Star Wars Nite at Disneyland is a popular nighttime event held only select nights in April and May. Since a recent trip coincided with an event night, I finally had a chance to check out the famed event. In this post I’ll review my experience, including what’s offered, what worked for me, and why I think this event works for some fans even if it wasn’t perfect for me. Read on to see how my time at Star Wars Nite went!
Star Wars Nite Basics
Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Nite is a ticketed event held on select nights at Disneyland. It is part of the “Disneyland After Dark” series of events, which also includes Sweethearts’ Nite, Disney Channel Nite, and Pride Nite.
In 2024, there are eight Star Wars Nite events between April 16 through May 9, 2024, with tickets starting at $159 per guest. I paid $169 for my ticket to the April 25 event. Tickets are available here.
Star Wars Nite is held from 9PM to 1AM, with event guests allowed in beginning at 6PM. Entering the park, you’ll receive a wristband, lanyard, and event guide. Guests who are already in the park on a day ticket or Magic Key annual pass can check in at the event space behind Star Traders starting earlier in the afternoon, but no merchandise will be available at that spot until 6PM. The park closes to day guests at 8PM.
I am not a Hardcore Star Wars Fan
I’m going to go through and talk about what this event offers, along with my opinion of the various offerings, but first I must confess that I count myself among casual, but not “hardcore”, Star Wars fans.
I’ve seen the first six films all several times, and I’ve watched Episode IV specifically probably a dozen or so times. But I’ve only seen the sequel trilogy and other feature films once or twice. I stuck with The Mandalorian through two seasons and a spinoff (The Book of Boba Fett), but I haven’t made it more than a few episodes into other shows.
Besides photo ops and character greetings, which I’ll discuss more below, I think what makes this an event worth going to for many fans is that you get to be among other hardcore fans. Similar to Comic Con, there are tons of people in costume geeking out about the same things you are.
Unlike, say, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party where I’ve always felt pretty comfortable being in street clothes, I felt a little out of place not being in costume at Star Wars Nite. But even beyond that, I felt out of place simply by not having as deep an appreciation for what was going on as the more dedicated fans did. One of the photo ops was with a “Bo-Katan Throne”, and I didn’t even know who the frack that was off the top of my head.
Nonetheless, you’ll see I found a good amount to enjoy during the event. Moreover, I think it’s easy to see this event offers something special for people who are really big fans of the franchise.
Star Wars Nite Offerings
With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s go through the different things the event offers, along with my thoughts on each.
Rides
Most of the rides at Disneyland are open during Star Wars Nite. If you want to get a sense of wait times, a good place to go would be Thrill Data. Here’s the data from the night I visited. Some notes…
Rise of the Resistance averaged over 30 minutes and closed around 10PM. This is an odd choice for the most popular of the Star Wars attractions, but I’ve heard the ongoing maintenances of the ride simply requires more time than they’d have if they let people queue all the way until 1AM. Note that the ride also wasn’t open from 7PM to 8PM, presumably to allow the queue of day guests to be emptied before the event.
Hyperspace Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, and Big Thunder Mountain maintained the other longest waits. Besides Rise of the Resistance, it was three rides that are daytime stars as well that led the wait time board. You’d expect to wait 20-40 minutes for these during the event.
Rides are probably not the best use of your time. This is less an observation and more a conclusion of my own, but it’s probably not going to make sense to spend time on rides at an event like this. For starters, there is enough to fill most of the event time. I think setting aside an hour for Rise of the Resistance is a fine idea if you’ve never ridden it. If you’re in the area when there’s a short wait for Star Tours, Hyperspace Mountain, or Smugglers Run, at least those are thematic. (Smugglers Run also has a single rider line, allowing you to minimize the amount of time it’ll take from your event.)
But with day tickets for Disneyland ranging from $100 to $200, I think a full day at the park offers better value. You can find plenty of days when the park is open until midnight, and crowds very rarely linger that late.
Also keep in mind that a “5 minute wait” does not mean the experience will only cost you five minutes. With no one else in line, Rise of the Resistance can still take 20 minutes. If you have to walk a long way to get to a ride, that takes time, too.
Finally, neither Disneyland’s Genie+ service nor Individual Lightning Lanes are available during the event.
Exclusive Merchandise + Food & Beverage
Event merchandise is available in the check-in space behind Star Traders, in Emporium, and, after 9PM, in the market at Galaxy’s Edge. Here’s a look at what was available when I visited:
I wasn’t particularly impressed. I thought the May the 4th tshirt was awesome, but I’d only wear it once a year. The back of the hoodie was pretty cool, too, but I thought the event could have used another one or two pieces.
This line took 22 minutes to get through:
Cast Members told me the merchandise went on sale when event guests could enter the park at 6PM. At both the Star Traders and Emporium locations, you needed to request the specific item and size from a Cast Member. At Galaxy’s Edge, the stock was actually browsable.
There is a ton of event-exclusive food and beverage available. I recommend planning to get food early, as I’ve heard some items do run out, and I recommend using mobile order whenever possible. I enjoyed the Shili Fruit Blend and Sweet Grains from Red Rose Tavern:
Photo Ops and Character Greetings
Besides the fan-forward ambiance, I think the highlight of the event was the collection of unique photo ops and character “encounters.” Unfortunately, I didn’t do any of these, which is partly why this post is a review of my experience, not a “guide” to the whole event.
There are a total of three greetings and nine photo ops that have PhotoPass photographers (PhotoPass for the event is included with your ticket). One photo op (Han Solo in Carbonite) doesn’t have a PhotoPass photographer.
The remaining nine character encounters don’t have PhotoPass photographers because they are either roaming (in Galaxy’s Edge) or staged (i.e. not individualized) encounters. For example, here’s Darth Maul, Darth Vader, and Stormtroopers on a stage in Tormorrowland.
Lightsaber Meet-Up With Rey
As someone with no interest in meeting characters or taking photos, this was the highlight of the night for me. I arrived for the 9PM show at about 8:55 but Cast Members were directing guests away from the Millennium Falcon, explaining that the show was full.
I wound up back in Galaxy’s Edge at 10:45 for the 11PM show, which I don’t believe filled up (if it did it was right at 11PM). Despite being billed as a “meet-up with Rey”, it’s really a “meet-up” for the guests with a show starring Rey. The show itself is a pretty simple Resistance vs. First Order scene, but it ends with everyone activating their lightsabers which is pretty fun to watch:
Galactic DJ Party Zone + Choose Your Path
The hub of the park was transformed into a “dance party” with a DJ. The music wasn’t Star Wars themed, but it kept the hub an fun place to walk through.
Choose Your Path is an “interactive” bit of entertainment that occurs four times throughout the night. You’ll see QR codes posted around the park asking you to “show your allegiance” to either the light side or the dark side of the force. Scan the code to vote for your team, and at the scheduled time the DJ in the hub will announce who has won that round, transforming the front of the park to that side’s color scheme for a few moments.
Lightsaber Instructional
When the first meetup with Rey was full, I figured I’d head to this other thing that also had “lightsaber” in the title. Suffice to say it was not at all a substitute. This is basically a short class on how to stand with and swing your lightsaber. They had lightsabers on hand for guests to use if they bring one.
I’d say this was a particularly good activity for kids (though the vast majority of participants were still adults, to be clear). The presenters had an energy that felt to me like it would fit right along the old Jedi Training at Hollywood Studios. Many (not all!) adults might find their time better spent getting photos or meeting characters, though.
March of the First Order
March of the First Order is reminiscent of the show of the same name that used to occur at Hollywood Studios throughout the day. Captain Phasma and her team of Stormtroopers appear on the balcony of the Star Wars Launch Bay and explain that they don’t like the Resistance.
Then they go on a short march around Tomorrowland, eventually finding a Resistance spy. This happened away from where I was, near the Launch Bay. After that, they walked back over to the Launch Bay and made some aggressive displays of force in front of the crowd there before heading back inside.
I would have liked a little more out of this show. It wasn’t worth grabbing a spot early—the views of the balcony were the same pretty much anywhere. It’s worth planning to be in Tomorrowland for the start of the show, but I wouldn’t stress about arriving early.
Fans of the Force Costume Cavalcade
The costume cavalcade occurs twice, at 10:25 and 11:25. It’s a chance for everyone to gather together at Town Square and march down Main Street to the hub in their costumes. They end with a group photo in front of the castle.
I thought this was fun to watch and it seemed like the sort of thing hardcore fans would appreciate participating in, which is why I was a bit puzzled to see Disney recommend arriving at Town Square 30 minutes before showtime in the app.
This article from Disney Food Blog describes being “invited” and “chosen” for the parade, but this was not at all my experience. It’s literally just a group of people marching down Main Street—the emcee was even telling everyone along Main Street to join in. With the timing right after the 10:10 March of the First Order, you can actually hustle down Main Street and join right in.
In my mind, rather than telling people to arrive 30 minutes early, Disney should be making this a major highlight of the event and tell everyone to go if they can make it in time.
Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes
I have to confess I had no idea what this until I googled it writing this review, and now I’m really bummed to have missed it. Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes is the cantina band from Episode IV!
Fond Farewell
The Fond Farewell is Mickey and Minnie waving at you as you leave. They wear awesome R2-D2 and BB-8 outfits, though.
Conclusions
While I enjoyed my time at Star Wars Nite, it was clear the event wasn’t for me (and that’s alright!). As a casual fan, my heart doesn’t skip a beat seeing C-3PO in Galaxy’s Edge, and I can’t bring myself to wait even a few minutes to wait in line for a picture on Boba Fett’s throne.
But these are unique experiences that set the event apart. If you’re a Star Wars fan looking to have some unique Star Wars fun, this event definitely delivers. And, as I said above, even I found the Lightsaber Meet-Up With Rey to be pretty cool, and the Fans of the Force Costume Cavalcade was fun to watch, even if I wish Disney would nudge even more fans into it.
Some of the other entertainment—March of the First Order, Lightsaber Instructional, Choose Your Path—didn’t quite hit the mark for me, but there’s enough unique stuff to keep you busy, and if you want you could set aside time for a ride or two.
If I was going to draw an arbitrary line between me and the people who this event is for, it would be this—will you wear a costume? If you’ll wear a costume, I think you’re probably the kind of person who will have a good time.