Back in the late 1970s, my dad took me to see Star Wars at the Big Newport theater in Fashion Island. I was blown away. Back then, there was nothing like this movie and seeing it on the largest screen on the west coast (at the time) made it even more magical. I’ve been a Star Wars fan ever since.

When I first heard that Disneyland was going to build Star Wars land, I knew I had to go. It just took me a little while. My wife and I finally went about a week ago and I loved it. If my dad were still around, he would have loved it too.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit, here are a few pictures:

This looks like a nice place to live. Maybe Disney will let us move in.

You’ve probably already seen a billion pictures of the Millennium Falcon, but wow. My inner child wanted to jump the barrier and run inside, but my inner responsible adult said no.

Well done Disney, well done.

Star Wars land (officially called Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge) is much larger than I expected. If you plan to go, here are a few tips we learned the hard way:

• If you want to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (the newest attraction) you need to use the Disneyland app to join a “boarding group”. We went on a Friday and it was completely booked before we walked into the park. Check Disneyland’s website and learn what you need to do before you visit the park if you want to get on this ride.
• Oga’s Cantina can be booked 60 days in advance, so plan accordingly. Again, we missed out on this experience because we didn’t plan ahead.

Even though we missed out on a few things, just walking around the place was awesome. A bit too commercial with all the shops, but still awesome.

After visiting Star Wars land, we had lunch at the exclusive members-only Club 33 in New Orleans Square. If you’re not familiar with Club 33, here’s a little blurb from a Disney Parks Blog post:

Envisioned by Walt Disney, who drew inspiration from the executive lounges at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the club opened in 1967 and has since held a place of mystery and legend among Disneyland park guests.

We are not members and were asked by our host not to post any pictures from inside the club, so here’s a picture from outside.

Inside, we enjoyed a gourmet four-course meal and received exceptional service. It’s not every day that I have filet mignon for lunch at Disneyland.

It was a unique experience, but once in a lifetime was plenty for us. I’ll stick to the gumbo at Café Orléans and the corn dogs from the Little Red Wagon on Main Street.

We don’t go to Disneyland very often anymore, and this was our first trip without any kids. We had a fun day, but it was definitely not as magical without the whole family.