Menu

Guests forced to evacuate High-tech Disney World experience, RUINING the illusion for several Guests

Guests at the Walt Disney World Resort on Tuesday were forced to evacuate a brand-new high-tech experience at the resort, and the whole ordeal ruined the “magic” for many of those involved.

Disney is good at a lot of things, and if there’s something Disney isn’t good at, it’s only because they’ve created and set the standard for it, making them excellent at it. For all the ways in which The Walt Disney Company has been steered away from Walt’s original intentions, plans, goals, hopes, and dreams for his parks (i.e, making admission so expensive, it has priced out some families, among other things), the fact remains that Disney continues to provide a stellar Guest Experience, the latest in cutting-edge ride and experience technology, and the most immersive attractions available anywhere on earth.

A look aboard Disney's $6,000 per stay, immersive Star Wars: Galactic  Starcruiser hotel - The Verge

Credit: The Verge

Case in point: the all-new Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.

You don’t have to be a Star Wars junkie with Mando posters on your walls and four plush Baby Yodas adorning your sofas to recognize and appreciate the fact that Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is just one more way Disney remains leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

starcruiser

Credit: Disney Parks

RELATED: Only $6,000 for a 2-night stay aboard Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser? Some accommodations will cost you closer to $20,000

The new experience has been compared to a theme park, all its own, but it doubles as a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel at which Guests arrive and stay for two consecutive nights. The Halcyon Starcruiser is part theme park, part Resort Hotel, and part intergalactic mode of transportation, a bit like an out-of-this-world cruise ship, except there’s no ocean–only the cosmos and vast expanse of space.

It’s fully immersive, meaning that when Guests step inside the newest Disney World Resort Hotel, they simultaneously step away from earth and into life aboard the Starcruiser in a galaxy far, far away–and every single facet of the experience is aimed at keeping that immersive experience, well, immersive.

RELATED: 1,200 Dole Whips and a few other things you can buy for the same money it’ll cost you to board the Halcyon Starcruiser at Disney World

On Tuesday, however, Guests were forced to evacuate the Galactic Starcruiser, according to a writer for CinemaBlend. The evacuation reportedly only lasted about 30 minutes. After that time, Guests were permitted to enter the structure again, but not before at least one Guest snapped a few photos of the scenario.

Those photos were then posted on Instagram and sullied the magic of the immersive Starcruiser experience for many fans. 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by @jp_visits_disney

This writer detects a hint of friendly sarcasm in CinemaBlend’s post, as he ponders, “It turns out the Halcyon is . . . just a building, with regular stairs? How will you ever be able to walk back inside now?”

And he wasn’t exaggerating. The two photos posted to Instagram by JP_visits_Disney depict the backside of the Starcruiser structure, and they are extremely unremarkable–to the point of being deflating, even for non-Star Wars junkies.

The first photo shows a bland-colored building with fire escapes–it’s just a building with staircases stacked on top of one another. 

galactic starcruiser

Credit: Instagram/@JP_visits_Disney

In the second photo, more of the backside of the Starcruiser structure is seen as Guests congregate during the evacuation and wait for instructions to return.

galactic starcruiser

Credit: Instagram/@JP_visits_Disney

Guests who’ve been Disney World fanatics for any length of time will tell you not to look at aerial photos or “backstage” photos of any part of the Walt Disney World Resort. Doing so can ruin the magic for fans, and the photos depict images you cannot “un-see,” such as roads around the World Showcase at EPCOT and the very unimpressive, unmagical backside of the Expedition Everest attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

RELATED: “Disco Yeti” inside the Expedition Everest attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom FINALLY gets “fixed”

8 Facts You Didn't Know About Expedition Everest - The Mouselets

The backside of Mount Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom/Credit: The Mouselets

This aerial photo of the Galactic Starcruiser, however, doesn’t seem to ruin too much, and it gives fans an idea of the layout of the Halcyon Starcruiser. But just in case you’re one of the uber-immersive Guests who truly believed the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience was an actual trip to the cosmos . . .

Everything you need to know about Disney's Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser

Credit: News4Jax

Nevermind; you are exactly right. That’s exactly what it is.

It’s not clear what led to the evacuation of the experience, but Guests were permitted to re-enter the building, uh, re-board the Starcruiser approximately a half-hour after they, uh, disembarked.

About Becky Burkett

Becky's from the Lone Star State and has been writing since she was 10 and encountered her first Disney Park when she was 11. It was love at first Main Street Electrical Parade. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue!), Disney Parks history and EPCOT. At Disney World, you'll find her croonin' with the birdies at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hangin' with Woody and the gang at Toy Story Land. If you can dream, you really can do it!