This morning Disney Parks shared a new video featuring a discussion between five Imagineers who are working on the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser immersive resort experience coming to Walt Disney World next year. In the bullet-point list below, I’ve enumerated the most interesting tidbits and factoids to come out of this conversation.
Watch Behind The Scenes: Disney Imagineers Talk Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser | Walt Disney World:
- The opening title card confirms plans to open Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser in the spring of 2022 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World.
- Walt Disney Imagineers Scott Trowbridge, Ann Morrow Johnson, Wendy Anderson, Sarah Thacher, and Anisha Deshmane gather together around a table similar to what we saw in the Disney+ behind-the-scenes series Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian.
- The Imagineers say they have been working on this project for five and a half to six years.
- They restate that the experience takes place over two days and two nights.
- When arriving at the Galactic Starcruiser experience, you’ll go through a “terminal” and board a launch pod, which will dock with the Halcyon starcruiser, where your story begins.
- The journey starts with a muster (a formal gathering) talking about what guests will see as they travel the galaxy, followed by interactions with the various characters aboard the ship.
- Activities include lightsaber training, bridge training, and meals. The story continues to unfold over the course of those two days.
- New food offerings “truly feel like they’re from a different galaxy.” Some of the different menu items are inspired by the individual Star Wars planets like Mustafar.
- There will be live entertainment such as a musical show performed by aliens during dinner on the first night.
- Creating the lightsaber training activity was “a fun challenge.” Guests will learn to anticipate and block blasts.
- As part of the journey, guests will also experience Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in new ways. A transport flies up to the ship, gathers guests, and takes them down to Black Spire Outpost. The story from the Halcyon continues to play out “on-planet.”
- Your reasons for being on Batuu vary depending on who you’ve talked to, who you’re helping, and “who trusts you.” You might be working for the First Order or Hondo.
- Even riding Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run means something to the ongoing narrative. You’ll learn who the buyer of the Coaxium is and deliver it later on to characters on board the ship.
- “We’re able to show people things about Batuu they wouldn’t see as a day guest.” Connections will be drawn between the shop owners in the Marketplace and characters on the Halcyon.
- The adventures on-planet will pay off back on the ship, but if you want to just be a tourist and not participate in the scavenger hunt-type activities, you can do that as well. “You can choose to be as casual about this as you want or dive as deeply as you want to.”
- Both Galactic Starcruiser and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge were in development at the same time, so the stories were designed to overlap. They also are designed to thread together with “the rest of Star Wars storytelling.” Characters from this story will intersect with the broader canon, and the experience is designed to appeal to Star Wars fans who come at the franchise from all different avenues, such as the movies, TV shows, novels, and comic books.
- Character interactions will include discovering someone in a hidden part of the ship, helping someone stow away, throwing someone in a brig, being tasked with smuggling something, and helping someone dock their ship. You can “choose who you want to be loyal to.”
- They really emphasize the idea that more casual fans and people who don’t necessarily want to participate in the immersive theater nature of the experience can also enjoy Galactic Starcruiser, because they can choose how active they want to be.
- There will be droids and different alien species roaming the Halcyon. The captain of the ship is not human. Rey, Chewbacca, and Kylo Ren will appear. There will be conflict and action, not just “sitting around talking.” The laser blasters at the front of the ship “might come in handy.”
- Guests will also have the opportunity to create their own characters and dress in full costume and even makeup (if they want to).
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is set to open in the spring of 2022 at Walt Disney World.