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Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser

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241473

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser

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Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser

Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was a Star Wars-themed two-night live action role-playing/choose-your-own-adventure hotel experience operated by The Walt Disney Company from March 1, 2022, until September 30, 2023. It simulated a cruise in outer space within the Star Wars galaxy, and took place in a building located next to Disney's Hollywood Studios, in the Epcot Resort Area of the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It was thematically linked to the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge area in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

In April 2017, Disney hired the website Swagbucks to survey its visitors to gauge interest in a possible Star Wars-themed hotel with a visitor experience based on the Star Wars storyline. Plans for the Star Wars hotel were announced at D23 Expo 2017 in Anaheim, California, along with 22 other improvements and additions to Disney parks around the world. At D23 Expo 2019, it was revealed that the hotel would be called the Halcyon and would be a two-night immersive experience in which all guests arrive and depart together, similar to a cruise line.

The 2021 opening of the Star Wars hotel was delayed to March 1, 2022, by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2017, Disney's head of Parks and Resorts, Bob Chapek, said the Star Wars hotel would be the company's "most experiential concept ever" and a "100% immersive" experience that "will culminate in a unique journey for every person who visits." Planned features included creatures and droids acting as hotel staff; guests wearing Star Wars costumes; and an ability to interact with features of the hotel as if visitors were really in the Star Wars universe. Marketing materials suggested that visitors would participate in lightsaber training and duels (an extension of the Jedi Training Academy in Disney's Hollywood Studios); explore and pilot Star Wars spacecraft; and go on "secret missions" personalized toward the visitors' experience. When the hotel opened, many of these activities were replaced by lightsaber training only, and "Bridge Ops" training instead of piloting the ship.

One writer for The Verge called the planned hotel a "Westworld for Star Wars fans," noting the hotel amenities that would facilitate the immersive-hotel experience. Mic compared the planned hotel to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and Universal Orlando's Cabana Bay Beach Resort, two hotels containing lesser-immersive experiences. Estimates of the cost to build the hotel varied, from as low as $350 million to as high as $1 billion.

In May 2023, Disney announced that the Galactic Starcruiser would have its last two-day voyage on September 28, and then close permanently. The Galactic Starcruiser officially closed at 10 a.m. on September 30, 2023. At the JP Morgan Technology, Media & Communications Conference in May 2023, Chairman Josh D'Amaro claimed that Disney was expecting "about $100–150 million in accelerated depreciation” in the following two fiscal quarters -amounting to $200-300 million total- due to the closure. This number was later revised and confirmed by Interim CFO Kevin Lansberry to be $250 million.

In January 2025, it was reported that the building was being converted to the second office space for Walt Disney Imagineering's upcoming theme park projects, including the Disney Villains-themed land at Magic Kingdom, the Monsters, Inc.-themed land at Disney's Hollywood Studios and the Tropical Americas land at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Early renderings of the project in 2017 showed that the new hotel would be shaped like a Star Wars starship. Renderings also showed a lobby in the style of a Star Wars spaceship interior. On May 30, 2018, it was announced that the hotel would be located just south of Disney's Hollywood Studios, to the east of World Drive. Valet parking was available for guests arriving in personal vehicles (no self-parking), or guests could use other means, such as ride sharing or a taxi. A driveway connected the Starcruiser's main terminal to the Cast parking lot of Disney's Hollywood Studios.

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