Back when plans were first revealed in April 2017, many thought it incredulous that Disney could actually create an immersive, luxury starcruiser experience for guests looking to live out their very own story within the Star Wars universe. Well, a few years, announcements, and construction updates later, we’re starting to see that this is becoming a true reality. The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is finally taking shape at the edge of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and thanks to photos from our favorite aerial image specialist, @bioreconstruct, we now have a birds-eye view of how the resort is coming along.
We’ll start with this image, which gives you further context as to the site of the Starcruiser experience. In this photo, you can see the back of the old iconic entrance bridge for Hollywood Studios over by the top middle. Over on the far right edges are some of the backstage buildings for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. In fact, the hotel’s direct entrance will be located between the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance attractions. It appears the structure will be accessed by way of a small bridge over a drainage ditch. Two roads then lead over to the service building and the resort’s porte-cochère (also known as the Galactic Starcruiser Terminal) respectively. A limited number of on-site parking will be available for guests, with a driveway leading out to the parking lot at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This coffin-shaped entrance is the aforementioned Galactic Starcruiser Terminal, where guests arriving can unload their belongings and travel through the pre-show into the Halcyon’s atrium. Those traveling to Batuu will be transported via heavily modified buses known as intergalactic transports, which will depart from a launch pod off the side of the main building.
Upon boarding and disembarking the transport bus, guests will be funneled through a jetway that keeps them from seeing the outside world of Central Florida. You can get a more in-depth look into the immersive guest transport system here.
Now, let’s explore the Halcyon as it’s been coming together. For clarification, the actual ship is called the Halcyon, which is a part of the Chandrila Star Line fleet, and the hotel experience overall is called the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. (Think of it as, say, the Disney Fantasy of the Disney Cruise Line.)
The design of the hotel is rather straightforward, with four main components: the Galactic Starcruiser Terminal, the main show building, which will contain the ship’s atrium, bridge, as well as all of its dining, shopping, and amenities, the guest cabins along the long stretch in the back, and the side service and administrative building off to the right, which will take care of all the backstage elements like linens, maintenance, and food and beverage support. In the photo above, that archway off to the left of the main building is where the buses––I mean, intergalactic transports will depart to Batuu.
You can see that the hotel design follows the blueprints shown back in August almost identically.
You can read more on the Starcruiser’s Bridge here. This is where you can operate the ship’s navigation and defense systems under the crew’s guidance.
On this level, you have the Lightsaber Training Dojo, where you can put your lightsaber skills to the test while facing off against a training remote. The table service restaurant seen in the middle here is none other than the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge dinner show that was originally scrapped from plans for the land.
All in all, it appears that the Starcruiser will feature three stories of cabins and main building infrastructure.
Behind the main show building, you have the cabins that will act as guest rooms. The hotel itself features a basic rectangular design, confirming beliefs that it will be a smaller “boutique”-style hotel. According to permits, rooms come in two sizes: a regular sized cabin and the larger first class cabin. You can already see the cabins taking shape here, and it’s only a matter of time until they’re walled off and closed from the surrounding marsh for good.
Especially now that we’re seeing the Galactic Starcruiser take shape, forking over the credits to stay here is becoming less and less of an issue for Star Wars fans, and more of an epic financial goal for many travelers. But how much will it actually cost? Pricing for a 2-night/3-day stay starts at $3,300 for one person, or just over $1,000 per person, per day. You can read more on expected pricing for the experience here.
Start banking those credits now, because you’re going to need to steal a lot of coaxium to afford to stay aboard the Halcyon. What do you think of the resort’s progress so far? Do you think Disney will be able to achieve a seamless immersive experience?