Answering More of Your Galactic Starcruiser Questions
A few days ago, MickeyBlog answered a few of your questions about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.
Now that the resort has opened, we can provide even more information about how the experience works.
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
So, let’s answer more of your questions about Galactic Starcruiser!
How Does Galactic Starcruiser Work?
Have you ever read a Choose Your Own Adventure book? Or played a videogame with an open-ended story where you decide your fate?
(David Roark, photographer)
This interactive experience works similarly to those forms of entertainment.
You’ll enter the hotel via an immersive video introduction. You’ll feel as if you’re flying on a ship toward the docking station of a much larger vessel.
Once you arrive, you’ll interact with cast members who play characters. Specifically, they’re the crew of the Halcyon, the Galactic Starcruiser.
So, the entire premise is a bit recursive for the cast, who works as the crew of a starship while also being that crew. When you have actual hotel needs, they can help.
(David Roark, photographer)
Over time, your datapad (the Play Disney Parks app) will invite you to participate in quests.
Some of them will favor The First Order, while others will show you’re with The Resistance.
You can proceed with either one and thereby determine your fate as a future Sith/Jedi.
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
Once you’ve picked a side, you’ll receive more quests, some of which will place you in opposition with other hotel guests who chose the other team.
The whole thing plays out like interactive dinner theater, only it lasts for three days.
(Kent Phillips photographer)
For a brief time, you’ll become a part of the world that George Lucas envisioned in 1977.
Do You Have to Participate?
From my perspective, this question comes with two answers. The first is that nobody at Disney will make you get into the proceedings.
Disney
I’ll add an anecdotal theoretical here to explain how it works. I couldn’t care less about Star Wars. I’m wholly apathetic to the franchise.
The only main Star Wars film that I liked was the one with Kelly Marie Tran, whom the worst parts of the internet shamelessly bullied. They hated the movie that much.
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron and Kelly Marie Tran as Rose
So, I’m not the person who will randomly praise Star Wars. However, my wife wears some sort of Star Wars clothing at least once per week.
We have friends who often travel to Disney with us, and they looooove Star Wars, especially The Child.
If the five of us went to Galactic Starcruiser, the four of them would participate MUCH more than me.
Hilariously, in virtually any other social setting, I’d be the one doing all the heavy lifting since I’m the take-charge type, for better and for worse.
In the Star Wars setting, they’d be the ones talking about alien races I don’t know and making Tauntaun jokes I don’t get.
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Is an immersive vacation experience that goes beyond anything Disney has done before. (David Roark, photographer)
But I’d still go. I’d do anything to make my wife and friends happy despite the price. During the trip, I’d relish watching them dive into the story.
However, I’m…pretty strange. Most people wouldn’t happily throw away $2,000 for an experience they know they won’t enjoy.
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
If you don’t plan to participate much, you may prefer a regular Disney vacation instead.
Then again, maybe you’re like me. Perhaps you’re in love with someone who treasures Star Wars, or you want to make your kids happy.
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
If so, cast members will happily allow you to slip into the shadows while your loved ones live out their Star Wars fantasies!
Can You Leave the Hotel?
This question seems strange to me, yet the answer isn’t finite.
Obviously, you can leave a hotel any time you want. You’re not a prisoner or anything.
However, when you choose to stay at Galactic Starcruiser, you’re making a tacit agreement that Disney will control your itinerary for three days.
Part of that time WILL involve leaving the hotel. You’ll head to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
You can even roam the park if you like, although that would require skipping some side quests.
You’ll also find an outdoor space at the hotel, a place where you can train to use The Force.
Still, on the whole, Galactic Starcruiser is primarily an indoor experience.
Some guests may find it a bit claustrophobic, but Disney will work to keep you happy!
Does the Hotel Look Cheap?
A few weeks ago, Disney released a promotional video that showed parts of the hotel’s interior. Unfortunately, the internet was…not kind.
Disney quickly removed this clip from social media, but the damage was done by then.
Critics have latched on to the idea that Galactic Starcruiser is cheap like Toy Story Land, a place where park officials infamously cut the budget.
Well, I’m happy to report that these critiques have proven baseless.
Instead, the hotel looks like a pitch-perfect real-world implementation of Star Wars.
Yes, some of the consoles look archaic by modern standards, but there’s an excellent reason for that.
Disney honored the ideas of George Lucas, the ones laid off in 1977’s Star Wars. It chose not to modernize anything and thereby risk offending loyalists.
After all, the Star Wars Hotel caters primarily to the franchise’s most passionate fans. They WANT the consoles to look as they did in the Holy Trilogy.
Otherwise, I adore the new ideas Disney has implemented. The hotel room will strike many as small, but it’s a perfect representation of a spaceship cubby.
I don’t necessarily believe that these rooms will sleep five comfortably, as Disney suggests. Still, they’re stylish, bright, and forward-thinking.
Credit: Disney
Do the Box Trucks Ruin the Illusion?
No.
Here’s another bizarre criticism that sprang to life in recent days. An overhead drone captured pictures of the hotel’s transportation vehicles.
Later, someone snagged a shot of the interior of these box trucks, which triggered some outrage among people already inclined to hate the Star Wars Hotel.
Image: Star Wars
The idea here is that guests leave the luxury starship, the Halcyon, to visit Batuu (Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge). So, they need a ride from the ship to the planet.
Disney has themed a box truck’s interior to make it seem like an outer space transport vehicle. You’ll board it and ride to Batuu.
Photo: Richard Harbaugh
Along the way, the audio narration tells a story to keep the theme alive. You’ll also discover several displays that add to the immersive setting.
You’re unlikely to consider that you’re in a box truck during your entire trip. In fact, Disney has set up a private park entrance to maintain the illusion the whole time.
Having said that, many guests, especially people under 30, use the transport ship/box truck ride as a time to check their phones.
Does the Price Include Everything?
Cruise and tourism aficionados know the answer to this one already. The term “all-inclusive” exists for a reason.
Cruise lines and all-inclusive resorts sell guests on the premise that they’ll pay one price for a complete vacation.
That idea translates at Galactic Starcruiser, as the theming identifies that it IS a cruise, albeit a cross-galaxy one.
So, once you pay the admittedly hefty price to stay here, Disney will take care of all your needs during the trip.
You’ll enjoy meals and beverages. In fact, Disney keeps green milk and blue milk on tap…AND the hotel does sell Coke products, albeit with appropriate theming.
However, Disney has also committed to the upsell business strategy. So, yes, it exists at Galactic Starcruiser as well.
You can pay extra for some adult beverages plus hotel exclusives. Thus far, those include the Crown of Corellia Dining Room and dining at the captain’s table.
Do you need to do any of these to have a phenomenal time? Of course not!
Having said that, Gaya’s Crown of Corellia concert strikes me as something guests will want to do. That’s a stunningly great show.
Feature Image: Kent Phillips, photographer
Crown of Correllia dining room and the Coke products are included. Only sitting at the Captain’s table and alcohol are additional.