Star Wars Fan Posts Epic, Four-Hour Breakdown of Disney's Galactic Starcruiser Hotel
YouTube host Jenny Nicholson offered a deep-dive on the now-scrapped experience.
In March of 2022, Walt Disney World Resort unveiled one of its most ambitious projects to date with the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel, and in September 2023, the hotel shuttered its doors. While there are a number of factors that contributed to what made Disney pull the plug on the project entirely, YouTuber Jenny Nicholson recently shared an exhaustive deep-dive on her channel that chronicles the history of the hotel, from its inception to her own experience in the hotel to the aftermath of its closure announcement. Given that fans no longer have the opportunity to check out the hotel for themselves, Nicholson's video is arguably the closest someone could get to visiting the Galactic Starcruiser themselves. You can check out the full-length video on her page or in the video below.
Rumors of the destination emerged in 2017 and it was ultimately confirmed at that year's D23, but given that Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge was set to be opening at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort before the opening of the Galactic Satacruiser, fans were more focused on those openings. While audiences were thrilled that Galaxy's Edge would offer fans an opportunity to immerse themselves in a galaxy far, far away, there was immediate trepidation over the fact that the location would be the all-new Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, as opposed to any recognizable world from the franchise.
Excitement grew about Galaxy's Edge when it opened at both Disneyland and Disney World in 2019, but initial reception wasn't quite as overwhelming as expected, with the coronavirus pandemic then also understandably taking a major toll on the entire amusement park industry. Galactic Starcruiser was initially set to open in 2021, but the unveiling was pushed to 2022 due to the pandemic.
Much like Galaxy's Edge, the first reactions to Galactic Starcruiser were negative, as one of the first major pieces of information revealed about it was that its cheapest room for two people cost nearly $5,000 for two nights. Even though all the bells and whistles of staying in an immersive, Star Wars-themed hotel were exciting, the sticker shock alone made fans doubtful of the experience justifying the cost.
As Nicholson expresses in her channel, while there were glimmers of fun and fulfilling experiences, a number of interface issues prevented her (and countless other guests who voiced similar opinions on social media) from feeling like she was part of her own adventure in which her actions impacted her stay. With Disney often expressing that the high cost wasn't just for the accommodations, but also for the gameplay element in which you would interact with cast members and have that impact your journey, for these crucial components to be missing from so many guests' time in the Galactic Starcruiser, it was a disappointment.
The estimated costs of building the hotel range from hundreds of millions all the way up to $1 billion, so it's hard not to view the project as a major misstep, as it was intended to be a permanent destination at the park instead of a temporary installation. There were reportedly plans to possibly alter the theme of the hotel to focus on the Disney+ TV series The Mandalorian, though Disney instead opted to close the hotel entirely.
It's currently unknown what Disney intends to do with the space going forward.
What did you think of the Galactic Starcruiser? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
