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Disneyland has been hosting a series of events called Disneyland After Dark. Each event is a hard-ticketed event with a unique theme. The series kicked off with Throwback Nite in January with a theme centred around the early years of Disneyland in the 1950s and 1960s. The second event in the Disneyland After Dark series was Star Wars Nite on May 3rd. This event proved to be so popular that a second night was added for a week later. The event costed $99 per person and lasted from Park closing at 9 pm till 1 am. Guests would be allowed into Disneyland as early as 6 pm that evening.
Upon entering the Park, all Star Wars Nite guests were given a lanyard, a wrist band, and a specialty map. The map included where the Character Greetings and Photo Locations were as well as the Live Entertainment, Special Dining Offerings, and May the Fourth Merchandise locations. The map also included which attractions would be open during the event and basically the entire Park was open minus Mickey’s Toontown. At the end of the event, everyone was also given a Solo: A Star Wars Story movie poster.
The Character Greetings were probably the most popular part of the event. The different Characters were:
- Ewoks
- Chewbacca
- Boba Fett
- Chopper
- Sabine
- BB-8
- Ezra
- Ahsoka
- Darth Maul
- Darth Vader
- Kylo Ren
- Rey
- Jawas
- Seventh Sister
- C-3PO
- R2-D2
Some of the Photo Locations included:
- Hoth
- Trash Compactor
- Sarlacc Pit
- Jakku
- Speeder Bikes
There was plenty of Live Entertainment throughout the event. My favourite was the Star Wars: Celebrate the Nite Fireworks. They were not nearly as grand as the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios but I loved the nostalgia of having just fireworks set to a great score. Other entertainment included:
- March of the First Order
- Lightsaber Masters
- Inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Panel
- Galactic Dance Party
- Droidbuilders Robotic Showcase
Some of the Special Dining Offerings (though themed mainly in name only) included:
- Rebel Alliance Grilled Cheese
- Imperial Red Pepper Tomato Soup
- Darth by Chocolate
- Galactic Princess Sundae
- Scum and Villainy Dog
- Tractor Beam French Toast Sticks
- Chewbacca Cheesecake
- This is the Burger You are Looking For
One of the main draws of the event was the return of Hyperspace Mountain! I loooove Hyperspace Mountain! I love how much it feels like you are actually flying through a galactic battle in Star Wars; and I think the John Williams score really tops it off. Unfortunately, Hyperspace Mountain kept breaking down for the majority of the evening. Huge bummer. But, we were able to ride it at the very end of the night and it was worth the wait.
There were some pretty major cons throughout the event. The biggest issue was that we could only pick a few things that we really wanted to do because anything Star Wars related had a major line. The Disneyland After Dark events have the pretense of having the Park to yourself and this was true in the sense that there were no crowds throughout the paths and the majority of the attractions had little to no line up. But anything Star Wars related, which was the whole point of the event, had major lines. It was disappointing to only be able to meet a few characters and get a few photos taken in the special Photo Locations. I think the fact that Hyperspace Mountain was not running the majority of the time was a factor to the long lines everywhere else. Another con was that not everything opened at 9 pm. This made for a lot of crisscrossing the Park during the first hour to figure out what was actually opened and what wasn’t. The map was also quite confusing. It listed which Land a character could be found in, but beyond that the Character Greetings and Photo Locations were not labelled. This again led to a lot of crisscrossing.
Overall, Star Wars Nite was a great event. I think my favourite part was just hanging out at Disneyland with a bunch of other huge Star Wars fans. Adults could dress up for the event and it was amazing to see how much effort some people put into their costumes. Photopass was included for the event so it was a bonus to have some really great photos taken to remember the night. I am definitely glad I went and had a great time. The Disneyland After Dark events are a fantastic experience but something that I would only do once for the cost.
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