On March 1, the first official guests will make their way to the Halcyon for its maiden voyage. Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, a first-of-its-kind themed entertainment experience, is part hotel, part cruise ship, part theme park and all Star Wars. The simple fact is that nothing like Galactic Starcruiser has been attempted before, but that means that going in, there are a lot of unknowns.
I was lucky enough to spend some time onboard the Halcyon before it opened to the public, and while I certainly didn’t learn everything, I was able to pick up a number of important details that guests are going to want to know. Whether you’ve already booked your trip or are considering doing so, here are six things you need to know before entering Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.
You Won’t Be Able To Do Everything In One Trip
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is a massive two-night experience where guests will be able to insert themselves into a Star Wars story and become part of a galaxy far, far away. As part of the story that is unfolding, guests will be able to take advantage of a variety of activities, from lightsaber training to piloting the Halcyon itself. However, even spending two days on board won’t be enough to allow every guest to actually do everything there.
This is because as each guest makes decisions and takes certain actions on board, they will find themselves taking certain paths within the larger story. These paths will send you to do certain activities at certain times, but they’ll also result in you not doing other things. At its most basic, choosing to aid the Resistance means you’ll lose access to some of the adventure that the First Order is on, and vice versa. If you really want to see it all you’ll need to come back, possibly multiple times. This may be tough considering the cost.
You’ll Need To Pay Attention To Your DataPad
When you board the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, you will be issued a datapad, which is basically a cell phone that you’ll use on board the ship. This is a vital object that you’ll want to keep with you at all times. That’s because the datapad is your link to the story happening around you, and it will tell you where you need to go and what you need to do.
As you get to know the various characters on board the Galactic Starcruiser, they will get to know you as well, and they may send you a message on the datapad to perform some kind of task for them. If you’re not paying attention, you could miss the message, which in turn could end up impacting where your story goes from there.
Wandering Around The Halcyon Is Basically Required
While many of the events of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser are set in time or will be delivered to you via datapad, others are a bit more spontaneous. The Halcyon contains several characters, from the ship’s captain to the hired entertainment, who you may come across as you hang out in the atrium or simply walk the halls.
You can engage them in conversation, or they may choose to engage you, and that conversation could lead to a story event. Or you may simply find yourself in the right place at the right time to witness something especially cool. If you spend all your down time in your room, you will miss things.
Your Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Experience Is Connected To Your Starcruiser Story
The Galactic Starcruiser story is not limited to on board the Galactic Starcruiser either. When the Halcyon lands on Batuu and you disembark to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, you’ll have an experience in the Star Wars land unlike anybody else there. Bringing your datapad along will result in you being given missions in Galaxy’s Edge as well, and completing these missions will mean changes to your story when you’re back on board the ship.
Beyond that, simply going on the attractions at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be a somewhat different experience. Halcyon guests will have a special version of the Disney World MagicBand that will be used onboard the ship to access consoles and rooms as part of the trip, but they will also communicate within Galaxy’s Edge. When Hondo Onaka speaks to you on board Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, he may say something different to you because he’ll recognize that you’re a guest on board the starcruiser.
Dinner Is A Set Menu
The story of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser takes place largely on board a cruise ship, and on any cruise, one of the highlights is the food. That is very much still the case here, as the food on board is quite delicious and also unique, but what you don’t have on board is a great deal of choice. Each night’s dinner menu is set, consisting of small portions of a variety of dishes.
The menu is still able to deal with any dietary restrictions, so if you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you may get a slightly different version of the meal (and this is still Disney World, if there's something you don't like they'll fix it), but it’s not designed to make a la carte selections.
Galactic Starcruiser Has A Unique PhotoPass Option
The thing that makes Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser stand out from the crowd in the world of themed entertainment is that guests are encouraged to become part of the story. This means they are also encouraged to be on board the Starcruiser in costume, and if you decide to go all out with a look, you’re going to want to get some good pictures.
The good news is that Disney World PhotoPass photographers will be onboard the Starcruiser offering photos in the same way they do in the parks (and you’ll need to purchase the Memory Maker in the same way). But there is also an exclusive option that can be ordered when you book: the Chantilla Star Lines Portrait Experience. It gives you a full 30 minutes to spend with your very own photographer to get pictures of your party all over the ship, including in places that your storyline might not otherwise take you.
Reviews for the new experience at Disney World are mostly positive, so a lot more people are probably at least considering the trip. There’s a lot going on with the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser and while, as I say, you won’t see everything, by knowing what to expect, you can see as much as possible and get all the fun that comes with it.
