Come fly with me
All hands on deck aboard Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser!
Inside Disney’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser article and photos by Martin Palicki
“I
t’s not a hotel,” Ann Morrow Johnson states firmly, referencing Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. “It’s a first-ofits-kind vacation experience.” The Disney Executive Producer and Executive Creative Director has been working on developing the Galactic Starcruiser for over six years, designed alongside and in concert with the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida. But what kind of vacation experience is she actually talking about? Drawing heavily on the concept of an oceanic cruise, Galactic Starcruiser is much more than just a journey through outer space. At its heart it is immersive theater writ large — a story set in the world of Star Wars that plays out over the course of two nights and a day and a half of action. It’s hard to imagine any other experience that comes close to this level of detail, interactivity and length of time. The Galactic Starcruiser brings together the best parts of cosplay, interactive gaming, escape rooms, advanced technology and special effects, all under the banner of the Disney-owned Star Wars IP. In a way it’s like an intergalactic version of a renaissance faire, where the lines between actor and audience are blurred, inasmuch as each audience member wants it to be. Technically, Galactic Starcruiser also provides the essential services of a hotel: comfortable lodging, delicious food, luxury
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retail and entertainment — though they are so wrapped up in the themed and narrative elements of the experience, it’s understandable why calling it a hotel would be unfair.
Understanding the story According to Scott Trowbridge, Portfolio Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, the Galactic Starcruiser “was designed for people who love Star Wars, and for people who love people who love Star Wars.” That feels true. Someone ignorant of or disinterested in the Star Wars story could easily get pulled into the deep narratives surrounding them, or they might not and choose to simply enjoy the environment and perks of a twonight getaway. Nevertheless, having at least a basic understanding of Star Wars lore makes a big difference in appreciating the full experience. Depending on which category you fall into, the following may or may not make sense. As the story goes, guests who are booking the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser are actually booking a two-night stay aboard the Halcyon starcruiser, a luxury vessel providing a relaxing cruise around the galaxy. Guests arrive on the afternoon of day one to the entry terminal, a concrete entrance both futuristic and brutalist in form. Valets take their bags and guests proceed down a long hallway to a launch pod that takes them directly up to the
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