Reservations NOW AVAILABLE for Star Wars Land Experiences at Disney World

Walt Disney World has opened Advance Dining Reservations and other booking opportunities for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios. At present, guests can book Oga’s Cantina, Savi’s Workshop for Handbuilt Lightsabers, and Droid Depot. In this post, we’ll cover what you need to know and offer some recommendations. (Last updated August 8, 2019.)

August 8, 2019 Update: Many dates sold out quickly for all three experiences when reservations went live yesterday. However, we’ve noticed that a new wave of available times has been released today, and we’d expect this to continue to occur. If you can’t find what you want, check back each morning. Failing that, look for cancelled reservations the day before you wish to visit, as many people will cancel just before the deadline.

Finally, many of you reported issues getting DisneyWorld.com or My Disney Experience to work. This always happens on high-traffic days (e.g. promotion releases, ride FastPass+ debut, etc.) and our #1 solution is always to use private browsing or incognito mode on your desktop to access DisneyWorld.com. This won’t always resolve your problem, but often it will–it’s at least worth a shot…

The release of reservations for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge experiences should come as a huge relief for anyone who is a Walt Disney World planner. There have been a lot of complaints about Walt Disney World’s lack of reservation slots for on-site hotels guests, or even a priority boarding pass system like Disneyland introduced (but to my knowledge has only used a couple of times).

While these Advance Dining & Experience Reservations (so…ADXRs?) are not akin to a boarding pass system, their availability should make it significantly easier to devise a Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge touring plan. Moreover, they ensure that you will not have to rope drop Disney’s Hollywood Studios during multiple mornings of Extra, Extra Magic Hours to get everything done. In fact, thanks to these reservations, most guests will now be able to “complete” Star Wars Land in 4 hours or so…

Before booking ADXRs for these Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge experiences, we’d suggest reading our reviews of each–as we’ve done all three already. None of these things are inexpensive, and even though you might be tempted to do them all if there’s availability, we’d encourage you to pick two (at most).

Here are our reviews:

• Read our full Oga’s Cantina Review to see drink and interior photos, and more!
• Read our full Savi’s Workshop for Handbuilt Lightsabers Review to find out whether this is worth the money
• Read our full Droid Depot Build-A-Droid Review to determine whether it’s worth the money

Without question, you want to make an ADR for Oga’s Cantina. Even if you don’t or won’t drink, it’s worth it to see the inside, and this could be the only way to do that. Nothing says you can’t make an ADR, check-in, walk inside and wander around, and then leave without ordering.

Our second ADXR recommendation would be Savi’s Workshop for Handbuilt Lightsabers. As you can read in our review above (stop before the spoilers), we absolutely loved this experience. The price is very steep, but it’s incredible. If you’re on the fence right now, we’d recommend making the reservation and deciding later. So long as you cancel at least one day in advance, there’s no penalty. If you don’t make a reservation ASAP, you’re unlikely to get one.

A lot of other people loved Droid Depot, but it’s our lowest priority ADXR of the three. Personally, I’d put the money towards Savi’s Workshop instead (or the awesome DJ R3X for sale in the same shop). You can still peak inside Droid Depot from the other half of the gift shop if you want to see what it’s like. (This is also the experience that’s least likely to run out of reservations.)

Here are the links for making Advance Dining & Experience Reservations in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge:

• Savi’s Workshop for Handbuilt Lightsabers Reservations via DisneyWorld.com
• Oga’s Cantina Reservations via DisneyWorld.com
• Droid Depot Reservations via DisneyWorld.com

Reservations are now available for dates beginning August 29, 2019 and are highly recommended (but not required). Walk-ups for all three experiences will be accepted if there’s availability. Walt Disney World indicates that reservations are available 180 days in advance. (In other words, exactly like ADRs–hence our ADXR moniker.)

For Oga’s Cantina, ADRs are available from opening day through February 3, 2020. (To start with–obviously the latter date will continue to expand.) You are limited to 2 drinks per person, the experience is mostly standing room only with no guarantees as to seating, and you’re limited to 45 minutes inside Oga’s Cantina.

For all three experiences, your credit card is used to guarantee the reservation. It will only be charged in the event that your party does not arrive as scheduled. To keep from being charged, cancel one day prior to your reservation. In the event that you no-show or fail to cancel at Oga’s Cantina, you’re charged $10 per person.

No shows at Savi’s Workshop or Droid Depot will incur the full charge of the experience: $200 charge for Savi’s Workshop and $100 for Droid Depot. Note that for Savi’s Workshop you need to arrive 15 minutes in advance, whereas for Droid Depot you will need to arrive 60 minutes in advance per DisneyWorld.com. (That arrival time for Droid Depot can’t be right!)

One interesting thing we noted in the Droid Depot terms and conditions is that “you may use or play with your droid only in the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge land.” (Obviously, you’re also allowed to use or play with it at home…or so we think!) This is a change from the official Disneyland rules, which did not allow playing with droids in Star Wars Land.

That rule along with the prohibitions on costumes and playing with lightsabers in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge have not been enforced at Disneyland (at least, from what we’ve observed), and the Star Wars Land experience is all the better for it.

Droid melees in the courtyard outside Droid Depot are fun and hilarious to watch, and lightsaber battles in the PhotoPass area in front of Millennium Falcon are likewise really amusing. It’s nice to see Walt Disney World allowing this, as we felt guests getting into the fun of the Star Wars experience really added a lot to the land.

In terms of strategy for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, these reservations make things easier. The only things that will now require waiting in line are Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and, depending upon crowds, the various shops.

We’d recommend making your Advance Dining & Experience Reservations for the middle of the day, if at all possible. As of right now, our tentative touring plan for Disney’s Hollywood Studios is either rope dropping Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and doing Smugglers Run then exploring the land and shops followed by using FastPass+ at other attractions, or saving Star Wars Land until the end of the day.

Right now, we’re on the fence about whether to recommend Galaxy’s Edge right away or zigging while others zag, and enjoying what should be a virtually empty (rest of) Disney’s Hollywood Studios for that first hour or so. At Disneyland, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run wait times are peaking in the morning, so we’re inclined to go with the counter-intuitive strategy, but haven’t decided on that for sure. Either way, we will have an actual, complete 1-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Itinerary posted here before August 29, 2019.

If you’re planning on visiting the new land, you’ll also want to read our Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Guide. This covers a range of topics from basics about the land and its location, to strategically choosing a hotel for your stay, recommended strategy for the land, and how to beat the crowds. It’s a good primer for this huge addition. As for planning the rest of your trip, we have a thorough Walt Disney World Planning Guide.

YOUR THOUGHTS

Were you able to book ADXRs for anything in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World? Which one of these experiences is your top priority for Star Wars Land? If you have any questions, please read the stories of others and try to troubleshoot on your own before asking! Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!