The Force is Strong With Disney World's New 'Galactic Starship' Hotel
Prepare to travel to a galaxy far, far away.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Have you ever wanted to travel the galaxy on a luxury cruiseliner?
Or train to be a Jedi like Luke Skywalker? If so, you're in luck, as Disney is planning a galactic adventure like none other. With an ultra-immersive two-night themed hotel experience, guests will be able to live aboard an actual starship.
The highly anticipated hotel, dubbed "Star Wars: Galactic Starship," does not yet have a set opening date, but Disney recently revealed some initial details.
Video: See What a Trip to Star Wars: Galactic Starship Will Be Like!
Related: 'Star Wars'! 40 Facts from a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Disney World is already transporting guests to a galaxy far, far away with the company's newly opened 14-acre park expansion "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge." This new site opened on Aug. 29 in Disney World's Hollywood Studios — and the new hotel will serve as an ultra-immersive addition to create an out-of-this-world vacation experience.
Here's what we know so far:
After checking into the hotel, visitors will board a launch pod that will whisk them through space to their destination: an intergalactic starship called the Halcyon. The transport pod is outfitted with windows where guests can watch the stars whoosh by as they sail through space as they approach their destination. Once on board, guests will spend roughly 48 hours living their best "Star Wars" life. Disney is limiting each stay to only two nights, during which guests will interact with beloved "Star Wars" characters as well as other "passengers" aboard the ship.
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There will also be a variety of activities to participate in, including a "port day" at Batuu, the fictional planet of Disney's "Galaxy's Edge." Kids and grown-ups alike will also get the chance to face off against a training remote in a lightsaber-training exercise, just like Luke Skywalker did aboard the Millennium Falcon in the original film "Star Wars: A New Hope".
There will also be hidden spaces on the ship where visitors will be able to meet characters who might be chatting and planning in secret. It's possible those loyal to the rebellion may even call on guests to become heroes.
Disney has emphasized just how interactive the new "Star Wars" land is, and the hotel takes things even further. The choices that visitors made aboard the Halcyon will "affect how your 'Star Wars' story unfolds," Disney's Imagineers said during a presentation at the company's most recent D23 fan event, which took place in August in Anaheim, California . They also teased that any nascent connection to the force guests may have could prove valuable during their stay.
There are many details about the hotel still to come, including when it will open and how many rooms it will have. But Disney did say that every room will have an epic view — a digital screen that will "look out into the cosmos." So be sure to save your credits, as a two-night stay in a cabin on the Star Cruiser (which sleeps up to five) starts at $3,300.
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Amy Thompson is a Florida-based space and science journalist, who joined Space.com as a contributing writer in 2015. She's passionate about all things space and is a huge science and science-fiction geek. Star Wars is her favorite fandom, with that sassy little droid, R2D2 being her favorite. She studied science at the University of Florida, earning a degree in microbiology. Her work has also been published in Newsweek, VICE, Smithsonian, and many more. Now she chases rockets, writing about launches, commercial space, space station science, and everything in between.