Launching on 1st March 2022 after being announced at D23 Expo in 2017 Galactic Starcruiser opened to great fanfare, offering visitors the chance to spend over 2 days in the galaxy far, far away travelling on the legendary Halcyon, a starship launched 275 years before and celebrating that venerable anniversary. The experience wasn’t cheap – $1200 per person per day, but to embrace that experience and allow yourself to be immersed in the story and the location would reveal the true value of the voyage; never before have fans been able to become so immersed and engrossed in a Star Wars story, and while it would certainly have its critics it was visionary, groundbreaking and incredibly popular with those who travelled aboard it.
Sat to the east of World Drive, just to the south of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the building is surprisingly plain. What lies inside couldn’t be more in contrast with its exterior; a gray oblong building with minimal signage from the road and a security gate to check you are who you say you are. Drive further round and the building is revealed, as is the entrance and Galactic Starcruiser sign where every guest poses for a photo before stepping inside.
At this point you’re still in the ‘real world’ of Orlando, and as you wait and shuffle slowly forward we eventually enter an open room, where a screen lights up and Mark Daniel (yes, the voice you hear at the opening of every Fantha Tracks podcast as well as a familiar face from Star Wars Celebration and Disney World) gives a brief rundown of what’s in store. From here, it’s the GFFA all the way as the doors slide open and we enter the shuttle that takes us on our way from the ground and up to the Halcyon.
The shuttle takes off, the treeline disappears and with a flash we’re in hyperspace for a few moments, and then there she is…the Halcyon, hovering in front of us as we approach and dock in the hangar bay, familiar music from The Rise of Skywalker playing as the lights change and the doors open to reveal the interior of the ship. It’s breathtaking; art deco design, sleek and clean, the vast Atrium laid out before us as we walk out in wonder. The air is crisp, the Bridge to our left, the entrance to the Sublight Lounge ahead. We’re not immersed in the story quite yet, despite being ‘in character’ and wearing the appropriate clothing, but the scale of the room, the quality of the build and design and the smiles on everyones faces is instantly alluring.
There’s so much to take in. The Bridge is broad and wide, the view through the main bridge window showing us numerous ships slowly drifting by, and here it starts to hit home. To badly misquote Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore but instead we’re in the Core Worlds, the Northern Dependencies to be precise on the Perlemian Trade Route in orbit above Chandrila. Every station is active, screens showing our location and as befits a luxury vessel like the Halcyon there are plenty of seats to take and enjoy the stunning views.
Walking clockwise around the Atrium takes you past a water station to the entrance to the Sublight Lounge. Opulent and beautifully lit, the Lounge serves the most incredible drinks (the Dagobah Vimlet was delicious, served in a beautiful glass while the Hoth Icebreaker was blue, fizzy fun). Want to learn to play sabacc? There’s a table in the center of the room which I played (badly, I’m not the best at games unlike my character the A-desandian free trader Jan Lomona) or booths to sit in and discuss the happenings on the ship, or life the universe and everything. It was here we conversed with Lieutenant Croy for 10 minutes as he tried to recruit us into the First Order, an interaction that was thrilling and very, very real.
Opposite the Sublight sits customer services (very handy when you’re datapad is on low power) and the Chandrila Collection, a non-Star Wars branded outlet with all manner of collectibles, from pins to lightsabers to costumes to jewelry. The staff were superb, completely in character as all crew were (you heard the phrase ‘my honour’ constantly as you are served, directed or helped) and the products available were superb. As collectors of antiquities from across the galaxy, you’d find yourself walking in often, checking the shelves for new trinkets or items new to the shelves.
Running around the top of the Atrium is a Mezzanine level, where the crew, the droids and the climatic moments of the storyline take place, while the end of the Atrium opens into stairs heading down from Deck 6 to Decks 4 and 5 where the passenger cabins lie, or an elevator. You could happily walk the corridors, passing numerous rooms and cabins and a prominent map showing the layout of the 100-cabin Corellian MPO-1400 300 meter long Purrgil-Class Star Cruiser. Attentive eyes would spot a tiny doorway, the quarters of the Anzellan Shug Drabor who designed the ship, one of a number of easter eggs. Readers of the Halcyon Legacy comic would find even more, on the stairs heading up to the Mezzanine level and in engineering.
Our cabin was located on Deck 7, cabin 327 (yes, like the platform) and inside were small but perfectly designed quarters that held everything you could need. A sizeable double bed sat in the center of the room, while 2 bunk beds were to the left. The window allowed a view of the outside, while a large screen faced the end of the bed. The bathroom held a shower large enough for 2, and a screen allowed the head of ship logistics D3-O9 to update the traveller and answer questions. So clever, and another level of immersion that kept you in the zone from waking up first thing to dozing off late at night.
Deck 4A is where the glorious Crown of Corellia lies, a long room with tables to the center and booths along the walls that served as home not only for the buffet and evening meal, but is where the ships megastar guest Gaya performs. The food is incredible, endless and satisfying mixing flavours, textures and colours to deliver food that genuinely felt like it came from the galaxy far, far away. The food was rich, strong flavours mixed to deliver food you’d never find on Earth, but on day 2 as the middle course of a five-course meal we had steak, and it was melt-in-the-mouth superb (so much so I was initially paying more attention to my steak than the action happening around me). The food and the service was 5-star quality, and when you watch every table get served at the same time by a clearly well-drilled serving team who leave the kitchen in unison and aim for their alloted tables so everyone in the room is eating at the same time, you know you’re in safe hands.
Engineering on Deck 4A close to the Crown was fascinating. Screens filled with information, puzzles to solve as a team and the grimy, steamy environment of an engine room make it the most workmanlike room on the Halcyon, but also one that was constantly buzzing. On our tour we met Chewbacca (better known as Dave) in here, hiding from the First Order who were on the hunt for the legendary wookiee, and eagle-eyed travellers would find graffiti etched in the walls by Han and Leia who honeymooned on the Halcyon.
As in real life, we were glued to our phones, although in this reality it wasn’t Instagram, X or Facebook we were browsing but our datapads that kept us constantly updated with Events, Communications, Profiles and more. Events steered us towards meeting places and happenings while Communications saw the main members of the crew (Cruise Director Lenka Mok, Captain Keevan, First Order Lieutenant Croy, Gaya’s rouguish manager Raith Kole, Force teacher Saja and crew member Sammie) message us to ascertain our allegiances. Profiles showed how familiar we were with these characters, while the datapad gave us puzzles to solve (especially while off the ship down on Batuu and Black Spire Outpost). One sadness; once the voyage wasover, the datapad (part of the Play Disney app) reset. Thankfully, screenshots managed to save a few key moments.
You can listen to me discuss the Corellian MPO-1400 Purgill-class star cruiser ‘The Halcyon’ and more with my co-host Paul Naylor on Technical Manual 8 of Start Your Engines.
There’s so much – so, so much – to discuss, from the intricate story (this is the ultimate Fighting Fantasy book come real) to the camaraderie to the open-mouthed wonder of looking out of the bridge and seeing Bespin, or a leap into hyperspace as we travel from system to system. The immersion is incredible, but the takeaway are the memories. This experience makes you ‘feel’ Star Wars. In isolation, many of the things that happen may seem faintly ridiculous; playing Sector Set (space Bingo) in the Atrium, watching Gaya and Ouanni perform Hayananeya in the Crown of Corellia, or listening to Lieutenant Croy sing a verse of Poverty of Love in the corridor as he crashed a Gaya Fan Club meeting, but as part of a wider story that takes place across two days it all makes sense. It’s pantomime, LARPing, Dungeon and Dragons, West End D6 in an environment that while evoking the spirit of Secret Cinema is arguably even more GFFA than a film set, where the turn of a corner could reveal scaffolding or a video village. Here there’s nothing but the three-dimensional reality of the Halcyon in glorious 360 degree colour.
And it’s not a hotel, no more than sleeping in your car could be considered a night at the Ritz Carlton. This is the experience that you’re paying for. No doubt an expensive, luxurious and bespoke experience, but to reduce two days of immersion to 6 hours per night spent in the admittedly very impressive cabin is to do the whole venture a huge disservice.
As the voyage of the Halcyon comes to an end (for now at least, major galactic wars and conflicts have disrupted her journeys through the stars in the past, so no reason why she can’t head for the Rim again in the future) I thought it would be helpful to look at some of the experiences of fellow passengers aboard Lady H, to give a flavour of what others thought of their time aboard the Halcyon.
Rebecca King
We were on the penultimate voyage, which was obviously sold out and also had a huge number of repeat voyagers on it, so the number of people in cosplay or at least world-appropriate bounds was probably at over 95%. I went with my parents and sister – the trip was a very belated birthday present that I’d been planning for over two years – we were originally signed up for an October cosplay-only sailing before the cancellation ruined our plans, but thankfully we were able to rebook. I am the only cosplayer and wanted us to go all-out so I put together fourteen outfits for the four of us – this summer was a LOT of sewing, but it was worth it. We had a family backstory – my parents were a former senator turned mayor of Hanna City and her husband a somewhat corrupt “merchant”-cum-smuggler, I was the Twi’lek owner of a chain of core-world cantinas wanting to rope Gaya in for a residency, and my sister was a resistance agent.
We all had slightly different storylines – I was all-in on Gaya and Raithe’s scoundrel arc, but also somehow ended up on the Saja storyline as well, and my sister did the opposite – committed to the Saja but ended up being pulled into the heist. My mum tagged along to various things, and my dad was all-in on the First Order.
I loved every moment – Gaya and Raithe’s storyline was both tons of fun with lots of comic moments, but also incredibly moving with some important things to say about the Twi’lek diaspora and Ryloth’s oppression that feel very relevant to the real world as well. The fact that this voyage was both the last for all of the attendees but also the last for the cast members playing every one of our main characters meant there was extra emotion for everyone throughout, and during our last moments in the cargo hold with Raithe and Gaya after retrieving the Hayananeya I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. Helping to take over the bridge to clear a path for Hondo to deliver smuggled coaxium through a blockade of First Order TIE Fighters was about as surreal as you can expect, and watching a fireworks display in space to a gorgeous soundtrack of John Williams at the end of the night made me feel like I was living in a fairytale. I genuinely got goosebumps helping Rey to open a Jedi holocron, and Captain Keevans final speech set off the waterworks too! I’ve done a lot of immersive theater, but NOTHING like this.
One fun little throughline for my experience was that my sister and I took lothcat toys with us, and they became an integral part of our characters. Not only did everyone remember their names, our servers started setting out food and water for them at the dinner table! I even had a running gag with one of the Stormtroopers who, it turned out, had a phobia of cats, and did you know Lieutenant Croy has a Lothcat too? He was a big fan, as was Ouilliani.
I genuinely didn’t think it was possible for the Starcruiser to exceed my expectations because they were LUDICROUSLY high, but it did in every respect. The design of the ship is beautiful and so immersive, with details around every corner, and the technology they have come up with – the bridge, the portholes, the lightsaber training, the climate simulator, the shuttles to and from Batuu – is mind blowing. The food is both delicious and so imaginative – it all tastes perfectly normal but is made in a way that looks alien, whether it’s an unexpected colour, texture or pairing. The cocktails in the Sublight Lounge were delicious and I managed to get a slot for the cocktail tasting on the second day which gave us lots of lovely little lore details about them. The cast were quite simply peerless – it really felt like they all knew this world, each other, their history and the stakes, and they were extraordinary at remembering all of our names, backstories and affiliations whether real or made up. The experience is expensive but you can see where every penny was spent – in no way did this feel “overpriced” for the experience that we got.
I know that sounds odd, but when we think of adults “playing” it’s often solo – like with video games. This was like a combination of D&D, LARPing and an immersive theater event, and it felt like being a kid again in the best way possible. I spent two days not using my phone except to take pictures. I was “checked out” of work and the real world in the way I haven’t experienced in probably 25 years (and I’m only 32!!). I wish I could have that feeling again. It did me a lot of good.
Catherine Schaff-Stump
My husband Bryon and I went on two cruises. He played Reynard Husheng, who was a 300-year old Jedi master Huli Jing AND the master thief/avenger of the High Republic who time traveled the old fashioned way, via being frozen in Carbonite. I played Eden Arborlane, ex-Padawan who accessed the World Between Worlds and tried to reinstate the philosophies of her master, and then after Order 66, lifted Jedi and Sith artifacts from the Coruscant Temple. Eden now works as a fashion designer and her time in the World Between Worlds has turned her into a Force prophet.
For our first trip, we travelled with two friends from Iowa. On our second trip, we were on our own. An interesting story, Eden was trying to shepherd Lt. Croy toward his destiny as one of the heroes of the Resistance. Alopex helped Raithe Cole and Gaya repatriate the Hanayaneya Stone and in the process, Raithe was convinced to take on the mantle of Alopex. Eden gave a map of the World Between Worlds and the Force treasures to the Saja so they would guard them.
The first time we thought the trip was wonderful. The first cruise was wonderful, and we really enjoyed it, but it was sort of like a rough draft for the second cruise. On the second cruise, the main actors ran with our storylines, and we had personal scenes with many actors. We really felt like we were the guest stars on the cruise, and we came away from that cruise glowing, feeling like we were truly part of the Star Wars universe. Special shout outs to the actors playing Saja Fen Runa, Raith Cole, and Captain Keevan here.
We are adults who already engage in a lot of play (I have spent much of my adult life costuming, roleplaying, and writing fiction), but I came away with a commitment to rekindling my love of acting, and in four years, when I retire, I am looking to find ways to get involved in producing this kind of immersive theater. I am now convinced adult play is one of the most important and overlooked therapies for healthy individuals.
Bryon is a child in the space age, and he ultimately wanted an adventure. The kind of adventure he wanted was impossible in reality, but his inner child had exactly that kind of adventure on the Halcyon.
Martin Keeler
So what is exactly was the Galactic Starcruiser? I think this is the question that the marketing team have struggled to articulate from the beginning, and to be honest I feel their pain.
I was lucky enough to travel on this cruise twice (first with my family and then with Mark Newbold) and both adventures were incredible, but how would I describe it? I will try, but it will be difficult…
It was expensive…but it was also excellent value for money. Here is the first paradox. I really struggled to justify spending the very large amount of money for a 2 night 3 day experience the first time but due to having an incredibly understanding family and the ability to tag it onto an existing holiday to Florida we committed. Once it was complete we unanimously agreed it was worth every penny – it’s high end, fully immersive, it clearly costs a fortune to run and even then they probably don’t pay the cast enough. Then we have the next issue – of course I wanted to do it again, but could you justify spending that amount when so many other things could be done with that money – the answer is no. However, it did become justifiable if you could group together with others and just pay your share. That is how my second trip happened and again it was worth every penny.
It felt “real” – When you watch the YouTube videos and the pictures online it doesn’t look that amazing. However, from the second you board to the second you disembark it feels incredibly real. I recently watched back one of my own videos with Mark where it basically looks like Mark is joining a conga line and dancing like he’s at a holiday camp. However, at that moment Mark was 100% committed to causing a distraction to ensure that some stolen Coaxium was not discovered – equally I was on look out for the First Order to do my best to head them off if they came looking – we were both completely in the moment and NOTHING would stop us on our missions.
The cast were next-level good – the way every single person involved is 100% committed to making things real and yet provide the best service is amazing. The main actors are brilliant at bringing you into the story, the team in catering (and cocktails – oh my goodness the cocktails are amazing) are attentive, knowledgeable and 100% in character. Also there are no small roles – Mark and I had the most amazing interaction with the person serving in the onboard shop that involved both general chat but also a reveal of secret merchandise that the First Order must not discover. Again I have never been in a gift shop where one of you has to guard the door whilst the buyer has the opportunity to purchase merch.
The story is great – the many threads that make up the full story are great. Whatever you chose to do works and ultimately draws everyone to the final “show” in a logical and fun way. It’s your story and the cast roll with it expertly, but also your story is part of a bigger picture and it’s your destiny to get to that end point. It’s really clever and, in my view, groundbreaking.
Ultimately it was a failure? Well, again in my view, yes and no. Clearly the business case didn’t seem to work and therefore it has to go down as a business failure. However, my understanding is that it also has some of, if not the actual, highest customer feedback of any Disney experience, so from a creative view point it must be classed as a huge creative success. I can only hope the success can be built on and the business side of things can be sorted out.
I’m really lucky to have cruised with some of the best people in the world and I shall take the memories of the fun adventures we had with me for the rest of my life. I must thank the cast and crew of the Halycon who I hope know how brilliant they have been. Thank you!
One last comment; as difficult as it to describe what the Galactic Starcruiser it’s really really easy to say what its not. It 100% is not the “Star Wars Hotel”.
Lisa Moses
So, I’m a mom whose husband is a Star Wars fan. He dragged his feet on booking the Starcruiser because he’s not a fan of the Sequel Trilogy and hadn’t heard good reviews. I really knew nothing about it, just that it was “like a cruise” but didn’t go anywhere. We went on 2 other trips after they announced closing, but as Captain Keevan says, “You never forget your first ship.”
I have two kids, 10 year-old boy/girl twins. They like Star Wars enough, especially since being boy/girl twins they get “Luke & Leia” comments a lot, but I wouldn’t call them fans. We really went into our first voyage completely cold. I knew to dress up, so we packed a couple of costumes we had lying around, but we didn’t put any real effort in. We didn’t look up any spoilers online, weren’t a part of any fan groups, nothing. We just showed up.
One of the first things that happened that first night is that we were wandering around the bridge and my daughter, Claire, accidentally pulled one of the levers that makes the ship go. One of the Crew immediately told Claire not to touch it, and even though the Crew member was exceedingly nice, Claire was already almost in tears. She’s just sensitive to being told she’s doing something wrong. Without skipping a beat, the Crew member told us to come back at 4.00pm. We ended up being the family picked to put the ship into hyperspace. It was such an incredible, lucky, moving first experience at the beginning of that cruise. It set the tone for the whole voyage.
You may hear a lot about the “getting to play as grown ups” part of the experience, but it’s the level of service I always gush about. Disney has always been great at service, but the Galactic Starcruiser takes it to an entirely different level. It’s a closed environment, so Disney can anticipate and meet EVERY. SINGLE. NEED. Especially with kids, I can’t think of any other experience, anywhere in the world, where I’ve been able to just relax with my kids and not have to be in charge of anything. Food was available, unlimited, and delicious. Every event was scheduled on our Datapads. The kids had a tech problem? Datapad out of juice? No worries! Passenger Services had a devoted tech team and a portable battery. My kids even came back from engineering bleeding for some reason, and I found them at the Passenger Services desk getting Band Aids.
On our first Batuu excursion, we had a minor issue, and not only did the Crew fix it immediately, but someone from the Crew found us on Batuu to make sure that everything was running smoothly. We felt like VIPs everywhere we went. So much of what you pay for is a level of service that you just don’t get anywhere else. We didn’t just get fastpasses for Smugglers’ Run and Rise of the Resistance — a Crew member literally walked us onto the rides.
Let’s not forget the 12 hours of immersive theater, from 4.00pm to 10.00pm every night. I had no idea what immersive theater even was before experiencing the Starcruiser. The actors don’t just have a script, they drew each of us into the action and got to know us as people. My daughter Claire immediately took to Lt. Croy, and she was his right-hand throughout the journey. I couldn’t resist Raithe’s charm (who can? ) and helped him pull off the heist while simultaneously working with my son to help the Resistance. If we weren’t Star Wars fans before the cruise, we are now. Everyone feels like we’re part of the Star Wars story. I wish Disney did a better job marketing the Play Disney app and its functions on Batuu/Galaxy’s Edge. The missions are really fun even separate from a Starcruiser trip, but we never would have known to do them had we not experienced them through Starcruiser first.
I’ve thought a lot about the Starcruiser in the past 5 months, especially since I’m a psychologist and I’m always trying to understand human behavior. The Starcruiser exceeds expectations for just about everyone who experiences it because there are so many components that make it psychologically addictive. The best of these is the personal attention and level of service — meaning someone is always there watching to make sure that your needs are met. It’s a very primitive and basic desire we all have. It’s also why people are really torn up about the closing.
I’m just floored that Disney was able to create an experience that shows such care, attention to detail, and a level of perfection you rarely see attempted let alone achieved by any company. The space/ship in and of itself is a technological masterpiece. The attention to detail is unreal.
People are hungry for leadership and connection, two things that the Halcyon offers in abundance. On the Halcyon, the Galactic Starcruiser Team really guides your experience, so that you can just let go of control and have fun. So many people are working so hard to make it a safe and enjoyable environment, that passengers are able to make friends with each other and even have meaningful, emotional interactions with the Cast and Crew. I guess it’s not so different from the Star Wars universe, where themes of leadership and connection abound. Even the slogans really hit these points, “Together As One” and “May the Stars Light Your Way.”
My family will never forget the Starcruiser because we were really and truly able to just connect with each other – Disney took care of the rest. That experience is one that parents never, ever get. And it’s priceless.
Cindy Woods
My first trip was May 4, 5 & 6, 2022 because my friends Ren and June got married on May the 4th, so they’d be celebrating their anniversary on board. So it was Ren and June — who were going for the live action roleplaying aspect of it; me, the Star Wars geek; and our friend Alan, the self-proclaimed “Star Wars Expert.” He was looking to find the flaws, to get a peak behind the curtain, if you will.
So we went. My character, Tansyn Rann, was a citizen of the planet Arbra. She and her lifemate ran a very successful business (“Outer Rim Artisans – bringing art from the Outer Rim to the Inner Worlds”), which we recently sold to a conglomerate for lots of credits. While my lifemate was looking to retire and pen the great galactic novel, I wanted an adventure. He gifted me with passage aboard the Halcyon.
As far as costuming, I’m what you call a “found costumer.” I put store bought in-universe looking pieces together. My friends Ren and June, both experienced costumers, made most of their smuggler outfits. My friend Alan brought a black cape which he wore over his t-shirt and jeans/shorts.
Our first trip, I was a little overwhelmed. I’m a reticent person by nature, not very comfortable around people I don’t know. So none of us really dived into the story lines. Our path was “smuggler adjacent.” We were never invited to join Raithe in the heist, but we did complete missions through our datapads.
One of my favorite moments from our first trip occurred at dinner during Gaya’s concert. We were sitting along the outer edge of the Crown of Corellia dining room. Gaya was performing Rock Star Queen, and we were on our feet dancing. I looked towards the entrance and noticed Chewbacca crouching at one of the pillars. While my brain was thinking “geez, he shouldn’t stay there, the stormtroopers could come in any minute and see him,” my body was walking over to him. I leaned down and said “Get behind me.” I proceeded to slowly dance to the other side of the room, waiving my arms to try to distract from the fact that I, a 5’4″ woman, was attempting to shield the 7′ tall Wookiee from being seen! Before I knew it, Lenka Mok walked up to the right of me, my friend June to the left of me, and the 3 of us walked/danced Chewie across so that he could hide behind the rest of my friends, closer to the kitchen.
My mind was literally blown, and has remained blown even to this day. I truly was not expecting the level of immersion and how well it was executed. For however many hours we spent there, I really felt like I had left the planet, that we were on the Halcyon. When we got to our cabin, I was amazed there was a TV remote in the room. I even took a picture of it. Was the TV ever turned on? Not on either of my trips.
And the “once in a lifetime” trip for I and my friends became a “we gotta do this again” discussion for 2023.
My second trip was the infamous May 3, 4 & 5th 2023 cruise. I wasn’t sure what to expect, what with all the social media celebrities that were going to be cruising. This trip I traveled again with Ren and June; we added our friends Sharon (not a big Star Wars fan, but wanted to see what all the fuss was about) and Thomas (an even bigger Star Wars geek than I am, as well as being a master costumer).
I was Tansyn Rann again from Arbra, but this time I had my own mission and companion. Backstory time: the planet Arbra featured prominently in several issues of the Marvel comics run of Star Wars. Princess Leia and the Rebel Alliance were establishing a base on Arbra, when they ran into the native fauna: the hoojibs. Hoojibs were cute, rabbit looking creatures. They had a single antenna with a bulb on the end. Hoojibs fed on energy, which gave Leia and the rebels lots of headaches initially; their weapons were drained of energy, etc. Over time they discovered that the hoojibs were sentient; they communicated telepathically. Once the rebels and the hoojibs communicated, there were no longer any problems and the rebel base was allowed to stay. So, this trip, the Hoojib Ambassador, Jiboth, traveled with me. We were investigating rumors of hoojibs been taken off Arbra and sold, and some had turned up at the creature stalls on Batuu.
This time, each of us dived deep into the immersion. We were only all together at mealtimes. I helped to get Chewie hidden and off the Halcyon on night one; I helped Raithe with getting the coaxium to Sammie and Chewie on night two. I had give-away items, too. I don’t make things (not like my friend June does), so I found these pendant necklaces on a cheap website. The pendants were tubes, filled with iridescent flakes which, if kept in sunlight, or hit with a u/v light, glowed. In the comics, the hoojibs normally fed off power crystal rods in a hidden cave on Arbra. I figured that the rods must eventually wear down. Artisans collected the crystal shards and made pendants that could be sold. My character had an art export business. It all worked! I gave the pendants out to cast and crew and other passengers, telling the hoojib story as I went.
The second trip was so much more rewarding. Interacting with other passengers as well as the cast and crew was a large reason why. Coming home, June and I were already talking about making it a yearly excursion. One week later, Disney announced they were closing the Halcyon. We tried to book one more trip before closing, but it wasn’t in the cards for us.
I had chatted a little bit to folks on the Facebook groups before my trips. It wasn’t until the closing announcement that I really began chatting in the Facebook groups with folks I’d met on the May 3-5, 2023 cruise. Then I started chatting with folks I’ve never met… I wanted to drown my sorrows in retail therapy. I regretted items I never picked up from the Chandrilla Collection store. I saw that folks were posting requests on one of the Facebook groups, so I added mine. People I didn’t know, I’d never met, contacted me and offered to pick up that pin I was missing, or the D3-09 figure that came out after my cruise. I offered to pay them up front; they wouldn’t take my money until they had the item securely in hand. I mean, who does that? Only in this community have I seen such generosity.
So what have I taken away from the experience?
That, even as an adult, we need to have safe places where we can play. Disney imagineered the most amazing experience into existence, and I will always be thankful; unfortunately they did not understand what they had created and had no idea how to market it. (“Star Wars Hotel“… bah!) One can only hope that they will figure out a way to retool the experience, make it more affordable, so more folks can experience a streamlined version. There’s lots more Halcyon magic that can be shared!
Starcruiser people really are the BEST people!
Richard Poore
I just got done with my lunch period at work, and I wanted to watch something, anything about the Galactic Starcruiser. Unfortunately, what I got was a video declaring it a failure. While it is discouraging and disappointing that it is closing, it is not a failure. Only someone who has never been on the Halcyon would say it is a failure. Was there a failure to market it? Yes. I don’t know how you’d market this to actually show how amazing the Galactic Starcruiser is when you are there.
It is the purest form of Disney magic I’ve ever experienced. You are in a Star Wars story. But even that isn’t all of the magic. The cast is beyond exemplary, and the guests I had the pleasure of interacting with made the experience even better. After going once, they could charge me anything, and I’d sell whatever it took to go back for another cruise.
The real shame is the fact that there is a multitude of Star Wars fans that may never get an opportunity to experience something like this. It is so good, I just can’t explain how good it is. It changed my life. Maybe saved my life. I can’t remember being this happy. And it was the Galactic Starcruiser that did it.
May the stars light your way, my friends.
Brian Shapiro
I’m a dentist and a member of the 501st Legion and I travelled almost a year ago on the Halcyon. Star Wars is not my wife’s cup of tea, so I travelled with my friend, Robert Denmark, from dental school. He had no experience with roleplay and cosplay. As a result, to make it easier to roleplay and improv, I had us go as a pair of galactic Xenodontists. I was Dr. Dentin Stardriller DDS and he was Dr. Max Tar-Tar DDS. We were graduates of the Top Gum Academy located at my family’s Stardriller Base on the planet, Dentooine.
We created in-universe dental uniforms. These included mirrors, oversized toothbrushes, and oversized pliers because we treated creatures of all shapes and sizes (Wampas, Rancors, etc). We also had teeth extracted from different alien species that we kept with us because we were feeling a connection to creatures through their teeth! I also carried around a Worrt, named Mort. He was a special patient that needed constant attention because he had a gold cap, a lot of plaque buildup, and was in the middle of being treated with braces (Worrthodontics). Lastly, I brought a few hundred packets of floss that had “Floss” written on them in Aurebesh. We handed these out to the characters, crew, and passengers while telling them “May the Floss be with you,” or “The Floss is strong with you.”
Our trip was a blast. We got to the terminal at 11.00am and within minutes of handing out flosses, everyone started to know who we were, including crew already on the ship. Once on the ship, we did a lot of the resistance and smuggler storylines. We were with Chewie a lot and I gave him one of our oversized 15” toothbrushes. He loved it and hugged me whenever he saw me. On day 2 he came up to me, opened his mouth, and mimed that he had been brushing! When we talked to one of the Saja’s about the connection we felt through teeth, he brought us into the climate simulator where he showed us the connection we were experiencing was The Force, and we used the Force to move a rock!
One special interaction we had with fellow passengers involved a family of young kids. The kids saw we were dentists, and asked us to check the teeth of their pet Porgs. We did on night one, and every time we saw the family, the kids would share their adventures. As a result, on the last night, my friend and I went to their table at dinner and gave them dental mirrors. We told them they were now honorary dentists and could take care of their Porgs’ teeth when they return to their home planet. Needless to say, they and their parents were thrilled.
We couldn’t believe the amount of detail and how immersive the experience was. We thought it would be a hotel that had some “Star Warsy” details and some actors to make it look like Star Wars, but we never imagined how much story there would be. Gaya is the perfect example. We didn’t see her until she came in to perform in the Sublight Lounge. I thought, ok they have a singer dressed as a Twi’lek to make her look Star Wars. What I never imagined was how fully developed she was as a character with an intriguing backstory and associated missions. That turned out to be true of everything and everyone. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the white glove service on the ship and the food that was far beyond “theme park” quality.
We definitely have a lifetime of memories and stories to share. I think about the trip all the time, and it’s been 11 months since I went. It was a great way to step out of my comfort zone as far as roleplaying in public, and that has helped me with my trooping in the 501st as well.
For more on the secrets of the Halcyon check out Numidian Prime’s fantastic deep-dive article, the Cosmic Shibe delves into the experience and listen to Sandro as he says goodbye for the final time.
That’s all for now, and perhaps one day the Halcyon will fly again but until then remember that there’s always…
Ta’bu e tay, together, as one.
