The Outrageously Expensive Failed Star Wars Hotel At DisneyWorld Is About To Be Converted Into Office Buildings

I think the 'Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser' might actually go down as one of the biggest failures in the history of the Star Wars franchise when it's all said and done - especially when looking at everyone's expectations vs reality.

From the original concept art and descriptions of the themed hotel, it seemed like the actual greatest experience a long-time fan could ever imagine. They made out the hotel to be this all-encompassing, role-playing adventure that put you right in the middle of that galaxy far, far away; you'd be able to choose between different roles for your "character" to make sure everyone's journey was unique, there would be dinner shows featuring alien musical artists, Droids and Wookiees would be roaming the halls at all hours, and you'd even get to see Kylo Ren and Rey have a big lightsaber fight during the grand finale after the First Order "boards the ship" and takes you all hostage. As childish as it is, it sounds like a literal dream to me, and if I were still an actual kid? Forget about it....I'd think I died and went to heaven. 

When the price tags and room tours came out, though, and everyone realized you'd have to pay a fortune to stay in a glorified Star Wars themed closet.... 

....we all wrote off that dream pretty quickly. Even the Disney Boys didn't have the balls to ask THAT much of Portnoy's wallet. There was just no chance in hell that was ever gonna be affordable to me, nor was it affordable to most people, considering the 'Galactic Starcruiser' was open for just one year before closing its doors for good.

Shortly after shutting down, a FOUR-HOUR video about the Starcruiser from YouTuber Jenny Nicholson went super viral - and it was pretty damning....

Advertisement

TL;DR on that FOUR HOUR video (which I have watched in full): Not only was it gonna cost you an arm and a leg to get aboard the Starcruiser - it kinda sucked once you got there! Multiple tech aspects of the "mission" you were supposed to be on (aka the entire interactive part of the hotel) didn't work, many of the selling points from the marketing material seemed either intentionally misleading or completely fraudulent, and some of the seats for stuff like the dinner show didn't even have a view of said show.

Don't get me wrong - I've talked to people who got to stay at the Star Wars Hotel and had a GREAT time; I even know some people that were fortunate enough and loved it enough to go back multiple times….but by and large, it was a colossal failure on every level. 

Many of us were holding out hope that Disney would go back to the drawing board with this and figure out a way to convert the Starcruiser into some kind of one-day experience at the parks, where Star Wars fans could have a really cool immersive day going between 'Galaxy's Edge' (aka Star Wars Land) and the themed hotel - but apparently they're about to gut the place and turning it into office space for the Imagineering Department. Oh well. I can't even imagine the millions upon millions of dollars going down the drain there - maybe they could sell off the Star Wars themed props via auction to make some of it back. I'd certainly take a gander.

Luckily, the actual Star Wars Land rocks and lives up to the hype in my opinion. That 'Rise of the Resistance' ride is insane, and I thought flying the Millennium Falcon was a blast as well. Hopefully by the time the Disney Boys make it back to 'Batuu' they'll have added a bit more too; maybe a Star Wars pizza for Dave to try, or just a few new characters roaming around. I can't wait to venture back there one of these days….

P.S. This isn't even the saddest thing DisneyWorld is about to get rid of….

Advertisement

MuppetVision 3D, the final project Jim Henson ever worked on, is about to be replaced by Monsters Inc Land. I'm not gonna sit here and act like I was the biggest MuppetVision 3D fan the world has ever seen, and I definitely understand that Monsters Inc probably has a bigger reach with kids than the Muppets do in 2025 - but it was definitely a highlight of my trip to Disney as a four-year-old and those old school plastic 3D glasses are just as nostalgic as it gets, so it's just sad to see it go. They're letting the Muppets take over the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster as a compromise at least.