Room Tour: Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Cabin Photos & Video

Walt Disney World’s new Star Wars “hotel” has two types of rooms: standard cabins and 1-bedroom suites. In this review of Galactic Starcruiser’s accommodations, we’ll share photos & video from inside a less expensive of the two, pros & cons, whether these can comfortably sleep 4-5 adults, and more.

Those are air quotes around Star Wars “hotel” because that’s something of a misnomer–even if it’s how the vast majority of potential customers will refer to it and assume that’s what it is prior to booking. (Which is precisely why Galactic Starcruiser has its own dedicated site and can only be booked over the phone.)

In reality, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is more like more like a cruise on land, with all-inclusive food & non-alcoholic drinks, similar staterooms, immersive entertainment, and live action role-playing. This is why our 4,000+ word, spoiler-free Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Review barely even touched on the rooms, whereas our normal Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews dedicate about half of their text to the topic.

Another way that Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser differs from normal Walt Disney World resort rooms is the cost. Don’t get us wrong–there is a significant premium for the Disney brand, theme, and on-site location. The Star Wars “hotel” would take that to the next level were if best viewed as a normal hotel, minus the air quotes.

The room you’ll see in this review & tour cost cost $6,634.32 for a party of 4. We shared the room with another couple, friends of ours with whom we regularly travel. Sarah and I paid a total of $3,317.16 for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser–or $1,658.58 per person. For more thoughts on this expensive pricing, see Is Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Worth the High Cost?

For the exact same dates, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort would have cost $1,470 total, or $735 per night. Of course, the critical distinction is that the Poly is very much a hotel, and while it offers daily entertainment and programming for guests, it’s not the same. Nevertheless, we’ll use other on-site Walt Disney World resorts throughout this post to provide an imperfect comparison. Just know that this is an apples to orangutans situation.

Before we dig into the substance of the resort room review, here are some basics about guest cabins aboard the starship Halcyon. Per Walt Disney World, the starcruiser features 100 well-appointed cabins and suites, each one offering an atmosphere of elegance, style, comfort, and exclusivity.

Your Star Wars story continues even in your cabin or suite. There, you can relax in comfort and gaze out your window as ships, planets, stars, and other breathtaking galactic sights float past on the majestic canvas of the cosmos. (In case it’s not clear, those are very much Disney’s words and not mine.)

Each Standard Cabin is fitted with furnishings and fixtures designed to ensure comfort while traveling throughout the galaxy—including a pullout table and a TV with entertainment from your home planet—and a window with a view out into space.

Specifications

  • Sleeps: 4 to 5 passengers
  • Room Configuration: queen bed, 2 berths (bunk beds) for one adult each and a wall pull-down bed for one adult (if sleeping 5)

Cabin Amenities

  • Mini refrigerator
  • Hair dryer
  • In-cabin safe
  • Phone with voicemail messaging
  • Interactive TV
  • H2O Plus spa, bath and shower products

One-bedroom Galaxy Class Suites feature a living space complete with an integrated seating area and have all the comforts of Standard Cabins plus a double vanity bathroom, bar area, 2 windows with views out into space and a few extra surprises.

Specifications

  • Sleeps: 4 passengers
  • Room Configuration: queen bed and 2 wall pull-down beds for one adult each

Cabin Amenities

  • Mini refrigerator
  • Hair dryer
  • In-cabin safe
  • Phone with voicemail messaging
  • Interactive TV
  • H2O Plus spa, bath and shower products

Note that the high-roller suite only sleeps 4, whereas the standard cabin sleeps 5. This is actually not particularly uncommon with suites versus standard hotel rooms at Walt Disney World, but it’s still odd to me. You’d think more space would equal more guest capacity, but apparently not.

Room size is one of the most common reader inquiries we’ve received, so let’s start with that.

Based upon our rudimentary measurements, there’s about 200 square feet of usable room space. For context, the Value Resorts at Walt Disney World are ~260 square feet. Rooms at the previously-discussed Polynesian Village Resort, among the largest at Walt Disney World, are ~450 square feet. (See Hotel Room Sizes at Walt Disney World for a full rundown.)

For such a relatively small room, the bathrooms are quite (arguably disproportionately) large.

This reminds me a bit of the Tower Studio at Disney’s Riviera Resort, which has an incredibly economical living area, but inexplicably large bathroom. (Those rooms are 255 square feet, so probably slightly larger than this after the entire space is accounted for.)

Speaking of inexplicably large, that describes the shower in the standard cabins at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.

I didn’t do a good job of capturing it in the photo above, but it extends the full length of the vanity and toilet area. Perfect for bathing a Bantha, I suppose.

The standard cabins definitely present smaller than they actually are due to the layout. Beyond the bathrooms, there’s the way that the bunk beds are recessed into the wall.

This makes the room more economical with its space, so to speak. Two of the beds aren’t included in our square footage number above because you can’t walk around them. If counted towards the total, the standard cabins in Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser should be almost as large as a Value Resort room.

Speaking of the bunk beds, they are deceptively large. Certainly more spacious and longer than we expected after seeing photos and concept art prior to the opening of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser’s opening.

In fairness, no one in our party was exactly “large.” The fact that 4 people, all of whom are under 6 feet tall and weigh less than 175 pounds each (guessing on that one, still haven’t found a polite way of asking our friends if I can weigh them) found the bunk beds comfortable and sufficiently sized may not be saying much.

However, we’ve also heard from a number of others who are larger. The prevailing sentiment was similar–the bunkbeds are “surprisingly spacious.” One reader even said her 6’5″ spouse was able to sleep in the beds. That height is probably pushing it, but the point stands that humans of most heights will fit in the bunk beds just fine. (Families of Wookiees might want to seek alternative accommodations, or multiple rooms.)

Speaking of which, the bunk beds and pull-down bed (which is much smaller and probably only suitable for someone well under 6′ tall) use funky sleeping bags instead of normal bedding. These are actually pretty cool, perfectly functional, and will be undoubtedly popular with kids–hopefully the gift shop starts selling them soon!

In general, we have heard a lot of sentiment that the standard cabins in the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser are “surprisingly spacious” from other guests.

No offense to those offering this feedback, but I’m going to discount it. In large part, this early assessment is coming from people who have followed this project closely, saw concept art, knew this was going to be like a cruise cabin, etc. As compared to photos, the Halcyon’s rooms do appear larger in real life. That’s subjective, but “feels true.”

For newcomers to Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser who are first learning about it now, or otherwise will have expectations based on pricing or comparisons to other hotel rooms around Walt Disney World, these rooms will likely appear and feel smaller than expected.

Whether the room size is ~200 square feet or ~260 square feet, it’s small. It just is. No amount of space-saving innovations or trickery to maximize the usable area of the cabin materially changes the equation. Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser’s standard cabins are small. (Never a good sign when the majority of my room photos are shot with a fisheye lens!)

In fact, I’d argue that the standard rooms aboard Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser do a worse job of utilizing their footprint than do the redesigned rooms at the Value Resorts.

With those, one of the beds converts into a table when not in use, which is both functional and increases the open area of the room. The bathrooms also have better balance, and take up less of the square footage. In addition to that, there are a lot of little functional upgrades and little features. From my perspective as a hotel reviewer, all of this is quite noticeable–these things immediately stick out.

However, there’s still the question of whether it’s all noticeable to an actual guest over the course of staying in the Halcyon and using the room during the 2-night immersive experience.

Largely, no. We spent barely any time in the cabin, which seems par for the course with Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. While the same could be said for a “commando tourists” staying at regular resorts, we often find ourselves in the room eating breakfast, taking a midday break, or even relaxing on our non-parks day.

None of that exists with the Halcyon. Included breakfast is offered elsewhere and taking a midday break eats into story/adventure time. About the only things you’re doing here are sleeping and the ole SSS routine.

The only major exception I could see to this is with a group doing elaborate costuming and makeup, or multiple outfit changes per day. I’d probably advise against that in the first place as a time-waster for most, but it’s going to be integral to the experience for some. In that scenario…I’m not really sure. Breathing room and space for getting ready might become more of an issue.

The more apt comparison is probably to Disney Cruise Line’s staterooms, many of which are under 200 square feet in size.

That’s not just similar from a size perspective, but also the experience being more analogous. Even then, we spend far more time in our stateroom aboard DCL, on average, than we did during our Galactic Starcruiser stay.

For our party, the size of the standard cabin was no issue whatsoever. There was sufficient space for storing our luggage and navigating the room, especially given how infrequently everyone was in there simultaneously, outside of when we were asleep.

My main annoyances revolve around features. Unless hidden in a secret compartment of the ship, there was only 1 USB outlet in the entire room. This definitely caught us off guard given Disney’s recent push to add these to redesigned resort rooms. Also, while there was ample luggage storage space, the same cannot be said for the contents of said suitcases. Be prepared to live out of your bags for your time aboard the Halcyon.

If you want to better visualize the layout (or see details I forgot to photograph) of the standard cabin, here’s the room tour Sarah shot of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser:

Speaking of little annoyances, the toiletries are in wall-mounted pumps. This is done throughout Walt Disney World now, and was a move done under the guise of environmentality. We are mostly ambivalent to this, recognizing that in reality, Disney did this to cut costs–but the outcome of less waste still exists.

Many of you are, ahem, far more “passionate” about this subject than us. In addition to being upset about the loss of packaged toiletries, there are some concerns about tampering. Something tells me no one is dropping $5,000+ to play a practical joke involving shampoo, but perhaps I’m too trusting.

Regardless, I can understand the frustrations on this front. It would be one thing if this wasn’t happening simultaneous with higher prices and other nickel & diming. (In defense of this practice at Galactic Starcruiser, there is a provided tin of face clothes and foaming bubble masks–for now–which is a nice touch.)

Although I forgot to get a photo of the panel, there are also buttons for ‘do not disturb’ and to request housekeeping. Unlike at other Walt Disney World hotels, that’s not an issue at Galactic Starcruiser. Presumably, since it’s a 2-night stay with security as you enter, there will not be daily room checks, either.

Turning to some of the unique features of the Halcyon, each cabin has a pullout table and a TV with standard entertainment (didn’t get a chance to check out the Resort TV situation) and a “window” with a view out into space. The table, pictured above at the bottom of the frame, is largely useless. It feels like an afterthought, as do the footstole-style chairs.

In keeping with the overarching story, what’s visible out your “window” reflects that’s shown in other “windows” around the Halcyon and on the bridge. Meaning that if the ship jumps to hyperspace, you’ll see that in your portal, too.

There’s also the D3-O9 Logistics Droid, which interacts with you via an panel on the wall. D3-O9 seems a bit like the coming “Hey, Alexa” service on steroids, with the ability to brief guests on mission elements, details, and more.

Built centuries ago by Chandrila Star Line’s founder, D3-O9 has a lot of knowledge and opinions. According to Walt Disney Imagineering, she’s advanced Artificial Intelligence and is the next frontier of storytelling. D3-O9 is currently being treated as a “limited playtest” and Walt Disney World has repeatedly emphasized that D3-O9 might not always be available.

D3-O9 was a surprise hit with us. Not the interactions, those were clunky and felt fairly rudimentary rather than advanced. Perhaps if we used her more (I suspect a big role D3-O9 fills is involving guests in the story who spend more time in the cabin) it would’ve been more fluid.

Rather, D3-O9 was great for her dry humor and wit. The amusing “bedtime story” she told us at the end of a long day was perfect, and just another way Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser manages to thread the needle with levity.

By contrast, we were really looking forward to the “window” offering views into space, and it was only okay. Not that I expect this to look real, but even suspension of disbelief is difficult. Most of the time, there are too many reflections, distortion, and odd ‘bleed’ from the way details are displayed.

With that said, I did go back to the room at one point to grab something, and was struck by how peacefulness of the portal, and the stars’ light illuminating the room. It was a serene moment, further underscoring just how different these cabins are than all other rooms at Walt Disney World, both in practicality and purpose.

Ultimately, that’s really what makes it so difficult to review the cabins at Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. This isn’t a real resort, and the rooms are certainly not what a lot of people would expect at this price point. While the service and attention to detail are top-notch, this is most definitely not a luxury hotel in any traditional sense of the term.

Even with that and all of our other caveats out of the way, the rooms aboard Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser do not disappoint in any of the ways you might expect. Although small, the rooms are perfectly serviceable given the nature of the experience. The bunkbeds are sufficiently spacious for adults. The bedding is comfortable and high-quality, with quilted texture to the pillows and bedspread–plus a runner!

The rooms are not the least bit sterile or cold, instead having plenty of fun details and features–just not always the most functional ones. If anything, that’s the most surprising “miss” for us; even after redesigning so many rooms to address common guest complaints, Disney still made a few mistakes with features and layout.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Thoughts on anything covered in this room review and tour? What do you think of the size, features, or layout of the standard cabin? After reading or seeing firsthand accounts of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Resort, has your perception of it it changed? Excited to step aboard the starship Halcyon, or is this ‘immersive experience’ not for you? Would you prefer a more conventional hotel stay at a Star Wars-themed or decorated hotel? Do you agree or disagree with my 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!

27 Responses to “Room Tour: Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Cabin Photos & Video”
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