Want to see Star Wars land after Disneyland’s reservation requirement ends? Here’s how

Starting Monday, Disneyland visitors will no longer need a reservation to check out the park’s $1-billion Star Wars expansion.

But the theme park announced Wednesday that other crowd-control measures might be deployed next week to keep the 14-acre land from becoming a crush of people of galactic proportions.

At two of the most popular destinations in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge — the shop where visitors can build a custom lightsaber and the cantina where space-themed drinks are served — online reservations will be required, and a fee of up to $200 will be charged for those who fail to show up for a reservation.

The new land, the largest single expansion since the opening of Disneyland in 1955, opened May 31 and was built to resemble a remote settlement called Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu. Employees are dressed to resemble villagers, space outlaws, Stormtroopers, smugglers, and rebels battling or hiding from the evil Empire.

The land features two rides, four eateries, the cantina and five retail shops. Only one ride, the interactive Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, is in operation. Wait times for the first week after opening averaged about 32 minutes, according to a Times analysis. The second attraction, the multi-vehicle Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, is promised for later in the year.

Now’s the best time to visit Disneyland, as Star Wars land draws away crowds »

For the first three weeks after Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened, the park required that visitors make online reservations to enter the new land — an effort to control crowds that caused headaches and confusion in the opening of other highly anticipated attractions in the past.

The reservation requirement ends Monday and Disney has announced that, depending on crowd sizes, it may implement a virtual queuing system that park visitors can access through the Disneyland app. Once in the park, they can sign into the app as early as 7 a.m. to join a “boarding group” to enter the Star Wars land. The system will be similar to the park’s Fastpass system, which designates a window of time when a visitor can enter an attraction without waiting in a long line.

Park visitors can find out from the app or from signs throughout in the park if the virtual queuing system is being required.

Park visitors who don’t have the app can join a Star Wars “boarding group” by visiting a Fastpass kiosk near attractions such as the Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones Adventure, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain or the Matterhorn Bobsleds.

Because of the limited capacity at Savi’s Workshop and Oga’s Cantina, Disneyland is requiring parkgoers to make reservations to visit both businesses through the Disneyland.com website or through the Disneyland app.

Reservations for both Savi’s Workshop and Oga’s Cantina will also get visitors into the Star Wars land without having to use the virtual queuing system. But a credit card is required, and those who don’t show up will be charged a fee of $199.99 for missing a Savi’s Workshop reservation or $10 for missing a reservation at Oga’s.

[email protected]

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.