Today, we were lucky enough to be among the chosen few Travelers allowed onto Batuu at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Having already experienced the land during its opening at Disneyland, despite knowing that the two parks would share various commonalities, we knew there’d be some differences building upon lessons learned and adapted to accommodate a slightly different audience here in Florida. Take a photo tour with us as we travel through Black Spire Outpost taking in all the sights.

First off, some geography. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is located in the back corner of the park at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. (As opposed to the upper right-hand corner in Disneyland Park.) You enter through a tunnel located in Grand Avenue. If you’re checking in for a preview, a number of tables and umbrellas are set up with Cast Members at the ready with credentials.

The way the land is set up, however, is mainly the same, with the exception of the layout of the Resistance Forest.

Resistance Forest

The entrance tunnel is pretty fascinating in how it blends subway tile and flat rock panels and has them lead up to this rock cave tunnel.

You enter and spill out right into this area of the Resistance Forest, which is thankfully very wide and expansive to accommodate the influx of crowds, as well as extensive lines in the future once Rise of the Resistance opens this December.

This is also where you encounter the A-wing and X-wing separately. Over in Disneyland, they’re actually adjacent to each other, due to how the Rivers of America shaped the area.

Behind the X-wing is the backdrop of the petrified tree, also found in Disneyland.

A cluster of weathered Power Droids are stationed by the X-wing.

Much like in Disneyland, character greetings happen organically across the land. You can find Rey and Chewbacca usually roaming the area by the Resistance Forest.

Light. Darkness. A balance.

Signage out in the forest points travelers to where they want to go. (The sign is aptly written in English and Aurebesh.)

Resistance Supply

The Resistance Forest is also home to the Resistance Outpost, a series of themed merchandise carts. They stock Resistance-themed merchandise here, like the infamous snack pack MRE, but it seems one of the kiosks is currently stocked with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge “Landing 2019” commemorative merchandise.

Once you make it through the forest, you’re led up to the entrance of the Marketplace.

Black Spire Marketplace

One of the bigger (literally) differences we’ve spotted between the two Galaxy’s Edge lands is this very entrance to the Marketplace. First off, the colors lean on almost red tones, whereas in Disneyland they’re mostly beige. Also, as you can see spilling into the right side of the photo, is that blue container pod. Over in Disneyland, it’s––you guessed it––also beige. Here’s a quick photo for comparative purposes:

Walking through, there’s the same decorative wood carvings stand…

And again, a seemingly identical layout. The colors here just seem more vibrant, compared to the array of Disneyland beige.

Another main difference we noticed? Over by the entrance to the Marketplace are the first set of bathrooms and water fountains. Yes, these are the infamous Dianoga water fountains. While this is the same over in Disneyland, the middle pedestal and seating area in this section is different. Disneyland’s is distinctly larger and shaped like one of the buildings, while this one is smaller in circumference (potentially for higher people traffic to the area) and shaped like an ancient engraved monolith. We’ve also included a photo below for reference..

Everything else, down to the giant Worrt and sleepy Loth-Cat at Creature Stall, is mostly the same. The Marketplace also includes Toydarian Toymaker, Jewels of Bith, Kat Saka’s Kettle, Black Spire Outfitters, and more.

A stand on the opposite side of the Marketplace sells Kowakian Monkey-Lizards.

Just as in the Resistance Forest, you can encounter characters within the Marketplace as well, from shopkeepers trying to sell their wares, to resistance spies like Vi Moradi.

Ronto Roasters

Capping off the Marketplace is our all-time favorite $12.00 hot dog stand, Ronto Roasters. You can check out our full review of its offerings here.

From Ronto Roasters, you can pretty much head off in any direction that calls to you, from Dok-Ondar’s, to Docking Bay 7, to the Millennium Falcon itself.

Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities

The exterior of the store remains the same.

While we weren’t able to take in all of the details of this version of Dok’s, there were a variety of Legacy Lightsabers in stock.

Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo

Over at Docking Bay, things are also mostly the same, with a variety of fun seating sections to choose from. Hungry for breakfast? We reviewed that too.

You can check out our full review of the lunch and dinner menus from Docking Bay 7 here.

We regret to inform, however, that the ill-fated space sporks of Galaxy’s Edge lore have yet to make an appearance at this location, which is starting off with plain silverware. It’s worth noting that the dishes at Disneyland were also served in these fun, faux cast-iron pots, and not in these white melamine bowls.

I’m happy to see that my favorite little outdoor seating area made it over to Walt Disney World, too.

Droid Depot

We didn’t get a chance to assess the entire store stock at Droid Depot this time around, but we’re happy to report that DJ R3X is in stock.

The custom droid building experience is also available at Walt Disney World’s Galaxy’s Edge:

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

And of course, the most beautiful, fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy is parked over by Docking Bay 5.

Guests to the previews were allowed to ride Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and we were able to check out some of the queue for any differences as well.

Our favorite Easter egg had to be this QR code note left behind. It alludes to the “Big Bird” project name for the attraction!

Oga’s Cantina

We weren’t able to go inside Oga’s this time around, but the exterior looked as vibrant as ever.

Black Spire Outpost

Over by the second set of bathrooms just around the corner from Droid Depot is this droid garage/junkyard of sorts, with a dismantled probe droid hanging from above.

Milk Stand

The Milk Stand is where you can find the divisive Blue and Green Milk, now with the addition of alcohol thanks to the “coolers” added to the menu.

Just be careful, because you never know if you might get interrogated by stormtroopers.

First Order Cargo

Over by First Order Cargo, you have Kylo Ren’s TIE Echelon. This is where the First Order interactive show takes place various times throughout the day.

That’s about as many photos as we were able to compile during our brief preview of the land.

We still have much more ground to cover, from Savi’s Workshop, to various other miscellaneous areas across Black Spire Outpost. Not to mention all the price increases:

Ummm a bottle of Coke in #StarWarsGalaxysEdge is $6 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios pic.twitter.com/PHuv9rnrNk

— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) August 1, 2019

For now, we do have a preliminary walkthrough of the land. You can check it out in the video below!

Cast Member previews continue through August 16th, with Annual Passholder previews (now fully booked) running from the 17th through the 21st, leading up to the land’s official grand opening on August 29th, 2019.

We hope to explore more of this version of Batuu in the coming weeks. Til the spire!

Jessica Figueroa