Disney World introduces new Star Wars character for epic Starcruiser experience: 'This is not a hotel!'
If you thought Galactic Starcruiser would be a mere Star Wars-themed resort, your expectations are light-years off.
"This is not a hotel," stresses Imagineering executive Scott Trowbridge, clarifying that the two-night interstellar affair (opening March 3 — at nearly $5,000 a stay — just outside Disney's Hollywood Studios park) is "part video game, live-action role-play, immersive theater, and luxury experience all rolled into one."
Unlike a traditional hotel where weary parkgoers retire to relax and sleep, Trowbridge says Starcruiser is a place to "live a Star Wars adventure" alongside characters and locales lifted from the beloved franchise's movies, books, comics, video games, and TV shows — with some new faces in the mix, including ship leader Captain Keevan (below).
"We'll learn a lot more about her and her role in some pretty iconic moments in Star Wars history," he teases, adding that she runs the ship with "capability and professionalism second to none." But, just like the experience around her, "there may be more to her than meets the eye."
David Roark/Disney Captain Keevan will escort guests through 'Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser' resort experience at Disney World.
Starcruiser guests will book "departure times" and sync up with a fleet of others, but you'll navigate the narrative differently "depending on the choices you make" along a "multi-threaded set of interlocking and interweaving stories," Trowbridge says. "You may choose to affiliate with a certain group of scoundrel-type folks, so the story will play out differently for you than it would for somebody who's decided to become an undercover Resistance operative."
You'll be permitted to visit Disney's parks, but you probably won't want to, as your performance in things like light saber combat practice and crew-style bridge training can impact where you land when the ship docks.
The number of possible outcomes for your voyage? "I suspect we could calculate that, but it hasn't been important to me to know what that number is, because it's a lot," he says. "What I hope is that our guests don't come to this with a feeling of there being a number of options."
Like the universe, it should feel infinite.
A version of this story appears in Entertainment Weekly's January issue, on newsstands Dec. 17 and available to order here. Don't forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.
Hear more on all of this week's must-see picks in EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.
Related content:
