Just officially announced today on Allears.net and Chip and Co. guests attending Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL between May 4th, 2014 and June 18th, 2014 can make reservations for 2 different limited time Star Wars character dining experiences. Here are the details:
Star Wars Dine In Galactic Breakfast:
This will be a character breakfast with times available between 8am and 12pm. This experience will include a Darth Vader photo op just after check in and you will receive a digital copy of your picture on a commemorative photopass card. The characters you will see at breakfast are always subject to change but they have been listed as Stormtroopers, Jawa, Greedo, and Boba Fett. If you like the scum and villainy of the universe this breakfast is for you. The movie clips you watch during your meal will be all Star Wars as well which makes for a fun time. The prices for the meal are as follows: Adult $47.99 and Child $29.99.
First of all let me say this the price is steep even for Disney. However, you have to think about the value. To get character time with all these characters would take a HUGE chunk out of your Star Wars Weekends day, or you would have to get there super early! You would be waiting in at lines at least 30 minutes to an hour long or more for each of these characters, and yes I did wait for about 20-30 minutes for the above picture and that was at park open. This gives you the ability to get one on one time with the characters and fun pictures.The digital copy of a picture is awesome considering what photopass charges for one image so having this included is amazing as well. This will for sure be a once in a life time opportunity…unless they decide to do this every year which I honestly think they should. In fact while I am at it I think the Star Wars breakfast at the Sci Fi Dine In theater should be permanent since there are no decent breakfast options available in Hollywood Studios at the current time. We do not know what the menu will consist of but I am predicting Eggs, Bacon or Sausage and Mickey Waffles and of course some other things.
Jedi Mickey’s Star Wars Dine at Hollywood and Vine:
This character meal is usually all Disney Junior characters so hooray for Star Wars taking over! This meal can be done as part of the Fantasmic Dining package or without it. The prices are only slightly different if you include the Fantasmic package. The characters you will meet here are you classic Disney friends but in their Star Wars outfits. These characters tend to have SUPER LONG lines during the day in the parks. You will meet Jedi Mickey, Princess Leia Minnie, Stormtrooper Donald, Darth Goofy and Chip and Dale as Ewoks. There will be a commemorative photo included in this dining experience as well with Chip and Dale as Ewoks. Dinner times for this meal fall between 4:15pm and 8pm to 8:30pm depending on when the park closes. The prices for this meal are $59.99 with Fantasmic for adults and $55.99 without. For kids it is $36.99 with the Fantasmic package and $32.99 without it.
I have never eaten at Hollywood and Vine as I have read many reviews and the food is not rated very highly. I am taking a chance and eating here due to the special dining so once I get a chance to review the food maybe I will change my mind about the restaurant as a whole. The prices are definitely steep but I know this is because of the convenience with the characters. These character lines are the longest and I waited for about 45 min or longer for my picture that you see above. They are amazing characters to meet and they are totally worth the price of dinner. This is going to be a fun experience. I think it would be neat if Hollywood and Vine was a character breakfast with Disney Junior characters and then a Star Wars Character dinner permanently!
I personally think Disney announcing this so late is both good and bad. First here are the good things. Star Wars dining is amazing to have during this time and will bring a lot of people to the parks for these special meals. For Star Wars fans these meals are going to add some special magic to their trip and not just their Star Wars Weekend. I like the fact that the meals are available outside of the weekends that is a great feature. I also like that the picture is included in the meal.I am not sure if they are doing this so that they can get a feel for how good Star Wars character meals will do but if they are I think they will be pleasantly surprised. When I made my reservations today the cast member told me most of her calls all day had been for these 2 dining experiences. I believe they picked 2 good restaurants for these meals. Hollywood and Vine already does character meals so their set up is good for it, the food may not be the best on property but it will be good enough for this. I love that they picked the Sci Fi Dine In for the breakfast. The restaurant is fun as it is but mix in the characters and the Star Wars movie clips and count me sold!
Now for the bad, they announced this so late that many people that are going have already made their dining reservations and plans. This throws a wrench into already made plans and is going to make reservations hard to come by. I am not sure how they did it but many people seem to be able to get reservations over the course of the day from what I am reading on the DISboards so that is good but I guarantee they will sell out. The disney dining line has been tied up and people have been on hold for hours to get these reservations. I am lucky that I got what I wanted. some people that had lunch reservations at Sci Fi have had their reservation cancelled because it crossed over with the new breakfast and those that had dinner reservations for Hollywood and Vine will now have to pay the higher price if they want to keep their reservation. I do feel for those that aren’t Star Wars fans and are having Star Wars forced upon them. Grabbing reservations may be hard if you did not jump on it the first day they were open for booking (March 26th). I have a feeling these reservations are going to go very fast, good luck to everyone trying to get one. If you want a reservation you need to call 407-WDW-DINE.
All in all I think that it is a good thing and a fun new addition to Star Wars Weekends. I will be going to each dining experience twice so I can give good reviews of my experience. Are you going to Star Wars Weekends? Did you get your reservation yet? Share with us on the Jedi News Facebook page and tweet us @JediNewsUK you can also tweet me @icecoldpenguin or email me teresa@jedinews.co.uk with any questions.
Have a magical day!
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