 3:30 a.m., and quickly the tapstile area was full, leading to a brief stop for screening bags.

Crowds were initially held at Crossroads of the World, but it quickly became apparent that the line would need to move sooner rather than later.

At 4:30 a.m., the line started moving over to Galaxy’s Edge, and by 5:00, guests that had been waiting overnight were now in Galaxy’s Edge.

Initially, there was some confusion about what line was what–the line for the Falcon extended outside of Galaxy’s Edge, so if you were on Batuu, you had to leave to go find the end of the line for the ride, but not end up in the regular line just to get in the land. This was the line for Smugglers Run at shortly after 5:00 a.m. The line quickly built all the way back to Baseline Taphouse, and Cast Members were saying it was around a 6.5-hour wait. The posted wait times in the MyDisneyExperience app were more optimistic than the actual line would indicate, however.

On the other hand, it was a great morning to do anything *except* Galaxy’s Edge–anyone up for a 5-minute wait on Slinky Dog Dash?

By 5:30 a.m. the line quickly built down Commissary Lane.

And by 5:45 a.m., the line had reached back to the Chinese Theater.

By 6:00 a.m., the virtual queue system was activated, and quickly boarding groups filled up. At first you could join the virtual queue from anywhere. By 7:00 a.m., virtual queue boarding groups were being let into the land.

Also around 7:00 a.m., the system was updated so that you had to be in the park physically to be able to join the virtual queue. This created its own unique challenges, as some people who were within the park were being told that they weren’t actually in the park after all (and thus couldn’t join the virtual queue).

Although crowds were intense, and let’s face it, blue milk is no substitute for coffee, overall Cast Members did a great job with large amounts of people in a very short period of time. The initial rush died down by around 7 a.m., although crowds will be steady throughout the day.

We’ll have more details throughout the day on this and more. For the latest, follow us on Twitter. And if you’re planning to visit Batuu today, May the Force be with you!