The time to eat your blue shrimp is now folks because Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser (a.k.a. the Star Wars Hotel) is CLOSING.
Galactic Starcruiser room
The cruise-like experience puts you at the center of your very own Star Wars story complete with unique dining experiences, lightsaber training, and an “excursion” to Batuu. We’ve shared a tour of the rooms, details about the WHOLE thing and whether it’s worth it (because a stay here is NOT cheap), and more. But soon this experience will come to an END.
Disney has announced that the Star Wars hotel will be closing.
Crowds in the Galactic Starcruiser’s Atrium
Here’s the statement a Disney spokesperson has released on the matter: “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is one of our most creative projects ever and has been praised by our guests and recognized for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment. This premium, boutique experience gave us the opportunity to try new things on a smaller scale of 100 rooms, and as we prepare for its final voyage, we will take what we’ve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans.”
You read that right — final voyage.
INSIDE the Galactic Starcruiser
The final voyage for the Star Wars Hotel will be September 28th-30th, 2023. For the time being, new bookings will be temporarily paused. Disney will be contacting those who had bookings from September 30th through the end of the year. Bookings will then reopen on May 26th for voyages on the Starcruiser until its final “trip.”
Characters on the Starcruiser
Disney has shared that they want to create immersive experiences on an even bigger scale, so they’ll be taking the creative spirit behind the Star Wars Hotel and everything they learned from it to focus on future projects that can reach more guests and fans.
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
Details on what will happen to the building and location have not yet been shared. Thus far, there are no current plans to announce.
For those not familiar with it, the Star Wars Hotel opened in March 2022. The experience offers a two-day, two-night itinerary. Disney has described the Galactic Starcruiser as: “part live immersive theater, part themed environment, part culinary extravaganza, part real-life role-playing game—and yet so much more.”
Crown of Corellia Dining Room
Throughout your stay, you’re given the chance to train with a lightsaber, interact with your favorite characters (and encounter new ones), and operate the ship’s defense systems!
Plus, there’s plenty to eat, including the famous blue shrimp. But you’ll also enjoy other meals here including breakfast and lunch options with colorful and unique treats.
Definitely bizarre
We have a LOT to share when it comes to dining at the Star Wars Hotel, so we’re gathering more links below so you can learn everything about it:
- See our full review of EVERYTHING on the Dinner Menu for Night ONE aboard the Halcyon!
- And find our full review of EVERYTHING on the Dinner Menu for Night TWO aboard the Halcyon!
- What to eat (and what to AVOID) for BREAKFAST aboard the Halcyon!
- We ate EVERYTHING for LUNCH on the Galactic Starcruiser!
- One of our FAVORITE Disney World snacks showed up on the Kids’ Menu on the Starcruiser!
- Are you traveling to space with a picky or less adventurous eater? See the options HERE.
- Is the exclusive Captain’s Table experience worth the extra money? We talk about that here.
Space food!
And there’s more. A trip on the Starcruiser also gave you the chance to shop for exclusive items, take a trip to Batuu, and even stop by the Sublight Lounge for a drink or snack.
Sublight Lounge
And we HAVE to talk about those space bunk beds! There are a variety of room types available, but the space bunks and the window to “space” are some highlights you can’t miss.
Starcruiser cabin
The experience is unlike anything else in Disney World, but it won’t be around for long so you’ll want to book your trip as soon as you can if you’re hoping to experience it before it’s gone.
Just remember that a trip here isn’t cheap. Voyages begin at around $1,209 per guest per night for 2 guests in a cabin. Disney has released some discounts already for Disney Visa Cardmembers and Annual Passholders, so we’ll certainly be watching to see if any discounts get released for upcoming trips.
©Disney
Once reservations become available again, you can reach out to our friends at Small World Vacations to help you with all your booking needs, so you don’t have to worry about it all on your own.
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So book that trip now, then sit back and enjoy planning your Disney World Trip with a DFB-approved expert! Click here for a no obligation price quote today, and let them know DFB sent you 🙂
To see our video about the Star Wars Hotel to help you decide if it’ll be worth it, click below.
You can also click here for our FULL PAGE on the Star Wars Hotel with links to ALL of our food reviews, hotel room tours, and MUCH more.
And stay tuned for updates.
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I was wonderingbhow long this would take. The price point was just WAY WAY to high for the experience you received.
I have a sneaking suspicion that they will turn it into a Deluxe resort with Star Wars theming. Instead of having the full experience.
So yhey can still charge a premium but not out price anyone’s trip.
Disney would be wise to convert the Star Cruiser into a full service premium hotel like the Grand Floridian. Priced and operated as a conventional hotel. No Cosplay. They may even build a guest tower and pool area.
Another over priced ‘elite’ experience, that even the elite thought was too pricy, and too in your face.
I’m hoping they convert to a bookable hotel. I’d happily stay there, but not interested in being confined to an immersive experience like the cruises.
This is definitely an “I told you so moment!” I’m surprised this REALLY bad financial endeavor lasted as long as it did. Personally I think it had “bad” written all over it from the beginning.
Dang….I was really expecting/hoping to see shorter LARP experiences show up. I’d gladly have spent $1k for a 10am-10pm experience, for example. But I was leery about how lengthy it was and how much I’d want to be in the environment for an entire trip. Too bad, I guess. Can’t wait to see what they do with it…it’s so themed and intense that it seems a waste NOT to keep it for hotels, but the rooms are so small that it’d have to be a relatively cheap room…
I am shocked that this is happening in 18 months. Maybe turn this into a 4.5 gate or as others have suggested a premium “hotel” experience, with all the activities and different rooms to explore.
It is beyond me why Disney invested in this experience. It’s been a disaster from the start because (1) it’s well beyond most people’s budget, and (2) the percentage of folks who are Star Wars fanatics to the point of booking this hotel, even if they do have the money, is sooo small. Bad move from the start. I’m not surprised it’s closing.
Not at all surprising.
This was just something that most people could not financially entertain. they should convert it to a Deluxe resort.
This definitely appealed to a niche audience & with the cost factored in, it was probably a one and done for most people. Nice try, though.
They’re going to take a total failure…closing after just about a year…and use what they’ve learned to create an even greater and bigger immersion experience? Are they KIDDING!?
I find it amazing that after all the hype, and disappointing bookings, that they’re not even willing to take the losses for at least another year and keep it up and running for awhile. Like…
Can Disney can accept ANY part of their operations, ever or ever, that operate in the red for even a little while?
Incredible corporate greed.
It’s probably just me but I think Disney has invested way too much in their Star Wars theming, it’s a passing fancy.
Barely a year, knew it wouldn’t make it!
“… has been praised by our guests and recognized for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment.”
Yet, not enough to keep it open. They really screwed this up. NOBODY CARES about the sequel trilogy characters.
This is an example of when WDW fans knew more than Disney leadership. Many predicted it would fall off quickly and end up failing once the initial wave of non-price sensitive guests participated. I think that Disney failed to see all the signs with this and kept proceeding with blinders on.
It’s really a stupid decision to just close it. They can reformat the experience by making it a one-day add-on experience. No overnight, food and non-alcholoic drinks included, skip the Batuu excursion. Busses can bring people in from the neighboring hotels. Heck, they could even bring in people from hotels OUTSIDE the resort.
Even the elites couldn’t keep the DW avarice alive with this atrocity. When will Disney learn that completely depleting the average family’s savings in order to pay for a visit doesn’t encourage them to return every year, or at all. We are the bread and butter of DW, not the top 1% that they cater to with expensive experiments such as the now defunct Star Wars Hotel.
Epic fail, Disney… in a very long line of epic failures. Bring back pre pandemic DW!
Maybe they can turn part of the hotel into a show venue kind of like the hoop-de-doo musical revue, only Star Wars themed. Part of the show can feature an interactive portion in the control room. Then after the show there can be a meal in the dining hall featuring live entertainment. People would probably be willing to pay $150-200 dollars or more a person for such an experience. Then at least Disney could recoup some of the costs for the building. Another portion could be remodeled a bit to make the rooms a little bigger and maybe throw in a window or two and then marketed as the Star Wars Hotel for “ normal “ hotel stays.
even Disney makes mistakes, but they have deep pockets too.
Can’t say as I’m very surprised; it was a very expensive nche experience that few people would want to do twice. I’m a Star Wars fan that could afford it, and I wasn’t even vaguely interested. Now, a Star Wars themed premium resort? Sign me up!
I bet most people saw this coming. This is not a repeat booking hotel. Too expensive even as a one time experience. Don’t know what they’ll do with the building. It has nothing going for it on the outside. It was an immersive experience. I hope it doesn’t just sit there and go to pot like the Art of Animation building did before Disney revived it. Hopefully, they’ll figure something out.
Well, that’s a shame. It was a super cool concept and they took a risk. But unfortunately just out-priced 90% of families. I was hoping to try it, but I agree with other commenters, maybe they’ll turn it into a SW themed hotel with access to Galaxy’s Edge. It would still be a great experience.
I love the idea of converting it into a regular deluxe resort with Star Wars theming. Some cast members can be in costume, just like at Galaxy’s Edge. That would be fun.
Its cost aside, just thinking about being stuck role playing for two days raises my anxiety and claustrophobia levels.
No surprise. As others have mentioned, the price point was too high and simply not worth it. I blame Chapek.
I’m admittedly sad and upset that I’ll never be able to experience this. Yeah, it was very pricey, but I would have loved to do this once in my life
It blows my mind that Disney didn’t consider that they would eventually run out of people could afford this experience at that price point. Clearly the higher ups have no sense of reality.
I’m so shocked. That’s an awful lot of money to shell out to build something that’s only open for over a year! I do think the idea of turning it into a Deluxe Star Wars themed hotel is a good idea.
Not sure I agree with above but I see everyone’s point. I’m a huge Star Wars fan but no way could I justify the expense for 2 days. Instead, open à Stars wars themed hotel where people could visit, have diner, shop and sleep at without being trapped for 2 days where your every move is watched and organized. .
Kathleen Kennedy the Destroyer
Greedy Disney. Another attempt at Disney PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG and charging Thousands Of Dollars for the opportunity. Well I guess some very rich guests were willing to pay for this pig, but apparently not enough people. Disney you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Disney instead of taking our money, PLEASE BRING BACK THE FREE FAST PASS WITH THREE RIDES instead of receiving applause from people willing to pay $15-35 for a Genie Plus when IT WAS FREE AS RECENTLY AS 2019
My 9 year old daughter and I had the most amazing time of our lives on the Starcruiser this past February. We saved for two years to be able to do this trip and it went above and beyond our wildest dreams. The encounters with characters were so engaging, the beauty of the place took our breath away. Great food, great people, music was amazing. The view from the bridge was incredible…. and my daughter used the force! Waking up to see this today we are heartbroken, as we hoped to go back someday. Hopefully this will turn around somehow.
I had fantasies about staying there, but the pandemic got in the way. Also, in spite of being a huge Star Wars fan*, I wasn’t excited about the level of participation involved.
* I never get tired of telling people that I saw the original Star Wars film, in the theater, during its ptemier in 1977.
Not to be mean in any way…but “I think” most of the true Star War fans like myself are not from the group of people that are all that rich. My nephews and cousins and kids and would love to have this experience, but can’t afford it. My Disney stash has been adding up and thought by next year we could go. 100 room hotel is going to tough to make work, but I hope the imagineers can get it done.
Even without the pandemic this idea could never survive. Not enough extremely fortunate SW interested in this. Also nobody will return yearly.
The public is finally starting to vote with their wallets!
Wasn’t this disgraced king Chapek’s royal baby during the period (his entire reign) when his crusade was crowd control through castle-spire-high prices for everything, and charging for things that used to be included?
Next step – the potentially lighter summer crowds AJ just wrote about. Paid hotel parking’s banner now lies trampled on the ground. How about ordering up some new Mickey’s Magical Express wraps for those Mears busses?
Apologies for using royal metaphors in the Star Wars context but I’m not at my sarcastic best!
$6000 for 48 hours, and not everything is included beyond the basics? Based on the sequels which got worse over time, and did Batuu even get mentioned? By comparison we are going in September, 12 days, in a one bedroom, depending on food options we are still not spending that much! It may be an experience but way to much and it didn’t fit into the lore very much (and I am not buying books just to learn the back story).
This was a multi million mistake. The jerks who were behind this project should be fired. Disney has a hard time admitting when they screwed up bigtime. This fiasco along with the woke policies just proves that Disney has lost touch with its primary customer base
I has Shephard’s pie tonight for dinner , with fresh honey rolls and cherry ice cream for dessert.
Hi Mike.
I think your wish has come true. Bobby Paycheck’s future was reportedly tied to it succeeding. He doomed himself in enough ways to get himself thrown overboard before the hotel’s failure but it may have come into play were he not a former CM spending his millions at somebody else’s resort.
Nice ‘paycheck’ for a failure! How can I fail for millions?
I do wonder when the SW GSC closes will all of the “exclusives” be available on regular Shop Disney? Need to recoup some of that cash.
What a shame if they wouldn’t have the price so high to where people could actually afford to go it might have turned out a little bit better but no they have to make everything pretty much out of reach for people.