With all of the anticipation and excitement leading up to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening very soon, it’s good to note that there are Star Wars offerings you can experience right NOW at Walt Disney World!
This past Friday, I learned the power of the “park” side, attending the Star Wars Guided Tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This tour gives registered guests VIP access through all of the Star Wars themed experiences at the park.
If you were following the @MiceChat’s Instagram story on Friday, you got a bit of a teaser. Now, here are all the details on my galactic adventure that you can also sign up for!
Before we jump in, I’d like to state that I am a huge Star Wars fan (but I’d like to forget the Last Jedi ever happened)… and an even bigger Disney parks fan. If you fall into either or both of these categories, this Disney Hollywood Studios tour is for you!
As much as I saw and took away from this tour, I’m struggling not to give away *too* much information because I don’t want to spoil your future fun… this is an incredible experience.
When registering for the tour, I had to choose between the First Order (Dark Side) or the Resistance (Light Side) – naturally, I chose the Dark Side. I couldn’t wait to see how this was incorporated into personalizing my experience.
The tour uses audio ear pieces so you can hear your tour guides throughout the day. You also place your lunch order in advance, which makes dining a breeze later. I was already excited knowing the tour started an hour before park opening, which meant empty park photos!
From there, we met our tour guides; Darian and Hannah!
Darian and Hannah were warm, welcoming and excited to get our VIP Star Wars day started! They were very personable the entire day, answering questions, interacting with each of us, and sharing personal stories of what Star Wars meant to them from childhood to today.
With their light sabers in the air, they led us down Hollywood Boulevard.
Our first stop was Star Tours! Along the way, Hannah explained some of the film’s history and how Star Wars came to be at the Disney parks long before the company’s acquisition of Lucasfilm.
Again, since no other guests were in the park yet, we had all of Star Tours to ourselves! Our guides led us through the queue and explained the attraction’s backstory, along with some fun facts and pointing out easy-to-miss details.
Just before getting to actually ride the attraction, we were able to take a backstage look into how the attraction works by standing on the bridge before boarding the “Starspeeder”. The lights were on, so there was a great behind-the-scenes look that every day guests wouldn’t get to see!
Since this was considered backstage, photos weren’t allowed. But after this special moment, the tour could have finished for me and I’d have been in fan-girl heaven. Getting to see behind the curtain intrigues me so much, I absolutely loved seeing how one of my favorite attractions from childhood actually works!
Then… it was time to blast off!
Finishing up our Star Tour, we quickly walked through an empty Tatooine Traders.
Our next stop was the Star Wars: Path of the Jedi presentation, which is currently open seasonally. However, the film is specially screened to all Star Wars Guided Tour travelers!
After a quick refresh on the saga, we were told we had some important meetings scheduled at… where else… Star Wars Launch Bay!
Our tour group was split up into their respective Dark and Light Sides before setting off on the Launch Bay Meet & Greet triathlon! We were advanced to the front of the line for each encounter, and the cast of characters were already aware of which “side” we were upon entering!
After our very important “meetings”, we explored the Launch Bay while Darian and Hannah told us some more fun facts! Then, we watched a short behind-the-scenes documentary at the Launch Bay theater, featuring the new generation of filmmakers crafting the future of Star Wars.
After Launch Bay, our tour guides brought us off to a small reserved area to watch the cast of characters return from a stage show.
Up next, another tour highlight, we had a reserved viewing area for the First Order March near the entrance of the park.
But it gets better; we got to march with them! After Captain Phasma and her troopers passed us, we followed closely behind the imperial officers. Participating in this short parade was truly a VIP moment for us. Plus, great photo ops!
We followed the march all the way up to another tour-exclusive reserved viewing spot for the stage show portion… front row!
At this point, it was creeping up to 11:15am; about halfway through our 7-hour experience. Darian and Hannah brought us to Backlot Express where we would enjoy our pre-ordered lunch in yet another reserved VIP area.
Our tables were split up according to Dark Side and Light Side, where we’d find our reserved seat and a few gifts!
After lunch, Darian and Hannah brought us over to One Man’s Dream for a look at the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge models on loan from Imagineering.
After this quick AC break, we returned to our VIP viewing area to take in the Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away stage show. This is where [almost] all of the Star Wars characters make an appearance several times a day at the park, all set to the famous John Williams music.
After this, our guided portion of the tour ended at the Chinese Theater. Our tour guides found this fitting, as Star Wars premiered on May 25th, 1977, at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood!
I should mention, if you have children ages 4-12, this is where you’d continue on to Jedi Training Academy! (Included in the tour’s schedule, however this is optional)
We said our goodbyes to our wonderful tour guides!
One last thing that is included with this tour; reserved premium viewing for the current nighttime spectaculars taking place at the Chinese Theater – the nightly projection show, Movie Magic, and Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular!
We were able to stand or comfortably sit in this roped-off area directly in front of the theater. Sitting was nice after a 6-7 hour walking-tour! We were so close it was quite difficult to capture the spectacular, as they really surround you with fireworks, show effects and projection. I’m not complaining though, I love the feeling of being in the action!
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I walked away from this guided tour with both Star Wars and Disney parks trivia I didn’t know before, while also knocking a very special backstage moment off my Disney bucket list! I also love meeting the Star Wars characters back-to-back with no wait with many, many stormtrooper encounters that were not documented here.
Between the front-of-the-line access, reserved viewing areas for all of the shows, lunch, bottled waters and snacks, tour gifts, lesser-known history and fun facts, I feel like this tour is very-well worth the price to any Star Wars fan. Especially the die-hard ones that want to feel like a real VIP.
For more information on the Star Wars Guided Tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, click here!
Disney currently has a discount-promotion for DVC, WDW Annual Passholders and Disney VISA Cardholders towards the regular tour price.
Disclosure: My tickets were provided by Disney as part of a media opportunity. However, everything covered in this article is currently included for park guests who register for the Star Wars Guided Tour.
BONUS CONTENT:
During the afternoon break between the tour and nighttime shows, I headed over to the future entrance of Galaxy’s Edge and hopped onto Slinky Dog Dash for a great view of the land’s construction progress!
Thanks again for following along on my adventure!
What’s your plan for visiting Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge? Will you rush to Disneyland, wait for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or perhaps delay for crowds to die down? I’m going to see it all the moment they let me in.
Would you or a family member enjoy this Star Wars Guided Tour?
Let’s hear from you in the comments below . . .