Go Inside Disney’s Immersive New Star Wars Hotel
After years of development and construction, Walt Disney World’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser will finally open to the public on March 1. The hotel is designed to be a totally immersive experience that supposedly sends guests on the Star Wars equivalent of a cruise; for several days you get an all-inclusive stay on the Galactic Starcruiser plus a trip to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
With the hotel days away from its official grand opening, Disney has released a slew of official photos from inside the facility, where you can get a better look at areas like the bridge, the bar, and the lightsaber training area where you get to practice with what is supposedly the world’s first working lightsaber. Take a look:
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Photos
The first reviews of the hotel — written, it should be noted by journalists who were by and large given free previews of the Starcruiser, if not full-fledged free stays in the hotel — were also released this morning. By and large, they are positive, although many note that they are unsure the experience will be worth the extremely high price tag for paying visitors. (A “cabin” for four is almost $6,000 for a two-night stay, and that doesn’t include your airfare or spending any time at any of the other Disney theme parks before or after your trip on the Starcruiser.)
Nerdist has a very detailed rundown of everything the full experience includes; they walked away saying “if you love Star Wars and want to commit to this experience in full by wearing costumes and interacting with characters and living your best Star Wars life, you’ll enjoy yourself” but also concluded that “you will one hundred percent need to collapse into a pile and rest at the end” because your time on the space cruise is so jammed with activities. (They also wrote “I cannot see myself booking a trip at the current price.”) The reporter from CNN similarly wrote “I feel like I need a vacation to recover” from their Star Wars vacation.
CNBC claims “if you suspend your disbelief, embrace the story and participate without self-consciousness, this will be a trip you, and your family, will never forget.” Meanwhile, Polygon praised the hotel’s cast, which remains in character for your entire stay, helping you take part in a series of adventures and missions, but noted that “the facility itself feels tiny, at times verging on claustrophobic.”
If you’re interested in taking a trip off-world on the Galactic Starcruiser — and really who could blame anyone for wanting to leave the planet at this point? — you can get more information here.