STAR WARS: GALACTIC STARCRUISER Official Information & Questions Thread

[gypsy_at_heart]

I figured I’d hop on this thread to ask this question. I always test my lightsaber/take it out of its sheath every few months to make sure nothings broken-where is the battery pack as mine is not lighting up anymore (it’s all still attached just dead battery)

Unscrew the bottom cap of the lightsaber. Then you’ll need a screwdriver to change the batteries

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Unscrew the bottom cap of the lightsaber. Then you’ll need a screwdriver to change the batteries

Thank you! Mods i screenshotted this so feel free to delete the initial comments!

 

[Marthasor]

I'm sorry if this has already been addressed - I am reading on some FB posts that Starcruiser guests can get a taxi to RIV after their Starcruiser stay and RIV will hold your luggage and allow you to use their facilities for the day - does anyone have experience with this? We may have a late flight out after disembarking from the Starcruiser and it would be nice to go to RIV, eat at Topolino's and then head to the airport if possible. I just didn't want to make the reservation if RIV will not allow us to check our luggage at their bell services for a few hours.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I'm sorry if this has already been addressed - I am reading on some FB posts that Starcruiser guests can get a taxi to RIV after their Starcruiser stay and RIV will hold your luggage and allow you to use their facilities for the day - does anyone have experience with this? We may have a late flight out after disembarking from the Starcruiser and it would be nice to go to RIV, eat at Topolino's and then head to the airport if possible. I just didn't want to make the reservation if RIV will not allow us to check our luggage at their bell services for a few hours.

Hmmm, I don't think I have seen any reports specifically about RIV's facilities being available. It's certainly possible, I just haven't seen that discussed here (to be fair we don't get a ton of real world reports here so things could certainly be going on without discussion).

Disney will pay for your taxi to another Disney resort and people have stored luggage for the day (whether the luggage storage is officially sanctioned by Disney or people just do it is debatable, but seems no issue IMHO).

 

[Marthasor]

Hmmm, I don't think I have seen any reports specifically about RIV's facilities being available. It's certainly possible, I just haven't seen that discussed here (to be fair we don't get a ton of real world reports here so things could certainly be going on without discussion).

Disney will pay for your taxi to another Disney resort and people have stored luggage for the day (whether the luggage storage is officially sanctioned by Disney or people just do it is debatable, but seems no issue IMHO).

That's great info, thanks! I'm glad to hear the resorts will hold our luggage, at least.

 

[beldred]

I'm sorry if this has already been addressed - I am reading on some FB posts that Starcruiser guests can get a taxi to RIV after their Starcruiser stay and RIV will hold your luggage and allow you to use their facilities for the day - does anyone have experience with this? We may have a late flight out after disembarking from the Starcruiser and it would be nice to go to RIV, eat at Topolino's and then head to the airport if possible. I just didn't want to make the reservation if RIV will not allow us to check our luggage at their bell services for a few hours.

You can definitely go there, eat, hang out in the lobby/grounds, and get bell services to hold your luggage. I believe that to be true of any resort. We went to the Poly and did so, and I've see many personal reports of people who did the same at other resorts. Just tell bell services you are there to eat and ask if they would mind holding your luggage. They will probably ask you for a ballpark time (so your luggage is easy to get to when you are ready for it.
You only need the Day Pass if you want to use the pool or other gated amenities. Last I heard, RIV was granting these to Starcruiser guests but I haven't followed that stuff in detail since our trip in July.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

Not directly answering your question, but DW and I had a blast doing Starcruiser a couple of weeks ago. That was the start of our WDW trip, and we had a reservation for Riviera immediately after Starcruiser. On check-out day, they provided us with a taxi to Riv, and bell services held our luggage until our room was ready. I don't know what the options are for day guests / dining guests.

As we were checking-out from Starcruiser, I told them specifically that we wanted to drop off our luggage at Riv and then go to DAK. I was mildly annoyed that their response was to give us a taxi to Riv, but then you're on your own to take bus transportation to DAK or another theme park. If you're doing a split stay at any other resort, you drop your bags with bell services there and then go directly to a theme park.

As others have mentioned, during our GS cruise, instead of using mobile food credits for lunch on day 2 in DHS, we went back to Crown of Corellia for lunch. Then on our check-out day, we were able to use the credits to mobile order lunch at DAK.

 

[amyg1]

We just got back from our WDW trip including the Galactic Starcruiser. We picked this week because it was my son's college fall break. I really appreciated all the advice in this thread, so I thought I would add a few thoughts after we experienced it.

You don't need to be a super Star Wars fan to enjoy this. I'd say, as long as you have watched Episode 7, you should have enough Star Wars knowledge. But you do need to be willing to jump in and be a part of the experience. We overheard a woman on the first day on the phone with a friend complaining that it was too much like a game for her tastes. Absolutely, it is a game. If you don't want to be in an immersive experience, there are much better choices at WDW. No judgement. This experience isn't right for everyone. But if you are the type who likes murder mysteries or escape rooms or immersive experiences and you can afford it, this is amazing.

The weakest part of the experience was getting there. We took a rideshare and were stuck waiting in a queue to get to the door for a long time. I felt really bad for our driver. Seems like they could find a better way to manage it. There is no sidewalk, we couldn't just get out and walk the rest of the way.

Once we got there, we were so happy to be there. Everyone working on the Galactic Starcruiser was so wonderful and worked so hard to ensure things went well. At one point, my husband had an issue and needed to get to a pharmacy. He went to passenger services and explained the situation. They gave him a voucher for a cab to go to the pharmacy and back. He was out of the game for an hour and really didn't miss anything. We really didn't expect them to do as much as they did.

We dressed up and it really helped the immersion. I'd recommend that you look at it as Star Wars Bounding. You don't need dress up as a specific character, but as someone who would be in the background of a Star Wars movie. My son wanted to be First Order, so he dressed in black and we 3D printed a Emperial badge and made a first order pin to put on a black hat. My husband and I both had Resistance symbols made into necklaces. And I had matching earrings. The jewelry was a big hit. Several characters came up to us and reacted based on our jewelry. There were quite a few people who bought costumes in the gift shop and were wearing them the second day. I think they felt that they should have dressed differently. Plenty of people were in street clothes to.. you can have a great time without dressing up. But I think it enhanced our experience.

All three of us took different paths. It was interesting to see what was similar about our paths and what was different. My husband took the scoundrel path, and I didn't see any of his story line until the end. There was a lot going on there. But we all had similar activities.. so don't worry about picking the wrong path. You won't. There will be some downtime. It doesn't mean you did something wrong, it means your path isn't currently active. If you feel that you need something to do, go to the atrium or by the elevators on deck 4. Something will be happening and they will include you. I'd give examples, but I don't want to spoil anything.

And by the way, it is one floor between decks 4 and 6. The odd number floors are the hotel rooms and they are in a separate building off by a half floor. So as long as you can, you should use the stairs between them. They were pretty easy to get from one to the other, but you might be intimidated by the numbering.

We did the Captain's table the first night. I was unsure about doing it. I made the reservation because it was available and I figured I could cancel it if I changed my mind. It was enjoyable. My son and husband were both really glad I had signed up for it. You get a little extra time with the Captain. But I don't think it was necessary. So don't sweat it if you choose not to or can't get it.

The rooms were nice. I know people complain about the size, but honestly, you shouldn't be spending a lot of time there. There is a separate toilet room and shower room.. so two people can be there at the same time. The only complaint was from my son. He is 6' and likes to sleep straight. He had to be at an angle on the bed. I told him to get over it. I think it was a standard twin bed.
Oh, and make sure you have the robot tell you a bedtime story!! That was a highlight for us. I think others have mentioned it before.

It was my first trip to Batuu. We all had a great time there. The activities that day kept us very busy. If you get to Galaxy's Edge before the trip, it is useful to play the games on the datapad beforehand. If not, don't worry. It was pretty clear that the games were created as a beta test for the starcruiser.

And lastly, don't miss the bridge training! That was a highlight.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

If you've tried to use your Galactic Starcruiser issued MagicBand after your Starcruiser trip, have you had issues with it?

DW and I stayed at Riviera immediately after Starcruiser, and we had an inconsistent experience when trying to use the Starcruiser MBs.

Mine would let us into our Riv room, but it wouldn't let us into the Riv pool. I had bought a new MB+, and used that without issue to get into the various theme parks, Riv room & pool.

When DW tried to use her Starcruiser MB to get into the various theme parks, they usually gave her issues and they had to bring over another CM to verify things before letting her in. After a few days of that, she switched to an older MB from a previous trip that we brought just in case, and that one worked flawlessly.

 

[PinkPixel]

If you've tried to use your Galactic Starcruiser issued MagicBand after your Starcruiser trip, have you had issues with it?

DW and I stayed at Riviera immediately after Starcruiser, and we had an inconsistent experience when trying to use the Starcruiser MBs.

Mine would let us into our Riv room, but it wouldn't let us into the Riv pool. I had bought a new MB+, and used that without issue to get into the various theme parks, Riv room & pool.

When DW tried to use her Starcruiser MB to get into the various theme parks, they usually gave her issues and they had to bring over another CM to verify things before letting her in. After a few days of that, she switched to an older MB from a previous trip that we brought just in case, and that one worked flawlessly.

Ours would not open our door at Grand Floridian and we needed to use a room card or the app. Worked fine at the parks and for paying. Front desk said would work the next day and that starcruiser is a separate system than rest of resorts. So it seemed directly related to room key feature thinking you’re still at the starcruiser until midnight.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We also came back on Monday, and I've had some time to process this amazing experience. I was someone who was really underwhelmed by the first trailer they showed including the preview with Josh DiMario, so I think it's only fair that I come back and give an honest assessment. The cast was incredible, they really go out of their way to make everyone feel included. I absolutely loved the food. The starcruiser looked a lot better in person than it did in the first preview videos, I think they just didn't have the lighting right. It felt like a luxury starship. The lightsaber training was definitely cheesy in terms of the tech but the performance by the trainer and the overall enthusiasm of the group did a lot to make up for that, and it was still quite fun. We all loved the bridge training and were delighted to be invited to two other events there, although there was one station that felt "meh" game-wise and we avoided being posted there whenever we had a choice. We didn't spend much time in our room but we thought it was perfectly themed, I would not have spent more for a suite as we were hardly in the room. 2 of us were very involved in the missions on Batuu and doing everything on the data pad, the other 2 didn't want to be and they still got invited to things on day 2, just different things including things we didn't get invited to despite completing every mission for those characters. I suspect they try to spread out the invitations to make things fair and also because you simply can't be at two places at once. So don't worry about being glued to your data pad, I think interacting face to face is equally if not more important, and the most special moments and invitations we had came from face to face interactions. Captain's Table is absolutely not worth it for night 2, we got no interaction with the Captain at all (oddly, she stopped by other tables while avoiding ours), one other character stopped by for the briefest of seconds and then was gone. I understand that those characters are involved in missions for folks who have the second meal seating but it was odd to be at the Captain's Table and have her never return. I think they could use some entertainment for the dinner on night 2, the room felt pretty dead. At one point during the meal we even left to meet a character who had invited us to meet nearby, we didn't feel like we were missing anything at the dinner. Lastly, we didn't spring for the photo session but were happy with the Memory Maker shots we got for our little one's Lothcat saber training and the ones we got on Batuu. I think 8-8:30am on the second day is the best time to get a photo session if you are willing to pay the new higher price as the ship is empty. We took some shots with just our iPhones and they still look pretty good with no one in the background.

TL/DR: We loved every minute of our journey and can't wait to go back!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

If you've tried to use your Galactic Starcruiser issued MagicBand after your Starcruiser trip, have you had issues with it?

DW and I stayed at Riviera immediately after Starcruiser, and we had an inconsistent experience when trying to use the Starcruiser MBs.

Mine would let us into our Riv room, but it wouldn't let us into the Riv pool. I had bought a new MB+, and used that without issue to get into the various theme parks, Riv room & pool.

When DW tried to use her Starcruiser MB to get into the various theme parks, they usually gave her issues and they had to bring over another CM to verify things before letting her in. After a few days of that, she switched to an older MB from a previous trip that we brought just in case, and that one worked flawlessly.

My son has worn his on several subsequent (but not directly after) trips with no issues. We occasioanly have room door issues when first arriving, but that has happened with all of our bands from time to time so not entirely unusual.

 

[Etch]

Been saving for a coupe of years and just booked out Starcruiser trip for me, DW, DS15 & DS11. Really excited and have been soaking in as much info as I can but I do have one question I haven't seen the answer for.

I'm interested to know exactly what tech/apps/accounts will be required to participate fully in missions or anything else. Does everything run through the "Play Disney" app? The cast member that I booked with mentioned that we would all need our own MDE accounts (currently only I have one). Is this correct? If someone could kind of walk me through it I'd appreciate it.

For tech, 3 of us will have iphones and DS11 will have a ipad.

 

[sipnride]

Been saving for a coupe of years and just booked out Starcruiser trip for me, DW, DS15 & DS11. Really excited and have been soaking in as much info as I can but I do have one question I haven't seen the answer for.

I'm interested to know exactly what tech/apps/accounts will be required to participate fully in missions or anything else. Does everything run through the "Play Disney" app? The cast member that I booked with mentioned that we would all need our own MDE accounts (currently only I have one). Is this correct? If someone could kind of walk me through it I'd appreciate it.

For tech, 3 of us will have iphones and DS11 will have a ipad.

Better for everyone to have MDE. They'd only need it for food on Batuu, if there's a problem when boarding, or if they misplaced their band. Can't think of any reason anyone would need it aside from that. Everything else goes through the play app.

 

[beldred]

Been saving for a coupe of years and just booked out Starcruiser trip for me, DW, DS15 & DS11. Really excited and have been soaking in as much info as I can but I do have one question I haven't seen the answer for.

I'm interested to know exactly what tech/apps/accounts will be required to participate fully in missions or anything else. Does everything run through the "Play Disney" app? The cast member that I booked with mentioned that we would all need our own MDE accounts (currently only I have one). Is this correct? If someone could kind of walk me through it I'd appreciate it.

For tech, 3 of us will have iphones and DS11 will have a ipad.

Everything Starcruiser is done through the Play app. Everyone needs a Play account. They do not have to have an MDE account (though your DW might want one if you might separate during the Batuu excursion). The Starcruiser CM's can walk you through setting up accounts for the kids, as it has to be linked properly. You can phone them to do it or wait until you get one of the check up calls from them before your trip.

You might want to reconsider your DS11 using an ipad. It will be pretty bulky for him to carry around all day and to deal with on Batuu, as you need your Play account constantly. They have datapads (purposed iphones) that you can borrow when you check in. I would recommend doing that for him. The check-in CMs can get it all set up to his account for the cruise. And you just turn it back in on the final morning.

 

[Etch]

They have datapads (purposed iphones) that you can borrow when you check in.

That's perfect. Thanks for that info

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

So, did they do anything special for Life Day (Nov 17), even if only on Batuu?

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Been saving for a coupe of years and just booked out Starcruiser trip for me, DW, DS15 & DS11. Really excited and have been soaking in as much info as I can but I do have one question I haven't seen the answer for.

I'm interested to know exactly what tech/apps/accounts will be required to participate fully in missions or anything else. Does everything run through the "Play Disney" app? The cast member that I booked with mentioned that we would all need our own MDE accounts (currently only I have one). Is this correct? If someone could kind of walk me through it I'd appreciate it.

For tech, 3 of us will have iphones and DS11 will have a ipad.

My DH and I each had our own MDE accounts and our own Play accounts, and I linked his to my GS resort reservation in the Play app before we got to the Starcruiser. When we got to the Starcruiser at check in, we borrowed data pads from them for my kids (6 and 11) and they helped us create child Play accounts that needed parental approval from my account. It's a lot of using pin codes and QR codes but it really only took about 10 minutes to get us all sorted. We arrived at the Starcruiser at 12:30, and checked our bags, got our magic bands, took our photo pass photo in front of the sign, got our kids their data pads and their accounts linked, and were lined up to board the "shuttle" by 1:05. I don't recommend using an iPad. You're running around a lot and it's easier to have a phone in a lanyard that you can quickly check when you get new messages on the app. I got my kids grippy rubber neck lanyards and ended up wearing my 6 year-old's data pad myself a lot of the time because he's not a strong reader yet. I had my phone in a fanny pack and my DH had his in one of the pockets of his costume belt.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

So - this new DVC discount of 30% really surprises me. I thought they would give it at least a year (March 2023) before offering steep discounts like this to avoid the bad PR of the Starcruiser looking like a failure. Maybe they're trying to boost direct DVC signups in Q4, since resale contracts won't have access to this discount? Still I hope this isn't a bad sign, and I hope this doesn't mean they're going to start cutting parts of the experience. I know people have mixed feelings about the Starcruiser, and how it price-gated a lot of the interactivity that was supposed to be included in Galaxy's Edge. But it was a really ambitious project for Disney brass to green light and I want to see it succeed.

 

[CarolynFH]

So - this new DVC discount of 30% really surprises me. I thought they would give it at least a year (March 2023) before offering steep discounts like this to avoid the bad PR of the Starcruiser looking like a failure. Maybe they're trying to boost direct DVC signups in Q4, since resale contracts won't have access to this discount? Still I hope this isn't a bad sign, and I hope this doesn't mean they're going to start cutting parts of the experience. I know people have mixed feelings about the Starcruiser, and how it price-gated a lot of the interactivity that was supposed to be included in Galaxy's Edge. But it was a really ambitious project for Disney brass to green light and I want to see it succeed.

Well, to get the DVC discount, at least one person’s fare must be paid in points, and the “exchange rate” is terrible. An owner could rent out the number of points needed for one person and net almost enough $ to pay full rate for the entire room.