Walt Disney World Resort has unveiled some exciting new details for the highly anticipated “Star Wars hotel” Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser—including the opening year. The announcements were part of a presentation given at the media preview for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the second attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that’s due to open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World on December 5th and at Disneyland on January 17, 2020.
Galaxy’s Edge is just the beginning of the Star Wars presence at Walt Disney World, as the highly anticipated Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser offers a wholly immersive two-night vacation experience. The hotel will open in 2021 and is set up as if you’re going on a Galactic Starcruiser cruise (which Disney compares to boarding a Disney Cruise Line). From the minute you step foot into the lobby, you’re in space onboard a Starcruiser that’s filled with colorful characters who will offer to bring you into their stories.
The immersive experience—which is limited to two nights and finds all guests arriving and departing at the same time—begins as guests are invited to enter a Launch Pod to transport them into space. Windows will show guests leaving the real world behind and then jumping into hyperspace, drawing closer and closer to the Halcyon starcruiser that’s known throughout the galaxy for its impeccable service and exotic locations. When the launch pad docks and the airlock opens, guests will step into the Atrium where their cruise experience begins—an experience that also includes an excursion to Batuu at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Newly revealed details are the various activities that guests can partake in, which include wielding a lightsaber and facing off against a training remote, as well as visiting the starship’s Bridge where guests will learn about ship systems and how to operate them, which may come in handy if/when rogue ships attack the Halcyon (they most definitely will).
Each window in the entire starship has a view of the galaxy, which further immerses the guests. The view even changes as the ship progresses through its course. And there are also hidden spaces deep in the ship’s mechanics, which offer secrets to unveil and spaces within which to hold secret meetings.
What’s most interesting here is that guests will encounter members of the crew, other passengers, and famous Star Wars characters during their stay, and these characters will prompt you to begin various storylines. Moreover, every choice you make during your two-day vacation will help determine how your Star Wars story will progress. It kind of sounds like playing Skyrim in the real world, but with Star Wars instead of The Elder Scrolls.
So yeah, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser sounds pretty insane, and I’m very curious to learn more about what guests will encounter during this one-of-a-kind experience. Pricing details have yet to be revealed, but you can probably expect to pay a premium given how involved this whole thing is. But now that we know the opening date won’t occur until sometime in 2021, you’ve got a full year to save up.
Look for much more on Walt Disney World’s upcoming attractions and news, including my full breakdown of Rise of the Resistance, on Collider in the coming days.