Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek says the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser closed because Bob Iger tied the hotel to Chapek’s time in charge. Chapek makes that claim in his new memoir, “Behind the Castle Walls,” which hits shelves September 29th. The segment of the book also briefly touches on how the concept came together, the lack of profitability, and why Chapek thinks it closed.
Bob Chapek Talks Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Closure in New Book
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- How Chapek describes the origins and guest experience of the Galactic Starcruiser
- The cost and economics he cites for the three-day stay
- His claim about why the hotel closed, and what Disney said
Chapek Recalls How the Starcruiser Began
In his upcoming memoir, Chapek writes that Imagineers pitched the idea for the Galactic Starcruiser after Disney acquired the Star Wars properties. He describes a fully immersive lodging experience and ties it to the “Disney Bubble,” the idea that guests stay immersed in the Disney experience for the entire time they are on a property. Hotels, he says, are one way Disney extends the magic once guests leave the parks.
Chapek walks through the guest experience, briefly. Guests first take a ride that simulates leaving Earth. Their vehicle then docks with the “spaceship,” where they spend three days. Guests can pick a character and a costume to participate as. Even the windows show digital space scenes instead of Central Florida. Storylines run throughout the experience, and Chapek says guests play an active role in moving the story forward.
He calls the concept “an outrageously bold idea” that he loved. Chapek even notes that some of the first guests to experience it cried at the end of three days because they did not want the stay to end.
Galactic Starcruiser Cost and Closure
The economics of the experience get their own passage in the book. Chapek writes that cast members ran the story around the clock while also running the hotel, which made labor costs “extraordinary,” and he says the team knew that going in. A stay would cost over $1,000 per person, he writes, compared with about $500 a night for a nice hotel room. He adds that no hotel turns a profit in its first year. The team, he says, was still working out the economics.
As we reported, Disney expected up to $300 million in accelerated depreciation when the hotel closed. Josh D’Amaro, then Disney Parks Chairman, said the experience did not perform the way Disney hoped.
Chapek then turns to the closure. When his time as CEO ended, he writes, the Starcruiser ended with it. Chapek clearly states that he believed in the idea and its potential. The hotel was not profitable at that moment, Chapek acknowledges, but he says that wasn’t a surprise. In his opinion, Iger saw the hotel as something connected to Chapek’s time in charge, and the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was shut down as a result.
Any memory or symbol of his tenure, Chapek adds, was “seemingly systematically removed.” He likens it to a sign at Castaway Cay that was removed. Iger, he says, did more than take his name off a sign. He also went on to erase an entire universe Chapek helped build.
The whole concept was a great idea, and we were figuring out the economics. It’s a known fact that no hotel is ever profitable in the first year. But when my time as CEO came to an end, so, too, did the Galactic Starcruiser.
While I was proud to give birth to the entirely new galaxy, Bob Iger saw things differently. When he resumed control of the company, the hotel closed. There is no doubt that the resort and experience were not profitable at that moment.
I believed in the idea and its potential. Bob Iger saw things differently and, in my opinion, also saw it as something connected to my time in charge. As a result, in my opinion, it went away.
Like the sign on the cruise ship destination island, any memory or symbol of my time in charge was seemingly systematically removed.
Ultimately, like most things with my name behind them, that sign, and that galaxy, went far, far away.
What Disney Said and What Came Next
The timeline around those claims is a matter of record. Iger returned as CEO after the board fired Chapek on November 20th, 2022. We covered those details when Chapek announced his memoir.
Disney announced in May 2023 that the hotel would close permanently, with the final voyage set for September 28th through 30th and the closing date on October 1st. In that announcement, Disney called the Starcruiser “one of our most creative projects ever”.
As a quick aside, I personally believe that Disney accelerated the closure of the Starcruiser. Disney was actively working on ways to introduce new storylines into the experience to keep it fresh for guests. While it was clear that the experience wasn’t performing as expected, I feel like Disney skipped a few steps to try and make it work.
Once it closed, then-Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro said that “something will happen” with the Starcruiser. That never came to fruition. Instead, Disney is converting the immersive hotel into office space for Imagineers.
Disney covered or removed most Starcruiser roadway signs in 2025, as we documented in July 2025. Walt Disney Imagineering is now converting the building into offices, a plan first reported in January 2025. Permit information we obtained in October 2025 called for “demolition and reconfiguration of existing space for use as an office,” and Imagineering filed a new permit for the building in April 2026.
Keep Reading
- Our earlier look at Chapek’s memoir covers his claims that Iger ran a relentless campaign against him and his defense of parks pricing.
- Imagineering’s April 2026 permit shows the former Starcruiser building has reached a new stage of its conversion into offices.
- Disney covered or removed most Starcruiser signage in 2025, and our photos show which signs were still standing.
- D’Amaro’s comments at an investor conference put the closing write-off at up to $300 million.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
They closed it because it wasn’t making enough money. If they wanted it to work they should have retooled it. Imagine you are cruising on the ship that is carrying Princess Leah at the beginning of the first Star Wars. You could help Leah or be a secret spy for the Empire and right before Darth Vader boards you are sent off in a shuttle pod.
Bob Chapek (or as I liked to nickname him back when he was CEO: Bob “Cheapek”) never missed on opportunity to overprice guest services, or outright charge for services that had long been free and had come to be expected as part of the Disney experience (Disney Magical Express anyone?. He allowed radical and controversial changes, most of which didn’t even take the guests’ expectations into consideration. How many years did it take to begin tram services once again in all the parks post COVID? He wasn’t the man needed to hold the line when it came to Wally Disney World’s customers, even their most loyal customers like annual pass holders views into account (and even of the most loyal guests with open and deep pockets). He allowed the Disney experience to become extremely divisive in many areas, not to mention overseeing epic flops at the box office. And for all that, I humbly submit that the Board did absolutely the right thing, and so did Bob Iger too.
Oh, and by the way, I’m also a pretty strong Star Wars fan, since the beginning in ’77, and even a fan of some of the best Disney-era productions that were led by the creative genius of Dave Filoni. But much of the other stuff that Kathleen Kennedy supervised with the franchise was absolutely horrible. I’m sure ole Bob Cheapek liked her stuff best though. Chalk it up to creative differences I suppose, but I’m ready for Disney to retcon the whole sequel trilogy and start over.
Dont beat around the bush. No one in their right mind is gonna pay 6000 dollars for 2 nights. Coupled with the fact that it could not have been a more worse time to operate it. Insanely expensive
As a huge star wars fan, much as I wanted to do this, the price was absolutely ridiculous. My wife was going to do this as a birthday present but I decided on an Alaska cruise instead, it was a much better use of the money.
There weren’t enough Star Wars superfans with very deep pockets to support it. I like Star Wars. I watch the movies and TV shows. I buy the merch. But I don’t need to immerse myself in it for three days, especially at that price.
It was a cool thing without a sufficiently large market.
I think it’s comical that Chapek made all kinds of controversial changes across Disney properties at the expense of guests, ticked off the Board, and saw an almost 30% decline in stock price over the 2.5 years he was at the helm. He fired all sorts of people, stripped away benefits from guests, increased prices on absolutely everything, and then started charging guests for things that had been previously free all while removing benefits for guests at the same time.
The Board removed him, brought back Iger at considerable expense to right the ship, and the top of the heap item that Chapek is having a temper tantrum about is that an absolutely ridiculously overpriced hotel that wouldn’t have seen profit for YEARS was closed during the period of time that Disney could write off the debacle before it became a permanent fixture? That hotel was shut down during its initial three years of existence which allowed Disney to write off tons of costs associated with it. Once it hit the three year mark, the government wasn’t going to allow Disney to continue taking exemptions so they closed it.
Chapek is an arrogant jerk.
IMO, Chapek was always set up to be the fall guy. For cost-cutting and whatever happened during Covid. Iger didn’t come back to save Disney as much as resuming his role once things settled down. All that said, Chapek was terrible and did the brand a real disservice with fans.
I feel the Galactic Starcruiser was too focused on being this completely immersive experience, while ignoring what would make it successful – actual customers/guests.
At the crazy prices they were charging, your pool is already quite limited regardless of Star Wars theming. Then throw in the theming and fully immersed nature of the hotel, and you’re limiting your customer pool even further.
I think it would’ve been successful had it just been a “regular” hotel completely Star Wars themed – design, uniforms, characters walking through occasionally, etc. – at normal hotel prices (well, normal Disney prices). I think plenty of folks would check that out on a consistent basis, but when you make it absurdly expensive, people will balk at that after the initial “gotta do it” crowd wears off.
Dream job is Disney company, happiest place on earth and I’m also looking for the spooky Time of the year. #Awesome.
I never got to do a voyage, but walking past that launch pod area on my trips always made me wish I had saved up for it while it lasted. Blaming the closure on retaliation feels like a stretch when the real problem was asking families for thousands of dollars for two nights. Honestly I am more sad that the building is becoming offices instead of something guests can actually enjoy again.