Tag: StarWars

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Jedi Mind Tricks at Oga’s Cantina

Disneyland has undergone a procedural change in how guests can enter Oga’s Cantina, the bar inside the Star Wars-themed Galaxy’s Edge. Where previously you could make reservations online or make a day of reservation at the venue and come back when the slot was ready, the new process is completely based off a stand-by line.

The most obvious change in visiting is actually psychological, perhaps some sort of mind trick from the Jedi forces running the cantina. When you make a reservation that’s good for 90 minutes you often would stay for the full 90 minutes. But when it is standby, you have no specific expectation of a time slot and so we saw many guests leave after one round and we ourselves were in and out in less than an hour. All of which means that the line moves fairly quickly, which we think is an overall net-benefit for this venue which is still a lot of fun.

Mrs. Mai Tai and I were on a quick half-day visit to see the Halloween offerings at Disneyland but we took refuge from the muggy conditions. We absolutely loved the Garlic Cheese bread and revisited some favorite cocktails that we thought were pretty good. The Outer Rim with tequila and a puree topping no longer includes the salted rim but is still well done, as is the Coruscant Cooler with bourbon. Julie’s Jet Juice came in a little glass, similar to those little orange juice glasses you get at brunch, and my Jedi Mind Trick featured grapefruit in the best of ways.

The standing table we were at wasn’t too bad, we made friends with the first group but found the second to not able to understand how to fit people into the available space, and our server was right on top of everything. We enjoyed DJ Rex and the music which thankfully wasn’t too loud, so this was a very successful mission.

Coruscant Cooler / Jet Juice
Jedi Mind Trick / Outer Rim
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Cinco de Revenge of the Fifth

Killed two birds by making a Tequila-based Mai Tai that Trader Vic named the Pinky Gonzales and serving it in a Death Star mug.

Pinky Gonzales
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Cointreau
⅔ oz oz Orgeat
2 oz Tequila
Shake with crushed ice. No prison labor was involved.

This turned out quite light, thanks to Jimador tequila and the Cointreau that is lighter in body than Grand Marnier or Orange Curacao. Quite delicious and very, very close to a Margarita.

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Cell 2187 (Ankle Breaker)

Happy May the Fourth: Star Wars Day.

The vessel is the Death Star. The drink is a modified version of the Ankle Breaker. Put them together and it is Cell 2187, the cell that Princess Leia was jailed in.

The original recipe calls for a 151 Puerto Rican rum. I do have some Don Q 151 but it is buried in the back of my liquor cabinet and I thought maybe switching it up would be an improvement. Indeed, replacing that potent rum with two others proved to be even better than the original. Much more flavorful with rums that can stand up to all that powerful Cherry Heering liqueur.

Cell 2187 (Ankle Breaker)
1½ oz Lemon Juice
¾ oz Simple Syrup
1½ oz Cherry Heering
1 oz Plantation OFTD Rum
½ oz Wray & Nephew Overproof Jamaica Rum
Shake with ice. Add “dark side of the Force” light-up cube.

The Geeki Tiki Death Star is a pretty nice mug.

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Oga’s Cantina for Quinn’s 21st Birthday

Our son Quinn turned 21 on Saturday during our Disneyland trip so Oga’s Cantina was an intended destination. We completed some early park touring and landed in Galaxy’s Edge and tried the online checkin for Oga’s and found it was only a ten minute wait.

Inside we were seated at a table, which aside from being more relaxing was a welcome change since the four previous times I’ve visited Oga’s they’ve always “sat” us in the same place all the way at the end of the bar on the left. Nice to have a different perspective.

Oga’s isn’t a bad place for someone to have their first cocktail, since these are made for easy drinking. Quinn ordered the Takodana Quencher with Bacardi Dragonberry rum, Blue Curacao, and juices. Like I said, easy drinking.

They are now serving a Pretzel Knot with Hawaiian Black Sea Salt and a nice cheese sauce, a welcome addition of something substantial to be served alongside the drinks. And this pretzel knot was pretty damn good. Or so I thought after my Jedi Mind Trick cocktail at 9:30 in the morning.

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Mai Tai Fighter

I had one of these at the special “May the Fourth” event at Sessions last year, when Smuggler’s Cove did some special cocktails and also did rum tastings. It was a really great event, my first time seeing some old friends in a long time. And for one, the last time.

I attempted to reverse-engineer the Mai Tai Fighter, which was a SC Mai Tai with a Demerara Rum float (Smuggler’s Cove used OFTD). Not sure how much to float; I may have used too much, but it tasted great.

Mai Tai Fighter
Standard Issue SC Mai Tai
1½ oz Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Rum
Float with 1 oz Lemon Hart 151 – Red Label Sith Edition

Such a great cocktail that Grogu barely shared any. Next, I’ll try to get that metal ball from him.

Happy May the Fourth to all that celebrate.

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Oga’s Cantina

Disney has an interesting and useful new way of getting into standby lines at dining locations at Disneyland. If you’re in the vicinity of the location you can tap on the location in the Disneyland app and request to be added to the walk-up waitlist. This worked great for us on an evening last week when we got into Oga’s Cantina after just a short wait.

Looks like they’ve refreshed the cocktail offering at Oga’s, though everything still leans super sweet (even for me!). I quite liked the Coruscant Cooler with Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Cranberry Juice, Lime Juice (left in photo), and thought that Mrs Mai Tai’s Tarkenian Night Flower with Gin, Elderflower Liqueur, with flavors of Ginger and Huckleberry, garnished with Sweet Hibiscus Flower was also quite nice (right in photo). Our son had the non-alcoholic Jabba Juice, Simply Orange with Pineapple, Kiwi, Cantaloupe, and Blueberry Flavor-filled Boba.

Less good was the Takodana Quencher with Bacardi Dragonberry Rum, Bols Blue Curaçao, Simply Orange with Pineapple, Kiwi flavors. Sickly sweet and the fake OJ really made this taste like it came from a large jug at 7-11.

I’ve come around on Galaxy’s Edge. We did enjoy our visits this last trip, perhaps greatly influenced by me being a pilot on the Millennium Falcon ride. There were a lot of character interactions that we saw, including R2-D2, Rey, Chewbacca, and Kylo Ren with Stormtroopers. Having the characters makes the whole land seem much more alive and organic, and gives you something to do while drinking Blue Milk or stumbling out of the cantina.