Disney Parks Blog shared an exciting announcement today! Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has been named one of TIME Magazine’s World’s Greatest Places for 2019. The list is completed annually and recognizes 100 destinations around the world that are ” breaking new ground, leading industry trends and offering guests an experience that’s unlike any other.”
Since Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened on May 31st, 2019 at Disneyland Resort, there has already been over 1 million guests that have visited! The expansion is the largest single-themed land in Disney Parks’ history. It is easy to see why the land has become such a guest favorite.
According to Disney Parks Blog, “TIME Magazine measured the land across quality, originality, innovation, sustainability and influence, and as we countdown to the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World Resort on Aug. 29, we look forward to giving even more of our guests the opportunity to explore the experience-based storytelling of this one-of-a-kind land.”
As we have recently chronicled, the new Star Wars hotel currently under construction will be unlike any other Disney resort in the world. It will be a fully immersive vacation experience.
The Star Wars Resort name was just revealed at the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Disney Parks “Imagining Tomorrow, Today” pavilion on the D23 Expo show floor.
It will be titled Star Wars:Galactic Starcruiser and will be a new, first-of-its-kind vacation experience where guests will check in for a two-night adventure aboard a starship! Once onboard, guests will interact with characters and actually become an active participants in stories that unfold around them.
Inside the Disney Parks “Imagining Tomorrow, Today” pavilion at D23 Expo, you can see a new model of the starcruiser – called the Halcyon. The Halcyon is a starcruiser known throughout the galaxy for its impeccable service and exotic destinations.
Full-Immersion…that’s what we have been promised with Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios and now also with the building of the Star Wars Hotel. We have documented what that will look like for Galaxy’s Edge when it opens next week, but what does that look like for the Star Wars Hotel that is currently in construction.
The resort will close guests off from the real world with projection windows displaying scenes from outside of the space cruiser, so a transportation system would need to do the same.
Disney has even released concept art of what the shuttle would look like, in story at least:
Well, here’s what that transport actually looks like…
It’s a heavily modified bus. Guests will enter from a jetway which will put them inside the sealed-off center section of this bus. They won’t see a driver, nor the outside world of Central Florida, at least not until they disembark at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
A look inside the transport from above reveals a limited number of seats, all facing inwards.
The inside of the transport is heavily themed, leading guests to believe they are in a space capsule on its way to a day of vacation fun on Batuu.
The experience is completed by large screens that act as windows out into space. This should make for a pretty neat arrival in Black Spire Outpost starting with seeing Batuu from space.
Is this a good decision by Disney to seam the hotel and Galaxy’s Edge together like this?
Staying in a Star Wars hotel is something that all fans of the Galaxy Far, Far Away have been waiting for. With the opening of Galaxy’s Edge just mere days away, this next phase in the Star Wars additions to Walt Disney World is sure to make the experience even more of a fan favorite. But what will the cost look like? WDWNewsToday has sources who have provided some information about what is being discussed about the new WDW resort.
“According to Disney, “This groundbreaking experience is unlike any resort experience you’ve ever seen. From the moment you board your launch pod, it’s a fully-immersive, multi-day Star Wars adventure aboard a luxury starship complete with high-end dining, space-view cabins and all of the exciting action you would expect from an authentic Star Wars experience.”
According to sources, pricing for the Star Wars hotel will be based around the full 2-night/3-day experience rather than per night (you know, like a cruise, but in space). If you’re going to stay here, it will be a time commitment as well as a financial one, as shorter one-night stays will not be allowed. Much like on the Disney Cruise Line, food, select beverages, and entertainment will also be included as part of the experience.
Cabin for one? Pricing for a 2-night/3-day stay starts at $3,300 for one person, or just over $1,000 per person, per day. Cabins do sleep up to five passengers, so there’s also the option of maxing out the cabin occupancy for a relatively cheaper price per person. A cabin with five passengers would cost $7,200, or roughly $1,440 per person, for a more feasible $480 per person, per day price range.
According to sources, rooms come in two sizes: a regular sized cabin and the larger “Captain’s Quarters” cabin. Each floor is set to have 32 regular cabins and two first-class cabins. This pricing is for the general, regular-sized cabins, as pricing on the larger first-sized cabins is still unknown.
Do note that these prices can change as the hotel is still months, if not years away from opening, and Disney Parks and Resorts might scale these prices up or down based on a combination of demand and occupancy projections. However, these numbers are the current ones being thrown around in discussions regarding the resort.”
So, what do you think? Are you excited to visit the Star Wars Hotel at Walt Disney World? Do you think the prices are truly out of this world or are they justified with this being such a unique offering? The good news is, you do still have a bit of time to save before it opens in time for the 50th anniversary of WDW.
Disney cast members make magic every day for guests visiting our theme parks. Recently, tens of thousands of Cast Members experienced some magic of their own as they were among the first to preview Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, opening Aug. 29 at Walt Disney World Resort. Were they impressed? Find out by taking a look at their reactions to this immersive new land below.
