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Disney World’s ambitious but ultra-pricey Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the $1,200-per-person-per-night hyper-immersive sleepover experience, is being shuttered for good at the end of September, roughly 18 months after opening, the company announced Thursday.
The hotel, which is marketed as a two-night immersive experience, will take its last bookings Sep. 28 to 30. New bookings are being paused until May 26 to first accommodate those who made reservations after September.
The company is describing the demise of the Galactic Starcruiser simply as “a business decision.” Disney said it was proud of the cast members and imagineers who brought Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser to life and thanked the guests and fans for making the experience so special.
The project always defied categorization. Is it a hotel, a landlocked cruise ship, or an elaborate choose-your-own-adventure theatrical experience? All of the above.
Like every great Star Wars film, the Galactic Starcruiser experience follows a story arc. Guests embark on the one-night immersive journey together, like on a cruise ship. They enter a virtual transport pod, blast off into hyperspace and dock to the Halcyon starcruiser. There, they don Star Wars garb, meet an intergalactic cast of characters (including celebs like Chewbacca and Kylo Ren), and receive lightsaber training and “bridge ops” training with the ship’s captain. In their cabins, they interact with D3-O9, an AI-driven droid that keeps them informed about happenings on the ship. They rub elbows with a motley crew of alien spies and bootleggers in the cantina. And they pick a side — aligning with either the Resistance (a.k.a., the good guys) or the dark First Order — and receive their missions.
The two-night packages start at about $4,800 for two people, and go up to $5,299 for two adults and one child and $5,999 for three adults and one child. Prices include lodging, meals and admission to Hollywood Studios.
Guests who can afford to shell out big bucks — just over $4,800 for a couple or $6,000 for a family of four — love the all-inclusive two-night experience, giving it some of the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the 50-year history of Walt Disney World.
The problem is that, apparently, not enough guests can afford it. The planned closure of Galactic Starcruiser comes as Disney seeks to cut overall costs by more than $5 billion.
The Galactic Starcruiser hotel drew mixed reviews from Star Wars fans, with critics complaining about the price and inconsistencies in the immersive experience. Some fans felt that the hotel did not live up to the expectations set by Disney’s marketing and promotional materials. Others felt that the hotel was too detached from the rest of Disney World and did not offer enough variety or flexibility for guests.
Disney has not announced what will happen to the hotel after it closes. Some fans have speculated that Disney might repurpose the hotel for another theme or franchise, or sell it to another company. Others have expressed hope that Disney might reopen the hotel in the future with lower prices or improved features.
Disney still has other Star Wars attractions at its theme parks, including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Park, which features rides such as Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Disney also has plans to open a new Star Wars-themed land at Disneyland Paris in 2024.
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