Star Wars Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party: Have You Done It?

[tweedletwin]

Hi everyone!

I have found bits and pieces of information on the boards about this particular dessert party, but I would love to get more opinions on it, before deciding to take the plunge!

A little background: My husband and I are celebrating our 10th Anniversary at WDW, and we are pretty big Star Wars fans. We've been to both Walt Disney World, and Disneyland multiple times, but have yet to ever do a dessert party. This one has totally piqued our interests though. Our trip is in January, so obviously, this is all dependent on whether or not they continue to offer this event.

All that being said, if you've been: what are your thoughts? Anything you loved? Anything you thought could've used improvement? Was it worth the price?

Or, is there another special event you absolutely loved that you would suggest we look into?

Cheers! And may the Force be with you.

 

[SgtTibbs]

The Good:

The flash-frozen Nutella is delicious and I don't even like Nutella.
The viewing section is well located center stage
I love the fireworks show, but I'm an admitted Star Wars junkie.
Time saved not staking out a spot to see the show, priceless.

The Not So Good:
No Seating
Other than the Nutella I was not impressed by the desserts

If you have some time to kill, here is the 'Official' thread about this, currently at over 700 pages.

 

[tweedletwin]

The Good:

If you have some time to kill, here is the 'Official' thread about this, currently at over 700 pages.

LOL! Thank you! I have no clue how I managed to miss a 700 page thread on it! I even did a search!

But I really appreciate your personal opinion as well. I am decent baker, and so I tend to be hard on desserts- when I go out, if I am eating sweets, I want them to be better than I can do (or at least so much of a PITA that I wouldn't bother, LOL).

I'm also painfully short. Shows with projections are almost always lost on me unless I painstakingly plan out my viewing spot. I would love to be able to have an unobstructed view just once!

 

[heidijanesmith]

We tried the Dessert Party last year and really liked it.

DH is a huge Star Wars fan and he does not handle crowds well. I thought this would be a great solution. We are not huge desert eaters, but I thought they were ok. DH loved the frozen Nutella. I liked the savory items and drinks. I like fruity rum drinks, so this was up my alley.

I wish there was seating, a bummer for sure. We did get a good table and the show was really good.

We are going on the Star Wars tour this year and are super excited!

 

[NuJoy]

Husband and I have gone to the dessert party 3 times. I am not a Star Wars fan; but I want a stress-free viewing experience of the night show. The desserts are assorted enough that something will appeal to everyone, I think; and the inclusion of pita bread with dip and the cheese skewers do an excellent job in preventing queasiness from too many sweets. For us though, the main draw of the party itself is the non-judgmental, all-you-care-to-drink adult beverages that one may obtain. Our first two parties were fun; even though the show got rained out in the first one. I think the party is one of the best Disney offers with one caveat, detailed below:

Warning...you pay a premium for this event; but if you are unlucky enough to book your party on the same night they allow the guided tour in 15 minutes before you, you will be told you are "general admission" (CM direct quote) and a special group gets first access. We were first in line for the party; but had to watch swarms of parents with their kids literally take over the main party room. All that was left when we entered were crotch-level tables. We stood next to a mother who spent the evening literally on her knees trying to pacify 2 small crying children in a double stroller. Also, whenever I wanted to go to the bar for a drink, I would have to dodge guides playing light sabers with the kids in the tour group. YMMV.

 

[allaboutthemouse]

Hello,
Have been to this party three times, so obviously I am a fan. Agree with most everything stated above...

Each time I went was with either just my husband, or just one of my kids who are old enough to get their own food. So I would have to think long and hard about bringing the littler ones because as is stated there is no seating, however we did see a few benches that materialized last month kind of along the wall where you enter that had not been there when we went prior. You could totally sit there.

The interaction is awesome with the stormtroopers patrolling around "harrassing" people, and the jawas are really neat too.

LOVE the nutella.

And it is totally worth it if you are a drinker of adult beverages, heavy pours.

You also feel a bit like a rock star when you are being lead into the viewing area.

We do have a lot of chewie steins, like seven, floating around the house, so it would be nice to get a different stein. I mentioned that to the lady that was going around talking to everyone, so we'll see.

You also get your credentials to wear on a lanyard that shows you are in the party, that was new since we've been.

I also appreciate the offering of cheese and grapes, etc. Liked the nutella, darth vader and r2 cupcake the best.

If it's just you and your husband, especially since you are celebrating, I say Go For It!

 

[eastendlights]

Yes, twice. Once when the food was served out in the viewing area-much preferred over the current set up. Both are worth it, IMO but I would give the first version a 10 out of 10 and the current one a 7.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The adult beverages are very heavy pours. The specialty drinks are all pretty sweet, so that's an advance warning on that.

 

[tweedletwin]

Thank you so much for all the replies so far!

We don't have kids, so it sounds like some of the major concerns (like zero seating!) won't be as big of a deal for us!

We enjoy cocktails too. This is definitely sounding like something we would probably really enjoy.

 

[soniam]

Have you checked out the first page of the following thread? There are reviews linked. We loved it and will be doing it for the 2nd time in August.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/o...-party-galactic-nights-launch-bay-jt.3439569/

 

[Schilltastic4]

I'm really really hopeful they will offer this in October!

 

[allaboutthemouse]

Forgot to mention, they do have Mickey bars! They are in the freezer next to the Nutella station, you just have to ask

 

[ArtieRyder]

OK. I think I am the dissenting opinion. I have mixed feelings.

I'm not picky and am pretty easy to please.

I wasn't too impressed with any of the desserts. I have a big sweet tooth and I was looking forward to that part and was a little disappointed.

The drinks were OK. I didn't feel they were too strong. There was a bit of a line at the bar and there is only one bartender.

I was there on may the 4th, so maybe the crowd was bigger than normal. It was crowded and we couldn't sit anywhere.

It was also pretty rushed. You're paying a lot for it, so you want to get your money's worth, but you need to leave the location at 9:10 to get to the fireworks at 9:30, and they start breaking down the bar at 9:10. Other dessert parties take place in the viewing area, I believe, so you have to choose more desserts/drinks or go to the spot.

You're right next to Kylo Ren and Chebacca viewings, so we did both of those while we were there. Both were really great, but not really tied to the party.

The view from the area was great, a little left of center. You were immersed in the show, which was great. The show was one of my best memories from the trip.

You also get a Chebacca mug. Cool. We had four people, so we have four mugs. I wish there was a bit of a selection.


All in all, best way to sum it up is that on our next trip we will go back to the fireworks, but not the party. We'll just get a spot and trade off waiting while other members of the group run for drinks and desserts from the park.

 

[denecarter]

We liked the party, particularly because it included savory offerings.

We were some of the first to hit tge buffet, with a table right beside the buffet station.

My best advice... it is a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time with the different drinks and offerings... enjoy them knowing you're going to have a good view of the show.

 

[MamaRoo]

We did this last May for our 10 year wedding anniversary. I think it may have changed slightly since then. Overall it was a win. It wasn't perfect, but we all found plenty of things that we liked (there were more savory options than was expected which was a nice surprise). DH was very happy with his anniversary surprise so that alone was worth it to me.

 

[GillianP1301]

I did this dessert party last summer with my DS and overall it was a very good experience. I enjoyed the food and drink offerings & having the reserved viewing spot without having to worry about claiming a spot early made it well worth it. My only complaints, and they are minor, is no seating. We were exhausted by that point in the day and having some chairs would've been nice. We ended up on a bench just outside the food area. I also found the time for eating was longer than we needed and we ended up a bit bored in the last 15 minutes or so. Again, with some proper seating, I doubt the time would be an issue because it would end up just being a nice relaxing break. Overall though, very enjoyable and something I would do again.

 

[mckennarose]

We did this last Thursday and LOVED it! For a special occasion or "treat" I feel it's definitely worth it. We did not have a tour group in front of us, or if we did I didn't notice. The longest lines were only 2-4 people ahead of me for the food and drinks and moved quickly.
I'm a shorty too and the view was amazing! I would definitely do it again.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

We did the dessert party in October. My boys are huge Star Wars fans. We really enjoyed the party. The desserts were good. My husband, especially, enjoyed the "non-dessert" offerings. It was fun watching the Storm Troopers walk through, and my boys got the Jawas to trade with them. (They are picky little creatures.) The adult beverages were good, although a few were too sweet for my liking. The reserved area was fine, but people that staked out spots early did have better seats. I thought the projection and fireworks were wonderful. I am really glad that we did it once, I probably would not do it again, however, because there are other "special events" I want to try.

 

[tweedletwin]

Thanks you guys!

I so appreciate everyone who shared their experiences! I think we are going to give it a shot!

 

[newestkg06]

Husband and I have gone to the dessert party 3 times. I am not a Star Wars fan; but I want a stress-free viewing experience of the night show. The desserts are assorted enough that something will appeal to everyone, I think; and the inclusion of pita bread with dip and the cheese skewers do an excellent job in preventing queasiness from too many sweets. For us though, the main draw of the party itself is the non-judgmental, all-you-care-to-drink adult beverages that one may obtain. Our first two parties were fun; even though the show got rained out in the first one. I think the party is one of the best Disney offers with one caveat, detailed below:

Warning...you pay a premium for this event; but if you are unlucky enough to book your party on the same night they allow the guided tour in 15 minutes before you, you will be told you are "general admission" (CM direct quote) and a special group gets first access. We were first in line for the party; but had to watch swarms of parents with their kids literally take over the main party room. All that was left when we entered were crotch-level tables. We stood next to a mother who spent the evening literally on her knees trying to pacify 2 small crying children in a double stroller. Also, whenever I wanted to go to the bar for a drink, I would have to dodge guides playing light sabers with the kids in the tour group. YMMV.

Thank you for this tip. I was planning on doing this next year, and I will definitely look for a night without the tour.