Nearly 2 years after the closure of the immersive Star Wars experience at the Walt Disney World Resort, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, a new Kickstarter campaign has launched to support a project that will provide insight into this experience for those who never got to go. After operating for a year and a half, the Starcruiser closed indefinitely on September 30, 2023. The first of its kind, this hybrid immersive experience and resort is now only immortalized through its fans.
One such fan is Carrie Coaplen, director of the upcoming Halcyon Daze: The Final Voyages of the Galactic Starcruiser documentary, who has just launched a Kickstarter in support of the fan-made film with Carly Kocurek, the film’s producer and lead researcher. The goal of this documentary, according to Coaplen, isn’t just to show the Starcruiser to the world, however. She has come to understand something else entirely: “our very human need for playful connection psychologically, emotionally, and intellectually.”
Carrie Coaplen: I love this project so much, in large part, because, through over 50 interviews with other passengers, I have learned about what so many of us need from art and community. And that was one of my goals as director: to explore, understand, and figure this thing out. The passengers I’ve interviewed have also helped me understand our very human need for playful connection psychologically, emotionally, and intellectually as facilitated by a made-up space voyage.
Support Halcyon Daze: The Final Voyages of the Galactic Starcruiser on Kickstarter
Perhaps even more fascinating, however, is the exploration it takes into the motivation behind why Coaplen ventured to the Starcruiser in the first place as a non-Star Wars enthusiast, a sentiment shared by executive producer Ben Daughtry. “Carrie wanted to understand why she was so drawn to a pricey Disney attraction,” Daughtry shares, “despite having little interest in Star Wars or the means to splurge.” For Daughtry, the realization was almost immediate. “From the moment we arrived, I knew we were onto something special.”
Ben Daughtry: Carrie wanted to understand why she was so drawn to a pricey Disney attraction, despite having little interest in Star Wars or the means to splurge. I shared her lack of enthusiasm for Star Wars, but Disney has a history of pushing boundaries and I was curious. From the moment we arrived, I knew we were onto something special. The Starcruiser was a marvel, but more than that, the deep human connection it fostered was real, tangible, and unexpectedly moving. After the closure, we followed the community as it attempted to rebuild, and that sense of purpose kept growing—in ways we never expected.
The Starcruiser Wasn’t Limited To Star Wars Fans
Anyone Could Enjoy It
What both Coaplen and Daughtry have shared here in support of Halcyon Daze‘s Kickstarter proves that the Galactic Starcruiser wasn’t limited to large Star Wars enthusiasts. It was so much more than a place for fans of the franchise to gather. As they state above, it was a source of deep human connection through artistry and community, something that anyone, even those who aren’t as familiar with the Star Wars galaxy, can understand and be a part of.
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As someone who worked on the Starcruiser for 8 months, I witnessed this very principle in action various times. We had plenty of passengers who had little to no familiarity with Star Wars, particularly those who came simply to support a loved one who was, in fact, a major Star Wars fan. It was often those passengers who got the most out of their experience, as was clearly the case for Coaplen and the rest of her Halcyon Daze team.
The Galactic Starcruiser Has A Legacy Far Beyond Its Closure
The Fans Are Keeping It Alive
It would be easy for people to assume that the Galactic Starcruiser will be remembered for nothing other than its quick closure, but that’s not the truth. This fan-made film alone proves how the legacy of this immersive experience lives on through the fans and the community that continue to honor it years later. It’s a true shame that this Star Wars experience is no longer available, but thanks to fan efforts like this, more and more people will still be able to access it somehow.
Source: Carly Kocurek
Star Wars
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Character(s)
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Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren