We Tasted the Star Wars Foodie Fun at Disneyland's Season of the Force

Season of the Force has begun at the Disneyland Resort and Star Wars fans are in for some fantastical foodie fun.

io9 recently attended the media experiences on opening day. We also ran around the park for our own little food crawl that took us from Docking Bay 7 and Ronto Roasters in Galaxy’s Edge to Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland, trying out the park-wide meal and treat offerings that are new for this year’s seasonal event, which celebrates all things tasty and cool-looking inspired by a galaxy far, far away.

(Some food covered here was provided to io9 by Disney during a press event. The rest we paid for ourselves.)

Galaxy’s Edge

We started with a quick behind-the-scenes look at the Coaxium Sipper and the Tauntaun popcorn bucket in a secret base location (backstage) at the Black Spire Outpost. A Disney Experiences representative demonstrated the locking and popping mechanism of the light-up smuggler’s container of choice, which we thought was a clever way to reference the tanks seen on the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction. The Tauntaun was the best part and we think it will be a major draw for fans this year. We loved seeing the creature that Han Solo improvises into a sleeping bag for Luke as a way to hold popcorn, or an Empire Strikes Back-era action figure.

We also got to preview returning food faves for Star Wars Nite, which will see the Yoda-shaped Dagobah-Bite Beignets and Princess Leia-inspired Galactic Princess Sundae make their way back for the separately ticketed Disneyland After Dark event.

Once we got back into Galaxy’s Edge we began our food crawl, starting with the Fried Chicken Baos from Docking Bay 7. These are definitely some hold-you-over tasty bites before a bigger meal. Its tangy and spice combo is more pleasant than intense. Theming-wise, getting rid of the Star Wars canon name for chicken (“tip yip”) is a bit sad, but apparently immersion with food names was too adventurous for the average park goer. And while the snack buns are delicious, they don’t particularly look like something from Star Wars. But honestly, that might not be such a bad thing; I’d rather have the effort go into creating the tastiest bao bun, rather than one crafted using too much food dye. Docking Bay 7 is also where you’ll be able to purchase drinks that come in detailed containers to satisfy Star Wars aesthetic collectors.

The new food item that really impressed us was the Fried Falumpaset Cheese Skewer, which comes covered in potato pieces with more cheese to dip it in. It was easy to walk around with; you can eat this in the queue for Rise of the Resistance. It’s cheese, it’s balanced, it’s the chosen one. We wish Disney would keep this on the menu and sell that cheese sauce alone too, because I definitely put some of it on my baos and it made me feel as if I was in Cloud City. I would buy this over and over again because it’s lighter on the stomach than the year-round staple Ronto Wrap and less messy too.

Tomorrowland

Over in Tomorrowland by Hyperspace Mountain, you can find more options. This space has often had maybe the most questionable of ideas go through it in the past… like that Dark Side burger with a black bun. This year, the burger tries something new: a gyro meat-inspired offering that highlighted the patty as beef and veggie mixed. If the food in Galaxy’s Edge was Bespin quality, the food at Galactic Grill was Port Borgo pirate bay slop, because that patty tasted unlike anything I could name. If you’d told me it was Tauntaun meat, I’d believe you and the toppings spilled out too easily too even with an oversized bun.

The other option we tried were the Loaded Outpost Fries, which didn’t quite bring Star Wars to mind either. It was a basket of fries and onion rings with a pile of pulled pork on top sprinkled with cheese and other toppings. It’s decent and shareable, but it also could have been added to a menu for literally any IP.

The winner for us at Galactic Grill is decidedly silly, because this spot has slush drinks with mini lightsaber stirrers that light up. I promptly gave it to my child and was delighted to see her with her own blue lightsaber. (I was glad it wasn’t real when she stuck it in her mouth, though.) I did feel the absence of the Darth By Chocolate parfait cake, though, which had grown to be a favorite staple of the season over the years. Take a look below to see the hits and misses of our Star Wars food crawl.