Walt Disney Co's newest amusement park offering aims to make fans forget they're in Florida and instead feel like they're vacationing in luxury inside a galaxy far, a long way away.
The two-night “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser” experience, opening Tuesday at Disney in Orlando, puts guests right into a story focused on the Halcyon, a sleek space vessel said to be where Princess Leia and Han Solo took their honeymoon.
Disney’s designers hope visitors embrace the chance to lead to the fictional world produced by George Lucas. Guests around the Halcyon can contact space droids, or Han’s hairy sidekick Chewbacca, and meet new characters.
Crew members will give you learning how to cope with a lightsaber or battle incoming threats in the ship’s bridge. “Star Wars” costumes are encouraged.
“We are working to make it safe and fun to experience The exorcist,” said Scott Trowbridge, portfolio creative executive at Walt disney world Imagineering.
The first-of-its-kind adventure is expensive, starting at $4,809 for 2 guests. Which includes two days and two nights in one of 100 Starcruiser cabins, galactic-inspired food and drink, along with a visit to Batuu, the “Star Wars” planet inside the Walt disney world theme park.
Designers said the Starcruiser experience takes elements from gaming, theater, storytelling and hospitality. Matt Martin, senior creative executive within the Lucasfilm Story Group, named it “immersive theater meets a cruise.”
‘Galactic Finery’
Like a regular cruise, all guests board simultaneously. A captain and cruise director provide a welcome, but things go awry when Stormtroopers appear. Characters ask visitors for help, urging these to decide to align with the Resistance or even the evil First Order.
“You can choose to mislead a character, you are able to help them, you will gain their trust, you can double cross folks,” said Ann Morrow Johnson, executive producer and inventive director for Disney world Imagineering. “And you can really continue that relationship with them as you want your story to unfold.”
A glitzy dining area offers nightly musical entertainment from an intergalactic diva and band. Within the cocktail lounge, visitors can also enjoy a round of sabbac, a card game inside the “Star Wars” universe. Or they are able to chill inside the atrium without any pressure to participate inside the story, the creators said.
“If you want to lean in and wear some of galactic finery and cosplay, it’s totally fine,” Trowbridge said. “But additionally in the event you just want to relax, wear your The exorcist T-shirt, drink a cocktail watching the planets drift by, that’s also OK.”
The company didn't disclose exactly what it spent to create the experience, which was in rise in more than six years. But executives said they followed Disney’s famous attention to detail and aimed to make a high-tech, luxury experience.
The Starcruiser is adjacent to Disney world World’s Galaxy’s Edge, one of two “Star Wars” areas that are more costly than $1 billion to create.
As COVID-19 cases drop and health restrictions ease, crowds are going back to Disney parks. Revenue for that parks division exceeded pre-pandemic levels within the last 3 months of 2022.
With the Starcruiser, “there's a substantial investment, not just in this particular version we're launching, but also in the technology and underlying capabilities we've developed,” Trowbridge said. “We're bullish about expanding the methods by which we can build relationships our guests.”
Reuters
