For a stress-free Disney or Universal Studios vacation, let the FREE expert planners at Royal Carriage Vacations take care of every detail including dining reservations, applying discounts, and onboard cruise credit.
Another themed experience? Regular hotel? What could take over Disney’s canceled Star Wars immersive experience?
Galactic Starcruiser Canceled
In a shocking announcement, Disney confirmed the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser will take its final voyage September 28-30. It opened in early 2021 but has not been able to keep rooms occupied due to its high price and very specific audience.
Read more about the cancelation and what this will mean for remaining bookings in Maggie’s post HERE.
What will Disney do with this empty hotel and immersive experience now? While it will likely be a few years before anything comes to fruition, it is fun to speculate what will take its place. Let’s look at a few possibilities.
A regular hotel
A logical next step would be a Star Wars themed hotel. They already have restaurants, common areas, and more themed to Star Wars ready to go. Disney could easily add on to the existing 100 rooms to make it more profitable.
I think a lot of Star Wars fans really liked the idea of a Star Wars hotel. However, the cruise-style itinerary and the fact that you had to book a 2-night voyage was a little off-putting. And while I certainly think there are a lot of Star Wars cosplayers out there, what percentage would be willing to spend $6,000 on that experience?
If Disney styled it after a regular hotel which lets Guests check in and out as they please and come and go as they please, I think it would be much more successful.
Another themed experience
A second thought for how to re-purpose the Starcruiser would be to turn into a completely different themed experience. This would take a lot more money and effort on Disney’s part to completely overhaul the Halcyon, but it would certainly open the target audience.
In fact, Disney may be eluding to this:
“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.”
It certainly appears they want to create future experiences that will reach more people. But, what could that experience be? My first thought is Toy Story. If Disney is looking for an immersive experience that has a private entrance to Hollywood Studios like the Starcruiser, Toy Story Land is right next door to Galaxy’s Edge.
Toy Story is also a beloved film franchise that spans generations and would certainly draw in more people. In order to make that successful though, Disney will have to consider making it more affordable for Guests. That is the bottom line for anything Disney decides to do for a Starcruiser replacement.
Would you like to see a Star Wars themed hotel or something completely different? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below! Do you know someone who is sad to see the Starcruiser go? Share this post with them.
Share the love!
Staz
Sunday 21st of May 2023
Given the relatively enclosed nature of the space, maybe they could make another go at the "Pleasure Island" theme...? ;-)
Joyce
Saturday 20th of May 2023
All I know is - I would not pay $100 a night for a cramped room and NO windows!
J
Friday 19th of May 2023
A Star Wars-themed hotel is all anyone wanted to begin with, but Disney is too dead-set on doubling down with the sequel crap. What streams dominated D+? Clone wars, prequels, OT, and Mando. No one wanted more of the sequels. Galaxy’s edge is already WAY too sequel-heavy; we didn’t need an entire overpriced hotel of the same stuff.
CRT
Friday 19th of May 2023
Disney needs to turn this into a regular hotel and drop the prices. It would take some work since the hotel rooms have no windows and there is no pool. Disney would also have to drastically expand the hotel. Disney can't make the money they would need to operate this hotel with only 100 rooms. We had at first considered booking the Galactic Starcruiser experience, but the more we read about it, the more we decided it wasn't for us. The theming wasn't right. We are huge fans of the first trilogy, and this experience didn't seem like Star Wars. We also don't enjoy role playing and didn't want to be on our phones 24 hours per day. Spending one day at Hollywood Studios did not appeal to us since we are passholders and visit regularly, especially with the exorbitant price for the Galactic Starcruiser experience. This hotel is likely to lie vacant for the foreseeable future. Disney has bigger fish to fry with Disney+ right now.
Jon
Friday 19th of May 2023
I was going to go in early 2024 if they dropped the prices. I would have been ok at ~3K for two nights for a single person but 5-6K was just too much in my opinion. I hope they keep the Star Wars theme but I think they will choose a different one.