All the COVID Changes to Oga’s Cantina
You may think Rise of the Resistance is the hottest ticket on Batuu, but you’d be wrong. Getting a boarding group is definitely a stressful experience, but you still have a shot every time you visit Galaxy’s Edge. With Oga’s Cantina, especially in the era of COVID-19, that isn’t the case at all. Reduced capacity at the parks has actually made Oga’s one of the hardest locations to experience in all of Walt Disney World. We were lucky enough to snag a reservation so we could check out all the COVID changes to Oga’s Cantina.
One quick note before digging in – masks are not required when at your table. This is standard practice at Disney now, as you can take off masks when sitting at tables in restaurants. If you want to walk around and take photos and such, you will need to mask up.
Reservations Required
The biggest shift between pre and post-COVID experiences at Oga’s Cantina is reservations are now required. Just walking up to get a table is a thing of the past, except in very, very rare situations. There’s certainly no harm in asking if there are openings, but what you won’t find is cast members allowing you to line up and wait to get in. There is a queue, but it is reserved for guests with reservations waiting for their table.
Reservations are only available in advance using the My Disney Experience app or DisneyWorld.com’s online reservation system. You can make reservations as far as 60 days in advance, down from 180 days in the past. This is again due to COVID-19 as Disney is limiting advanced reservations in the event that the parks need to close. That is highly unlikely, but Disney has always played it safe.
Fewer Tables Available
You’d be forgiven if thinking reduced park capacity would mean it is easier to get a reservation, but that isn’t the case at all. Capacity has also been reduced significantly as part of the COVID changes to Oga’s Cantina. To ensure social distancing, most of the standing room tables are not in use, and seating at the bar has been all but eliminated, with only a few seats available for smaller parties.
Social distancing also limits availability at Oga’s Cantina because they are no longer mixing groups together at tables. Booths at Oga’s used to seat between 8 and 10 people, all mixed together to fill space. That is no longer the case. You are now with your party in a booth and that’s it. There are no dividers. You have the entire space to yourselves. While it is nice to have your privacy, having such a large booth allocated to a small group of 3 felt a bit wasteful on our trip.
Drink Menu Unchanged
The good news is the COVID changes at Oga’s Cantina did not affect the drink menu at all. None of the drinks on the menu were listed as unavailable, which was an issue on pre-COVID visits. I was even able to finally try the Bantha Cookie. It was…different. Though our visit this time was early in the morning (10:10 am) the full menu was available.
As an added touch, the specialty drinks with souvenir cups were placed on display at the bar. This gives guests a chance to see what the cups look like first to decide if they really need to drop a minimum of $35 for a Porg mug. I still have my eye on the Rancor Tooth set, but 10 am was a bit early for a beer flight. Maybe next time.
Limited Atmosphere
The most disappointing of the COVID changes to Oga’s Cantina is how much the atmosphere has diminished. This is in part due to social distancing, but also the way the pandemic has pushed people away from interacting with each other is really evident here. I’m not the most social of people, but visits to Oga’s forced me to come out of my shell a bit when sitting at a booth with two or three other couples. You don’t get anymore, so the entire bar feels a bit hollow as a result.
What was also really disappointing is how experiences like the power outage and the Gungan Drinking Song were limited by the diminished atmosphere. I’m not sure the power outage even happened during our visit (I didn’t notice if it did), and our table was the only one shouting and raising glasses during Una Duey Dee. That was especially disappointing to the kids, as they were so excited to be part of that. Perhaps it was just our crowd at 10 am on a very hot day, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
Is Oga’s Worth It?
A question we’re asked all the time is whether or not Oga’s Cantina is worth the trip. The answer, as is usually the case, is it depends on what you’re looking for. Adults will enjoy the bar atmosphere and the air conditioning on a hot Florida day. The alcoholic drinks are all very creative but are expensive even by Disney standards. COVID changes at Oga’s haven’t brought forth any price increases (yet) but with most guests’ budgets a little tighter that is something to consider.
On this most recent trip, I brought my two oldest kids, 8 and 9 at the time. They enjoyed the DJ R-3X and danced along to the music, but the drink options for them were severely limited. If your kids don’t like blue milk, you’ll be hard-pressed to find something they’ll enjoy. The cheapest drink, Hyperdrive (Punch It), is a kid favorite, but the inclusion of a black cherry puree can be offputting for pickier kids. Make sure you check out the menu first before bringing the kids along.
Have you been to Oga’s Cantina since the reopening? How was your experience? Let us know in the comments below!
