When Disney hastily added the “Rebel Hangar: A Star Wars Lounge Experience!” to the line-up for Star Wars Weekends 2015, it seemed like it would just be a thrown-together dining option to better handle the dinner crowds on the busy weekend days. What they threw-together is actually a surprisingly affordable and fun restaurant with some really spectacular small plates.

The right side of Backlot Express was converted for the affair, including some outdoor seating space.

Outdoor seating is reserved for walk-ups, otherwise referred to at the themed-restaurant as “Rebel Scum”.

The atmosphere inside is great. A 45 minute loop of Star Wars music in a lounge style plays while guests dine among a collection of Star Wars related items.

It is not a character meal, but we did have encounters with Sabine and Ezra from Rebels, the Modal Nodes band, and some other creatures during our time in the Hangar. You can stop them for pictures, but the characters are roaming as if they were visiting the lounge, not like other character meals where they actually visit each table. This won’t even happen if you visit on a non-Star Wars Weekends night.

We’ll need a seperate post just to talk about all of the hidden references in the space.

Here’s a look at the menu:

The Imperial Blue was just perfect for me.

Tatooine Sunset is very sweet, but tasty.

Dagobah Swamp Juice is great if you like sweet-and-sour.

The Rebel Red was likely our least favorite drink, but it wasn’t terrible.

As you can tell, we really liked the X-Wing “glow cubes” attached the glasses… They were nice enough to offer them with every alcoholic drink regardless of what the menu shows. The X-Wing is only available here.

The dark fried had the ubiquitous Disney counter service chicken breast nuggets paired with Darth Vader waffles, accompanied by maple syrup and BBQ sauce. This wan’t anything special, but blended together really well.

We weren’t really crazy about ordering the fruit and cheese tray, but we did so we could review it. We were glad that we did as all of the fruit was quite fresh and the cheeses very tasty. The C-3P0 is bread by the way…

Chips and Sith was one of the best options. The dip was flavorful and the presentation was really cool.

Our table’s absolute favorite item was the Lightsaber Bites. This is the chef’s favorite dish and it isn’t hard to imagine why after tasting them. The portion is more than enough for an entree as these are much bigger than those you’ll find at Trader Sam’s. They also tasted better and come with a side of delicious chips.

The sliders were fairly standard, but really get lost in the shuffle as there are many better dishes here.

The pommes frites were the standard Disney quick service fries with some cheese on them, but the garlic aioli dipping sauce made these taste fantastic.

The trio of Thermal Detonators was my personal favorite. The right amount of spice on these fall-off-the-bone pork wings made for an irresistible combination!

The Dark Side Chocolate Martini was way too strong. It comes with a dark chocolate truffle on a stick.

The Yoda Key Lime Cake had great flavor, basically a spongy key lime pie (as should have been assumed since it is called cake)

The mini-cupcake trio was a fun way to try all of the large cupcakes at the event without eating 3 large cupcakes

The Darth Vader with peanut butter is always my favorite

I wasn’t crazy for the hazelnut-flavored Yoda cupcake.

I didn’t think the Jabba the Hutt cupcake at all tasted like a Salted Caramel Latte. The trio comes in the Han Solo popcorn bucket for only slightly more than if you buy it full of popcorn at the event.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised how great the food was. Unlike Trader Sam’s, I think the food menu here is spectacular while the drink menu is weaker, but not terrible. Overall, it was worth the price, possible more so than either of the other Star Wars character meals at the park (although those guarantee a character greeting). If you happen to catch some characters and get some photos, the value here can not be beat. While you can’t compare it to the music and props inside, the food will not disappoint if you try to walk-up and sit at an outside table, which is better than missing this experience all-together. I don’t doubt this will return in some fashion every year (or permanently in a Star Wars-themed land), and I couldn’t be more excited to see how they improve upon it with more planning time.

Tom Corless