Travel Advisors Weigh In on What Disney Should Do With Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Hotel

Memo to Disney executives: Travel advisors have a few ideas they’d like to share with you.

About what you ask? Well, the future of the Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruiser hotel, of course.

Yes, that much-hyped, immersive experience, which opened in March 2022 after nearly 10 years of development, only to be shuttered permanently this coming September.

The first-of-it’s-kind hotel provided visitors the unique opportunity to spend two days aboard a spaceship where they mingled with beloved Star Wars characters, engaged in lightsaber training, and be active participants in a Star Wars-themed story line. The environment was part interactive live theater and part bespoke hotel stay.

So essentially, a dream come true for Star Wars fans everywhere.

Despite all of the careful thought, planning and effort that was poured into creating such a fascinating experience, Galactic Starcruiser was not the financial success Disney was hoping for. And more than a few travel experts ultimately attributed the property’s failure to the steep $1200 per-night cost of admission.

“Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Adventure was a one-and-done experience for the limited number of fans who could afford the hefty price-tag,” Corey Hargarther, a travel advisor with Florida-based Dream Vacations, told TravelPulse, echoing a widely expressed sentiment on the matter.

As profit-oriented businesses are known to do, Disney ultimately made the decision to cut its losses. The property, which cost $400 million to build, will be closed before you know it.

All of which begs the question: What should be done with the massive, multi-million dollar property, which is located amid a 14-acre Star Wars: Galaxy Edge land inside of Hollywood Studios park in Orlando.

While the brain trust at Disney is likely still sorting out the answer to that all-important question, TravelPulse reached out to the travel advisor community across the country to get their input on how the pricey endeavor might be usefully repurposed. The answers were alternately inventive, visionary, and entertaining.

Here’s what advisors had to say.

Keep the Hotel, Lose the Interactive Features
In theory, the Galactic Starcruiser was a fantastic idea. Most fans can probably agree on that point.

“Give the ultimate Star Wars fans a space to live out their dreams? Who doesn’t want to pretend they’re Han Solo? But I think it was priced so high that Disney eliminated the majority of fans from the experience,” says Heather Grodin, a Burbank, California-based advisor with MEI-Travel.

So, what would Grodin suggest for the future of the multi-million property? No need to deconstruct the entire building, she says.

“I would love for them to turn it into a moderate- or deluxe-level hotel—minus all of the interactive bits,” continues Grodin.

“Just theme it to Star Wars,” she adds. “Maybe they can have a character meal available for an extra charge. But just allowing guests in, to feel like they’re in space without all of the actor-driven story lines, will lower the cost and still give Star Wars fans the thrills they’re looking for.”

Grodin is not alone when it comes to this line of thinking. Hargarther also suggests potentially removing the bulk of the interactive experiences at the property and then using what remains to create Star Wars-themed overnight accommodations.

“Should this be successful, similar properties could be built on other popular movies and characters,” says Hargarther.

Create an Interactive Vision of the Future
Tammy Levent, CEO of Elite Travel, suggest the soon-to-be-vacated Star Wars space could be utilized to offer guests a glimpse of the future.

“I really think that Disney should step up to their game,” says Levent. “When I last visited Dubai, I went to the Museum of the Future. I know that Disney has Space Mountain, which features some things you see from the future, but it’s outdated.”

“I think creating an entire structure where you can engage and interact with what’s in store for us in the future, will not only be educational, but can be fun,” adds Levent.

Incorporate Galactic Starcruiser Features Elsewhere in the Park
While shelling out $1200 per night might not have been appealing to masses of Disney visitors, that doesn’t mean the Galactic Starcruiser and all of its bells and whistles should be scrapped altogether, says Hargarther.

“Disney could incorporate the immersive elements from the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Adventure into several new attractions, as an extension of the nearby Hollywood Studios,” Hargarther suggests. “This would generate interest and ultimately boost ticket sales for the park.”

Raise your hand if that sounds like a good plan (I’m raising mine.)

Ready for another equally compelling suggestion from Hargarther? Turn the hotel into a single-day experience.

“Either take away the hotel element and offer immersive experiences on daily basis or perhaps offer a hybrid of both approaches to make the experience more affordable to the masses,” he adds.

Re-Theme the Space Every Two Years
Disney fans around the globe are always hungering for something new. And Michele Dreiding, owner of Here to the Moon Travel and concierge to the world, is among those who enjoys new experiences. She suggests turning the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel space into a new, similarly immersive and inventive, offering every 24 months.

“The moment I got off the Cruiser, I kept thinking to myself, okay what can we experience next?,” suggests Dreiding. “We are in a new era, where people crave experiences, especially during their travels.”

Dreiding says she and her friends found themselves immediately rattling off ideas about additional potentially fun and interactive offerings that would fit into a similar two-night immersive getaway format as the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.

“If Disney positioned the Galactic Starcruiser as a ‘limited time’ experience, then you can almost guarantee it would be sold out for those 24 months,” she continues. “I would hate Disney to give up on the interactive experience concept. Whether they use the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser as a hotel moving forward, or create another space for a rotating theme, both would create repeat visits and will continue the magic.”

Create New Dining Options
One last suggestion, that more than a few past Disney visitors are likely to be able to get on board with. Turn the space into more dining areas for visitors.

Because let’s be honest shall we? Who hasn’t experienced frustration when visiting Disney with hungry kids in tow and not being able to easily grab a bite to eat under the park’s new reservations-in-advance system—which in some cases requires making reservations weeks before you even arrive at the park.

“One of the biggest struggles I have when planning Disney trips is dining reservations,” says Jimmy Maass an advisor with the Avoya Network. “Because of that, I could see that space being a highly-themed dining venue and potentially some virtual reality or augmented reality experiences to go along with it.”

Brilliant idea. Yes, there is a reason why travel advisors are such a key part of the happy travel experience. Their wisdom is boundless.