by Jason Snell
We weren’t prepared for the Galactic Starcruiser
Speaking of Disney, Zombies, Run! developer Adrian Hon went to the immersive Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel/roleplaying game in advance of it closing next month and wrote a detailed description of the experience.
Hon’s ultimate point, which he made on Mastodon, is that “The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel is the future of entertainment, but we weren’t prepared for it.” Or as his (very long!) post concludes:
It’s crystal clear to me the instant the Starcruiser closes, it’ll be lamented as a daring experiment that was tragically misunderstood. “Why doesn’t Disney do this any more?” people will wail. It doesn’t deserve its reputation – yet that reputation is partly of its own making. I hope this account explains what worked for me, what didn’t, and how Disney might do better next time.
And I’m sure there will be a next time.
A whole confluence of decisions and events doomed the Galactic Starcruiser, but I’m with Hon, who likens the entire thing to a video game or an escape room you’re in for two days: This sort of immersive experience is absolutely going to be a thing in the future, especially as generations raised on video games gain ever more disposable income. The Galactic Starcruiser, which is largely treated as the point-and-laugh folly of a hubristic Disney corporation, will probably end up being seen as a trailblazer.