Haven't posted in a long time but want to give some first hand experience. I was a +1 for the CM previews and got to enjoy the area from 5-9 PM, so I saw what the area looked like during the day and the night. I'm going to run through the pros and the cons also obviously ********** this is just my opinion*********
Pros:
-very large footprint that is very secluded from the rest of Disneyland. No outside scenery can be seen from ground level of SWL.
-The line of Smuggler's Run was very well done with DisneySea level authenticity.
-The bazaar was very immersive with Potter level theming.
-I loved the droid and simple animatronics scattered throughout the land and shops
-Seeing the millennium falcon in person was really amazing. That plaza with the ship was probably my favorite area
-It was cool feeling so far from the hub and detached from main Disneyland. Felt like I was at the edge of Disneyland. lol.
Cons:
-The land has no main water features. It felt very dry and not somewhere I'd like to spend a lot of time in... this issue was less noticeable at night.
-Surprisingly undetailed for the scale. I'm a Star Wars fan(seen all of the movies have a Star Wars Locations book), but felt pretty underwhelmed by the village area. Most of the area felt vacuous and sterile.
-Few things are immediately recognizable from the movies. Where Potter and Carsland look identical to their film counterparts, this land by design is more of a homage to the films. So it was hard to be nostalgic and emotional about an environment I have never directly seen in the Star Wars movies.
-Sound design was strange. Only heard sounds of spaceships and stuff with generic background music, but no John Williams score blasting. This could be corrected and make a big difference.
-Lack of color. Everything was mostly gray and brown. Concept art showed more vegetation and color.
-Actual ride for Smuggler's run had really poor graphics and no practical cabin effects. Everything besides the actual ride is A+ though
-Cantina line was really frustrating. I got in and the theming inside is nice, but really bad planning on Disney's part. Cramped inside and the line was spilling out everywhere even in previews.
-The land looks better from the air than the ground. I've seen arial photos and the Rockwork/scale looks mind-blowing. In the land at ground level, there really isn't that same wow factor.
-Carland IMO has way more impressive rockwork and sightlines. Not even a comparison between the two in terms of "Wow" factor
Overall impressions:
As of now(with no ROTR), this isn't one of my favorite lands in Disneyland. I think New Orleans Square, Frontierland, Adventureland and maybe even Critter Country have better atmosphere. That whole section of the park feels more detailed and impressive. In contrast, Star Wars land feels empty and sterile. In just the states, Diagon and Hogsmeade(in my opinion) are a really large step up from Star Wars land. I was in the world of Harry Potter in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, I never had that moment in Star Wars land(maybe because they didn't try to recreate Hoth or Endor or any specific, recognizable planet). I think Universal can feel pretty relieved that they still have the best lands in the states in terms of theming and rides. When ROTR opens that might change things a lot. But as of now, visiting Star Wars land made me realize how breathtaking Universal's execution of WWoHP was and continues to be. Not even comparing it to Potter, the land is kind of head-scratching that they took such an ehh IP(Cars) and made such a cool land in DCA. While Star Wars(one of the best IPs) has a lot less impressive land. Anyway, I feel terribly lucky to be able to see it early, and maybe things will change in the future with ROTR
