Walt Disney Imagineering has shared more details about
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, Walt Disney World's brand-new
Star Wars-themed "immersive vacation" which is set to transport guests to a galaxy far, far away starting in 2021..
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser sounds more like an interactive experience than an actual hotel. Unlike a typical Disney hotel stay where you are free to do as you please and visit the parks at your own leisure, the Galactic Starcruiser has been likened more to a cruise ship.
Disney actually describes it as a
"two-night, all-immersive adventure" featuring a
"cruise-style itinerary where you’ll become the hero of your own adventure in an experience that surrounds you 24/7 in Star Wars storytelling."
Disney shared new artist concept rendering of the Galactic Starcruiser Terminal, which is where guests will begin their experience.
Whether you show up via personal vehicle, Disney transportation or by landspeeder, curb-side check-in prepares you to leave Earth behind, jump to lightspeed and begin your Star Wars story. From the Starcruiser Terminal, you will enter an exclusive launch pod for travel up to the Halcyon, your starcruiser in a galaxy far, far away. Through the pod’s viewports, it looks as though you are traveling through space to approach the massive ship that is much too large to land on any planet.
Once "on board" the starcruiser, the immersive storytelling begins.
"Throughout the journey, you will be invited to delve deeper into your personal adventure by participating in onboard activities, interacting with characters, crew, other passengers you meet, and becoming part of the action and the broader Star Wars saga," Disney teased back in August.
Previously released concept art showed plenty to do aboard the ship, suggesting a much more locked-down experience, as if you were at sea on a cruise ship.
Like a cruise itinerary, the
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser does include one stop: Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu (also known as
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios).
To get from Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and back, you’ll remain fully in-story as you step aboard the transport ships designed specifically for this new immersive experience. It will connect you directly to a spaceport at Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, where the story you began in the starcruiser will continue and evolve while exploring the 14-acre land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Based on everything Disney has shared thus far, it sounds like
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is not designed to be your traditional Disney vacation experience, where you wake up, eat breakfast, and spend the day at one of the parks. Instead, the "ship" itself is the park. Yes, you'll visit Galaxy's Edge, but it sounds like that will be the only planned trip to a Disney park.
So what if you want to stay longer? Disney hasn't exactly explained how extended vacations will work, but it kind of feels like the
Land and Sea Vacation package, where the halcyon is your "at sea" portion. If that does turn out to be the case, then any extended vacation would mean guests then move to a different, more traditional Disney World resort hotel for park days at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and the rest of Hollywood Studios.
Disney has not yet announced pricing for
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, but early reports claim a two-night/three-day stay starts at $3,300 for one person (just over $1,000 per person, per day) with cabins sleeping up to five passengers. Given the cruise-like itinerary, this price would presumably include all of the
Star Wars activities and experiences.