Walt Disney World to repurpose Galactic Starcruiser hotel for Imagineer office space

Disney's Star Wars-themed hotel to be repurposed

Disney opened the Star Wars: Galactic Star Cruiser near Disney’s Hollywood Studios in March of 2022 but closed its doors in September of the following year. Disney now says they will repurpose the building into offices for their Imagineering staff.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Not too long ago, in a galaxy really, really close by, there was a theme park hotel that would plunge guests into an amazing sci-fi adventure.

That hotel was the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser near Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios.

The hotel opened in March 2022, but closed its doors the year after in September.

Now, Disney officials said they plan to repurpose the building into offices for the Imagineering staff, the workers who conceptualize the organization's projects and bring them to life in the parks.

Inside Disney's new Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser

Walt Disney World's Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is on the edge of opening and FOX 35 is giving you an all-access pass to this first-of-its-kind immersive hotel experience!

What was the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser?

The backstory:

The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel was a themed experience that allowed guests to live out a Star Wars adventure.

"There would be characters going around, you'd meet the captain, you'd meet aliens on board," said Matt Roseboom, from Attractions Magazine. "There was a space bar, space restaurant with a show. But things would of course go wrong. The First Order would invade the atrium, take over the ship, and you had to help fight them back. Lots of little details to it."

Theme park expert Tharin White, with EYNTK.info, said the amazing experience came with a hefty price tag for a set two-day stay.

"If you are asking someone to shell-out $5,000, and they're only getting two days out of it, there's not a lot of re-rideability for it," he said.

Experts were holding out hope that one day the power of the force would bring guests back to the Galactic Starcruiser.

"I'm hoping it's temporary," Roseboom said. "I'm hoping someday it's turned back into a Star Wars hotel, some kind of specialized hotel."

A new home for Imagineers

What we know:

Disney now says they will repurpose the building into offices for their Imagineering staff. Those are the workers who conceptualize the Disney projects and bring them to life in the parks.

Disney management told the Imagineers last October that they'd be working in the hotel space.

What we don't know:

Disney currently has not shared when the repurposing work will start or when the refurbished building would open.

New projects in the works

What's next:

White said there was a lot in the works at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

"It's going to be helping out some of the projects happening at Walt Disney World," he said. "We have Tropical Americas coming, and right across the street from that hotel will be the new Monsters, Inc. Land, so it's nice that Imagineers are going to have a bigger home base, here."

First Order stormtrooper patrols outside the Sublight Lounge at the media preview of the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Experience, on Feb. 22, 2022. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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