Bart and Lisa break into Krustyland’s most notorious failed attraction in “The Kosmic Kruiser,” a new episode of The Simpsons airing Sunday, November 8th on FOX. That attraction is a shuttered, spaceship-shaped immersive hotel, and anyone who followed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World will spot the resemblance. Jenny Nicholson, whose four-hour video essay chronicled her own Starcruiser voyage, joins actor Jimmi Simpson as a guest voice.
The Simpsons Visits a Starcruiser-Style Hotel in “The Kosmic Kruiser”
IN THIS ARTICLE:
- When “The Kosmic Kruiser” airs and who joins the guest cast
- What the first episode stills show inside and outside the Kosmic Kruiser Hotel
- How the episode lines up with the real Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser
Krustyland has long served as Springfield’s stand-in for a real theme park, and this time the target is an immersive hotel that closed after a short life. According to FOX, Bart and Lisa find out once inside that the hotel “hasn’t been completely abandoned.”
Inside the Kosmic Kruiser Hotel
The first stills from the episode start outside the fence. Vines creep up a long, weathered hull that reads “The Kosmic Kruiser Hotel” in big block letters. A “Warning: No Admittance” sign hangs on the chain-link. Bart works at a padlocked gate while Lisa looks on. The scene matches the current state of the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel.
Inside, the hotel still looks ready for passengers. One still shows a bridge lined with control panels, with windows full of stars beyond. A cat officer in a blue dress uniform greets the kids with open arms, and Lisa throws hers hands in the air. Nearby, a “Wanted” poster for Princess Itchina, a mouse with twin side buns, hangs on the wall. Another scene seats Bart and Lisa in a lounge with arched ceilings and glowing bottles behind the bar. Two uniformed cat crew members join them at the table, and Lisa sports a blue mouse-head cap.
The scenes are reminiscent of the bridge and bar aboard the Galactic Starcruiser hotel.
A third still shows Bart and Lisa lighting up a towering, spotlit timeline titled “Itchy & Scratchy Universe: The Last 1000 Years.” The gag turns the cartoon cat and mouse into a full galactic saga, complete with space wars, clone armies, and an emperor. A darker still shows the pair gaping in a shadowy corridor, likely the moment they learn the hotel isn’t empty.
A Familiar Story for Starcruiser Fans
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser opened at Walt Disney World in March 2022. Guests spent two nights aboard the Halcyon, a 100-cabin starcruiser. We paid $5,232 out of pocket for our first voyage, which began with a launch pod ride to the ship. Lightsaber training, bridge training, and a dinner show with Gaya filled out the first day. Every window aboard, including the ones in each cabin, showed a view of space, a detail the episode’s star-filled bridge appears to echo.
Disney announced in May 2023 that the Starcruiser would close permanently, with the final voyage set for September 28th through 30th. In that announcement, Disney called it “one of our most creative projects ever.” Walt Disney Imagineering is now converting the building into offices. A small nod remains at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The Docking Bay 3 name returned there on Star Wars Day this year.
Jenny Nicholson appears to be lending her voice to the Simpsons episode. Nicholson released “The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel” in 2024. Her four-hour video essay walks through her own Starcruiser voyage in detail. It gained viral attention. Jimmi Simpson, known for playing the younger William in HBO’s Westworld, also lends his voice to the episode. The Simpsons has been part of Disney since the company acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019, which gives the whole premise an extra wink.
Halcyon passengers won’t get another voyage after Disney prematurely abandoned the immersive theater hotel concept. Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek believes that Bob Iger killed off the Starcruiser in retaliation. Still, the Kosmic Kruiser offers Starcruiser fans one more half-hour aboard an immersive space hotel, this time with a Simpsons twist.
Keep Reading
- Relive the arrival, cabin tour, lightsaber training and Gaya dinner show in our day one report from the Galactic Starcruiser.
- Disney’s own words on the closing are in our original report on the Starcruiser’s final voyage announcement.
- A small piece of Starcruiser history came back to Galaxy’s Edge when the Docking Bay 3 name was restored this spring.
- Imagineering’s April permit shows the former Starcruiser building reaching a new stage of its office conversion.
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!