Went to SWGE on Sunday with friends. Here's some hot impressions.
+Land is massive with plenty of space for guests, I don't know why Disney thought this would need boarding passes to get into.
+Set design and decoration is fantastic, lots to look at.
+Food and beverage is good to great. Had a Ronto Wrap, liked it but wasn't as enamored with it as others. Oga's is fun and good but loses something with the capacity issues, drinks being pre-mixed, and weird cups. Had a drink spilled on me because it was so top heavy. Had some popcorn a stranger shared with me and it's like Fruity Pebbles and popcorn had a love affair.
=Smuggler's Run is a good ride but not outstanding, which it should be for RIDING IN OR PILOTING THE FALCON. The biggest issue I see is they either need it to be a madcap adventure in the Falcon OR an interactive video game. They tried to thread the needle for both and it doesn't work. I was the right pilot and I have to say pulling the lever to hit light speed is HIGHLY satisfying.
=Character interactions are fun but so so so random and individual that it feels lopsided. I like having Rey walk around with kids and interact, I like Vi or Chewie around. But the only real entertainment I could enjoy was the Kylo "show" because it was available to all. They need both small scale, personal entertainment (like they have now) in addition to more large scale, entertain 200-500 people shows.
-The land needs non-diegetic music. It just does. It's such an iconic part of the movies that having it only in select experiences just misses the mark completely. It doesn't need to be everywhere, doesn't need to be blaring loud, but it is needed. Why Disney decided to throw away decades of work on this, and then have fans defend it, is boggling.
-This land desperately needs things that do not require money. More elaborate shows, experiences, and activities are needed.
-Talking about activities, I could not get my data pad to work at all in the land.
-The land, as it sits now, does not feel like Star Wars.
Overall the bones of the land are good but it needs some help. Even once RotR opens there's a lot here that just needs a spit polish. After four years of hype, five years since Diagon opened, and one billion dollars per land later I expect more. This is desperately evident that night at HHN when I walked into Diagon Alley and it hit all the ways Batuu did not.
I'm going to be writing a larger piece on this for Parkscope that incorporates Pandora and Disney's design philosophy for new lands.