-Continued from my previous post-
Oga's Cantina
It's no surprise that any cantina in the SW universe is gonna' be the hottest ticket in town, Oga's is no expectation. Thankfully the reservation process was a breeze, and shortly after I checked in I was led inside. This place is really cool, I love all the details at the bar of the various containers leading to the various spigots, and whole place has that mysterious yet hopping vibe. Adding to that is the music which is really good, having DJ R-3X was a cute touch, and I got a kick out of his more "glitchy/malfunction" moments which turns into a fun little mini show.
Now then, what I believe most of us are coming for, the drinks. Since I'm more of a light drinker, I just stuck with one drink per visit, so the two I had over the weekend was the Bespin Fizz, and the Fuzzy Tauntaun. For me, both of them are downright winners in both taste and presentation. The B.F. is constantly bubbling and smoking, which get's a lot of "Oooh, which one is -that-?" from other patrons. (The same glass/dry ice effect is used for the non-alcoholic Carbon Freeze, where the bubbles are constantly tossing around the boba pearls in the drink for another sweet visual.)
As for the Fuzzy Tauntaun, it's another tasty drink that gives you quite the sensation with the "Buzzz Foam" on top. It numbs and tingles your lips something fierce, and it lingers for a while, too. It's weird in the best way possible! An besides the drinks, I also tried Oga's Obsession which is a nice little snack in the form flavored jello with boba pearls and pop rocks, a nice mix of textures and it tasted good, too. All in all the things I tried here were appropriately alien. An while I thought I'd only go here once, I ended up going twice!
Though it has to be said, this Cantina is small. It needs a expansion, and I wish all the cast members in WDW best of luck, since the bar's size will be even more apparent over there.
Ronto Roasters
Loved the setting of this QS, and both the Morning and regular Ronto wraps were quite good. The peppercorn sauce has a nice lil kick to it, and all in all they're both satisfying snacks.
Shops
While I didn't buy anything on this trip, it was neat checking out all the various stands in the marketplace, the Droid Depot was really cool to see in person (If I wasn't limited on bag space, I would've jumped in on this!), and Dok-Ondar's is a standout when it comes to the shops. There's a ton of references and easter eggs in that shop, and I noticed if people weren't shopping, they're eyes were glued to all the sweet stuff on the walls in that shop.
Soundtrack and Soundscape
So regarding this topic, I find myself agreeing and disagreeing with both sides...at the same time. I can fully understand they're going for more of a realistic route, so inside the land itself you're not hearing a John Williams score booming through the speakers 24/7. When you're in the Black Spire Outpost, you're hearing space ships take off and land, fly overhead (a pretty neat effect to be honest), the hissing of steam and the rumble of the Pod racer engine at Ronto's etc. An when you're more in the forest where the Resistance is set up, you're hearing the various wild life, the electric thrum of a generator, and perhaps the occasional AT-AT in the distance. For me, it actually worked pretty nicely.
But whenever I enter or exit the land, I hear the mysterious and relaxing custom score from John Williams which is very akin to IOA's Lost Continent, especially nearby Poseidon's Fury...and then I'm thinking why don't we hear more of that in the land?! It's kinda' funny they advertised him making a custom score for the land, and it's pretty much a musical barrier separating Batuu from Disneyland.
Characters
Now for the time being, a unique strength of the land is actually the various characters you can come across. Rey, Chewie, Vi, Stormtroopers and First Order officials. Seeing them roam around and do their thing added to the atmosphere of the land. Be it Vi sneaking around, climbing around stuff and getting intel from guests, or Rey strolling through the forest and engaging with guests. Then there's the stormtroopers who gave me my "A-ha!" moment for the land. I was over at Ronto Roaster's having a wrap, when out of nowhere the stormtroopers passed by and started engaging guests on where their allegiance was. It kinda' threw me off guard, but in a good way. It made the land feel more alive, and in ways some other themed lands can't do. I honestly do hope the other planned entertainment does come to fruition since I think that'll help it even more.
Of course I started that with "for the time being", since with the not as insanely busy crowds, of course it's easy for all the characters to really roam and interact with everyone. Will it be the same when it does get busy? I honestly don't know, but I hope they're able to keep this going since there's some nice potential here!
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So all in all, Batuu is a pretty nice land. I did have some doubts before I visited, but afterwards those doubts were thankfully proven wrong. I look forward to returning sometime and seeing how this progresses, and if Rise of the Resistance turns out to be the solid anchor attraction for the land, I'd say they'll be fine.
Besides, anything that backs up a return to Disneyland is plenty good in my book!