Galactic Starcruiser closed in September 2023, and Star Wars fans have been wondering ever since what would happen to the immense, Disney World-adjacent building that housed the ambitious overnight experience. Now we know the fate of the former Halcyon ship that brought you into a story of resistance. According to the Wrap, the investment will be turned into office spaces.
Famously, Galactic Starcruiser commanded a steep price from guests to become a part of the Star Wars universe. Despite its itineraries allowing for interactive participatory story elements, exotic space meals, and lightsaber training, the elevated ARG roleplay just couldn’t retain the business Disney Experiences hoped for and closed after almost two years.
As the Wrap reports, “According to several sources, including an individual close to the company, the building that formerly housed the immersive adventure (located near Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World) is being converted into offices for Walt Disney Imagineering, the secretive arm of the company responsible for theme park attractions, retail locations and cruise ships.”
That means, at least, it will be a creative space for Imagineering as its team members work on upcoming attractions for Walt Disney World, such as the Encanto Casita and Indiana Jones attractions coming to Animal Kingdom.
Despite initial hopes that the main areas of the ship could still be utilized in a dinner-theater type situation—allowing park guests to at least experience story elements that featured heroic Star Wars character moments—that’s now entirely off the table. According to the Wrap, “the building will not be accessible to guests at all.”
Having visited Galactic Starcruiser during its brief lifespan, we suspect one reason for this is because the shuttles used to take Starcruiser guests to Galaxy’s Edge within the theme park as part of their experience were simply too small to smoothly transport people back and forth for just an evening event.
However, that doesn’t mean the entertainment created for Galactic Starcruiser is guaranteed gone forever; instead, the dinners—where Starcruiser guests could watch space pop star Gaya perform alongside the unfolding main story—are being playtested as potential in-park experiences. Writes the Wrap: “According to one source, several playtests have been conducted in that part of the old Starcruiser building, with cast members filling in for paying guests. But the tests would be for a potential dining experience in the theme park, not in the Starcruiser building itself.”
As it happens, Star Wars fans were initially excited about a “dining experience” being a part of the in-park Galaxy’s Edge attraction, something that was teased when the Star Wars land concept was first revealed—long before it became a part of an exclusive luxury space cruise liner that’s no more. It’ll be interesting to see if the idea now comes full circle
Update 1/30/25 8:42pm: A previous version incorrectly cited The Wrap’s quote stating the Starcruiser as a “one billion” dollar investment. This has been corrected in the current version of the article.
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