Everything You Need to Know About Disney’s Fully Immersive Super-Expensive Star Wars: Galactic Battlestar
So you want to take a vacation in space. If you’re not Elon Musk, not very rich, or both, your only option is to settle for the next best thing: a ride aboard Disney World Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, a 2-day immersive hotel/theme park that takes you into the middle of a scientific -fantastic action game in a galaxy far, far away. (However, you still need to be pretty rich.) I recently got the opportunity to attend a special media preview of Galactic Starcruiser with Disney money – the company paid for airfare and lodging for me and my family, including all of our meals and visitation. theme parks. (If you have the opportunity to attend for free, I highly recommend doing so.) Now that the hotel has opened to the public , you may be wondering if it’s worth booking your own trip, so read on to find out everything you need to know before than you go. To space.
What is Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser?
To paraphrase one Homer Simpson, this is not quite a hotel and not quite a theme park, but a person . The Los Angeles Times called it a “live-in theme park,” which is true, although it can be misleading. (And the newspaper’s claim that it could also “change the way we relax” I find more dubious.)
In short: The Galactic Starcruiser is a hotel designed to make guests feel like they’re inside a Star Wars movie. The décor has been carefully designed to look like the real life version of the films . There are no windows to remind you that you are in sunny Florida; instead, 3D viewing screens face “space”. Every Disney cast member working on the ship appears in costume and will only speak to you as a member of the intergalactic spacecraft crew. Even entering the “ship” requires you to use the “transport”, actually a huge elevator that “takes off” from the gloomy “spaceport” and takes you to the Atrium of the Alcyone , a 275-year-old luxury star cruiser. . (This is a present day Wizard of Oz .)
Your vacation will be more than just lounging around in luxury like one of Coruscant’s elite. Quoting myself :
Star Wars: Galactic Battlestar is… a 2-day hotel stay combined with a 2-day Star Wars RIJD (it’s a real-time role-playing game , for those who aren’t already familiar with your language of immersive experiences). You are a guest aboard the luxurious starship Halcyon , a passenger ship celebrating its 275th anniversary in space (which appears to be somewhere between the end of The Last Jedi and the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker , just like its Disney parks predecessor, The End galaxies ). Think of it like QE2 , but with more droids. You’re here to relax, take advantage of on-board amenities, enjoy great food, and be serenaded over dinner by a galactic pop superstar (like Cher, if Cher were a Twi’lek). Unfortunately, your peaceful journey is interrupted by a visit from the First Order investigating rumors of Resistance activity on board. Over the course of two nights, you’ll be both an observer and participant in the narrative that unfolds from there, and you’ll be introduced to a colorful cast of new, yet familiar Star Wars character archetypes (which doesn’t mean more familiar faces are out of the question; in after all, Disney owns the rights to all of them).”
How much does Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser cost (and what do you get for it)?
Many. It is expensive. Booking for two nights for two guests will set you back approximately $1,200 per night. Every. This is a total of 4800 earth credits. The daily rate drops slightly with the addition of a third passenger to $889 per night ($5,300 total). If you’re unfortunate enough to be a couple with two kids to pay for, the accommodation will cost you a total of $6,000, or just $750 per night per person.
What do you get for your money? On the other hand, for this price, the trip more or less includes everything: it includes your utilitarian but impeccably decorated room; all your meals, including a lavish breakfast and lunch buffet and two gourmet multi-course dinners (with live music from the galaxy’s hottest tentacled pop star); Daytime admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios where you can visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and skip the line on two of the most popular rides and, of course, all the action that takes place aboard the ship (more on that in a minute).
Back side? Alcohol is not included. There are a few smart Star Wars-themed cocktails on offer in the Halcyon Lounge – an upscale version of your local hive of scum and villains – but they’ll set you back around $18 each.
What do you actually do while on board Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser?
Have your kids ever made you play pretend with them and made you run around the house yelling at you for plot twists in a story that you only partially understand? It’s similar to this but with better production values.
The experience as above is a beginner’s version of the live-action role-playing game. As a guest aboard the ship, you become a character in a compelling Star Wars narrative that unfolds over two days. When your journey begins, you’ll be given a “datapad” (actually a locked iPhone 12 mini) with an app that will serve as a route of sorts. It stores your schedule, as well as controlled “messages” from various characters you’ll meet aboard, from the stubborn cruise director to the stalwart ship’s captain to the dastardly First Order officer bent on rooting out members of the Resistance. How you answer this character’s questions will determine what activities will be included on your to-do list. You can choose to side with the good guys, in which case you’ll be given “missions” to help distract the stormtroopers from spotting the heroic hairy Wookiee stowaway, or you can relay the information to the First Order. Or maybe you prefer to play both sides, cheater? Whichever path you choose, you’ll be doing the same thing: missions usually involve wandering around the ship and using your datapad to scan QR codes or connect to various Bluetooth signals that trigger new chats or require you to solve simple puzzles . – each mission you complete will give you a little more information about what is happening in the story. You’ll also be scheduled for other interactive activities that feature Disney cast members as well as your fellow guests: working together to repair the ship’s engines by flipping various switches and switches, or fending off waves of attacking Tie-Fighters.
Should I be concerned about FOMO aboard Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser?
With the narrative branching out based on your choices (Disney promises no two trips are the same), you might worry that you might take the journey “wrong” and miss out on the best moments. Fortunately, this won’t be a problem. If you don’t hide in your room throughout the trip, you will be drawn into the action. While you obviously won’t see each part of each storyline unfold – you can’t have secret meetings with a Jedi Knight once you’ve sworn allegiance to Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, and vice versa – anyone can do it. basically the same thing, but in a different context. For example, all guests will eventually make it to the bridge during the space battle, but who you shoot depends on your commitment. Often you’ll just walk around for a bite to eat, only to encounter a gaggle of costumed characters with a bunch of tourists in tow; Follow them to understand what they are doing and soon you will feel like a part of history. Also: anyone can take lightsaber training, and you shouldn’t skip it even if you feel stupid. It’s really fun.
Should I get dressed?
This one gets a qualified no – I wore my earth clothes throughout my entire stay and none of the actors treated me differently. But I can’t say that being on board didn’t make me wish I had at least invested in a brown bathrobe before heading to Orlando. The environment is so breathtaking that it can be frustrating to see a group of people wandering around in flip flops and shorts, even if one of them is you. Along with your booking, Disney is generously inviting you to pre-order exclusive costumes only available to guests of the Galactic Starcruiser (you can also buy them on board). They’re good quality, but again, not cheap – an adult Princess Leia dress will set you back around $150 – so I’d recommend visiting an online store, trolling Etsy, or making your own.
Is the Galactic Starcruiser suitable for children?
RPGs sound like a sham, but it’s more than that, which means the Galactic Starcruiser isn’t exactly for kids; adults willing to immerse themselves in the experience will definitely have a good time, even if they aren’t ready to take on the fake identity and backstory. But is it really a good time for children (and with them)? Taking my own duet of elementary schoolers, I answer in the affirmative. The immersive elements are a lot of fun, but I found my kids a little weary at the non-stop pace (this is not a relaxing ride – there is no pool to relax in and if you take a nap you will miss out on most of the fun). To really enjoy it, you need a spark of imagination to immerse yourself in the story and emotional maturity to not get annoyed that you can’t do what you want at any given moment. While all kids have different levels of tolerance for directed entertainment, I think teens and older will enjoy it the most. (Also, I’d like to write a strongly worded letter to someone at Walt Disney Imagineering who thinks it’s a good idea to build an experience by looking at a phone.)
Is Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Worth the Price?
Disney World is always expensive and it’s one of the most expensive things you can do in Disney World. In a way, that’s good Disney value, as you’ll be constantly doing something rather than yelling in whispers at your kids during your second hour of queuing for the Peter Pan attraction. But in another, more precise sense, $6,000 is a lot of money to spend in two days. (Did I mention that this doesn’t include your flights?) For $6,000 including flights!, you could tour several European cities for a week or more, staying in good hotels and eating well. You can finally cross this trip to Tokyo off your wish list. You can spend a whole month in Costa Rica relaxing on the beach. It all depends on what you want from your vacation. Do you want to see the world or do you need the Disney experience of living in a Star Wars movie? If you are willing and able to spend that much money on the latter, I don’t think you will regret this experience.