STAR WARS: GALACTIC STARCRUISER Official Information & Questions Thread

[CampbellzSoup]

Sitting here looking through our trip photos. DW and I joked the whole ship was designed for iPhone lighting… every photo/set looks so darn good.

We tried to keep a balance of living in the moment and not always having our phones in our hand for pics, but definitely glad we took some time to take various photos of our journey at times.

One of my few regrets, in retrospect, was not getting the photo package.

I would without a doubt do the photoshoot as photos are the best souvenirs

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If flying, I would try not to fly in the same day as you are supposed to check into the Starcruiser - I went 2 days early so it didn't affect the Starcruiser stay, but my flight was cancelled, rebooked and I was delayed 5 hours. You don't want to miss any of the Halcyon boarding or early events.

After disembarking I went straight to the airport, but if you are staying maybe plan some down time for that day instead of running to a park

 

[kimwoje]

Quick question on the photo shoot. Thoughts from those who have completed their voyage on the best time this would fit into the itinerary? Also, if we did photos on day 1, prior to building lightsabers in GE, do they have props available to use for the pics? Or would we really have to wait until after GE on day 2 if we want lightsaber pics? Thank you!

 

[Turksmom]

My balance isn't due until 04/24. I was planning to use gift cards purchased at Target.

I logged into MDE to make a payment and there is a note, "You may pay using up to one Disney Gift Card, one Disney Rewards Redemption Card and one credit card." Does this mean ever or just applies if I wanted to pay the balance on a single day?

My plan was to make several $1000 payments fro.m a single GC for the next few weeks. I'm guessing I could make the first one and then any future payments must be with a CC. I'm not using a Redemption card

Not GS specific, but on other reservations, the limits refer to per transaction. Also, if you call and make the payments by phone, they can accept multiple gift cards at one time

 

[sm8680]

Quick question on the photo shoot. Thoughts from those who have completed their voyage on the best time this would fit into the itinerary? Also, if we did photos on day 1, prior to building lightsabers in GE, do they have props available to use for the pics? Or would we really have to wait until after GE on day 2 if we want lightsaber pics? Thank you!

I'd highly recommend buying the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Halcyon Exclusive Legacy Training Lightsaber Hilt only available on the starcruiser. My nephews already had all the blades. You can always build the light saber from GE on another trip. The starcruiser hilt my nephews loved. The Starcruiser hilt is TSA package friendly. My nephews waited to open them at home. They brought there limited edition light sabers for the photo op. I'm not sure if they have props another forum member may know and if not maybe call to ask. Photo ops go fast. We called in the the day after it was first announced and the lady recommended day 1 after your dinner with about 30 minutes down time or so. She booked us for 730pm. Hope this helps. I highly recommend the GSL portrait experience.

 

[sm8680]

ignore double post

 

[Tiggerette]

Quick question on the photo shoot. Thoughts from those who have completed their voyage on the best time this would fit into the itinerary? Also, if we did photos on day 1, prior to building lightsabers in GE, do they have props available to use for the pics? Or would we really have to wait until after GE on day 2 if we want lightsaber pics? Thank you!

I don't know if they have options during the 1-4pm day 1 boarding time. At least there won't be any major story elements or scheduled activities. Another possible lull in the active story elements is during lunch on Day 2. Of course you might be running around in Batuu, but we found the ship pretty "quiet" during 11a-1pm Day 2. I don't know about the props like sabers, etc. I would ask when you schedule the appointment. We ended up doing a session on Day 1 and Day 2, cause I really liked our outfits.

 

[sophy1996]

We got our portrait session at 1:30 on Day 2. It was a great time because the ship was fairly quiet.

 

[JFox]

Not GS specific, but on other reservations, the limits refer to per transaction. Also, if you call and make the payments by phone, they can accept multiple gift cards at one time

Yay. Glad to hear this is per transaction. I didn't want to get $6k in gift cards if I wasn't able to pay that way.

 

[Spazz2k]

Today I took a little time to make some counterfeit republic credits…

 

[old lady]

Wouldn’t be cool if you could celebrate an fully functional Death Star and end of rebel alliance dinner with the Emperor and Darth Vader? Or, rebel victory in rebel base, Star command ship or Ewok village?

 

[amyg1]

Today I took a little time to make some counterfeit republic credits…

What a great idea!!! I'm going to 3D print some counterfeit republic credits. Thank you!!

 

[Melanie415]

No answers from me as we have not been yet, but I'm debating the same thing. I asked this a bit earlier in the thread and a few folks said later in the trip was good to have it to look forward to. I also worry having it at the very start of a trip in case of any travel delays.

I'm also debating whether it would be crazy/too overwhelming to combine with a full WDW trip. We've only ever been to Disneyland not WDW, so it feels like a lot (both physically and cost-wise) to try and do it all. But we also live on the other side of the country and probably wouldn't do two trips within a few years of each other.

We are traveling from Hawaii so we like to have longer trips. We already had a 10 night Boardwalk Villa (rented points) stay planned followed by 5 nights at Universal, when we decided to add on the Star Cruiser. I wanted the cruise at the beginning of our trip so we would have more energy and excitement. We added on 2 nights at the Poly prior to our cruise so our vacation is now 19 days!

 

[Bluemystique]

Quick question on the photo shoot. Thoughts from those who have completed their voyage on the best time this would fit into the itinerary? Also, if we did photos on day 1, prior to building lightsabers in GE, do they have props available to use for the pics? Or would we really have to wait until after GE on day 2 if we want lightsaber pics? Thank you!

I was recommended by the CM when booking to get there early on Day 1 and try to get a session that ends before 4PM if they’re available. The line for checking in may take you until 2PM so keep that in mind. You might want to take a ship tour if you get there early enough so you can scope out places to shoot.
I didn’t see any props offered. There is no designated check in kiosk so not really any place to stash props. If you find someone trusting enough, maybe you can borrow their lightsaber lol. If it’s a multi day trip, you can try to book a Savi’s appointment for a DHS day before GS. There really isn’t anything special about doing Savi’s during the GE excursion.
Other recommended times may be the hour after dinner on day 1, or lunchtime on day 2 while people are still on Batuu so you might have to cut your excursion short. Keep in mind that some places may be occupied depending on what stories are going on and when training sessions were. (ie our bridge training was 8pm day 1 after the early dinner session so bridge pictures would be inconvenient to get during that time slot.)

 

[Spazz2k]

Getting close…the bags have come down…

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Getting close…the bags have come down…

LOVE the Boba Fett suitcase!

 

[hnthomps]

I checked out yesterday, and am happy to answer any questions folks may have.

But to answer my own question from several days ago - we were transferring from the Fantasy and had purchased DCL - WDW transfers. We were told the bus would take us to Art of Animation and then we would be on our own, which we found unacceptable.
We spent an unreasonable amount of time trying to figure this out. Eventually Fantasy guest services told us "just ask the bus driver". When we got to the bus, the driver said "they say to take you to art of animation, but that's nonsense, what would you do with your bags. I'll drive you there". We drove in at 10:55am and security told the bus driver he couldn't come in until after 11. So he took the remaining cruise passengers to their resort, then circled back and dropped us at about 1115. We were checked in to GS and left our luggage and shuffled to the Disney Springs bus. they wouldn't even let my 8 year old use the restroom. We ate lunch in DS and then took the bus back.

And then at check-out - we were about to call an uber when we were told the GS was providing private taxi service to MCO. So that was a nice surprise (I'm sure that was in the materials somewhere and we just missed it).

 

[Spazz2k]

LOVE the Boba Fett suitcase!

the back has a 3d mold of his jet pack and the luggage tag holder is Han frozen in Carbonite

 

[hnthomps]

Also, I’m a bit claustrophobic. Do the “windows” in the staterooms look realistic enough to fool the brain into seeing outside?

I was not claustrophobic in the room at all. However, there were a few moments in the hotel that were really hard for me. We had to stand in a line after check in before going to the "transport" and walk through a narrow hallway with a lot of people and a long line -- I could feel myself starting to freak out. But luckily the line moved right when I felt like I might lose it.

There was one other thing I don't want to spoil - an interaction in a space specific to the choices I / my child made - that evoked a similar feeling. I had to leave. It was fine.

As for the thing about the age of kids -- do not bring any children who cannot happily stay up until 10pm the second night, and ideally both nights. It was hard for my 8 year old who usually is asleep at 8! But there were some kids who clearly pushed past their comfort, with consequences for everyone. Honestly, the best part of the experience was the culminating events (as my kid said "imagine if I had slept through this!") the second night. My 10 year old was REALLY into it, and really got and understood it all, and it was an amazing experience for him. My 8 year old loved it, but I think for her the previous week on the Fantasy was more fun. But for my 10 year old - nothing has ever compared to this.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

the back has a 3d mold of his jet pack and the luggage tag holder is Han frozen in Carbonite

Is the jet pack part of the suitcase or an "aftermarket" custom job?

Edited to answer my own question. I found this image online:

Very cool!