A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Isn’t this how all Star Wars stories begin? Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser is a new, and ambitious experience from the Walt Disney Company. Trying to put into words this experience is going to be a story I hope you want to hear. Having just gotten off our voyage, we have a lot of thoughts on Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser, and I hope to be able to put them into words. UPDATED 5/26
There have been a lot of articles about Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser ever since its announcement in 2017 at D23. Speculation on what, and how much this experience would ultimately be. During the speculation journey over the past 5 years, even we weren’t sure if it would be for us. This article is going to be about the overall experience to help you decide if this experience is for you.
Arrival to Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser
Everything about Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser is meant to feel like you are going on a cruise in outer space. I am not sure what I was expecting for the arrival process, but I feel they sort of missed out on this part of the experience. Look I get it we are showing up in our real world car and going into a building for 2 days, but they could make the arrival a bit better than a shipping crate with Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser painted on the side.
When you arrive, they will valet park your vehicle if you drove there. If you take a cab or uber, you will be dropped off at the terminal. At this point the cast members (CMs) check you in and get you an exclusive MagicBand for your journey. We are a bit disappointed Disney hasn’t upgraded these to MagicBand+ already, but I am sure eventually they will. Also your luggage will be taken from you and delivered to your room much like cruise on the sea.
Next stop is security check, and then finally you start to feel like you are actually going on this journey. Overall this check-in process was very smooth as we showed up around 1:30pm. If you want to be first on the ship, you can start lining up to wait outside in the wonderful Central Florida sun for an hour, but we opted to stroll in later, however keep in mind you do need to board before 4pm. They will not let you show up before 11:15am. If you do, they make you circle back around.
Heading through the terminal, you are treated to a short video about the Halcyon, which is a Chandrila Star Line Cruiser vessel. The logo can be found below, and here is a bit of history on the ship. Built 275 years before The First Order’s reign, the Halcyon has seen it’s share of historical events. One of the most historical events was Princess Leia & Han Solo honeymooned aboard the Halcyon shortly after the destruction of the second Death Star. Sharp eyes can find a spot where Han Solo carved their initials onto a piece of the ship. Will you be able to find it?
Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Expectations
As we unpack our suitcases and this experience, it is important to remember that Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser is an experience. This is not your average vacation or even hotel. From the moment you get aboard, you become part of the Star Wars universe, and the story that lives within the Halcyon. This is an important factor in deciding if this experience is for you. Walt Disney Imagineering was able to show off what they can do without limits. This whole thing is an experience. We will try to keep the surprise story elements out of this article, but we will warn you there are light spoilers ahead to give you a feel of what this experience is.
As you see we dressed up for the experience to play the part of our own Star Wars story, however this is not required. I can tell you that it does help you lean into the overall story, and make you feel the part while you are vacationing on the Halcyon. I feel it is important to warn you now that this whole experience is more or less a video game format. You have to rely on your smartphone (datapad in the Star Wars universe), and more specifically the Disney Play app to unlock your path, AKA your quests.
Your character gains factions that are set down four different paths. As you unlock stories on your app, your datapad also stores the ships itinerary. As you unlock quests for your path, you will start getting specific things to do based on your actions. I am trying to keep storylines out of this article. We will make a spoiler full article at a later time if there is interest. Below picture has one example of a specialized story for Oga’s Cantina.
Again I want to re-iterate that this is not a normal relaxing vacation. You are living out your Star Wars story on this ship based on your actions. A couple of friends have asked me if you need to follow the story, and my answer is of course you don’t have to, but it really will help you enjoy this to it’s fullest. If you want a relaxing cruise, Disney offers those on Earth in the sea. This vacation is not that.
Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Day 1
Now that we took our shuttle up to the Halcyon it’s time to do a little shopping, and settle into our room. If you felt like adding some accessories, or grabbing some merchandise there is a store on the ship offering Star Wars universe items. These items are in the actual universe so you will not actually see the word Star Wars on them.
After shopping we headed to our room which isn’t too far away. The ship only has 100 rooms so it terms of a hotel it isn’t big by any means which is great for not feeling crowded at all. In fact you can really get to know your fellow passengers easily and remember their stories as you move through your journey. We have included a video walkthrough of our room for you to check out below.
Overall the room is very nice, and on par with any of the higher end Walt Disney World resort rooms, however one thing to note, there is no window. Instead you have a front row view into space, which is pretty cool! It was hard to get a picture of what you can see in space, but it is awesome to watch the galaxy go by. As stated above we will dive into the room itself in another post, but enjoy a couple of photos until then.
Next up on our agenda was the lunch buffet which is hosted in the main dining at the Crown of Corellia dining room. All meals are served here, but the breakfasts and lunch ones aren’t as fancy as the two dinners. Think of breakfast and lunch as your cruise ship all-you-can-eat style experiences. Below we will share a couple of pictures of the lunch from day one. We will feature an all food photo dump style article in the future but here is a small taste of Star Wars inspired lunch items.
The food above for the most part looks normal, but also has a hint of Star Wars influence to it. Disney did a great job of getting items on the menu for picky eaters as well as getting some unique tastes as well. We found most items on this plate to be very delicious. Basically you build out your tray with food and they fit on a predetermined slot on the tray. It’s worth noting you can go back and grab as much as you like.
Lunch was served until 4pm when the ship muster was held, and this is where the story aspect of your journey starts. Once you get to the main atrium area for the muster, you are greeted with some characters from the Star Wars universe. Some of them work on the ship like the captain, or the ship director, and others are just on the ship. Each of them have their own story, and of course you get to know them as the story unfolds.
During the ship muster, we get educated on the evacuation procedures of the Halcyon which includes both a real process for a real emergency, and of course a Star Wars process for a story-driven emergency. They clearly explain the difference so that you aren’t confused in the case of a real emergency. During the muster, some story-driven things happen that get your pathways underway. Mini spoiler alert, but the First Order comes aboard. I know you are all shocked.
After the muster, we had about 3 hours to explore the ship since we just had the later dinner seating. You choose this at the time of your booking between a 5pm seating, or an 8pm seating. Also, this will determine when your two activities of bridge training and lightsaber training are scheduled. Before the training, we were able to gain access to the Engineering Room to explore, which is a lot of fun. Very interactive and photogenic. Then we headed to the lightsaber training, and after that the bridge training.
Now it was time for dinner which features a galactic superstar Twi’lek singer and dancer named Gaya! She is on board to provide entertainment for us while we eat dinner. Gaya also comes with a story and agenda that fits into the overall story of the Halcyon. Dinner with Gaya is a such a great experience. At this point your Star Wars story is playing out, and you are watching a real life Twi’lek singing and dancing while eating a very good selection of food.
After the dinner show was over we head to the atrium for the captain’s toast where we close out the evening of official activities for the ship. At this point, we went to the bar which is called the Sublight Lounge. The Sublight Lounge is such a great place to hang out. As you would expect like a sea cruise there are cocktails for purchase or free food, and free non-alcoholic drinks you can order. In the middle of the room is a hologram version of the Star Wars card game Sabacc. Sabacc of course is how Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon. We hung out talking and eating at the Sublight Lounge a lot throughout our three-day adventure. It is a great space to chill in, and it is open until 1am on the first night, and 2am the second night.
Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Day 2
Day 2 on the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser centers around your excursion to Batuu. Much like a cruise, you take a vessel to a local area to tour, and explore. In the case of the Halcyon, you are there to explore Batuu, and of course perform activities that have to do with your missions. When we started talking about doing Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser we weren’t sure we would even go to Batuu since we live 20 minutes away from it. Once we got aboard, it became apparent you really should go to Batuu for your missions. Each part of Batuu offers you tasks for your various paths you can choose. You even get a couple of surprises from being a tourist on Batuu from the Halcyon.
Before you get on the shuttle to Batuu, you have two options for breakfast in the form of grab-and-go from the Sublight Lounge or the buffet style from the Crown of Corellia. We opted for the grab-and-go from Sublight Lounge so we could get to Batuu early and back to the ship for lunch.
Now it is time to board the shuttle to Batuu for our excursion. There won’t be many pictures from this as you can find plenty of Batuu photos in our Star Wars day post. Included with your trip to Batuu is a ride on Rise of the Resistance & Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, and both with individual lightning lane. Also you have a dining credit that can be used at Docking Bay 7 for a free meal. Pro-tip: If you do not use this on your excursion day, you have the next day to use this credit through the app at any of the quick service restaurants across the resort which includes the hotels.
We spent about 4 hours in Batuu and even had reservations for Oga’s Cantina which is always fun, and even had a little surprise for us since we were from the Halcyon. Once we completed all of our activities on Batuu we caught the shuttle back to the Halcyon to take in the ship on our own time. A lot of people were still in Batuu so we had the ship to ourselves. We opted to go into the Crown of Corellia dining room for lunch. You can see one of each item we grabbed below.
After lunch we decided to go back to our room and take a nap. I really wanted to sleep in the top bunk bed and I achieved it as you can see below. Now for reference size, I am 6-1 and heavyset and fit just fine surprisingly. This was the only down time on the cruise we had, thus reinforcing the idea this isn’t your average relaxing vacation.
We now had some mission based storylines to attend to before dinner, so let’s get to them. I won’t post too many spoilers here, but based on the path you have been following, the next several hours have the 4 different paths finishing out missions that will lead them to dinner and the climax of our Star Wars story on the Halcyon, but first a quick stop by the Sublight Lounge for Mustafar Tuber Chips & Little Flatbread which were so amazing! We ordered around 10 servings of those chips over the course of 2 days, and 6 pizzas. They of course are included in the price of admission to the Halcyon.
Now that we have eaten and also finished some missions, it was time for the main course, dinner! This second night dinner was phenomenal. I will only give you a taste of what we had here, and save the full experience for a future article on just the food of this experience. Below you will see an appetizer, and the dessert, but trust me stay tuned to see the rest of what we had!!
During dinner if you are seated for the second seating you will be interrupted, and it is time for the climax of the story. Heading out the door with cake in our mouth, we rushed to the atrium to watch the story come to a close, and with that we then had a dessert buffet to attend to, again much like a sea cruise.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
Still with us? A lot of stuff happened above. I didn’t talk about the morning we left because nothing actually happens except you eat breakfast and leave. As I try to close out this first article on Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser I still have a smile on my face in reliving all that happened over the course of two days. We are definitely going to post a separate article on is it worth it, where we break down prices and all of that, but I didn’t want to sour this post with the price of this experience.
For us Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser delivers on a promise of allowing you to step into the Star Wars universe and live it. From feeling like you are on a spaceship, and also having multiple interactions that help drive Star Wars stories forward. This experience is unlike anything you can find at Disney. Walt Disney Imagineering was allowed to really stretch their legs with this experience, and it really shows. The Halcyon is beautiful, and again I emphasize really feels like a ship.
In closing I will leave you with a summary from this article I hope I conveyed to help you make a decision on deciding if this experience is for you. First off, we feel you should be into Star Wars to fully enjoy this. So much of what happens around you is in the galaxy far far away. Secondly, don’t go into this experience to relax. This trip is anything but relaxing, in fact there is no pool on the Halcyon, or day spa. If you want those things, there are a lot of resorts at Walt Disney World. Third and final, go into this experience with an open mind, and let yourself be a part of the story. This means you will need to put yourself out there and lean into the story to let it consume you. The more you do of that the more fun this experience will be. Is this something you will try out? Let us know in the comments. May the force be with you….
Still looks like a fun trip.
Wow. Looks like a great fun time. Thanks for sharing.