The (Foodie)Force is Strong with Us...a Feb/Mar 2016 trip! THE END - NEW 9/13 Disneyland TR link!

[chunkymonkey]

We LOVED meeting Chewie! We threw our arms up and yelled "CHEWIE" when we got in there and he replied with the same arm raise and a Chewie noise!

Nothing beats Chewie! He's so awesome!

HAHA!! He told us we could leave in one piece this time...but to beware if we made the wrong decision!

Haha they really tried to make him sound super intimidating!

Aww...I wish we could have met Vader. I am surprised they removed him too. Hopefully they change that when Star Wars land opens.

Yeah I'm pretty sure there will be a vader in star wars land. I hope so!

Too funny! Love it!

Thanks!

I love BB-8! I need to get the new Alex & Ani of him.

Those bracelets are really cute! My sister is dying for one!

I finally got to be the Rebel Spy...and there are no more adult T Shirts to purchase, only youth!

Yay!!! That's awesome. but too bad about the no adult shirt.

Oh, thanks! Is this going to be your first trip to Disneyland? Then you are really in for a treat, it truly is a magical place!

I've been to DLR before but not for 8 years. It is a return of some sorts...but so many things has changed. I also never stayed there, we always did one day trips here and there. because my husbands family is out there so we spent a lot of time with them. But this september, I want to devote at least 3 days at disney!

Joining in!! A bit late but I'm loving all of your reviews.

Hi and Welcome!!! Thank yous!

We are trying Morimoto for the first time on our October trip. That dessert looks AMAZING! I'm definitely going to consider getting it. And hitting the Hangar bar right after too!

Both such great places! I will definitely return!

Loving all your Star Wars updates. We were just in Disneyland and noticed all of the additions and got to ride Hyperspace Mountain (Space Mountain but with the Star Wars overlay) and it was AMAZING!! I'm also really looking forward to hearing about the dessert party. We are going at the end of the month and I'm so stoked!

So lucky! I'm going to DLR probably in September so I'm super excited to ride those! Although I hope they are still around come September.
Dessert party coming up soon!

Ah! Cliffhanger! I've got 10 days to go until my trip and I can't wait! I need you to get me through the next week! Luckily I took it off so I don't have to sit antsy at work! I'm loving your trip report!

LOL Don't worry the dessert party will be up tomorrow.
Thanks for reading and hope you have a great trip!

The Force Choke pic is totally awesome!!!! Love it! Also, the BB8 cup is so adorable...great find!

Thank you! I can see why that cup was gone...everyone wanted one!

I love your new purse! NYCC seems like a perfect place to use it. We love going to ReedPop events, though we're in the Midwest so C2E2 is all we've done so far.

Thanks! It's an awesome bag. I've not been to other events besides NYCC, manye one anime event but I can barely remember it. I think once a yeaer is good for me

You guys are hilarious trying to find that BB8 cup lol Glad you guys found it in the end.

Yup persistence paid off! LOL

Excited to read more about the dessert party! We're planning our first trip in January and this dessert show sounds really fun

It's awesome, and it's even better now that they have the new show and stuff so there is stuff to see before the fireworks. We just went straight from dessert to fireworks. In a way I really liked that as there no show to crane your neck for, no muffled voices of the announcers, no looking behind other people's heads. Just eat and look up...fireworks! Yay!

 

[Hardheadedwoman]

Your trip reports are the best!

Just finished the cruise TR and now I'm here - whee!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Your trip reports are the best!

Just finished the cruise TR and now I'm here - whee!

Hey there!! Thank you!! Happy to see you here too!

 

[disneylove16]

I just got caught up, great report so far! Can't wait for more!

 

[FancyNancy]

Really enjoying your trip report and can't wait to read more!

 

[kastoney]

This one makes me crack up so much. Why do they make us do this?!?

I often wonder the same thing myself. I can usually do enough silly things in photos that I don't need photo pass prodding

This is the one I got:

Love, love, love this. Especially the colors. Do you know if they make them in smaller sizes?

We got some soda for DH to fill in the cup (I don't drink the stuff) but I was just so excited we got a cup! He's so cute!!

So happy you finally found it. Can't believe they don't have them more prevalent around the park.

This was this year's salad at Backlot Express: supposed to be the same salad, or at least similar, but they replaced the bibb lettuce with iceberg (which i dislike, at least use romaine) and had perfunctory toppings and packaged dressing. Overall, I was not impressed with this salad, but it was ok with grabbing a light bite to eat before the decadent dessert party.

Ugh, clearly the only thing these two salads share is the same name.

Symphony in the Stars Dessert Party coming up!!!

Can't wait to see what you thought about it. Came so close to trying it last month, but ultimately didn't want to may so much since I knew my daughter would have next to nothing. Loved the fireworks though

 

[TeresaNJ]

Loving your report! Read the whole thing this weekend! I'm dying to find out what you thought about the dessert party!!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 3 Part 5: Symphony in the Stars - a Star Wars Dessert Party!

The dessert party had opened right at 7pm and we could walk right in! On this night the fireworks were at 8pm. On some nights it was at 8:30pm or even 9pm depending on when the park closed, so I guess if you got a later fireworks show then you get more "time" at the dessert party it seemed, because the dessert party started at 7pm on all nights. Last year we had 2 hours of dessert party before the fireworks. In actuality it was a bit too long as there are no seats, only standing room, so you're on your feet eating and drinking sweets for 2 hours and it is quite tiring especially when you are full. So I think just an hour or maybe an hour and a half at most of dessert party is a good amount of time. Granted, last year there was a pre-show so you're not just staring at an empty sky and Mann's Chinese Theater all night. It was really pretty though, and I like not having a stage to block the view.

The dessert party was much less crowded than it was last year. I guess with it being Star Wars Weekends last year everyone packed into the dessert party (which was also only offered on weekends). This year it's offered pretty much every night, so it was much more flexible to pick and choose your dates, so although there were a lot of people, there were plenty of tables to choose from and lots of room to move around especially if you got there early. Since there was no stage show you didn't need to get a table right at the front. So it's actually better to get a table further back to get a full view of the fireworks.

Plenty of tables to choose from.

Lots of people but definitely room to move around, over last year's elbow to elbow crowds.

I did notice the change in decor from last year. (See last year's fireworks post here). Last year we had the turquoise blue table clothes which I'm pretty sure was leftover form the Frozen Fireworks dessert party they had in 2014 (and I was there with Chunkysis so I know!). This year they were a deep burgundy red. I also found the decor lacking in "Star Wars" theme- I mean, where was the cool carbonite Han Solo table? Even though they did re-use a lot of the setups, there didn't seem to be a lot of Star Wars figures, or things that would really make it pop. I counted two Stormtrooper figures on one of the dessert tables...and that was about it. I thought the midnight buffet at Star Wars Day at Sea was better in terms of decor (see that post here). Maybe the prop/decor guy was off tonight. In any case, didn't really make a difference to us, since you're really there for the desserts, but I thought they just didn't make much of an effort tonight.

See those two stormtroopers on the drinks table? That was all the decor we got!

OK! Now on to the desserts! Here's the menu again:

As soon as you walked in we first saw a made-to-order station, which was a Flash Frozen Nutella Truffle. Nutella mousse is basically scooped and dropped in some liquid nitrogen which froze the concoction to little ice cream balls. This was not there last year so we were excited to try it.

They were really good, but who doesn't like Nutella? However, they melted really quickly. You could have raspberry (light side) or chocolate (dark side) sauces with it and we opted for raspberry for a nice contrast. I took a bite and really liked it but by the time we got to our table, the mousse had melted and it was just runny. So I suggest eating this as soon as you receive it.

The next large format dessert, also new for this year, was a:

All good things like M&Ms and chocolate chips in a huge and I mean huge pan of bread pudding. Think of those paella pans they use in spanish restaurants...this was just as big if not bigger! There were also some condiments you could use for toppings: vanilla bean sauce, fruit, sprinkles, ice cream, whipped cream, etc.

I really enjoyed this. It was delicious and i liked that it was warm. My sister who loves bread puddings would have loved this and I wished she was here to try this. I sent her a picture of it through and she sent back an angry jealous face. I would too.

Here are the many trays of colorful desserts:

The blue milk panna cotta makes a comeback!

Mini BB-8 Cupcakes...these were soo cute!

Darth Maul Pastry Eclairs

Vader cupcakes

Yoda pistachio and morello cherry bites:

I especially liked how they had a savory table this year, so it wasn't just all sugary desserts. They had cheese, olives, fruit, savory crackers and biscuits.

These aren't just any canapes...they are Cheddar and Green Olive Sabers!

These C-3PO crackers were in Rebel Hangar last year as part of the cheese platter, but they were better than I remember...last year they were a bit stale but this year they seem to be nice and flaky with lots of cheese flavor! Maybe they tweaked the recipe or just gave us fresher crackers? Either way, they were good!

Here we have our ode to The Force Awakens with a Smoked Sea Salt "Quater Ration" biscuit. These were quite yummy!

There were also little toasts with some pesto spread on them, but they weren't that great. I pretty much made a dinner out of the crackers, cheese, fruit and and biscuits! I'm glad I didn't have a full meal before. Then I had all the dessert I wanted!

We tried one of each alcoholic drink. They weren't particularly strong, but it was really up to the bartender who added the alcohol to the drink.

The fruity drinks were mostly flavored sugar water with some alcohol. They weren't bad but in essence it didn't help to balance the sweetness of all the desserts. I think they should start offering some beer or wine, even a sangria. I think that would go better. My favorite was the coffee with Bailey's because you can't go wrong with an Irish coffee after dinner! It got cooler at night so it was nice to have a warm drink!

In addition to all the plated desserts, you could also get any frozen dessert they sold at the park, including Mickey bars, frozen bananas, and this little Frozen treat...

After an hour of guzzling drinks and feasting on treats, the fireworks started!

Let me tell you...I really really LOVED the fireworks. I don't know how it is possible but I thought they were better than last years. They blew me away and I loved them more than anything I saw on this trip. The timing of the fireworks was perfectly in sync to the music. They added Rey's theme from The Force Awakens. And the fireworks are BIG and WIDE, so it was very impressive. I could barely get the whole shot in my camera!

Here's a little video of the beginning of the fireworks:

My camera just doesn't do it justice because the it was too wide that it barely fit in my camera! I'd have to get a better vantage point from somewhere else (which we did a few days later!).

When the fireworks were over, they still let us hang out at the dessert party - you could keep eating and drinking if you wanted to, but we were full. I did actually take some stuff to go. I got some cheese skewers and biscuits and hid them in the body of BB-8. Yes, he does come in handy, that little droid!

Oh and you do get a little souvenir as a parting gift:

Which really makes the 69 bucks or so price tag kinda worth it. I think Chewie's face is a little scary though. My nieces are scared of the cup when they see it!

We headed out of Hollywood Studios really happy at what an awesome night (and day!) we had!

When we got back to the Poly, we realized Wishes was about to start so we walked over to the water area to where those overwater bungalows are, and we caught the fireworks from there! They were really pretty especially over those magnificent bungalows which I'll probably never get to stay in, but I can dream right?

We headed back to our room ready for the next day! We had such an amazing time at DHS that we decided to head back there again! So we're in for more Star Wars Launch Bay meet n greets, but first, a hearty breakfast at 'Ohana! And then, the most decadent dinner at...Victoria and Alberts (crosses one off the bucket list)...coming soon!

​

 

[chunkymonkey]

I just got caught up, great report so far! Can't wait for more!

Thank you for reading!!

Really enjoying your trip report and can't wait to read more!

Thank you for reading!!

I often wonder the same thing myself. I can usually do enough silly things in photos that I don't need photo pass prodding

I know...makes for good laughs though, LOL!

Love, love, love this. Especially the colors. Do you know if they make them in smaller sizes?

They did have a flatter crossbody bag which I was very close to getting!

So happy you finally found it. Can't believe they don't have them more prevalent around the park.

Apparently he's been really popular. He was sold out on the cruise and hard to find at WDW!

Ugh, clearly the only thing these two salads share is the same name.

Yup, disappointing. Just not the same!

Can't wait to see what you thought about it. Came so close to trying it last month, but ultimately didn't want to may so much since I knew my daughter would have next to nothing. Loved the fireworks though

Just posted about it! It was a lot of fun!

Loving your report! Read the whole thing this weekend! I'm dying to find out what you thought about the dessert party!!!

Thank you for reading!! I just posted about the dessert party. In a nutshell, we thought it was great!

 

[ArielSRL]

I absolutely cannot wait to see the Star Wars fireworks!!

I wish we were doing the dessert party. Oh well. Hopefully next June....

Great update!

 

[KathyM2]

Wow those desserts looked amazing! And what a fun night!! How perfectly it all worked out so you could see Wishes too when you got back...I can't think of a better way to spend a night!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I absolutely cannot wait to see the Star Wars fireworks!!

I wish we were doing the dessert party. Oh well. Hopefully next June....

Great update!

Thank you!! you will love the fireworks...and I think you will be getting new fireworks, if I'm not mistaken. Dying to see those as I heard there will be lasers and light projections and all cool-sounding stuff. I'm jealous!
I don't' think the dessert party is a must-do though - but it's fun if you like your sweets!

Wow those desserts looked amazing! And what a fun night!! How perfectly it all worked out so you could see Wishes too when you got back...I can't think of a better way to spend a night!

It was a really great night! I'm happy we got to see 2 sets of fireworks!

 

[mindylee847]

I'm so excited to go to the Star Wars Dessert Party! Thank you for your post! I'm going next Saturday and I am so pumped now. I love themed food/drinks and my husband is literally freaking out about this fireworks show. We saw a live stream of it a few months ago, we didn't think we'd be able to see it but it was extended! I can't wait.

 

[LindseyJo22]

Love the dessert party - it's kind of lame that there isn't a place to sit though. That's the thing that makes me not really as excited about this or the Illuminations party. The food looks great (and I love the savory options), but I just can't imagine standing for so long after a park day!

Looks like you guys made the most of it though That bread pudding looks amazing!! I am really hoping we are able to see the fireworks this trip, but it's going to be close because we already decided we have to see Fantasmic as well, and we've only got one night at HS. So here's hoping we make it!

Can't wait to read more as always

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm so excited to go to the Star Wars Dessert Party! Thank you for your post! I'm going next Saturday and I am so pumped now. I love themed food/drinks and my husband is literally freaking out about this fireworks show. We saw a live stream of it a few months ago, we didn't think we'd be able to see it but it was extended! I can't wait.

That is so awesome! Have a great time! I'm gonna follow along on your PTR/TR too! The fireworks are fantastic...there really is nothing like it especially with that iconic soundtrack...literally goosebumps on your skin good.
I hope you have a great time!!

Love the dessert party - it's kind of lame that there isn't a place to sit though. That's the thing that makes me not really as excited about this or the Illuminations party. The food looks great (and I love the savory options), but I just can't imagine standing for so long after a park day!

Yeah, that's the thing with the later fireworks...you have to go to the dessert party early to secure a table in a good spot, so you're standing there for up to 2 hours. It's actually nice the fireworks were early in March so we didn't wait to long, and didn't overeat either. The weather was really nice too which helped. I remember in 2014 during the Frozen fireworks it couldn't have happened on a hotter night. I was dripping sweat and ate too many ice pops to keep cool.

Looks like you guys made the most of it though That bread pudding looks amazing!! I am really hoping we are able to see the fireworks this trip, but it's going to be close because we already decided we have to see Fantasmic as well, and we've only got one night at HS. So here's hoping we make it!

Can't wait to read more as always

You can make it! If you watch the earlier show of Fantasmic and depending on when the fireworks start, you should have at least a 15 minute buffer. We did that on one night, and it was great! Loved being able to watch Fantasmic and then hop right out to watch the Star Wars fireworks (again). BTW, the best view of the fireworks is in front of the 50's prime time diner. Gorgeous views of the entire fireworks...although the music was a little dampened that far away. You will be able to get great pictures of the fireworks from that spot. Also if you stand facing the chinese theater at the front of the park but a bit further back from where the dessert party is, it will be an awesome view, but it will be really crowded. Oh and beware that stop and go sign in front of the Starbucks. It does not power off during the fireworks so every few minutes or so you'll hear a ringing. Kinda annoying!

 

[kadrachb]

That dessert party looks awesome! I wish we would have booked it now, .

And to see two fireworks shows in one night? A+.

 

[Flossbolna]

I am really excited to see the new fireworks on my next trip! In 2013 they had that "Limited Time Magic" campaign and we lucked out that we were in WDW when they had a special fireworks show for May 4th. Those were fantastic fireworks and I was so sad that DHS does not get fireworks on a regular basis. Very happy that this has changed now! And I will be able to see the fireworks now without a stupid hat blocking the view.

The food selection looks really good, but what a shame that the drink selection was so bad. If those were better, I could be nearly tempted to try this dessert party... Normally I am far too cheap to pay that much money to see the fireworks. But here the location looks very good and you can actually make the dessert party dinner between the savory and sweet snacks...

 

[dmlovullo]

When we got back to the Poly, we realized Wishes was about to start so we walked over to the water area to where those overwater bungalows are, and we caught the fireworks from there!

We made sure we were able to view Wishes from the Poly beach one night! Such a great experience! We also were in Tokelau on the 2nd floor! Maybe we had the same room! LOL!

Let me tell you...I really really LOVED the fireworks. I don't know how it is possible but I thought they were better than last years. They blew me away and I loved them more than anything I saw on this trip. The timing of the fireworks was perfectly in sync to the music.

We were in awe of these fireworks! I wanted to film some, but from the time they started we were not able to take our eyes off of them! And the finale! WOW! Glad you enjoyed the dessert party! Looks like something we could get into...sweets...adult beverages...

 

[bcwife76]

Oh my gosh I think I gained 10 pounds just looking at all those dessert photos!! I wouldn't even know where to begin lol

Gorgeous fireworks!!! And to see two showings in one night

 

[mzpoirot]

You answered some of my questions about whether or not to do the HS dessert party.....it stinks that there are no chairs! I'm excited to read your Victoria and Alberts review. I just booked all my dining this morning and snagged lunch with an imagineer - have you ever done that?