One of the most popular locations within Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is Oga’s Cantina, a bar that serves up galactic drinks in a location that feels like it’s straight out of the films. While reviews about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as a whole feel mostly incomplete before Rise of the Resistance opens, how does Oga’s Cantina measure up as it currently stands?
Let’s start with how we got into Oga’s Cantina in the first place. We tried to get a reservation as soon as we knew we’d be visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but everything was booked well ahead of our stay. As discouraging as that was, we decided to do the walk-up approach shortly after we arrived around 9am.
To our surprise we were able to get right in without any kind of wait. Maybe people don’t want booze before 10:00am?
On to the experience.
The Rules
Before you’re escorted into Oga’s Cantina, you’re told about the various rules you must follow while enjoying your drinks. We’ll list as many as we can remember below:
- Two-drink maximum
- You can only stay for 45 minutes (we’re not sure how closely this is measured)
- You may be seated or standing with other guests.
- You’re asked to stay seated/standing where you’re originally placed.
Summarized, the interior of Oga’s Cantina is very small. Disney is doing everything they can to maximize the capacity while also keeping things running smoothly for the cast members inside.
Atmosphere
There’s no question that the atmosphere of Oga’s Cantina is the star of the show. From the moment you walk through the sliding door and hear the beats played by DJ Rex, you’ll instantly feel like you’ve arrived in a Star Wars destination.
Critics of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge have said that the land doesn’t feel like you’re within the Star Wars universe due to the lack of droids, aliens and music. Oga’s Cantina hits two of those notes well – music and a droid (love you DJ Rex!) – and has some fun bartenders that keep things lively. We particularly enjoyed the glowing bar and felt the shapes of the cups / glasses are perfect fits for the Star Wars universe.
A couple creatures can be spotted above the bar near some large vats of bubbling, gurgling and colorful liquid. All of the drinks are poured from these containers, so drink up!
Drinks and Food
The menu at Oga’s Cantina is mostly comprised of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. That’s important to know as your reservation may say it’s for lunch or dinner, giving off the impression that full meals are served. This is very much a bar or watering hole.
You’ll notice as soon as you read the menu that this is one expensive cantina. Seriously. The pricing exceeds even the usual theme park markups guests are used to paying for food and drinks.
We ordered the Mustafarian Lava Roll, the Fuzzy Tauntaun and the Yub Nub (without the collector’s cup). The total came to almost $50 when factoring in tax and tip. That’s kind of insane.
The Mustafarian Lava Roll is a breakfast item that’s basically just a cinnamon roll. It has some bits of what we assumed was chocolate on top (no real flavor here) and was plated on top of some fruity icing (it wasn’t really icing, but we’re not sure what else to call it). It was OK but we probably wouldn’t order it again.
The Yub Nub is mostly known for coming in a collectible Endor cup. They seem to be having a hard time keeping these in stock, which actually worked out as we weren’t about to pay over $40 for a single drink even with a collectible cup. This is an extremely tart and fruity drink that has seeds mixed into the drink itself. We were divided on our opinions here. Some guests may find this drink to be a bit too citrusy while others may find it refreshing. Either way, the seeds were on the annoying side. We’d probably skip this on a return visit.
The Fuzzy Tauntaun is by far the most memorable item we ordered. Our bartender warned it’s not for human consumption, which was one of our favorite quips heard in the cantina. The drink is very tasty – albeit still extremely sweet – and it comes with what appears to be some unassuming foam on top. That foam could be the highlight of your visit to Oga’s Cantina as it will make your mouth a bit tingly and numb. Nothing too crazy, but enough that you’ll notice and talk about it with anyone who will listen. All things considered we thought this was a tasty drink that’s worth ordering again purely for the novelty.
Overall Thoughts
Would we recommend visiting Oga’s Cantina? That’s a tough call.
The atmosphere and overall vibe is outstanding and might be the best in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge prior to the opening of Rise of the Resistance. It feels like something you’ve seen from the Star Wars films and it’s awesome leaning up against the bar, listening to DJ Rex rocking the house and imagining you’re a bounty hunter stopping in for a quick drink.
But those prices. It’s difficult to justify spending almost $50 on three items that are arguably a bit too sweet and a bit too light on alcohol. Though no one is trying to get plastered here, it may help if the drinks didn’t taste quite so syrupy.
We’re labeling this as a one-time visit because we simply cannot wrap our head around prices that are so high per drink. That being said, we will probably join friends for their first visit to Oga’s Cantina so we can see their reactions to the fun and immersive atmosphere.
