‘The ninth circle of hell’: Ex employee shares what it was like to work on the failed Star Wars hotel

A former Disney College Program worker exposed major flaws in the failed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser in a viral Reddit post.

From the start, u/Deck8Pirate described the Starcruiser as built on “cheap tactics” and a
“narrow-minded view” of consumer expectations. The live-action role play (LARP) hotel only ran from March 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023. Despite its high price tag, the resort was mostly staffed by low-paid College Program interns without benefits or union protection. Management claimed they wanted it to be a learning experience, yet the scale of responsibility far outweighed the training provided.

Problems with the Star Wars cruiser hotel

Disney’s ambitious attempt to create a live-action Star Wars roleplay cruise quickly became a logistical nightmare. Interns were tasked with concierge, bell services, food, housekeeping, and even improvisational theater. This was all under the immersive premise of life aboard a ship in the year 34 ABY. However, trainees were thrown into the experience without proper storytelling context. “We were never told the story,” the Redditor alleged. “I learned more by going home and watching vlogs about the cruise than I did in most of my training.”

The division between the two “tracks” the cast members were put on also created a toxic hierarchy. One group got to work in recreation and story-critical areas like lightsaber training and bridge ops. The other track, meanwhile, was stuck in the cafeteria or gift shop, sometimes never seeing major attractions. This segregation contradicted the ship’s internal motto: “Together… as one.”

Despite guests paying thousands, staffing issues plagued the experience. One elevator was able to fit the luggage trolleys to serve 99 rooms, and only a few workers handled all the luggage. Meanwhile, the engineering room, which was a noisy, chaotic activity space, earned the nickname “the ninth circle of hell” for being a sensory nightmare.

Interns cycled in and out every few weeks, leading to burnout and inconsistent performance. One consequence was poor show quality. “I witnessed quite a number of clunky bridge trainings,” wrote OP, citing bad performances and failed immersion.

The issues with the Star Wars hotel didn’t end with training

Management focused obsessively on guest feedback scores, sometimes at the expense of the cast’s well-being. Workers weren’t allowed to accept tips, had their breaks micromanaged, and were guilt-tripped into leaving early to save budget. 

Marketing also misled guests. Disney promised a three-day immersive adventure, but it boiled down to two afternoons, a morning in the park, and breakfast. “One of my first questions I was asked was: ‘So do they change up the actors every day?’” the Redditor wrote. Confused guests often broke immersion, while cast members had to maintain a Star Wars reality with little narrative support.

The concept had potential, the poster admitted, but Disney’s refusal to adapt doomed it. “I recall staring at an empty lobby at 6pm day one and saying, ‘I don’t think this place will last another year,’ I was correct.”

Redditors‘ responses to the post were surprising

Responses to u/Deck8Pirate’s Star Wars hotel experience were shockingly skewed—as one person on X, formerly Twitter, noted, “the comments are like 20% empathy, 80% starcruiser fans correcting and berating them for being wrong about their experience.”

Some folks called OP a “spoiled” college student and mocked them for complaining about working the same station for three hours. Others pointed out that college students aren’t spoiled when they are being overworked and underpaid.

There were also some who claimed that they didn’t know what the former cast member was talking about, because it was the best experience ever.

Some fellow cast members also jumped in with their own experiences at the hotel.

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