Two Days Aboard Disney World’s ‘Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser’ Hotel - Eater

"Welcome aboard Galactic Starcruiser, a windowless Star Wars space yacht forever moored in a galaxy far, far away alongside Florida’s Interstate 4 highway. It’s not quite Westworld by way of Naboo, but it’s the closest to playing pretend padawan that Disney’s offered to date. The hotel might mimic a starship but it operates like an earthbound cruise: Each stay is two consecutive nights with all food, activities, and entertainment included. Eating aboard the Galactic Starcruiser is not unlike eating aboard your average luxury liner, and the modernist tricks (Blue stuff! Smoke! Ice spheres!) might seem old hat to anyone who ordered from a high-end tasting menu in the early 2000s. Still, within the parameters of an intellectual property cruiser erected in Mickey Mouse’s Floridian backyard, the culinary program is, overall, a feat. Welcome aboard Galactic Starcruiser, a windowless Star Wars space yacht forever moored in a galaxy far, far away alongside Florida’s Interstate 4 highway. It’s not quite Westworld by way of Naboo, but it’s the closest to playing pretend padawan that Disney’s offered to date. The hotel might mimic a starship but it operates like an earthbound cruise: Each stay is two consecutive nights with all food, activities, and entertainment included. Eating aboard the Galactic Starcruiser is not unlike eating aboard your average luxury liner, and the modernist tricks (Blue stuff! Smoke! Ice spheres!) might seem old hat to anyone who ordered from a high-end tasting menu in the early 2000s. Still, within the parameters of an intellectual property cruiser erected in Mickey Mouse’s Floridian backyard, the culinary program is, overall, a feat. Disney’s new, slightly deranged hotel experience is the most fun you’ll have at Disney World. After disembarking, I made up for the vitamin D I’d sacrificed onboard by visiting the Magic Kingdom, where Cinderella Castle and Fantasyland felt banal and pedestrian compared to the ship’s intricately designed interiors; even Dole Whip was bland and uninspired after days of biting into sweet orbs with surprise centers. There’s some kind of magic in a bottle happening within that cruise-hotel’s walls and I, a middling Star Wars fan, somehow left inexplicably changed by it. It’s nothing if not aggressively inventive, which is remarkable for a franchise with this many corporate cooks in the kitchen. Despite some necessary story retooling that could streamline the experience, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is delightfully unhinged — the highest compliment I can give the biggest entertainment corporation in the galaxy." - Carlye Wisel