Disney Review: A Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party (Photos + Video)

Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party

By Yulady Rodriguez

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is once again offering fireworks on a nightly basis for the next 3 months, these are linked to the Star Wars Awakens campaign and they are truly spectacular.

As part of this they began offering a dessert party that started on January 5^th 2016. I had the chance to attend the first night of the party.

First of all the Galactic Dessert Party is offered nightly from January 5^th through March 19^th.

January 5 – March 6-    7:00pm – 8:15pm, fireworks are at 8pm.

March 7  – March 12- 7:30pm – 8:45pm, fireworks are at 8:30pm

March 13 – March 19-  8:30pm – 9:45pm, fireworks are at 9:30pm

Cost is $69 for Adults and $39 for children 9 and under.

Check in is across from Min and Bills Dockside Diner, I checked in at 6:30pm and received a plain colored wristband with a detachable tab at the end that is used to retrieve your Chewbacca stein. There were about 15 people in front of us. Around 6:50 pm they let us inside the area.

There are about 35 tables scattered around the area, the goal is that each group and family has their own table but this makes the area a bit crowded, but you are still able to move around. They also have wheelchair accessible tables toward the front of the area. There is no seating available.

They had 2 main tables with desserts and other food offerings toward the left of the set up, to the far left were the adult beverages, non alcoholic drink offerings, a table with Banana Bread Pudding served by a Cast Member and a Nitro Table, also served by a Cast Member.

The desserts included the famous Darth Vader cupcake, BB-8 cupcake, Maul pastry menace éclair, cheese and fruit sabers, quarter rations biscuits, crispy treats as well as an ice cream cart with everyone’s favorites, Mickey bars and ice cream sandwich and frozen bananas. The Nitro Station was a nice touch; the Cast Member would scoop up some chocolate mousse and dip it in liquid nitrogen for a very cool effect.

The adult beverages available are:

The Force: Pomegranate lemonade with Jim Beam Bourbon

First Order Finale: Blood orange lemonade with Coruba coconut rum

Jakku Juicy Cocktail: Green apple lemonade with citrus vodka

Corellian Smugglers Coffee: Coffee with Baileys

Non alcoholic beverages included “Ewok Juice” green apple lemonade, “Padawan Punch” blood orange lemonade, coffee, tea, coke products and water.

All the food was constantly replenished by the Cast Members and was left until after the fireworks were over so you could leave with a nice snack in your hand.

The Chewie Steins were given close to the entrance of the party and you could get them any time you want.

Now to my personal impressions: they set this party up with a lot of tables, I didn’t see anyone in need of one, this is good for eating but it gets a bit hectic to move around; the tables are in close proximity to each other and if you have one toward the right side of the set up it can make for a difficult time going back and forth for desserts and drinks.

And for my first tip: pick a table toward the front and left side of the area. You will be closer to the food and drink offerings and will not have any trees over head to block your view of the fireworks.

The food that was offered was good, actually better than other parties where only sweet things are offered. We enjoyed the biscuits and cheese sabers, along with the famous Vader cupcake. Some misses were the éclairs, they just tasted old and chewy, and the citrus financier. There was never any long lines to get food or drinks.

The Chewbacca Stein is of good size and seems sturdy and well made, you can get this at many quick service restaurants and popcorn carts around the park for about $12 but it’s included with the dessert party and each member of your party gets one.

Now on to the view, without the Sorcerer’s Hat blocking the Chinese Theater the view from this spot is great, unobstructed (as long as you are toward the front) and clear. You can hear the dialogue easily and get a real sense of immersion.

My second tip: If you settled on a table that is far back where the trees are in your line of sight you can move toward the front to get the best view of the fireworks.

As to the question of “Is it worth it?” this is subjective. You can easily spend less money on a couple of desserts and drinks outside the dessert party and find a great spot to view the fireworks. If you are not a fan of techno music this might not be the party for you as the dance party is going on right in front of you until about 5 minutes before the fireworks start.

We found it to be better than other dessert parties we have attended, better food selection, drinks and the view for the fireworks is great, you are close but not that much that you have to crack your neck all the way back. The area is not shoulder to shoulder crowded and it’s easy to leave after the fireworks are done.

Here’s the video I took from our spot, I’m holding the camera at about shoulder height. I hope this helps you in making the decision if this dessert party is right for you and your family. In any case, if you are at Hollywood Studios don’t miss Symphony in the Stars fireworks, it’s one of the best fireworks shows that Disney has on property.