Disney is a big business. Aside from the classic animated features through which it made its name, it also owns ABC, ESPN, and several lucrative theme parks and resorts around the world. A lesser known extension of that is the Disney Cruise- a family-friendly cruise line meant to put parents at ease by focusing less on adult-oriented vices like gambling and more on family-centric activities. And while Disney has experimented with themed cruises before, such as its “Marvel Day at Sea” events, it’s never pretended to set a whole ship in a fictional universe. With the release of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser in 2021, though, that will soon be changing…kinda…and we’ve recently learned through a recent announcement that you’ll be able to book reservations for it this year.
Galactic Starcruiser is a bit of an oddball in the Disney brand. It’s not technically a cruise, but it operates like one, and all the staff pretend that it is. The key difference? You’re actually inside an immersive hotel the whole time, and you’re supposedly sailing through the Star Wars galaxy instead of the Atlantic or Pacific.
“Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is a completely new type of experience” says executive producer for Walt Disney Imagineering Ann Morrow Johnson in a new Disney blog post. “You’re going to live onboard a star cruiser…and you can get wrapped up in the larger Star Wars story.”
What this translates to is a special hotel that guests arrive at by first entering a departure terminal inside Walt Disney World (“think of it as a small private cruise terminal,” explains Johnson). Individual families then enter small “launch pods,” which show a video of them blasting off into space to meet the “Halcyon,” the fictional ship where they’ll supposedly be staying. I assume the launch pods are cars, and the video plays while the family is driven to the hotel, but I’m no imagineer.
After that, guests stay inside the hotel for two-days and two-nights, while window-like screens display the vacuum of space supposedly just outside. Rooms are referred to as cabins, and the staff play along with the setting the whole time. It’s not like Disney can trap you in the hotel against your wishes (I hope), but you’re intended to treat it like an actual cruise, spending most of your time on activities inside the ship rather than leaving regularly.
These activities include lightsaber training where you can block blaster shots from a remote, tours of the bridge, games involving controlling the ship’s defense stations, and if you are feeling cooped up, “excursions” to Disney World’s Galaxy’s Edge, complete with $11 sporks.
“If you’re a guest coming to Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser,” Johnson ends, “you’re going to be a part of a story.”
Image: Disney
Essentially, it’s a LARP hotel where you pretend to be on a space cruise in the Star Wars galaxy, that mixes elements of Disney’s resort, theme park, and cruiseline expertise into a single whole. It’s actually not a new concept, as Danish LARP group Rollespilsfabrikken regularly holds a similar four day Harry Potter-style experience in the US, while Camp Carathir offers a similar general Ren Faire style experience. However, it’s rare to see such an experience coming from official sources, or companies as big as Disney. I wonder how much the staff will try to get guests to play along.
The new blog post doesn’t specify exactly when reservations will open, or the price of a stay. But it’s safe to assume that, like a Disney cruise, food and most entertainment will be included.
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