WDW SWGE experience

Walt Disney World
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I thought I’d offer some experience and insight from my time with DD21 in SWGE during the Wine and Dine race weekend

I had booked Ultimate Thrills tour given the nutty and annoying Tier system for DHS, as well as reservations for light saber, droid, and Oga’s after the tour.

Ultimate Thrills tour is great and was great, but it is annoying to have to pay for it to ensure the DHS headliners. But, did it and all good

Then we went off to explore SWGE — which I had done at DLR but first time for DD. Bottom Line: So great! We did the Play Disney app games throughout, rode MFSR, huge fun with DD building her light saber and R2D2. Dishes in Docking Bay are great, seeing Chewie, Rey, Stormtroopers throughout the land so great.

Droid building was SO fun, lightsaber great but for the money Droid building was more fun for us.

But Oga’s was bad. I get its a bar and crowded. Been to many in my many years. I get our reservation would not guarantee a table. I had reserved the very day in August that reservations opened, but i knew/understood it a bar. well, bar-ish.

But as we were inline having checked in we were told we’d be standing at OR near the bar, no bar seats. I protested that we had a reservation and was told that we could wait for actual seats — because the bar does not have bar stools, what? — but there was no guarantee that we would get one and it would be a very long wait.

so we gave in to the pressure, and were escorted to a tiny space at the bar in the area normally used by serving staff - that is, about hipheight, not even normal bar height. No seats or bar stools.

We ordered and the bartender informed us that there was no wine (which I wanted). What!? A bar with no wine?! We ordered from the drink menu and then observed the bartender pouring the supposed mixed drinks from spigots — yes, the expensive cocktails are not actually cocktails but come from a keg through a bar spigot.

Then, my DD needed to visit the bathroom and while she was gone the hostess brought 2 new guests to our space and told me to move over to let them into DD’s space at the bar. When I explained DD was away in the facilities and would shortly be back, the hostess moved over a few people on the bar, pushed people in my direction, closed the space, deposited the other guests having squeezed us out, and left.

When DD returned we agreed this was the negative of fun and left.

So, for what its worth, if you are going to Oga’s expect to be standing in very close and crowded quarters without even bar stools at the bar (there are some seats around the edges of the facility but the numbers don’t favor getting them), industrial spigot-delivered bar drinks, and dismissive CM behavior. I hope others have had better experiences but I’m not going back and have canceled all of my reservations for future trips!

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I am sorry this was your experience. I have been to Oga’s 4 times at this point in Disneyland, and it was always great. Well, twice it was amazing as we got to sit at tables, the other 2 times were pretty darn good as well, though we were standing at a high table once and at the actual bar another time. I knew going in on opening day that the chances of a seat were low, and also that the menu was a bit different and the drinks were premade. I am sorry you didn’t know that before you went. The behavior of the CM who gave away your DD’s spot though, that is terrible! I would have left at that point too. Sorry it wasn’t a great experience for you.

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Hmmm, in that case I think I’ll cancel my reservation. Don’t think my kids would enjoy that.

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We went to Oga’s twice this past week. Our first visit was less than magical but the second time we got a table, meet new people and had a great time. So depending on the age of your kids you may want to keep it. If they are young and not SW fans then canceling could make sense.

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I hate that you had such an awful experience.

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I’m happy to hear that as we chose Droids over sabers.

I’m really sorry your Oga’s experience was so bad though. :frowning:

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So sorry to hear about your experience! This is a good word of caution to those planning their visits.

Oga’s can and should be a unique and must-do experience. But I would offer three pieces of advice based on my experience at Disneyland’s Cantina the other night, and in light of the experience above:

  1. Don’t expect to be seated. Most assignments are at a bar or standing table. Plan Oga’s for a time when you won’t be wanting to get off your feet. For better or worse, Oga’s was not designed as a sit-down experience.
  2. Make sure you use the restroom before you report for your reservation. Before I was seated, they told us that if you move from your spot for whatever reason, they will seat someone where you were. They are trying to manage crowd control at the moment. The Cantina is still very popular at both locations (Perhaps the most popular part of SWGE).
  3. Young kids probably won’t love the Cantina. Unless you are seated (which you can’t count on), they will get cranky from standing and not being able to see what’s going on or reach their drinks. From what I could tell, most of the seating appeared to be given to families with young kids. But there’s no guarantee. The atmosphere is fun for all ages, however.

The drinks are mass produced but they are delicious! You will probably want to try multiple. The DJ is voiced by Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman / navigator of original Star Wars EDIT: Star Tours :man_facepalming:).

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Thanks for the heads up! What time were you there? My reservation (with two young kids) is around 9:30am, so I’m wondering if the breakfast crowding/family-friendliness is any better when it’s not functioning primarily as a bar. We may just grab some coffee in either case, then linger if we get seats, or, if we have to stand, plan on enjoying the surroundings briefly before heading out.

Which also makes me wonder - do they give you to-go cups?

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I’m going solo. Can I wander around, drink in hand, and explore / take photos?

How long did it take to get served? How long to actually get your drinks?

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we were there at 8:30pm, so perhaps morning would be better , although the lines to get in were long all day as far as I could see so I would expect the crowding to be a constant.

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Not long — pouring a drink out of a spigot goes pretty fast :wink: — and i would expect you could walk around, but it is very crowded so expect to jostle and be jostled if you do. and as noted you will lose your space at the bar or table.

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I was there at 9pm so it was definitely more of a night crowd, but there were some kids. I imagine it’s pretty similar the whole day though right now because people just try to go whenever they can get a reservation. That may change if it gets less crowded and people can get more selective.

You can wander the room but your spot will be taken. I didn’t ask about being able to leave with my drink or see anyone else do so, so not sure on that.

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Thanks! This thread will help keep our expectations managed. Hope for the best but plan for the awkward standing :+1:t2:

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I’m a little surprised families would want to do Oga’s. It really does seem like it is meant to be like a bar, not altogether different from the Cantina where Luke meets Han in SW:ANH.

Maybe they will eventually open a table service place that is better suited for families in the future.

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One other thing to note - I would recommend staying at your spot until you’ve paid to make sure that your server doesn’t think you split. After ordering and being served, the bartender came back pretty soon with my check and I paid with most of my drink still left, so you shouldn’t have to wait too long.

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A few interior pics from our evening visit. Not super useful for gauging space, sorry! I did take a video but can’t upload that here. If it’s any use, you can see basically all of the table we were on, and there were a total of eight (nine with the small fellow!) guests assigned to that. Not a lot of shoulder room!

Also, if you buy a drink with a souvenir mug, then they give you your drink in one of said mugs, then a fresh boxed mug for you to take away. Standard mugs/glasses do not appear designed for removal from the premises but perhaps you could ask for one that is?

You may wander around as you see fit, subject to crowding and the CMs giving away your space :roll_eyes:

Oh, one more! That charcuterie-type thing in the photo is not on the menu, but seemed to be the best option for a decent snack. I forget how much it was, sorry!

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Oh yeah, I meant to mention this as well. Getting my boxed mug was one of the last things I was waiting for before I left. I still had some of my drink left by that time, but if you want to wander, you may want to ask for any souvenir mugs at the start.

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Wow! I’m so glad that I made a reservation for just my husband. He will be experiencing Star Wars while we do Black Friday shopping at Disney Springs.

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We were there before 9 am. We didn’t have a reservation so I’m not sure of the exact time. It wasn’t super crowded but all seats were taken. We were assigned a table near the bar. I sat my 2yr old on the table and ordered him a $5 apple juice.

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I got a res for Oga’s simply to be assured of entry to the land. The person who really wants to do Ogas is the friend who’s coming with me, but I got the res so that all 6 of my party can enter (high crowd time). I’m hoping my kids, who range in age from 13 to almost 8, will be able to enjoy it. I think they’d like the robot DJ.

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