One of the most notable failures in Star Wars history is making a return in an unexpected way. Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, it has invested heavily in mining content from the galaxy far, far away, producing new movies, streaming series, and video games, and integrating Star Wars into its theme parks. While Star Wars has a huge and dedicated worldwide fanbase, not all of these risks have paid off for Disney, and it's finally acknowledging one of these failures in 2026.
Disney has announced that one of its upcoming episodes of The Simpsons is titled "The Kosmic Kruiser" and will see Bart and Lisa break into the fictional theme park Krustyland and board the Kosmic Kruiser Hotel, described as its "most notorious and failed attraction." The attraction in question is a large, spacecraft-like hotel, a clear parody of Walt Disney World Resort's Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, an expensive, immersive hotel and attraction that shuttered in 2023 after less than two years in operation.
Disney announced plans for its Galactic Starcruiser hotel at D23 in 2017, describing it as an immersive experience in which each guest could live out their own storyline within the Star Wars universe. The hotel officially opened in Orlando, Florida, in March 2022, offering guests the chance to interact with Star Wars characters in person in the attraction, partake in lightsaber training, enjoy themed beverages, and feel immersed in space travel as windows displayed screens of other galaxies.
But this premium experience also came with a premium price tag. Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser offered all-inclusive two-night stay packages at an eye-watering price of roughly $1,200 per person per night.
After a year of operation, warning signs began to show as Disney canceled a large number of voyages on its Galactic Starcruiser. In September 2023, roughly 18 months after opening, Disney announced the hotel's permanent closure, with the facility to be converted into office space for future projects.
Disney addressed the closure at the time in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter) saying, "This premium, boutique experience gave us the opportunity to try new things on a smaller scale of 100 rooms, and as we prepare for its final voyage, we will take what we’ve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans."
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser has been seen as one of the biggest failures in Disney's Star Wars era, but now the company is finding a new way to continue the project's story by having The Simpsons revive the unsuccessful attraction in a satirical way.
The first images from The Simpsons episode show Bart and Lisa breaking into the cordoned-off Kosmic Kruiser and, once inside, encountering strange inhabitants.
The first episode description reveals: "Bart and Lisa break into Krustyland’s most notorious failed attraction, only to discover that it hasn’t been completely abandoned."
The Simpsons' "The Kosmic Kruiser" episode is due to release on November 8th and will feature a cameo from Jenny Nicholson, the creator of the YouTube video essay "The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel", which has gained 17 million views to date.
Star Wars' Failed Disney World Hotel Attraction Lives On
The Galactic Starcruiser may be shuttered, but Disney is letting the memory of the attraction live on. The upcoming The Simpsons episode is just one instance of the failed experiment being acknowledged by the company, with the Galactic Starcruiser living on in the Star Wars mythos in other ways.
Late last year, fans spotted a reference to the Galactic Starcruiser vessel, named the Halycon, in the trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu. While the ship ultimately didn't have a big part to play in the film, the Easter egg proved that Disney was still happy to let the real-world attraction live on in Star Wars mythology.
While the attraction was too costly to continue operating at Walt Disney World Resort, Disney may eventually look for other ways to continue the Halycon's journey by sneaking it into further projects under its umbrella, Star Wars or otherwise.
