Aerial Look at former Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Hotel

Aerial Photos Provide Glimpse of Former Galactic Starcruiser Hotel

The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, once the pinnacle of Disney’s immersive experiences, now sits silent and untouched, as new aerial photos reveal. On January 1, 2025, X user @bioreconstruct shared updated images of the now-shuttered Starcruiser hotel. The photos, taken from above, show the facility frozen in time, a stark reminder of its short-lived journey through Disney history.

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The Galactic Starcruiser opened with great fanfare on March 1, 2022, offering an unprecedented level of interactivity and themed entertainment. Guests paid as much as $2,500 per night to live out their Star Wars fantasies, from wielding lightsabers to dining alongside characters from a galaxy far, far away. But despite its groundbreaking concept, the Starcruiser closed its doors just 19 months later, on September 30, 2023.

Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro reflected on the closure, candidly acknowledging its shortcomings: “It didn’t perform exactly like we wanted it to perform,” he said. “Despite the fact it was a never-before-seen experience and raised the bar, we thought it was time to sunset this in September.”

The numbers tell the story. According to reporting by Forbes, the boutique hotel, with just 100 guest rooms and a maximum capacity of 502 passengers, could generate up to $13.5 million per month—on paper. But maintaining the immersive, cast-heavy experience came with significant costs. Bookings, which needed to remain consistently strong to support the business model, faltered after the initial wave of curiosity waned.

The Galactic Starcruiser was a monumental investment, with an estimated $400 million spent on its development over nearly a decade. Yet, in just over a year, the experience went from hyperdrive to a $300-million write-off. While it garnered attention and admiration for its ambition, its niche appeal ultimately clashed with Disney’s mass-market business model. As D’Amaro noted at the J.P. Morgan investor conference, “It’s a boutique hotel, it’s 100 rooms. If you think about Walt Disney World, it’s actually got 30,000 rooms. So this is very, very small in the context of what we deliver at Walt Disney World.”

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As of now, Disney has not announced plans for the property, which remains largely untouched since its closure. The aerial photos provide a bittersweet look at the Galactic Starcruiser, standing as a testament to both Disney’s bold creativity and the challenges of delivering such a high-concept, high-cost experience. Fans and industry experts alike will be watching closely to see what comes next for this corner of a galaxy not so far away.

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