Disney World Files New Construction Permit for Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser
Four months after it permanently closed, Walt Disney World has filed a new construction permit for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. This covers details of the development; plus rumors, speculation, and wishful thinking about the future of the former resort building and potential for the the interactive multi-day experience to be converted from a cruise on land into something else.
This new permit isn’t totally surprising. Last fall, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro teased that “something will happen” when asked about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. That has added fuel to the fire of fan excitement about the “future” of the Starship Halcyon, with many of the Starcruiser’s superfans hoping for an announcement as soon as the 2024 D23 Expo.
When discussing Starcruiser, D’Amaro also indicated that “not everything’s going to work. What did work, though, is we took creativity and storytelling to a completely new level, to a level that had never existed before…It didn’t work commercially. And so, when we realized that, you just make a call and move on.”
With that said, “something will happen” is pretty meaningless on its own and open to projection of one’s own desires and hopes. The optimistic among us might think this is a hint of a reimagining into a regular resort, which would be “something” major happening with Starcruiser. The more pessimistic might think it’ll rot in plain sight, which is also not nothing. Of course, there’s a vast expanse of middle ground between those two extremes.
Personally, I don’t put much stock in a vague line that’s purposefully open to interpretation. D’Amaro knows a lot of fans are passionate about Starcruiser, and also that they’ll take whatever “signs” they can get that it has a future. Over the last few years, Disney doesn’t exactly have a great track record with its teases–not even the ones accompanied by concept art.
Saying “something will happen” feels like an extension of that, meant to excite fans and generate hype without actually doing anything. In this case, D’Amaro isn’t actually even saying anything either. It’s purposeful, and it has done the trick in getting fans to hold out hope and piquing curiosity about what the future might offer.
Sorry, just trying to be a realist. I would love nothing more than to be proven wrong in the coming months with an actual announcement about the repurposing of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. And perhaps exactly that will happen, thanks to this new permit filed in late January 2024…
The new notice of commencement permit by Walt Disney World lists is Sunstate Awning & Graphic Design, Inc. as the contractor. This is a company based out of Sanford, Florida that specializes in–you guessed it–customized awnings made of canvas or metals for commercial or residential locations. According to the company, their awnings are both “gorgeous” and “imaginative.” Wow.
From what I can ascertain by perusing their website, Sunstate Awning & Graphic Design specializes in custom awnings and only custom awnings. They haven’t expanded into the hotel conversion business, they don’t build pools, or repurpose spaces. So Sunstate is not being brought in to transform Starcruiser into a regular resort. That is, unless all it needs for that is an awning. (That isn’t the case–it would need much, much more.)
Given that Sunstate Awning will be erecting an awning, what realistic possibilities does that leave? Well, a quick search of Google reveals that some Spirit Halloween stores do, in fact, have awnings. And a custom awning would be quite nice, as they could have “Spirit Halloween” printed right on that, instead of a temporary banner affixed to the facade.
Joking aside, it’s honestly difficult to say what purpose the awning could serve. Starcruiser already has a rather large concrete porte cochere, so this almost certainly is not for the front of the building that would welcome guests. In fact, we can safely rule out this having a guest-facing purpose because of that.
Another possibility is needing an awning on one of the sides of the building for staging purposes. If there’s going to be construction, inside and they need somewhere to store materials and do prep work, this is plausible. Or, if they’re going to remove fixtures from the building and want somewhere to place them on a short-term basis without exposure to the elements.
While possible, that strikes me as implausible. This is normally the type of thing that would call for tents and not necessitate permitting. (Staging sites have triggered permits before, though.)
Installing an awning over the room pictured above is also plausible to protect it from weathering or rain. Not necessarily because there are specific plans for this space, but because Walt Disney World wants to leave its options open and has learned its lesson from past instances of letting things rot in the elements (SpectroMagic, Lights of Winter, etc.)
It’s also conceivable that this awning is somehow for Cast Members. That the building is going to be used for backstage offices and they want to connect it to the already-existing support structure without exposure to weather. As I’ve said before, I think it’s highly likely that Starcruiser becomes backstage support or offices for Disney’s Hollywood Studios at some point.
Another simple explanation would be a spot for security on the exterior of the building. All of these are possible–when Walt Disney World mothballs a building, they don’t simply abandon it. There’s some degree of a Cast Member presence at Starcruiser already–this could be to improve or extend that.
As for the possible realistic future of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, there are a few plausible options. The first is, as discussed above, it becoming offices for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The park currently has a bunch of backstage support facilities that are in prime locations for expansion, and relocating those to Starcruiser–and building more around it–could be incredibly valuable.
I know this isn’t the “sexy” answer or what fans are hoping for, but I would love to see the footprint of Disney’s Hollywood Studios expanded, and walkways connecting Toy Story Land, Animation Courtyard, and Sunset Boulevard. That would be great for traffic flow, but it can’t happen due to what’s currently backstage. It needs to happen, though, to improve the capacity of the park.
Another less-exciting possibility is that the building sits empty for a couple of years. At some point, Walt Disney World will determine that the ongoing costs of security and upkeep exceed those of demolition. I wouldn’t expect that to happen for at least a few years, though. Disney has a habit of sitting on its hands, rather than acting expeditiously in these scenarios.
If the building is demolished, my hope is that’s done in order to replace it with a new structure that’s more efficient for offices, parking, training, etc., for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Once again, same goal here as the above–relocating the current backstage offices to free that valuable real estate up for theme park redevelopment.
Then there are the more exciting options. Some fans have speculated that Walt Disney World could use the restaurant space with Starcruiser for a dinner show. This makes sense in theory. After all, that dinner show has already been developed and the dining room exists inside the Halcyon. Given the popularity of Oga’s Cantina and other dinner shows at Walt Disney World, it’s safe to say it would sell out even at $100 to $150 per person. So why not recoup some costs?
The problems pertain to infrastructure. Parking is insufficient outside the Starcruiser, the whole building and grounds would need to be staffed and secured, and bus service would need to be available from the parks. Those are a lot of added costs that would quickly erode the profitability of a dinner show held inside the Starcruiser building.
However, that doesn’t mean a dinner show won’t happen. The obvious alternative would be building one in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge–in the existing space that was set aside for a restaurant over by Oga’s Cantina! The venue could be larger and correct viewing angle issues with the dining room aboard the Halcyon. It wouldn’t have the same infrastructure issues as the Starcruiser, as the existing land and theme park would support it.
The appetite for a Star Wars dinner show is endless, and this would be a license to print money. Given all of that, it makes sense to build a new venue within Galaxy’s Edge. Not only that, but it would round out Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, strengthen the land, and improve its numbers. It’s too obvious not to do.
One stopgap option that I could see happening is debuting a dinner show at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, testing and adjusting there, and then adding a purpose-built venue in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge a couple years later. If D’Amaro actually is sincere in his sentiment that “something will happen” that’s not just boring backstage facilities, my best guess is that it’ll be this.
The turnaround time from conception to announcement to opening such a dinner show in Starcruiser would be measured in months rather than years, which would also give Disney a revenue stream and stopgap solution. They could even announcement the permanent show at the same time as the interim one, coming up with some cute in-universe backstory for how the Halcyon was resurrected or whatever.
There has been a lot of chatter about this, all of which suggests that Walt Disney World has been actively exploring ideas for a Star Wars dinner show. Whether any of this sees the light of day for guests is completely unknown at this point, and just because Imagineering is doing tests doesn’t mean management will bite. They’ve already been “burned” once by Starcruiser, so there’s likely a level of apprehension here beyond that of other projects.
With the benefit of zero inside knowledge, our bet is a dinner show held inside Starcruiser that ‘departs’ from Galaxy’s Edge is launched at some point in late 2024 or 2025. This is the announcement we could see happening at the 2024 D23 Expo, or perhaps even earlier. Since the structure already exists, the turnaround time from announcement to testing the concept could be short (by Disney standards).
Should that go well, we’d expect construction to begin on a proper venue inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge for a dinner show to open in 2025 or 2026. Either of those things could be accompanied by a soft reboot of the land that does more to break the timeline and introduces more characters. (The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda appearances have been a smash success; it’s beyond time to do more.)
Beyond that, I wouldn’t be surprised if other elements of Starcruiser make their way into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The “what” of this really depends upon how much of the R&D is rolled into the accelerated depreciation.
There’s a lot of tangible technology that was produced via Imagineering R&D that Walt Disney World and Disneyland might want to reuse for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (or even elsewhere). Things like that fancy new lightsaber, the Yoda effect, and other showpieces.
There’s a chance of those being added to new entertainment along the catwalks in the land, Savi’s Workshop, Oga’s Cantina, and elsewhere. (Another potential 2024 D23 Expo announcement!) So much of this was originally intended for the land, and it’ll just be a matter of Disney expressing an appetite to invest more into the land. (Again, I could absolutely see that happening with a soft reboot that breathes new life into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It could still be the blockbuster land that they wanted.)
Ultimately, most of this is pretty irrelevant to a new construction permit for an awning at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. How we get from “gorgeous and imaginative custom canvas (or metal) awning” to “soft relaunch of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that includes a dinner show originally tested at Starcruiser” is, uh, quite the leap!
That’s a massive amount of speculation, but honestly, it comes with the territory. I’d rather lay out what I think are the realistic possibilities rather than leave this open-ended and let fans get carried away with running through more implausible scenarios. It’s not going to become a regular resort or even Disney Vacation Club. It isn’t going to be transformed into DisneyQuest: Star Wars Edition.
I’ve been a Disney fan for a while, and I already see history repeating itself here with the same type of speculation and wishful thinking that dragged on for years with the Adventurers Club and its diehard fans. Starcruiser parallels that interactive experience in a number of ways, and I hope that doesn’t extend to its superfans being strung along for too long with the false hope that the thing they love will return. (That was rough to watch/endure.)
As for Starcruiser, the building does have potential future uses, and who knows, maybe it’ll even become a single-day diversion with much of what it previously offered rather than an overnight, multi-day Star Wars ‘cruise on land.’ But I think the most plausible outcomes are testing a dinner show or backstage Cast Member facilities–perhaps both! How an awning fits into all of that, I honestly have no clue. It’s not nothing, though, and opens an intriguing door for the future of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What purpose do you think this new construction permit for an awning serves? Think D’Amaro is sincere in saying “something will happen” with the shuttered Starcruiser? Are you expecting an announcement at the 2024 D23 Expo? Think that the company will convert it to a regular resort or reopen it as something else? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Maybe they’re going to convert it to an entertainment area that’s on a Star Cruiser.
They already have a restaurant. Then they could convert part of it to shops. Shops need awnings. And the rest an interactive section. Like what they already had except it’s toned way down
Or they could do the simple & easiest solution by turning it into a deluxe resort
I think your dear Megatron will be in college before Disney figures this out.
A scenario that I envision (hope for?) is a two staged process:
1. Re-open Starcruiser, not as a hotel, but an “excursion” experience with elements offered a la carte (e.g., training academy, dinner, etc). The volume of guests served would be much higher than what was possible in a hotel model, and the price would be a fraction of the two-day experience. From what I’ve seen, the experiences they created for Starcruiser are high quality gems that would appeal to many guests if priced right (and didn’t require a two-day commitment).
2. Build a large resort-style Star Wars themed hotel next to Starcruiser with a walkway to the DHS. By “resort-style” I mean a place that people would want to stay even if they aren’t huge Star Wars fans. Ie, not a windowless bunker, but a resort hotel that feels like another planet, but has everything guests want out of a vacation – pool, spa, various restaurants, windows, outdoor space, beautiful landscaping , and fresh oxygen. Starcruiser would be connected and available for various excursions as in phase 1. I feel like the key is for the new hotel to feel fun and relaxing. I love that Galaxy’s Edge and Starcruiser are 100% on theme, which means they maintain the dark, foreboding spirit of the movies. But as a resort hotel, people want a vacation experience too.
So in a nutshell I envision Disney not abandoning Starcruiser but dramatically expanding it, via a fun, relaxing resort around it.
Probably convert it into office space and move the Cast offices out of the old animation building. That is a pretty good size chunk of backstage that could be used
I’m so glad paid to attend this attraction so that I didn’t have to.
For the price differential, I feel that reading your report and photos of your Starcruiser experience was a worthy proxy for the actual thing. And now they are preserved for posterity no matter what happens next.
Thank you for the vicarious thrills I derive from all your Disney adventures.
I’m a big believer in Occam’s Razor and that leads me to conclude this is going to be an office building for Hollywood Studios. The fact is the facility itself looks like a 1970s era government building in some Communist country in Eastern Europe and that lends itself to Disney using it for office space.
obviously the awning is there to shield ribbon-cutters from rain thereby circumventing the possibility of a beloved blogger capturing a photo of a CEO beneath an umbrella,..
I’ve heard so many good details directly from various credible persons – and yet here we are months later and there’s no announcement of anything yet. As such, my pessimism is rising, as the momentum that clued Disney into the fact that people actually were passionate about the Starcruiser wanes bit by bit. (Though not entirely – the fan run ‘Halcy-con’ sold out of tickets in only a few days). On the one hand, I’d love to see the Lady H flying again. On the other hand, I treasure the unique experience that I had. At this point however, I’m more curious to see what happens than I am hopeful.
When I was there in December, I found it notable that there were still signs on property directing to the Star Cruiser. Signs with nothing else, at that. Signs that have multiple other items on them I can understand not removing right away, but Starcruiser dedicated Signs still being there struck me as odd. Figured they’d be gone if they had no intention of reopening it in some manner.
Hi Tom,
Please want to ask you check my very loose math on why GSC will not be a “dinner show”.
Assumptions:
1) WDW sitdown restaurants generally enjoy substantially more than the industry standard 25-33% product- to-price profit margins. So let’s suppose Disney charges $100 per guest for a GSC dinner show and pockets an absurd $50 per guest operating profit (not revenue). Let’s even go further and presume $50/guest profit is after *all* other GSC-specific overhead like Cast Member salary, transportation taxes, etc etc.
2) Suppose the halcyon dining room – which you have seen (I have not) – has a maximum capacity througput of 1,000 customers per day. Based on what you and others have written, it seems like maximum capacity would be lower – but let’s assume that breakfast, lunch and dinner are all fully booked at $100 per person, resulting in $50/per person profit for Disney (per above).
$50 profit per person X $1,000 guests per day =
18.25 million per year.
That would be an absurd amount of profit for one reastaurant, but setting that aside for a moment… How would 18.25 million of ostensible operating revenue compare to a $150 million tax write down Disney takes by not using the property for profit?
While the error in math is that you’re comparing the recurring annual restaurant profit to a one time total tax write down without multiplying the first number by some amount of years, Tom is right that WDW might be able to have *both* by shifting non-profit admin offices to the old building and putting the dinner in Hollywood Studios,
Also, if no one else is going to say it, I will: “IT’S A TARP!”
I think your revenue and profit numbers make some very charitable assumptions, but perhaps they’re not that far off. And who knows with Disney pricing these days–nothing surprises me anymore!
I’m not an accountant, but I don’t think it’s either/or. To be sure, Disney could not reopen Starcruiser as a resort that reuses all of the infrastructure and assets for a like purpose. But that’s not what they’re going to do, and why they’re able to accelerate depreciation–so long as there’s still some value on the books or reinvestment is made, they can use the facilities up to that “lesser” purpose.
Hi Tom,
Welcome your expert thoughts of what it might mean that Imagineer (apparently retired?) Dave Ellis is named in the permit.
Ha, I didn’t notice that before–good catch.
My guess would be that these permits have a boilerplate form, and he has been listed as the person to whom notice is addressed on an old version of this that was copied over without updating. In other words, I wouldn’t read anything into it. I doubt an Imagineer is coming out of retirement to work on some awning activations. Probably just a goof-up.
Having (alas) never made it on the starcruiser after hoping the cost for a family of 5 would eventually decline enough to afford it, I’m not totally sure this is feasible. But is it possible the awning is to create a shaded walkway BETWEEN galaxy’s edge and the starcruiser? Then it could be an in-park restaurant or interactive walkthrough attraction like Moana, and would not require parking. I recall reading that the guests were transported to the starcruiser via a “transport” that was actually a bus, so I’m not sure if the distance is walkable or not, but if so that could be what is going on.
The distance is easily walkable, and it’s not that far from Galaxy’s Edge ‘as the crow flies.’ The problem is that there’s Cast Member parking and road in between, and I cannot imagine that they’d want to make that walkable as a result. It would need to be staffed with security and other measures would need to be taken to ensure safety. Plus, you’d see a lot of backstage area en route to Galaxy’s Edge.
So I really don’t think that’s it.
Disney could easily do Jedi training since they already had a room with trainers set up. They could also do intergalactic food tasting for lunch and dinner. They could do missions with the performers like they did on the bridge. Meet and greets with the Mandalorian, Grogu, and Chewie. Arts and crafts for the kids. The possibilities are endless. A Star Wars version of Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. They have enough space to add more market stalls. They could add a show like the Enchanted Tiki room but more like the cantina from Star Wars with a band playing.
While I get the comparison of “Adventurers Club” fans to GSC fans – I think it’s an understatement. GSC changed so many lives. The fact they the majority of the crew got matching Halcyon tattoos, and fans spent months writing letters and calling to try to save it … even devising their (our) very own large scale meetup/convention — shows just how much this experience was loved by all who got to be a part of it. Fingers crossed Disney will do right by all involved.
It’s definitely not an understatement. Adventurers Club did reunions for a decade after closure, up until 2019. If you look back at archived forums, you’ll find lengthy (100+ page) threads about “saving” the AC, with rumors of its comeback, etc. etc. I can’t speak to how many AC fans have tattoos, but I’d bet it’s not zero.
Social media is one big difference–it’s easier for fans of Starcruiser to connect and grieve. With that said, I would imagine that there were actually far more diehard AC fans than Starcruiser. That’s not a judgment about which is better, just the likely reality given the duration and cost. Starcruiser had a far bigger barrier to entry, and wasn’t around nearly as long.
I’d agree with your last point, though. Disney made a mistake by not creating a spiritual successor to the Adventurers Club and it’d be a shame for the same to happen with Starcruiser.
I expect corporate/private/wedding events. They require little parking and the theming would be highly desirable. Wonders of Life served that purpose after closing to the public, and this venue offers far more appeal.
There’s a video on youtube about a minigolf course near WDW, where they interview the manager/owner of the place. I don’t actually recommend the video, but my point in mentioning it is to say the minigolf guy GOES OFF on Disney. Says his prior job was working as a attraction artist at WDW. Said he’d have like seven different bosses telling him what shade of brown to use for the paint, and it became so frustrating he left to take his talents to making a minigolf course.
It’s difficult to defend Disney against such verbal tirades during periods when extended delays and expensive misfires seem commonplace within the House of Mouse. I found the Galactic Starcruiser fiasco particularly mystifying in the face of WDW needing attention in much more obvious places, such as the clearly poor condition of the monorail.
I never believed any of the commenters on previous posts who said Disney would have to demo the site or let it rot for tax purposes. I also think repurposing as offices or event space is very unlikely, since the issues Tom noted regarding parking and guest/CM access would be logistically prohibitive (though I completely agree with Tom on the need to relocate backstage facilities for park expansion).
I’ve been saying/commenting from the initial closing announcement that it makes most sense to make use of or augment the existing shuttle system to/from Galaxy’s Edge for an upcharged guest experience. The dinner show concept is the most obvious candidate for re-use, but I don’t think it has to be *just* that. A rebooted (and no longer free) Jedi Training Academy, enhanced meet-and-greets in former guest rooms (like those at Star Wars Launch Bay but more special, like sitting down with the Mandalorian and feeding Grogu), a “space-side” bar/cantina, and/or cool new merch construction/customization opportunities (like Savi’s or Droid Depot) could be on a menu of options available either a la carte or via package deals. Because just taking the Halcyon shuttle itself feels cool and exclusive, any/all of these would instantly become the most sought-after ADRs, based on both limited supply (think of Universal’s Hogwarts Express at 1% current capacity) and huge guest demand.
Thank you for your pragmatic expectations. I am in the realistic perspective category versus optimistic/pessimistic groups, and I agree with Hollywood Studios benefiting from some rearraging.
I also feel like if there is a dinner theater show, sadly my money is on that it will open before The Cake Bake Shop.
“I also feel like if there is a dinner theater show, sadly my money is on that it will open before The Cake Bake Shop.”
LOL. I dunno, never underestimate Walt Disney World’s ability to take a really long time to accomplish something that could, seemingly, be done on a quick turnaround time.
See also, the Little Mermaid puppet show reopening almost a full year after the official announcement and 4+ years after it closed.
I was at Disney World in December, and a cast member in Galaxy’s Edge (at the shop where they now have all the Halcyon’s leftover merchandise) said that she knew of plans Disney had to reopen the Halcyon in some form or other, but she wasn’t allowed to say more. That’s not much better than the vague “something will happen” line, and it’s probably just a rumor, but her use of the word “allowed” did leap out at me— that sounded more like she’d been told something official than just “I heard, I heard, I heard” circulating among the cast.
It’s not something I’d bet money on, but I at least add it to the swirling mix of vague hints and wishful thinking currently living in my brain. (It’s probably unrealistic of me, but I’ve got my fingers crossed for reopening with the one-afternoon version of the story they did in the media preview.)
Cast Members in Galaxy’s Edge have definitely heard things, or perhaps even seen them–things that have actually happened or that are actively in the works. And they’ve probably been told by Imagineers, managers, etc., not to repeat that and are thus not “allowed” to say anything.
However, nothing has been greenlit (last I’ve heard). That’s where the disconnect exists. Cast Members assume that the things that have happened are a sign of what will happen…but that is not necessarily the case. Disney does a lot of testing and planning that never amounts to anything.
You may have mentioned it (I apologize for just scanning through your post), but could the Starcrusier, or part of it, be used as an event venue?
General thought: It’s better to be pessimistic and be wrong than to be optimistic and be wrong.
That has come up before, but if I recall correctly, it was not an original idea that I proposed as a possibility. More like a reader suggesting it as plausible, and I agreed. If that didn’t happen before, I guess it is now.
I don’t know what the operating expenses would be for the building given its location and security needs, so perhaps it wouldn’t be viable for weddings–but I could see Disney Meetings salivating at the possibility of getting corporate clients with deep pockets in here. The interior itself also also has a ton of great spots for photo shoots, so it would be ideal for weddings if that’s somehow workable.
I still think whatever public-facing future use it might have is temporary until they figure out something within the land itself.