**Official** Star Wars at DHS, Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party/Galactic Nights/Launch Bay/JT

[Skywise]

What changed on the sci-fi menu? I've been looking on the boards and at the menu but I can't recall exactly what might have changed.

 

[leiaorgana]

What changed on the sci-fi menu? I've been looking on the boards and at the menu but I can't recall exactly what might have changed.

They took the Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie off the menu, which is the only thing several members of my family will eat there, and they changed what comes with the steak now so I'm not too keen on that and they took away my favourite starter too From what I can tell they've just added a load of different burgers and salads to the mains and boneless wings to the starters.

 

[Roxyfire]

What changed on the sci-fi menu? I've been looking on the boards and at the menu but I can't recall exactly what might have changed.

The removed the salmon blt and chicken sandwich and added some salads.

 

[MrBigBen]

If fan here, gf as well and even our 3 yr old loves SW. Were going in a few weeks to WDW just for a few days and I have a day blocked off and planned for HS. We would all love the dessert party but I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger back of the price, would be close to $275 CAD for us three and it seems crazy for (realistically) a couple cupcakes and a drink with priority standing room.

If it had a meal? Or a buffet... am I wrong?

 

[Roxyfire]

If fan here, gf as well and even our 3 yr old loves SW. Were going in a few weeks to WDW just for a few days and I have a day blocked off and planned for HS. We would all love the dessert party but I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger back of the price, would be close to $275 CAD for us three and it seems crazy for (realistically) a couple cupcakes and a drink with priority standing room.

If it had a meal? Or a buffet... am I wrong?

I think with the exchange rate that makes it a tough sell. It is more than "just a couple of cupcakes" but not a full meal either. If you're willing to stake out a spot ahead of time and let your gf and the 3 year old do something else while you wait, that's probably a better plan. If you're not picky about standing in a less than ideal spot, even better.

 

[yulilin3]

If fan here, gf as well and even our 3 yr old loves SW. Were going in a few weeks to WDW just for a few days and I have a day blocked off and planned for HS. We would all love the dessert party but I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger back of the price, would be close to $275 CAD for us three and it seems crazy for (realistically) a couple cupcakes and a drink with priority standing room.

If it had a meal? Or a buffet... am I wrong?

you basically pay for peace of mind.
You have a designated, good viewing location.
You get desserts and savory items, along with alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, inside an air conditioned area themed to Star Wars and with SW music
I have done the dessert party a couple of times and it's worth it in the sense that I don't have to grab a spot an hour and a half early. Especially in the summer months it's brutal
Now people have come on here to say that they have managed to grab a last minute spot that wasn't bad but I just don't like squeezing in last minute, I feel bad for the people that have waited an hour (just my opinion)

 

[texasgingerbread]

Yay! We only got wristbands when we did it last time so I was hoping they were still doing the lanyards & thank you! I'm sure we will

Does anyone have a picture of the lanyard? I was just about to buy lanyards for my children for our Disney cruise but we're doing this pre-cruise so this might work for them.

 

[BobaFettuciniAlfredo]

We're arriving at WDW on 12/16 and want to see Ep. VIII at the AMC in DS. Any rumors on what DS or the parks are doing for the release? Sorry if I missed it in previous posts. Tried combing through the thread, but it's daunting. I kept getting side tracked by other info. When I found a SW quiz about naming SW characters around page 200, I gave up and decided to just ask!

 

[yulilin3]

We're arriving at WDW on 12/16 and want to see Ep. VIII at the AMC in DS. Any rumors on what DS or the parks are doing for the release? Sorry if I missed it in previous posts. Tried combing through the thread, but it's daunting. I kept getting side tracked by other info. When I found a SW quiz about naming SW characters around page 200, I gave up and decided to just ask!

Any confirmed information will be on page 1. If it's not there, there's nothing confirmed
So, Nothing has been announced but I think we can expect Galactic Nights party for the opening weekend, maybe on that Friday.
Btw love your username

 

[Abigail Broughton]

Introduction

This page will talk specifically about Star Wars Launch Bay and any other SW offerings they will have at DHS. Also feel free to share your love of SW

A little background on myself: Hi my name is Yulady (You-Lady), I'm a 42 year old mom of 2 teenagers and I love Star Wars. I'm an Orlando resident and an AP holder for the past 16 years.

I post as objective as I can, I don’t usually answer the question “is it worth it”, that’s a subjective question but I will always give you my views on everything SW and my personal experiences with the event. I post everything as a rumor (even if it comes from very reliable inside sources) until Disney announces either thru their Parks Blog or directly on the WDW site.

Introduction

This page will talk specifically about Star Wars Launch Bay and any other SW offerings they will have at DHS. Also feel free to share your love of SW

A little background on myself: Hi my name is Yulady (You-Lady), I'm a 42 year old mom of 2 teenagers and I love Star Wars. I'm an Orlando resident and an AP holder for the past 16 years.

I post as objective as I can, I don’t usually answer the question “is it worth it”, that’s a subjective question but I will always give you my views on everything SW and my personal experiences with the event. I post everything as a rumor (even if it comes from very reliable inside sources) until Disney announces either thru their Parks Blog or directly on the WDW site.

Thank you for your help. I cant imagine life living next to Disneyworld! I am a blessed mom of 2 46 with a 15 and 6 year old and a love for everything Disney. We live in New England which I love except living so far from the magic. We are so excited to arrive for only our 3rd trip in September staying at th YC for 9 nights and our first night at POR in a royal room. I cant stop thinking and planning. I have not been to HS for the Star Wars show. Can you just walk in for the event and see it or do you recommend the dessert party? I am looking every morning for the release dates. Do you ever stay on property and if so do you have a favorite resort. I am a stay at home mom and I always dreamed what life would be like to head out to Magic Kingdom anytime I wanted with my kids if we lived so close as you do. Do you still LOVE going? I also have an 830 Crystal Palace reservation but am now worried I wont get that early arrival amazing photos on Main Street with the new early arrival of letting everyone in 1 hr before rope drop. Any suggestions?

 

[yulilin3]

Thank you for your help. I cant imagine life living next to Disneyworld! I am a blessed mom of 2 46 with a 15 and 6 year old and a love for everything Disney. We live in New England which I love except living so far from the magic. We are so excited to arrive for only our 3rd trip in September staying at th YC for 9 nights and our first night at POR in a royal room. I cant stop thinking and planning. I have not been to HS for the Star Wars show. Can you just walk in for the event and see it or do you recommend the dessert party? I am looking every morning for the release dates. Do you ever stay on property and if so do you have a favorite resort. I am a stay at home mom and I always dreamed what life would be like to head out to Magic Kingdom anytime I wanted with my kids if we lived so close as you do. Do you still LOVE going? I also have an 830 Crystal Palace reservation but am now worried I wont get that early arrival amazing photos on Main Street with the new early arrival of letting everyone in 1 hr before rope drop. Any suggestions?

welcome to our SW family
You cannot show up 30 minutes before the show and expect a good spot. If you read page one there are reviews and reports on where the best spot is and how early to get there (at least an hour and a half) for that reason I recommend the dessert party if you have the means, again reviews on the dessert party are on page 1.
I have stayed on property a couple of times, I love AKL and POR
You can get to MK early, be at the entrance no later than 7:30am and you will get photos of an empty-ish Main Street, if your main purpose for having an early Crystal Palace breakfast is for empty MS pictures then I would drop it, but if you enjoy the characters and the food then keep it
Any other SW related questions feel free to ask
Oh, and no, after 18 years with an annual pass, going multiple times a week, I am not tired of it and I love going

 

[Abigail Broughton]

welcome to our SW family
You cannot show up 30 minutes before the show and expect a good spot. If you read page one there are reviews and reports on where the best spot is and how early to get there (at least an hour and a half) for that reason I recommend the dessert party if you have the means, again reviews on the dessert party are on page 1.
I have stayed on property a couple of times, I love AKL and POR
You can get to MK early, be at the entrance no later than 7:30am and you will get photos of an empty-ish Main Street, if your main purpose for having an early Crystal Palace breakfast is for empty MS pictures then I would drop it, but if you enjoy the characters and the food then keep it
Any other SW related questions feel free to ask
Oh, and no, after 18 years with an annual pass, going multiple times a week, I am not tired of it and I love going

Thank you! I am completely jealous. I cant imagine what that is like. Wonderful im sure. Since you offered your Disney knowledge... Have you been to California Grille for fireworks and dinning and do you have a favorite spot to watch MK parade and fireworks in the park? I was going to sit myself on a curb on Main Street about 2hrs prior. Any suggestions?

 

[yulilin3]

Thank you! I am completely jealous. I cant imagine what that is like. Wonderful im sure. Since you offered your Disney knowledge... Have you been to California Grille for fireworks and dinning and do you have a favorite spot to watch MK parade and fireworks in the park? I was going to sit myself on a curb on Main Street about 2hrs prior. Any suggestions?

we concentrate on SW on this thread. But I'll answer your questions, in the future you can use the search button on the top to look for specific topics on the boards
I have not been to California Grill, way out of my budget
MK Parade: I like watching from just outside Country Bears, there's a wooden, slightly raised platform that offers shade. If not from right in front of the Barbershop, depending on time of year you'll be fine getting a spot an hour before or less
Fireworks: the new show will require you watch from the front of the castle, so anywhere in the hub and Main street where you have a clear view of the castle

 

[angai379]

For all the Her Universe fans there's a new t-shirt out that I love!! I'm guessing for Mother's Day. Padme and Leila.

 

[Stitch813]

When do they usually announce the dessert party dates? The dates are available through August....I'm going in September

 

[yulilin3]

When do they usually announce the dessert party dates? The dates are available through August....I'm going in September

lately they've been updating about 2 months ahead of time. You can see the trend of release on page one post 11

 

[klmall]

Warning: A negative review of the show and mucho complaining .

We attended the party on 4/29 and while we enjoyed the food and drinks we found the reserved fireworks viewing area a mess. According to the CMs the 'star troopers were running late' which caused everyone to be rushed out to the reserved viewing area quite late. Then several people in the party group just ran to the front of the viewing area and blocked viewing for many others including my husband on his ECV.

Warning: Sorry for the complaining that follows here. And typical of almost all parade viewing type situations nowadays, a couple people insisted on placing their children on shoulders blocking views for many. When the couple in front of us placed their loud, screaming 3 or 4 year old on dad's shoulders WITH HIS extended Star Wars lightsaber waving around it really made viewing the show almost impossible and didn't quiet him. His mother also insisted on holding her small phone up above us to film the whole show. She loudly proclaimed "well at least we can watch the show later at home". Well, please invite us too since we could barely see it.

But I think most disappointing of all was the show/fireworks itself. It was very hard to view the scenes on the buildings and we felt that the fireworks weren't coordinated well with the show itself; they seemed just incidental. I'm surprised people haven't really commented on this. We felt that the buildings aren't well suited for this and the palm trees truly blocked viewing on the left side. Couldn't Disney just invest in a couple huge retractable screens that would roll down for better viewing and maybe move those palm trees?

This was the only special experience selected for our trip and we only go every three years so I know I probably had unrealistic expectations. I'm over it now (DH isn't at all!) and I did manage to get a few decent shots with my zoom dSLR lens. We liked the excellent food and CM interaction during the dessert party itself. The frozen nutella treats were scrumptious and DH and DS enjoyed the margaritas.

Would I go again? Maybe solo but then the food part would be wasted on me since I hardly ate and didn't drink (maybe that would have improved my experience....(LOL).

I'm sure our experience wasn't typical so others should try for themselves.

Thanks for reading my rant and rave............

 

[soniam]

Warning: A negative review of the show and mucho complaining .

We attended the party on 4/29 and while we enjoyed the food and drinks we found the reserved fireworks viewing area a mess. According to the CMs the 'star troopers were running late' which caused everyone to be rushed out to the reserved viewing area quite late. Then several people in the party group just ran to the front of the viewing area and blocked viewing for many others including my husband on his ECV.

Warning: Sorry for the complaining that follows here. And typical of almost all parade viewing type situations nowadays, a couple people insisted on placing their children on shoulders blocking views for many. When the couple in front of us placed their loud, screaming 3 or 4 year old on dad's shoulders WITH HIS extended Star Wars lightsaber waving around it really made viewing the show almost impossible and didn't quiet him. His mother also insisted on holding her small phone up above us to film the whole show. She loudly proclaimed "well at least we can watch the show later at home". Well, please invite us too since we could barely see it.

But I think most disappointing of all was the show/fireworks itself. It was very hard to view the scenes on the buildings and we felt that the fireworks weren't coordinated well with the show itself; they seemed just incidental. I'm surprised people haven't really commented on this. We felt that the buildings aren't well suited for this and the palm trees truly blocked viewing on the left side. Couldn't Disney just invest in a couple huge retractable screens that would roll down for better viewing and maybe move those palm trees?

This was the only special experience selected for our trip and we only go every three years so I know I probably had unrealistic expectations. I'm over it now (DH isn't at all!) and I did manage to get a few decent shots with my zoom dSLR lens. We liked the excellent food and CM interaction during the dessert party itself. The frozen nutella treats were scrumptious and DH and DS enjoyed the margaritas.

Would I go again? Maybe solo but then the food part would be wasted on me since I hardly ate and didn't drink (maybe that would have improved my experience....(LOL).

I'm sure our experience wasn't typical so others should try for themselves.

Thanks for reading my rant and rave............

I am sorry that your experience was so bad. I know how that can be. Our second time to do the party wasn't the best, because we got out late after missing the storm troopers I think people have complained about the show, but that was really early on. This is now the 2nd or 3rd iteration, depending upon if you count the Star Wars Weekends show. It's not as good as the original, but there is no way they will go back to the original show. The current fireworks are causing fire issues and disturbing the animals at AK, so the original show, which had way more fireworks, would be even worse. I think they might get rid of the fireworks entirely, since they are are having fire issues now.

I thought they had a dedicated ECV area at the front. They used to. Maybe they don't do it every night. It's hard to get a good view of this show. They only time I have had a good view was at our first party for the original show since we were right in front and also for Jingle Bell Jingle Bam during a rainstorm, everyone had left and we were at the back of the non-party viewing area. I may be rude, but I don't feel bad at all asking people to put the phones and kids down. Doesn't mean they will do it though.

 

[yulilin3]

Warning: A negative review of the show and mucho complaining .

We attended the party on 4/29 and while we enjoyed the food and drinks we found the reserved fireworks viewing area a mess. According to the CMs the 'star troopers were running late' which caused everyone to be rushed out to the reserved viewing area quite late. Then several people in the party group just ran to the front of the viewing area and blocked viewing for many others including my husband on his ECV.

Warning: Sorry for the complaining that follows here. And typical of almost all parade viewing type situations nowadays, a couple people insisted on placing their children on shoulders blocking views for many. When the couple in front of us placed their loud, screaming 3 or 4 year old on dad's shoulders WITH HIS extended Star Wars lightsaber waving around it really made viewing the show almost impossible and didn't quiet him. His mother also insisted on holding her small phone up above us to film the whole show. She loudly proclaimed "well at least we can watch the show later at home". Well, please invite us too since we could barely see it.

But I think most disappointing of all was the show/fireworks itself. It was very hard to view the scenes on the buildings and we felt that the fireworks weren't coordinated well with the show itself; they seemed just incidental. I'm surprised people haven't really commented on this. We felt that the buildings aren't well suited for this and the palm trees truly blocked viewing on the left side. Couldn't Disney just invest in a couple huge retractable screens that would roll down for better viewing and maybe move those palm trees?

This was the only special experience selected for our trip and we only go every three years so I know I probably had unrealistic expectations. I'm over it now (DH isn't at all!) and I did manage to get a few decent shots with my zoom dSLR lens. We liked the excellent food and CM interaction during the dessert party itself. The frozen nutella treats were scrumptious and DH and DS enjoyed the margaritas.

Would I go again? Maybe solo but then the food part would be wasted on me since I hardly ate and didn't drink (maybe that would have improved my experience....(LOL).

I'm sure our experience wasn't typical so others should try for themselves.

Thanks for reading my rant and rave............

no need to apologize about a negative review. We invite everyone's points of view and it helps others make a decision. I'll go in order of your comments
Stormtroopers running late might have been a CM not feeling well or any other sort of emergency
Wasn't there a reserved ecv w/c area for you?
Unfortunately there's very little Disney can do about rude guests, the shoving, kids on shoulders, devices in the air is a growing problem,
SWaGS is NOT a fireworks show and this has been explained over and over on this thread, also page one has tons of reviews from people, guests coming in and expecting a fireworks show are sure to be disappointed. The hub area of DHS is not suited for this kind of show and the palm trees and stage rigging is a problem, there's just no where else to put this show in the park. I like to watch from in behind the stage, right in front of GMR, you are able to see the projections much better but lose the wideness of the show.
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the show

 

[jlundeen]

Warning: A negative review of the show and mucho complaining .

We attended the party on 4/29 and while we enjoyed the food and drinks we found the reserved fireworks viewing area a mess. According to the CMs the 'star troopers were running late' which caused everyone to be rushed out to the reserved viewing area quite late. Then several people in the party group just ran to the front of the viewing area and blocked viewing for many others including my husband on his ECV.

Warning: Sorry for the complaining that follows here. And typical of almost all parade viewing type situations nowadays, a couple people insisted on placing their children on shoulders blocking views for many. When the couple in front of us placed their loud, screaming 3 or 4 year old on dad's shoulders WITH HIS extended Star Wars lightsaber waving around it really made viewing the show almost impossible and didn't quiet him. His mother also insisted on holding her small phone up above us to film the whole show. She loudly proclaimed "well at least we can watch the show later at home". Well, please invite us too since we could barely see it.

But I think most disappointing of all was the show/fireworks itself. It was very hard to view the scenes on the buildings and we felt that the fireworks weren't coordinated well with the show itself; they seemed just incidental. I'm surprised people haven't really commented on this. We felt that the buildings aren't well suited for this and the palm trees truly blocked viewing on the left side. Couldn't Disney just invest in a couple huge retractable screens that would roll down for better viewing and maybe move those palm trees?

This was the only special experience selected for our trip and we only go every three years so I know I probably had unrealistic expectations. I'm over it now (DH isn't at all!) and I did manage to get a few decent shots with my zoom dSLR lens. We liked the excellent food and CM interaction during the dessert party itself. The frozen nutella treats were scrumptious and DH and DS enjoyed the margaritas.

Would I go again? Maybe solo but then the food part would be wasted on me since I hardly ate and didn't drink (maybe that would have improved my experience....(LOL).

I'm sure our experience wasn't typical so others should try for themselves.

Thanks for reading my rant and rave............

We had a similar experience with JingleBAM show last Dec...only it was the family members of the people in the wheel chair space that blocked the view. We've since been told that the best viewing for the reserved area is actually in the very back, and everyone pushes forward when the show starts. We'll try this when (IF) we can see it this fall.

In the meantime, there is nothing wrong with dropping a note to Guest Relations folks telling them about your experience. Perhaps if enough people complain about the shoulder kids, the CMs will be asked to say something to them. We can all hope!!