The Galactic Star Cruiser Immersive Voyage!
My recent weekend trip to Disney of course had me staying near Epcot and Hollywood Studios, my two most frequently visited parks.
My goal every morning at 7 am, the day I have a park reservation at Hollywood Studios, is to get a virtual queue reservation for Rise of the Resistance. I feels like the biggest score when I get it and I know I’m going to be joining the resistance! This trackless ride is one of the greatest, if not greatest, in the Galaxy. My reaction vlog below after my most recent ride:
Being a huge Star Wars fan, I can spend hours inside Galaxy’s Edge wandering around, eating a Ronto Wrap from Ronto Roasters, strangely weirded flavored popcorn mix I love from Kat Saka’s Kettle, and feeling fully immersed in the original Star Wars movie: A New Hope at Oga’s Cantina (if you can get a reservation months in advance).
But most of all, it’s feeling like you are living in the land of Star Wars with the hope of Star Wars characters interacting with you as you walk around the land.
Disney’s description of Galaxy’s Edge ”For the first time ever, there’s a place where you can live your adventure in a galaxy far, far away!”; has set Star Wars fans up for wanting more… feeling the force drawing us in.
We want more character interaction.
We want the ships set up on display to be more interactive.
We want to make use of our newly built light sabers and droids while in the land.
We want greater purpose for donning our Star Wars geekiness on our sleeves.
We want to experience Star Wars.
Heck, we want to be part of the resistance or rebels or the New Order or to hang out with Vader all day.
I’ll take being a fly on the wall inside Star Wars space and that’s why I think the pricing for a new adventure on the Galactic Star Cruiser that gives you what fans dream about will sell out and people will want to do it and possibly do it again depending on how well Disney can execute this immersive voyage.
If I’m going to pay to have dinner in Cinderella’s Castle for the exhorbatent price they charge (and I’m not a princess person), you better believe I’m going to pay to live a Star Wars fantasy. Do I really get to hang with Chewy like Disney’s photo suggests? Cause that’s way better than me waving to him at Galaxy’s Edge and trying to get his attention to wave back.
With Disney announcing prices and an opening date of Spring 2022, by the time I can figure out which family members are geeky enough to want to do this with me and then figure out a date we can do it, I’ll probably have sold enough items around the house and earned some serious cash back bonuses on a few credit cards to offset some of this cost. So what are the prices for a A 2-Night, Immersive Adventure? Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser sample rates vary depending on your voyage departure date, the number of Guests in your cabin and your cabin type. When Disney announced they’d be building this immersive hotel I thought it would cost around $10,000 for my family to go or around $1,000 per person but is $1,000 per night per person ridiculous? Many bloggers, You Tubers and others seem to think so. When I told my son how much it was he choked on his own laughter.
I guess I’m not as shocked. Disappointed? Maybe but it’s Disney and my annual pass is now over $1,000. Maybe I ditch that renewal and spend it on this once in a lifetime experience.
People compare these prices to cruise ship prices. I don’t think that is a fair comparison because this is a) not the same clientele, b) targeted to specific Star Wars living fantasy dream people (and there’s a lot of us) and c) a cruise is not Star Wars. I’ve dreamed of Star Wars and played Star Wars since I was a kid, I cannot say the same about a cruise ship. It’s completely different. Fandom for Star Wars is like fandom for Star Trek or Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. People travel to London to see the real Harry Potter set, they travel to New Zealand to walk where the movie was shot and experience it. Star Wars fans are no different.
Disney states “While the specifics of your voyage will be unique to your story, the choices you make—and the unexpected surprises that you encounter—will determine your personal Star Wars adventure.”
I think pricing may change slightly and the itinerary may slightly change as well as Disney figures this out and gets more feedback. After all, booking is not even available yet. I think this type of immersive experience is here to stay. Only 100 rooms are available to book at a time and only for two nights? I think the demand is there to living this fantasy. Most of us grew up with Star Wars and loving the characters and classic good vs. evil storyline with the heroes and villains and picking which side of the force we’d be on. We love Oga’s Cantina for that reason. See pic of my sons below. They’d stay here all day if they could it’s that cool! And super hard to get into.
Like I said; I paid for eight people to eat dinner in the castle on Christmas Day because it was my mom’s dream. Had to do it. She loved it and Disney is all about making your dreams come true… at a price. Look at my granddaughter’s smile below. How could I not?
If I’m going to pay the price of $250 per person for a two hour rushed cash cow experience inside the castle on Christmas Day to make a dream come true Disney planted in our heads, better believe I’m going to pay for me and a few Star Wars geeky family members like me to live the magic of being fully immersed on a two day voyage to make our Star Wars dreams come true.
How can I resist those smiles?
What do you think? Are you ready to take on the Galaxy on this Star Cruiser or stay satisfied with visiting Galaxy’s Edge and call it good? I’ve spoken to my sons (pic below with my grandson) and we’re ready to board… now if we just need time to gather enough funds!
Deborah ‘Mickeygander’ is a DVC Member and Michigander who frequently travels to Disney and other destinations blogging about her weekend adventures.