10 Things Every MARVEL And STAR WARS Fan Needs To Know Before Going To Walt Disney World!

10 Things Every MARVEL And STAR WARS Fan Needs To Know Before Going To Walt Disney World!

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, really is one of the happiest places on Earth, but there are some tips we think every Marvel and Star Wars fan needs to know before paying a visit to the theme park!

Feature Opinion
By Nighthawk01 - Mar 09, 2020 09:03 AM EST
Filed Under: Disney
We know you, our loyal readers, are big fans of all things Marvel and Star Wars, and we're willing to bet that you probably love theme parks as well. Disney has owned both franchises for a while now, and that means their presence is being felt in Disney World in Orlando, Florida in a huge way! 

Marvel's isn't quite as significant as that of Star Wars, especially now Galaxy's Edge is open, but there's definitely a lot for those of you who love these properties to get involved in.

With that in mind, we here at ComicBookMovie.com have compiled a list of hints and tips you need to know if you're planning a trip to one of the happiest places on Earth! 

We've used our expert knowledge to bring you up-to-date info on how best to get on the biggest rides, where to find the rarest merch, and even the secrets of unlocking a secret Chewie mode on Smuggler's Run, a ride which puts you in the pilot seat of the Millennium Falcon. 

To take a deep dive into this feature, you just need to use the NEXT button below to check it out! 
 

10. Get To Hollywood Studios Early For Rise Of The Resistance



Rise of the Resistance is a fairly new ride which takes visitors to Batuu on an epic journey. Starting with a message from Resistance hero Rey, you'll find yourself captured by the First Order, and then embarking on a daring escape alongside the Resistance as the fearsome Kylo Ren chases you though one of his sinister Star Destroyers.

If you actually want to ride it, though, you need to get to Hollywood Studios early!

Disney World is currently operating a boarding pass system which means you need to get to Hollywood Studios at least an hour or two before whatever the official park opening time is. 

You should then be let in shortly before the park officially opens and kept in a makeshift waiting area until finally being allowed to explore. However, the second that opening time hits, you need to be on your phone to secure a boarding pass on the Disney World app. That places you in a virtual line which will see you called back later in the day to try out Rise of the Resistance. 
 

9. Marvel Merch Can Be Hard To Come By



Star Wars fans will find plenty of must-buy merchandise in Disney World, and Galaxy's Edge is crammed full of shops selling everything from Black Series action figures to unique toys and games which can only be found on Batuu. 

Sadly, if you're a Marvel fan, you won't find much more in Disney World than anywhere else in the country. Exclusives are few and far between, and there also isn't the biggest selection of goodies to get your hands on in any of the stores!

Disney Springs has a Marvel-themed shop, but one again, you won't be able to nab anything there that you wouldn't get in your local Target or Walmart. Well, aside from a very cute little Rocket Funko Pop with Mission: Breakout theming.
 

8. You'll Bump Into Familiar Faces



Walking around Batuu can lead to some fun surprises, and it's not unheard of to bump into characters like Kylo Ren, Rey, First Order Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, and the newly created Vi Modari. 

Posing for photos with them is easier said than done, but Kylo Ren and his Stormtroopers are likely to reprimand you, while Rey will probably check you're doing all you can to support the Resistance. Oh, and who could ever resist getting a cuddle from the loveable Chewbacca? 

If you want some proper meet and greets, then head to the Star Wars Launch Bay to hang out with Darth Vader, BB-8, and Chewie! 
 

7. Dok-Ondar's Den Of Antiquities Is Well Worth A Visit



It gets busy in Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, but no matter whether you're on a budget or have been saving all year, it's still worth taking a look around, even if it's just a case of trying out a lightsaber. Yes, they'll let you get your hands on everyone from Kylo Ren to Darth Maul's familiar blades! 

Among the goodies on offer in this themed store are impressive statues of characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Sidiuous, not to mention Yoda's cane and even the Emperor's robes.

Those lightsabers are the biggest draws in our opinion, though, and everything from Rey's reforged lightsaber to Asajj Ventress and Ahsoka Tano's familiar hilts can be found here. 
 

6. Lightsaber Blades Are TSA-Approved



Baggage handlers kind of suck, so trusting them with your lightsaber blade would be pretty dumb! Disney World will ship items for you, but that service can be a little hit and miss, so you trust them at your own peril.

Well, we can tell you that those lightsaber blades are TSA-approved, so you shouldn't have any problems taking them on a plane as carry on baggage. The staff in Orlando's airports are used to seeing dozens of these lightsabers a day, so as long as you have a sleeve or original packaging, getting them through security shouldn't be a major issue. 

Just don't go igniting them mid-flight! 
 

5. You Can Get Your Own Groot!



So, there aren't exactly a lot of Marvel toys to get your hands on in Disney World, but there's one must-have item we can't get enough of. They can be hard to come by, but keep your eyes peeled, and you'll come across a Groot which can accompany you around the park thanks to magnets!

The adorable sentient tree sits on your shoulder and will keep you company in line, and once they're on, it takes a lot to get them off. We wouldn't recommend riding Rock 'n' Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror with Baby Groot in tow, but these sell out fast and are considered must-have by many fans. 

Oh, and if Groot isn't a favourite of yours, then you can also find a Porg version in Hollywood Studios!
 

4. Star Tours Has Received A Cool Upgrade



To coincide with the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker last year, Disney World has made a pretty significant update to Star Tours, a ride which grew stale quite some time ago. 

Now, Threepio and R2 will take you to Kef Bir, the ocean moon where the remains of the Death Star II have landed. The message the still very dashing Lando Calrissian sent out to the Galaxy is also revealed, and the ride culminates in a hectic trip through the skies of Exegol as the battle against the Final Order rages. 

For fans of the movies, this ride just became an essential experience, and definitely a fun time. 
 

3. Go To Galaxy's Edge In The Evening



For starters, seeing Batuu at night is amazing. While Galaxy's Edge is immersive enough in the daytime, it really does feel like you're on another planet in the evening, and there's another advantage to going later in the day too. Crowd levels are much lower, and if you pick your time right, the line for Smuggler's Run is likely to be non-existent! 

We're not entirely sure why this is, but it probably has something to do with people rushing to this ride first thing in the morning as lines get crazy busy during the day. 

That means they're all trying to get on Slinky Dog Dash and Tower of Terror in the evening, and Smuggler's Run is yours for the taking. With this method, you might even be able to ride is three or four times in a row, but whether it's worth repeat visits might come down to personal preference. 
 

2. There's An Awesome Smuggler's Run Hack


This is best explained by watching the above video, but if you and your buddies all ride Smuggler's Run together, then there is a way of activating a secret Chewbacca mode which features the adorable Wookie communicating with you in place of devious smuggler Hondo Ohnaka.

It doesn't change anything about the ride itself, but as Easter Eggs go, this is flipping fantastic! 

There have been rumours that Disney World is planning to add new ride modes in future, including one based on The Mandalorian. However, park bosses have since denied rumours that the Mandalorian and an animatronic version of The Child will be doing meet and greets in the near future. 
 

1. You Might Be Better Off Going To Disneyland If You're A Marvel Fan



Thanks to an agreement with Universal Studios, Disney can't use Marvel characters and rides on the East Coast. That means you won't find any meet and greets or Marvel-themed experiences in Disney World, and if that's something you're desperate to try out, heading to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, might be a safer bet! 

This summer, Avengers Campus opens on the West Coast with a Spider-Man ride, an Ant-Man eating experience, and the opportunity to meet heroes like Black Panther and Doctor Strange.

More will be added over the next couple of years, and there's already the insanely fun Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! ride to try out...there's even six different variations of that, assuming you're brave enough to go on there enough times to experience them all, of course. 
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bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 3/9/2020, 9:10 AM
''The message the still very dashing Lando Calrissian sent out to the Galaxy is also revealed''

First you have me playing fortnite, now I have to go to a Disney park to get the full experience? Shit!

Anyway, the one thing I took from my visits to Disney parks is that you don't have to look out for any Star Wars stuff if you're a fan of the originals (or in case of the prequels even less). I get the sequels are made by Disney and thus have a bigger presence, but I felt there the George Lucas movies dont even exist (aside from the one photo op with Vader)
theFUZZ008
theFUZZ008 - 3/9/2020, 9:20 AM
Disney Parks:
tmp3
tmp3 - 3/9/2020, 9:42 AM
This is probably the worst time to go to Disney World
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 3/9/2020, 9:50 AM
Ah yes Disney.... A kids theme park company that keeps raising its prices so only the rich can go.
ThorArms
ThorArms - 3/9/2020, 9:53 AM
Is Ruby the new Josh? Or do we just now have more clickbait list articles to click "next" on
Nighthawk01
Nighthawk01 - 3/9/2020, 10:23 AM
bcom
bcom - 3/9/2020, 2:13 PM
I don't know if it is a change of direction, Coronavirus craziness or just a slow news period but this site has been just plain weird lately. The insistence of having to now repeatedly click a "next" button to read a full article has made this site incredibly frustrating to use. Click bait style headlines and articles are now rampant on the site and its now literally the tabloid style website of the comic book world.

I get that this site needs sponsors and advertising to survive so I can overlook the pop up ads and annoying videos but in terms of site usage and content, I find myself wanting to come here less and less. I've even started to visit IGN more for sh*ts sake and they are the very worst of the worst in terms of journalistic integrity or fact checking anything!

Nate, what's going on man?
ThorArms
ThorArms - 3/9/2020, 7:20 PM
@bcom @natebest - some of this. I TOTALLY get the need for revenue and each individual click provides that. That being said, I obviously preferred the list style that you guys' did for a bit (I know you previously did the next page articles solely as well). The fact that theyre also often times redundant. I have legit seen 2 "10 most" articles that are essentially the same on the front page before...I think my biggest thing is that I could deal with Josh's annoying articles and usually never click on them. I clicked on this one to comment because now I'm getting zergnet vibes from this site with more and more authors doing these random lists.

It's a slow comic book year, again, I totally get it. I'm just bummed that I'm getting these Zergnet type vibes from this site.

I'm not clicking every next page article to complain though, certainly not. That is just annoying which I get. I just scroll past. It's getting to the point where I can't just scroll past because it's the main feed
NateBest
NateBest - 3/9/2020, 4:27 PM
I'm always surprised by people who 1) click on a list and then 2) proceed to complain about there being a list... Not regarding the content, or providing their own views on said list, what they see differently, etc.

Maybe someone can enlighten me?

@Pizzavomit - Curious to know your thoughts as well as @ThorArms - Is it some how NOT a list of 10 things regarding Marvel, Disney and Disney World? Maybe people don't know what the definition of "clickbait" actually is... Or did I read an entirely different post from the two of you?
bcom
bcom - 3/9/2020, 8:51 PM
@NateBest - I think it's more the usability of the site that is frustrating some visitors. I agree it is weird that people will click all the way through an article and then complain, but I also think that it is the fact that they have to keep clicking "next" in the first place on an article that they may be interested in reading. There's also the fact that other similar sites will be reporting the same news that this site does without having to click a next button to read the whole story. I mean, most of the stuff Josh reports he's sourced from other sites anyway.

Like we said, we get the need for revenue to keep a site like this up and running and we obviously like coming here but I guess what we're saying is that it is becoming blatantly more obvious that the site is aiming for more clicks and hits and as a result that is sacrificing user friendliness.
NateBest
NateBest - 3/9/2020, 9:51 PM
@bcom, @ThorArms - Thanks for the feedback guys! I agree, there are some users that aren't using the Next/Back the way that I would like. Lists like this don't fall into that category for me, but appending them to the end of articles or requiring users to click through to see what the actual news/report is annoying. One of the issues with running a user-contributed site... Hopefully the feedback and lack of views (assuming it trends that way, I haven't been able to dig into the stats enough to know) will influence the contributors/writers.
billnye69
billnye69 - 3/10/2020, 4:15 PM
Been to Disneyland in California twice and it was really boring and over crowded both times. I honestly never want to go back, the rides are so mediocre, where as Six Flags has much better and more extreme rides.
SensitivityII
SensitivityII - 3/10/2020, 11:18 PM
I feel like I have an inkling who Ruby may be.
DanU
DanU - 3/12/2020, 4:55 PM
"Thanks to an agreement with Universal Studios, Disney can't use Marvel characters and rides on the East Coast" What?? Guess you didn't get the memo that they're building a Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Epcot in Florida on the East Coast.
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