There is a new rumor going around about Disney bringing back the failed Galactic Starcruiser Hotel in Walt Disney World. The ‘Star Wars’ hotel opened on March 1, 2022, and closed on September 30, 2023, just ahead of the end of the fiscal year 2022-2023. It didn’t even make it 20 months, and it cost Disney a reported amount of $400 million. 

Now, new rumors are swirling around, indicating that Disney will be doing something with the building in the future. Frankly, that was a given because Disney had already spent $400 million on the building, and it’s there, ready for use. While they reportedly wrote off $300 million of the cost, they still can use the location for something else.

The use of the building in the future has been mentioned before.

Disney’s chairman of Disney parks, experiences, and products, Josh D’Amaro, reported last summer that Disney intended to do something with the facility but didn’t expand upon that. After the announcement of the impending closure of the ‘Star Wars’ hotel, D’Amaro stated that the building would be used, saying:

“No hints yet, but something will happen.”

A possible movement towards future use of the facility is seemingly happening.

Recently, permits were filed for work on the building, naming a custom awning company, Sunstate Awning & Graphic Design, Inc., as the contractor on the project. 

Of course, there isn’t much to go on, but it seems that something is being done to the location.

Disney Tourist Blog mentioned several plausible reasons for a custom awning company, from staging inside the building to construction coverings for outside the complex. Or even covering over the atrium room to protect it from sunlight or rain damage. 

Will it open again as ‘Star Wars’ or something else?

At this point, we do not know if it will reopen as a Star Wars-themed hotel or if it will become something else involving the ‘Star Wars’ franchise or otherwise. But we do know that the original version did not work. The likely reason is pricing, as the cost for less than 48 hours at the hotel started at $4,800-$6,000. But it also didn’t help that it was sequel trilogy focused, and, for the price, seemed unattractive to potential guests. 

While some activities seemed worthwhile, like lightsaber training, a lot of it involved using an app to play games and do other activities that seemed like filler, given the cost. 

Was Disney going to change up the ‘Star Wars’ elements of the attraction to keep it fresh?

There was talk at one point that Disney would make changes to the hotel to make it more appealing to ‘Star Wars’ fans. Recently at MegaCon in Florida, actor Anthony Daniels told guests during his “I Am C-3PO: Meet Anthony Daniels” panel that he had filmed scenes for the hotel. He said,

 “Curiously, I was going to be in that hotel. I had shot a scene using motion capture. It was brilliant, but then of course they closed the hotel.” 

It’s not clear if they planned on using the footage before the closed or at a later date. 

If they had gone with the original trilogy and made the offering less cost prohibitive, they likely would have been busier. Even if they had added some seasonal offerings like “Life Day” or a Halloween event, as we see on the Disney Cruises, it might have given people a reason to return.  For many, it was a “one and done” type experience. Given the ‘Star Wars’ theming and cost, the audience was already very limited.

At least one part of the experience is already being repurposed.

Disney has already started to use part of the experience for something else. Currently, the access point for the “shuttle” from Galaxy’s Edge to the Galactic Starcruiser in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is being used as a “Capture Your Moment” private photoshoot location. While not a grand usage of the area, it’s at least something.

The main building sits there, much like the Wonders of Life pavilion at EPCOT. The question is will they repurpose it for another hotel or experience or could they turn it into offices or some other utilitarian location?

What do you think? Will Disney bring back ‘Star Wars’ or do you think they will use the decommissioned hotel for something else?

Comment and let us know!