Nightlife

Image: Disney

Both Pandora and Galaxy’s Edge share something in common—at night, they transform.

Many guests feel Pandora is even more beautiful at night when the world’s bioluminescent flora and fauna come to life. The whole land bursts alight into a fluorescent dreamscape, stunning to behold even without ever stepping onto an attraction.

Galaxy’s Edge also transforms at night. The Millennium Falcon and other ships in the land power up with landing lights, and the spires are illuminated with mesmerizing blues and golds. Tons of details that you would miss during the daytime become visible at night, like Aurebesh writing over the door of the Droid Depot, and sounds also become much more punctuated. Characters still wander through the outpost, but they are a little harder to spot in the low light.

While we love both Batuu and Pandora at night, we have to give this one to Pandora as well—the land is just designed to be marveled at once the sun goes down. Batuu is beautiful in its own right under the rising moons, but Pandora ekes out a win in this arena.

Food

Image: Disney

Pandora’s food lineup includes the Pongu Pongu drink stand and the Satul’i Canteen counter service restaurant. We raved about Satul’i when Pandora opened thanks to its zesty grain and protein bowls as well as its unique pod bao buns. While the canteen still remains a highlight for the already excellent options dining in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, it did suffer a blow for some fans when a number of items were removed from the menu within the last year, including the quinoa/grain bases and all forms of the pods (the cheeseburger pods can still be found on the kid’s menu). It’s still a great place to eat, but it did lose a little bit of the magic.

On the other hand, Galaxy’s Edge has a commendable line-up of dining and drink options. For drinks specifically, guests can enjoy either the Milk Stand-- where visitors can try berry-like blue milk or floral green milk—or Oga’s Cantina. Oga’s has proven one of the biggest draws in the land, mostly for the experience it offers drinking in a Star Wars cantina complete with pounding music served up courtesy of DJ-Rex (yup, the same one from Star Tours—and he even REMEMBERS that job). The drink options are myriad while the food choices are limited to some very creative snack plates like the Batuu Bits and a charcuterie platter, as well as a creative take on overnight oats for breakfast. Despite the limited menu, Oga’s is still a must-visit experience, even if you opt to stick to non-alcoholic imbibements.

The biggest draws for food in Galaxy’s Edge are Ronto Roasters and Docking Bay 7. Ronto Roasters focuses on true quick service with a combination of meat wraps, chips, and even some interesting takes on jerky. Docking Bay 7 is the true workhorse for dining at Galaxy’s Edge, and it’s proven an unequivocal winner in our book, to the point it might be one of the best dining options in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The food includes a range of creative takes on popular dishes to adapt them to the Star Wars universe, including a Shaak Pot Roast, the Endorian Yip Tip roast chicken salad, and our personal favorite, the Felucian Garden Spread, a vegan dish featuring plant-based kefta and hummus.

Before the changes at Satul’i Canteen, the comparison might have been more even, but we have to give it to Galaxy’s Edge. They really have done a great job in incorporating dining into the land in a more holistic way than Pandora was able to pull off.

Merch

Image: Disney

Both Pandora and Galaxy’s Edge follow the same general principle with merchandise: everything sold in the land is made to look as if it came from in-world. For Pandora, this means lots of trinkets, tools, and toys either made by or featuring the Navi as well as Pandorian flora and fauna. The biggest highlight of these is the banshees, which even include a “pairing” ceremony to introduce the banshee to its new keeper. The toys are pretty cool and have proven a huge draw for kids.

Galaxy’s Edge took the same concept for merch from Pandora—even including the option to purchase a pet Kowakian Monkey Lizard, which admittedly isn’t nearly as cute as a banshee—only they took it much further. Each section of the park includes different in-world merchandise including Resistance and First Order loyalist gear, in-world toys, in-world pets, a local outfitter, and a Black Spire Outpost “tourist” shop.

The fun doesn’t stop there, however, as the land includes three specialized shopping experiences. The first we already mentioned is the Droid Depot, a wildly popular spot where visitors can build and customize a personal droid who will become your companion in Galaxy’s Edge—they can even react to things in the land like stormtroopers. The second premium shop is Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, a creatively themed emporium where guests can “haggle” with the infamous Ithorian to procure rare artifacts from throughout Star Wars history including jewelry, working holocrons, artwork, and legacy lightsabers. Finally, Savi’s Workshop provides an immersive experience where guests get to build their own lightsaber as part of a secret initiative to locate Force users.

Once again, Galaxy’s Edge wins out in this category thanks to the sheer plentitude of merch options available. There really is something for everyone on Batuu!

Which one wins overall? That’s absolutely up to you, and it depends on guest preference (indeed, during one poll asking Batuu vs. Pandora, a fan answered TOMORROWLAND which just describes the Disney spirit so well). Whichever you prefer, there’s no question Disney knocked it out of the park with both of these incredible lands.